junkhead

I still think Brighton's transfer policy and squad management are top notch. They consistently collect amazing talents at great prices. Even somebody like Gruda, who started to make an impact towards the end of the season, would've been among our most creative players. Not convinced by their manager though and imo the real limitation there is THEIR FANS :lol:.. I might be wrong, but they simply lack the ambition, the desire to be successful there.. Their seasons always start strong and fizzle out in silence at their stadium in the new year.. Tony Bloom has done wonders but I think for the next step he might need to scout some new fans.

Aye, it can be very frustrating missing on seemingly great deals for popular young talents while we're fixated on expensive established PL players. Compiling the manic shortlist, it's evident for me, that pure football ability and potential is simply not enough for Eddie. Not even, coupled with physical qualities and a decent fee. Imo, the main thing that our transfer team is fixated on is personality and character. Although I've spent hours defending Eddie that he's not obsessed with british players, I think there might be a preference for local players after all. Simply because we can collect much more extensive data on their personality, background, entourage etc.. than we can from some dodgy foreign agent. I might be wrong but I think we simply lack the business connections the top clubs have in the european market, so it's harder for us to guarantee that some young millionaire is not a complete twat.. which reminds me of Bakayoko's wiki picture

There's this guy Abdul Fatawu at Leicester, he might be available for ~30m if they need to sell.. left footed RW.. missed all last season injured but I've seen him a couple of times in the Championship, he'd be an asset for us right away and he's still very young. Although the top RW target SHOULD BE Roony Bardghji, contract expiring in Dec, so basically free. Also missed last season with knee injury but he's an unreal talent and he has already proven it at CL level. Maybe a little too short, therefore unathletic enough for Eddie's liking.. but there are bargains on the market - I still can't believe that we're targeting exclusively PL players.

I'm a big fan but can't see why Brighton (of all clubs) would sell below 60-65mil. Not sure how we can afford such amounts for him and Elanga, on top of bringing in a CB and a GK.

People say this but which two positions does he play? When he has played upfront for Brentford, he's more of a second striker.. essentially just a little further up the pitch with more freedom to roam centrally around Wissa. Can't see him leading the line as a lone striker the way we play.

Akliouche is a genius footballer, he has finesse, vision, touch.. it's stupid to compare him to a limited, direct (dare I say old-school) winger like Elanga - even just how they look dribbling the ball, it's like they play different sports. Full support if we get him like, he can be effective but.. yeah.. no need to repeat myself.. I basically DEMAND A NEW BEN ARFA and won't calm down Eddie buys one! It'll be a long summer.

I seem to remember there was a desperate late attempt to get him last August for 45/50m.. even the Athletic reported it

There are some good foreign options but I agree, Elanga seems lower risk than most.. AND is mates with Isak. Anyway, that's exactly the sort of discussion that I compiled my schizophrenic shortlist for: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZzMFGZEolVEY4AZFGc4JN02bvlHuPQrEcPjD3bXHahU/edit?usp=sharing

Akliouche, Lee Kang-In would cost roughly the same and are far better footballers. Kubo supposedly has a 50m release clause too.. I understand Eddie values athleticism and I'll support him FOREVER in ANYTHING but I just dream what he can do with a young player with godlike talent like ROONY BARDGHJI.. he's free ffs.. Would be great seeing him sign for Spurs or some other wankers.

I can see how he can be an asset but so underwhelming.. I've been hoping for years for some genuine football quality from that position - touch, vision, free kick ability, curled left footed shots.. where's our scouting really? fucking Chelsea have like 3 brazilians that match the description and probably won't ever play for them, yet would be first choice for us after a season with Eddie. Yep, the only left footed players Eddie has bought are Targett and Botman. Not good enough

Mate he outruns the best athletes in the best league in the world every season, playing every single game (at a very high level). If that's not a super athlete, I don't know.

I'm having trouble sleeping at night fwiw my fm picks would be: GK: James Trafford - 35m CB: Cristhian Mosquera - 25m, release cl, expiring contract 2026 RB/LB: Josha Vagnoman - 25m or Thierry Correia 25m - expiring contracts 2026 These are all 1.90m monsters or higher... ready to tear shit up in the PL CM: Can't really find any cheap midfielders, I'd pay 40-45m for Julian Brandt or somebody creative like that. His contract is also up next year. He's nearly 30 though and maybe plays slightly higher on the pitch, so not very likely. But I'm sure he'll manage if we just put him on instead of Willock. RW: Roony Bardghji - ABSOLUTELY THE TOP TARGET OF THE WINDOW Genius left foot, amazing dribbling, contract expires at the end of the year - so it will be a nominal fee. There's a big risk, as he's coming back from a bad injury might turn out to be injury prone.. but fuck it, I'd even overpay - like 20m - to get him ahead of the others. ST: Weeell, there's STILL money for Benji Sesko, who has a 43m release clause. Not very realistic but I struggle to think of a forward with good reputation who'd play second fiddle to Isak.. so yeah In total: ~ £190m Tripps seems like he'll go... sell at any cost/release Targett, Longstaff, Willock, Wilson, so that we can get the wages and net spend to a manageable level.. I'd also drive Gordon to Liverpool with my hyundai if they offer 75mil + easy peasy

