gazza ladra

God, I am so happy we’re past buying Man Utd rejects.

Do we know how Aston Villa will line up? Heard somewhere that they’re playing Diaby more centrally. Maybe just imagined it? edit: also some debate as to whether Tielemans is even a starter.

Agree. I do question whether Lascelles character and leadership is what has made the difference for him. Howe has been pretty ruthless with Fraser. If Fraser doesn’t feel humiliated, he should. Don’t understand why he is still around. Probably no one is willing to come near him.

Comparing Barnes to ASM or Maddison is so tiresome. Let’s get on with comparing Barnes and Diaby.

Can’t see this. As soon as Schär is fit, he starts. He offers so much more than Burn.

Turns out selling Shelvey and not getting a replacement didn’t hurt us at all last window. The club knows what they are doing.

Right. But you won’t get a suitable replacement for that price.

It is nonsense to believe that anyone is going to pay 50m for Callum Wilson. Nobody is going to pay us enough to replace him. No one who could afford him is going to pay the price. Those that could afford the price are either too well run to take such a risk or have better prospects. Spending 50M on an injury-prone, 31 year old striker is Everton territory.

Right. Take that 50M and the 30M we get for Ryan Fraser and the club can really get down to business

Love that an interviewer asked Wilson what thought about Harvey Barnes and Wilson responds by saying that he’s exactly the type player that the club needs and that Barnes will get a lot of assists this year. Always thinking about himself scoring goals.

And lucky to get it.

Just what we need. We could win something with a James Milner.

No guarantee that Diaby would be better than Barnes. Personally, I don't watch much Bundesliga and all I know about Diaby is that he's highly regarded and expensive. Can't say I was especially impressed with his highlight vids. Looked really slight. Neither Diaby or Barnes is especially known for tracking back or defending from the front, but I could see Barnes adapting. Not so confident about Diaby. His defending is incredibly weak. And Barnes has proven he can score in the Premier League. With Diaby we just don't know.

Did Henderson ever say he was opposed to PIF, Saudi Arabia, or sportswashing, or is a hypocrite because he has gone against the author's principles?

I was thinking a LB would free up Burn to play CB. If either Botman or Schär go down for an extended period, we could have serious trouble.

Wasn't there a debate on here last year about whether we should buy Gordon, Barnes, or Harrison?

Yeah, but I'm stoned out of my mind and singing Motown tunes.

I am sincerely sorry. My main point stands. The club has had an incredible hit rate.

Oh they’ll complain anyway no matter the figure don’t you worry.

Want. Picking up young talent from relegated or struggling clubs (Gordon, Barnes?, Livramento?).Opportunistic acquisitions while our rivals are buying the finished product at exorbitant prices. Saw an Athletic vid yesterday that claimed that 50% of all transfers are failures. I’d argue that the club has not missed yet under the new ownership. Don’t buy the claim that Woods was bad, and think it is far too early to do the same for Gordon. By my estimation the new ownership has a 100% success rate. Can’t say whether we’re bound to return to the mean, or if the failed strategies at Spurs, Everton, etc. will keep us at the right end of the curve long into the future. Remember last summer when pundits were debating whether Chelsea or Spurs won the window? This guy looks great. Ashworth knows what he’s doing.

Thought ASM showed significant improvement under Howe. He should’ve had more assists, but he was feeding players who couldn’t finish. Barnes’ doesn’t get many assists, but I expect he will do better with us under Howe than he did with LC under Rodgers.

Ok, but which midtable clubs can afford to buy or pay the salaries of Telles or Mahrez? Not disagreeing with the idea that the Saudi strategy for building a league is solid, I am questioning your assertion that it will gut midtable clubs.

Looks like a Mexico kit

Are they buying a lot from mid table clubs? Neves, obviously. They appear to be going the American route (NASL, MLS) and buying last paycheck stars from the bigger clubs. I guess ASM (like Neves) is a sort of exception as he is relatively young, but mid table clubs aren’t biting. The Saudis are picking up luxury players on high wages as far as I can see, players that smaller clubs can’t afford. Midtable clubs are better of buying and developing young talents from Portugal, France, Scandinavia, and ( why not) England as far as I can see.

Largely agree with this, but I think we have overestimated ASM’s talent. When things are dire there is a natural tendency to cling onto flashy players (ASM, Ben Arfa) that disrupt the doldrums. But they’re not that good. They’re great compared to what we had, but nothing compared to what competitive clubs are used to seeing. A lot of people are shocked to how little we’re getting for ASM. I am as well. But on reflection, I think that we are overestimating his value and contributions because he was all we had to hang onto when we were watching Bruce Ball. Goals are exciting. Harvey Barnes scores goals.