Ash

Football just doesn’t work like that these days, certainly not at clubs that know what they’re doing when it comes to recruitment. There are so many layers to recruitment; I genuinely think the level of detail would blow people away if they knew what went into it. We’re talking several hundred hours watching a single player and checking various data points. It’s pretty much impossible these days for a manager/head coach to be involved at the initial ID stage due to what goes into it and there are plenty of processes to go through before you’d even involve the coaching staff, mainly because they simply do not have the time with everything else they have to contend with. Not saying Howe shouldn’t have any input but he shouldn’t be leading anything. Other people are employed to do that and it essentially frees the manager/head coach to do what they’re best at on the grass. He can contribute to the player profiles in each position and come up with some non-negotiables but it needs to be in conjunction with the club/Sporting Director/Director of Football. Regardless of what has happened with Ashworth, the overarching responsibility of recruitment needs to remain with or be handed to the next person through the door, working in tandem with the coaching staff but ultimately having the final say.

Really not liking some of these stories at the minute. The manager/head coach should not be the leading voice on recruitment and they certainly shouldn’t have any input into who their boss should be.

You’ve had it explained several times but you’re not listening.

Please stop. You’ve been going on about this for days and it’s clear you don’t have the first clue what you’re talking about.

This is how proper clubs operate and for where we are in terms of PSR and what we need to do to evolve our squad over the next few years, it’s something that certainly does make sense. People may not like it/aren’t used to it but there’s a reason we’ll be doing this. Ashworth knows what he’s doing - trust him.

Not true. It’s a worldwide ban on any form of football under FA rules.

Hopefully we take the full 7.5k allocation for this.

Not seen it officially announced yet.

Could be something in the Williams link. He’s out of contract next summer and Athletic may look to cash in if he isn’t going to sign a new deal. That, or we’re hoping to get him on a free next year.

Got a last minute spare for this if anyone fancies it, DM me if interested.

Don’t really get this mentality. You’ve already said you haven’t really watched Joao Pedro so seems daft to be making assumptions on his ability just because of the league he plays in. There are a good number of players in the Championship that would walk into our squad and several others that would have no issue getting into our starting XI too, Joao Pedro being one of those. There are also numerous examples of players being signed from the Championship and showing their ability at the top level, as well as those that end up in the PL when they win promotion (Brennan Johnson is doing just that this season and is another that would waltz into our side). Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what league a player is from and while I get your point about our targets not remaining static, there will always be some that we retain a long-term interest in and that will be for good reason. On Joao Pedro specifically, he’s captaining Watford at 21, has a lot of experience over here already (which is something we appear to want, not that I agree with it) and has a load of likeable attributes that would suit our style of play under Howe with him also having a huge amount of potential to develop further. There is talent to be had in any league; we just have to ensure the numbers and data back-up the scouting so that we sign the right ones. It’s wrong to be under the impression that players coming from a lesser league wouldn’t improve us to the level required.

Yeah, it lets me apply for three through my account (using two of the others linked) and then I can apply as a single through the one listed as disabled on that account. They’ve never been registered as disabled though, nothing on their account suggests it is either which is what I don’t get.

You can. Up to a maximum of six.

I’ve got to the ballot page but one of our STs (adult) has somehow been changed to a disabled ticket for the purpose of the ballot so it won’t let us apply as a group of four. On hold to the Box Office now.

It isn’t perfect, no. However, there is plenty of preventive stuff out there and ways to manage training loads, etc. The main issue at the minute is players suffering setbacks so there’s clearly something amiss in terms of what we’re doing in recovery which is nothing to do with luck.

Muscular injuries aren’t bad luck.

I imagine Potter didn't have a great deal of say in terms of the recruitment at Brighton so that won't be an issue for him. What will cause problems is that Chelsea's recruitment team aren't as effective as Brighton's and I doubt they have the same approach to how they land on their transfer targets. It may be Potter can influence a change in that approach but it would need a clued-up DoF to achieve that and it will take years to change their methods which could be problematic for them in the short to medium term.

People really need to stop getting worked up by what’s said in the media. They have absolutely no idea what’s going on.

Over double the fee Adeyemi went for - doesn't really stack up.

Danjuma and Paqueta are the two no-brainer transfers we should be looking to make this summer. I get they won't be cheap but both supposedly have release clauses which are not completely prohibitive and they appear to be attainable, despite being a level above where we are right now. They would add so much value to the squad because of their ability to play in several positions and that versatility could be priceless in terms of helping the squad to evolve, especially in the short-term. While we are still apparently hamstrung by a lack of commercial deals, etc. we need to make sure what we do spend goes a long way and with these being able to slot in to different roles, they would be game-changing signings. Their versatility also adds further value and they can change how we can play too. These two in particular can play can play in numerous systems and would not just be ‘slotting in’ somewhere for the sake of it. They can produce genuine quality in whichever position they are deployed and they’d allow us to make tactical tweaks during matches which would help cover for the lack of quality in depth we have at present.

He can, one of his best attributes.

Amazingly, there's more to assessing the quality of a footballer than watching a YouTube compilation.

Goes some way to explaining the apparent want for ‘PL experience’ which is worrying in itself.

I’m absolutely dying to know who is main voice in terms of recruitment and what’s going on behind the scenes. It’s been clear for years we need new CMs but seems to be an area we’re not prioritising. Is Howe genuinely content with his options there? Find it hard to believe he isn’t pushing for more or has it been decided elsewhere that we have more pressing needs? I’d also love to know how we’re identifying our targets, just seems like a completely scattergun approach. It’s all well and good picking out the likes of Botman and Carlos but we should have the resources now to be able to find players who have so far gone under the radar, making them more attainable for a variety of reasons.