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Not all is well at Newcastle. Tonali has disappeared off the face of the earth and the balance of the midfield has gone to pot in consequence. I know City, Liverpool and Brighton (A) are all difficult games but the manner of tonight’s performance was particularly poor.
My blood pressure is already high but seeing the score today for Newcastle is getting risky for me.
If they don't win the next game then Eddie Howe will be sold together with few of the players.
Not time to panic (yet) and if they’d held on or scored again against Liverpool then all would look very difficult…… but now with 2 weeks break and then one game before a midweek trip to Milan! That’s a lot of time to have those last three halves of football festering.
Compare to last season they are not even near and if they keep playing like today, they are going to get hammered in the Championship league.
Oh do calm down. They’ve played 4 of the top 6 or 7 sides, and really should have 6 points, due to the aberration against Liverpool. I would actually love it, love it, if they panicked and ditched Howe but they’re cannier than that.
That's what I said, but the fact is the performance today and the balance of the midfield was wrong, Brighton just passed around them, and they missed someone to just disrupt and break that up. Like Kante did at Leicester, Rodri at Man City, etc. Longstaff used to do it......
Maybe they need to adjust that aspect for home vs away / against the better or possession based teams vs ones where they expect to dominate possession. Their creativity ripped Villa apart, they should have beaten Liverpool but were wasteful with chances to take control and then got mugged at the end, but against City and BHA they've given up possession and not really put them under pressure.
I trust in Eddie and Jason to sort it out; I'm honestly a little frustrated by some of the Newcastle fan forums calling for major changes in the team, dropping players who have been great for the team but have had a couple of indifferent matches, and yes even at the top. Remember where they were two years ago (and indeed the last 15 years) and see last year as ahead of schedule on a longer journey.
I trust in Eddie and Jason to sort it out; I’m honestly a little frustrated by some of the Newcastle fan forums calling for major changes in the team, dropping players who have been great for the team but have had a couple of indifferent matches, and yes even at the top. Remember where they were two years ago (and indeed the last 15 years) and see last year as ahead of schedule on a longer journey.
I would drop Joelinton and perhaps one of the sloppy centre defender instantly while Tonali is on probation ...
Cover your chips! Seagulls Seagulls.
NUFC's corresponding matches last season had a tally 4 points. I'm not panicking yet.
Last nights performance was pretty dire, and they can look forward to some batterings if they play like that in the CL
I don’t know if I can bring myself to watch us get turned over by Arsenal later. I may go out for a walk and just pretend it’s not happening
Oh come on binners, I'm looking forward to your after game analysis.
Elsewhere in North London Big Ange ball continues to be admired and to work. I would like to see Richarlison find the net but now Sonny has had his hernia sorted he seems to be on form again.
I may go out for a walk and just pretend it’s not happening
We'll keep you informed.
the balance of the midfield was wrong
I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that guimaraes and Tonali don’t fit in the same team. Bruno has completely disappeared this season. Not sure if he’s sulking at not being the centre of attention but something is wrong. Also not sure Tonali is fit enough yet to play Howe’s game. One of them needs dropping, along with Almiron. Bring Longstaff back, put Gordon on the right and Barnes on the left. Wilson probably deserves a start too.
Pre-season I thought that midfield would absolutely dominate.
How wrong I was.
Gordon hardly touched the ball yesterday and Trippier was poor to.
How wrong I was.
They did against Villa and Liverpool. We can ignore the city match for obvious reasons and put yesterday down to a very bad day. That being said the jury is definitely out so they need results. I worry the Saudis will not tolerate a run of losses and Howe could very easily be gone before xmas.
Gunners need to up their game today, it’s been scratchy so far.
If you watched MOTD last night or this morning, they picked up the same issues. First goal - Pope's not good with his feet and made a poor decision to not just roll it to Trippier, that created the panic and then he spilled a routine shot (although I'd always reflect, his making an error like that stands out but for example Gordon's miss at 1-0 was just as bad). But the avoidable was the shot in the first place, Tonali should have busted a gut for the block. I don't buy not fit enough - certainly not after 27 mins. That was either lack of concentration or lazy.
The second exposed the lack of a defensive midfielder, they lost the ball to a poor touch (by the Brighton player) that became a 50/50, which happens, but then there was no-one between that 50/50 and Ferguson dropping off the CB's. Then no pressure allows him to turn, run 10 yards and pick a spot. Burn could / should have engaged him but equally there should still have been pressure from behind too.
