kingxlnc

Was screwing at that one he didn't cut back to ISak in second half No need to be that greedy - I thought Murphy was in the team because he wasn't greedy, but he does make the wrong decisions still quite a lot. He's not a player that's good when he has time on the ball, instinct is best for him

They are a carbon copy of us 22/23 - extremely strong defensively. Wilson that season is like Wood for them this season. Even Pope was as good as Sels has been this season.

One thing about PIF is that they’re notioriously strategic and process driven. Every penny is accounted for and purposeful. When you have unlimited money it’s easy to be careless and a bit like Chelsea but I’ve been surprised how sound the decision making has been in general. With great power comes great responsibility and it does seem they’ve been very good on that front

Even Ekitike is now being linked with £80m(!) moves... Trust our guys blindly tbh - they defo know what they're doing

Shola makes me laugh though, because, you know, it's his interfering, it's his timing. Going on about he wants some youngster out on loan-it's April Fools Day, you know. Ooh, what's more important, you Shola, with your crappy loan deals, or developing some hungry youngster? Ooh I don't know. Ooh what would Eddie say? I think we know-imagine him going out of the door on a training day and Mad Dog is going 'Where you going, you haven't washed the bibs. You haven't put the cones out.' 'Do it yourself I've gotta train some Australians.'

Beyond a joke if so Forget white privilege, this is blue privilege

Get him training in the first team until end of the year, Howe will Murphyfy him in no time

Would sort out PSR overnight

Can you imagine if we managed to fluke a cup under Bruce or Pardew? Not that we tried to compete of course but don’t think the city would have come together in this kind of way, fully united its also the fact it was proper deserved and so comprehensive and the fact the team is so likeable

Why do people think Delap won’t want to be second choice to Isak? He’s 21, surely he would learn a ton from one the best strikers in the world and being coached by Howe. It’s not like he’s 26-27 and first choice at a top or even middling club. It would be a great move for him? Whereas David I understand to an extent

Crazy figure Spurs did the same for that Leeds youngster so wouldn't be surprised Chelsea and Spurs are too focused on the talented youngster strategy - where they'll even pay top dollar. At least with Brighton and Bournemouth they're getting them cheap, so it's lower risk.

I think he will want to see if stage 2 of the project involves us investing enough to become title contenders. He will have been sold the project as a long term thing - stick around you are our poster boy, our Aguero. Bruno will have been told he’s our KDB, Botman our Kompany. So I do see the cup win as critical validation for such players who bought into it in the early days. CL will seal it, so as long we get CL genuinely don’t expect any of the blue chip players to leave this summer at least.

Extremely unlikely of course but would completely refresh the team in one fell swoop and keep the powder dry for two proper purples

Yeah can see him at Barca. However, if we get CL, he will surely see plenty of games. Could even revert to Howe's Bournemouth 4-4-1-1 (with King and Wilson) for some games where we want to play both.

That would be some coup if so. You can't get a better Wilson replacement.

“Let’s play”

Ok impossible then for us. Nailed on for Man U

Would love us to get him and have Osimhen and Isak up front. unlikely of course

They will want a new figurehead because Salah is their icon as is Van Dijk. And Trent is the local boy superstar too, integral to how they play. Allison could also go because Marmadishivilli is coming in the summer. All are amongst the best in the world in their positions. It would like if we lost Isak, Botman, Bruno and Hall in one summer. That’s a heck of a spine.

Whatever happened to Osimhen? A few years ago he was considered a 100m player and on a higher level than Isak in terms of guaranteed goals. How did he fall so far?

If anywhere I could see him as Lewansowski’s replacement at Barcelona for sure. If they have the money of course or sell off their rights for the next 100 years The new generation of Messi v Ronaldo Isak v Mbappe Roque v Endrick Yamal v Guler Raphina v Vini Pedri v Bellingham

Box clever with a few free transfers to pad out the squad and a few Minteh type of wildcard youngsters with 3-4 purple first teamers and jobs a good un Would like to get this years Milenkovic at 13m etc - don’t stress about top top tier, think about value relative to ability. We tried to get our A which is Guehi but if a B is available at a quarter of the price then go for that, their value will increase anyway. looking at that squad scoring system: we don’t need every signing to be an A like Tonali. B’s and C’s are useful especially since Wilson and Longstaff etc might be going. Raising the floor is important, as well as the ceiling.

But reluctant Ashley would have not taken action until April

Would be okay with a Mainoo for Longstaff swap + 20m

Irish Paul fantastic points very well articulated, 100% agree mate. We focus on sportswashing for the Arabs but is Hollywood not just Movie-washing? Is owning the media not information-washing? Owning the banks not finance-washing? Music industry, comedy, art, = culture washing. Tech platforms = tech washing The most blatant of all of these is the BLATANT and direct influence in politics. That’s not just washing, that’s literal subversion, direct influence and silencing etc. much more heinous and insidious than anything the Chinese the Russians the Arabs or any one does. The criticism of sportswashing is to throw ungodly amounts of money into sports to influence it and generate positive PR and subsequently cover up or deflect any conversation about human rights abuses. No one benefits more from this in any sphere than Israel, perhaps except in sports. But they will shout the loudest and how unfair everything is in the one field they’re not already dominating. It’s the most blatant of double standards and complete injustice which is infuriating.