Kimbo

Exactly. I get that the media have their motives and aren’t to be trusted, but in this case Tonali, via his agent, is publicly saying he wants out. He’s a goner.

I think a lot of the misery is from not being sure about whether the goal is still to be “number 1”. If the club announced stadium plans tomorrow there would be a wave of optimism. Reality is though that rules are in place to prohibit competition and that isn’t going to change because the unambitious midtable fodder see it helping to keep them in the league. These rules are kneecapping the sport and any club with ambition. Are the owners really still looking to break that, or do they accept that it’s not realistic and have quietly toned down their ambitions? I think we’ll know by September.

Fuckin hell. 0 wins 2 draws and 4 losses gets you in the playoffs.

Pleased that Bellamy won’t be at the World Cup.

Punts it over the bar ”that’s a really really poor penalty”

I don’t see why we would make such an agreement with a player that has missed a season with a gambling ban, it’s not like he’s given us years of service.

I agree, but chances are he won’t be going anywhere.

We need a RW IMO, and that might mean selling Murphy, which I would be a bit sad about. We can give Elanga another season and try to turn him into an effective push and run winger, but he has serious flaws that it’s too late to do anything about.

Sounds good. Would you like a job working for Andy Howe?

Olise, Eze, and Semenyo had release clauses tbf.

Well I wouldn’t spend that much on him, but the market is massively inflated and the clubs that have been linked to him (Arsenal and Liverpool) have no real financial restrictions. I wouldn’t expect him to leave for anything lower than £70m at least.

Sounds like they want rid of Gakpo as well, so I think they’ll be after Gordon.

Hypothetically if Liverpool and Man City bid £80m in the summer for Gordon and Tonali, then they’re gone. They will be determined to go and trying to cling onto two underperforming players instead of taking the £160m will end up looking terrible.

Basically a player that could’ve been a club great but didn’t do enough / stay long enough. He’ll still probably be more remember here than at whatever tourist club he signs for.

Like any player, if a club he wants to go to makes a big offer, he’ll be off. If Arsenal or Liverpool do decide they want him and we try to cling onto him it will likely only damage us. He’s already on big money by our standards so a new contract isn’t likely (or deserved).

Maybe stop shooting as if your foot is a pitching wedge before talking about how good you are.

I’m sensing a seagull in distress.

It is pretty mad watching him try to control the ball at times tbf. He seems to require way too many touches. The only way to make him work is to turn him into a push and run cross merchant IMO.

I expect Alonso to be at Liverpool next season, Humpty Dumpty is teetering on the edge. IF we required a new manager I would expect us to be looking at the likes of Hoeness, Fabregas, Italiano, or that prick De Zerbi.

Finding a new manager isn’t that different to finding a player. Realistically there will be up and coming managers out there that are more talented than Howe and will go on to achieve a lot, there are also hype job and frauds and people that will only do well under very specific circumstances. It’s always a gamble to some extent and you need people that know how to spot a suitable appointment.

I don’t think we had a chance of signing at least 3 of those. I felt like Sesko and Ekitike were using us to force decisions from Man U and Liverpool, and Pedro was probably the same.

I do like Thiago, he’s very physical and aggressive, he looks plain demented at times. Obviously he would still be a very expensive risk though.

I think that injury took his pace, and he doesn’t have the talent to adapt.

I think there’s a valid argument that replacing Howe, even with a capable manager, wouldn’t change so much. It’s hard to feel reassured by those above him. Our new CEO seems like a typical corporate bullshitter, nothing concrete on the new training ground/stadium, and the only known change after last summers disaster was to bring in a sporting director with a questionable reputation. We don’t seem like a club pushing to be the best anymore.

You would be desperate to keep Ramsey? He’s midtable through and through IMO. Fine as a squad player but the teams we’re trying to compete with wouldn’t give him a second look.