Issue 19 - Running Slightly Late

Apologies for not meeting the Tuesday deadline as promised. Turns out camping in a field for four days leaves you open to illness. Fitness test passed. EFL season begins in League 1 and 2. Transfer talk on the Tyne. Issue 19 is go.

Alexander The “Great”

In the previous issue I mentioned that all was not well on Tyneside and that the main narrative was linked to the natives being rather restless due to repeated failures in the transfer market.

James Trafford ending up at Manchester City after carrying out due dilligence for the best part of two years. The pair of Liam Delap and Joao Pedro supposedly being courted before Chelsea swooping in on them both.

Three reasons for frustration and I hinted at even more if Alexander Isak was not in Newcastle colours on the opening weekend of the Premier League season - a comment that was rather glib at the time.

With no crystal ball to hand last Friday (or even earlier considering the issue was actually crafted in the middle of last week) there was nothing to say that all was not well as far as the Swede was concerned.

Then next Thursday came about. We all know the steps.

1) Isak does not travel to South Korea - a little bit of smoke but no fire considering his current injury

2) Isak wants to explore the idea of a move from Newcastle just hours later - the equivalent of kerosene being doused on any merchandise that carries the Swedish international’s name.

Where did that come from? asked many.

Where will he go? asked the rest.

Fast forward a week and the first salvo in a transfer war has reportedly been fired.

Liverpool coming in with a bid that they say will be their only one in the process.

A figure that Newcastle baulked at.

Surely that means Isak stays on Tyneside?

If only things were that simple.

A £110m bid for Newcastle’s talisman is the equivalent of tyre kicking when looking at a second hand motor. Nowhere near the Magpies value of their biggest name but enough to cause disruption all the same.

The Sell On Fee

While to make matters all the more interesting, Isak has been training with his old club Real Sociedad. A gesture usually handed to players who are free agents and looking to gain fitness to put themselves back in the shop window.

Not a gesture that is connected to the 25-year-old’s current fitness. So why are the La Liga outfit so keen to lend a helping hand?

The reason is because they want their cut from any future transfer involving the forward.

The healthier that player is, the better of chance of getting your cut before the current window slams shut.

Skull duggery from the Real Sociedad. A poor optic from Isak camp. Why not just undertake the solo training or necessary fitness work at the facilities of your own club?

Is this a statement in itself? If so, it feels like its a rather loud one.

What Are The Odds

As always we can look at bookmaker confidence as to where a player will end up at the end of the window and although there is an outlier of a move to a Saudi, it now looks like a two-horse race for his services.

A two race that is currently a dead heat.

Newcastle 1.90
Liverpool 1.90

Both clubs with a 90% probability of having Isak in their starting lineup on the opening weekend but obviously there is no shared ownership when it comes to Premier League talent.

In theory, it is a toss of a coin between the two English entities, a situation that was weighed much heavily in Newcastle’s favour just a couple of weeks ago.

Then again, this probability could just as easily have been driven by Liverpool or wider fan sentiment who believe the move is on. A flurry of odds will only drive the odds down at Anfield while forcing them up at St James Park.

The 2025/26 Premier League season starts in two weeks from today. Will a move take place in that time. That all depends on whether really do want to find another £30m or so or whether simply wanted to test the waters and unsettle their counterparts.

We are certainly in summer saga territory, the thing with saga’s is that they tend to drag on. I doubt this is the last I will comment on the story. Newcastle fans wish the story simply runs out of puff in the next fortnight.

No Shrinking Measures

Regular readers of the newsletter will also hopefully remember the piece I crafted on whetther the Premier League has enough jeopardy because of the semi-closed doors that it operates in.

With the same six promoted clubs being the same half dozen that have been relegated over the past two seasons, jeopardy has been in rather short supply at the bottom end of the Premier League.

A scenario that I suggested may be resolved by a shrinkage of the division from 20 teams to 18.

A scenario that Premier League chief Richard Masters has said this week is not something that he is looking to bring any time soon. However, his reasoning is slightly different to mine.

