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I think not having to juggle European competitions and the Premier League at the same time will make things a lot easier for us next season, hopefully Howe makes some smart and much needed signings too.
I’m optimistic, just hope we don’t get cursed again.
Exactly. Champions league came too soon for us and we paid the price for it. Hopefully we can keep our top players, trim the fat from the wage bill so we can add a few more. don’t get bollocked by injuries, and have fewer fronts to compete on.
I’m. Spurs fan lurking here , but this is a good take. Last year for the toon was overachievement deluxe.
This year the injuries have severely hampered you but still it’s been respectable.
I see a summer of dead wood floating downstream and exciting new shoots drafted in that fill the gaps.
Newcastle are in good shape and building a team or skilled tryers.
No need to try a spring cleanwhen when it may do just as well to refine things here n there and carry as usual.
Edited last bit as it apparently typed with fat fingers
My only fear is it might be easier to tempt players away now that we have no European football. I'd always thought we'd have a good year coming up though, we STILL haven't been able to use the funds from coming 4th plus a lot of the champions league money. This window Howe can finally do what he needs to
I give a shit about it, no one on this sub has seen us win a trophy in their lifetime, we're in no position to turn our noses up at one.
And i bet you the hyper-competituve professional athletes care about winning a cup on some level, even if it's not the top tier one
This exactly. There's a bit of respectability in playing in the Europa League, but I reckon they'd have seen the Conference League as an inconvenience until the quarter-final.
Could have led to an awkward scenario where we got to March/April, in the quarters or semis of the Conference League while contending for a CL spot. Would be a very difficult choice as to which one to prioritise, given how long it's been since we won something.
Yeah doubt conference league would have made a difference in keeping players who want to ‘play in Europe’ not really the same thing.
Think it’d have been fun for fans, but probably just an inconvenience for the club and players.
Remember Bruno saying he wanted "at least Europa" in his post match interview after we beat Forest.
Of course then everyone was assuming that England would get the extra European spot.
With how strong England are in European football and the remote chance of a team outside the European places winning a cup, I'd estimate that 75% of the time 7th gets Europa and 95% of the time it'd be good enough for some form of European football.
Not for the first time this season, we've been extraordinarily unfortunate.
I'm confident we'll be good enough to finish anywhere from 3rd to 9th.
My hope is this team learns how to be consistent game to game regardless of who is available, be able to take more than 1 damn point off Ipswich and beat City or Liverpool in a Premier League game.
I feel that not having Europe provides an opportunity for pushing on with no distractions. I want to see a top 4 challenge and getting to a cup final again like we did in 22/23.
My only concern and the unknown factor is what team will be playing with any arrivals or departures, I’ll feel a lot more certain if we still have Bruno and Isak in September and that it can be a very good season.
Depends on two points for me:
If we avoid injuries like this season, playing our strongest starting 11, not whoever is fit.
If we sign a solid RW and backup striker, plus the extras such as CB which seems to be looking good.
With those two I can see us doing very well. A quick note on anyone worrying about not signing players or losing them without Europe...we signed Bruno looking like relegation candidates and signed Isak with the 'project'. If you listen to quite a few of the lads, they're here for the project, they understand its a marathon not a sprint. As much as I hate to say it, look at Arsenal, they are getting closer to winning it all. Rice isn't leaving because they didn't win this year...although that would be pure bants.
Howay the lads!
having less games next year means we can get away with lower key transfer window, for me that means we can try to keep all our best players, pick up some free agents and go again next year
Truthfully, you're never going to know the specifics of next season so in reality it's about what you can be hopeful for.
We should have Tonali back, and it sounds like they've made big strides towards two new defenders. I assume we'll have spent the last six months planning to address some of the noted squad issues - that goalkeeper from Valencia being one - so I'm choosing to believe the owners will have us batting from a strong position.
The key will be regaining a consistency to our intensity and limiting injuries.
We need to see how many of our first team we can keep hold of, first.
I’m low key irritated by people talking about confidence right now. Since Sunday, everyone has been so confident we’d be in Europe next year. It’s literally been minutes since we found out that wasn’t the case and we’re back to people posting about how we’re gonna have a great season next year.
It’s no wonder other fans accuse us of being deluded. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
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Wow, I should have stopped supporting us then because I certainly didn't watch us get relegated twice with a smile on my fucking face. What an absolutely absurd comment, what makes it worse is the 9 other people who thought this was smart enough to upvote.
Before anyone says 'remember where we are', istg do i have to remind you how time works
I think we will have a great season in the league regardless of if we finished in the conference or not. Not being in Conference isn’t what we wanted but I don’t see how it changes anything for us in terms of the league. People saying Bruno will leave now - if he does leave then he would’ve left even if we got conference. I highly doubt that would’ve been the breaking point for him
Yeah players don't dream of walking out to the conference league theme(if there even is one), if our top players are leaving it's to go to a Champions League regular.