After spending all last summer daydreaming about right wingers.. and the brief nervous breakdown that followed, this time, I'm sad enough to have prepared an even more detailed shortlist: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZzMFGZEolVEY4AZFGc4JN02bvlHuPQrEcPjD3bXHahU/edit?usp=sharing Most of the data is scraped through transfermarkt and capology. The (very wide) filter should feature realistically attainable players of sufficient quality for our CL ambitions next season. There are some exceptions but the main criteria are: - under 28 years - under 180k p/w - players who have had a high ranking on wyscout this season or popular players of high potential (entirely subjective) - players that we've being linked with - players that are very likely to move this window (clubs needing money/expiring contracts) Shouldn't be taken too seriously obv, I ain't no analyst but yeah

He's quoting this Bland guy who is full of shit And Miley is currently 4th choice.. he'll play plenty for us next season as it stands. Although this season, he has almost the same amount of minutes as Kelly.. and less than Kraft

ahaha what a fraud this guy is.. The 150 pages of threats and abuse in the Monaco forum was completely justified.

hahah listening now, you're spot on

The club have very extensive weekly data on ticket demand, ballot participations, age groups, trends etc.. so there's no doubt that the final figure would be carefully considered. I guess there will be a lot more hospitality options, I think there's actual demand for it.

yesssss lads!! What a team! WARRIORS! Imperious DAN BURN!! LEGENDARY EDDIE HOWE!!!.. it was so emotional! so perfect... Love you all!

Waugh is seemingly joining the team in blowing shit out of proportion with today's article, or at least the headline.. can't be bothered to read the whole thing. I think without Amanda/Mehrdad expertly feeding first hand info to the lot, some of these guys might feel a bit bitter now. Must be a bit shit if your job is to exclusively cover NUFC and your "sources" fail to spot the FFP hole in June, the transfers, Amanda's departure, Mitchell's arrival.. The press conference room seems to have been moved away from the training ground too. I'm sure the nosy ones like Hope and Edwards hate that

NOT SPOKEN

He said it in the usual calm assured Eddie manner. (No) Hope continues shit stirring

You should introduce yourself with the forum nickname, he will be familiar

Might be wrong but in one of the clips in preseason the players were warming up for the fitness work with some strange yoga moves led by a woman (not shown) with a loud voice. Haven't seen that before in footage. Sounds like the type of cringey thing a new guy would do in his position Also Dan Hodges was head of performance before Bunce arriving as a director. Hodges has been with Eddie and JT from the start at Bournemouth so they're probably very close. Physical performance and pushing the players hard is key to Eddie's style, so imo that's another thing that provoked the 'Germany interview'. But listening to Eddie, Bunce and Mitchell since then it's fucking clear that there's no drama, they'll just have to be professional and find a way to work together for the benefit of the team. Let's see what they do in the future. If there's even a hint of a lack of a plan, OCD Eddie will notify us at the first opportunity. oh and Craig Hope can fuck off with that doom mongering shite - he writes as if this is still Ashley's circus.. Nowadays there's a culture of professionalism, togetherness and motivation (at least around the first team) that puts to shame most PL clubs. Of all people he should know that, this summer has shown him up, clueless about transfers, clueless about the FFP hole in June, clueless about Amanda's exit, clueless about Mitchell's arrival.. Luke is the same, the Athletic lads didn't do much better either.. Waugh repeating we're interested in Bowen all summer, Tapsoba being plan B etc...

Imo, our transfer strategy "Guehi or nothing" is not due to limitations in the scouting setup per se. I've already posted it several times but with Ashworth and Amanda's exits coinciding basically Eddie Howe remained the only influential voice in the old transfer committee. They were the people capable of the huge money decisions. We've seen how influential Amanda was in Gordon's transfer on the TV series.. So the whole £70mil responsibility suddenly fell on Eddie's shoulders. He knows that expensive failures can bring a lot of pressure, noise and negative emotion around the club. Character is a big thing for Eddie and I think it's hard for him to research that in detail with foreign players... I think he simply decided to play it as safe as he could with the transfer budget.

Nee way, we're not there at all. Eddie is still the heartbeat of everything, he has hired more than 30 staff around the first team. His position is still key and influential. They'll work as a team and they'll be professional like every other fucker on earth does daily in his job. Anything else will be completely amateurish and we're not that club anymore.