junkhead

He was asked something similar the last two press conferences. Eddie was very complimentary of them. We all know Eddie is majorly OCD, so if there was even a hint of a lack of planning in Mitchell's work, he would've made it clear. FWIW there's a 250 page on Mitchell in the Monaco forum.. 200 of those pages are critique and insults. But I think all signs show that there's an agreement that this summer Mitchell will only handle the negotiations for the players we have already targeted, so I wouldn't blame him, Eddie or anyone.. apart from Ashworth the snake.

Aye, for me it all started with timeEd's FFP research.. before that I was convinced we're spending £150m on a world class winger, backup striker, top CB. Now it looks more likely than ever that in order to progress to 'elite level' we need a lot more time, resources and patience. For example, selling Isak and Bruno, as much as it pains me to say it, should be expected next summer. We are majorly screwed by FFP. Our inability to shift players post the PSR deadline always meant that there's room only for a single player on a not very high contract in order to meet the UEFA criteria. So we put all our eggs in the Guehi basket. For me Ashworth and Amanda's coinciding exits are what caused the planning for the window to suffer. They're not scouts but they were the people who made the strategic multimillion decisions.. for example if Ashworth had stayed we might've sold Joelinton but kept Minteh etc.. Aanyway, this summer was a big opportunity missed but it's not the end of the world, we're still capable of a good season unless the bad feeling encompasses the club. We as fans shouldn't allow that in the stands. I'm confident Eddie will handle the dressing room.

Aye that seems very likely. But SURELY somebody at the club is capable of convincing him that WE'RE BROKE and can't spend the whole budget on an overpriced, overrated defender who can't jump, while citing players like Milenkovic moving for £12m and Brajan Messi Gruda for £25m.. to Forest and Brighton, we could've attracted them. I'm not convinced as a club we're as attractive to footballers as we would want.

Not sure about Olise. If we tried there, I'm afraid it's a classic case of 'we tried'. It was clear we have no chance against Bayern, PSG, the 'top 6' etc.. I imagine we were pretty confident about Guehi, that's why we don't have other CB options. Parish gave 2 interviews to Sky, went to the talksport studio just to spout about Guehi's generational talent. He really seemed desperate to me..

I think it's clear that Eales and Mitchell have agreed to work on the targets already established by Eddie, JT and Nixon earlier in the summer. It was probably agreed after that Eddie interview in Germany He changed his tone after it and still seems very relaxed about the situation, even complimenting Mitchell and Buns. So after my initial total meltdown, I'm now cool with the summer failure. It's clear that we have salary room just for a single top level player and we have no genuine CB alternatives to Guehi. So now I'm of the opinion that it's better to keep our money for future windows..unless Chelsea are desperate tomorrow and we can get a good player in like Noni.. I wouldn't hold our apparent inability to identify and attract european talent against the club, although it kills me to watch the players Brighton have signed. Ashworth's betrayal and Amanda stepping down - losing the people that were making the strategic decisions hit us hard during what should've been a transformational summer. Eddie did his best with the resources he had available, preferring to play it safe with prefer proven PL players. I understand his reasons - in the situation we're in there's literally no room for expensive mistakes. High profile transfer failures can bring huge pressure on players/manager/club. Next summer we'll have plenty of PCR headroom when we sell Bruno and Isak, so the transformation will have to wait until then I guess. In the meantime hopefully Mitchell upgrades our scouting department and we move away from the overpriced PL pool.

Heard on football-insider that we're considering preparing to scout Bowen and Nico Williams too. At least one of them deserves a thread imo.