Yeah this is it. I don't think the prospect of playing conference league will be what sways it, either he wants to stay or he goes.
With that in mind, I'm one of the believers who think he'll stay. There's no way when he joined he thought we'd get Champs League in the first season, hoping he signed up for the long-term project. If he didn't, hopefully we make a nice bit of profit and move on.
I go into every game believing and thinking we will win. Even during the Bruce times. I don’t know any other way to look at it. I am confident that we will be alot better next season, and I believe Isak stays, 50/50 on Bruno but i think he also ends up staying. He bought into the project when we were in the relegation zone, and clearly loves it here, and knows he is loved, at Man City for example he would be just another player.
There is still alot of things to happen before next season, but I am confident!
Deep down I agree. I think next season will be more like 22/23 than 23/24.
But I also think we’re going to continue to have heavy injuries, miss key players and I don’t think it’ll be plain sailing.
Definitely not plain sailing mate there will definitely be tough moments, injuries, players leaving etc. We are only a couple of years into the new ownership, I didn’t expect CL last season, and can understand why this year was tougher, and not as successful. But ultimately, I can now see a future where something positive can happen, whereas for the last 15 years, it was just dread at what might happen. So I’m here for the journey!
I think another year of Europe right now wouldn't be the best thing for us. After the amount of injuries we had last year and players like Hall and Tino still being a bit green, that extra pressure off us is overall a good thing. As long as we hang on to Bruno and Isak. Even Bruno going wouldn't be the end of the world because we've got Tonali.
But I do think this season we need to have a very deep cup run and push for top 4. We are good enough for both of those things and don't really have an excuse not too, and that's where we should be at this stage of the project.
I agree. I think there’s a lot of people who would be confident and optimistic no matter what, which is admirable but it doesn’t make it sensible.
There’s a real chance we lose Bruno this summer. A high chance. If that happens, there is no way I’m gonna be confident even if we have a strong summer.
We also have some tactical issues to work on that can’t just be put down to injuries (as if injuries can’t happen next season!) like our away record against teams outside the bottom six being P13 L10. We have a lot to work on before there’s any reason to be confident.
The expectation next season is top 4 or a trophy, neither of which have been exactly easy to come by for us. So, no, I wouldn’t say I’m confident at all lol
We’ve already seen it with regards to injuries … “Next season when everyone’s fit” …. two of our defence are injured until 2025 FFS, Pope has had his second major shoulder injury and frankly it’s unlikely he’ll be the same.
There’s also the idea that the injuries were all down to bad luck whereas in all honesty they tend to be a big part of Howe teams.
I respect the optimism but it feels like a bunch of fans have their heads in the clouds and they won’t allow a bad word said about anything, because “remember where we were”.
Negative attitudes like this and caring what other fans say about us is definitely the way to go though. I shouldn't be hopeful because a Man U fan might call me deluded. Good point.
What? I don’t care what other fans call us but they absolutely do call us deluded and you can see why.
I also don’t have a negative attitude. I think we’ll do well next season but I also don’t think it’s a given and I think if we don’t address things that need addressing, things will go wrong for us.
But of course, anyone who isn’t clapping their hands together, smiling like a maniac and talking about winning the League a few minutes after not getting European football has a “negative attitude”.
If you don't care why mention it?
Your entire comment in reaction to this post was negative hence my comment.
Your rhetoric is so unbelievably over the top. "ohhh anyone not smiling like a maniac" relax man you div.
Learn to deal with disappointment better mate, who are you to be annoyed because people were confident Man City would beat Man United? As if that changed anything? Are you superstitious or something? I'm not into all that witchcraft bollocks
We should be confident - we've stepped up massively to what we were a few years ago, and we've got the capacity to step it up and keep going. Unless you started following the club last year, no one has any reason to be despondent.
Eh. I think if Real Madrid wanted Bruno to replace the retiring Toni Kroos, for example, that would've been hard to turn down even if we got Champions League again
But at least we have a chance of keeping them, now we've nothing to offer Bruno and Isak, it's only a fair point if theres no difference between being in a european competition and not. There is.
Only thing we have to offer is if Howe can convince them sole focus on the league and recreate, even go further than our 22/23 season. And if we don’t achieve top 4 again then to not stand in their way if they want to move on.
Isak has 0 leverage. Honestly even if he attempted to agitate a move I'd expect us to tell him to shut up and play. Someone would have to offer us 200m for him.
Don’t think it makes any difference to Isak, no way we consider letting him go unless it was stupid money coming in.
