Holmesy

I just don’t think there’s anything we can do with this lad, sadly - he’s all athlete and zero footballer. No finesse, no technique, no composure and no sign that he can develop really. It’s a shame because he’s shown more in recent games but he didn’t set himself a very high bar. I’d love to see him succeed but he’s just not very good.

Early signs of what’s to come from the officials. Strap in fellas.

He should definitely be on the list but i'd still take MGW over him - we need more end product, not more work rate. It would also sting like a bitch having to pay £70m for a player we had to flog for peanuts and who came through our own academy though.

I think we should be looking to raid Forest before Spurs - Gibbs-White, Aina and Murillo would all be top additions. Archie Gray would give us some well need cover in multiple positions but other than him, i think i'd steer clear of Spurs players - they're all soft as shite.

Wind him up and let him go. Chuck a couple of Red Bulls down his neck, tweak his nipples and tell him he's the next Thierry Henry. Off you go big lad!

In a game that has become rigid, formulaic and pattern-based, a bit of 'what the fuck is he about to do' could be the answer. He's a throwback and it's fucking great to see, but it could also be why he hasn't kicked on in the modern game. He clearly has the talent but maybe not the discipline to fit into rigidity, which personally I fucking love. Unpredictability has always been a positive asset in football - do the unexpected - but it feels like it's largely been coached out of the game. Get him on the pitch more often and let him loose. Don't tell him what to do or where to run. Stick him on the pitch in the right situation and let him go mental.

Joelinton rolling back the years. He was absolutely immense tonight. MOTM for me

Why?! We could just spent twice as much on a proven PL one who isn’t as good!

It definitely felt that way but if you look at the majority of players we missed out on, they're regular starters for their new clubs with the exceptions of Delap and Trafford. At the time it felt like a coordinated attack on our transfer business but looking at the situation now, with a neutral head on, I think we just had a pool of talented players that were highly coveted by more attractive clubs and we didn't have the skill or experience in our transfer team to punch above our weight. That window highlighted a glaring gap in our transfer policy whereby the pool of players we targeted was far too shallow. We'd clearly scouted our top targets for a long time, which ended up being completely wasted effort - whether that was on Eddie, Mitchell, Nickson, who knows (i'm sure everyone has their different opinions) but it was a harsh reality check.

Agreed. And yet, when you look at the quality of players we have, in midfield and defence particularly, we should be much better than we currently are. Even if we're less potent at the top end of the pitch due to poor strikers, the midfield and defence we're putting out shouldn't be shipping goals at the rate they are.

touche

I think our overall transfer planning has been shocking over the past two years. This has inevitably been impacted by the chopping and changing of Sporting Directors but I think it could still have been navigated a lot better despite the changing personnel. Being pushed into being reactive in the summer window, with our transfers being led by someone not qualified to handle the convincing and negotiations has fucked us and wasted ten of millions. It can never happen again. Eddie needs to be more flexible, we need to have a higher risk profile and we need both long-term planning & player seduction, and water-tight processes in place so everything can still move if we lose another SD. Hopefully lessons learnt but fuck me, some of them should have been foreseen.

We signed a player completely ill-suited to Eddie's style, not a shit player. He's clearly a big talent. That's on the scouting team, the coaches and the manager, if he had final say.

Agreed. Looking at us last night (and I know it was a decent performance), we need an overhaul. At least one new striker, a first choice RW and probably a decent backup too, left back understudy for Hall, a new keeper and probably a new CM. A proper #10 would be a great addition too. its a lot and it probably won’t happen but our squad is littered with players who simply aren’t good enough: Willock Elanga Murphy Wissa Wolte (sad to say but he’s just not a good fit for Eddie) Osula Krath

There’s a reason this thread is constantly at the top of the board after our matches, and it isn’t because we’re biased or paranoid. It’s because we get fucked by officials every time we play teams in the top half.

And if they do, it’ll get blown for immediately. Nick gets absolutely nowt

Thats often the issue against these pricks - come out at half time with a bit of hope and they kill it within 10 mins. Got to keep it tight!

As expected really. At least we’ve had something to cheer about. City are so precise with their passing, the ball always sticks and their movement is next level. It’s impressive to watch but it also highlights the difference in levels between both the quality of their players and the way they are coached, which isn’t a dig at Eddie - Pep is just a freak. Biggest disappointment is that once again our newest players look shite.

Yeah, you get a free pass against this lot. 12 men and 11 of them are class.

Exactly the point. Take a risk on buying players who aren't PL proven to make our budget stretch further. Constantly paying the PL-proven tax is unnecessary IMO.

No, I wouldn't call him a dud - he's had patches where he's been excellent. But he's also had spells where he's been crap. I think we could've got a player of similar quality and consistency level from the continent or south america for. lot less than we paid for him.

True, but there are literally thousands of players playing in other leagues and only a small number playing in the PL. We have less chance statistically of being blown out of the water if we cast our net further. If we adjust our blueprint to include developing talent in addition to signing first team ready players (and I still think we should be going for the best out there), we might actually move forward quicker and have a pool of players we could sell for profit if they don't make the grade. Realistically, how much could we have saved signings players from overseas of the quality of Gordon, Ramsey and Elanga? £60-70m? They are not the top tier of player but because they are supposedly PL=proven, they all went for a premium. If we have to sign a lower tier of player to bolster the squad, I'd rather we shopped abroad to save some money. And of course we'll still get beaten to top talent by the cartel, it's inevitable but it won't happen every time. We seem to have a very small number of specific targets in mind in every window. Being risk adverse is prudent but I think we should adopt a slightly higher risk profile because that strategy is holding us back.

I can't think of one dud we've signed who came directly to us from a foreign league in the past few years. But I can think of a few "PL-proven" ones. Look, I don't think anyone could argue that our bias towards PL-proven hasn't served us well recently. Surely that's a given? We already have a solid core of English players, let's stop obsessing over average "PL-proven" players and trust our scouting team to find better alternatives elsewhere. I don't think there's even an argument to be had is there?

Best is relative though. We're not going to get Vini Junior or Mbappe for example, but we got close to getting Ekitike who is infinitely better than Delap. He has also adapted to the PL very quickly. Bruno, Sandro, Thiaw and Schar slotted into the PL quickly, represented much better value for money than our recent "PL-proven" signings and all had/have a much higher ceiling. You can't tell me you don't think we could have got better players from overseas for £45m, £43m and £55m respectively than Gordon, Ramsey and Elanga?

That bit in bold is a clear flaw in the plan. If you can't get the best players from the PL, don't get the also-rans, get the best options from overseas. They will almost certainly cost less and the time it takes them to adapt will be offset by their higher ceiling. We've essentially signed players who are never going to be good enough for where we want to be, and paid a fortune for them.