Kasper

Make you wonder why we want him in the first place if he's no better than what we've got. May I offer the outrageous option that the press is mostly full of shit.

It's all about the clicks clicks clicks.

So I assume you think Charnley fucked up the deal for whatever reason? The club messing up a minimal cost deal as you said and knowingly pissing of the manager in the process doesn't sound to me like the most logical explanation for him ending up in Swansea. And without knowing any real facts about the situation it really requires you to make some pretty big assumptions to end up with that result. But like I said, maybe I'm being naive. Maybe Charnley intentionally fucked it up to piss Rafa off or maybe he went to the Bahamas and didnt bother answering his phone. And then invented a story about Clement tp protect himself. Maybe. All I know is that there are Stevel Seagal films with more realistic scripts.

No one finds it a bit weird that according to these ITK's Rafa's main target was a loan for a Chelsea youngster who's only real exprience is one season of second tier football? I'm not saying its not worrying if we're missing out on his top targets. It really is. But he was really on top of Rafa's list? Precisely where in the pecking order Abraham was is besides the point. Rafa thought the deal was sealed but the club let him down. Maybe I'm being naive, but how likely it is that a loan for a kid doesnt go through because of finances? Doesnt feel like the full story to me.

No one finds it a bit weird that according to these ITK's Rafa's main target was a loan for a Chelsea youngster who's only real exprience is one season of second tier football? I'm not saying its not worrying if we're missing out on his top targets. It really is. But he was really on top of Rafa's list?

I mean he's not wrong, trouble is those teams will sign a lot more. Past evidence suggests we won't, there in lies the problem. What are you talking about? Past evidence suggest we won't sign more players? What evidence might that be? The real problem is that we've failed to do business early, not that we'll fail to do business at all.

Now that we've established that most people in this thread have great sources can you get us something interesting that we didnt know already?

What a load of shit that article is. As if getting one months payment will make a difference if our budget is 70m.

Worst puns in ages. Please stop.

Deserved IMO. I'd heard from a decent source that a couple of Premier League clubs were interested in Dummet so he may well have acted on that. Although many criticise him and prefer to highlight his limitations, within the game he's looked upon as a reliable defender and a good pro. No world beater but there's been a lot worse in the PL. The problem I have with Dummett is that he has very few attributes that are needed to play full-back effectively in the PL. Apart from his decent height and left foot, he almost has nothing else to play that position. Very early on when he made his first few appearances, he put in a few crosses and showed some pace down the flank. Hasn't been seen since. As with everything else, if he's good enough for Rafa, he's good enough for me. I still believe though that his best position is as a left-sided CB. Those limitations are very easy to highlight rather than the positives and we probably have to ask just who or what we are comparing him to ? Very few out and out left backs, even in the PL, check every box. As you mention, him also being comfortable as a CB enhances his usefulness to a squad and therefore his market value. It's also a balance thing. Dummett doesn't contribute offensively. We all know that. No assists in 44 matches is a terrible stat. Chances created gives a pretty bleak view: http://i.imgur.com/9gM5zqv.png (from squawka) Not sure how accurate that is but atleast gives you an idea. How much of that is due to Dummett not having a very offensive player infront of him and how much is down to Dummett not supporting the winger enough offensively. What ever it is I'm sure Rafa is looking to fix that. You can bet every team will be aware of that and adjust accordingly.

Happy to start with Dummett tbh. Strongly disagree. There's no way a player that incompetent with the ball should ever play full back in the Premier League.

None of the usual stat sites support that interceptions stat.

https://www.nufc.co.uk/news/latest-news/magpies-complete-lejeune-signing

Considering Rafa's love for rotation I wouldn't consider squad players as back ups.

We've pretty much ignored the obvious gaps since Ashley bought the club and just went for the player most likely to bring in a profit for the club. e: not that I disagree with you on the squad players point.

Could he look any more like Alderweireld in that pic.

Huddlestone vs Colback debate. A new low.

Well it was closer to the right decision than what the ref did.

Can probably put this in here as well:

E: slow

Interesting response after saying our squad is weaker because we lost one right back.

Is that true? The number I've seen was a total 70% increase on the old tv deal.

I will be furious if we don't pay Eibar enough to make them feel valued and appreciated.

Great NUFC transfer rumour that.

Never a bad time to get rid of Ashley.