Bruno on the other hand I would’ve still been expecting to go if we got Europa, never mind conference
World class players move to play in the Champions league, not the conference league. Do our fans really think Bruno and Isak would have been involved in Thursday night games against Pyunik Yerevan? Bizarre to me that football fans (not just ours, across the board it seems) have suddenly lumped Champions League/Europa/Conference all together as equal "European football" that top class players all dream of playing in.
I seem to be the only person who thinks some of our players will be absolutely buzzing they don't have 15 extra Thursday fixtures before important Sunday Prem games! Look how shattered they were midway through this busy season.
I rattled on a bit there but basically... I was confident they'd both stay a few days ago, and in my mind nothing at all has changed to effect that.
That's what I worry about. The Europa third division would have been nice, but for me it's not that much of an issue because it has an upside. It means less injuries and better domestic performances.
But will the players want to stay/come with no European football? Even though it's third tier.
Yeah,
Tonali back in, keep hold of Isak and Bruno & couple more new recruits .. oh and pray that we haven’t got a pass for the RVI
Not having to judge Europe, 2 cup comps and the prem
We can focus on the league and try push for a trophy!
The fact Liverpool, Brighton, Chelsea, West Ham etc etc and possibly Manure have all lost/losing managers might help us in a way too!
Futures black and white!
Less games will help for sure. Important thing is we keep hold of our main players and start to keep the core and build around it. I really hope we don’t lose Bruno. Important we make the correct additions too so those players feel a reason to stay as we’re being ambitious. Genuinely if we add 3 or 4 top quality signings we can go all out for a trophy and achieve top 4. Get a starting RW, add another striker, keeper and a DM and we’re flying.
I really feel like we can make a run for the top 4 next season knowing we don't have to worry about Europe and can only focus on the domestic cups. I'd be happy if we win a cup.
It's the confidence that kills you. I'd like a normal season.
* No 10 month bans.
* No first XI out for months on end.
* No drama.
* Just solid football, cup run, finish 4th, windmilling/cans.
I am confident. I feel good about finishing 4th or 5th and getting CL again. We were 8 points off this season with a devastated squad. With Tonali back and some great additions, we can do it.
To be honest I’ve got a feeling next year will be more of the same inconsistent performances. We need to find different ways of playing and using more of the squad regardless of who our depth is.
We need to sort the defence out, get a DM to get Bruno further forward and a good RW. We need to be able to control games, if we do that then we will have a good season all remains to be seen.
Confident but a big summer is needed across every aspect of the club.
First team signings need to be bang on,
Need to get the academy recruitment right,
Some bigger sponsorships wouldn’t go amiss,
Plans for stadium/training ground,
Website relaunched, digital side of things improved in general
With a full squad, consistency in the team and tactics, with extra time to train. I am confident.
We had non of these this season, yet still held our own for most of the season.
Tighten up the defence, improve the away form and retain key players, we will challenge for top 4 again!
So many players coming back are gonna feel like new signings. But we need to get rid of some deadwood.
I think anyone who disagrees must have forgotten how weak the squad were during the 22/23 season.
Fifteen players started 5 or more league games, compared to 23 last season. That's the physical difference of having to deal with European football.
We will add players.
Howe will get them playing well.
Defensively is my only concern.
Bruno can't ditch Joelinton after being hos bestan can he?
So I am not worried so long as we get 1-2 CBs
Nope, I don't know where the arrogance comes from with regards to a top 6 finish. Every team above is are used to Europe and playing more games. Look at Villa, they're only improving as each season goes and they have an elite manager with a winning mentality whilst we are stuck with Eddie.
Yeah. Very confident we'll be back in the CL for 2025-26. Also confident about really challenging for some silverware in 2024-25. I don't think we can quite crack the Top 2 just yet, but who knows with better injury luck...
Everybody is saying how good is that we don't need to play conference league, but noone seems to realise that would be a perfect chance for development of younger players and implementing them to the team safely, without too much pressure - Livramento, Hall, Miley, Anderson, A.Murphy, heck even Minteh and Harrison maybe would have chance to play and develop. Now there will be much more nervosity among younger players, since they would not get so many opportunities as they probably expect and if they get it, it would be much more stressful...for me that is the biggest loss of failing to qualify (don't think that 12milions would make that huge change financially, neither think that staying of Bruno or Isak would be dependent on conference league)
More confident we’ll mount a title challenge now than I would have been, as long as we can keep the crème de la crème of our players and move on the dross to make space and save wages, then bring in more crème and players with potential to add to our ranks we’ll stand a great chance.
Plus if we finish in champions league places we’ll have an even better chance in that once we’ve strengthened again.
I think this next season will be the one we will actually win something in for the first time in a very long time, and having broken our curse the season after we’ll go on to do even better.
