Claudio Fannieri

Thought he looked good today, doesn’t have the high energy of KDH or Wilf but his football intelligence is levels above both, got into some really good positions and has a great ability of keeping the ball moving and retaining possession. Criminal how under utilised he was by Rodgers and allowed to become so disengaged and disenchanted with the club. Cracking goal and hopefully if he doesn’t move on, will be another decent option to come in and add quality and alternatives when we need fresh legs and energy, has more than enough quality to be very effective for the remainder of this season.

He is our Bernardo Silva, he is superb in tight spaces and he is capable and always looking to be progressive. So chuffed to see him get his goal, what a beauty and I think he will really kick on, yes he is slight but he is a very clever player, he will really kick on over next 5/6 months and next season will be a real player for us

I thought he was one of the very few bright sparks in the first half, looks another player who can make the step up, that pass to Vards was a beauty and deserved an assist.

1st 60 minutes he was honking but credit to him he seemed to give his head a wobble and last 30 was much more like it but was very very lucky to survive not being taken off at half time.

Couldn’t agree more, I was hoping it was Choudhury that would be hooked and Cover given an opportunity to play the holding role, I thought he had a decent 45 minutes for a debut whereas I felt Hamza was miles off it. Great for Yunus to bag a real thunderbastard and hopefully will see him push on. Stolarcryk was superb and Ben Nelson is a bloody Rolls Royce of a defender, that boy will net us +£50m in the next 3/4 years. He was immaculate today 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

KDH has been very good this season delivering good goal involvement numbers, but in same way so has Ndidi, neither are technically brilliant and as good as both have been, our attacking impetus and advantages often break down due to poor decision making or poor execution. Maybe just maybe Enzo and the club are prepared/happy to let a player go if the offer is decent enough to enable us to go out and bring in 2/3 players that Enzo believes are better suited to how he plays. Yes I am concerned how true this is as KDH looks a tough one to replace but I am pretty sure Enzo will have a plan, the worry will be if the decision is being made above Enzo’s head and he has not been consulted or given his blessing.

Praet is due to start tomorrow according to OPA so doesn’t look like his exit is very close, if it was, it would be madness to risk starting him when he is made of crisps

Something isn’t right about this, Wilf was asked when would you be back he said a couple of weeks to which he was asked if he meant training and he replied no playing in matches……. Not sure how he could be confused or not understand, he has lived here for 7 years and speaks very well, so much so he was having a right laugh with Warnock. I call bullshit and Enzo is spinning a yarn for whatever reason.

Foxes Fixture Flashback …… You have to guess the fixture from yesteryear from a set of clues such as goal scorers, managers, etc etc theme tune Flashback by Imagination

Absolutely cracking episode as always, Where did you come from, where did you go was a complete and utter shit show again 😂😂😂 I do have an idea for a new quiz and possibly even a theme tune if you boys are interested

Would love to see Will Alves involved in this game.

Southampton have been on a terrific run, but if anyone watched their game against Swansea at the weekend, as good as they are going forward, they can be a complete bombscare at the back. They conceded 3/4 clear cut chances in the final 15 minutes and if Swansea had a modicum of composure in front of goal then we would up be talking about their capitualtion. I still believe we will go up and as most likely as champions, Saints will likely battle with Ipswich and Leeds for automatic promotion. Our performance last night was pretty good and the quality of our play excellent, we need a little bit more quality to capitalise on the great positions we create but then lack the creativity/quality to profit with the final ball. If we can add that quality with Sensi then I think we kick on again.

Against other opposition I think Enzo would have made the change of moving Hamza inside and bringing on Doyle, but Hamza had done a decent job on Burns whose pace is a real threat. I think we are lacking some creativity in midfield, in the first half KDH got in some great positions but the quality of his final pass was off and several times when in fantastic positions to create a chance at goal, the final ball was lacking precision and quality. KDH and Wilf have been superb in the 8’s this season, but they are not naturally creative or capable of making and delivering risky passes consistently, if we can add Sensi we suddenly step up another level, as he has the ability to manipulate these good positions, that could be the difference in the run in as it will suddenly increase the number of goal scoring opportunities we create. Too many times it breaks down when in a great position because the skill set isn’t quite at the level to capitalise.

We have lost 1 game in our last 13, how the hell is that a slump, please please please make it make sense, yeah we lost last week in disappointing circumstances and last night was frustrating but for crying out loud, let’s have some context. As for Saturday, I would freshen it up and certainly rest KDH and a couple of others if possible. Stolrcryk Riccy P Nelson Coady Doyle Hamza Praet Akgun Albrighton Vardy Wanya subs Hermansen Jusin Faes Vesty Alves (if fit) Winks Maswasnishe McAteer Cannon

Frustrating result and the manner of the result makes it feel a lot worse than it was is. let’s be honest we should have been out of sight we crested more than enough chances to win this 3 or 4. Keeper was man of the match and there were a couple cleared off the line, it was a sucker punch but we created more than enough to win that game tonight, we need to be more ruthless when in the ascendency. The reason we are conceding late goals is because we haven’t been killing teams off and then that gives them the opportunity to release the shackles and have a go.

