Memphis

Everything that's happened so far is to be expected. We moved in ninja-like stealth to sign Tonali for nice money. We are no doubt moving stealthily towards other signings. Of the ones mentioned publicly, Maddison never seemed to be a goer, we inquired but never looked like really committing to him once it became clear he would be in the 40m range + big wages. Szoboszlai - we seemed to have a lot of interest but we were never going to be able to pay the full release clause due to FFP, I imagine we thought we could drive it down a bit. Once RB knew they were going to sell Gvardiol for big money and had multiple clubs interested, we were always going to fall back. None of this is a surprise based on our previous activity and our limitations this summer. The Livramento thing will probably carry on for a while but I'd bet we end up signing him. I would not be surprised if we all of a sudden signed a high-profile RW (Diaby or Chiesa. maybe) next week. The management of the club has been spot on for the last 18 months, signings have been nearly perfect, I thought we'd be in trouble after not doing more business in January, and I was wrong. They were right. As a result, I feel very content to sit back and let them operate, with complete faith they'll sort it out. Weird feeling, I must admit.

Here's the complete movie. Very mysterious. Just posted an hour or so ago. Username is the same as the film title. It's obviously very well produced, though, whoever did it.

Yeah, but what actually broke? That we were talking to Southampton? We've been talking to them for weeks. There's been no offer and apparently we're still quite far apart on valuation so I don't really think that qualifies. I don't see any new business happening. We have several things that *could* happen, and quickly. But we do have the look of a team waiting for something else to happen.

I hate to say this, but did we actually "pause and reflect" as Luke Edwards suggested a few days ago? I'm no Luke fan but it's kind of starting to look like a pause and reflection.

Yeah, I think some people go overboard with the criticisms of the player if he doesn't sign. No need for that. I was always sort of meh on Maddison. Wouldn't have been upset at all had we signed him, he's certainly very good. But I have no doubts we will be able to get very effective, perhaps better options as time goes on. I think the Tonali signing dragging on as it has is making people a little frayed at the edges.

Don't think that's going to matter, especially if Leipzig sells Gvardiol to Man City for 100m Euros or so. They'll have no issue with holding out even beyond the July 15 date and as he's 22, I'm guessing Dominik isn't going to kick up a huge fuss yet about staying. We're going to have to pony up to get him.

I'd love for us to quit flirting with Big Dom Szob and just ask him out already.

He's nailed on to make an incredible debut against Barcelona in the Champions League

He did, Maximo Perrone. I'm sure their experience with Julian Alvarez heading straight into the squad helped too.

Surely he'd love a bit of ABBA We signed a legend from Milan that night He took a flight Wor Sandro He's had to come from Italy Now Toon-ali Wor Sandro

Photoshopping Chiesa into our shirt is basically the program's tutorial

The fact that signing either Hernandez or Chiesa is actually plausible is incredible. Even two weeks ago I would have thought either or them - or Tonali - would be unrealistically ambitious. But apparently not...

France is fast as fuck up front, they look fantastic going forward. Wouldn't have minded if any of them ended up here.

Made a big error but then 3 minutes later earned a foul that led to his absolutely flawless free kick, headed in for the equaliser. He is something else. Italian commentators were going on about the transfer to Newcastle right before he kicked it as well...

His set pieces have all been absolutely excellent so far. France 1-0 up on an outrageous first-time flicked goal from Kalimuendo. Nothing Tonali or anyone else could have done.

Remember - last August, we overpaid for Alexander Isak, according to many, many experts. Except, uh, turns out we didn't, actually. I'm not too concerned with what people are writing or saying about Tonali now.

I can imagine you're furious and shocked, I would be too. I appreciate your posts and hope you'll continue posting regardless.

Can't wait to watch the movie of this guy's career. His story should inspire everyone.

That's truly the epitome of ITK posts. Sounds specific and like it's coming from a place of knowledge but vague enough to not actually refer to anything at all. Whatever happens, he can claim to have been right. Brilliant work.

Think about it: What would be the motivation for this information to come out? WHY WOULD WE LEAK THIS INFORMATION? a. In a throwback to the Ashley years, to make it appear that we're working on something big without intention to actually do it. b. We're confident in the deal being done. c. We didn't. WHY WOULD INTER LEAK THE INFORMATION? a. They want to pressure other teams into bidding more for Barella by making it clear he's for sale. b. They want to let their fans know that they're going to have to sell a lot this summer due to their financial peril. c. They didn't. WHY WOULD BARELLA'S REPRESENTATIVES LEAK THE INFORMATION? a. They want to force a sale, but perhaps not to Newcastle. b. They want an improved contract. c. They didn't. Hard for me to see any other motivations at play here. Someone's been talking, though. And rumours earlier this season were that Barella was going to be available for 50m, so make of that what you will, I'm guessing Inter's financial problems are the big motivator here.

We'll know pretty quickly if this is a real transfer or not. I don't think it would have gotten out had it not been very genuine on our end, and reasonably advanced. We've been a very tight ship since the takeover and anything that's emerged like this has tended to be true. That said, if it isn't finalised within a day or two, perhaps it was released on Inter's end to smoke out more offers. But I think it's legitimate from our end.

This would be outrageous. I have no idea how we could do it. But if we somehow got a 26-year-old world class midfielder to leave the Champions League finalists for Newcastle United...that would say more about our club's stature than any words anyone could ever say. You talk about a statement signing? This would eclipse Isak, Bruno, even Shefki Kuqi.

http://analyticsfc.co.uk/blog/2021/09/08/loan-pathways-the-buy-to-loan-model/ Not sure if it's been posted, but this is a good read from September 2021 about Brighton's Buy-to-Loan model developed by Dan Ashworth, highlights Alexis Mac Allister, Robert Sanchez, and others. Very clear we're implementing this on a larger scale due to our size. Irrespective of the morality of the model itself, it's a very smart way to find and grow young talent.

It's no Hearts but I guess Feyenoord will do

How does the chart work? Does it go: Keeping tabs on ---> monitoring --> weighing up a bid ---> preparing a bid ---> putting a bid together ---> formalising a bid ---> making an opening bid ---> back to preparing a bid Very confusing.