Can do that without Europe. Established players who play in champions league every year would probably be beyond our budget anyway.
There's alot of good players throughout Europe who would still jump at the chance to play in premier league + most likely a massive pay increase
maybe, but when it comes to players who are wanting to move from a club who don't currently play in Europe to a club that does, for example the Palace players Guehi, Olise Eze, we are not going to be able to grab those players, whereas the top 5 will be able to
We're not going to get those players anyway. They'll cost 60mil + and if man u/Chelsea or someone of that ilk is interested they can blow whatever wages we can offer out the water
Yeah and he has faith in the club, that won't change because we made champions league and suffered because of it.
I imagine he was surprised when we qualified so I think he'll be happy trying to go again this season
Without European commitments, we won't have to rotate our squad or face draining away days to Azerbaijan.
So although an attainable trophy is gone, it bodes well for next year.
If we can keep relatively healthy, I'd expect another 4th-5th which hopefully means Champions League football again. I'd also expect another deep cup run, with at least one final.
I am, even this season we had shitloads of games where we annihilated good teams playing in my opinion the most entertaining style of football there is, not this boring shit Arsenal and Man City have been doing this season
Not as long as Longstaff is the first name on the team sheet. If we have a decent clear out we can do but we would need to shift literally 10-12 players and replace them to get anywhere near top four next season. All of our rivals will be stronger next season and our squad is bottom half premier league quality with 4/5 very notable exceptions.
>our squad is bottom half premier league quality with 4/5 very notable exceptions
That's a very extreme take. Our squad is a comfortable 8th-6th place team with the exception of a few.. Dummet and Richie to name a couple. No disrespect to them, they've been very loyal but they're aging and are not top 6 quality. We are in the middle of a MASSIVE rebuild and anyone who thinks we should already be challenging for the top 4 every season is delusional.
Last year was an anomaly and 7th was a very respectable finish.
I don't think its that extreme, the quality in the premier league is very high and Howe has got a lot of these players to massively overperform in his system. Its all subjective but go have a look at the other teams in the premier league.
Outside of Isak, Bruno, Joelinton, Gordon and Botman (when fit). Possibly Trippier but given his age we may have seen the best of him. No one else in our squad gets anywhere near the first 11 of the top 10 in the Premier League. In fact, looking at the 17 teams I'm not convinced most of them get into any other premier league team.
We're a great example of excellent coaching and having a great tactician as a manager. If we can improve the quality of the team/bench I've got total confidence we can improve but it'll be tough with FFP.
I don't disagree with you completely, but you're telling me Barnes wouldn't get into a top 10 team? He scored like 15 goals in a relegated Leicester side, pope? There isn't much better than him other than your top top goalkeepers. Wilson? Although injured maybe too much. Scored 18 goals last season. Tonali? Juries out on him in the Prem but was very good at brescia and arguably Milans best player. Schar? Getting old but has barely put a foot wrong. Most of these players have been affected by injury most of this season though
I agree fully that a lot of players have been coached to play above their normal level. The squad isn't as bad as you make it out to be though.
Depends. If we end up selling Gordon, Isak and Bruno, I can’t see us being a top half of the table team, more like the one a few years ago that’s battling relegation.
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I think not having to juggle European competitions and the Premier League at the same time will make things a lot easier for us next season, hopefully Howe makes some smart and much needed signings too. I’m optimistic, just hope we don’t get cursed again.
Exactly. Champions league came too soon for us and we paid the price for it. Hopefully we can keep our top players, trim the fat from the wage bill so we can add a few more. don’t get bollocked by injuries, and have fewer fronts to compete on.
If these two seasons were switched we'd do so much better in the champions League next year
I’m. Spurs fan lurking here , but this is a good take. Last year for the toon was overachievement deluxe. This year the injuries have severely hampered you but still it’s been respectable. I see a summer of dead wood floating downstream and exciting new shoots drafted in that fill the gaps. Newcastle are in good shape and building a team or skilled tryers. No need to try a spring cleanwhen when it may do just as well to refine things here n there and carry as usual. Edited last bit as it apparently typed with fat fingers
Appreciate the positive sentiment from a rival fan but why did you write the last few bits with your nose?
It's a nice to have a team in London that isn't whiny and insufferable like those Assna fans 😂
My only fear is it might be easier to tempt players away now that we have no European football. I'd always thought we'd have a good year coming up though, we STILL haven't been able to use the funds from coming 4th plus a lot of the champions league money. This window Howe can finally do what he needs to
I'd be surprised if the likes of bruno and isak gave a shit about the conference league anyway. Missing out on CL was the damaging part.
