Honey Honey

One thing that's come to light for me this weekend is just how much alternative football media are a mirror image of the American alt right thought patterns, just in football form. Arsenal have a lot of these influencers so it is very prominent right now. I guess it is a social media disease. I think any fan base or team would be fuming about the goal but some of these influencers are unprofessional cranks. The statement by Arsenal Football Club is one made in a bubble, they should have waited until the emotion subsided to gather their thoughts properly.

A routine win and 5 clean sheets in a row. Anthony Gordon is very good and I now understand why we signed him.

We couldn't get the ball first half but Man City didn't do much with it thankfully. Great half time subs by Howe, flipped the game in our favour. Taking Miley off and Hall, who played in 3 positions in the first half fixed the balance and gave us a midfield that could attack. Another cup draw for the conspiracy theorists. After this round we only got Man City because they messed up the alphabetical order for us and Norwich, then we draw Man Utd now after Don Goodman clearly looks for our number in the bowl before pulling it out. Don't you find it off in general that they ditched blind numbers, either locked in a ball like for the Champions League or in a black bag like the old FA Cup days, to now just having a clear ball where the pickers are expected to just turn their heads away

It's harsh on Burnley to be lumped in there so early when 4 of their first 5 have been Man City, Tottenham, Villa and Man Utd. They've had the better share of possession against the latter two. They've got us next as well. So 5 of their first 6 games will have been against last seasons top 8.

We lost our swagger in recent weeks, but you saw after the 2nd went in it all came back with confidence. Let's hope we can carry that into the next games. Going to be tougher to keep confidence and momentum when league games are straddled by very difficult cup games which will see rotation. But we need to get players into form and putting a good long run together.

We aren't in form at all going forward. If we can get going in attack again over the next couple of months we might not finish bottom. Questions are emerging about our transfer policy. I think Shearer put it well when he said concern is we didn't actually improve the first team much at all. We've spent a lot of money on subs. In the long term that might work out well of course. For me it's in form like this that you need someone like Allan Saint-Maximin I'm afraid. Spontaneity and the ability to turn a game out of nowhere.

Home to PSG

On the right night at SJP I think we could beat this lot though. That is the last game in the group, so could be playing for something.

There was a point near the end where 45 year old Olivier Giroud beat Bruno for pace. Our internationals struggling there and it's not like Milan dominated the ball, possession was even.

Good result. Below average performance. We've not got going in attack. 5 games in a row really. Yet to find our rhythm and the right combination. Will no doubt be a different line up again on Sunday with a few changes. I'd start Barnes, Wilson and keep Murphy in the side. Fitness of Isak and Bruno looked bad out there towards the end. We miss Joe Willock's energy.

We've been fortunate their finishing has been shite. Not quite playing our football yet. Burn, Longstaff and Gordon need better composure. If we stay in it long enough we've got a decent bench.

The details not in the clip are frightening. Chased by machete wielding gang. Their Newcastle shirts cut off them. Stabbed three times. His son smashed across the head with a baton. Italian police trying to claim it has nothing to do with football. Thankfully sounds like the bloke will be OK. When some of the lads out there get drunk and angry about this it could be quite hostile and toxic tonight.

Excited. Nervous about getting hammered but excited. The San Siro is the most fitting place for our return. Our game with Inter Milan 20 years ago is etched in the memory of fans of that generation more than any other game since. I was there back then with 10,000 others. I will take that night to the grave. I can't go back by conventional route since we lost all our loyalty points in protest at Mike Ashley. Going from being in the top 5% of supporters after 20 years on the road to being thrown scraps for home games with the glory hunters. I haven't been able to go to any home game this season as I've lost the "ballot" on both occasions applied. The clubs box office is appalingly ran as we saw at the weekend when there were many empty seats despite plenty of us being denied a ticket. But still when I watch Newcastle United walk out again in the San Siro on the telebox tonight it will be very emotional. It might not be as authentic as it was back then with Bobby Robson and Alan Shearer, this era has no outside credibility because of the Saudi source, but in our local community, our little collective, our story and our history it will still carry enormous weight tonight. Howay the lads. 1-0 Dan Burn please.

We are all waiting for Hall to start aren't we. With desperate hope. Burn is out of form at the minute. It's more than just his limitations.

Not a worrying performance on its own for me, maybe in a few weeks it might be re-read as part of a wider concern. I don't read it that way yet because we were under huge pressure to win and this looked just like those occasions last season. A couple of bad results stifles the ability to play free flowing football and you find yourself just having to grind out a result at home. A huge part of football is psychological. Our mentality has been sliding so this is massive to start moving forward again. We haven't found the form working 11 yet.

He'll probably be made captain for the next game.

Is it just me or do they often sound frantic and panicky?

England are at the end of their cycle with many former or current key players now in their 30s who will need replacing by 2026. Pep won't take that England on. Lee Carsley will absolutely get the job. Southgate will get the Man Utd job, a club in desperate need of a moral leader and teacher to put all those wrong'uns on the right track

Starved of these games since I was 15 and now we are getting 6 of them. Love it.

Praying for Barcelona, Porto, PSV, Newcastle as the Bobby Robson group.

So all the numbers were alphabetical except they fucked up and got us and Norwich the wrong way around and we end up drawing Man City. A conspiracy theorists dream.

£60m is not much if you consider the financial ramifications of potentially missing out on the top 4 for 2 years in a row. Not a risk worth taking. I'm not saying they would finish outside of the top 4 if he leaves, but chance of it would surely increase.

I think absolutely any result could happen in our game and it wouldn't be a surprise.