AyeDubbleYoo

Dennis? I was about to post exactly that.

Is it his shift key issue?

Is Ireland fit at the moment?

I'm quite sure that everything was agreed in advance and Shola decided not to go. I think that was the complexity in such a deal that someone posted about on the last page, it would be very difficult to tie the player himself into it... even if both clubs agreed.

Not far from the truth.

that was quick It's a massive blow for them. He's a fantastic defender and had a great WC, bar THAT penalty. Still... he is a good defender but bloody hell he isnt half accident prone He's got a problem with his back which bizarrely means he's constantly on the verge of pulling his hamstrings. There is an operation to cure his bad back but he'd have to miss 18 months and there's a large chance it would make the problem worse and end his career. Poor sod. As with Ledley King, I don't get why football club's persevere with players with conditions like that. I feel really sorry for him, but surely there are any number of players out there with no chronic fitness issues.

If we get to 300 pages and we sign him, I'm getting 'Ben Arfa 300' on the back of my shirt. Will 3 numbers fit on though?

You could do this with any player, chairman, manager, pundit or journalist in football though. It's bullshit to criticise Hughton for what he's been saying. He's in a no-win situation. Hughton is doing a very difficult job. He's been told not to talk about deals (probably on pain of death knowing Ashley), the club are extremely paranoid about the press and he's got to get on trying to placate the hacks, manage a football team and source potential signings on a budget of f*** all. Exactly, and no surprise that journos are having a go at him, the club has already stated they won't be giving anything away on transfers. That's understandable though. He's making their jobs harder so naturally they're gonna turn on him. Yeah of course, I just mean we shouldn't necessarily go along with their criticism.

You could do this with any player, chairman, manager, pundit or journalist in football though. It's bullshit to criticise Hughton for what he's been saying. He's in a no-win situation. Hughton is doing a very difficult job. He's been told not to talk about deals (probably on pain of death knowing Ashley), the club are extremely paranoid about the press and he's got to get on trying to placate the hacks, manage a football team and source potential signings on a budget of fuck all. Exactly, and no surprise that journos are having a go at him, the club has already stated they won't be giving anything away on transfers.

Good that we're still talking though, at least it isn't totally dead.

You could do this with any player, chairman, manager, pundit or journalist in football though. It's bullshit to criticise Hughton for what he's been saying. He's in a no-win situation.

But this rumoured loan deal has the final fee agreed at the start of the loan. So the final would would be at his current market value no matter what. Yes, I fucked up, you're right! (As long as the fee was set now).

Oops! I see what you asked now. In terms of risk there isn't really a difference, see what you mean. As long as the purchase price is set now. I was still thinking about the disadvantages of a loan with compulsory purchase vs normal loan with option to buy. It seemed to make sense at the time

I think I've explained it TBH, basically we might survive and still not want to buy him (because he's disruptive and/or useless, for example). With a permanent transfer now, we'd be getting him at his current market value, meaning if he played really well this season only we would benefit from his price going up.

Not necessarily. I would like a permanent signing or a loan with an option to buy. But loan with compulsory purchase isn't how these deals usually work, it seems like too much in favour of the selling club. He could play terribly, ruin the team spirit or whatever, and we would still have to buy him. With the loan with the option to buy, both parties share the risk. If he does well, he'll cost a buyer more at the end, if he does shit we don't have to buy him but we've taken him off their wage bill for a season. Out of not signing him at all and signing him in that way, I'm not sure which I'd prefer. But we should definitely try to avoid it if possible. But what is actually the difference between signing him permanently now or signing him on a loan with agreed transfer next summer? The risk is the same, no? Well if we sign him permanently now his value can increase or decrease depending on how he plays for us. We could get him cheap now and make a profit, for example. With a loan and optional purchase, we have a season to assess him and the club's situation and make another decision later. In that case Marseille might benefit because he performs well and they can charge us more, or they might lose out in the opposite situation. So risk shared. In the case of loan with compulsory purchase, we have to buy him for his current value even if his stock goes down... risk all on us.

Not necessarily. I would like a permanent signing or a loan with an option to buy. But loan with compulsory purchase isn't how these deals usually work, it seems like too much in favour of the selling club. He could play terribly, ruin the team spirit or whatever, and we would still have to buy him. With the loan with the option to buy, both parties share the risk. If he does well, he'll cost a buyer more at the end, if he does shit we don't have to buy him but we've taken him off their wage bill for a season. Out of not signing him at all and signing him in that way, I'm not sure which I'd prefer. But we should definitely try to avoid it if possible.

Not really, Carew isn't all that.

Barring a Premier League team, Celtic is about the highest level he could hope to go to on loan TBH, a good move for him if it happens. Definitely don't want to lose him though, Harper will be ready for the exit door at the end of this season.

Would they though? I would personally never jeer a team for getting relegated, it's too serious a thing to take the piss about.

That's where I would use him. I would use him behind a forward too, probably. But I'd definitely drop Nolan, the man's a joke.

Our defence is good enough for the Premiership, with the possible exception of RB. With S Taylor back we would be more than equipped. Enrique is a top 6 quality player. The problem is that they are constantly exposed and under pressure because our midfield is totally sluggish and immobile. If we could bring in Ben Arfa and a mobile CM then we would stay up comfortably IMO, this is more important than buying a striker even. Not saying it will happen obv.

Word up.

ATB, think you make an interesting point there. I doubt Ashley thinks we have a great team, he's just balancing the risk and probability of relegation against the level of investment required for success. Some people might call that gambling, it's certainly not what we usually see from NUFC, historically.

FFS man, nothing has actually changed! Were we expecting a load of quality signings? Of course not.

Can I just draw your attention to the bit in bold?