Balance is wrong, and I agree, seems no-one wants to pick up the crap dirty job.
Almiron - I'm not sure, although he's so one footed it makes him easier to defend against (nearly scored with a deflected right foot yesterday though, the element of total ****ing amazement!!) - but he does bring a lot defensively too. That said - Barnes was a marquee signing and deserves a chance.
I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that guimaraes and Tonali don’t fit in the same team.
You think you’ve got problems? We’ve got the new equivalent of ‘Gerrard and Lampard in midfield for England’ situation, with trying to fit Mason Mount alongside Bruno when he’s effectively a crap copy of him, leaving Casemiro hopelessly exposed behind them, getting completely overrun.
Aresenals midfield will shred us today if TH. Perseveres with this formation that clearly isn’t working
I worry the Saudis will not tolerate a run of losses and Howe could very easily be gone before xmas.
I bet Howe is worried that could be literal
I worry the Saudis will not tolerate a run of losses and Howe could very easily be gone before xmas.
I bet Howe is worried that could be literal
Saudis will forgive if it was a draw but losing the match is not on their card. Howe needs to win the next match otherwise he is on a shaky ground. Losing face is a big no no for the middle eastern owner(s).
If Howe is sacked after 5 games, then WTF would come in?
If Howe is sacked after 5 games, then WTF would come in?
I don't think that will happen that soon in order to see some new signings settling down a bit, but if they get hammered in CL that will also create another problem. They will give him time but they certainly needs results.
Howe is a good manager but no sure why they having a bad run after the first match, granted the top 10 teams are difficult to play ...
Not sure why but Joelinton reminds me of Carton Palmer (when he played for England) who played for Forest decades ago.
It’s the hope that kills you!
In this case it lasted 30 seconds
Oh god! We’ve a central defensive pairing of Harry Maguire and Johnny Evans 😳
Um, weathers nice isn't it binners 😂
Well you can’t say I wasn’t expecting it?
Should have gone for a walk instead
It was going well for 90 +4 minutes
I wouldn’t say ‘well’ as such, just a lot better than expected.
Anyway… Mrs Binners is taking me for a consolation beer with her winnings. She bet on Arsenal, obviously
they used to say there was only two certainties in life, death and taxes, I'd argue there's now three, death, taxes and binners mrs winning a bet
Look at the positives, at least you didn't sign Havertz 😁
Good game to watch that. Hojlund looked good when he came on, plenty of potential there and an upgrade on Martial for sure. Mind you so would I be. Garnacho should replace Antony soon, surely?
Look at the positives, at least you didn’t sign Havertz 😁
Yeah, we paid 65 million for the other Chelsea reject instead
His dive was a bit embarrassing today though, wasn’t it? Should have been carded for it
they used to say there was only two certainties in life, death and taxes, I’d argue there’s now three, death, taxes and binners mrs winning a bet
It’s a good job one of us is good at it! I think it was SkyBet who first restricted her account, then wouldn’t take any more of her bets.
IIRC I think her biggest win was calling Iceland putting England out of the Euros and also calling the correct score. We were on holiday and literally dined out all weekend on that one
His dive was a bit embarrassing today though, wasn’t it? Should have been carded for it
He was clipped to be fair, i'm amazed VAR overturned it, but as it was the trail leg bumping the defender, i can see why it was VAR'd and only Hazertz in his current form could mess that up, but i bet you that you'll see more penalties given for that than not this season!
Think this season will be a weird one, Man City are just not showing much weakness, and you have a host of teams now fighting each other for top 4, ManU home to Brighton next will be a big game, Brighton looked good yesterday, and after the break they'll have their new signings ready to play, i'm not sure how they got Fati, or how they keep managing to have replacements for players being sold, but they're doing well and have some depth now as well.
City usually start slow - relatively - and then become relentless after Xmas. They have a few new players to integrate but they’ll still cruise it. The rest of the top 6 or 7 will all take points off each other.
My expectations for playing Brighton are even lower than they were today. They look far more like a top 4 side than we do at the moment
You look at their transfer dealings and it surely has to be the best in the league. Far better than our oh-so-predictable last-minute random flailing
Ah, reality is, if Garnacho had been onside, ManU would have won yesterday, the game had several twists in it, and Arsenal weren't that good, ManU struggled as well, but it's early and there wasn't much in it, Brighton are a team that play better than the individual players selected, but if a couple of players are having an off day, they struggle, ManU just seem to have loads of individual players who don't seem to fit into the structure they're playing, which means there's gaps everywhere when they revert to their natural positions.
