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8 minutes ago, Jack27 said:

Martin Hardy reporting moves are progressing for both Pedro and Conor Gallagher 

 

 

Nice!

Things are on the boil. All coming together.

8 minutes ago, Happinesstan said:

When Bruno and Almiron linked up, against Forest, Willock seemed to get squeezed out to the right and could only attack the far post. We could do with Bruno and Almiron starting the play from deeper, like we saw last season.

Last season we often saw Bruno picking the ball up in his own box, with a full pitch in front of him. Against Forest we dominated, so it wasn't really going to happen, but against Brighton, our defence was mopping up and  playing out to him, in a more advanced position, which allowed Brighton's attackers to take him by surprise, from behind, on a couple of occasions.

I missed the majority of the second half so not sure how that developed. But we might need Bruno to be a little bit more disciplined, although it's more likely we need Willock to assert himself better, or buy better.

Yeah, there's still things to be figured out in our build up play through the middle of the pitch, but we'll get there, and should eventually settle on a better set up/approach.

2 minutes ago, TRon said:

 

The stats guy from the Toon Review channel (Alex) made a good point re Willock, he says he's still developing, we tend to forget we bought him as a 21 year old, and he's still learning to play a totally different way to what he was when he came here. He should be our back up from the bench rather than the main man as the AM, and that makes perfect sense. He could still develop into a really top class midfielder in the next couple of years, which I agree with.

I agree 100%.

I think he should be a rotational player for now. He's still young enough with plenty room to grow still.

9 minutes ago, gdm said:

 

I just don’t think he scores enough goals and doesn’t even look likely too half the time tho I do appreciate the comments people were making about his link up play which is why I asked. I guess what I was asking is would people be happy if it turned our Ramos & JP were the two signings we made? 

I think if those were our two signings, I'd expect Ramos to start in an advanced role through the middle playing off Wilson, as I explained in a separate post.

It may well mean that we continue for the meantime with our current wide options, unless we bring someone else in on loan for that position as well.

I think Pedro will be an energetic young striker/wide forward that fills in multiple roles over the season off the bench and occasionally starting too.

Now he may well come in and look a much better option wide right than Almiron and end up making that position his own, sure. I think he has the talent to do so, but it's by no means a guarantee, or a slot that would be handed to him straight away I don't think.

4 minutes ago, Happinesstan said:

I'd go for that. We lack presence in the opposition box, way too many times. I thought Willock would be getting in there, but he just isn't. It seems to be dragging Bruno too far up the pitch at times, which wouldn't be an issue if Shelvey was sitting in, of course.

This is based off the first two games, in which Wilson was well shepherded but, aside from his goal, I don't think I've seen him attack the near post.

Yes, I really have been disappointed by Willock so far. I thought that role would allow him to be the goal scoring threat he was when he first joined, but it hasn't quite clicked for him yet.

If Ramos did come in to start in that support striker role when we have the ball, as you say, it will give us more of a presence and goal threat in the box. It would be a slightly different way to add that, as I'm not sure we've been happy with the deals available for that wide right side of the pitch.

It might mean for the meantime that we don't then upgrade the wide positions, unless we bring someone in on loan there, which would be a strong possibility too, from the links we are seeing.

At Bournemouth Howe's two main catalysts for getting goals were Wilson and King, and the wide men were okayish i.e. the likes of Stanislas, Fraser, Ibe, Brooks etc. Having Wilson and Ramos would kind of mirror that approach more as our current wide men are somewhat similar.

6 minutes ago, gdm said:

Would people be happy if it turns out Howe see’s JP as a starting wide forward for the wing position rather than a back up to Wilson? 

I would be very surprised, and I honestly couldn't see that.

I don't think we go from looking at the likes of Diaby and Harrison for that role and then bringing in Pedro to play it from the off.

Pedro is more of an alternative to the role we had in mind for Ekitike.

