The Fish

I absolutely understand being frustrated with Dummett going forward, with Perez's inconsistency and Jack Colback's existence, but I cannot understand the negativity. The criticisms haven't been X was shit, it's "we're shit", when we're clearly not.

And missing 1st choice players in key positions. Look, I'm not pretending we're playing brilliant football, or arguing that you shouldn't be allowed to criticise poor performances/results, but I am baffled at the air of negativity. We're top of the league, we've scored loads, conceded few, we're playing effective disciplined solid football (just as we did under Hughton) and when everyone is fit and firing we can play some really nice stuff too.

We could lose every games and miss out on a play-off spot, we could win every remaining game and break Reading's record. These are possibilities, but not probable, so why bother worrying about them?

They don't, but there's enough mithering to make you think there's a decent number who think alike. 'We're not playing pretty football, we're not pissing the league, it's already March and we're not mathematically assured of promotion yet!'

I agree that if Huddersfield were further adrift (although 8 points + ridiculous GD is pretty adrift imo) there'd be less people worrying, but that's because the worriers are daft. Aside from beating the title challengers when we meet them, there's nothing Newcastle United can do to affect the results of other sides. I've briefly looked back at this period of the Championship season and Huddersfield's PpG would have them in the Auto spots 8 season out of 10. Only once in that 10 season period has the average PpG for the top three bettered this season's. That was 2014 when Leicester were already on 82pts, Burnley were on 79 and 3rd was way back on 69 (wahey).

I mean, why even suggest this scenario? Saw this on another Messageboard So, people need to chill.

Do you think people have forgotten that we don't need​ to win the league and can finish 2nd and go up? At the beginning of this "wobble" we were 2nd, a point behind Brighton and 5 ahead of Huddersfield. Now we're 1pt and 8 goals ahead of Brighton, and 7pts and 34 goals ahead of 3rd placed Huddersfield. Huddersfield were 4 points clear of Leeds, now 1 weekend of fixtures could have them leapfrogged by Reading and Leeds! Maybe I'm arrogant, but we're clearly good enough to have a bad run of form and actually improve our position in the league.

Of the players we have available, which absolutely need shipping out of the club and replaced in the Squad?

Literally every team on the planet can drop points even when they're dominant, every team leading their league can struggle with complacency. I think the expectation levels at Newcastle are daft; we're 1/50 to go up , we're on course for a 94pt season which has been enough to win the league in most years, we've more wins than anyone else in the league, we've the best attack and the best defence, we've 3 of the best players in the league and we've a manager with more trophies to his name than all but the elite clubs. What exactly do they expect? Winning every game 3-0 and playing like 1970s Ajax? I understand being frustrated at individual incidents or results, but I cannot understand the pervading air of negativity given our circumstances. Maybe the other fans are right, maybe Newcastle fans do have unrealistic expectations. Honestly, the amount of times I've had to remind other Newcastle fans that we're top of the league is fucking embarrassing.

Aye, like fuck will I ask for advice from you cunts again.

Getting frustrated with the perception that Newcastle should have walked the league and despite being top and on course for a >94pt season we're somehow not doing as well. Bought a new team, (1 keeper, 2 fullbacks, 2 centre backs, 4 midfielders, 2 strikers) specifically because the one we had wouldn't have got promoted. Imagine what Benitez could have achieved with Coloccini, Enrique, Jonas, Nolan, Carroll et al. We're 2pts off where we were last time at this stage of the season and that team was much better than this one.

Cheers for the advice chaps Think I'll switch to my Parents address.

Moved into our new place in August, still renting. The previous tenant appears to have a fuck load of people chasing him for money; car parking, car finance, utility bills etc. All of that must surely be impacting on this address? The question I'm asking is should I hold off changing my address for banks and the like because we'll likely be moving out again in August.

Hopefully Mitro scores a few goals in the international break and gets some confidence so if he's called upon he can carry that over into the League.

You're probably right, but a man can dream.

Of their 5 (five) wins, Defoe scored 3 game winners (Bournemouth, Hull, Leicester) and he rescued a point in two of their 5 draws (Southampton and Liverpool). So instead of 20pts, without Jermaine Defoe they could well be on 9.

He'll stay as long as Ashley doesn't get in the way of his rebuilding strategy.

I'm praying to the Old Gods and the New that someone like Hull or Sheffield Wednesday fancy taking the Ginger Pirlo off our hands for actual real money. He's probably a good professional, a likeable lad in the dressing room, but he's got zero football brain and is basically a short ginger Mike WIlliamson that plays in midfield. Haven't given up on Lazaar yet, I'm hoping he's just settling and Dummett's consistency and fitness is keeping wor Lazaar out the team?

Can't imagine he'll ever be up to the pace in the Premier League.

If we'll have to pay £12m for Tom Cairney from Fulham, any serious commitment to achieving safety rather than survival will cost a lot of money. I think this team plus 4-5 players should​ be enough to survive, but a real statement of intent will cost. Like you say, we will likely need a CB, a striker and a pivotal number 10. Three of the traditionally more expensive positions. I still think Mbemba, Mitrovic, Perez have sufficient potential to be in the squad, and players like Lascelles and Dummett, will be committed if limited squad members. 3 players (CB, #10, CF) at c£15-20m for a total of £45 3 squad players at c£5m for a total of £15m Couple of loan players (Loftus-Cheek/Abraham/Rashford and the like) Then another couple of signings should we need them in January? Safety job done imo

Aye, maybe not in the summer, but across the season?

Exactly. A better version of Diame/Perez and the style we play will reap greater results. Better versions of Gouffran and Dummett would give balance on the flanks so that both sides produce instead of just the right. If both of those areas are improved we'll see more pockets of space open up for a better version of Gayle to take advantage of. Hughton took us up with minimum fuss because he had a Premier League team in the 2nd tier, Benitez is taking us up because he's built a top class Championship side and will build a Premier League side if given the chance. £30m from past player sales, £30m from future sales (de Jong, Saivet, Riviere, Thauvin, Hanley, Murphy, Sels, Krul*) + £30m commitment... is that out of the realms of possibility? *not sure about who we actually still own

One thing I've really only appreciated after he retired is just how well he shifted his weight and changed position to better strike the ball.