Oh well - that's the premiership in hibernation for a week or so whilst we have the joys of the international break. I'm also a rugby fan so at least there's something else to watch <runs for cover>
For anyone that has never heard the Greasy Chip Butty song at Sheff U - might have to click to get to vid
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/31337/53163346544_4313bb9665_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/31337/53163346544_4313bb9665_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://www.flickr.com/gp/85252658@N05/uWhJ2KVFTt ]20230827_140001[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/85252658@N05/ ]davetheblade[/url], on Flickr
Was at the Amex Saturday and before the game I just didn’t think our current midfield of Gross and Gilmour would be physical enough to deal with Newcastle’s but we just played around them with ease. Evan will rightly get all the plaudits for his hatrick but Gilmour had his best game for us and was at the heart of everything we did. With Caicedo and Mac Allister now having moved on he’s really stepped up. Next game at the Amex is AEK Athens, it feels totally bonkers that this is where we’re at. After the last game at the Goldstone I was fearing that we might just slowly die as a football club. Feels pretty ****ing amazing tbh.
I've been away a few days, but can anyone please enlighten me as to why Mason Greenwood was only sent on loan?
Surely Utd would want rid?
I’ve been away a few days, but can anyone please enlighten me as to why Mason Greenwood was only sent on loan?
Surely Utd would want rid?
Maybe no one wants to actually buy/commit to him.
They'd have to buy him out of his contract so I assume they're trying to help him out and lose a little less money. If they're lucky he'll do well and they'll get a transfer fee at some point.
Surely Utd would want rid?
They (the owners, not the fans) clearly didn’t want rid. Far from it. They wanted him back in the first team. They were forced, slowly and gracelessly (as always), into this decision and they’re not happy about it
There’s only one reason anything happens at United…
Money!
I reckon the only reason they’ve got this far is because a major sponsor will have threatened to pull their money. The Glazers are a moral vacuum who don’t give a toss what anybody thinks. The bottom line is all that matters
I’m sure they’re busy wracking their parasitic minds to think up some way they can still cash in. I reckon they’ll be hoping the loan is a ‘shop window’ and this will blow over enough for them to then sell him on with a bit less fuss, maybe in the January window
Getafe don't want to be stuck with an expensive player if the fans/league don't accept him. A loan is a 'toe in the water'
Indeed. See Martials disastrous loan spell at Seville, which means he’s another one on our extensive ‘we don’t want him because he’s crap, but nobody else can afford his wages’ list. I’m sure he’ll inevitably leave on a free.
There’s probably all manner of clauses in Greenwood’s loan deal. A lot of loan deals are essentially just scams to get around FFP rules anyway. Ask Chelsea
I don’t think the Glazers are involved as you think binners, in day to day decisions at least, as long as the money’s rolling in they’re happy. Richard Arnold and Erik ten Hag were the ones driving the re-integration.
Re the loan and lack of transfer there are comparisons to David Goodwillie, the Scottish player who was found guilty of rape, albeit in a civil court. A few clubs have signed him since and been forced to end his contract due to the outcry. United have chosen the worst option here by not sacking him - continue to pay his wages while he goes out on various loans as no one will buy him until the end of his contract.
I don’t think the Glazers are involved as you think binners, in day to day decisions at least
The opposite is true. The reason that the Greenwood thing dragged on for months and the reason the transfer dealings always dissolve into farce is because every minute decision has to be signed off by one of those two *s in the states, so nothing ever gets done.
And United - or should we say, The Glazers - will always make the worst possible decision, guaranteed. As sure as night follows day
The Monday Night Club on Five Live tonight started with a half hour discussion about what a total shambles of a club United now is. A joke. An absolute laughing stock. It was painful to listen to because it was true.
Their assessment, now that the Glazers have said that the club isn’t actually for sale after all (I was shocked, honest… who saw that coming?) is that we’re at the inevitable conclusion of years and years of absolutely woeful mismanagement.
The club is *ed! Absolutely ****ed! And any hope of it getting any better is now gone. I don’t know if I can even be arsed with it any more
We lost to a University Challenge side tonight, driving us down to 18th.
Did you see the game on Sky? Ehib looked lively when he came on, otherwise we looked lucky to get nil.
Did you see the game on Sky?
bbc updates I’m afraid, I don’t have Sky. Scumbag college were the cool guys, I seem to recall?
