Dan Gleebals

And so he should.

Strange decisions yesterday, but he will learn, as he always does. Window needs to shut now, and hopefully Isak will go. We can then forget qbout this shit and get the new lads settled in. International break has come at a good time for us. Hopefully clear the injuries and plays can work on a few things before we get going again. Not a brilliant start to the season, but with Isak situation, it's hardly a suprise. Baring injuries, we have a much stronger squad now, whatever way you look at it. And it's way to early to be judging any of the new lads.

Hope we did a city, and have a buy back price or clause, in case he goes on to develop into a top class player.

You do it in any other job/interview so you would think so. Most players speak of the managers vision for them when they sign. Madness if they dont, and sure Howe definitely does.

Paying someone to stike so we dont inflame the situation!! Wow. We clearly are taking the resolve it approach, we have no choice if no one bids for him, or we fail to sign anyone. What a shit show.

I think he will be great. Clearly acknowledges he needed a new environment and challenge and he chose us. He clearly trusts Howe and has goals to get into England. Seems like a decent lad too. Basically cost us 25-30M to upgrade Longstaff, so for a 24 year old future England prospective, this is a great bit of business.

Would this be different if he had at least included him at Celtic? Maybe sending him home was a bit OTT on reflection. We dont know what happened, so assume Isak behaviour warranted it. Just wonder if he might have gone to Asia at least then. What a mess.

Sorry I meant more for the broader PSR benefit and adding to the squad but I get your point. We must have said we will only talk if we have a replacement, because it's a lot of money to shell out otherwise, when they could just say we are no longer interested.

If our transfer policy was better and it did not take weeks to fuck up each deal, I would not mind Isak going now. We won't invest that money this window. I am in the camp that if they can resolve their differences, let's other take that off the table. We all make mistakes.

My best mate is an agent, and a decent guy - really looks after his players Most players get picked up pretty young so ny question was probably more aligned to how do these scumbags get to the front of the queue when players/parents are looking into this. The answer is pretty obvious but if it was my kid, would avoid people like this like the plague.

Htf do players get caught up with agents like this? Madness.

Great post. Completely agree.

Do we 100% know this is the case, or more media bollocks - is he really injured and getting treatment or is he staying away, becauuse he is unhappy? If the latter, and confirmed as such, then I am in the same camp. We may well have gone back on previous promises (by the sounds of things) but there are better ways to deal with this, if this is the case. Either way, it's a shit show for all concerned now.

My best mate is the agent for one of our first team players. I would not say who out of respect for both, but I have met the player a few times and get a lot of insight - none of which I would share on here out of respect from where it came from. We don't all need to be ITK twatters. Love to know (which I don't) what the squad and Howe are thinking about this window, so far.

All the players look like they have done personal sessions before pre season has started, and look in great shape! Gone are the days of players coming back in poor shape.

Agree. Especially against low block sides, which we can struggle against.

I really hope we moved on from this one.

Can he play no 10? Maybe just maybe we go for it..

I was not either. When you look at his stats in the Premier League, he is right up there. He is two-footed, great in the press and rapid on the break. All attributes that work in a Howe side. Could we be getting a player in from Europe for half the price? Probably - but with higher risks. He will settle in very quickly (Isak and Osula for starters), and as much as Murphy had a brilliant season, he is certainly an upgrade and will hopefully push Murphy further, too - competition on the right has been totally lacking. £55/60M is a lot, but Gordon was £40M and unproven - the additional £15M is hardly a lot for what you are getting, relatively speaking. If Elanga smashes it this season, suddenly he is in that £70M+with a year in the CL under his belt.

20th min crowd applause at the home game against them would be a decent thing to do.

Shocking. RIP Diogo.

Not jumping on the panic bandwagon just yet, but it's all very quiet and slow around here. They need to get a bit of a shift on if the players are going to be in contension for the start of the league - Eddie likes a bit of time as we well know. We cannot go into another CL season light on numbers - understandable last time, but not this.

Still time to get deals done before they Head back for training. Hopefully that's the case, so he can focus on training.

Great, 6th goalie nearly signed. To be fair, he looks like a great prospect and will suit our game. Just like to see a bit of movement in areas we really need, but hoping that will all start to move now.

Do we want to be known as the next cheating scumbag club though, or is it now a case of each to their own.