Premier League 2020/21

[Szumi]

VAR ruling in favor of us? What is this madness!?

[Matt]

13 hours ago, Adam said:

Yeah, really sad news. Roeder was a big part of the Premier League when I was growing up.

I still half expected him to take caretaker charge of any bottom half club that sacked their manager. Sad news.

[DavidMarrio]

65 is no age at all. 

I remember Roeder being in charge of Newcastle when I was a kid and I was getting more and more into footy. 

Just sad for his friends and family

[Hobo]

13 hours ago, Szumi - A Polack said:

VAR ruling in favor of us? What is this madness!?

Wait.. Did I miss something?

[DavidMarrio]

48 minutes ago, Hobo said:

Wait.. Did I miss something?

Assuming he means about whether the ball was still in play for the first goal. Lee Mason would have ruled that it went out despite the evidence

Thought it was a decent performance. Comfortable, got the job done and three points when those above have dropped points. 

Kabak/Phillips/Adrian did alright. Considering that combination is far from ideal. Gini had a better game as well he took some ownership and was driving forward and Jones had a great game too. 

[Colly]

Honestly, the very worst thing about VAR is the removal of the word "level" from the football lexicon. I honestly think if we weren't dealing with the worst commentators I can remember (BT Sport being the worst culprits) this nonsense would have been laughed out of the league by October.

[Gazz]

Quote

Steve Bruce and Matt Ritchie were involved in a sensational training ground showdown in which the Newcastle boss physically confronted the winger and barged into him after being called a 'coward' by the player.  The expletive-laden bust-up — witnessed by stunned team-mates on Tuesday — leaves Bruce's position under threat, with several players no longer trusting the manager, especially after he publicly blamed them for Saturday's 1-1 draw with Wolves.  Ritchie was furious when Bruce, during his post-match interview, accused him of not passing on tactical instructions to the team amid the confusion before Wolves' equalising goal.  

He is said to have telephoned Bruce after the game and wanted to have it out there and then. Bruce said he would speak to the 31-year-old at training on Tuesday. It is said this caused Ritchie further irritation.  However, when assistant boss Steve Agnew was sent to the training pitch to tell Ritchie that Bruce was ready to see him in his office, the player refused and said he was not speaking to the 'coward' again.  A livid Bruce emerged to confront Ritchie and this is when their incredible exchange unfolded, as Sportsmail can exclusively reveal. 

We have been told Bruce was 'shoulder-barging' into Ritchie but the player did not retaliate physically. The 60-year-old was allegedly infuriated by Ritchie calling him a 'coward' and said to him: 'After all I've done for you.'  Sources say Ritchie, who was awarded a new contract last year, responded by saying: 'You've done f*** all for me,' before telling Bruce he was a 'coward' and that he was 'done' with him.  Bruce is then understood to have said: 'What are you going to do? Tell Lee Charnley?'  This is thought to be a reference to Bruce's suspicion that players have reported their unhappiness to the managing director. Interestingly, we are told Charnley appeared at the training ground on Wednesday.  We understand team-mates have sided with Ritchie and that there is a growing feeling of resentment towards Bruce in the dressing room.  The players were said to be 'disgusted' when news of Karl Darlow being dropped appeared in the press last week — before the goalkeeper had been informed — and they believe it was Bruce who leaked the news. Bruce told Darlow that he was not playing on Friday — 72 hours after the story broke — and the keeper challenged him on the press report. Bruce denied leaking it.  

One source said: 'There has long been an inquest into who has been leaking stories from the training ground and the manager has stood back and watched players and staff accuse each other, yet he is the biggest leak of all. Most of the players do not trust him and do not like him.'  Several players want new assistant boss Graeme Jones to take charge until the end of the season, believing he represents their best chance of avoiding relegation.   Bruce, it is claimed, even told some players that he thought Jones was to blame for the tactical mix-up that led to Wolves' goal. This spread among the squad on Tuesday and was met with a response of, 'It's never his fault'.  Meanwhile, some in the dressing room were annoyed when midfielder Jonjo Shelvey gave an interview on a podcast last week in which he lauded Bruce.  A source said: 'It did not go down well among the players. They are saying Jonjo looked like a hostage in the video, as if he was being forced to say it.'  We are told that some players are now openly laughing in WhatsApp groups at some of Bruce's comments in the media, especially his recent claims that he was now going to do things 'his way' after 18 months in charge.

