timnufc22

Murphy did well for the goal and is a good squad player, but did he (or can he) do anything like the skill Barnes pulled off for his goal? That sort of quality doesn't grow on tree’s, he always looks dangerous in the final third. It’s not to say Murphy can’t play well, hopefully has a blinder, but there’s a bigger picture to this. Barnes has STILL never had a proper run in the side and if he’s not going to get one now then I don’t see how he ever will barring injuries. Murphy has had plenty of runs in the side the last few years, we know what he can do. I know it’s about opinion but I can’t really believe that anyone deep down genuinely thinks Murphy has more ability, is more effective than Barnes or is in a better run of form. What happened to forming relationships / patterns of play between players? We could put out a top class front three over a run of games and we’re not and I don’t think Howe has any interest in playing them together for a proper run of games. I find it absolutely baffling and I feel for Barnes, who will rightly be thinking about a move away if he’s seen primarily as a bench player.

How demoralising must that be for Barnes, if true? If he’s not going to be given a run in the side now, he never will be (willingly anyway). Is Howe too close to some of the players or something?? I generally love him as our manager but I think he’s either that or he has poor judgement with some players. Even if he thinks only one of Gordon or Barnes can play, the latter has earned his place over the former. Are we operating on a performance-based selection process or do we have permanent first choice / bench players? Still hoping it’s not true and common sense will prevail.

That part I agree in that Howe started a narrative in public that he was quite hands off this window and that regular updates from Mitchell were not forthcoming. Maybe he was telling the truth through? Who knows… it doesn't make it any more justifiable for Mitchell to publicly respond in a ‘not my fault guv’ manner, slagging off the previous structure in the process, potentially causing more friction with others. Again, that sort of stuff rings true with going around talking about ‘world class’ credentials with the players in Germany, bigging himself up and talking going on a journey with him. I know it’s partly speculation, but I think we can read between the lines and give some kind of estimated judgement.

I agree it wasn't fit for purpose from that angle and we can say it that bluntly as fans, but as Sporting Director, surely you'd expect a bit more tact when speaking in public as opposed to a sweeping statement which is directly or indirectly aimed at some people currently still at the club? Does that not speak to his character? The fact that Howe responded to this statement by defending the players signed, as opposed to coming at it from the player trading/selling players angle, tells you everything.

Mitchell deserves stick for speaking in what could be argued an unprofessional manner… why would you choose to describe the previous transfer policy - implemented partly by some still working at the club - as “not fit for purpose”? That sort of bluster ties in with his “I’m world class and I’m gonna shake things up” words and vibes he was, supposedly, giving at the training camp in Germany. Yes some reporters may be going OTT with their slant, who knows, but it’s not unreasonable to say Mitchell’s character comes across as somewhat unprofessional and ego driven. He might do a great job and work well with Howe, we’ll see, but I also wonder about his short stints most places he’s been.

That cantilevered roof looks a millions times better than even Everton's new stadiums roof being built right now, which even in the finalised computer videos look like construction sites.

Not sure. I'm being harsh probably, but I just don't think Howe would have said those comments in Germany if the structure hadn't been nailed down between everyone.

He didn’t have the courtesy (or balls?) to thrash things out with Howe and what the structure will be re transfers, DoF and instead did a public interview talking about keeping Howe ‘on the grass’, which prompted Howe to give a public response of his own.

Ashworth has to take some of the blame for overspending so badly; £70m was spent on a LB who wasn’t viewed as ready to play by the manager and a winger who was viewed as second choice to the other winger they’d signed only 6 months previous. Even Livramento only played because of major injuries and even that at left back a lot, not his favoured position. Regardless of all that, how you can miscalculate £70m in PSR terms is unbelievable. I said in another thread how I think there’s a lot of blaggers in football and people who operate at high levels through other reasons than actual ability. To me, looking from the outside, PIF need to seek out someone reliable in the football world and ask them for advice about who’s legit and who’s really a bullshitter deep down, CEO-wise. Then hire a legit, competent, CEO. I’d also say to promote Steve Nickson or just get rid of the DoF role full stop. Let Howe, Nickson and scouts sort out the football decisions, leave the finance to the new CEO / current chairman.

