clintdempsey

The Botman deal seems reliant on coming to an agreement with Lille. Sounds like the framework of the deal with the player is all but agreed if we are to believe last week’s news. And there are rumors circulating this morning that Lille has indeed named their price. As for the striker there’s barely been any names mentioned in the press (not that that really should mean something) so I’d be really surprised to see one in this week. ?

Beggars can't be choosers and all that, right?

I didn't say it was good. But I think it'd be enough. Dummett at least knows how to defend. I'd rather him than Clark that's for sure.

I also think we'll do Watford with or without a new striker (not that I don't want one). Playing them will suit the team better than Cambridge to be honest. Get back to the 3-4-3 from the Brentford game and try and counter them. Might as well try a back three of Schär/Lascelles/Dummett if Fernandez is still out. Tripps and Murphy WB's, Big Joe and Shelvey in the middle and ASM/Gayle or New striker/Fraser. Should be enough for a win IMO.

I guess what is often the case is that discussions take place between clubs and agents for a few months before the start of a transfer window. The iffy thing here is that if the selling clubs are not actively trying to flog their player there's nothing in it for them at all to agree to a transfer well before the window opens. Add our situation and league position to the mix and 99.9% of all clubs will take their chances at taking us to the cleaners during the window. It's a horrible situation to be in and one where the new owners are trying to do good by the club and the supporters. We will probably end up paying a bit too much for most of the transfers during January because of this as well. But that is a risk worth taking. What irks me more though is the noises coming out in regards to keeping to the "old" wage structure. It doesn't tally with ambitious buys to take the club forward at all. Which incidentally probably means it's hopefully not true.

From my perspective it's OK getting a bit twitchy in regards to our dealings. It's understandable due to how blunt we looked the last game and due to our league position. But we as fans literally have no idea how fast the consortium's been moving or how many targets they are actively pursuing. I will give them the benefit of doubt as for now, it seems pretty clear to me that they are trying their absolute best in a pretty crappy situation. It would be nice to have a couple of more additions in this week before Watford but aside from a centre forward none of them would make much difference due to not having time with the rest of the team preparing. It would defintely give both the squad and supporters a boost though. As for the Watford game, that'll be a different kind of challenge as apposed to the Cambridge game. They will take the game more to us and that might well suit us better. In a dream world we would get a couple in this week, a couple next and then see what's on the table for the last week of the window. The important thing is to get the right players in to be able to start clearing out some of the dross.

Hm. There were definitely promising signs in the first half. The second though, hasn’t been anywhere near good enough. I don’t get why we didn’t change things up earlier. Ritchie and Longstaff were poor, Willock plays like he’s been lobotomized and Dubs fucked up (again) for the goal (offside or not). I’m an eternal optimist but this is starting to look a bit bleak tbh.

Should be offside?

Dubs FFS.

We should have been 2 or 3 up already to be honest. ?

Nah, haven’t been that bad. There are some promising signs I’d say. It’s plain to see that we could use a real striker though. We’ve been a bit up and down with the tempo and concentration so far but we’ll get there. Ain’t used to having this much of the ball either which is a shock for most of them. ? We’ll get a goal before HT and then add a couple in the second half.

Good summary that @Rich This transfer window lark is actually rather fun when the club is actually trying. I’d almost forgot that feeling. I’d be over the moon with any combination of Botman, Badiashile, Carlos and Diop tbh. Would be nice to get the new defenders/back line in and the focus on the midfield and forward situation. I do think that we in all honesty need two midfielders (DM and AM). Some noise around Bruno Guimaraes and then I’d go for someone like Gini or take a chance on Kulusevski if at all possible. As for a new forward I’d absolutely LOVE Isak or Vlahovic but maybe it’s a bit early for those kinds of purchases. I’ve seen a lot more of Isak and he could be really special but Vlahovic sounds like a beast and they’re not really comparable players I guess?

A fellow Swede! Welcome! ??