Another Greenwood in the offing?
Well that’d be the icing on the cake.
It’s already pretty obvious that he’s not actually very good (he’s a one trick pony who everyone’s got the measure of) and we’ve hugely overpaid for him, so him being a hit handy with his fists would just round it all off.
Ten Hag keeps starting him yet when Garnacho came on for him on Sunday, he instantly had a huge impact and on a different day may have scored the winner. You could have left Antony out there all day with little chance of any meaningful contribution
Yeah, I heard that pile of old bollocks on 5 live this morning.
You sold your soul to some murderers. That’s your prerogative, but spare us all the hand-wringing bullshit so as not to insult our intelligence please
The valuation of the club had ballooned because of the potential sale, it had inflated to 3 billion, the Qatari's offered 5 billion anyway, Jim Radcliff 4 billion. The Glazers thought it was worth more even though all evidence said NO.
Now it is returning towards it's true valuation.
The whole episode just shows that extremely rich people ie the Glazers, Jim Radcliff and the Qatari's are ****ing idiots, they don't owe their success to being brilliant or special, they owe it to being extremely lucky (see also Musk and Trump)
binners – who’d have thought that would happen?
I’ve not been this shocked since George Michael came out!
It was obvious right from the off that they weren’t serious. It was just an exercise in getting a valuation. They’ll now take the highest offer as the valuation and remortgage the club at ridiculous levels of interest, to that figure, loading the debt back onto the club, then pay themselves a couple of billion each
That’s assuming the fans don’t burn Old Trafford to the ground at the next home game.
Either way, the club is absolutely ****ed now any hope of seeing the back of those parasites is gone.
I suspect that like many lifelong fans, I’ve just had enough of the whole sorry saga now. When the Glazers took over, we all had season tickets, but one by one all my mates have not bothered renewing them. I only know one person who still has one. But then we’re what they politely refer to as ‘heritage’ fans. They’ll still sell out all the corporate hospitality to watch a disinterested, overpaid and mediocre side battle it out for that last Europa League spot
And then there’s this, as summed up perfectly by the Guardian today
Antony case shows Manchester United have not learned any lessons
Depressing
Problem is Antony and Greenwood have a high dollar value and that's all the owners see.
Let's not forget Sancho, they've basically taken a super car and turned it into an Allegro.
Mr Easter Island statue is picked got England before him now.
Let’s not forget Sancho, they’ve basically taken a super car and turned it into an Allegro.
That's indeed a bizarre one for me... one of the most exciting teenagers of modern times... turned into a bench warmer !
It is indeed an interesting one - sounds similar to Dele Alli? Amazing talent but rumours of not being fit, which then create mental issues and they then spiral the physical. He was excluded from training camps (still a culture in football that he might 'infect' others??) and sent away on a specific program but the recent ETH statements and the counters don't sound like he has the manager's backing.
That’s indeed a bizarre one for me… one of the most exciting teenagers of modern times… turned into a bench warmer !
Unfortunately it’s indicative of the way the club does it’s business. Woo him and pursue him for two seasons, finally sign him for top dollar then leave him sat on the bench or play him out of position, then publicly slate him for not delivering
Donny Van de Beek is even more mystifying.
I’m amazed Rashford has stuck around, to be honest. He gets played out of position all the time to cover for the big holes in the squad
Antony starting in front of Garnacho? Martial playing as central striker despite not having scored since 1997, because we can’t get shut of him
Phil Jones being given a new 5 year contract then never playing? He’s now youth team coach apparently
35 year old Johnny Evans on a free from Leicester to shore up our threadbare defence?
Eric Bailly?
Harry ****ing Maguire on 200 grand a week and clearly going nowhere (in every sense)?
The list goes on and on and on
The whole thing is an utter shambles
ManU seem to be trying to outdo the Tory Party in a weekly competition to see who can shoot themselves in the foot most, and in the most different ways. So far this week it's a score draw at 3-3 (Anthony, Sancho and Glazers stopping sale v RAAC, Gillian Keegan outburst, Sunak cutting school rebuilding budget). Still 2 days to go for either side.
ManU to win this in Fergie-time by offering Maguire a 3 year contract extension.
Nah, they re-sign Pogba for another club record fee.
I wouldn’t put it past them to do all those things then drop another bombshell to eclipse the lot.
What I can see is us having a season similar to Chelsea last year, marooned in the bottom half of the table, getting an absolute spanking off all the top teams (Brentford, Brighton…), then getting to January and the few decent players we have got thinking “**** this! I’m off!”
