r0cafella

Id say it's a combination of judgement calls which some may or may not agree with. Ie buying Trafford last summer made no sense imo. Especially given he had a terrible season at Burnley in the PL and we just did our PSR swindle. 40m on keepers with nothing spent on other areas would have been rancid optics. As for Thiaw this is clearly a secondary target who is being pivoted to, either that or as mental as it is it's not a position we are prioritising. I think we just lack a long term cohesive plan and it's an issue which rules throughout the entire club. We have this goal to be number (which I'm becoming more and more skeptical of I initially said I'd wait for the stadium plans before making my judgement on if I'm being bullshited but that keeps getting referred). I know people will see this as pessimistic, it isn't the intention I'm just using the data I have and making assessment based on them.

I think they are, I mean we glaze our recruitment team and the deserve praise but we tend to miss important context when discussing our business. Let's have a look at a couple of examples. Bruno, Bruno was a known commodity for people who watch European football, playing at one of the biggest clubs in France and in the CL. we got him because we struck when nobody else could get him. Towards the end of a January window which are usually quieter. Isak, Isak was another known player playing a good sized club in Spain who qualify for Europe on a regular basis. We got him because nobody was willing to take a punt at that price. Now if we fast forward to today those conditions don't really apply to our targeting. Huijsen we went for Huijsen when he had a breakout year and was linked to all of the cartel clubs, ended up going to real Delap, breakout your linked firmly to at least two cartel clubs and went to one of them. Mbuemo, linked to a cartel club after a stellar year. I think our targeting has changed and we are trying to mix it up with those cartel club, and we simply can't compete with them on the financial package

This window is more about us trying to chase players we aren't really going to get. Seems like lack a bit of nouce in the market, or we have some hubris internally.

Eh, you haven't been awake since the takeover? We've been blacklisted since the rule changes came in right after the takeover. Ultimately the club spread both cheeks and just accepted it though. Ive literally been posting about this since then I didn't expect the class ceiling to manifest itself in this way though.

It's unlikely they can pass squad cost, as the other 14 want anchoring which the PFA says is against the law. Squad cost will be worst for us imo, will be an apocalypse for Villa though.

Van hecke is slow isn't he? Botman is as well. Not keen on two centre halves who can't run when you play a high line. Even if we drop we have Bruno who is in the race for the slowest living thing. Quick defender should be prioritised over someone good on the ball if you have to choose between the two.

It's not possible and it's by design. Absolutely mental this isn't discussed more.

Don't do it to yourself

Problem is. The price is high which means he does well he will be sold and Southampton get a big chunk of the next sale, he bombs and they blown 45m. The next sale is too high especially given Everton aren't a destination.

Officially no and obviously mixed reports. Reports from Slovenia was he chose us, other reports saying Manchester United would only bid if he picked them. Pessism on here is obviously based upon the way this summer has gone so far

Both will cost 60m plus we don't have that for the Wilson replacement.

If the plan b is Jackson or Watkins?

I'm not calling them idiots, overly ambitious yes, misread the market yes? Idiots no I don't think so. This isn't the first rodeo for us this summer going head to head with them, and so far it hasn't worked out in our favour. We had a free run at both Isak and Tonali, that was actually top notch recruitment hence me not calling them idiots.

It's not about the risk of losing our or being wet. It's about picking targets who are actually attainable. Id expect we have a rough idea of who is interested in who and tailored our approach accordingly. Ultimately, we need to be watching what clubs who are either on our par are doing and try and move for those targets if they fit. Especially big European clubs who maybe don't have our financial muscle.

It doesn't matter, all that matters is the difference between our revenue and the other cartel clubs. If this gap isn't decreasing our rate of growth is irrelevant.

As I've been saying, on the current trajectory no. We need a lot more from the commercial side/ownership.

I disagree, if the policy isn't realistic then it is embarrassing imo. I get the idea of trying to make this but splash like we've arrived but the reality is the second a cartel member is interested we end up being second fiddle. Let's see how this all works out.

Yeah I'm aware but at the start of the window I can be pretty sure we had no intentions of buying him. Same with Wissa. These are pivots late in the day.

Yorkie man, trying to sigh then and coming up handy isn't a good outcome just so your aware

To be fair, we are obviously scrambling usually such transfers take months of ground work before hand. We are just in an awful position whereby we can't fight the cartel clubs and the players they don't want are too much of a gamble for us.

Nah, it's just a case of the stupid financial rules causing convergence. Everyone wants younger players who cost less wages and can improve. Only dafties like Bayern ignore this.

I don't think it's that, I think it's being the fact we've been getting cucked from the cartel all summer.

Just means he's playing both sides to get the most favourable terms.

Then I'll be dusting off my obligatory, I don't want to hear about ffp or psr from this club whilst they are doing stupid things comment.

Of course they will, they will just rinse us. Bayern Munich business.