We should push for at least 15 million. Correct me if I’m wrong but you expected us to get 6-7 million for Armstrong and we got 20 million inc add ons. id rather keep him then sell Ben on the cheap.

Opening five minutes have been excellent. we are pressing very high, slick passing too.

I’m sure he said healthy compared to every team not with parachute payments. That would be a decent position for us to be in. At a guess 3-5 million to spend on signings and a decent budget for wages when you consider what we have lost this year.

I’m sure he was head of recruitment at Norwich and mentioned how he sold 100 million pounds of talent for the club.

JDT is a bit left field but he was managing a Champions league team last season and beat Rangers to get there. I must say I’m intrigued and a lot more excited than the usual suspects. I think the job he did at Malmo was excellent. Also getting a DoF is hardly a sign of cost cutting and at least shows some semblance of a plan being put into place. we are always one step away from disaster with Venkys but it’s always the hope that kills you!

I honestly think we may look back at this period as our only period of stability. Thank you Tony for five years of progress imo- on and off the pitch. Bought us a lot of good players and developed loads of others. i am in no doubt that he had to go but the manner is poor and he deserved better.

I love Mowbray comment that Rothwell will only move if the players he wants come in. Music to my ears!

He would have been offered life changing sums of money and he has to look after his family first. Awful for us but I get it from Rothwells perspective.

Tbf it may wreck the superb team ethic that has built up. rothwell has been brilliant this season but I have faith in the team, get rid of him and get some more players in

So so proud of the team. hopefully we should have a lot of our attacking players back for the next game.

Absolutely disgusted. I don’t get annoyed easily but this could derail our season. He has been one of our star performers this season, no doubt. He will be a big loss and unless we get an adequate replacement I’d let him rot. looking at Lenihans performances you can see he cares and the contract situation hasn’t impacted him. Rothwell could have achieved legendary status here, we gave him a chance, developed him and he couldn’t give us 6 months.

It’s just white noise. you had weeks to sign a striker, not a day. You lose your top striker and you sign no one, there is literally no excuse for it.

As long as Gallagher plays through the middle, you can get as many ‘forwards’ as you want. For me he is the key.

What position do you think the surprise mystery signing will be in?

Everything I’ve read about this guy suggests he is equally strong in midfield as he is at left back. clever signing at 500k, think this also means we have money for a striker. Quite excited to see who we get now.

Two issues with your hypotheticals… 1. He signed for Leeds when they were in the championship, having never played a single competitive game- 40k a week??? I’ve seen it listed as 11k and that seems reasonable. 2. A selling club would spin it as higher…hmmm…why would we as are giving 40 per cent of the profits to Newcastle! From media reports it’s going to be close to 20 million for Armstrong. I know we have lots of incompetent people on the staff but you can use better examples then these two.

You may be right but I doubt it. We are cutting costs with salaries so I can’t see us paying a loan fee plus making him our highest paid player.

It’s the hope that kills you! I would agree with you…but he will probably only pay 10 games this season!

Wonderful result. however our bench looks dire. We need reinforcements. All over the pitch Id say. Special mention for Dolan, he is 19 and once he develops his goal scoring and when to pass we have a top top player on our hands. pickering- first game at this level and did not look out of place, he also loves a tackle (what the hell was the yellow card for in the first half??!!)

Not sure if this is some kind of joke or not. The lad scored three and got two assists last year. Showed flashes of brilliance in the first half of last year. Shockingly his form dipped after his best mate committed suicide. got him on a free and he has just turned 19 so I’m sure his limited game can be improved.

Ings is 29. Those five years are monumental. How much will Ings be worth aged 32? 7-10 million? Armstrong in three years will be 27 and at his peak, resale will be considerably higher if he performs. second part I agree with, but again Ings has had two career threatening injuries, makes him a huge risk.

Haven’t posted for a while, but what a depressing start to a new season. for the record I think we will survive…but only just. I also think our youth players will shine. Our first 11 is easily good enough to compete but bench…sheesh.

Classic Tony, when the result doesn’t matter he will win a few games. Happy with the win but he still needs shifting

Is it bad of me to say that I didn’t know we were playing today and the result didn’t impact me in anyway. Depressing that I feel this way about the club I love.

Did they both not target top six this season or was that a dream I had? Also this nonsense of developing players, I agree Den, you do both. At the moment he seems to be developing players alright...the ones who play for other clubs!