Mitchell does come across as a blagger, with all of his corporate buzz words and phrases. That sounds harsh and is a surface level judgement. But his actions this summer (or lack of) have backed up this impression. I appreciate you could point to his work at other clubs, but I’d also argue that hopping from club to club for short periods also leads into the chancer impression he gives. How much of that work actually stemmed from him as well? We know football is full of blaggers who, incredibly, charm their way to the highest levels. Again, I know this may sound harsh, but I fear he is one of them. I’d also say the actions of Eales during the last year tells me he is incompetent; his handling of the Mitchell / Howe relationship - clearly minimal communication with Howe over the whole thing - was ridiculous (which led to Howe publicly expressing his uncertainty). I fear we’re being ran by incompetent people and PIF need to start again with the boardroom.

Wouldn’t unearthing bargain gems like we did with Cabaye, Tiote, Ben Arfa, Perez & Schar for example be more relevant than ever if PSR is such an issue? That they couldn’t find any players they thought would improve the team is a damning indictment of their scouting and judgement. Having to be careful that the player will definitely improve us is not an excuse to sign no-one when they’re paid a fortune to use their ‘expertise’ that identify quality in a player that others don’t necessarily see. Anyone from the street could have decided Guehi was a good player to go for or that Kelly was a good option on a free… is that what they’re paid a fortune for? No expertise or clever scouting has been demonstrated, which flies in the face of PSR concerns.

But surely there is a failure in scouting and judgement if you cant identify more than just a handful of players who are good enough to improve us and would come, baring in mind you have £70m to play with.

Either his contacts/knowledge isn't as great as its been cracked up to be or Howe is rejecting players that Mitchell has identified. Granted that's a blunt way of putting it, but ultimately this is why it's crazy the actual structure wasn't settled and agreed upon before employing Mitchell (which promoted Howe's public reservation's). It's not like having £70m available is a small amount to play with, even with the inflated prices these days.

😅 I’ll sum up: Play to Isaks pace - balls in behind, not short balls to his feet when he’s in our own half & two defenders around him. He’s crowded out and we’re getting suffocated. Cross the ball for him earlier, stop overplaying in wide areas, give him more service. Stop playing ourselves into trouble in our own box - the obsession with tika taka in football generally does lead to us to giving away chances, seemingly because it’s snobbery now to clear your lines now and again.

This applies to most PL in general, but in sick and tired of basic football principles being ignored in recent years and we’re guilty of it as shown in the first few games. I know people say we don’t try to play tika taka like other teams, but there is countless times we play stupid, short hospital balls inside to Isak for example who’s deep in his own half and two players around him. What’s he supposed to do? Where are we supposed to go with that? A simple and obvious move would instead be for Isak to spin in behind and for a ball over the top… it doesn’t need to be absolutely precise, play a percentage if needs be. Then at the least we can push up the pitch and start pinning the opposition back a bit as they’ll naturally start dropping deep after the second and third ball like this. The obsession with never clearing your lines - Joelinton did it tonight with a ridiculous pass out to the edge of our box that went to them when we were already boxed in. There is seemingly a snobbery that’s now established where its below players and coaches to clear their lines, play the percentage ball now and again - in favour of potentially giving up a guilt edge chance for the opposition (which happens on a fairly frequent basis now for most teams). Forest showed tonight that with good crosses and long throws you can - shock, horror - create chances and cause problems. The thing is, they were just doing the basics that all teams did repeatedly not long ago. The arrogance to ‘play the right way’ or whatever label people want to create is so frustrating. It must be so frustrating for Isak, not only is he dropping deep with no support (he should play with a striking partner, another cardinal sun these days apparently), wasting his pace by not making runs in behind (if he’s ignoring instructions ok that’s on him)… but also there was multiple times our wingers and fullbacks had the ball out wide and just refused to put a good cross in. Again, gotta score that tika taka goal… you have a world class striker in the middle - show your quality and whip a good cross in. Defenders can panic, put in their own net etc. I watch us and see we have good players but we just waste our talent at times to instead conform to the way the game supposedly has to be played now. Again, there may be worse in the league for this, but there’s still so many times we take unnecessary risks defensively and slow the pace offensively because it’s seemingly the way now to throw basic principles that have been around since the beginning out the window.

