nufcjmc

If miggy finally goes or trips forces a move away it will force our hand to act more but certainly not expecting the "wrongs" of the summer to be righted it's the wrong window for massive changes really.

We did it to a small extent trips no brainer despite his age, BDB for his prem league experience, chris wood then the extensions offered to older players who performed. We just didn't permanently stick to that possibly due to PSR or an understanding writing off spends to get a good few years is unmaintainable.

Even a positive rule change to increase possible allowances or allow us a bumper stadium/training kit and training ground sponsor the money is a boost say it was somehow worth 100m more combined it would still be short term wealth. Especially if we bought more in the 40/50/60m bracket as they have a cost to your books year on year. Unless it completely goes away we just need to be smarter and like had been mentioned the Mitchell approach may well aid that more sustainable cycle type approach.

Issue is we got a tune out of players thought no longer good enough or bought older age profile players or kept hold of players as they aged. We aren't still at the stage where the first team just needs one quality edition each window to keep the squad fresh. We still need rebuilding either be in first 11 or the overall squad as a whole. Hard to be critical alot of issues stem from people not wanting to buy our players or PSR and has brought us relative to what we were massive success. Just feel like the next step/chapter is alot more difficult to navigate than the initial step after survival.

I like your optimism and maybe a big influx is coming due to the number out of contract but of those listed only 3 at best we get fees for. We won't have the budget to replace them all in one go with quality. I guess giving extensions to some gives us a chance for the youth lads we have brought in to come good or get sold for profits it's a hard balancing act.

I do get it and the club have already sowed that seed of difficult window/downturn in numbers of moves etc however if we go through Jan and not sign anyone of note we haven't upgraded the 1st 11 in 3 transfer windows which at best is stagnating. With the loss of kraft/unknown if trips stays/ if botman comes back firing etc we are a schar injury or suspension away from needing a kid in his place. I would rather wait for the right player to come along that fits medium to long term but hope the club have had now plenty of time to prepare for the window. If miggy does leave or trips I think that's 2 positions we need to buy to replace as well.

Agreed about the sentiment the ship has sailed for alot of them i.e. schar or BDB don't hold alot of value due to age and contract length but are good squad players and still can contribute. Still doesn't mean your not kicking the can down the road and once they tip into the realm of cheerleader status like Dummett got and just take up a squad place you then spend money on replacements. Not saying that either of those players are coming to that stage yet but it's will be on the horizon. Will hamper our progress somewhat as we look to replace these sort of players who may at that stage are bit part players which reduces the budget for the ready made first 11 additions. I guess you have to trust the club are well aware of this approach and have a plan.

Again not smart enough to argue with this but spending 400 million+ and bring in less than 50m when losses need to be below 105 I can see why things continue to be tight as the bigger purchases still cost us money year on year from an accountancy point of view. The lack of player trading or having any sort of saleable assets really continue to hurt us and it's only getting worse due to the age of some of the players getting 1 year extensions will eventually go for free. These players will need to be replaced and if it doesn't come from our academy then it's all outlay with nothing coming back the other way. Definitely of the view this is unfair when Chelsea get to spend 1B and don't seem to be slowing down yet.

Not gonna pretend I get the finances but we may have hoped to sell in the summer to spend more now would only miggy and trips attract a fee from the ones we 1. We are OK letting go and 2. Would get someone to bid for them? While I hate how negative Hope is he was at the meeting with Mitchell and the press behind closed doors and from the same video he believes based on that talk the days of dropping 50/60m+ may be over. I guess it will come down to the weaknesses assessed in the squad and what deals are available. Least the wait to find out is almost over hope to see rumours start to ramp up when we get into December hopefully.

I saw Craig no hope peddling need to sell to buy in Jan so can't see us dropping close to 50m on a single player.

Alternatively if we were messed about over the summer over switching goal posts etc then we may not touch the deal at all. Just imagine the narrative of spending 2 weeks of the Jan window to try and get him again and not get him and go on to try and cope with that right hand side CB shortfall for the rest of the season.

Agreed but depends on their financials he will only have 18months left come Jan and could be a sacrifice to "freshen" up the squad further. Still think his value has plummeted on the back of contract length and league performances maybe that reported opening offer of 40m may be tempting enough if they can make the money work for a couple more players.

The press seem to think we have triggerd a year long extension so was due to expire 2025 but adding a year on goes to 2026. The same rumours we want to offer a longer term deal but guess he would be 100% profit if we don't lose a purple and want to mix up the midfield or need psr headway.

It's the whole debate about cut our losses on an asset to move forward even if it means having to sign a certain value of player because of it. Then keeping a player as its financially crippling to go back out in the market for a player than to hang onto them for now.

