Lako

[Lako @redjinobo]

Kimi !!!

[Lako @redjinobo]

Terrific stint Kimi.

[Lako @redjinobo]

Mega effort from Mercedes ! Congrats Kimi.

[Lako @redjinobo]

Ekhator with shades of Kanu and Ibrahimovic. A sublime finish at the Maradona for Genoa !

[Lako @redjinobo]

Electric start in San Siro for Milan.

[Lako @redjinobo]

Derby d’Italia serves us. Doesn’t it?

[Lako @redjinobo]

Most improved driver within a calendar year - Oscar Piastri !

[Lako @redjinobo]

@Boxingscience20 Do you think Slot can retain the PL?

[Lako @redjinobo]

Hey mate; I see you don’t have a problem with Isak advancing his career by switching from Newcastle to Liverpool which is a big move but you were hysterical about TAA moving to Real Madrid. I support NUFC and RM. Every club knows its level on the food chain.

[Lako @redjinobo]

@Boxingscience20 The club is in the middle of its growing phase. Both on & off the pitch. On the pitch- A one good CB is needed, a playmaker to unlock low block & a striker to replace Isak goals. Then I hope Howe has learnt from 23-24 on how to manage Europe & local comps together.

[Lako @redjinobo]

@Boxingscience20 Sesko is highly rated but his numbers at Leipzig show he needs refinement. If Eddie beliefs he can mould him, then I think he can do a job. After all, Eddie turned Isak into the world class striker he is today.

[Lako @redjinobo]

@Boxingscience20 Stats show us what Wissa achieved with Brentford last year but NUFC is a different beast because of new found expectations. Is Wissa good enough for UCL? I don’t know but I think he can help with goals. Only concern is he will be off for AFCON in December- crucial period.

[Lako @redjinobo]

@Boxingscience20 I think that is Real’s new strategy now. That said, I think bigger clubs end up always eating up the “lesser ones” to them. As for Real, there is an aura yet to be matched so the sell isn’t hard and playing there elevates you to another level you may actually not be at.

[Lako @redjinobo]

@Boxingscience20 Hahahaha. I agree there is blood in the water somewhere. Good luck

[Lako @redjinobo]

@Boxingscience20 I don’t have a problem with his decision to move on, I have a problem with his timing. He has put his current club in a desperate position and any replacement would be overpriced because the sellers know better. Good luck to him and the Reds. We appreciate his time at Tyneside

[Lako @redjinobo]

@Boxingscience20 Klopp announced his exit Jan 24. TAA was already less than 2 years on his contract. I bet Liverpool could have done better to secure him long term if they rated him very highly. Osam’s behaviour is typical modern day footballer. NUFC must ensure the 150m mark is met or no move.

[Lako @redjinobo]

@Boxingscience20 If our outgone terrible DoF - Paul didn’t rock the boat after he got in, Isak would have got his deserved pay rise contract. No hard feelings towards the Swede because he was always going to leave at some point. NUFC growth will take time, same way Liverpool is not at RM level.

[Lako @redjinobo]

@Boxingscience20 No we didn’t discuss this before, Steve. TAA is an academy graduate who cost 0 in Liverpool books, leaving on a free is a consequence of the club allowing his contract to start running down. Isak leaving is because of broken promise and a club still learning top level game…..

[Lako @redjinobo]

I hope Eddie Howe and those upstairs use this Isak situation as a proper learning curve as we keep growing as a football club. Howay the lads !

[Lako @redjinobo]

A well written open letter from a Magpie. I agree with some parts of your letter and equally disagree with others. NUFC is still on the journey towards the elite class though we are gate crashing already. It is shows in how we have handled upstairs appointments…

[Oba Adeola Amokomowo @Amoky]

Open letter to Newcastle United Board and Eddie Howe @NUFC @PIF_en

I am a Newcastle United supporter of 30-plus years, so  I am not a glory hunter. This open letter has become necessary in the wake of our challenging or unsustainable recruitment model. Four years on, l can say  Eddie Howe has done incredibly well helping the club to escape relegation and was placed 11th on the table in his first season. He led the club to a fourth-place finish and earned a Champions League spot. He led the club to a 7th-place finish in his third full season. The team placed fifth and claimed the Champions League spot for the second time in four years. These are quite remarkable achievements; in addition, he won the first trophy in 77 years. I want to state that I am a huge Eddie  Howe fan.
However, in light of the recent event, particularly as it relates to our activities in the transfer market, I want to say that this has been less inspiring, and the club should reevaluate its recruitment strategies. I will state the following to highlight my observations

Organisation
For a club of Newcastle United's size, it is quite discouraging to see that we have had two sporting directors leave their jobs within the space of three years, coupled with the fact that the CEO, Darren Eales, will be leaving his job due to ill health. We have known that Darrent Eales would be leaving since the beginning of the year, so why has it taken us an eternity to have him replaced? Also, I do not think we should be long-winded in our search for a Sporting Director. PIF and Jamie Reuben should be doing better. The main engine room of the club should not be in a vacuum.
Premier League tested
Eddie Howe’s notion that he prefers Premier League-tested players is a fallacy; historically, the best players in the Premier League have been foreign players. Even going by our model, our best players have been from outside of England, Sven Botman, Brüno Guimares  Isak, etc. Going by the current window, it is apparent that we can not compete with the established cartels. All our targets preferred (Liam Delap, Joao Pedro, Hugo Elkerite, Bryan Mbuemo, James Trafford) the established traditional top clubs because we can’t compete due to the financial constraints. This has shown the deficiency of the recruitment team. We are now having to recruit second/third options, which leads me to the next point

Eddie Howe’s role in recruitment
Eddie Howe, in my opinion, should not have a major influence on the recruitment process. Rather, he should be part of the process, but the ultimate decision should be the prerogative of the Sporting director, whilst considering the needs of the manager. The Sporting Director, with the aid of data analytics and a good scouting network, can collate a pool of unknown talents

Recruitment Strategy
As highlighted, we can’t match the traditional cartel teams, hence we need to be innovative, savvy and dynamic with our recruitment model. The best talents are on the continent, i.e. Europe, South America, Africa, etc We could take a leaf from Brighton, which has established a very successful pattern with their recruitment. We should be searching for the unknown talents away from the view of the top clubs
In light of the Isak saga, he has expressed his desire to leave the club. I would expect the board to insist £150m price tag and we should not be bullied by any of the top clubs that have shown interest. I hope the board can salvage what is left of the transfer window, as we have a very busy season

@SkySports_Keith @CraigHope_DM @LukeEdwardsTele @Scottwilsonecho @MsiDouglas @ChrisDHWaugh @GeorgeCaulkin #NUFC

[Lako @redjinobo]

The club still holds the ace because of his contract length and that means the club must drive a hard bargain because those that will sell his replacement to us will squeeze us. I wish him well anywhere he goes and would like to thank him for his time up north when he does leave.