Yeah this is probably the only time in my life I’ve been happy to have the international break.

It’s bloody hard tbh. I don’t think our takeover should’ve been allowed, and it was only allowed to happen due to flagrant Tory corruption. I say that even though without it we’d probably be watching Steve Bruce set us up for long ball footballat Plymouth away.

I can’t pretend that I’m not enjoying our recent success and the general positivity around the club, and watching us in a cup final and the champions league with me elderly dad is something I wouldn’t have dreamed would happen a few years ago - but it’s tinged with the sadness of knowing that it’s been made possible by blood money.

I worry that in 5-10 years it will all just feel soulless, despite the inevitable success heading our way. I’ve already started to watch a lot more of my favourite non-leagues side, but it’s never quite the same feeling when you’ve ‘picked’ a side, compared to supporting your local or family team. Me Dad, being from the North East, thinks the idea of not supporting Newcastle is like being ex-communicated from your native church.

Ignoring the flagrant unfairness of Everton receiving this punishment whilst Man City and Chelsea laugh in the background, they’ll probably be fine anyway. They should still survive given how poor Luton, Burnley, and Sheffield Utd look, and then they’ve essentially gotten off scot free.

I think there’s no one big change you could implement, it needs to be a series of major changes enacted in conjunction. Saying that, mine would be:

1. Some form of fan ownership as mandatory, probably along the 50+1 model.
2. Strict wage caps.
3. Strict limits on the number of foreign players allowed in a squad/first XI.
4. A more even distribution of TV revenue throughout the league.

Without the other changes then instituting fan ownership could lead to a situation like in the Bubdesliga where one already successful club with the largest revenue dominates permanently.

Of course there are potential issues with all of these, not least that fans would likely have to accept that English clubs would not be as competitive in Europe as the PL no longer commands the highest salaries.