oldtype

Carroll is doing so well. Wish we'd got him back. Fulham have been fucking embarrassing today.

Which is why I did the opposite. Not gonna act like I didn't have to talk myself out of it. Some decent points made, tbf. I just don't have a lot of faith in Tav atm. That first leg of Atromitos wasn't a good look. If Pards goes 4-3-3 from the start, I think we'll smash smaller teams consistently enough to see the youngsters get decent playing time. Haris should be the our new Best. Was really impressed with Haris in the first half on Thursday. Until now I honestly didn't think he'd ever make it

Anywhere from 6th to 8th is a possibility I suppose. 7th would have me content.

We do have a very good approach to transfers BUT we do need a little more wiggle room imo. Aye. I can understand the concern somebody like oldtype showed the other day about going back to the Shepherd days, but I don't think it would ever be like this under Ashley. Football's a flexible game both on and off the pitch, and it appears we're not prepared to offer any flexibility when it comes to transfers. Sometimes you have to pay out more than you are willing to for a player to improve the team. I certainly wouldn't be complaining if we'd have maybe paid over what the clubs' valuation of Debuchy was it would've been a massive upgrade on our first team, whilst leaving a more than capable squad player in Simpson there to cover him. Happy with our approach to scouting, transfers and the model or whatever you want to call it. However in this window the system that's brought us success under the last few seasons has failed us, no doubt as well because clubs are now using the positive press we've been receiving against us. Also I feel sorry for Pardew as he is the one that has to deal with all the questions about transfers. I know it's what he signed up for and he always toes the party line, however deep down I bet his us fuming after what he delivered last season that he hasn't been backed to take us onto the next level. Especially as he's been talking about qualifying for the Champions League being our aim. Looks like that won't be happening any time soon. Hopefully we'll take a long, hard look at this window and analyze the failures (if there were any) so we can improve in January. We're a pragmatic club and I have confidence that we'll learn from this experience.

Not signing players is no fun at all but we're still as strong as we were last year. We have a sizable development squad that's been further expanded and should help soften the blow of the European campaign. Not selling anyone may not be an "accomplishment", but it's more than I expected so it makes me happy. Overall a boring window, but it's good that we can focus on the football now.

The context is, it seems the club knew Liverpool weren't going to sell him to us a month ago and the whole stuff going on from that has been a smokescreen to keep the fans happy by apparently look like we were interested in him still. I'm sorry Nessy, but I really don't think that's what it actually means.

Yesterday was the first time I ever saw him and thought "hmm, he might actually turn out decent." Hopefully this is a breakout year for him

Meh, they've spent a shit-ton of money to go from lower-mid table to upper-mid table. Fletcher's pretty good and Johnson is fantastic on his day but these two players don't represent a massive leap,forward for them. They're just about as threatening as they were with Bent and Gyan.

I think we're just really set on Debuchy and are looking to get him in a future transfer window and persevere with Simpson in the interim rather than go for a plan b. Or plan C, for that matter, given that Van der Wiel supposedly turned us down

Transfers happen because the selling club wants to sell and the buying club wants to buy. Of course a club has incentive to lower the price if they want to sell a player.

To be fair we do this song and dance every year. We always "need" more players.

Some threads just need to be slowly walked away from.

Yep, it's not the end of the world. He's not as good as we ideally need, but he's not terrible either. Do think Perch should be given a chance at being first-choice right back though. Given how solid he's been filling in at various spots, I'm surprised he's not being given the opportunity to prove himself in his natural position.

That guy is such a fucking troll It's like he knows we're out there and is specifically trying to drive us insane.

Would gladly have Enrique back. There's no doubting his ability and I can forgive him being disrespectful towards the club. He's been through enough pain and it's not like he can help himself being completely thick.

Cheeky bid for Walcott?

Meh, given that he's playing for a contract this year, maybe he'll buck up his ideas.

The feeling I have, and this is all conjecture, is that the club is going to make Carroll the first priority and push Liverpool hard in the remaining few days. I'm pretty sure we'll be back in for Debuchy in January and I think there's a good chance we'll succeed.

Wouldn't be surprised if the club think we can get him on our terms in January when he's played half a season unhappy and Lille are probably out of the Champions League. Playing the waiting game worked out with Cisse, after all.

So we've gone all the way back to accusing Ashley of asset stripping now?

I'm honestly not qualified to decide on whether that's a reasonable price or not, but it does beg the question, if 6m for Debuchy is such a no-brainer than why has nobody else offered to pay it?

Everyone misses out on targets. What's more important is the fact that we haven't brought in a single overpaid failure since the adoption of the current policy.

Anything that brings Owen back to SJP is a plus in my book. Other than us signing him of course

No, my point is that if we cave in once it increases the likelihood that in the future selling clubs will make further unrealistic demands, which could be much more detrimental to us over the long term than not getting Debuchy right now I just think that we can't have it all ways; if we finish as high as fifth in the world's highest profile league, selling clubs simply aren't going to believe that we can't afford more money. If we do it by buying players cheaply who increase in value dramatically, selling clubs simply aren't going to believe that it was an accident. If there's a new TV deal imminent that gives ludicrous sums of additional income, selling clubs simply aren't going to believe that it's not there to tap into. Once you step beyond signing only players that have contract clauses, club disputes or are unattached, you have to compromise at some stage. As with any endeavour, there is obviously a need to be flexible at times. But I believe that compromise has to come from a position of strength if it is to benefit us. Take the Debuchy case for example. We've apparently made three separate bids, each larger than the previous. Lille have not moved an inch from their original asking price. (If anything, they've moved the goalposts on us.) Are we the ones who are being unreasonable and inflexible? And what sort of message does it send when we just throw our hands up and pay them whatever they want?

No, my point is that if we cave in once it increases the likelihood that in the future selling clubs will make further unrealistic demands, which could be much more detrimental to us over the long term than not getting Debuchy right now