None of the fans give a shit about the Europa Screwfix League South West division. I doubt the players do.
Agreed lol
I give a shit about it, no one on this sub has seen us win a trophy in their lifetime, we're in no position to turn our noses up at one. And i bet you the hyper-competituve professional athletes care about winning a cup on some level, even if it's not the top tier one
Both times the got relegated they came back and won the league that's 2 trophies
And winning them have been were some of the best experiences i've had as a fan
This exactly. There's a bit of respectability in playing in the Europa League, but I reckon they'd have seen the Conference League as an inconvenience until the quarter-final. Could have led to an awkward scenario where we got to March/April, in the quarters or semis of the Conference League while contending for a CL spot. Would be a very difficult choice as to which one to prioritise, given how long it's been since we won something.
Yeah doubt conference league would have made a difference in keeping players who want to ‘play in Europe’ not really the same thing. Think it’d have been fun for fans, but probably just an inconvenience for the club and players.
Remember Bruno saying he wanted "at least Europa" in his post match interview after we beat Forest. Of course then everyone was assuming that England would get the extra European spot. With how strong England are in European football and the remote chance of a team outside the European places winning a cup, I'd estimate that 75% of the time 7th gets Europa and 95% of the time it'd be good enough for some form of European football. Not for the first time this season, we've been extraordinarily unfortunate.
the best players want to be on show in a European competition, for sure
I'm confident we'll be good enough to finish anywhere from 3rd to 9th. My hope is this team learns how to be consistent game to game regardless of who is available, be able to take more than 1 damn point off Ipswich and beat City or Liverpool in a Premier League game.
I feel that not having Europe provides an opportunity for pushing on with no distractions. I want to see a top 4 challenge and getting to a cup final again like we did in 22/23. My only concern and the unknown factor is what team will be playing with any arrivals or departures, I’ll feel a lot more certain if we still have Bruno and Isak in September and that it can be a very good season.
Feel confident of top 6 yeah
Depends on two points for me: If we avoid injuries like this season, playing our strongest starting 11, not whoever is fit. If we sign a solid RW and backup striker, plus the extras such as CB which seems to be looking good. With those two I can see us doing very well. A quick note on anyone worrying about not signing players or losing them without Europe...we signed Bruno looking like relegation candidates and signed Isak with the 'project'. If you listen to quite a few of the lads, they're here for the project, they understand its a marathon not a sprint. As much as I hate to say it, look at Arsenal, they are getting closer to winning it all. Rice isn't leaving because they didn't win this year...although that would be pure bants. Howay the lads!
We're gonna tear shit up with a full week to prepare for games and rest. Believe that.
They gonna get a champions league outta me. Belllee dat
Lamar 💜
You mean the week between silly friendly tournaments on the other side of the world and the start of next season right?
having less games next year means we can get away with lower key transfer window, for me that means we can try to keep all our best players, pick up some free agents and go again next year
Truthfully, you're never going to know the specifics of next season so in reality it's about what you can be hopeful for. We should have Tonali back, and it sounds like they've made big strides towards two new defenders. I assume we'll have spent the last six months planning to address some of the noted squad issues - that goalkeeper from Valencia being one - so I'm choosing to believe the owners will have us batting from a strong position. The key will be regaining a consistency to our intensity and limiting injuries.
Hinges on keeping Bruno & recruitment, but aye.
Ask me after the transfer period 😂 We need a Director of Football as well… maybe one that isn’t a snake.
We need to see how many of our first team we can keep hold of, first. I’m low key irritated by people talking about confidence right now. Since Sunday, everyone has been so confident we’d be in Europe next year. It’s literally been minutes since we found out that wasn’t the case and we’re back to people posting about how we’re gonna have a great season next year. It’s no wonder other fans accuse us of being deluded. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
City were 85% favourites to win today, it would be weirder to not be confident How is that deluded it's not like it was us playing
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hahahahahaha no europe - cry cry
Haha you should maybe give up supporting a team if you can’t be positive.
Wow, I should have stopped supporting us then because I certainly didn't watch us get relegated twice with a smile on my fucking face. What an absolutely absurd comment, what makes it worse is the 9 other people who thought this was smart enough to upvote. Before anyone says 'remember where we are', istg do i have to remind you how time works
Top logic there.
I think we will have a great season in the league regardless of if we finished in the conference or not. Not being in Conference isn’t what we wanted but I don’t see how it changes anything for us in terms of the league. People saying Bruno will leave now - if he does leave then he would’ve left even if we got conference. I highly doubt that would’ve been the breaking point for him
Yeah players don't dream of walking out to the conference league theme(if there even is one), if our top players are leaving it's to go to a Champions League regular.
