Fammyfan

It’s all about fine margins, I think it’s all came down to strength in depth. Arteta has done brilliantly to manage with some of the absences in the squad but the loss of Saliba was the straw that broke the camels back. Had Saliba been fit, the title race would be going down to the wire as I don’t think the disappointing results against Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton would have happened as they did.

Absolute class act, whilst it’ll be sad to see him go, I’m looking forward to seeing how his career progresses in the premier league or abroad, genuinely think he’s an England star in the making

2 hours ago, Rob k said:

I’d be surprised if we get a loan back option without it costing a significant amount. Can’t see a club with more clout than us agreeing to pay 25+ mil and they don’t get to work with him for a season.

I agree

Most clubs will want him in and around the first team and familiarising himself with the club.

Even if it was a club that would potentially loan him out, the cost of his increased wages alone will cost a few million.

I think we should be aiming for a deal of £25m+ with 15-20% sell on, I’d personally rather a sell on than a loan back, genuinely believe he’s going to the very top

Well deserved Scotty!

I’d be surprised to see him here next season.

TK will have will have plenty of suitors, both in the championship and abroad. 

Most players at this stage of their careers are generally wanting to secure a 3 year contract but will consider 2.

Even on reduced terms, he will still be one of the top earners at the club and realistically I cannot see us offering a long term deal with the high wage and injury problems he’s encountered.

I don’t know TK and maybe him being settled in Bristol trumps the financial hurdle.

So many manager departures, crazy season

The positive is that there’s no mention of surgery as of yet. Hope it’s nothing too serious.

Wishing AS a speedy recovery

Congratulations on making your debut, some tidy passes when coming on, hope to see some more minutes between now and the end of the season

It was always an uphill task, the problem with play off talk is that it gives the perception that the season has been unsuccessful when in fact, it’s another cost cutting season with further player development and improvement to the overall culture of the club.

A couple more seasons like this and we’ll have a group of established home grown championship players playing with a clear identity and a budget to make significant signings to mount a serious promotion push.

14 hours ago, Super said:

I think most fans would rather win something than finish 4th.

Most football fans would rather win a cup and rightly so but Newcastle have the backing to use the platform of a 4th place finish to push to be amongst the best for years to come, Champions League football will help them attract world class players and significantly increase revenue putting them in a much stronger position in terms of FFP.

15 hours ago, MarcusX said:

Having it in the same competition means some bans will potentially never be served, that could also "permit" a red card. It's swings and roundabouts

Understand that point too, it’s a shame they can’t have it so that the primary suspension is the same competition but in the circumstance there’s not a same competition game available, it’s served in another domestic competition/league

It’s an unfortunate one, a lot of Newcastle fans seem to value the final higher than their top 4 hopes and for Pope to commit that kind of offence when they were already 2-0 down, he’s most likely instinctively done so and will be absolutely kicking himself.

The suspension being served in a different competition is crazy.

Not just for Pope but also in circumstances where a top teams player gets sent off in a league game, it should be served in the league. A suspension served for an early round cup game wouldn’t have the same effect as a suspension for a league game, it almost permits a red card.

It was an awful injury but it’s part of the game, headers can be equally as dangerous.

Not so long ago there was the horrific Jimenez head injury. Whilst it’s awful that these incidents happen, it’s part of the game.

Nige inherited an absolute mess. The season Nige took over, we were getting dominated every single game, the morale was low and we looked certain for the drop.

We’ve had serious financial restraints and the players that have had new contracts, have been given them on reduced terms.

The way Nige has simultaneously cut reduced costs and improved the culture at the club has been impressive and he deserves great credit.

Imagine being so good that the opposition literally have to jump on your back to stop you….

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Co0Y4WpooKJ/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

3 hours ago, cidered abroad said:

I find it amazing that a Premier ref is dumped because of a mistake involving VAR. And how angry the Wonderful Arsenal management are about it.

Now go back to the first game of this season at Hull. Here we are, just little Bristol City losing to an appalling decision by a crap referee when he didn't see the Hull player diving in the box and gives them a penalty which proved to be the winner. All we got was yet another letter of apology. How many of those in the last six or seven years? Several at least!

Did City management go ballistic like Arsenal are? No we just get on with it because we know it will happen again with opposition players who cheat but don't get spotted by match officials. Example is the Sheff U goal when another consistent cheat, Billy Sharp, pushed Vyner as he was jumping to head the ball away and it dropped to a Sheffield player for the winning goal.

Two examples of stone wall decisions that have cost us dearly.

I’m glad to see Mason going because it suggests that something is actually being done.

Up until now, it was questionable if anything was actually happening, we’ve received apology letters and you’d hope some strong feedback or warnings were being issued but crucial errors keep happening.

Whilst I don’t celebrate the misfortune of referees, it’s not just the referees I consider. There’s so much riding on this level of football that the clubs success/failure determines how much revenue is generated which is used to fund the club as a whole, meaning that these decisions this can impact the job security of those in off the field roles within the club aswell as on the field.

Genuinely think VAR is beneficial for the game, especially when the on field referees are primarily making the decision, meaning it should only step in to correct an incident that’s been missed.

Even for times of human error, it’s missing incidents that would have also been missed if it wasn’t in place.

There’s room for improvement but that’s working on the VAR operation itself, that could be down to the skill set or the numbers operating VAR. As for the technology itself, it works.

I genuinely believe its intervention results in more correct decisions than incorrect decisions.

As a Bristol City fan, I’m desperate for VAR to be introduced in the Championship.

Considering the penalty decisions that have gone against us, I genuinely believe we’d be better off and those points missed are probably the difference between us being where we are now and being genuine play off contenders.

He looked good when he came on, had a great chance to score but left it for Solanke.

Really hoping he does well

Unlikely to go up or down, positive to be able to play with the pressure off whilst continuing to develop. We can dream and if we add a string of wins, we can start to believe but it’s important to be realistic, an 8 point gap is steep when chasing teams at the top end of the table.

This season, to stay up and cut costs whilst developing the youngsters we have will be a success.

This season has had so many positives with the rise of our young players and the rise of Nakhi has been equally as impressive, it’s great to see him at his best and enjoying his football

We’ve had a very good window.

The Semenyo transfer has brought in a decent fee. Multiple outgoings will reduce our wage bill significantly.

Whilst selling sensibly, we’ve kept hold of Alex Scott, this is huge considering the interest rumoured.

Some shrewd business bringing players in.

We look light at centre back but its a position where we can utilise short term free agents if we need to, although hopefully it won’t be necessary.

Financially, it certainly seems the right decision for the club.

Wishing Bents all the best, class words on departure.

2 hours ago, robin_unreliant said:

He wasn't fit, then when he was, NP decided to keep him on the bench. I don't think it is any coincidence that after a run of games where he started he has got his mojo back. I do struggle to understand why he wasn't given a run of games earlier. Similar questions about why Cam Pring wasn't in the team. I question some of Nige's selection decisions, while accepting I don't know what goes on off the pitch.

Yeah he wasn’t fully fit and as his club, we can accept that but to other clubs, he’s had his first high scoring season last year and struggled to build on it this season

38 minutes ago, Redrascal2 said:

I wish I had your confidence about maintaining our Championship status. With the three teams in the relegation slots all significantly strengthening their squads I think it will still be a real battle to stay up.

A 6 point gap is quite significant when considered at the bottom of the table, teams in and around the drop zone are averaging around a point a game, it’s consistently around that every season. So the way I see it is that in theory, it’s going to take 5/6 games for the bottom teams to get to where we are right now. We’re on a 5 game unbeaten run at a time where every point is another step away from the drop.