Not going to disagree really letting an asset go for nothing is not good business in a PSR world. Issue is our finances in Jan or this accounting year in general it maybe didn't work for us if you believe the media as being 100% true then we would let him go for 16m we were offered half that which for a 40m player over 5 years would at best cover 1 year of amortisation which may have been a step too far. Your then saying well keep him for the squad as he's too expensive to replace. We have got ourselves in a little mess really with the older or players who have little value but as other have said you can't sell what your getting no offers on.

Think the rumoured fee was 6 or 7m assume we still have a psr value with him so would more likely break even but save his wages. Wanted 16m offered 9m dollars approx 7m https://www.themag.co.uk/2024/08/made-public-why-miguel-almiron-didnt-join-mls-club-despite-transfer-fee-agreed-verbally-newcastle-united/ Obviously all rumoured, if we then followed that up with the rumoured 40/45m for elanga the miggy fee doesn't touch the sides.

Well again I am camp out so you know I instantly want to say that well yes he was vital to the team in his purple season similarly to miggy but as the team develops and evolves he is the easiest on the eye or at first glance to see as the weakest of the midfield players to go if you had to sell a midfield player now for whatever reason. I don't know the internal workings of the squad etc but seen as 1. They allowed his contract to run down and 2. Sandro was signed we clearly in my eyes looked to move on from him. Now again circular argument again it hasn't worked out that way, Eddie likes him and looks to offer a new contract and even if I love sandro with the ban and the way the squad has been functioning this season sandro hasn't made the place his automatically. Howe may argue he isn't looking for a basic stand in and wants true competition in each position but then puts you right back to the debate of well is Sean good enough to be that.

I am in the longstaff little minutes as possible and out of the pile of midfield players he would be the first to sell. I do appreciate though that howe doesn't do this to be controversial or piss supporters off and does see qualities in him The thing that makes it a circular argument is that right he's been here for the full 3 years of Eddie's tenure and therefore knows what he needs to do it still comes back to is he the only one that can? Could Miley given the time and repeated selection do all this and more or more importantly the 50+m tonali. For me those against longstaff being a regular in the first 11 the main crux is that they don't believe he has a special unique skillset that can't be coached into others who have a higher skill level. I guess you may agree with that but in the short term believe he's making the immediate impact so deserves the reward of keeping his place. Hence why I believe it's a circular argument as its not like there is a definitive answer especially while longstaff and tonali this season alone both haven't made themselves undropable

He's not always right but for those who are pro longstaff i guess this adds to the for or for those who think what the fuck covers what Eddie may see in him. https://youtu.be/fjv8n_en77U?si=iE3Wv1SLpwhadKTN The "love in" starts at 6m22s

My mind was made up last year I am afraid following last year injury or not. Squad player hell yes but I find when he plays well it's instantly amplified due to how poor he can be. Like in my head I see praise and go wow congrats for doing that pass longer than a few yards or congrats you chased and harassed the opposition rather than let them free unchallenged. Part of the extremely negative side of me is saying wow Sean is last year of deal and wants another 3 year one so is playing out of his skin to get it. Can't help myself want better and we don't have to go out and buy it given the chance surely tonali does what he does and more. Can't deny intangible or not he does something for the teams harmony just think is it only because it's him. Still want the 3 points at the end of the day if Howe think that's happening because it's Sean then I support the manager.

Goes back to my struggle in my brain then do you buy a starting RW and means you then look to tweak setup again to accommodate Gordon elsewhere or do we stick with Gordon and find someone maybe not as expensive or instant starting 11 so we have a better squad option than miggy or Murphy.

The issue with finding a new system that works is if it is a new way of playing or masking the underlying issues. I guess only time will tell is Gordon happy being permanently right, will willock stay fit and offer us more than 60mins will big Joe pick up a new injury or have issues with suspensions. We already have issues with game time for Kelly & Barnes also need players sales really one of miggy or Murphy need to go if trips doesn't give us the season is kraft OK for cover for 2 places or do we need a tino competition. I guess right now the underlying performer in the 11 is schar so do we go back to looking for a quality addition there? Do we go for youth so we can increase the quality of the subs bench? My head hurts thinking about it.

I mean the biggest punishment they can offer is it all goes on as extra time. So while a keeper injury might get you breathing space/time to regroup/ unsettle the flow/frustrate the opposition/ allow tactical instruction to get out. It can lead to a big chunk of extra time which as we know can bite you in the arse.

To be fair post game even Isak said he felt like all he had to do is get his head on it. I don't actually think a few weeks ago with confidence low Gordan attempts to cross or isak hits the target. Was a well worked goal by two top quality players.

Personally thought Timber and Partey in particular got away with alot more than they should yesterday. The comms i had on were praising how the ref let the play flow but thought more yellows were needed to protect our players.