PlymouthGeordie

Yeah that's a fair point. I trust Howe too but my trust is that he gets most decisions right so I won't pull him up or judge him on the decisions he gets wrong. It wouldn't stop me from forming my own opinion on a player though (provided I've seen enough of them to form an opinion). I thought Wood was a panic buy and I'd say most fans are split on his impact. Regardless of his individual performances (which I thought were really poor) it's evident he was part a team that collected a lot of points. Question is, does that mean he was a good signing or would we have collected those points with Gayle starting instead? On Harrison, for 18m I can understand it. Anything north of 20m and I'd rather use the money elsewhere or keep it back until January.

That's not an opinion and somewhere along the line Howe will sign a dud, all managers do. If Eddie set us up against Forest with a fully fit Bruno, Joelinton and Wilson on the bench no supporter would be championing "I back Eddie, it's a good line up". We'd all be asking questions.

Don't understand this approach. I get the whole we back Eddie and the team but part of being a supporter or following football in general is to be able to form your own opinion, surely?

I struggle with the fan podcasts. They always start off well but as soon as they get a decent following it becomes more about their own "fame" than it does about the conversation etc. I just get bored of all the in house jokes. I hate Pod on the Tyne mainly because of the host.

Wouldn't say strong links to any of them. I just think they're reasonably priced, all a good age with potential for big improvements and they've all put up steady numbers in the league. If the 40-50m budget remaining is true it improves key positions within our budget.

I'm not convinced by Cornet but I do think Dennis and Sarr are good, viable options.

Without knowing our back up targets to Diaby, Isaak etc. I would say Sarr at 20m-25m is a no brainer. He's lightening fast with plenty of potential. His fee is reasonable, he can play anywhere across (he's best as a RW imo) and his numbers in the league are respectable given he's always played for a team at the bottom end of the league.

I thought he was the best of a bad bunch first half.

I agree. It was almost like if we can't get a 40/50m ST or RW then I'll use that money to get a top notch midfielder.

Same. Not sure I'd want him given the age profile of our squad. Burn, Schar, Trippier, Fede,Shelvey, Wood, Wilson, Gayle (still has 2 years on his deal) are all the wrong side of 30. Wouldn't be a good look to have all 4 strikers on the book be over 30 with no resale value etc. It is going to be difficult for the club to get the right sort of striker imo.

Where did he say this? Was it on a podcast? If so, may give it a listen.

What has happened to them? Aouar was heavily courted by Arsenal 12-18 months ago and I'm pretty sure Brandt was previously linked to Iiverpool.

Just trying to compute your first sentence. "As a back up for both wings he'd have played regularly". It's such a contradiction. Anyway, it's a pointless discussion as I doubt leeds will sell for less than 35m and can't see us paying that (which is a good thing because he's worth 25m tops).

Definitely but by all accounts with the reported budget we'd only be able to get Paqueta. I like Sarr. Whilst Harrison is currently more productive numbers wise I think Sarr has a higher ceiling than him. Sarr for 25m and Broja for similar would be a solid end to the window.

Agree to disagree but I'd say suggesting someone who would start the majority of games on the bench would get plenty of minutes is the silly conclusion. As stated, he's a good player but he'd cost too much for where he could take us in my opinion.

I'm not shuffling. He'd be a bench warmer at all of them, it's obvious.

Pepe didn't start a single game from January onwards and Elanga got game time largely because of the Greenwood situation. Harrison is good, just not top 6 good.

Tell me which of the top 6 teams he'd get regular game time at then... City and Liverpool are a write off immediately. Spurs have Son, Richarlison and Kuluveski as their wide options. Arsenal are blessed with Martinelli and Saka. Chelsea now have Sterling, Havertz, Mount and Pulusic who all play in the forward positions. It only leaves Man Utd and even they have Rashford and Sancho who were admittedly poor last year but possess more ability than Harrison.

I largely agree with you regarding budgets etc but I do think we may get one 50m player. If we do though, any other incomings will be loan deals only I'd say.

They aren't lazy. He would barely get any minutes for any of the top 6 clubs. Hence he isn't a top 6 player.

City and Chelsea didn't. They bought top end players immediately and if any didn't work out they replaced them immediately. Due to FFP we don't have the luxury so a greater percentage of our signings need to be successful. At best, you could argue Harrison is top 8 quality but I'm not convinced he'd start for the likes of Leicester and West Ham.

He'll still never be a top 6 player though and signing a player to go from 11th to 10th for 30+ million doesn't make sense to me.

Harrison is a mid table player. We're already a mid table club. It is a wasted signing. I'd rather keep the money back until January or next summer than sign him. Signing mid table players for 30m+ is what has killed Everton. We need to avoid it at all costs.

For me, any new signing should be with the aim to take us towards to the top 6 (long term). Harrison, although a good Premier League player will never be of top 6 quality.