Decent line up and subs bench doesn’t look too shoddy either if we do need to make changes. Let’s hope we can get a positive result and look to build another winning run and momentum.

Absolutely brilliant episode as always, what I love about this pod is it even makes defeat against those scruffy elephant shagging goons just slightly and I mean only very slightly more bearable. well done fellas keep up the great work 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Given the size and stature of our club, these are the kind of signings that we need to make, he is a excellent player with a flawed injury record, the reality is if his fitness record as better we wouldn’t get a sniff, we have to be creative and this type of deal is what we need to try and do to get back and be semi competitive in the premier league. Our history has been littered with these types of signings some have worked and some haven’t but given the decent recruitment in the summer then I am more on the positive side of this deal then against it.

Surely Rudkin didnt hold sufficient power over the owner and Susan Whelan that he could effectively block the sacking of Rodgers, if that is true then that is absolute madness and on which case the relegation is pretty much on him, which you would have thought would have led to him losing his job. although it does make you wonder just how much accountability and responsibility he has taken within the club’s heirarchy for last seasons utter shit show and maybe as a consequence Top stepped in to oversee the appointment of Enzo, which does suggest Rudkin has lost some support and credibility. My only hope is if he is as complicit in our demise last season and some of the other things being bandied out about him have even a modicum of truth, that he has been given one final opportunity to clear up his own mess or better still he is serving a pre-agreed exit from his role which has a severance package linked to outgoing performance in readiness for a new sporting director to come in from next season. His lack of involvement in the recruitment of Enzo demonstrates that Top has lost some trust in the man.

Ooooooh you tease, joking aside though it is very very concerning the level of power he seems to hold and whether that will create tension with Enzo in the non too distant future and whether this level of power and control is detrimental to the long term success and development of the club.

What will be interesting is how long Newcastle’s owners hang around, they have been here for 2 years and have already hit a ceiling in terms of FFP and will have to sell before they can invest further in improving the squad. They have had a taste of Champions League, however they are now back in mid-table and fairly restricted on what they can do in the transfer market, how long before they get bored and move on? You have to ask the question does this stop or restrict poor owners or does it lead to initial investment, but once the FFP restrictions kick in, owners become bored, frustrated at being restricted which then leads to them withdrawing funding and looking for the exit door. Not sure if this is possible but if they left the £105m threshold in place, but any overspend could be allowed for in the event the owner(s) funded it out of their own pocket, therefore not saddling or crippling the club with debt, but also allowing ambitious owners to retain some opportunity to take calculated risks to be competitive, whilst also safeguarding the clubs, the current model effectively strangles that and therefore we are likely to see lots more Readings etc where owners just lose interest.

£55k per week for a back up keeper who barely played a game for 3/4 years and when he did finally step up proved to be no better than lower end championship quality. At what stage did he do anything to justify such a wage and the powers that be that sanctioned such a package, and no doubt many more to bang average squad players, demonstrate they have completely lost the plot and any modicum of sound business sense. I had a degree of sympathy when we were pushing the FFP limits tying players like Vardy, Fofana, Barnes, Madders, Wilf etc to big contracts, but then you hear stories like this. where we are paying bang average squad players, who have done nothing to earn such recompense being rewarded with contracts and salaries that are 50% or more above their worth. Mismanagement of the highest order and bordering on sheer incompetence.

I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but Talksport has been a pretty interesting listen over the last few days regarding FFP, if you can try to listen to White and Jordan, which has provided genuine insight and debate on the situation. Also Adrian Durham has been quite vocal regards this, one valid point that has been made, is since its inception there has been no allowance or increase to the £105m net loss threshold for inflation or to reflect increased running costs etc. It is farcical and purely in place to prevent clubs like ourselves, Wolves even Newcastle from disrupting the established big 6 for anymore than a season or two, before you are slapped back down from where you came from. As previously mentioned, our relegation will hit us if we do go back up as it will mean the threshold for losses reduces for every season in the championship, hence why Forest have been hit, it means whilst we will have room for manoeuvre in the summer we will still need to be very sensible and innovative in how we recruit.

It’s a strange one with McAteer, during the summer we would probably have been lucky to get an offer of more than 250k, a few games of promise and a few goals and all of a sudden there is premier league interest, I like Kasey but if we get an offer of above £7-8m then I think we have to take it, and use it to reinvest, as I am not sure he has the creativity to be a consistent premier league attacking player. And therefore can see him back in the championship within 12 months and plying his trade there for the remainder of his career.

I know on paper it looks like cutting our nose off to spite our face, What we don’t know is how the deal was structured, could have been quite a low initial payment and heavily incentive driven, might be £4m but we only see a £1m of it upfront and the rest could be if, buts and maybes and all for a deal that is 33% below our valuation, not exactly attractive or necessarily savvy business. Also Iversen will have been due bonuses and loyalty payments as he hasn’t requested a transfer, so there is those additional factors to cost in, especially when completing relatively low value transfers. I am not saying the club haven’t made some serious errors of judgement and decisions, however without all of the facts in front of us it is very difficult to say if we are needlessly holding onto players or we are being low balled to a point where it doesn’t make financial sense to do the deal.