10 minutes ago, gbandit said:

If we sign Pedro, is the consensus that we won’t be signing Ramos too? 

I think there's a chance Ramos comes in to start if we do sign him. He's looking like he's good enough to do so. Pedro is more of a player that can still afford to come in here and there and continue to develop.

I think with Ramos, it will mean that in possession of the ball, he will then get right up and support Wilson in a support striker role, and out of possession we'll still be able to defend in that 4-3-3 shape we have been using, as Ramos is very good defensively and has played in that sort of role in a midfield three previously.

51 minutes ago, WarrenBartonCentrePartin said:

The Coates family determined to also keep the Delap name synonymous with Stoke.

 

 

ManDoon doing bits at Stoke! 

1 hour ago, Rich said:

They look trash but they broke at least one of our signings in Jan, if I remember rightly.

I swear that's where I first saw the Eddie Howe link too. So yeah, I have noticed they're a pretty good source.

1 minute ago, Happinesstan said:

I didn't accuse you. Now  who's acting all oppressed.

Stop trolling man

1 minute ago, Happinesstan said:

There is also a self manufactured sense of superiority in those who view every thought as an opinion to be shot down by their own opinion. You're both as bad as each other for over valuing your thoughts.

I see what you're saying but that's not where Vinny is really coming from.

The issue is really how the constant complaining in much the same manner and daily ... essentially makes the thread painful to navigate.

But like I said already. It's just the nature of the beast. Best to just quickly look over those type of posts and not bother engaging. It doesn't lead to any kind of decent discussion anyway and just actually makes things more tedious.

1 minute ago, Vinny Green Balls said:

I don’t disagree with what you are saying, but there really is a manufactured sense of victimhood with some of this, man. Not long ago, people were accusing others of being in the clique for calling their views out (almost sheeple level bad). 

At this point it's just best to look over any posts that are just making the same complaints all the time. There's still a decent number of more balanced views.

And the folks that feel things are not good can also feel free to communicate that with each other and lament the current situation together.

3 minutes ago, St1pe said:

It’s happening this one like and I’m all for it. 

It's looking promising.

When we were first linked in June, the articles I read back then said the Watford owner really liked him and would not accept anything under a total value of £30 million and was being adamant about it. We've likely gone around to explore other possible options before now coming back to look to finalise this deal, which is fair enough really.

Be exciting to bring in a really highly rated youngster. We just never seem to make these kinds of signings. It's particularly exciting because we have legitimate coach that is capable of getting a lot out of the players he works with.

Apparently this kid is a very hard worker as well with high character. The Telegraph article  @The Prophet shared goes into detail on him a bit. Was very interesting.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2022/08/14/joao-pedro-watford-forward-no-one-talking-yet/?utm_content=football&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1660499714

3 minutes ago, Vinny Green Balls said:

I seriously hope that they don’t approach real world relationships like this. People with so much defeatism and pessimism tend to be massive black holes who suck all the energy out of the room.

It's really unfortunate man, but it is what it is I guess.

1 hour ago, Dr.Spaceman said:

 

It's depressing and putting me off a little tbh.

They cannot understand how draining and off putting it is to come into the thread when there's a new post hoping to see some interesting news on players, and be met with the same complaints every single day ... in their eyes we're the ones that have a problem for having anything to say about it.

Just have to look past those posts and sift out the more reasonable and reasoned ones.

2 hours ago, RS said:

So predictable to see the self-entitlement of our fanbase reach record levels since the takeover, despite seeing levels of investment on and off the field unheard of in 15 years and the fact we have been told the blueprint of the Clubs operating philosophy is a slow burn, but it’s still not good enough for some. 
we’re operating as a competent,competitive premiership club for the first time in a decade. Our reputation (as seen by the forest fans forum) is still that of a lower PL club.

I’m thankful for where we are and happy to watch the transition take place in line with the plan. 

 

 

 

There's no point even saying this anymore. It's just not going to register.

