What a load of Tosh ![]()
He just has to get his head or boot onto the end of a move and stick it in the onion bag - SIMPLE xxx
What a load of Tosh ![]()
He just has to get his head or boot onto the end of a move and stick it in the onion bag - SIMPLE xxx
I think Isla’s case is a bit different though. He had told Newcastle last year that he wishes to explore possibilities of going to a top team to chase the big trophies. And let’s be honest Newcastle are far far far away from getting there. And there was seemingly a gentleman agreement. A number of reporters including someone who covers Newcastle for The Athletic has come out and said this. And for them to agree to this and then turn back and try to keep him is basically a breach of trust
The problem with how Newcastle is behaving at this point is that it reduces the chances of any player from joining them. Sure they might get a Gordon, But a player like Isak ? Nope.
Even the current lot of players are going to be thinking whether the club will hold them to ransom if they do decide to jump ship. They’ll have a bitch of a time renewing deals for existing players now. Both with their wage sturcture and also with their handling of the whole Isak issue
I agree, it was a breach of trust and a complete amateurishness in the transfer market to sign a replacement in time. They probably expected Isak to “comply,” but then, they were completely overwhelmed by his public revolt. Blaming anyone else now so the club doesn’t look stupid is probably just a gimmick for the fans imo.
But the point is that it wouldn’t get like this with one of our players.
LFC have learned from experience that if a player wants to go, you let them go but control the departure. We literally saw this with Diaz.
The issue is that Diaz , while he was great for us , essentially is replaceable. The new guy might not be as good as him but then again he might be an upgrade. But Isak for Newcastle isn’t. They don’t make center forwards like him nowadays.
But you still have to be sound. That’s what matters.
The point that you make above - after the Isak business, there is a big red flag on Newcastle for any upwardly mobile, ambitious young player.
I think the damage to Howe’s time at Newcastle has been done. Just don’t see him having the ability to get his squad together after this. He spiralled worse during his end of days in Bournemouth and that wasn’t a situation as bad as this.
Did it spiral? The fact he was there for ages.
Regardless I’m looking as it as a fan, it’s similar to Suarez but even he didn’t react like this.
If he had I’d been ready to get rid and frankly 120m which we will probably be willing to pay would be fine. I assume the trust in the ability to spend it wisely might be an issue.
I’d have not wanted to give a kitty like that to Rodgers.
I beg to differ on this for me it goes on how well the club thinks they can be replaced. I think we would have reacted differently if it was Alexis or Grav wanting to move on.
I don’t think Howe has handled it badly at all. He is in a thankless position. He is trying to exert leadership and authority, while keeping the door ajar in case there’s a way back for the player, while placating fans and trying to massage their expectations along the way, all against a backdrop of working for owners who at this stage are pretty vacant - no DOF, no CEO, and as far as we can tell, no vision for what they are going to do at NUFC.
We skit about the nephew thing and so on, as we are fans of another club and they are a shambles. But I’m as certain as can be that Eddie Howe would love it if his owners delivered a structure around him comparable to what Slot enjoys.
The longer it has gone on the clearer Eddie Howe has become. It is very clear that the manager wants to now close the chapter on Isak and move on, reinvest, get his team and squad together, and go again.
We can’t possibly know the details, but it very much looks to me as though the owners have reluctantly come around to this viewpoint too, but with more of a vindictive streak i.e. slow walk the whole thing, so as to spoil Isak’s start to the season, and disrupt Liverpool’s team building and ability to integrate a top player in a timely fashion for the start of the season with some pre-season training behind him. Newcastle are playing the spoiler role to a tee.
In the power balance, it is probably the last card they have to play, so it is what it is.
I fully expect Isak to be signed, late in the window, and we won’t see him play until after the international break. He will have a learning curve, and will need to get match fit, same as all players, so he might come off the bench a few times as he gets up to speed.
Howe has been very honest and respectful frankly. Not sure what the club higher up is like, but seems to be run very poorly.
I beg to differ on this for me it goes on how well the club thinks they can be replaced. I think we would have reacted differently if it was Alexis or Grav wanting to move on.
Probably, but its all related. Diaz’s age, waning contract, and our self-imposed limits on what we were willing to offer to extend that meant we were as much in “what’s next” mode as he was making it a relatively easy response to his request.
So what i said.
Howe has been very honest and respectful frankly. Not sure what the club higher up is like, but seems to be run very poorly.
They had tremendous turn over. It is not surprising there is some executive level difficulty. For as loathed as she is for her efforts in bringing middle eastern sports washing into british football (involved in the City take over and was also driving DIC’s attempted purchase of us back in the day), Staveley and her husband are well respected operators. She was responsible for bringing in Ashworth and collectively they had Newcastle moving forward quite impressively. Within the last 12 months or so not only have all 3 of them left Newcastle, but their replacements have also already all left
Is it just me, or is anyone else also wondering how Eddie has gone from
to
The PL head coach job must be really taxing… ![]()
The problem with how Newcastle is behaving at this point is that it reduces the chances of any player from joining them. Sure they might get a Gordon, But a player like Isak ? Nope.
Will definitely make potential star think twice and/or add clauses to contract.