macphisto

Football has moved on a lot since Robert and Ginola, ASM will have to cover his own defensive duties if he wants to be part of the club in the future. As an interim measure, it would be the only reason for keeping Targett who could cover him defensively. We have had such poor teams under Ashley that as a fanbase we are behind the times. Most people are advocating keeping Targett who doesn't do enough in attack and ASM who doesn't work hard enough; the complete antithesis to how the top teams are setup and the way football is moving.

I wonder if there's truth in the stories that the club want to sell him in the summer and he knows he's off?

That's a lot of ifs and 29/30 is not getting on, it's the peak years of his career. The issue with Targett is not his quality but style of play, he offers very little going forward. If that is what Howe wants then fine but I'm sure he'd want a fullback who is more attacking, even if it means we lose a little bit in defence. Then in two years time when we upgrade that position, if we have to, we buy the same type of player but of higher quality. I'll not comment on the last point

How would that work when he left Villa at the first sign that he wasn't a 1st team player?

Are you seriously quoting Liverpool who have Robertson and TAA as their regular fullbacks as an argument to keep Targett???

13 matches and still no assists or goals will also have a lot to do with it too if Howe is looking for an attacking fullback.

I agree with what you're saying but I wonder how big a role Arthur Cox played on the training ground under Keegan?

Italy have a good history of turning top players into managers, Ancelotti, Capello, Mancini. No conversation about great players and top managers is complete without Cruyff. He basically set the template for a lot of future managers, Guardiola a prime example. I wonder if there's something we can learn as a country as our record of top players to good managers isn't great in comparison to others.

You can an add El Chapo to the list too. Always makes me laugh that he finished his playing career at Dorados de Sinaloa, Culiacán, Mexico. I wonder how they could afford his salary?

Blackburn could be a destination. Tony Mowbray's press conference is well worth a watch, certainly isn't hiding anything.

I see where you're coming from but personally I think it's best to just leave it all in the past and enjoy the times we have. There are so many parties who facilitated Ashley's time at the club; media, pundits, NUFC Trust and a large proportion of the fan base itself. I'm just pleased the Ashley era is over and happy to move on.

No, the question was about keeping a player club captain who doesn't start every match. You gave the example of Fernandinho who is in the twilight of his career which is completely different to Lascelles who is at the peak of his career. There's plenty of examples of captains at the end of their career not starting every match (Bryan Robson is one example) but I can't think of one at the peak of their career. It's naturally accepted by supporters and players that aging captains don't start every match whilst someone at the age of Lascelles would be a running joke. The alternative is to remove the captaincy which wouldn't bode well after he's held out for so long. That's why age is linked to the example of Fernandinho.

One is 36, at the end of their career and the other is 28 at what should be the peak of their career. Not sure they're comparable.

Throw in Lascelles too. I'd be amazed if he is still here next season. At his age players don't go from club captain to 4th choice and stay at a club. Also can't see Murphy and Almiron both being at the club. One will definitely leave, wouldn't be surprised if both left.

We also apparently put a bid in for Gosens in January too.

100% agree about going for real quality. I know it doesn't apply to all players and you can get quality free transfers, etc. but I do think the graph below shows you where Everton have gone wrong. Buying a lot of £20 million players is false economy as you end up buying as many bad players as good ones or players who are not an improvement on what you already have. I'm not saying it's the only reason for Everton's struggles but it does partially explain the trouble they are in. I'd much rather go for real quality over quantity.

Does teams putting two/three men on ASM reflect well on Targett? Surely he should be one of the first players looking to capitalise? Maybe that's why we might be looking at other players like Lodi.

You can't compare the two teams when West Ham are in Europe and we're not.

Cheers and I agree about getting the best players possible, no matter what league they play in. I suppose I care about Levy's reputation

And a SD Mug

What point are you making? My original point was that Levy has an over inflated reputation for being a tough negotiator which is not backed up by a lot of evidence. "having no reason to sell and us being owned by one of the worlds largest SWF"=Applies to most selling clubs, irrespective of the league. "EPL transfer involving the wealthy clubs usually lead to inflated fees."=Applies to all English clubs, irrespective of the league. Your example of Chris Wood backs up my point even more as they're not one of the wealthier clubs and still received a high transfer fee. Are you saying we should not buy from any English clubs?

Honestly, I would say Ashley was just as tough a negotiator, certainly when it came to buying players.

That basically applies to almost all selling clubs.

Is this a bit of a cliche based on Berbatov and Bale? I don't think he's this amazing negotiator that people give him credit for. Looking at their transfer history, since Bale went in 2013/14, the only player that stands out where they might have received an above average fee is Kyle Walker in 2017/18. Looking at arrivals, they have spent a lot of money on players who have had little impact which would indicate they have overpaid for a few players; poor scouting also plays a part too.

That would only be an issue if the owners weren't fully behind Howe or the players had backchannels to the owners, similar to PSG and Chelsea. In our case, I reckon Staveley will be right behind Howe and will not stand for any disruption from the players. I'm also sure new players won't just be Howe's players but ones agreed by a number pf parties within the club so if a signing goes wrong, Howe will not be held solely responsible.