ToonForum - Newcastle United Forum

I know we can't blame all our bad results/form on injuries but...

Why haven’t they ranked it in order of days lost instead?

Bodacious Benny wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 02, 2024 12:52 pm

Why haven’t they ranked it in order of days lost instead?

Thought that myself. Would have made more sense.

Probably to artificially augment Man U's position. If done in days lost then Brentford would be second, with Chelsea and Sheffield United making up the top five

Don't forget that's just injury too so presumably doesn't include Tonali.

Cant help thinking how strong we could potentially look next season if we manage to hold onto Bruno & Joe-L and bring in a couple of new faces . Not sure how realistic it is to hang onto our Brazil boys however

Now with kids like Miley & others pushing into the squad , and the likes of Willock, Pope , Tonali, Anderson , Barnes , Tino, Murphy all pushing to get into the side ... we could end up with an embarrassment of riches if we're not in Europe.

Someone will need to go to help fund improvements - my money would be on Migy , Wilson and Longstaff.

Bring in a top striker to play with/ alternate with Isak , central defensive cover- and perhaps another defensive midfielder ( or move Schar there & find another centre half .

We could be a top 4 fiorce again I believe - dependant on the 3 or 4 faces who come/ go in summer

With no Europe (if we (hopefully) finish outside the conference league places) I can definitely see us getting CL again next season.

Slim999 wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 02, 2024 8:32 pm

Cant help thinking how strong we could potentially look next season if we manage to hold onto Bruno & Joe-L and bring in a couple of new faces . Not sure how realistic it is to hang onto our Brazil boys however

Now with kids like Miley & others pushing into the squad , and the likes of Willock, Pope , Tonali, Anderson , Barnes , Tino, Murphy all pushing to get into the side ... we could end up with an embarrassment of riches if we're not in Europe.

Someone will need to go to help fund improvements - my money would be on Miggy, Wilson and Longstaff.

Bring in a top striker to play with/ alternate with Isak , central defensive cover- and perhaps another defensive midfielder ( or move Schar there & find another centre half .

We could be a top 4 force again I believe - dependant on the 3 or 4 faces who come/ go in summer

Top of my list would be a first team right sided forward, especially if we're moving Miggy on. Although the club have said a 'versatile forward' is top of their agenda, so maybe we're bringing in someone that can play there and up top. That said, we're getting a lot of versatile players, and i'd prefer a dedicated RW and a young/rotation striker.

Will we get much money for Wilson? And I dont see us moving on Longstaff, for potential european squad players as he's club trained.

Would definitely want to see us bring in a proper defensive mid as we've all seen how much we've struggled in midfield defensively recently. Especially with Joelinton out, and especially with his current contract situation meaning we'll likely sell.

We need to sort our LB situation in the summer as well, whether that's bringing someone in or actually giving Hall or Targett some actual minutes there as Burn isnt the long term solution. On that note, we could potentially move on Burn and bring in Lloyd Kelly as his replacement in the squad; plays LB/CB for Bournemouth, was signed by Howe and is out of contract in the summer

Then we also need to sign a young CB as a long term successor to Schar.

Funnily enough this is pretty much exactly the same thing i was saying last summer too

Bodacious Benny wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 02, 2024 8:48 pm

With no Europe (if we (hopefully) finish outside the conference league places) I can definitely see us getting CL again next season.

Nah, f*** that! We're 4 points off the Europa league and with an easier run of games than Man U. And WHam's luck has to run out eventually

If we have a strong end to the season it's definitely doable. If...

Europa League or Europa Conference would be brilliant.

If we move past our injury worries next year, we'll have an embarrassment of riches in some areas. Europe against weaker opposition would be great for making sure Miley, Anderson, Hall, Tino get key minutes to keep developing. Also be tough to keep Tonali, Bruno, Willock, Longstaff, Joelinton happy if there's only PL and domestic cups with 3 places in midfield. Similarly, Gordon and Barnes.

Yeah, this "avoid Europe" thing is daft. Qualify for EL or ECL and you play a cup side in them anyway until the latter stages, with a bit of reinforcement and a little more luck with injuries/wacky bans for something we've more than enough to manage it.

Fully agree with both, I don't get this idea of thumbing our nose at anything that's not champions league. We aren't there yet. The squad as a whole will massively benefit from further European experience. We've struggled massively this season (obviously the tough draws have an effect) due to having a small squad that are relatively naive when it comes to competing on four fronts. Which often leads to games twice a week most weeks. The more our core team get used to playing regularly, and maybe even at a lesser intensity in the conference or europa, the better. Plus the added benefit that the conference is eminently winnable for us.

I’m in a minority, and definitely not turning my nose up at anything that’s not CL. I’d take Europa League, I just don’t rate or value the conference league one bit. It’s essentially the European equivalent to the football league trophy imo.

Bodacious Benny wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 02, 2024 10:52 pm

I’m in a minority, and definitely not turning my nose up at anything that’s not CL. I’d take Europa League, I just don’t rate or value the conference league one bit. It’s essentially the European equivalent to the football league trophy imo.

Even if it is the European equivalent of the pizza cup, I think any European football is huge for improving our coefficient so we can avoid another group of death when we do get back in the Champions League. We got 8 ranking points for this season, West Ham got 21 for winning the Conference League I think.

I don't care if we're playing some team who finished 3rd in the Albanian league, I'd take any sort of European football next season. As someone has said though, a Europa spot is still up for grabs.

Winnable competition, valuable coefficient points up for grabs, less strenuous than the CL and a good cup run can do wonders for confidence.

Blue & Maroon wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 03, 2024 1:07 pm

Winnable competition, valuable coefficient points up for grabs, less strenuous than the CL and a good cup run can do wonders for confidence.

This

Blue & Maroon wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 03, 2024 1:07 pm

Winnable competition, valuable coefficient points up for grabs, less strenuous than the CL and a good cup run can do wonders for confidence.

Agree with above and I can't wait to play the third best team in Azerbaijan.

overseasTOON wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 04, 2024 10:59 am

Blue & Maroon wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 03, 2024 1:07 pm

Winnable competition, valuable coefficient points up for grabs, less strenuous than the CL and a good cup run can do wonders for confidence.

Agree with above and I can't wait to play the third best team in Azerbaijan.

Neftçi PFK, beaten 1-4 at home to Qarabag yesterday - Hall may even get a game

Bodacious Benny wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 04, 2024 11:03 am

overseasTOON wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 04, 2024 10:59 am

Agree with above and I can't wait to play the third best team in Azerbaijan.

Neftçi PFK, beaten 1-4 at home to Qarabag yesterday - Hall may even get a game

i'll have what youre having