Parky

It begins.

Who does he play for?

I suspect we're all going to be disappointing with this window...We already know it deep down. The best we can hope for is Stockholm Syndrome.

Ashley playbook. Full effect.

Just waiting for the casino pic.

Ashley has never ever given any signals that he will change strategy from running the club on a tight budget with an eye to breaking even or small profits. This I imagine runs counter to Benny's motivation of developing the club over the next 2/3 seasons and putting it in a position to compete near the top of the league (top 5/6/7). These two visions run completely in opposition to each other. One will have to give. Would be delighted to be proved wrong but I honestly can't see Ashley buying the 4/5 Tier One players we need to have a good season and stay out of a relegation fight. Is Ashley going to OK spending 70-90m in one window? Pure fantasy. He will be thinking about spending 30/40m tops regardless of outgoings. Knowing what the management is like they are probably saying all the right things to Benny but doing very little to make it happen. With a world class manager in charge this would be the season to stop all the nonsense and put the money on the table.

The only thing we can hold onto is that Benny has been round the houses with other owners and knows the score.

Straight out the Ashley playbook. Start rumor about take over. Bring in a new middle man to take the flak. Go on holiday.

Good news means Benny real does have the final say.

The dyed hair (crown) is the giveaway. Self-obsessed.

Ashley doesn't either.

Stooge 1: ''The supporters are expecting exciting transfers that can take the club to the next level''. Ashley: Fuck! Leak some shit about a takeover''. Stooge 2: The World class manager we have wants you to take a look at his transfer targets''. Ashley: Get me the fixer!!1 Stooge 1: Ha ha...Good one boss. Chuckling and backslapping ensues.

Ashley will put Rafa in an isolation tank and giggle while peering at him through that little window.

Stooge No.547 in place.

Looks like a classic Ashley curve ball.

Is this real?

No pace, no brain, barn door etc...

Every one of them are prone to to that. If Bramble had a brain he could have been a force of nature. Not to be though. It's very easy for good players to get lost at a club like City or Chelsea with unlimited funds.. they know that one or two bad games and they'll just buy someone else. Here they'll fit in if they show the right attitude.. there's a reason City paid so much for him, just needs to be coaxed out of him in a safer environment. Was saying he can still work with Guardiola. Even though it's clear he isn't fancied at City.

Think Mangala would be fine with a solid structure around him and the drilling that Benny does.

They were also the division's joint top scorers in 15/16 too. Narrow flukey wins though. If you'd seen the games instead of relying on Google you know you're misinformed. Yeah they scored goals. They also conceded far more than the teams around them, finished third and got dicked by Sheffield Wednesday in the playoffs. Drop it, anyway. I don't want to talk about Brighton & Hove Albion. Awful club who won't get promoted. Love it when you drop it like this Ronny.

It has literally been madness in Eng as until last years rule change people like Fabregas and half of the Chelsea youth system were considered 'home grown'. In Eng home grown didn't even mean qualify to play for Eng.

Performed well in the league BECAUSE they are in teams with who's key creative players are foreign. Germany came to the same conclusion and changed their football from youth up. There is literally reams of data on the internet on how Germany changed their youth system and coaching to encourage German players. Nearly the whole German team now plays abroad which is actually bothering the Germans.

It really is that simple. Too many forrins in the PL. If you want a better national team there's got to be more English players actually playing at the highest level. I can't see that at all. The individual quality of English players has improved because the competition for places at clubs is greater, with the number of good foreign players coming in. Whether it's improved enough, I suppose, is another matter. All round, we're still not technically as sound as other countries. A particular difference is their defenders have more confidence on the ball, and can contribute more in possession. It allows them to function better and more flexibly as teams. 10/15 years ago Germany had the same issue then why did they bother to put so much effort in tackling it? Eng isn't just attracting good players a lot of squads are filled out with average non Eng players which is limiting the chance of youth players coming through. We aren't even discussing key roles in a side. The creative fulcrum of most top PL teams are foreign players. Eng can develop as many pacy wingers as they like but untill they develop midfielders who can come through and play regularly in the PL they haven't a chance on the international stage. "But the Germans don't need so many foreign players. Over the last decade they have invested more than £570m in youth academies, a move that has seen the average age of Bundesliga players in that period fall from 27.1 years to just 25.2 years and given birth to a generation of players that, as the World Cup showed all too clearly, know each other's games inside out. "It's our youth academies that continuously provide the talents that make the Bundesliga and the national team so exciting and attractive," adds the DFL's Christian Seifert. "Our clubs invest €100m (£80m) in these academies and are rewarded with a sustainable basis of excellent homegrown players." Crucially, these homegrown players have far more opportunity of playing in their national league than their counterparts in England, where just 37 per cent of players in the Premier League are eligible to play for the national side. In the top tier of the Bundesliga it's 57 per cent. It's another reason that Germany performs so consistently at international level, as Christian Seifert explains. " Even the 37% is misleading because although they may be eligible how many of them are playing regularly? The more you look into it the worse it gets sadly.

Eng 68% foreign players. Spain 37% Germany 22% We'll never again have a large enough pool to pick from and not enough Eng players will develop at top clubs in key roles to actually challenge in tournaments. There are loads of other factors but IMO this is the core issue.

Good read. Also these players are carried in their club sides by some of the best players from overseas so there are aspects to their game that remain under developed and one of them is pitch intelligence. Why did the Spurs players look so flat after a good season...? No Ericksen, no Lamela.