I'm just thankful there's some folks that get it, and at least some decent discussions can be had with them.

7 hours ago, elbee909 said:

 

 

Think it's time to avoid this thread, the posts are getting more frustrating than the supposed bids that everyone believes from unreliable sources.

 

 

 

Don't reply to those types of posts and don't comment on them.

They're attention seeking and a cry for help from folks that are struggling to handle their emotions over transfers. They need someone to continuously engage them and go back and forth about the same complaints everyday to get them through it.

I mean ... can you imagine how bad these kind of people would be negotiating any kind of deal? Yet they cry, complain and as always ... bed wet, about the clubs approach to negotiations.

It's actually laughable.

9 hours ago, Kid Icarus said:

You have to wonder how much of this is us trying to get a player we want and how much of it is showing off and hammering home that we won't go beyond our valuation of a player.

 

 

 

Yup, we'll eventually pull the trigger on the players we really want, but the message has been sent home all summer right up to the end of the window.

The recruitment team are out here playing Chess, while over emotional fans with nervous dispositions cry, complain and soil their bed sheets.

20 minutes ago, reefatoon said:

Bellamy is more of a shout. Went to Coventry and was rubbish. We bought him and not many people were arsed and thought he was canny shite. He ended up massive for us. Sometimes players move to the wrong club and it just doesn’t click and sometimes they move to the right fitting club and shine. Let’s give the lad a chance to see what he can do if he signs.

This is it. 

It's not even that fans should be celebrating and running through the streets if the signing happens, but at least let's see what he can do you know?

Some of the rhetoric though, yikes.

1 minute ago, gdm said:

I get the point you are making but like Ekitike & Ramos I don’t know much about them so there is an intriguing excitement there but I’ve seen Joao Pedro struggle to get in to games and have an impact even in the championship as recently as the last two games and it’s just meh. I’m all for him proving me wrong but simple fact is when I’ve watched him I’ve rarely been impressed. See how he does tonight 

That's fair.

There's been some really strange stuff posted in here regarding the guy though. 

Purely off of him not being an obvious name with already high production. It's just very short sighted.

But let him go to a team like Brentford or Southampton and perform well then next summer folks will be getting annoyed we aren't 'pushing the boat out' for him.

Just now, gdm said:

Tbf I hadn’t seen Richarlison or Raphinha before they signed for Everton & Leeds, however I have seen Joao Pedro a number of times and have never really been impressed so it’s not really comparable 

Come on man ... 

1 minute ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

Oh sorry, didn't see the 'before they signed them' bit.

Ah, right! Yeah, that is the key bit because they went to both Everton and Leeds and produced right away, despite not showing anywhere near that kind of production previously.

1 minute ago, Kid Icarus said:

Richarlison maybe, but I remember a lot of 'fucking hell, how the fuck have Leeds have signed Raphina!?' posts when that happened

 

 

 

I find that really hard to believe. Certainly not on here. If so it would have been very few.

As most seem to go straight to number of goals and assist and instantly right players off based on that.

Just now, AyeDubbleYoo said:

I don't think anyone would have queried Richarlison or Raphina like, but who knows.

Ha!!!

Go and look at their stats prior to their moves to Everton and Leeds.

Are you kidding me? Come on man.

You see all the fuss made over both Richarlison and Raphina this summer, with people on here saying we should be going for them and it's just funny.

If we had gone for either when Everton and Leeds first signed them, it would have been some of the same rhetoric we have seen recently.

Chris Wood mark 2, we're going for cheaper options, where is the ambition, they can't score, not good enough, we should be aiming for Europe ... just no foresight or trust in any kind of scouting or projections for players that don't have the obvious stats to look at.

Does it not bother you that clubs are out there are identifying such players when it isn't as obvious to everyone else? 

It's about time we started doing much more of this. We finally seem to be trying to do so and it has led to rampant bed wetting everywhere ...