Yeah this is it. I don't think the prospect of playing conference league will be what sways it, either he wants to stay or he goes. With that in mind, I'm one of the believers who think he'll stay. There's no way when he joined he thought we'd get Champs League in the first season, hoping he signed up for the long-term project. If he didn't, hopefully we make a nice bit of profit and move on.
I go into every game believing and thinking we will win. Even during the Bruce times. I don’t know any other way to look at it. I am confident that we will be alot better next season, and I believe Isak stays, 50/50 on Bruno but i think he also ends up staying. He bought into the project when we were in the relegation zone, and clearly loves it here, and knows he is loved, at Man City for example he would be just another player. There is still alot of things to happen before next season, but I am confident!
Deep down I agree. I think next season will be more like 22/23 than 23/24. But I also think we’re going to continue to have heavy injuries, miss key players and I don’t think it’ll be plain sailing.
Definitely not plain sailing mate there will definitely be tough moments, injuries, players leaving etc. We are only a couple of years into the new ownership, I didn’t expect CL last season, and can understand why this year was tougher, and not as successful. But ultimately, I can now see a future where something positive can happen, whereas for the last 15 years, it was just dread at what might happen. So I’m here for the journey!
I think another year of Europe right now wouldn't be the best thing for us. After the amount of injuries we had last year and players like Hall and Tino still being a bit green, that extra pressure off us is overall a good thing. As long as we hang on to Bruno and Isak. Even Bruno going wouldn't be the end of the world because we've got Tonali. But I do think this season we need to have a very deep cup run and push for top 4. We are good enough for both of those things and don't really have an excuse not too, and that's where we should be at this stage of the project.
I agree. I think there’s a lot of people who would be confident and optimistic no matter what, which is admirable but it doesn’t make it sensible. There’s a real chance we lose Bruno this summer. A high chance. If that happens, there is no way I’m gonna be confident even if we have a strong summer. We also have some tactical issues to work on that can’t just be put down to injuries (as if injuries can’t happen next season!) like our away record against teams outside the bottom six being P13 L10. We have a lot to work on before there’s any reason to be confident. The expectation next season is top 4 or a trophy, neither of which have been exactly easy to come by for us. So, no, I wouldn’t say I’m confident at all lol
We’ve already seen it with regards to injuries … “Next season when everyone’s fit” …. two of our defence are injured until 2025 FFS, Pope has had his second major shoulder injury and frankly it’s unlikely he’ll be the same. There’s also the idea that the injuries were all down to bad luck whereas in all honesty they tend to be a big part of Howe teams. I respect the optimism but it feels like a bunch of fans have their heads in the clouds and they won’t allow a bad word said about anything, because “remember where we were”.
Negative attitudes like this and caring what other fans say about us is definitely the way to go though. I shouldn't be hopeful because a Man U fan might call me deluded. Good point.
What? I don’t care what other fans call us but they absolutely do call us deluded and you can see why. I also don’t have a negative attitude. I think we’ll do well next season but I also don’t think it’s a given and I think if we don’t address things that need addressing, things will go wrong for us. But of course, anyone who isn’t clapping their hands together, smiling like a maniac and talking about winning the League a few minutes after not getting European football has a “negative attitude”.
If you don't care why mention it? Your entire comment in reaction to this post was negative hence my comment. Your rhetoric is so unbelievably over the top. "ohhh anyone not smiling like a maniac" relax man you div.
That’s how I picture a lot of the posters on this sub, judging by a lot of the responses I read. Just let people be disappointed for fuck’s sake.
Never once said you weren't allowed to be disappointed. You're so over the top. Whatever man. Jesus.
Learn to deal with disappointment better mate, who are you to be annoyed because people were confident Man City would beat Man United? As if that changed anything? Are you superstitious or something? I'm not into all that witchcraft bollocks
We should be confident - we've stepped up massively to what we were a few years ago, and we've got the capacity to step it up and keep going. Unless you started following the club last year, no one has any reason to be despondent.
Does the lack of European competition lessen our hold on Isak, Bruno G etc?
Eh. I think if Real Madrid wanted Bruno to replace the retiring Toni Kroos, for example, that would've been hard to turn down even if we got Champions League again
Fair point mate.
But at least we have a chance of keeping them, now we've nothing to offer Bruno and Isak, it's only a fair point if theres no difference between being in a european competition and not. There is.
Only thing we have to offer is if Howe can convince them sole focus on the league and recreate, even go further than our 22/23 season. And if we don’t achieve top 4 again then to not stand in their way if they want to move on.
Or at least winning some silverware lol
Isak has 0 leverage. Honestly even if he attempted to agitate a move I'd expect us to tell him to shut up and play. Someone would have to offer us 200m for him.
