ponsaelius

That era of loan signings was end of days/life support days of the last ownership like. Had long since given up any semblance of a transfer policy once we had other teams beating us to young Ligue 1/Eredivisie bargains. Instead just looking to plug gaps in the short term any which way we could while giving Championship players long term contracts to avoid needing to replace them. Weirdly quite liked Lazaro out of those January signings, mind. Thought he had some decent displays despite limited appearances.

Got to admit I find it absolutely baffling why anybody would give the slightest fuck whether or not somebody they don't even know is vaccinated for a virus or not.

God being a footballer really is the most privileged of existences at this level.

Pretty sure we would have got a fee of some kind for Woodman mind. But yes - in the grand scheme of things probably nowt.

Yeah I think the impasse is entirely down to finding out whether we can get Broja on loan or not. They'll have deals lined up.

Seems like they've held at least a couple of thousand back for general sale.

Just don’t see what other people seem to see. He has some physical attributes and definitely had a rather spectacular run of goals early in the season in particular but I was not once impressed by his ability on the ball or his creative outlet. I’d probably rather see him up front for us than Chris Wood but that’s about all I would say and it’s hardly a ringing endorsement. Would be a disappointing signing if he’s the winger we brought in IMO - certainly not a player who would raise the teams level.

Don't get the Cornet hype at all like. Not once been impressed by his allround game this season, and puzzled why he had so little attacking impact in Ligue 1 that Lyon ended up moving him to left back.

They've already signed 4 players and brought in some kid on loan for Man City. Seems a bit of a moneyball reset going on but building a team in the Championship as a relegated PL side is very doable - even with their financial problems.

Not gonna lie, that was quite alarming.

Kalimuendo would potentially be a case of getting in on an Nkunku/Diaby early. Cut out the Bundesliga middleman. More of a gamble of course but lower price point.

Tickets have been put on sale quite far in advance for these friendlies really. In summer especially people with kids will not know what they're doing until last minute. A lot of people will buy tickets in the last week before or on the day.

Going back to FFP and making sure every signing is an 'investment' - it kinda makes sense that we're hesitant to go up to 50-60 million for a player. It's very unlikely that any player, no matter how good they are and how young they are, is going to increase in value at that price point. The market has dropped out in Europe so you haven't got willing buyers outside of PL. They're more likely to hold their value or make a very marginal increase (which would be offset if the contract is running down). And if they bomb you end up with a Pepe like situation where you've got a £65 million signing who you can't even really get rid of. That's not to say signing players at that price point are a no-go completely - it just means you have to be absolutely sure. Signing players in the 20-40 million bracket is a much safer bet. You'll double or triple their value if they do well - and if they bomb you're at a price point where you can make a small and painless loss.

Not only does the PL have the most money but the clubs have finally wised up in terms of recruitment, like. The likes of Brighton and Brentford are extremely well run.

Yeah I'm kind of hoping that and the Djed Spence deal eventually going through might open up some potential for us to shift players on.

Incel-Online

Opinions of these kind of players are going to be unfairly tainted because they were kept on far too long due to poor management of the club. He was genuinely a really solid signing who has ended up staying here 6 years instead of 3.

He scored a decent amount of goals for a CB tbf to him.

I think kids should have been a fiver or free for these two games like - accepting the £20 adult price.

Tripps to take #2?

Very good quiz but I found there wasn't much difference in difficulty throughout. Didn't really struggle with any of the levels except with typos and spelling mistakes where it took a couple of goes.

This is exasperating stuff mind, jees

A midfield 3 by its definition doesn't really need a designated holding midfielder because you've got 3 in there. Bruno deepest with Joelinton and Paqueta further ahead would absolutely work. I mean it definitely has more mobility and solidity than playing Shelvey at the base.

I'm aware of that - but you'd move Bruno back to DM and Paqueta plays further forward in the 3.

Paqueta and right winger and you could be effectively upgrading the two weakest positions in our current starting XI for me. Shelvey and Murphy/Almiron. Obviously Wilson's injury problems are a worry but in terms of starting XI he is one of our strongest players.