robbo_11

If there were any contract renewals at this time there will likely be an agent fee which might suggest this.

It would be interesting to see if it might relate back to the Forest game, fairly sure he took quite the knock in the second half that rolled his ankle, although can't say it impeded his performance against Liverpool.

This is it ultimately, we're stuck between a rock and a hard place but not quite turned into Aron Ralston (don't google if squeamish) in our decision making.

Intent was there for the push as he looks at him before doing it, but the Brighton player was off balance so ended up catching his head. Straight red based on those factors - stupid behaviour.

We miss Sven, hopefully makes the bench but with no replacement for Schar and Burn we're seeing their form take a massive dip.

It feels like this is the season done and dusted. We've not been good enough for weeks bar the odd 20 minute spell in a game here and there. Stupidity from Gordon and deservedly will miss the final, their CB made the most of it, but that feels like the game in this day and age. Our options from the bench today offered nothing, you can make a triple sub, but we are often worse. This isn't an anomaly of a performance, our winning run papered over this season as we've arguably played worse over the majority of this season than we have been better.

Shocking second half and you could see it coming within the first five minutes. We were slightly unlucky with the Tonali and Isak crossbar, but overall it was sloppy. The second goal from them was awful defending and he is tapping it in 5 yards out. After the Bournemouth game a lot were saying write it off and move on, me being one of them, but we've got some consistent issues that are creeping into our game.

It is going to be a big summer, but if there is a deal to be done and we have to lose Willock you'd take it.

You have to assume summer 2025 is going to be a big window for us depending on where we finish this season. Almiron and potentially Kelly sold this window. Schar and Krafth to get contract extensions. Pope will be an interesting one as he enters his final year, could see an extension and Trafford coming in. Dubravka, Wilson, Lascelles, Ruddy and Lewis all out of contract and likely leaving end of the season. Longstaff, Trippier and Targett will likely be moved on given their contracts end in 2026 - realistically these are deals we should be doing. Burn you could see getting a one year deal if we sell Kelly. Mitchell certainly has his work cut out and especially if we qualify for Europe.

Disappointing, but we gave chances away against Wolves and Bournemouth were great today and more likely to take advantage. A game we need to move on from and look to bounce back against Southampton. Majority of the players were below par and they nullified us in attack. We didn't dominate in midfield and defensively were poor with their wingers pushing Hall and Livramento back. I thought Dubravka made some good saves and would likely keep him in goal when Pope comes back due to his form over the last 10 games.

With anything as soon as someone new comes into an organisation they are going to look to make improvements. Last season we were decimated by injuries which resulted in a change of structure to bring in a specialist to look at improving this part of the club. If Botman came back early and was injured then it would be James Bunce getting pelters for allowing that to happen. Generally the better staff in senior management protect those in roles beneath them, however we've had a summer disrupted by change and come January hopefully those processes are smoother. If something isn't being done in the best way I'd rather someone come in and say that then just agreeing and if we're in the top four in December then holding off this summer might open us up for an exciting 2025.

I'm not sure if it was classed as the same situation, but Dalot for Man Utd last season againt Liverpool was a pretty quick yellows to red.

Their team bus was parked down the side yesterday so they'll have a short drive to the stadium, hardly seems worth it!

Steve Bruce. At the time the club just gaslit the fans into thinking this was a brilliant piece of business or bargain. We're always desperate for signings so you can make it seem attractive. It was a really underwhelming window and we're paying for that now. Ironically same window Lewis came in and he's just went out on loan.

Whilst the players mentioned aren't good enough, this is a symptom of the way the club was previously managed. I liked Saint-Maximin, but I just have to trust that the club will be smart and invest in players that longer term fit the way we want to play and when we do have to sell again we're not giving players away for free to get them off the books. For Fraser we actively targeted him due to his contract situation, at the time it would seem like a good deal due to the lack of a transfer fee so gave him a 5 year contract, but obviously it hasn't worked out. It was the same for Hendrick, a four year deal and free transfer, being hailed as great business with him being an experienced international by the manager. In all honesty, the window of 2020/21, Wilson aside, was shocking. We had enough funds to make a 'blow out' signing and the rest were attempted bargains under that management which at this stage has left us vulnerable because we've got dead wood.

With the following players out of contract at the end of the season including Dummett, Lascelles, Schar, Krafth, Manquillo, Wilson, Ritchie, Karius and Gillespie. The club priorities must be a CB, RB, LB, GK and ST?

He signed his professional contract with us back in May and only been described as a long term deal. It was the same for Anderson in September last year so you would think we're trying to tie them down for at least 4-5 years.

They've brought in a right back from Exeter this summer and have Kyle Naughton who is ageing. I guess on the face of it might be competition for him, but realistically you'd expect him to make the position his own with the potential. Fairly sure there was a Swansea fan on here who might know more.

I'm fairly sure it was Howe or Ashworth who said they're targeting players to come in that improve the first 11. With youth also incoming that they hope will challenge the squad in a season or two such as Minteh or Kuol. These two movements going forward are likely to dictate our current purchases as you would think Minteh is going to displace Murphy next season if he has a good experience at Feyenoord. If I was to look at the current squad, on the assumption we sign Barnes and Livramento, then the obvious place to strengthen this season would be a left back that is an upgrade on Burn and a centre back that is an upgrade on Schar. Given our current spend it might be that Tosin Adarabioyo or Harwood Bellis are in consideration based on profile we've gone for so far. Either way I like what we're doing. even losing ASM while disappointing I think we're going to have to get used to some decisions being difficult. Next season we could see Wilson go and I'm sure Ashworth has said they try to look three windows ahead...

Fair enough a lot of players not in the squad today with just coming back from their break such as Wilson, Isak, Botman, Almiron Joelinton, Bruno, Gordon, Tonali and then a few injured players like Willock and Pope. What has happened to Dummett, Lascelles, Murphy and Dubravka?

I agree. It's a bit nostalgic as you're either waiting for the local newspaper to come out the next day to follow the latest transfer story - I seem to remember Laurent Robert's arrival being on that took ages to get done. On the plus side the NUFC ITK accounts must be devastated!

I have a feeling we might make a move for Franca from Flamengo.

The High Performance podcast with Paul Barber was interesting as he discussed what made David Weir suitable as a loan manager before he then replaced Ashworth in his role. When looking at a loan move for the player they consider the style of the team, environment and the opportunity it would afford that player. They ideally what similar to what they do at Brighton so that when they return they can seamlessly reintegrate. We've sent players to Hearts, Hamilton, Exeter, Peterborough and then some of the players we couldn't sell to Norwich, Reading and Sheff United. It might be one for those Twitter analysts to look at the team metrics in Portugal, Belgium, Championship, League 1 and other leagues deemed suitable to see which clubs match our style of play on progressive passing and high intensity press. We'd at least be putting some thought into their development rather than just sending them to a former player of the club. For Kuol it might be worth spending a season with a club like Coventry or Middlesbrough who generally should be playing at the top end of the league.

According to Turkish press it is done and set to be announced at the end of our season. However £21m seems higher than the fee that was reported earlier, I thought he had a clause for £5m if he didn't make a set number of appearances this season.

I think for his first season as a regular in the Premier League at 19 he has shown enough. I'd like to think in a better team the basics that he does well would elevate him as we've seen with the likes of Schar who benefit from playing alongside a higher quality player. With us playing in four competitions next season we'll need a greater squad depth and he fit's the profile the club seem to be looking at.