Liverpool 'paid shills' forcing through Isak transfer in nightmare Newcastle summer

This is a summer which has really exposed the difference between the haves and have nots. Why should Newcastle bow to Liverpool and Isak?

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Big old Newcastle sadness ahoy

I’d like to think I’m a fairly level-headed fan most of the time, and able to balance my inner 12-year-old superfan with the now considerably older, mature rational thought. But us football fans are generally irrational and this summer has made my head spin I must admit.

I’ll preface this by saying I expect absolute zero sympathy from all who read this distinguished mailbox I’ve been reading for 20 years, especially given my club is owned by the Saudi investment fund (no whataboutery here). I’ll also preface this by saying I have one life to live as a football fan and I am desperate for there to be more joy than sorrow in it – and I’ve only seen that balance really start to shift again in the past 3 years.

This isn’t a rant about PSR (yet). My biggest frustration with Newcastle this summer is that our USP/advantage these past 3 seasons has been COMPETENCE. Botman, Tonali, Bruno, Hall, Tino, Isak, Gordon were such unbelievably shrewd signings. Even the ones that felt less so – Wood, Barnes, Targett etc – haven’t exactly been bad. We seemed to be smartly run, but that only now extends to the playing and coaching staff, the rest is an absolute mess:

Backroom staff: A CEO who has been serving notice for 12 months. A commercial director who doesn’t do much commercial, a Sporting Director who left with so many question marks.

Failure to do commercial deals: the assumption is we’re waiting for the City court case to resolve but we could have milked the interim timeframe with smaller deals.

Training ground: I lived in Newcastle for 25 years of my life and there’s an abundance of land. We keep saying this is a priority, but we keep redeveloping the existing instead.

Retail: All we do is shift tat, it’s incredible.

Stadium: Just delaying the inevitable, it’s obvious you want to move. Come out and say it.

Even our social graphics were hilariously bad the summer we had supersavers and county cricket clubs rinsing us – deservedly so.

But recruitment and on-the-pitch was always the saving grace. Instead we’ve abandoned this approach and it seems to be a mishmash of major un-gettable European talent or Premier League premium deals only. We needed first teamers yes but we also needed competitive depth – we move from one target at a time and at snail’s pace. Accept where we stand in the food chain now and act accordingly, unearth the next Bruno. I love Eddie and everything he’s done but he also shouldn’t be the voice of authority on transfers, neither should his nephew.

I’ve never witnessed a self-implosion like it.

On to Isak, I think it’s pretty disgraceful that a player on 120k a week can effectively down tools, refuse to come on an important, profile-boosting pre-season tour and simply abandon all goodwill. He never felt the type. And the concerted, cold-war style campaign

Liverpool have run through paid shills like Romano, whilst incredibly modern and clever, are designed to systematically destabilise a club/potential rival and unsettle a player. I really hope we dig in… I’d quite happily see Isak sit the first couple of months out without his move. He’s making the entire situation worse, and creating a dark cloud heading into the season. They haven’t even bid!

And then there’s the system. Rules brought in post-takeover that stop us growing. Yes we need to drive commercial revenue. In order to do that, we need to keep spending to balance the Champions League and cup runs: but spending is stifled, PSR spreadsheets amortisation bla bla bla. We can’t pay the wages, fees are too high, progress is stifled, back to square one and suddenly your prospective sponsorship deal disappears.

Fine, we’ll use one of the PIF brands (regrettably), nope, we’ll make that hard for you too (though as I’ve said before, we should rinse it). I’m sick of hearing Liverpool saying they used the Coutinho money to get to where they are now, using it as a comparison. You are LIVERPOOL. We will take decades, if at all, to get to that level. I’m not asking for a Chelsea-style free-for-all, just a bit more leeway.

How to move forward? Can’t believe I’m saying this but I’d be abusing the system to it’s every inch now. I’ve seen other teams do it. We should too. Everyone thought we would. Accept the governance is here to slow us down, now fight dirty against the governance. But will we? Can’t see it, because we’ve lost the ability to function competently.

What was the point of this email? I’ve lost it. Just wanted to rant.

Harry, York

(PS. Fully expect us to still be an excellent team, but right now we are hollow at CB and have prolific wingers supplying William Osula only)

…Barry (Perth) makes some fair points, but his doubts about whether PSR rules were designed to protect rich clubs are entirely irrelevant. I agree that they probably weren’t designed to do so, but the fact is that they do and are doing it right now.

It’s frustrating as hell, and seems blatantly illegal to tell owners that they can’t invest more in their own business than they’re making from it, but still, the whinging ought to be toned down. The rules are the rules, and PSR does at least provide some armor against charges of buying success (which most of us would happily ignore). It helps to imagine what it’s like for Sunderland, lol.

That said, I have not yet begun to whinge about Liverpool’s disgusting behavior over Isak. But that will have to wait until I’m no longer at work, and a few drinks really stoke my rage and creative viciousness.