During an interview with the BBC, Masters suggested that there was no need to make the cut to 18 but his stance was to counteract the growing fixture calendar and the increasing strain on player welfare.

One In Four

The logic being that because the Club World Cup is only every four years - the pinch points we face this summer are not going to be felt year on year. True as that may be, there is the small matter of the actual World Cup and European Championships.

Two of those three “fallow” years filled by the biggest international tournaments, the same narrowing of the summer break to be felt as the one that the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City are having to deal with.

If the boss of the Premier League feels there is no need to make a first format change since the start of the 1995/96 season when the league shrunk from 22 to its existing 20 teams, then he obviously knows better than you or I.

However, his logic only addresses the strain on player welfare. It does not addres the chasm that is between the Premier League and the Championship. If we see the same scenario regarding relegation come next May, it will be time to think again.

Congratulations Sarina

The ship has slightly sailed since last Sunday but credit has to go to Sarina Weigman for delivering another European Championship success to these shores - a second as England manager but her third as a manager thanks to previous Dutch success in 2017.

The obvious next step for Weigman is the 2027 World Cup but as there is an element of tongue in cheek in all of this - could she simply pivot from the Women’s international game to the Men’s environment.

Let’s put forward this case. If Phil Neville can make a switch from one to other (albeit rather badly) then why couldn’t Sarina swap the Lionesses for the Three Lions?

Nobody seems to want the job after Thomas Tuchel, nobody really wanted in the few months before he took the post up until the 2026 World Cup. It would be a fascinating theory to flesh out.

I doubt it would happen, I doubt it even comes up in conversation but the FA may actually have the successor to Thomas Tuchel already under their nose.

The Filter Five

Five more meaty tackles in midfield

Morecambes And Goes

The sorry story at Morecambe becomes all the more bleak. All football operations are stopping as of Monday as the first team can no longer be insured. Owner Jason Whittingham’s ego getting in the way of a sale that should have taken place already.

One wonders what Whittingham has to gain from letting a club die under his watch. At this stage it can be nothing more than ego - a power trip before the lights are finally turned off once and for all.

By the time the next issue of this newsletter is published, Morecambe may not even exist.

If You Tolerate This, Wednesday Will Be Next

Morecambe gone by Tuesday. Wednesday running out of time themselves and with the blue and white half of Sheffield going through their own ownership woes, the EFL have gone public with their fears regarding fixture fulifllment.

Fears that were obviously shared by outgoing manager Danny Rohl who said Auf Wiedersehen in the week. Enough was enough for a man who has done a heroic shift in keeping them in the Championship these past couple of seasons.

A shift that incoming manager Henrik Pedersen now has to take on and considering he was sacked after allegations arose that he had made racist remarks during his time as Stromsgodset boss, the scrutiny on both his leadership and character will be intense, leaving him little margin for error as he attempts to rebuild his reputation and steady a club already battling instability.

The United Strand

Absolute fair play to the Manchester United fan who said he was not going to cut his hair until his club won five games in a row (competitive games that is). A run that has now reached its 300th day.

A run that also cannot end until September at the earliest and even then you are banking on Ruben Amorim’s men earning four successive league wins and Carabao Cup success - just how big is the ‘fro going to go?

North Hong Kong Forever

Should Tottenham and Arsenal ever be facing each other in a pre-season friendly? No but modern day football and all that.

Thomas Frank’s era showing that defenders are not just players to be run past, they can actually offer a shield to the goalkeeper. A shield that kept the Gunners at bay in a 1-0 win in Hong Kong.

Pape Sarr with a long distance effort, Mikel Arteta always outside the distance of his technical area. Nothing changes as far as the Arsenal boss is concerned.

Admin

Right, that’s the end of issue 19 as we edge closer to a new season (or already there EFL fans)

If you liked issue 19, tell a friend. If you didn’t like issue 19, don’t.

Also, continual feedback is certainly going to help drive this forward.

Feel free to email me to tell me what you like and what you did not.

[email protected]

Issue 20 will be out on Tuesday August 5th

Thanks for reading

Dan