His last 15 mins were painful to watch tonight. (And he had a couple of iffy moments before that as well). I know that he’s far from the biggest problem in the squad but I think it’d be smart to look for a new long term number one. He’s not been himself after the last injury tbf.

This is shaping up rather nicely. That performance should be the benchmark. If so, we’re in for a fun second half of the season. Onwards and upwards! Just a shame we couldn’t wrap it up today, should’ve won that to be honest. By far the better team and the increase in pressing, fitness, team shape and balance is like night and day. It’s almost like he knows what he’s doing.

I think that he’s trying to get the team playing against the ‘big boys’ to make it a bit easier when we get to the more favorable fixtures. Would’ve been even harder for us if we’d just sat back and kick it long for the last few games. We really do need to get some form of attacking structure in place for the games in January/February and these last few games have been free hits in that regard. Hopefully it’ll work.

I’m still certain he’ll keep us up. It’s blatant that he’s been trying to get the team more fit as well as trying to get us more comfortable on the ball and trying to play on the front foot. A couple of new defenders and a midfielder or two early in the window and we’ll be fine when the opposition is a bit easier as well. Roll on January!

We’ve been alright today to be fair. In 9/10 games the play would’ve been stopped for their first. 2nd is a cock-up from Ritchie, Joe and Shelvey and the 3rd is unstoppable (even though Dean helped it with a wicked screen). I think we’ve done well considering and created more than I thought. We’re on the right track, get a few new players in early January and we’ll be fine.

For all this talk of GD a team hasn’t been relegated because of that since 07/08 when Reading went down right? There is a case for using these coming games as a free hit for Howe and his staff to try and get us playing again regardless of results. That could make the difference after this hellish run of games when the opponents will be much easier on paper.

I can actually see us getting something from Man Utd, Everton and Southampton tbh. Wouldn’t be surprised to get 4-6 pts. Thinking about it I wouldn’t be surprised if we lost all three either though. ?

Howe’s taken on a monumental task. We’re probably in even more of a shitty state than we were when Rafa came in to be honest. And for all the good he did back then (I loved Rafa’s time at Newcastle) he took a while to get going as well. A few games into his tenure we shipped 3 goals at both Southampton and Norwich before getting his first win against Swansea at the fifth attempt. The “shut up shop” games were few and far between back then (even though we had some good results the last few games that season). It wasn’t really until we got back up again after he got the chance to build a team in the Championship (yeah I know but that first summer window wasn’t too bad considering) and drill them to his liking that we started to see the super calculated defensive performances. So a pre-season, a Championship season and another pre-season. Howe’s had 5 games after our worst start ever to a Premier League season. The squad is shit in most positions (that will hopefully change somewhat in January), we’ve been even more chronically mismanaged since Rafa left and the moral has been at an all time low I assume. It will take time but I’m certain that Howe will get us safe this season by doing things his way. These coming games will be a tad painful though most certainly but we’ll get there. I love that he is positive and that he seems to ‘get it’ and in time that will tell in both performances and results.

Oh, I completely agree. I don’t ever want to see Krafth again (for NUFC or Sweden) for example ?. Lewis was OK today I thought but Manq was as bad as Ritchie’s been. Alarmingly I thought Schär was piss poor as well which coupled with Lascelles usual self wasn’t very good.

I will add though that we do lack urgency and aggressiveness (which I felt we had against Brentford at home but haven’t been seen since). But that is also down to the characters in the team. We need a few more annoying, bullying buggers to get a foothold in the games. Shelvey and Willock are too laid back as a midfield pairing. Lewis and Manquillo are too timid as well I feel for the fullback positions. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Krafth and Ritchie back (as useless as they are) for that reason. To add a bit of bite. Hayden will probably be in for Almiron as well and get Willock higher up the pitch.

I agree with Howe somewhat as well. I thought we did OK on the whole for 60-65 mins. The pen (which never should have been) came at a bad time and for me their second came against the run of play when we were trying to play a bit higher up the pitch. Leicester are a better team than us, with better players (even with 7-8 of them out) and were rather clinical when given the opportunity.