Chris C, Toon Army DC

Definitely a Big Six bias

As a Villa fan it really does feel like teams like Villa and Newcastle are not allowed push forward compared to the so called big six who seem to be able to spend at will.

Kevin G Conroy

READ: Aston Villa stepping on mid-table quicksand with Morgan Rogers test

Thought Isak was unavailable, Arsenal fans?

Could you please help clear up some confusion for me here? Arsenal fans have unanimously told anyone here that it was impossible for El Pulizon “Paella Pulis”, to sign Alexander Isak because Isak “isn’t available”.

So it’s rather confusing to see Isak is about to sign for Liverpool! How has this happened? 🤔

Are players supposed to be casually kicking about outside a tube station, with an “available” sign around their necks? Or, so big serious trophy-winning clubs, proactively make players become available?

Still. At least Madueke was “available”, along with the Viking Clogger from Brentford/Sporting Lisbon (delete club as appropriate) 🤭

Stewie Griffin (The UN now needs to urgently afford special protections to the Ashtray!)

Darwin must be the GOAT

What is Ed Ern on about? The best strikers are the ones that create a lot of xG rather than the ones who score lots of goals? Ronaldo is great because he had 3 shots from 3 crosses but only one was on target. He’s the best because he turned a defender before shooting? Utter nonsense.

So a player who has little composure and snatches at shots creates a lot of low-xG chances, but is better than a clinical finisher who only shoots once or twice but scores each time? Being a good striker isn’t about making chances, it’s about finishing them. Someone who consistently over-performs xG is a good finisher. Someone who consistently under-performs xG is a bad finisher.

Using Ed’s logic, Nunez must be the best striker in world football. He creates quite a lot of low-xG chances and scores so few of them. But since xG is the only metric that apparently matters for strikers, he’s the GOAT. Which is precisely why league champions Liverpool are keep….selling him and replacing him.

If a striker has an xG of 1000, but only scores 2 goals, does that mean he’s good?

As always, stats – any stats – are useless on their own. xG is important, but its sure as sugar not as important for a striker as actually scoring goals.

That is all.

Clive (LFC)

Could be worse…you could could be Man Utd

Amusing story shared on this site about the United striker shortlist, now focused on two options. Seems fair, and Sesko is a perfectly decent striker (not better than Hojlund IMO, but there we go). But the other option is Watkins.

Now, I like Watkins. He’s another perfectly decent striker who’s not quite set the world alight as hoped. But he’s also someone who was unsettled and considering leaving when Villa were considering taking up their option to sign Rashford. Because Rashford was being picked over him. Because he’s a better player, even as a striker. And at the same time we are stuck in a loop of sending Rashford out on loan to better clubs than us.

Thank god for the transfer and man-management wizards at United, eh? Brilliant. It’s right up there with the chat about swapping out Onana for Martinez at a net cost.

Then we have other news, which is Bruno looking decent at #10, and Mainoo in a complete surprise looking good at #8; who’d a thunk it? Meanwhile United have just signed two other first XI #10s. So, one of Amad (one of our best players in the last 18 months), Cunha or Mbeumo will be on the bench? Now that’s big brain thinking by the lads upstairs. At least we’ll have cover for rotation in those 1 games a week.

What a time to be a United supporter. Almost makes me wish for the crazy Woodward days.

Badwolf

READ: Man Utd, Aston Villa, bad maths and Ollie Watkins ‘better than nothing’

The Great Price Inflation

The framing of an English club with transfers in valued Euros, will always baffle me.

It bloats the cost of a deal, for no real benefit outside of exaggerating things to sell papers and garner clicks.

This summer, and before, there has been a big focus on using Euros AND including add ons to achieve that effect. I am aware this is a global game but the UK aren’t in the EU anymore, so to me, it makes zero sense. Are we going to start using Yen or USD next to make it even biggerer???

Wirtz was £100m plus add ons that COULD be worth an additional £16m. So until the add ons are achieved, the price remains £100m. Same way as you’re 39 until you’re 40.

The 2nd part that makes me laugh at the minute, is transfers being completed last year, and the player finally joins this year having spent a season on loan.

If I look at the 2024 transfers then I can see Giorgi Mamardashvili (Valencia, £25.2m) was counted last year. However according to the 2025 transfer list it is now counted this year. We bought him twice? Which article is accurate?

(They’re both accurate now; last year it was reported to be a transfer followed by a loan, but it has emerged that it is actually this summer’s transfer – Ed)

There is such a clamour to make it all sound bigger, louder, sexier, it sometimes feels like numbers are fluid and creative, as opposed to specific and fixed. I am sure clubs are to blame in part, spin and reverse spin for the sake of PR.

Fee’s are already sensational and insane in comparison to figures we all (probably) deal with on a day to day basis, so why continue the trend?

Am I being an old fart?! Does it even matter? Probably not.

Barry (Perth)

PS: I realise (via a buddy) that I didn’t actually mention that Newcastle won a trophy in my recent email, this was a genuine mistake, as opposed to a nefarious windup)

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