Shadow Puppets

Can’t comment on the rest, but that last sentence is 100% untrue. Howe, the players (and I assume Reuben) absolutely wanted him out of the building. Obviously not from a sporting POV (who would want to lose a great player), but in the context of everything that had gone on, absolutely.

I promised to share anything I learnt today from a few people (one of which is very close to everything going on, one of the others, an agent not connected to an NUFC player but active in the PL in general)… Some of this we already know, some of it contradicts slightly what Caulkin said in his article (I’ll let you choose who to believe and won’t be offended, as I’m just passing on what I have been told). None of it is particularly groundbreaking but I’ll share none the less… ———- - firstly, as I’ve said a few times now and had it confirmed by pretty much everyone I have spoken to over the last few weeks, Eddie and the players absolutely 100% wanted Isak gone (this info is from as good as source as you can get really). The longer it went on, and as his behaviour became more and more unforgivable, the bigger that desire for him to leave was. To quote specifically from someone I spoke to today…. “the trust had completely gone”... I know this isn’t particularly “news” as it’s been pretty obvious from their togetherness, but I’m 100% on that. - the meeting last Monday. That was ultimately what sealed the route forward… Isak apparently telling PIF and Reuben that he was willing to sit out until January if he wasn’t granted his move, with no desire to reintegrate. - PIF made the final decision, but Eddie was fully on board with that decision. - the feeling within the industry is that £130m is maybe very slightly under value in the current market, but not by much. - apparently, the last couple of weeks at the training ground have been particularly unpleasant when Isak has been in the building. General rudeness on his part, him not conversing with anyone other than the odd fitness coach who was assigned to him, headphones on and ignoring people… essentially just stropping. And a big effort to hide things like tactics / team sheets from view when he’s been in the building (going back to those trust issues). ———— I’ll let everyone draw their own conclusions, but I know how I feel about it all (with my usual positive outlook). Eddie, and Reuben, and PIF, in my opinion have pretty much exclusively shown themselves to make decisions in the best interest of NUFC, and this is no different really (if you take the raw emotion out of it). Barring potentially a slightly smaller fee than we’d hope, they’ve acted in a way to protect the club, make sure we have the players we need, give us plenty of PSR headroom moving forward, and get a good fee (albeit it not perfect) for a player who has shown nothing but disdain over these last few weeks. They have made decisions, not through emotion, but for the long term good of the club. I personally don’t buy that our actions have shown us to have “bent over” for Liverpool, and I don’t think the industry, the general public or the majority of fans see it that way either. I mean, I played 11-a-side football tonight with 7 other NUFC fans and everyone was happy he was gone. Outside of the internet forum / Twitter rage bubble, taking a step back, I really don’t think many people see it that way. Anyone… that’s all I have.

Great interview that, and great that we have him the opportunity to thank Brentford for everything they’ve done for him 👍🏻

He's been absolutely dogshit in our shirt, barring about 15 mins in the PL and 45 mins against Birmingham.

Solid 8 for both incomings and outgoings. Always things you'd change, but overall, good 👍

We don't need another player in, like. Certainly not urgently.

As is always the case (and as Eddie reiterates every time he's asked), you never know truly how successful a transfer window has been until 6 months or a year later.

We've signed Ramsdale, Thiaw, Ramsey, Elanga, Woltemade and Wissa (🤞🏻). We may yet sign another, but it's looking doubtful. That's hardly the work of a "piss poor" executive team.

And that's fine too. That will mean we've had 4-5 good years out of him.

I just try to see the best in situations, and in many cases, the best far outweighs any minor annoyances. Literally the only issue with this transfer is perhaps a slight overspend. If that's the biggest issue in it, then we're alright.

I think £55m is a touch on the high side, but not outrageous. He's a very capable, good PL player, scored a shit tonne of open play goals last season from CF, and a decent amount from the wing the season before. Literally the only downside is his age, but it's not like he's 33. He'll give us a couple of good seasons and then we'll move him on for a decent fee and all will end well.

Happy with this news. Couldn't care less if we've overpaid by £5m-£10m if he scores us 15 goals or so.

We don’t need 2 or 3, nor do we have squad space. It’ll be 1, and providing the quality is decent, that’s fine.

I’ll be seeing a few people today that could have some additional info. I’ll share if I find out anything interesting.

I think it was pretty widely reported / expected that we would spend £150m-£175m this summer, wasn’t it? We’ve spent about £195m right now, and sold £25m (Longstaff and Kelly go into this summers calculation). Selling Isak for £130m, to me, on the face of it seems like additional budget. So if we spend £50m-£60m of it on a striker today and have some left over, that seems fine to me.

Yeah. Why wouldn’t it have been? 🤷‍♂️

Errr… one of the two purchases has very little to do with the Isak money, though. We were always going to spend £50m ish on a striker this summer, and had the budget to do it, regardless of the Isak money. So in theory Isak going for £130m, and us signing a striker today for £50-£60m still leaves plenty for the future?

You’re shouting about something you have little knowledge of, as things stand, though 🤷‍♂️ We don’t know what will happen today, and how that will play out over the season. I just can’t be done with the negativity. We’re one good striker away from the squad looking really good and balanced, in my opinion. If that happens today, fantastic… it’ll have been a great window IMO.

As has been proven time and time again, only time will tell if it turns into good business. I, personally, truly don’t care that he’s going or that the fee is “only £130m”. It’s still a massive fee. Wissa or Strand Larsen + Nick W is absolutely a risk, but has every chance of being a master stoke 12 months down the line. As always, this place breeds negativity, which is not really part of my personality, so I find some of the reactions in here really really over dramatic. Just see what happens.

Why?

Woltemade is his replacement. Whoever we buy today is Wilson’s replacement.

I think you’re being really over dramatic, personally, but I get that it’s an emotional subject.

I’ve heard nothing concrete other than as of this morning we were very confident of landing a striker. Who specifically, or how far along it is I don’t know. All I’m saying is, for me, there’s every chance we sign a good player tomorrow and if that happens, I still think it’s been a very good window, slightly soured by Isak being a bellend. I’m certainly not in the “owners have bended over” camp. I’m in the “owners and Eddie are doing what they believe is right for NUFC” camp, because that’s what they’ve shown us so far.

OR… just maybe… we’ve already agreed or pretty much agreed the next deal so that’s why we’ve accepted this offer tonight? Guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

Looking at him now, though, you can see the red flags. At no point did he own a house. At no point did his family come and join him here. At no point did he create a proper life here. Look at Sandro. Married. Having his first kid. Gordon the same. Barnes the same. Etc. They’ve built their lives here. In hindsight, it’s obvious that Isak was a cold character with nothing tying him to the city, culture etc.