I had very high hopes for this window. Spent all summer fantasising which top class RW we're going to sign. The realisation that we're blowing the whole budget on imo very limited Guehi really shocked me. After several nervous breakdowns (which left a trace in the forum) yesterday I found a Xanax blister and I watched Eddie's FLAWLESS press conference, as usual trying to read between the lines. He's calm about the situation, so I'm calm now too. Btw for a shy guy, what a monster this guy is in front of a microphone, effortlessly swerves every question, never says a word out of place.. this alone makes him perfect for England manager.. Aaanyway, regarding our summer, he said something along the lines that 'from the outside it might look easier but only people in the club have the full picture, the parameters and restrictions". Those words made me think of money and I think I FIGURED OUT why we're so passive this transfer window, why overpriced Guehi is our primary choice and the reason for our whole existence!! And by "figured out", I mean I read again @timeEd32's stellar detective work, the paragraphs on UEFA's 70% costs control rules. It seems that without selling, we literally can't afford paying the contracts of two new high-quality players. Even if the transfer fees are £25mil each for example. But we can afford ONE expensive high quality player, as long as he doesn't command a huge contract. That explains why we're not so fussed about the inflated fee. So if we add all the requirements for this single player: - affordable / on the market - position CB - Rightly or wrongly Eddie thinks that's top priority. Despite my obsession with left-footed RWs I have to agree with him, it's too risky going into a season with our current CBs (but we can manage) - young, motivated to play for us, room to improve - athletic, not prone to injuries, calm with the ball at his feet - low-risk - experienced in the PL, no known betting history Well, the result of that is Guehi. So after spending hours on here criticising his aerial ability and shit, crying about Milenkovic for £12mil .. I'm now prepared to accept Guehi, even though he hasn't even signed yet.. Even if he struggles initially, Eddie and the guys will teach him, we're looking long-term. It's not like we have the money for more CBs, so Guehi WILL be a success, even if Eddie has to fight him. So all panic extinguished for now over here, except maybe the unknowns about our strategic vision, which I discussed earlier in this thread. Imo, there's every indication that PIF regards this as a long-term investment - 10, 15, 20, 25 years. So hopefully we continue with the same pace (annual revenue growth of 40%), continue with the correct strategic/business decisions, like most of Amanda's were. If that's in place, it's all about the football qualities and preparation and imo we're in very safe hands there with Eddie Howe.

And then Guehi turns out to be a bit shit. Imo he doesn't have the qualities but I won't get into that again.. Does he have the character to handle the massively inflated fee? 15 of the top 20 transfers in the PL couldn't.. far better footballers and stronger characters than fucking Guehi if I may add..

That'd be the best news all summer. Hopefully it's true.

After the summer we had, top 4 talk is pie in the sky. As it is, I think we'll even struggle for top 10. Imo, Forest, West Ham and Brighton have better squads.. nevermind the top 6 wankers.. Don't think it's realistic to expect our limited players to continue overachieving for third straight year; Eddie's rigid formation to continue surprising teams; Bruno, Schar and Isak avoiding injuries and continuing top form while playing next to Longstaff, Krafth and Murphy for another season.. Without Schar, Trippier and Bruno we can't retain the ball for 20 seconds.. even Southampton and Leicester have more players that are comfortable in possession. Our squad is full with keepers and athletes and without Bruno and Isak, the quality is easily bottom half. Sorry for the depressing posts but I literally can't believe how passive we've been in this absolutely key window.

The Saudi transfer window closes in Oct I think so it could be done but who am I kidding..

But there are PLENTY.. and we should've uncovered them months before the window. Especially since we've been sitting at a £60mil FFP deficit during that time.. Is the laughably-overpriced and overrated Guehi the best we can do in those circumstances? How about Milenkovic moving to Forest for £12 mil? Could he do a job instead of Kraft? Longstaff looks set to stay, so naturally he'd require a new contract on higher wages if we don't want to lose him for free. But nobody wants him at his current wages, so we'll be stuck with him for another 3 years if he signs. And of course we'll have to play him, cause we won't be in a position to pay salaries for an additional CM, without selling. Same thing happened with Almiron, with Trippier, with Wilson. Don't get me started on not getting anybody for RW.. there are 100s of attainable players that can offer more than Murphy and Miggy. Absurd planning, awful window.

