STM

Second paragraph describes my lad to a tee. Scored 5 one week, came off crying the next, scored 3 the next, can't get a touch the next and so on. He gets his head down very quickly. If he misses and easy chance or someone clatters into him etc. Although he is getting better. Have taken him along to another training session on Thursdays with older boys and rougher boys and he's holding his own, which is great.

I'd love any advice about how to improve a 9 year old too. If there are any coaches out there. His shooting and dribbling are very good but I'd like him to learn how to work the ball in tighter spaces and get his head up. Ideally with a view to moving more central.

My boy was in Tynedale Mini league U9s last year. Our club has around 22 players this age, so it takes 2 teams and 3 coaches, of which I am one. We have a real range of abilities, some of them just need a ball at their feet and treat it like any out of school club. Others have a real passion for it and take it semi seriously. We have 2 girls amongst them and neither of them are what I would consider our worst players. One in particular has great feet but loses concentration alot but she will be cracking when she moves across to girls footy. I know this is cringey parent stuff but my lad is doing really well. Got top goalscorer and most player of the matches awards at end of season. Consistently one of the best 2 players in our team. Cracking left footer, plays wide/forward. I do worry that we as coaches might hold some of our players back when they get to certain level. I wish there was a way they could get more quality coaching at this age, to push them as far as they can go.

Welcome to 2022 football. 14 years of hibernation takes a while to shake off.

So it would be reasonable to assume that our 100m budget would be spread on 3 players; Ekitike 30m, Botman 30m and DCL 40m being the strongest links. After that we have to get creative with outgoings and loan deals etc.

Just to chime in on the Lukaku debate somewhat. The reason he's failed at Chelsea has nowt to do with playing style but more to do with that he's actually not THAT good. He was a donkey for Man Utd. The last time he looked a quality player in this league was for Everton a LONG time ago. His numbers for Inter Milan are absolutely worthless in the context of the PL. I was shocked that Chelsea paid so much for a player that was relatively average for Man Utd, a comparable club.

DCL is a 40/45m pound striker (provided he has no long term injury issues). We sold Andy Caroll to Liverpool for 35m in 2010? off the back of half a season. We signed Joelinton for 40m, and Chris Wood (who's shite) for 25m because he's a striker. For every other position 50m is mega money, but not for a striker. Strikers come at a premium. 50m would be steep for DCL but only slightly above his value. Thankfully, I'm confident that our club already knows how much they are going to spend on a front man and have provisioned accordingly. If Everton do want 50m, you can bet your bollocks we could get a deal done for 38m +add ons, which would be a fair price IMO.

Its all very, very quiet on the transfer front.

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Ah that makes sense. Although, I highly doubt it will prevent him getting the money he wants. He certainly won't be getting 90k. It's a good move for him TBF.

Aye but how much will he want? He's earned his right to a big contract and I'm sure there are clubs abroad who would be prepared to pay his wage.

Puts all the "why isn't it done yet?", stuff into perspective, when you see all the financial complications.

I'm surprised by how much you rate Arsenal and yet don't rate us. This the Arsenal side we absolutely battered at SJP? Who couldn't create a thing? I'd fancy Bruno to find a pass to Jesus, before any of the Arsenal midfield. We won't sign Jesus because he will be looking for 200k a week and that's where we can't yet go.

The likes of Spurs, Bayern, Liverpool, City etc all making moves help us. It starts the international flow of money. There's a knock on affect, with players from them clubs becoming available, allowing other clubs to make their moves and so on. We aren't competing with the CL teams this year, so let them take the lion share of transfers and get the ball rolling for others. Hopefully somewhere along the line, one of the big money transfers across Europe helps us make our moves.

FWIW there is very little evidence that Toney is a tosspot. An idiot perhaps but not a bad lad.

Cringey as fuck how quick people are to say "fuck them, move on". Firstly because we don't know which parts of the media reporting are true and secondly, even if x player hasn't made his mind up yet, why should we rush them and potentially put them off the move? We aren't trying to sign these lads because they might be good in August, we are trying to sign them because they could potentially send us into a new era of success over the length of their contracts. What if Botman turns out as good as Van Dijk? Is he worth waiting until August 31st or whatever the deadline is? Just calm the fuck down, go and have a beer or whatever and let Ashworth (who is an absolute boss at this stuff) get on with his job.

Interestingly, Pope has the same agent as JWP who we were linked with yesterday and perhaps more Interestingly the same agent as Dean Henderson. Any chance that the papers know which agents we are talking to but don't know which players or even more likely that specific agencies are leaking stuff to the media. Seems weird that we have been linked with 3 players from the same management recently. Edit: Also Clark and Shelvey are part of the same management group. If there is a clause, we will know about it.

I quite like Dubravka, I really do, and I defended him loads when he was getting shit last season but he's not as good as Pope. Anyone thinking that Pope will come here to sit on the bench are off their tits. He would be our number 1.

Got this weird feeling when I see other clubs making their moves. Normally I'm utterly jealous and raging at the fat man but this year I've got this feeling of "don't worry it's coming". Can't wait to see who we have up our sleeves.

Like i say, Darlow the other way would make so much sense. Wouldn't be surprised if that was being discussed, especially since he was supposedly discussed as part of any Henderson deal.

I suspect Dubravka could be allowed to leave if Pope comes in, even if Darlow goes. Finding a number 2 wouldn't be hard. Ben Foster please.

They are similar, both good shot stoppers, both pretty average with their feet but where Pope excels is his command of the box, ignoring his mistake at SJP. Would be a super solid move.

10m for Pope would be the perfect bridge between where we are and where are going. Having a core of British players is crucial IMO and Pope is Englands number 2/3. He's already PL proven. Decent value at 10m. Half the price Henderson was touted for. Nice to think that if we had a 20m budget for a keeper that 10m has been saved for another area. Not that it works that way I'm sure.

He's also better than Dubravka.

Pope is a good keeper, although not the progressive keeper that I'd have assumed we might target. Reading between the lines, does Ashworth believe he can do a cheaper deal for Pope than what we might have paid for Henderson. I wonder if Darlow could go the other way. He'd be perfect for them. Burnley can't afford to turn down money. They need to rebuild. Somewhere around the 15 million mark would be a fair deal IMO.