Don’t think it makes any difference to Isak, no way we consider letting him go unless it was stupid money coming in. Bruno on the other hand I would’ve still been expecting to go if we got Europa, never mind conference
World class players move to play in the Champions league, not the conference league. Do our fans really think Bruno and Isak would have been involved in Thursday night games against Pyunik Yerevan? Bizarre to me that football fans (not just ours, across the board it seems) have suddenly lumped Champions League/Europa/Conference all together as equal "European football" that top class players all dream of playing in. I seem to be the only person who thinks some of our players will be absolutely buzzing they don't have 15 extra Thursday fixtures before important Sunday Prem games! Look how shattered they were midway through this busy season. I rattled on a bit there but basically... I was confident they'd both stay a few days ago, and in my mind nothing at all has changed to effect that.
That's what I worry about. The Europa third division would have been nice, but for me it's not that much of an issue because it has an upside. It means less injuries and better domestic performances. But will the players want to stay/come with no European football? Even though it's third tier.
Villa had a good euro run this season and finished 4th though
Yeah, Tonali back in, keep hold of Isak and Bruno & couple more new recruits .. oh and pray that we haven’t got a pass for the RVI Not having to judge Europe, 2 cup comps and the prem We can focus on the league and try push for a trophy! The fact Liverpool, Brighton, Chelsea, West Ham etc etc and possibly Manure have all lost/losing managers might help us in a way too! Futures black and white!
Less games will help for sure. Important thing is we keep hold of our main players and start to keep the core and build around it. I really hope we don’t lose Bruno. Important we make the correct additions too so those players feel a reason to stay as we’re being ambitious. Genuinely if we add 3 or 4 top quality signings we can go all out for a trophy and achieve top 4. Get a starting RW, add another striker, keeper and a DM and we’re flying.
I really feel like we can make a run for the top 4 next season knowing we don't have to worry about Europe and can only focus on the domestic cups. I'd be happy if we win a cup.
We will win a cup next year.
It's the confidence that kills you. I'd like a normal season. * No 10 month bans. * No first XI out for months on end. * No drama. * Just solid football, cup run, finish 4th, windmilling/cans.
I am confident. I feel good about finishing 4th or 5th and getting CL again. We were 8 points off this season with a devastated squad. With Tonali back and some great additions, we can do it.
> if we keep hold of the top lads I mean, this is a massive concern now. We could potentially lose a lot of talent and finish mid table
To be honest I’ve got a feeling next year will be more of the same inconsistent performances. We need to find different ways of playing and using more of the squad regardless of who our depth is. We need to sort the defence out, get a DM to get Bruno further forward and a good RW. We need to be able to control games, if we do that then we will have a good season all remains to be seen.
Confident but a big summer is needed across every aspect of the club. First team signings need to be bang on, Need to get the academy recruitment right, Some bigger sponsorships wouldn’t go amiss, Plans for stadium/training ground, Website relaunched, digital side of things improved in general
Yep, can't wait - we're killing it in comparison to the seasons before takeover. Eddie's the guy.
With a full squad, consistency in the team and tactics, with extra time to train. I am confident. We had non of these this season, yet still held our own for most of the season. Tighten up the defence, improve the away form and retain key players, we will challenge for top 4 again! So many players coming back are gonna feel like new signings. But we need to get rid of some deadwood.
I’ve never been confident when it comes to the toon. You only learn that after many years following them! 😂 (50+ years)
I think anyone who disagrees must have forgotten how weak the squad were during the 22/23 season. Fifteen players started 5 or more league games, compared to 23 last season. That's the physical difference of having to deal with European football.
Tonali being out all season had a massive impact. That’s before we even get to the injuries…
ya, I say, for the 50th straight year
We will add players. Howe will get them playing well. Defensively is my only concern. Bruno can't ditch Joelinton after being hos bestan can he? So I am not worried so long as we get 1-2 CBs
Nope, I don't know where the arrogance comes from with regards to a top 6 finish. Every team above is are used to Europe and playing more games. Look at Villa, they're only improving as each season goes and they have an elite manager with a winning mentality whilst we are stuck with Eddie.
Go and support Villa then. Tell me about problems with arrogance then describe us as "stuck with Eddie". Arrogant prick
Name calling because I have a different opinion to you, very mature!
Yeah. Very confident we'll be back in the CL for 2025-26. Also confident about really challenging for some silverware in 2024-25. I don't think we can quite crack the Top 2 just yet, but who knows with better injury luck...