The Glazers deciding, apparently, they're now not going to sell resulted in the biggest ever one day fall in the share price - down 18% yesterday.
Current valuation is c$3.2 billion.
Glazers reportedly think it's worth c$10 billion.
Next time they try to sell I would be unsurprised if bidders said...any bid is conditional on our costs being fully reimbursed if the sale process is called off.
Something is worth what somebody else is prepared to pay for it
A simple rule of business they seemed to have failed to grasp
They’re just blinded by their limitless greed, which dictates everything they do and sadly everything that happens at the club
We’ve got Brighton at home on Saturday the 16th, 3 o clock kick off. A game we’ll likely lose (Mitoma and Co must be itching to get stuck into a central defensive pairing of Harry Maguire and Johnny Evans). I can imagine things will get a bit lively. Not that the Glazers dare come anywhere near Old Trafford, obviously
Can we just have a Man United thread? The daily soap opera, ineptitude and Binners’s rants cheer me up no end. A pity it features characters like Greenwood and Antony though.
There were rumours about Sancho’s attitude and training when with England being hit and miss. His best position is also on the left which is where Rashford plays. Fair play to Ten Hag, he’s not afraid to call the players out (Ronaldo, Rashford was dropped) and Sancho was not his signing either I guess. Antony must have some dirt on him though!
The most insulting, but depressingly accurate comment I’ve heard about United was in an absolutely scathing article in the Guardian which concluded that ‘it’s no longer a football club, it’s a theme park’
EDIT: I’ve just found it. It’s from 2 years ago but is more laughable now than ever
Glazers’ heritage-hawking risks making Manchester United a 90s theme park
a bonus trip to the Manchester United 1990s waxwork museum
Once again Citeh doing all the spending to buy the league
😆😆😆
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66726456
It’s a relatively straightforward formula
1. Leave all your transfer dealing until the 59th minute of the eleventh hour
2. Panic and buy someone who wasn’t even on your radar until 5 minutes ago when his agent called and your present manager has never actually mentioned
3. Pay the already ludicrous transfer fee with 30-40 million stupidity tax added on due to point 1.
4. Give said unproven/overrated show pony a 7 year contract on 350 grand a week
5. Despair as he proves to be a complete donkey on the rare occasions when he’s not out injured
6. Watch him sit on the bench for years because only 3 clubs in the world can match his wages, and they’re not stupid enough to be remotely interested, so he’s going nowhere until he leaves on a free
7. Repeat…. over and over and over… in some instances with the same player
Hey, at least it's not Lukaku
I breathed a sigh of relief when United didn't buy Lyndon Dykes or Che Adams, we don't need that kind of negative impact on our Scottish (?) assets. Too good for them anyway.
If it's all about ManU, then not a lot of blame being thrown at Ten Hag, he's had a huge budget, had a lot of talent to work with, and not really showing he knows how to get the best out of the team, or individuals. For ManU to be better, they need a manager who can get more out of those already there, not just their own signings, he also seems to throw players under the bus when he's not pleased with them, not a good thing if they don't leave, as ManU are finding out.
Anyway… getting away from the car crash that is Man Yoo and on to another car crash
Jordon Henderson absolutely tying himself in knots when asked about would he be wearing rainbow laces again. Oh dear. He should really just stop digging and just say ‘I did if for the money and I couldn’t actually give a flying **** about the LGBTQ rights I made such a big deal of then immediately jettisoned when somebody waved some cash in front of me’
Erm… I don’t think the Saudis are that inclusive really? Unless publicly flogging people for homosexuality is now deemed as ‘inclusive’
What an absolute shithouse that bloke is. I hope he enjoys picking up his blood money for playing in front of empty stadiums
Some eyebrow raising teams on that net spend list!
Arsenal, Spurs and Newcastle in the top 8 for very little return, in terms of actually winning anything. West Ham and Villa above Liverpool (their place on the list owes much to Herr Klopp and the Coutinho fee). Everton solidly in the top 15 and then European heavyweights Crystal Palace and Bournemouth ahead of Real and Bayern.
Oh and of course City have bought the league. ‘‘Twas ever thus! They’ve just done it better. Aided by some creative accounting 😝
re Jordan Henderson, you expect it from players like Ronaldo but someone like Henderson should really know much better.
Also when you are living in a place where people aren't free should you respect that culture? **** no.
Uuuuf!
They just keep coming for Man Utd.