Dr Jinx

Wonder why we're not doing this when the loopholes have been exposed.

Howe has definitely lost an ally, whether he needs one or not is a different matter. For their small stake, I always thought they were involved almost too much. We never hear a peep out of Reuben aside from the odd IG comment. And PIF have been mostly elusive barring some glimpses in the documentary. Now if big investment is coming in (IE new stadium, training facilities etc) there's no way they could have fronted 6% of that (which you'd be obliged to being a co-owner) It just makes sense to jump out at this point.

Yep, for all her imperfections she was perfect for us. I love her to bits and her husband is a sound chap too. They'll be welcome back any time and I hope they do, a full crowd should be allowed show some gratitude to them.

Probably deserved overall. Fair play

Downie said that too. Probably the case. Reubens seem content with what they have. Be interesting if they sell up.. political influence under a Labour government isn't so useful all of a sudden.

I don't think she would have stopped any underhandedness, but that's not their style anyway. She had to get PIF to sign off on her recommendations anyway so the way I see it now that red tape has been removed we'll finally be able to see the real intentions of PIF. They've been at arm's length essentially only stepping in when required. I want to see their true vision, not just what they've agreed to.

I've watched a few of her depositions and she can come across as a bit naive at times. Won't go as far to say an artist at it but definitely a hint of the aul bullshit at times. Her skill is in networking and bringing people together. Finders fees are the reward and looks like she will walk away from this with a few million despite not having anything to put into it in the first place. Quite impressive actually.

So it seems the club have decided to move on from the previous structure. They need a big summer now, but dare I say. They won't be as patient with Howe if things don't go too well. That sense of family and nurturing environment is great but the flip side is that it makes it more difficult to make tough decisions.

Not sure what to make of it, it was always going to happen. Her remit was to come in, turn things around and increase the value of the shares. She’s done that. If she gets to clear off any debts and walk away with 10-20m then great. If it were not for this lady god knows where this club would be, Mike Ashley may have sold it at some point, but to whom.. As important a catalyst for this club, and us.. as Keegan was in the 90’s. Forever grateful and I genuinely wish her and Mehrdad the very best. Going forward now all eyes will be on who remains and what they plan to do.

Nicolas Gonzales - agent work

Agree 100% on being patient, there's no other alternative. The only point I'd mention in relation to FSG is that they haven't got the deep pockets PIF have, if they really want to flex they will flex and shit will just get done quicker

Bowen doesn't make sense either age or price but he would be excellent for a good 2/3 seasons minimum. Then he could sort of blend into a superior Matt Ritchie squad type guy.

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The only one’s who will ever know that are Howe and Ashworth.. I think they were (Minteh and Kuol) signed with a view to coming back into the fold after gaining more experience and proving good enough. We just happened to end up in a situation where we had to sell, so that narrative suits to make it look under more control. I refuse to believe they risked a hefty punishment on several factors turning in their favour. 1) Minteh’s loan being that successful.. if he’d flopped or not been picked by a coach.. wave goodbye to 30m and 2) the fee being as high as it was.. I think there was probably more of an acceptance that we were going to lose a purple this summer, something we seem to have avoided now.

Don't worry about what Brighton are doing. Admire it fine, but they have different objectives. We can't be what they are and be a genuine contender for top 4. Buying to sell and real ambition don't go hand in hand so our remit will be different. The players we sign will be the best that we can go for at a given point in time, we buy young so if the the club does begin to outgrow their use, we can make back a good portion of that transfer fee if not more on occasion. I'm assuming Paul Mitchell's objective will be to get the best value on the pitch that's within our budget.

I also think Ten Hag is a capable manager. I think if you threw Pep into that mess he wouldn’t have fared much better, even took him a few seasons with City to sort them out. They will improve but there’s enough holes in ETH’s consistency, same as Howe that you’ll never see them dominate, so can’t see any league success but he can certainly put out a team to compete with the best on a given day. Whether Brexit Jimbo and his toxic approach seeps into the first team is another matter.

Yeah also not sold on Chiesa, all trickery and not so much pace on visual evidence from the Euros. He does seem to be much better at crossing than what we currently have though. I reckon with Mitchell there now we end up going for someone not as well known.. who were all the best prospects at the last U21 tournament for that position?

Not counting on it for this summer, any changes would be next season, or maybe January at the earliest. I honestly think the whole thing will collapse at some stage. There’s a movement of pushback against it and eventually one of the “big clubs” will have their arse exposed and the punishment won’t be the same as what’s been handed out up to this point.. way more lenient and at that point the gig will be up.

They’ll be counting on City winning that related transaction thing and then it being thrown out. It will leave the door open then for increasing our revenue in that manner which will see the UEFA constrictions nullified.

They overpaid for sure. I’m guessing there’s an agreement there, they’ll get 15m over the odds for Elanga or MGW.. and balance shall be restored

All bullshit, he was only talking on tv about how he’d love Guehi at Newcastle when someone said there was a rumour we were in for him. Like that was literally in the last 7-10 days. How turned can his head have been? Now am sure the news of Liverpool’s opportunistic enquiry would have reached him but what also would have reached him is the lowball offer and how they didn’t think he was worth 100m or whatever mental figure we tried to scare them off with. Why go somewhere that you’re not valued, even if it is your “boyhood club”?

I think the whole thing with Ashworth is that once his structure is in, its diminishing returns in terms of his usefulness. Which is why he moves on so much.. fear of being let go when people realise he’s not needed anymore.

His overall approach and skill set is different to Ashworth, who is/was all about structure and recruiting capable people around him. Mitchell will work very well with Nickson in identifying and then signing talent and then hopefully very well with Howe on the performance side of things. But once bitten, twice shy.. we rolled the red carpet out for Ashworth and it didn’t work out, I’m going to be far more cautious about jumping the gun with Mitchell. Great we have someone but let their work do the talking from here on out.

He was head of recruitment for Spurs a few years ago but he’s coming straight from Monaco where he’s been their sporting director for the last 5 years almost. Highly respected. Let’s see how he gets on.

I’d say the same going the other direction too, no way we’ll be doing anything to strengthen their finances.