Steve Earle

Not a single one of us know the actual circumstances. Posts like ‘if we sell for £x…’ are just a bit silly aren’t they?

This. We currently need at least 3 players for the 8/10 roles. I’d have no problem with Cairney being one so long as the others offer some youth, energy & longer term potential

Anything north of £40m with the potential to reach/exceed £50m would be great. I still feel angry about last season & while the board & the poison dwarf take most of the blame, the players must take their share. Barnes’ utter uselessness out of possession isn’t something I’ll miss. #DrainTheSwamp

As in twice one…

Please don’t take this is an agesist comment - I’m probably older than you @frany104 - but just curious: does anyone under 50 use ‘mustard’ as a synonym for, er, ‘peng’, ace or ‘ten out of ten’?

Fully agree. But it’s the elite that have that in game tactical flexibility. I don’t expect Maresca to achieve that with Leicester in one season - Pep didn’t at Man C, Looking ahead we might start the season in a conventional 3421/3412, but I imagine 3-box-3 is the medium term goal. The problem then is fitting the players we have into either system. Assuming 3421 we need: - a GK to play as sweeper - a RCB to play the Kyle Walker role, which could well be JJ - a LCB to play the Laporte/Ake role: maybe Doyle or VK - a DCM to play alongside either HW or KDH - two tens, maybe 3 - three wide forwards, maybe 4. A long way to go, but it should be an exciting journey!

PS - I’m not sure you can still say Stones ‘starts on paper’ at RB? We all know where he starts, it’s RH. Anyway @StriderHiryu I look forward to joining you on the tactics thread!

I’ll dip in!

Ha! I won’t keep playing but you really don’t need WBs with 3 CBs. Man C don’t. Very good piece in The Athletic on this this week. 3-box-3 is the way!

No

Exactly. Man C (& for that matter Brighton & Arsenal too) play a variation on 3-box-3 with two holding midfielders and two 10s in the box. Width comes from overlapping CBs & the the 2 wide forwards. And I’ve seen nothing to suggest either Thomas or VK have enough about them offensively to play WB.

Oh yes we do! The more the merrier. It was a lack of serious alternative bidders that meant we had to accept an initial £40M for Madders

'On Newcastle's radar' - Mike McGrath, Telegraph

I’ve no idea whether he has any meaningful sources, but he had a Callum Doyle connection on 15 June, and us having ‘intensively scouted him last season’ around the time Tanner broke the Doyle story.

Muzzy. For some of a certain generation, the finest player of the MON era & the best AM we’ve ever had. For others, say of my general height, weight & age, a lovable scamp of a midfielder who worked tirelessly for the cause alongside Lennon and, later, Savage and not without skills. But not in same league as say Weller, Draper, McAllister & Maddison.

And then you saw ‘gotten’!

That, and the absence of the elite manager who made every player bar Madders worse.

What’s your point? Kane WAS rubbish for us. Mostly played wide so hardly surprising.

Kane was absolutely pants for us!!

Nobody would describe moving from say Villa to Man City as a sideways move. So moving from Swansea to Leicester...

Hirst isn’t good enough to be our 33rd striker, never mind 3rd!

I’m in the ‘must give their heads a wobble’ brigade. If you’re open to argument, watch again his pre-assist for Vardy’s goal at Leeds. Not just absolute quality, but playing through the pain for this club. So no, I won’t give my head a wobble. He’s quality & I’d love him to stay & score 20+ goals next season. If you think that’s a pipe dream then maybe it’s you that needs to give your head a wobble?