Chris_R

I don't think we can just "let go" a centre back who is a good bit younger than our current starters who we're worried might lose all pace at any given moment. He's proven he's more than capable in the PL. If Burn and SChar suddenly become immobile statues and we can't play them it's not about him being 5th choice anymore, it's about him suddenly being 3rd choice. Or even second choice as he's 4th now.. We need legs in that central defence, or at least the option of them. We cannot rely on a central defence devoid of any pace at all. (I caveat this with not knwing how he'll return from a horrible injury but I assume the club know enough on his progress to be confidenet)

Lol

Too far for the fat cunt

What they're forgetting is he'll cost what we say he costs, not what they calculate he'll cost.

I think we'd sell for £30m, but we might well refuse £20m. And if we DID sell for £30m, I'd not be dancing in the streets thinking we'd robbed someone. People have talked about him maybe getting an England call-up. He's been sheer end product for us. He isn't the complete player, sure, but he's a very solid PL winger who provides goals and assists. That's worth a lot. Either way, he's been well worth what we paid for him.

In: Matz Sels Goalkeeper £5 million 2016–17 Matt Ritchie Right Midfield £12 million 2016–17 Dwight Gayle Centre-Forward £12 million 2016–17 Jesús Gámez Right-Back Free transfer 2016–17 Grant Hanley Centre-Back £5.5 million 2016–17 Isaac Hayden Midfield £2.5 million 2016–17 Mohamed Diamé Midfield £4.5 million 2016–17 DeAndre Yedlin Right-Back £5 million 2016–17 Ciaran Clark Centre-Back £5 million 2016–17 Daryl Murphy Centre-Forward £3 million 2016–17 Achraf Lazaar Left-Back £2 million 2016–17 Christian Atsu Left Winger £6.2 million 2017–18 Jacob Murphy Right Winger £10 million 2017–18 Jav.Manquillo Right-Back £4.5 million 2017–18 Florian Lejeune Centre-Back £8.7 million 2017–18 Joselu Centre-Forward £5 million 2017–18 Mikel Merino Midfield £6.5 million 2017–18 Martin Dúbravka Goalkeeper £4 million 2018–19 Fabian Schär Centre-Back £3 million 2018–19 Fed. Fernández Centre-Back £6 million 2018–19 Ki Sung-yueng Midfield Free transfer 2018–19 Yoshinori Muto Centre-Forward £9.5 million 2018–19 Miguel Almirón Midfield £21 million 2018–19 Total: £140.9 Out: (many forced, especially early on after relegation) Geo. Wijnaldum Midfielder £25 million 2016–17 Moussa Sissoko Midfielder £30 million 2016–17 Daryl Janmaat Right-Back £7.5 million 2016–17 Andros Townsend Winger £13 million 2016–17 Florian Thauvin Winger £9.8 million 2017–18 Siem de Jong Midfielder £2 million 2017–18 Matz Sels Goalkeeper £3.5 million 2018–19 Alex Mitrović Striker £22 million 2018–19 Chancel Mbemba Centre-Back £7 million 2018–19 Mikel Merino Midfielder £10 million 2018–19 Dwight Gayle Striker Loan fee undisc 2018–19 Total: £129m (All from ChatGPT so of course there could be mistakes - I don't have time to check it all but it looks about right) Merino had a release clause so we were never getting more than £10m but he's since gone to Arsenal for £30+. We'd not be overjoyed if we sold Murphy for £30m either, it might be a fair price given his age but his output this season means he'd potentially command a fee in that area. Schar we've discussed is one of the best £ for £ signings in our history. Diame was a monster for a season or so, Dubravka has been a fabulous servant and a wonderful bargain. Ritchie was value, as was Almiron. A lot of the rest I don't look back on with any negative memories either - Lejeune, Fernandez, Hayden, Gayle, Manquillo etc. They all played a part and were at least worth their pretty modest fees. Even many of his "flops" have since gone on to have good careers - Sels and Joselu the most obvious. Any criticism is just that he was forced to scrap around in the bargain bin and didn't have a 100% success rate in finding gems. It's hard to get angry that £2m Achraf Lazaar or free transfer Jesús Gámez never really tore it up here. When Howe signs a player for a similar amount, we just go "Punt for the future, not worth factoring in to our thinking" but for Benitez these were players expected to be integral squad members. Are we going to castigate Howe if Harrison Ashby, Garang Kuol and Lloyd Kelly (Seemingly already off) don't make the grade? I hope they do make it of course, but they're the kind of deals Benitez was forced to rely on for immediate results and he had a pretty good success rate. He also had to attract good players to a shit club, where Howe can at least promise the likes of Pope and Burn - affordable fees to Benitez too - that they're making a step up coming here and can challenge at the top of the table. Benitez had Ashley looming over his shoulder and players and agents knew they'd almost certainly never lift any silverwear here, which makes a lot of potential moves - even for bargain players - a hard sell.

Weird mix of people complaining that we're not putting more effort in despite being 3-0 up, and others complaining that we're not resting players despite us jogging round and being 3-0 up. Think we've probably got it about right?

Should sack him at half time. Likely though there's clauses in his contract that mean they'll keep him until relegation is confirmed that will lessen any payout.

If anyone needs proof that Leicester players aren't trying, Bruno just beat 2 of them for pace.

The problem with that is what do we do if we're NOT a few up at half time? Play him into the ground? Guy needs a rest. I'd rather do it the other way around and rest him from the start, and bring him on for the last 30 if needed.

I don't blame them. They'll sell out quick, and most places will offer a "free cancellation" deal even if you have to pay a few more £s for that. I've just booked a hotel for June on the basis that I might be seeing some mates then. I'd rather book now when the prices are good and just cancel if the trip falls through, as knowing the group of mates is reasonably likely!

Maybe he has, and he's been turned from a L2 player to a L1 player.

GET TO THOSE PHONES!

Needs to be either 69,420 or 80085

Whilst I'd love what you say to be valid, clubs can't just allocate trophies to each other. It's an undeniable fact that the club which won the FA Cup moved to Milton Keynes and now plays as MK Dons. That is the club which won the FA Cup, as distasteful as what happened after is. I don't really care what PR stunts have happened since.

I suspect we're playing him to give him the opportunity to convince us to give him another year. So far, I wouldn't. But he does seem to be getting a little better with each game which is promising. I think he's trying too hard at times, lashing early shots, snatching at things, being a little greedy, which contributes to what I'm thinking - he's playing for another year. Remember him shooting instead of playing Gordon (I think) in during his first game back? Or maybe he's just determined to get to 50 for us. I dunno.

xG was probably negative.

To anyone saying we've embarrassed ourselves with a trophy parade for the League Cup, well personally I'll be delighted if we embarrass ourselves with one next year too.

All of them have been better than Howe or Rafa during at one point in their tenure though.

Rafa took a shit team and made it good, Bruce took that same good team and made it shit. Yes the points per game or whatever may look similar when averaged over their tenures, but the trajectories they had us on were completely opposite.

The real question is surely this: What's larger, the crowd for the cup celebration, or Matt Targett's weekly wage?

There's rounds 2, 3, 4 and 5 (for them) before the semi final. That's odds of 16-1, rising to 32-1 if you count the semi too where they did play home first, but I'm not sure if that's even an advantage.

If they want to spend time counting crowd photos for accuracy I suggest they try their own on match day. The discrepancy will be far larger and the count won't take nearly as long.

Still got my DVD of the match and my commemorative T-shirt. Wear it every weekend whilst having a wank over my laminated pullout of the Luton town first XI.