MarkyMark

I don’t - though I do think a DoF would’ve understood how to deal with other clubs, and may have known to walk away earlier if there was no chance of a sensible deal in the offing. DoF exist for a purpose - as has been pointed out elsewhere, football transfers are complicated transactions these days. An expert would’ve been useful. Too late now of course - though this isn’t hindsight; I think plenty of us thought a DoF was a priority months ago.

No DoF was a mistake - and temporary consultant Hammond didn’t exactly come with ringing endorsements - as was not replacing the scouting team, for me. I wonder if Nickson has a framed Joelinton picture with a used £40m cheque above his mantelpiece? Plenty of time to go, of course. If there’s no-one here by Thursday night then that would be concerning.

The current approach seems to be ‘approach club, ask a club what they want for a player, and massively low ball it’. Did Ashley leave behind handover notes?

If Wood has a release clause, then no haggling is required. We’ve no idea re what their planned investment is etc. Back in November the consortium had to plough in £38m to keep the club running. What was notable about that is that each consortium member had to plough in a % of that based upon the size of their shareholding. Staveley doesn’t have the money to keep up with PIF even on a 5% basis if the intention is to chuck hundreds of millions in. It looks to me like the club spending what it has for the time being.

Not a case of ‘defending’ anyone. The club appears to have set itself rules for this window. Wood is better than Gayle, therefore improves the side. Young lad from Reims unknown. It’s always been my take on this window - young Europeans and experienced (and cheap) PL experienced players are the likely signings. The ‘world’s richest club’ patter has made some raise their expectations re who is coming through the door too quickly - not helped by the bullshit merchants in the press.

Massive ‘if’ as ever, but if Wood has a release clause, then the only people who’d know are the club & the manager, and Wood & his agent. So if true, one of those parties would have needed to let NUFC know that. I’m guessing that wasn’t Dyche …

That’ll delight Derby fans if they make the connection. Cap’n Bob wasn’t exactly popular by the end of his stay having bailed them out of the shite initially to much fanfare. Plus ca change and all that

‘Privately, Al-Rumayyan has also stressed the need for further transfer breakthroughs to be made quickly after Kieran Trippier arrived from Atletico Madrid last week’ is the big one for me. I generally trust the lads at the Athletic in terms of insider stuff. Sounds like the chairman isn’t saying anything different from what that the ‘meltdown brigade’ on here are saying

Yep. I keep hearing that the club are targeting getting six players in the window - if true, that’s great. But we need a centre forward before Saturday, and ideally a centre half too. We literally don’t have anyone who can play upfront before our biggest match of the season. By the time we play Watford, the transfer window will have been open for over two weeks - and it isn’t as if you need to wait for it to open before bidding for players. I don’t doubt that it is difficult, nor do I think that we need all our targets in right now - but if we go into that game on Saturday with no-one up top and lose, there’s nothing wrong with questioning what the strategy is.

I don’t need a club that tries - just one that is competently run and attempts to actually win things. No-one is suggesting anyone throws billions at it. So far the club hasn’t spent its own money, never mind anyone else’s.

The recruitment team - the board - the manager. All of them. It would border on negligence - lose to Watford and we’re really in the shite.

No meltdown required if we don’t sign anyone and we beat Watford. But serious - and reasonable - questions will need asking if we don’t sign anyone and lose on Saturday. Doesn’t need to be called a ‘meltdown’.

Being shit and second bottom doesn’t help - but the wages do seem to be a massive problem. Caulkin has hinted at this; Hope said it directly on Twitter the other day. They both appear to have a direct line to Staveley. We’re not going to break the bank on wages - the current structure remains for this window. Would be happy for this not to be the case - and the idea of this rotten lot getting pissed off because a decent professional is paid more is laughable. edit: here ye gan https://mobile.twitter.com/CraigHope_DM/status/1479497674902618115

There definitely seems to be something in that

I think for so many, it has been a long time since we were actually trying to have a sensible transfer policy that we've forgotten what it is like going in for players. Some will join, some won't. Digne is a good player, but he's hardly Maldini. Move on and forget him

That assumes that we've bid, had the bid accepted, offered a contract - and he's plumped for Villa. I think the story that we walked away early having realised what his salary demands are is the truth. Because those 'European football / wants to live in London' stories have proven to be utter bollocks.

Just my take on it, but I don't think a big name centre forward needs to be a priority - a couple of decent ones would do. The back line is the root cause of all of our problems. It is abysmal. Trippier is a fantastic start on that front - leaps ahead of our other right back options. I love that we're going for the likes of Botman and Carlos; a young, classy, tall highly regarded centre back and a fast, strong lunatic (though a pretty talented lunatic) is spot-on for me. That's my kind of thinking for central defensive pairings. A new left back is required, but I'd be happy for a loanee for now - I think Lewis could develop and when he returns to fitness could take his place back though in the summer we'll still need a permanent new LB with Lewis as an understudy. And of course we need a decent holding midfielder - though this can wait until later in the window if necessary. If we got someone like Wood permanently, and someone like a Martial on loan until May, I'd be happy with that. Not saying we'll get either; but players of that ilk would do. While it doesn't arse me what the club spends, I'm assuming that the last thing Staveley et al will want will be a load of average players on vastly inflated deals two years from now that we can't get rid of - the Trippier fee and salary was impressive, and laid down a marker I think. We're being sensible for now - no pisstakers, thanks.

