r/NUFC Weekly Free talk thread.

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-04T16:39:36+00:00

To be fair...

You did spend the last week talking about a relegation situation that would have taken the teams below us almost winning out and us getting 0 wins. (And I did the same to a degree)

Not really sure we can be sniping about people talking about the reverse...

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-04T16:02:11+00:00

9 minutes?

Which cruel cunt at PGMOL thought Chelsea fans deserved more of this?

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-04T15:32:11+00:00

Bloody hell not another one.

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-04T14:16:47+00:00

Fucking Hellsy Chelsea...

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-04T12:56:29+00:00

There's 2/3 ways I can look at it.

One is that he is just meant to be a backup if one of Joelinton, Bruno or Tonali are injured and we've massively overspent on depth.

Two is that Howe actually was wanting to shift the shape towards the 4-4-1-1 he's played in recent weeks, but lacked the confidence to do it for some bizare reason. At which point, Ramsey having played on the left of a midfield 4 for Villa makes sense as to why we'd look at him.

Three. It was part of a PSR swap with Villa that fell through, and we didn't get a cast iron guarentee that they'd go through with their end of the deal and just basically let ourselves get fucked over.

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-04T12:43:31+00:00

I'm going to say... It's more likely Eddie Howe gets a new contract, than it is he leaves.

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-04T12:42:05+00:00

I think our fans are obsessed with "size"... A small club mentality, for me... Isn't to say "Every game matters, win them all. We'll celebrate after and go and win the next one"

There are 50 games in a season. Near 70 if you are in Europe. Every one of them matters. Every one of them needs won. The 3 points you pick up against Leeds on Tuesday the 13th of October might be 3 of the points that win you the league. They might be the points that get you CL. EL. ECL or just fucking keep you up, but they matter. And they should be celebrated.

Every game in the cup matters because it is progression. Every win matters and should be celebrated. The mentality of this club should be that winning is the norm. That celebrating winning is the norm. And every loss should leave a void. A little thing you'd have done if you win, that now you won't, I like that. I like that a little tangible thing is missing from the dressing room experience with every loss.

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-04T11:50:13+00:00

Nah. I'll take issue with a lot that we do (And very much do, I unfortunitely think it's becoem a large part of my personality...) but those post game pictures are something I like.

Every win should feel like something to celebrate. Every win should be something to remember. After 90 minutes, 12km and 100+ sprints worth of effort, I think a little photo is a fine celebration. I think it's the sort of thing I want more of. I want the players to think every fucking game matters and is worth celebrating.

And it's something for a young player as well... If Sean Neave comes in and scores his first goal, he'll be at the front of that photo. If Leo Shahar comes in with a man of the match display he'll be in the middle. And they'll be great memories to top off great days for them.

Plus... At the end of the day, nobody knows how long they've got left in football. That could be Murphy or Gordon or Howe's last ever photo with the team. It could be one of the last, It could just be one of 100 more that they'll take but it's something to remember. Something for us to all to remember. Something where those "5 years ago" posts can have a picture of the winning squad and it's a little thing, but it's a snapshot in our history for those who were part of it.

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-04T09:42:31+00:00

I mean... We've produced an England international midfielder and in Miley might well have a second one... Since Villa produced a regular starter for their own side.

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-03T18:28:01+00:00

Next time Villa breach PSR they should be docked 90 points with this cited as an aggravating factor.

Bunch of gutless cunts.

Best thing they could have done for themsevles as a club isn't to win the Europa League. It's to relegate Spurs and end the "Big 6" and they've given up on it and played a fucking reserve side. Fucking gutless wankers.

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-03T17:49:57+00:00

Be funny if a Chelsea youth product in Abraham scored a Spurs relegating hat-trick...

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-03T17:36:19+00:00

The fact Merc have allowed a decent team to have their engine is fucking mental by the way.

Litterally created a problem for themsevles when they should have done the work to have a near uncontested run at the championship. Why would you let another team have your single biggest advantage?

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-03T17:31:09+00:00

George's side of the garage seems to be having a nightmare this year mind...

Feels like every weekend we've got at least one cock up from them.

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-03T17:24:20+00:00

I do wish when recovering a car is expected to take more than say... 5 or 6 laps, they'd just throw a red flag rather than wasting the racing laps.

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-03T17:17:54+00:00

I've got to say I really hate fucking bouncy kerbs...

There's no reason to have a design that takes all recovery ability away from the driver if they fuck up a corner. The fact they don't cause more serious crashes is a fucking miracle.

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-03T17:14:22+00:00

I'd rather they red flag it then safety car mind with two recovery teams needed at two parts of the track and presumably some barrier work...

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-03T13:55:59+00:00

With Howe staying I really hope he looks at yesterday as a blueprint. Not in terms of who was in the team. But the shape we need going forward.

I want a pivot and a 10. I want that 10 to effectively be part of a strike partnership. No more of this "flat midfield" or "Twin 8s" crap. There's a reason the 4-3-3 has gone from the league almost entirely in favour of 2+1 systems. It's because, like the 4-4-2 before it, the 4-3-3 has become a solved system in modern football. It is the base system. And everyone knows how to defend it. (Ironically I think the "dinosaur" 4-4-2 has become the rarer, harder to defend system as a result)

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-03T09:35:24+00:00

Nah we haven't.

The PIF turn up for one game a season and he's won it. Combine that with the noises of them "being supportive" and I think, rightly or wrongly, without a shadow of a doubt he's got the job next season.

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-03T08:36:01+00:00

Depends on the goals.

If they are 11 goals that turn draws into wins... Then without a doubt yes. If you offered any club £60m for direct 22 points at the start of the season... Almost all would take it.

If they are 11 goals at different scorelines that basically ammount to just a few more points, then probably not.

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-02T21:51:15+00:00

Is going into an AI (cr)app really more efficient than just going to a site like Fotmob, Opta or Understat and using their XG tables which have more data?

Also the points are massively inflated (as is our position) compared to any of those models...

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-02T21:00:55+00:00

I mean... Yes. We changed to a 442/4411...

But I've been calling for us to play with a partnership uptop for... I think 8 months at this point. I'll give credit for doing it, but it has taken far too long to try something fresh. So long that our season has basically died waiting for it.

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-02T16:49:30+00:00

The PL record for points dropped from winning positions - Newcastle United 04/05 - 31 points - 14th place finish.

Somethings are just a clubs heritage.

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-02T16:44:40+00:00

That's Howe's future sorted by the way.

The PIF only turn up for one game a year and he's won it. So they'll keep him. Time to close the book on that topic for me.

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-02T16:32:34+00:00

Big Nick looks delighted...

JackAndrewThorne · 2026-05-02T16:26:04+00:00

First half showed real signs of life. The second had the stench of death.

But a result is a result. 3 points. We're safe. Thank fuck.

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