Ross Gregory

I cried in the first half, cried at full time and cried when I wrote this piece. Not ashamed to admit it chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football…

@CakeYouSayV2 An era is a distinct period in history. The Keegan era, the Robson era, the post-war era. This is the Howe era and it's been an absolute success

@rossgregory9 Well when using terms like "era" you generally include the entirety of the clubs history. The only golden era this club had was pre war. Another will come, but this last few years is nothing more than a reversal of fortune.

It feels like the end of a golden era for NUFC. Howe et al built an incredible team that brought more great days than seen in a generation, but it’s clear now it’s end of road for many. Not for Howe though IMO. He deserves the chance to rebuild this team and learn from errors

@CakeYouSayV2 It is compared to the 70 years before...

@rossgregory9 One league cup and a couple of top 5 finishes is not a "Golden Era" FFS. 😂😂🤣

@Ne15mag I think a lot of people are misunderstanding what happened last summer, and putting the blame squarely at Howe's door which I feel is unfair. But I understand the view and why people think that

@rossgregory9 With all due respect Ross, this isn't Newton Heath. We are light years away from where they were then and dont have that luxury. And I understand the analogy, and as fan understand how football works(to a point). So we let him go again with millions and hope for the best..great.

@daveyrusty It’s an interesting dilemma. In an ideal world I’m sure he would make 7/8 signings this summer but is that realistic? If you release Trippier, Schar, Krafth then straight away that’s at least 3 new defenders you need before even looking at GK, CF etc

@rossgregory9 How does he do it then, I’m intrigued on what he does with the current squad, does he become ruthless or stick by and protect and offer contracts to the like of tripps, schar and others

@Ne15mag That’s not how football works though. Every team needs regenerating as players get too old or lose form/get injured. Fergie rebuilt his Man Utd side about four times

@rossgregory9 Rebuild what he built Ross? Maybe just me, but if i hired a builder to build my new house and it was crumbling i'd hire a new builder.

@DanielP52928424 Yeah I would

@NE5Seadog The dynamic of the team needs to change for sure

@rossgregory9 not golden. Golden by our past standards, but not golden. The point is correct though. We built a team, and we got the longed for trophy, and some great euro trips. But if you know your football, you will know you can't sustain and progress by forever chasing down the ball.

@Alan19673 I don’t think anyone would say he is elite. But which elite manager would come to NUFC? It’s the same with elite players - you can’t get Mbappe or Haaland any more than you can Pep or Luis Enrique

@rossgregory9 Fucking hell he's the manager the buck stops with him full stop. He hasn't got it to take the club forward, he's a good manager but he's not elite. An elite manager is someone like Guardiola, Ferguson, Ancelotti, he's nowhere near those people, not even close.

@rossgregory9 Our last 3 yrs achievements. 4th,7th 5th R3/QF/5th round fa cup R up/QF/win Carabau cup Says it all We have the 8th highest income in the PL. This year might be the first yr we fall short... Which still incl getting to a semi final and last 16 of champions league. Eddie Howe.

@rossgregory9 Agree Howe should carry on, but the owners need to supercharge their training and stadium plans and bring in major sponsorship naming rights , they can then structure the 1st team squad

@ToonGaff What an absolute load of nonsense. Why would any manager have zero interest in evolving his squad?

@rossgregory9 The players that you mean when you say being ‘the end of road for many’. It really won’t as long as Howe is there. Thats kinda the issue. If it was up to Howe they’d have their contracts extended year after year because he has zero interest in evolving the squad.

@JimHearns131711 Needs to be a happy mix. Premier League is so physical these days. But needs more technical ability too IMO

@rossgregory9 I’m talking about profiles of players. Do you think Eddie should rebuild with more technicians or athletes/runners? If any rebuild is based around 433 athletes then he shouldn’t be given any further funds.

@JimHearns131711 I don’t think Gibbs-White or Wharton would be or should be realistic targets

@rossgregory9 Genuine question. How should Eddie rebuild the team? With players like Gibbs-White and Wharton OR like Elanga and Gordon?

@BolamKevin I don’t know on Ekitike. But what I do know on Isak is that they wanted a fair price off Liverpool and not be bullied by them or the player. But again, that’s the job of a SD. Or a CEO. And they didn’t have either.

@rossgregory9 Also on that one, I also get the Isak one didn’t help but if that deal happens to Liverpool before Ekitike, do you think we could have got Ekitike ? I also think that worked against us massively

NUFC’s goalkeeper situation is chronic. There is zero faith or confidence in either. Ramsdale terrible for the goal. But there’s other issues. The lack of control in midfield, the lack of a proper goal threat, the mental fragility…

@BolamKevin Yeah personal terms are usually agreed way in advance of clubs actually agreeing a fee

@rossgregory9 Ross I said personal terms with player, I think because Brentford knew how desperate we were they could command a top fee, hence sometimes it’s dangerous when clubs know you have money to spend

@BolamKevin If they could have got their deals done earlier Kev, they would have done. They didn’t deliberately keep things to last minute

@rossgregory9 His injury I accept but hindsight is in my opinion that deal was done earlier in window. I mean personal terms there by the way but Brentford held out and we had to pay what they wanted.

@BolamKevin I don’t know. I don’t see him in training every day like the coaching staff do. Maybe he is better than Osula, or a striker who scored 20 PL goals last season or Germany’s No9. But that’s where I trust Howe not to play him before he’s ready like Pardew did with Armstrong

@rossgregory9 To be around the squad for that long suggests he is handling training very well and don’t get me wrong game time is totally different but the fact the kid is on the bench every week must be reward for what they are seeing. Is now not a good time to just have a look ?

@BolamKevin More patient? They signed him with 30 secs of the window remaining having tried to sign 8 other forwards ahead of him!! I’m confident he would have been a bigger success if it hadn’t been for the injury. I’m not saying he would have been banging in 15 goals but he’s no duck egg

@rossgregory9 Involved and in charge are two totally different scenarios. By the way I don’t disagree with you that there maybe would have been a backlash not getting Wissa in, my point is £55M and his performances suggest we should have been more patient.

@BolamKevin I think if Neave was ready, he would be playing. He’s been around the squad a year and hasn’t appeared. But this is a top PL team. Very difficult to get in unless you are exceptional like Miley. I’ll be surprised if Osula scores as many goals as Wissa in his career

@rossgregory9 Osula, again I agree but what I will say is he has showed more than Wissa from the bench. As for Neave, we can’t answer really as he has had no game time. The fact he is around the squad suggests he can make step up but again it’s when will we see it