Well where to start?
Glad it’s over was my first thought. I think we can all agree this window felt so much different to any thats gone before it. The rise of the football influencers and shills and the need for more locally contacted journalists to join them because they couldn’t beat them made for 3 of the most arduous months following NUFC.
After occupying most of our thoughts everyday for those 3 months I feel it be better to keep the Isak thoughts as short as possible much like the clubs statement. Being firmly in the reintegration camp and hold firm particularly against a fellow English club I began to shift towards the realisation after the meeting at his house we should kill his career for 6 if not 12 months to let him reflect on his life choices. However when you try to remove emotion from the situation you think of the teammates and staff and whether you’d equally be killing 6-12months of their career with a potential circus. We’ll never know but I’d be lying if I wouldn’t have minded finding out. However the club chose a different path and hopefully the results and performances will justify it. We’ll see if a precedent has been set for future player agitation when it suites them. One thing however has surprised me when the news broke late last night how well i slept and when I woke to find it all but done I’ve give it very little thought until writing this now. I think that’s the saddest thing about this whole sorry episode. How little he seemed to care and how little he’s left us caring.
As for the six players we’ve brought in for I think I saw £70m balance it will probably be 12-18months before we truly have a clear picture if the window was a success. On paper we’ve clearly upgrade all who they’ve replaced with five of them. A lot hangs on how big Nick replaces Isak and how quickly. Wissa will hopefully buy him a little time but not much and with the eye-watering fee will have his own pressures to deal with.
Another way I try and judge our perceived closest rivals. As much as it pains me and as much as performances can occasionally delude us Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool and dare I say it Chelsea are currently operating at a different level to us. Not just financially but as an organisation. Our new CEO and DOF can’t come quick enough and in particular our DOF has to be a long term appointment to create a more creative framework to our transfers and give us the ability to gain players at a much better value earlier in their development and have Howe’s trust in that direction until the new stadium is built and revenues are significantly increased. Hopefully both will be in within this month or next. Meanwhile I view Man Utd, Spurs, Villa and Forest in our regular challenge for potentially lucrative 5th spot in the division. Although on far greater PSR scale than us Man Utd’s ownership and direction never fails to disappoint. They’ve went big this summer hoping to score their way up the table. Spurs might have the greater PSR power than ourselves but I always have doubts about their ultimate ambition under their current owners but that may change as they look to possibly sell up. As it stands we can go pretty much toe to toe with them. Whilst they may of not of had an eye catching window they hired a good manager who can usually get more from the sum of a teams parts. Villa fascinate me the most as their trajectory is I feel the closest match yet their PSR approach is completely different. From us hardly troubling the chequebook for 2yrs with quality over quantity approach theirs has been very transient that probably reflect the main difference between the two managers, both I rate extremely highly. One I see as a teacher you’d respect whereas the other the dad you love. For those who looked on in envy at their high transfer activity for 2yrs might be feeling different after comparing the current one and how the previous season ended for both. Forest I’ve included because they are certainly trying to be amongst us it feels. How long they can sustain it who knows and their owner/manager dynamic you feel will always be on a knife edge regardless who is in the hot seat. What they also seem to have is a very creative DOF (potentially our No.1 target and we are haggling over the cost though some say that is not the case and we are looking elsewhere).
In short now the window has closed I feel once teams are bedded in if we can finish above all 4 of these then 5th is achievable in the league. Cup progression will always be helped with favourable draws but I expect Howe to take both the domestic ones as serious as always. UCL I feel is still at the enjoy the ride stage but the new format does give us a chance to qualify to the KO’s.
Success however will all depend on us being better at creating more chances to give us a chance to score more goals and that’s where I feel we’ve disappointed in the window in not getting a creative attacker (BEK or similar ilk and price).
Overall 7.5/10 though I voted 7. Might look back in 12 months and think completely different. Meanwhile its around 121 days to the next window
He apparently does birthday messages also for a fee if you want one?