TRon

How do we know that?

Good points, just want to add to that, I know Mitchell has only been in the job for barely two months, but we had all summer to identify players. I really find it hard to believe we couldn't identify a RCB who could come in and do a job other than Guehi for £70m. We did buy Lloyd Kelly, maybe he should be starting sooner rather than later. I don't want to watch too many games with Burn and Krafth as our CB pairing.

Maybe Mitchell is sitting by the tv screens hoping to see a Parish interview on Sky saying it's still doable if we up our bid just a teensy bit?

All clubs are now refusing to put big money into players who are over 25. Ashley was derided for it, but in the FFP era it just doesn't make sense any more, that is why the market has deflated so much and everyone is after the same players who fall into the right age bracket.

Seems like a dumb approach to have put so much stock into landing Guehi. Where were the alternatives just in case we couldn't make it happen?

He didn't even have to do that, he could just have made it clear he wanted the move to Newcastle and Parish would have took the deal. He wouldn't want to hang onto an unhappy player when he could bank £70m for him.

It can only be Howe wanted Guehi and Mitchell put all his eggs in that basket. I presume that's not how he usually works but it can't ever happen again. We can maybe put this one down to a new man trying to fit in, but Mitchell was hired to do a job, and next time round he needs to earn his money. We can't have two directors of football.

Palace would have sold him if he had made it clear he wanted the move badly enough.

Really hope that's all it was, looking at it at the time, I was convinced it was a dead leg but then Howe was saying yesterday that it wasn't looking too good. Even more important because while he was on he absolutely uplifted our game with his pace and running.

We won't unless we can step up our game from what we've seen in the first few fixtures played so far. The football has been patchy at best. Might be due to playing CBs as full backs, or full backs at CB, but I've been more concerned about our lack of fluidity than anything else. To reach top 4 we'll need good footballers in every position for 85% of the season. Although I think top 4 is an unfair expectation anyway, top 6 with this squad should be good enough for most.

It's batshit crazy for a club with our structure, which has been put in place precisely to avoid this sort of nonsense you would have thought.

Silly me, must have missed it. What's everyone whingeing about then?

We should have been in there far earlier instead of hanging everything on Guehi. Don't tell me Al Nassr have a better recruiting dept than we do.

If there's a problem getting in a CB when you've got £70m to throw at it then someone needs to get the blame. Mitchell was hired for just that job, that means either he's shit at it, or Howe has put the blocks on his alternatives.

Mitchell's job is purely to recruit as far as I know. Did he really have no other alternatives on his books if Palace refused to sell Guehi?

They had all summer to make a couple of signings. Failing that, at least get in a CB. I don't know who's doing the planning but they've made a pig's ear of it.

Who else is there if we don't get Guehi?

Hopefully Lloyd Kelly will have a storming season and by the end of it we'll be thanking our lucky stars we didn't drop £70m on this lad.

I think we can get 8th with our current squad, right now I would not be betting on getting into Europe. Of course its possible, but it is for half the other clubs in the Premier as well.

Yeah I've said a week ago he isn't really giving the impression of a player who is fussed about moving here.

This. Every window we fail to upgrade seems to see us drop another level. Right now any talk of challenging for the CL seems fantasy Island stuff. Top 6 will be a dogfight from all evidence so far. We are not producing the football we did 18 months ago, other teams are improving year on year as well.

That squad failed to qualify for Europe last season.

Or we could just buy a different centre back. Although might have missed the boat there now...

I think most were understanding enough to swallow the disappointment of not getting Europe last season because of the injuries, even though it felt like we wrote the season off in January by refusing to buy or loan short term replacements. If we go into this season without strengthening I feel like we've already written off this season as well. Our results are better than our performances so far, but we haven't even played one of the better sides yet. Howe himself doesn't look happy with the football we are turning out, not sure how he fixes that without getting new blood in.