@Geordie Ahmed - on the Isak/rat issue:
Football fandom is inherently hypocritical. One man's traitor is another man's new hero until they step out the door too. We expect loyalty from players but are equally quick to label them as castoffs to discard. There's no consistent logic to be found in such a tribal sport.
Clubs and players are astute at the PR game and creating narratives. The Isak affair got messy and IMO there's blame all around:
1) Newcastle are fair in arguing he had three years left on his deal. Isak had no release clause or written agreement to leave this summer so that's a dereliction of duty from Isak's agent, meaning the only way Isak was getting his move was by creating an almighty stink.
2) Isak's argument he was verbally offered a new contract by Staveley, which was later reneged on by Mitchell, cannot be dismissed too. Yes the club will argue a big pay rise would've destroyed a) the PSR position and b) the pay structure leading to Bruno, Tonali and co knocking at the door.
But that stance dissolves trust between employer and employee. And it's made worse when executives are coming and going like at Newcastle.
Eales' blood cancer diagnosis was horrific and unfortunate, but PL clubs must replace a CEO quickly not leave a power vacuum for so long. That's why you missed out on so many targets - transfer legwork must be done months/years beforehand.
3) We suffered the same with Torres in 2011. We had the inept cowboys Hicks and Gillette with a rotating cast of execs and managers underneath who made him promises Torres felt were broken.
He leaves for rivals Chelsea and then a new, young DOF in Damien Comolli panic bought Carroll from you for a fee way over the odds.
The club were very good at painting Torres as the villain like Newcastle have with Isak through briefing their patch journos in the press - but the reality is always more complex.
I can't tell Newcastle fans how they feel. However I hope in the fullness of time you guys remember what Isak did. Losing at Wembley wasn't nice but seeing old Geordies, Alan Shearer etc in tears after a lifetime of heartache made me realise you needed it more than us. And Isak played a key role in ending that 70 year run - like Torres brought me so many fond memories from demolishing Real Madrid, Man Utd away 1-4 etc. Eventually Torres returned in a 2015 charity game and was cheered. Football stops for nobody. Cash in, reinvest, rebuild.