I take your point, but she was also quoted as saying that they would invest 50m per window above what the club could bring in over five transfer windows - which isn't buttons, but it isn't 'stupid' money either, in a football context. I actually don't think she was talking shit - because she did say that it would take time. Can't be arsed to pull out all quotes, but Caulkin's article / interview from October sums it up pretty well: https://theathletic.com/2875873/2021/10/08/amanda-staveley-interview-why-do-keegan-and-shearer-get-so-little-recognition-from-our-club/ Caulkin isn't using a direct quote here - but I doubt he'd write it without anything support for it: 'There will be money to spend on players in the January transfer window and again next summer, but it will be measured.' Sensible spending to secure PL position is how I read that. A couple of years of that word Keegan hated; 'consolidation'. Short-term is sensible spending, no superstars, rebuild the club from the bottom-up. Eventually, with the club running under its own steam, look to try to win the title. Of course, I'm under no illusions that in the summer there would have been new sponsors lined up, from KSA-based companies linked either to the PIF or to the Saudi govt (which in a state like KSA is basically every single one). I'd argue that Wood is better than Gayle and Cantwell is better than any of our current attacking midfielders. Which is a sure-fire proof of how shite we are, but they're better nonetheless. You never know, we might still get a 'name' on loan before the end of the window. I don't give a toss about that tbf - generally speaking, a transfer policy works well if you buy in better players than the ones you have, and the replacements aren't wankers off the pitch. I worry that the second part of that sentence is not applicable to Cantwell ...

New centre half and centre forward in and I reckon a comfy 2-0 1-3 loss without them. Pressure on the recruitment team as much as the manager this week IMHO. They had to know before 1st Jan that this game is liable to define the season. If we go into that game with only a new RB, then they've been negligent. I think we'll have at least one new signing this week though, so I remain reasonably optimistic.

Richest owners in football, not the richest club - it is an important distinction - we still don't have any proof that they're going to chuck stupid money at NUFC. Trippier didn't exactly break the bank - 90k per week, 12m fee - it was a signing that could have been made under Ashley's financial structure. That's not to say that Trippier would have signed for Ashley's NUFC, of course - he wouldn't have. Though Howe was favourite to replace Bruce when Ashley was here - what does that tell us about the short-term expectations that he was their first appointment? It suggests 'sensible' levels of investment to me. This isn't Man City Mk II. They're clearly looking at players who would improve the side - and Wood and Cantwell are better than what we have. We've had enough notice that they're not going to break the wage structure - for now. So that leaves PL lesser lights and young European footballers for the most part. Digne would have broken the bank - so they were never going to sign him, despite the links. I still think anyone expecting to see big names coming through the door is borderline crackers. TF laughably published an article on Vlahovic signing this month. Why waste anyone's time with that shite? Someone like Wood - if Burnley sell (massive question mark there) would do. We're 19th with less than half the season to go - that's a hard sell. Bring in players who are better than we have at the moment, and who in the longer term are liable to become squad players should we progress. That being said, of course Wood and Cantwell don't exactly get the pulse racing. But this side is abysmal - it needs drastic work. Improve it, stay up - and then let's see what happens in the summer. If we stay up this year, and the summer doesn't provide 'name' or marquee players, then we've got our answer on what the plan is irrespective of any PR from the club.

Doesn’t create much for a creator is the problem. It’s exciting watching him start those fast, slaloming runs - he’s a superbly gifted dribbler - but he always plays with his head down, and is too old to have this aspect of his game coached out of him. This is why he scores and creates so few goals - his phenomenal ball control means that he will grab a goal every so often. But the rest of the time he’s just beating the odd defender before running into a blind alley. As mentioned by others, he’d love working with someone like Bruce because Bruce will let him run those alleys without attempting to coach him out of it - he’s not exactly a student of the game. A manager like Howe is going to demand more than a show pony - and is likely to make him unhappy as a result. It is a shame that he doesn’t have the footballing brain to match his wit on social media - the lad is clearly sharp and smart away from the pitch. Seems like a decent bloke too. Nothing would make me happier than ASM to suddenly prove all of the above wrong, of course. But I’ve seen nowt so far which suggests to me that he has the vision to be a top notch creative talent.

Surely if it was the signs, Ashley would be taking the club as a legal entity to the High Court - why would you only take a director and her husband? Has to be something else - I’d assume about the sale of the club, but that’s just a guess. You know, having a Mike Ashley-free headspace has been very pleasant these last couple of months - his fat heed popping up again re Newcastle is more irritating than infuriating these days.

Do other supporters really want him? I mean people who actually watch and understand football, not daft kids on Twitter who’ve never actually been to a football match but love watching videos of ‘flair’ players doing step-overs to shite Eurodance. He flatters to deceive - there’s a reason he’s at NUFC, and clubs weren’t lined up kicking Ashley’s door down to buy him.

Spot on for me. Remember when the likes of Ritchie were going on how much happier they were when Bruce replaced Benitez? That ‘relaxed’ atmosphere appealed to them. Howe deserves criticism for today’s result - but most of the players deserve vitriol. Other than Trippier, there’s not a single player who started today who I would hope will be here the next time we play an FA Cup match.

Saying ‘that wasn’t good enough’ isn’t insulting the team. If anything, defending that performance is a bigger insult. It’s piss-poor management. He doesn’t need to single anyone out. Standards need to be a lot higher than that. If the manager can’t come out and say that today was a collective failure, then we might as well give up now.