And who was it. I mean it’s a ****ing horror show this season. We are stuck with Bruce. No takeover. Rafa doing well at Everton. Toney playing well and scoring. No wins this season. What’s there to be happy about at the moment. It’s sickening.
I can probably look this up if I was bothered but who did we have up top when we didn't give Toney and Armstrong for that matter a go? If it was Demba Ba or Cisse then fair enough. If it was Gayle, Riviere, Joselu and the like then we really have dropped a bollock
Decided to put the effort in. Toney was here 2015-18 Armstrong 14-18 2014 we had Cisse Perez Riviere Armstrong Armstrong was 17 at the time and, with the exception of Riviere, the senior players were pretty decent. 2015-16 we had Cisse Perez Doumbia Riviere Armstrong Toney Roberts Mitrovic Cisse, Perez and Mitrovic you would accept I guess but to not be getting game time with Riviere and Doumbia is rank. 2016-17 we had Mitrovic Murphy Goufran Gayle 2017-18 Slimani Joselu Gayle How a 21 year old Toney doesn't get game time with those strikers is beyond me.
Which only makes it more of a travesty. I get every team/manager messed up letting players go but you can forgive it if they weren't playing due to superior options
Said it at the time with both Armstrong and Toney, they were of use to us and deserved a go. For a club that refuses to spend, the mind boggles what the thinking was here. Lets face it though we've done this time and again with short sighted decisions. Woodman will be next. Merino, Mbabu, Toney, Armstrong, Mbemba. Some canny talent amongst that lot. Maybe the likes of Lewis Gibson and Bobby Clark would stay too if they thought they'd actually get a crack with us. Mbemba or Lascelles? Mbabu or Krafth? Merino or Hayden? Toney or Joelinton? Armstrong or Gayle? Gibson or Ritchie? GK - Woodman, Darlow, Dubravka RB - Mbabu, Manquillo LB - Lewis, Gibson CB - Mbemba, Schar, Fernandez, Clark CM - Merino, Willock, Longstaff, Shelvey AM - ASM, Almiron, Fraser, Murphy S - Wilson, Toney, Armstrong That's half a ****ing team man and right down the spine. I'd be much more confident with that squad for all it would still need improvement. We simply must start having a process to blood younger players. We could have spent the money wasted on these others on bolstering the rest of the team. Its easy to blame Rafa or Bruce or any of the other managers. But some **** is appointing them, everything at the club is geared towards running tight meaning trades are necessary, and because there is no long term vision sitting above the manager from a sensible management structure, then there isn't a plan. Something simple like saying to the young players "here is your career development path, we expect you in first team contention by this point". That alone gives a young player the bigger picture. We just roll from one season to the next on a survival mission, scared to play young players for fear of relegation. So the manager who gets rid obviously must carry some portion of the blame, but any manager at us is being hampered along the way.
I'm not convinced is not saying discard them though is it - its kinda hard to be convinced when they don't get a chance ****s sake this is desperado We know your stance on young players, they're all ****, discard them all
On his exit from St James’ Park and steady rise back to the top, Toney added: “I just didn’t really get the opportunity [at Newcastle] and that’s football, it happens" It most certainly does at Newcastle fella
Aye he’s probably where he should be right now mind: in an exciting team with no expectations other than to enjoy the football and ride. And to think we let him go for nowt and spunked 40m on Joelinton. And remember he was brought in to be a striker. Why else would he be given the number 9 shirt!