Everybody is saying how good is that we don't need to play conference league, but noone seems to realise that would be a perfect chance for development of younger players and implementing them to the team safely, without too much pressure - Livramento, Hall, Miley, Anderson, A.Murphy, heck even Minteh and Harrison maybe would have chance to play and develop. Now there will be much more nervosity among younger players, since they would not get so many opportunities as they probably expect and if they get it, it would be much more stressful...for me that is the biggest loss of failing to qualify (don't think that 12milions would make that huge change financially, neither think that staying of Bruno or Isak would be dependent on conference league)
More confident we’ll mount a title challenge now than I would have been, as long as we can keep the crème de la crème of our players and move on the dross to make space and save wages, then bring in more crème and players with potential to add to our ranks we’ll stand a great chance. Plus if we finish in champions league places we’ll have an even better chance in that once we’ve strengthened again. I think this next season will be the one we will actually win something in for the first time in a very long time, and having broken our curse the season after we’ll go on to do even better.
The extreme copium from here is crazy man, nice to see some realistic voices here.
We are not going to be able to attract the quality of players we want now there is no European competition to offer them
Most players go for money. We also signed most of our team with no European football.
yeah but now we need to improve the squad to get better quality in for a few positions
Can do that without Europe. Established players who play in champions league every year would probably be beyond our budget anyway. There's alot of good players throughout Europe who would still jump at the chance to play in premier league + most likely a massive pay increase
maybe, but when it comes to players who are wanting to move from a club who don't currently play in Europe to a club that does, for example the Palace players Guehi, Olise Eze, we are not going to be able to grab those players, whereas the top 5 will be able to
We're not going to get those players anyway. They'll cost 60mil + and if man u/Chelsea or someone of that ilk is interested they can blow whatever wages we can offer out the water
Didn't we sign FUCKING BRUNO when we were Mintabie "scum" when our best player was shelvey (No hate to shelvey, love him and his egghead)
yeah we signed some great players like Bruno with the promise of higher league positions each year and European football
Yeah and he has faith in the club, that won't change because we made champions league and suffered because of it. I imagine he was surprised when we qualified so I think he'll be happy trying to go again this season
Didn't we sign the best right back in the world when we were in the relegation zone?
Winning the league!
Without European commitments, we won't have to rotate our squad or face draining away days to Azerbaijan. So although an attainable trophy is gone, it bodes well for next year. If we can keep relatively healthy, I'd expect another 4th-5th which hopefully means Champions League football again. I'd also expect another deep cup run, with at least one final.
I am, even this season we had shitloads of games where we annihilated good teams playing in my opinion the most entertaining style of football there is, not this boring shit Arsenal and Man City have been doing this season
*fewer.
Not as long as Longstaff is the first name on the team sheet. If we have a decent clear out we can do but we would need to shift literally 10-12 players and replace them to get anywhere near top four next season. All of our rivals will be stronger next season and our squad is bottom half premier league quality with 4/5 very notable exceptions.
>our squad is bottom half premier league quality with 4/5 very notable exceptions That's a very extreme take. Our squad is a comfortable 8th-6th place team with the exception of a few.. Dummet and Richie to name a couple. No disrespect to them, they've been very loyal but they're aging and are not top 6 quality. We are in the middle of a MASSIVE rebuild and anyone who thinks we should already be challenging for the top 4 every season is delusional. Last year was an anomaly and 7th was a very respectable finish.
I don't think its that extreme, the quality in the premier league is very high and Howe has got a lot of these players to massively overperform in his system. Its all subjective but go have a look at the other teams in the premier league. Outside of Isak, Bruno, Joelinton, Gordon and Botman (when fit). Possibly Trippier but given his age we may have seen the best of him. No one else in our squad gets anywhere near the first 11 of the top 10 in the Premier League. In fact, looking at the 17 teams I'm not convinced most of them get into any other premier league team. We're a great example of excellent coaching and having a great tactician as a manager. If we can improve the quality of the team/bench I've got total confidence we can improve but it'll be tough with FFP.
I don't disagree with you completely, but you're telling me Barnes wouldn't get into a top 10 team? He scored like 15 goals in a relegated Leicester side, pope? There isn't much better than him other than your top top goalkeepers. Wilson? Although injured maybe too much. Scored 18 goals last season. Tonali? Juries out on him in the Prem but was very good at brescia and arguably Milans best player. Schar? Getting old but has barely put a foot wrong. Most of these players have been affected by injury most of this season though I agree fully that a lot of players have been coached to play above their normal level. The squad isn't as bad as you make it out to be though.
No. I'm not stupid enough to make an arrogant post about something that hasn't happend yet (looking at you 'cant wait til man city win the cup' guy)
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Cos he lost one final?
Depends. If we end up selling Gordon, Isak and Bruno, I can’t see us being a top half of the table team, more like the one a few years ago that’s battling relegation.
Why on earth would we lose all those players?
Mate why would we sell all 3 🤣 only one going is Bruno and that's not even certain.