thunderball

I think Smith is more adventurous and ambitious than Moyes, I think Smith hasn’t quite yet got the resources he needs to justify his ability and ambition for the club, but it’s not far away. I am not sure Moyes is anything like that, I think Moyes is in the solid, safety-first school of management and will only ever be solid, which has enormous merit, but I just think Smith aspires for more for and from the club. I really hope Smith is here in 5 years time, statistics show 5 years+ helps settle and develop clubs and that is exactly what we need from where we have been this last 15 years.

This is why I think someone like Mings has found his home, we are a family and I think his intelligence sees that and values it. That’s why we should value him too despite his faults - we are getting the best out of him, perhaps more than anyone else could because of the culture and environment engendered by Smith et al. I think it’s important to have a culture of loyalty, and that works both ways.

Early days but relegation remains a real threat for Newcastle, they are surely not able to overhaul themselves in one transfer window? That would be such a wonderful thing wouldnt it!

Anyone know how he's getting on? Has he played any minutes?

I think Smith is the perfect replacement for Southgate, he would be right up the FA's street too, I think he would be a very good England Manager. I dont want him to however, losing Graham Taylor to England was a bad move for all parties all those years ago, I wouldn't want that to happen. If Smith keeps improving he has a job for life, he could be our Ferguson.

A very solid squad player already. Good engine, good decision making, has that great youthful striding athleticism and has bulked up and will only get stronger, he looks comfortable on the ball and with the expectation on his shoulders. I like the way he drives forward and doesnt shirk, always wanting the ball and seems like his confidence is slowly growing, a goal or two will do him wonders I feel, its not far away either. As pointed out by @TRO, needs some stand out performances, although I think the demand for “a few 8’s” is a bit too steep, I think he is doing alright as he is and as much as anyone else at present, as long as he continues to improve. If he doesnt there is plenty of competition for his place, he could wither very quickly here if it doesnt pan out. I think he will make it here though. I cannot say how excited I am about the 4-5 youngsters knocking on the door of the first team squad and places on our bench, this club is doing a great job with them, it really is a very big footballing story.

All this nonsense around Newcastle is missing the point: Our owners are worth circa $10B, but their investment has nothing to do with their worth, its dictated by the ability to spend within the FFP constraints. There are about a dozen eye wateringly rich foreign owners in the UK but they are not allowed to spend the money. If the Newcastle owners are worth $200B they are not suddenly going to spend that on the team. We know there is a sustainable roadmap in place that prevents Abramovich/Manour like spending anymore. The old guard have head start and Champions League money keeps their foot on everyone else’s heads. Even Leicester couldn’t make it stick and they had the financial muscle to do what they wanted. They can’t pay ridiculous wages, they still have to attract the players over other suitors. There is so much more to this than LOADSAMONEY attitude. It does however mean we have competition at our mid table level now, but I would say we have the drop on them for a while at least. The best thing that could happen is they appoint Lampard as manager.

To an extent, depends on the game: opponent and home/away. I dont expect us to play the same 11 or formation every week, we surely have a squad broad enough, when fit, to change it up. I was only responding to the previous post suggesting we could play that formation and keep Watkins and INgs in the same side. When we beat Liverpool 7-2 last season, the team was 4-3-3 with Trez and Grealish either side of Watkins up front, and Barkley in the advanced 10 role (i.e. almost as second striker and with little defensive output). In this set up you can see how we could swap out Buendia for Barkley, and then Bailey and Watkins for Grealish and Trez, if you wanted Ings up top as the most forward placed striker. I am sure Watkins played wide forward for Brentford in the “BMW” front three pairing?

Surely we can play this with 3 forwards: Watkins - Ings - Bailey; and the three in midfield: McGinn - Buendia - Luiz or Sanson

We were poor last season without Grealish. We bought three very good, high quality players to improve us, we are not yet playing them, when we do and familiarise we will be better. It’s going to take a while though. On the positive side: we have improved generally. A lack of quality and a reluctance by Smith to act quickly enough was the difference.

Still getting this right, still have Bailey to come back and he will be a very important player for us. 3-5-2 didn’t really deliver today, that’s a lesson. We had the personnel to win this today but they were given less than 20 minutes. Away from home and we weren’t great but we were not poor or particularly outplayed. That’s progress I guess?

Did you miss last season?

When Bailey does come back I hope the plan is set up to exploit our attacking talent not bringing them With 20 then 10 minutes to go

Lost points on everyone around us today

we need to give Buendia a run of games with his team mates. We are ok at breaking down play but not very creative with it. These substitutions are coming way too late