The only thing that excuses this pathetic window is the fact that both Ashworth and Amanda's exits coincided. And those were the people capable of making the multimillion decisions - the FFP deficit in June being one and our bizarre transfer impotence the other Eales introduced Mitchell as "focused on recruitment". So I'd expect him to come up with some sort of a shortlist of adequate players for our position in due time. I know it's his first month but the transfer window is time-restricted after all. So what happened? Did Eddie veto all the names? Did they agree to act ONLY on Eddie, JT, Nickson's targets? Are there no players better than Kraft, Longstaff, Murphy and Almiron for £10-15mil? Absurd window. Can't believe I had such high hopes. and while I'm on the drunken meltdown - Shadow Puppets you're starting to overdo the ITK bullshit..

I spent the majority of last season consoling myself how the expiring contracts in 2025 give us an opportunity to reshape the squad this summer, adding real quality in the process. I was confident that we'd have the time, the resource, the planning to really push on this summer.. So I'm really disappointed with our window, our inability to identify and attract talent from Europe and most of all the PSR financial planning. Don't particularly blame anybody (apart from the Ashworth the snake) but it's a missed opportunity. I see that Eddie is confident that his style will always bring us goals but we're already often hard-countered by low defenses. In football you often need to adapt, evolve, sometimes change just for the sake of change.. add a new dimension, a new creative spark just to keep up the form and ease the load on the existing top performers. As it is I very much doubt that Isak, Bruno and Gordon can maintain top form without injuries for another full season. So imo top 5/6 is beyond this squad's capabilities, with or without the ridiculously overpriced Guehi.

Simakan seems as far fetched as Tapsoba for me.. it looks like all our eggs are in the Guehi basket and that will eat our whole budget

Can't get excited at all about this.. In fact it's the opposite - I seem to have developed an irrational dislike for Guehi and a very rationale one for our whole summer transfer window, our scouting, our financial planning, our inability/lack of ambition to attract players. If this S.Hezze interest is correct, I'd be even more pissed off - Is the fat putinist in charge of Forest and Olympiacos the only person in the football world we're capable of dealing with? I'll refrain from further meltdown till the deadline but so far it has been as amateurish (and dodgy) as any Mike Ashley window..

If we're talking to Leverkusen at all, it's probably for that other CB fella Kossounou.. seems far more realistic

As if one of the most expensive and sought out defenders in the world is a plan B for fucking Guehi... obvious bullshit by Downie and Ornstein. Maybe the club 'leaked' the info but come on..

jigen knows his football man, he offers a valuable non-English 3rd person perspective.. It's just that damned language barrier that's stopping us foreigners from spreading our wisdom on this place..

That's true.. Kinda feel bad for Eddie about this but even I receive regular accurate second hand injury/line-up news in the morning or a day before the game and I live 3000 km away. The same guy who relays the info (in the rather large chat group) comes up with transfer stories too of course but it's very evident that he/his source is speculating heavily on that front, despite being near flawless with the training ground info. edit: Not a snipe at SP of course, he's not a show off like some of the others

I've been losing my mind all summer shortlisting wingers for the right side - we still haven't signed anybody, so I'm not prepared to go over the names again for the left.. I love Anthony's determination but there are other quality wingers in the top 5 leagues. More so, than strikers of Isak's calibre or warrior playmakers who'd fall in love with us like Bruno..

Has a MLS club ever bought a player for more than £12-15mil? Clearly Miggy doesn't fancy the desert, North Carolina would be perfect for him and his family, so let's shake hands on 10 and be done with it. Anybody know the exact time their window closes.. I'm a bit impatient

I see what Cf's trying to say and I agree - on paper Anthony's qualities should be the easiest to replace of the 3. Don't think there's a chance we'll sell him this summer though, regardless of the short contract - Liverpool seem to have plenty of players in that position. Think it's too early in M.Edwards and Slot's reign to splash more than £100mil on a player they don't really need. It's not their usual modus operandi either..

What kind of player is he btw? Looked very exciting on youtube couple of years ago, why is he going to the MLS at this age?

Posted how I think he's brainless a month ago.. I've seen big parts of 4 of Chelsea's friendlies since and he's made me eat my words. Noni is in great form, he's literally their best player.. in the same way Palmer was during the season. It's clear that Palmer and Neto will limit his opportunities, so there is a deal to be done.