Thumbheed

I dont think anyone's arguing that you don't need to build a squad or that the likes of Fraser and Murphy don't need improving on, just that given the chance the club would sell ASM because they feel they can improve on him.

Don't disagree with any of that tbf, just saying that given the opportunity to sell him and replace him with someone more suited to the team then I think the club would do that on the basis that outside of him, there's no other player outside the first team that would command any sort of fee that would make replacing them particularly easy.

Agreed, he doesn't, but he's the only player 'on the fringes' who's got any resale value so having the opportunity of improving on our bette players can in some way become more important to the team than improving on the likes of Fraser - at this stage anyway.

Or, he could be replaced with someone better and/or more suited to our game?

I think we're open to selling him tbh

He's actually a more complete striker than I cared to realise. Great finisher, good in the air, strong, quick, great gold up play, quick, good dribbler, great movement, just top drawer.

Rewatched the game last night and thought that even though this wasn't a great game for him, he's got a canny knack of being able to play himself into the game. Absolute top class striker imo.

Confirmation of Big 7

I want Man U away. Come away from that game with a chance and I can't imagine what St James would be like for the 2nd leg.

Tbf, he said he's based his game on Thierry Henry (which I can see) and he himself spent a fair bit of time on the left of Barca's front 3 - which no one would have called during his PL days. Wouldn't rule anything out personally.

This was heavily dependent on commercial income tbf.

Yeh, I've always wondered why we got linked with so many left wingers so I think there's something in this too.

Yeh agree with this tbf.

I dont disagree tbf, but and I'm no financial expert so may get this wrong but expenditure in this accounting period with lower revenues and turnover would contribute significantly to our FFP position, right? As I say, I'm not against going for it this window but what seems realistic and attainable on paper (Maddison/Diaby and 2-3 youngsters) might not be so when you take their wages and amortisation into account. Even more so when you consider we're not likely to get much for our fringe players nor is there likely to be a significant dent in our wages either.

It does but we'd need the revenue to sustain that and I don't think we're there at this stage yet. Big outlays without the revenue to sustain these squads puts us in Leicester/West Ham/Everton territory. Building sustainably with gradual improvements in squad quality alongside increasing revenue puts us in a far stronger position in the long run with the exact say goal and outcome (hopefully).

Posted earlier in the thread. I guess the best example of the dangers of 'going for it' is West Ham right now. They look like they could be in serious trouble after gambling for the CL despite being on the brink of qualification for 2 years. Either way, I'm not gonna be too disappointed if we don't go for it, but I wouldn't mind an exciting young players or 2 coming in.

To be fair, I think there's merit in this in the sense our ambitions will be pinned back by our current revenue and as we know the CL money only really kicks in after the group stages, so having the necessary squad which allows us to compete in the CL and to requalify the following season would requure a big outlay in both fees and wages which could potentially be disastrous were we not to qualify the season after without the revenue to sustain that very same squad. I think we're in a unique position that we'll be the only club who will come under genuine FFP scrutinisation fir as long as our revenue is measurably shite.

Noticed he's been a little more aggressive on the field these past few games, absolutely all for it tbh.

Stupidly excited to see this lad play. First time in 13 years we can actually say "like a new signing" and it actually be legit. Still have to pinch myself that we've actually signed him.

If everything I read when I press "Translate this tweet" is true then we need to sign this player yesterday.

He did say there was a name he didn't expect or something to that affect but most links we have seem to be new ones if I'm honest

Did a bit of youtube scouting on him because i kept seeing his name reoccurring in tweets about Enzo Fernandez and he looks very very good. Alot of commentary seems to suggest he's a top top player so excited by this link.

Don't think there's anything to be annoyed about other than the fact we didn't get what we deserved - no ones watching that game and thinking it was the right result on the balance of the game. Poor first half against a team who were willing to put the graft in and a dominant second half where we didn't take our chances. The difference between us and the truly top sides is that extra quality in the right areas and we paid for that today, thankfully we can address that from tomorrow.

Wilson penalty at Man Utd too

One of the things I've enjoyed that I didn't expect to is how physical we are. Our pressing is one thing but the physicality of the players in individual duels has been a key factor in our success in my opinion - to the extent where I'd hope it becomes a running blueprint for our recruitment.