I get that and rightly so they’re wary of PSR and I think it’s right to shop for PL proven if possible. But the manager, directors & scouts are paid to narrow down all the footage & data of other players in the world in order to make the determination that x player has very high chance of PL adaption. We know there’s players out there who can come in, adapt to the PL and be a quality CB (and developed further) because that’s exactly what will happen at one other PL club during the next few transfers.

Find it amazing that in this global scouting world they decide there’s only a couple of players for CB & RW they think are viable and will improve us. When you think about the technology, amount of data / footage that can be amassed these days from any league in the world, I actually find it quite scandalous that they decide they decide only Marc Guehi is capable of bribing big improvements to us.

Exactly, it didn’t make sense that they’d not consult Howe about working boundaries before deciding to appoint Mitchell (and Bunce). That’s a poor way to run things so Howe, rightly or wrongly, felt the need to respond publicly. Even last week, Howe said he’s not getting regular updates - that’s a very deliberate sentence. He’s said that for a reason and the context is “and I’m not happy about it hence saying that publicly”. I think it’s naïve to think otherwise. The whole thing has been handled badly and there’s definite comparisons to Keegan 2008, albeit different context around ambition.

Logic like this is seemingly looked down upon by coaches these days in favour of playing “progressive” football, or something like that.

If Howe’s structure revolves around having a defensive minded LB to allow Bruno to roam then why sign Hall in the first place? It just seems strange to me. And if you want Bruno to roam, why not play him alongside a more defensively minded no6?

What was that about coming in to shore things up defensively? Let crosses get by him all the time. In al likelyhood he’s a good player, but should not have taken Hall’s place.

What a surprise, Hall gives us a different dynamic down the left - and defends well too. For gods sake, give him that starting birth and let him be. If we’re playing Real Madrid away, ok, shore it up with Kelly, but ffs give the lad a proper run. Kelly fwiw offered less defensive protection than Hall. Hr looks to be a good squad player, but shouldn’t be starting, certainly not at LB. The adulation that Joelinton gets means his poor decisions & technical ability get over looked. Again, great player to have in the squad and makes a massive difference in games like last weekend when backs are against the wall and needing to defend. Trying to get hold of the ball and dominate the game with quick passing? I don’t think he’s you’re man. His ambling around looking at the ref is something he can rectify either way. I hope Longstaff is given time out the side now - just like Joelinton, he’s not a player who’s going to help dominate the ball and play sharp, quick passing. Having those two at the same time really inbihits our ability to get a grip on the game. Need Tonali up to speed asap and one of the Mileys bedded in asap. What a shock, Gordon can actually play on the right. Said a million times, to not have Barnes, Isak & Gordon as a front 3 is frankly ridiculous and shooting yourself in the foot. Stop being so rigid on where players seemingly must play every single game. Gordon’s game is just as suited to RW as LW (potentially more so imo) and Barnes will give you technical ability coming in from the left (add Hall to that left and you’re talking).

Taking Hall out has taken away technical ability down the left, as for being more solid defensively Kelly failed to stop the cross anyway.. and are we playing Real Madrid away or something to be making a ‘defensive’ change?? Once again refusing to play Barnes - Gordon is clearly rusty as hell with no pre season… why the need to play him no matter what his condition? Yes he’s been great, but you paid £40m for someone to challenge him… this playing players no matter what the form/condition is detrimental. Lastly, I’m sorry but Joelinton is a (good but) limited midfielder, he lacks nous and technical ability and someone like Billy Gilmour should have been brought in to add a more settled midfield passing pattern of play.

Why can't Hall be allowed to develop? He's massively talented and saved us a goal last weekend with his clearance so he has defensive qualities too. How many other players make mistakes and are still selected the next game (rightly or wrongly)? Yet Hall is dropped after one game. My frustration and fear is the dent this will do to Hall's confidence and start to feel like a liability who isn't trusted. I know he's 19 but if you're good enough you're old enough, its kind of irrelevant because he's played at one of the biggest clubs in Chelsea no problem and part of his quality is his almost swagger and quality on the ball. Kelly is good, but this was my fear when he was bought and Hall's game time will once again be limited this season.

What is stopping SJP being redeveloped to allow it to host other events? We have concerts now and again at the ground, I'm wondering what extra we supposedly need to continue hosting them?