But none of them were laughing on Saturday after Bruce blamed Ritchie for not passing on a change in formation when he came on as a substitute. Newcastle lost the ball and, with players out of position, Wolves broke and scored, costing the side two points.  Bruce also took aim at defender Jamal Lewis and goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, as well as striker Joelinton.  There is a feeling among the players that the manager rarely takes responsibility and is all too quick to pass the buck on to them. That is said to be part of the reason behind Ritchie's outburst. Their relationship has been on thorny ground for several weeks now.  Newcastle are three points above the bottom three and are on a run of two wins from 17 matches in all competitions. They travel to 19th-placed West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. The hierarchy are sticking by Bruce but, with players no longer hiding their displeasure with his management, it could leave owner Mike Ashley and Charnley asking serious questions as to the best way forward.  Newcastle, Bruce and Ritchie did not wish to comment. However, it is understood that Ritchie apologised to staff and players at the training ground on Wednesday.

God I hope that's all true. Ritchie should have nutted the cunt.

[gunnar hendershow]

If only a manager many of these players liked and respected was merely a phone call away.

[Colly]

8 hours ago, damshow said:

If only a manager many of these players liked and respected was merely a phone call away.

[Lineker]

Quote

Newcastle United’s players and staff have been reminded of the need for discretion after details of a heated training-ground altercation between Matt Ritchie and Steve Bruce were leaked to a newspaper.

Ritchie has apologised in front of Newcastle’s first-team squad but it hardly represents the ideal buildup to Sunday’s vital game at West Brom as Bruce endeavours to avoid relegation.

Although Ritchie’s apology was intended to bring closure to the controversy and clear-the-air talks are said to have resolved the issue, Bruce remains under intense pressure after two wins in the past 15 Premier League matches. That sequence has left Newcastle only three points above the relegation zone.

The manager could not hide his frustration following last Saturday’s 1-1 home draw with Wolves and Ritchie took issue with Bruce’s claim that the midfielder had failed to pass on tactical instructions regarding a change of formation when he came on seconds before Rúben Neves equalised with his first headed top-tier goal. Ritchie is understood to have retaliated by calling Bruce, among other things, “a coward”.

Ritchie, a Newcastle regular under Rafael Benítez, has lost his starting place in recent months and was frustrated at the collapse of a proposed transfer back to Bournemouth in January.

In the wake of the former Scotland international’s skirmish with Bruce, first reported by the Daily Mail, a squad understood to harbour differing opinions about the current regime have been warned about the need to pull together and present a united front to the outside world. It has been made plain that leaks will not be tolerated.

Bruce controversially also publicly criticised his goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, left-back Jamal Lewis and striker Joelinton after the Wolves game but is expected to pick his words more carefully when he addresses the media on Friday morning.

His cause at the Hawthorns is hampered by the loss of three key players to injuries set to sideline them until April at the earliest. Newcastle’s leading scorer, Callum Wilson, Miguel Almirón and Allan Saint-Maximin will be absent against the Premier League’s second-bottom team, leaving Bruce low on pace, creativity and potential goalscorers.

Quite apart from the injured trio having scored 16 of Newcastle’s 27 league goals, the attendant loss of speed is similarly far from an ideal for an essentially counterattacking side.

 

[FLiam]

Mourinho starting Alli, Bale, Son and Kane today. Why has it taken him this long? I mean, on paper at least that's a decent front four.  

[Lineker]

Ndombele will probably have to be more withdrawn. That's the downside.

[Cymbols]

49 minutes ago, Lineker said:

 

I do like that the “stop leaking things ffs” message got leaked.

[lanky316]

fucking hell that's a lucky break...

[Kyle]

After me being convinced Richarlison had lost his shooting boots this season, he's now scored four games in a row. I enjoy being wrong occasionally.

[Liam]

2 minutes ago, lanky316 said:

fucking hell that's a lucky break...

I mean, that's a shocking handball decision. By the letter of the law, but that shouldn't be the law.

[lanky316]

Just now, Liam said:

I mean, that's a shocking handball decision. By the letter of the law, but that shouldn't be the law.

Yeah, the law was bought in due to the fact that people complained about teams benefiting from players charging the ball down and getting an advantage. I understand the rule, if someone handles it remove the grey area to stop it coming down to a judgement call but then you see situations like that... The consolation for Fulham is Spurs are playing so badly here it may not mean anything in the end

[DavidMarrio]

VAR is bollocks. Like Chelsea should be one up there

Doesn't matter now... Let Mason Mount cut inside and shoot and don't bother to close him down. Been done by the same ball over and over. Just smack it long in the air and struggle to defend it. 

Predictable in attack, shite at the back. 

[Szumi]

Klopp has that back line set up so high up the pitch it's like leaving your door wide open and then being surprised when someone walks in the door and robs you. It's asinine. Only down 1-0 because VAR is fucking stupid.

[DavidMarrio]

Can't wait for the season to finish. Put me out my misery. Watched the same match since Christmas 

These subs have baffled me tonight. Chamberlain hasn't been the same player since the injuries so let's bring him on. Let's take the league's top goalscorer off when we need a goal and oh our final sub we still need a goal let's bring Milner on.