Abacus

Personally, I don't like these rumours about exec recruits, possible stadium rebuilds and transfers coming out because it shows we're not being professional. Or else, I don't like all these lack of rumours since I don't know what's going on and therefore have to assume it means nothing is going on. Not sure. Anyway, it's difficult what to think negatively about first, but my word, I'll give it a shot.

I'm quite excited about this idea - there are plenty of players EH has developed and obviously puts his time into. Whilst they are all good players, one man can only do so much and some won't make it for various reasons. If I were him, I'd prefer a smaller squad of quality players you can devote your time to more, and possibly some with a higher ceiling you can push them to. The challenge comes in future seasons when we likely hit Europe again and there are more games, so a bigger squad is needed. It probably feels like he's carrying the load of every decision right now as the face of the club, at least from the fanbase and the press, which is why I do think a visible sporting director maybe needs to be the next transfer we make.

If you put it all together, it seems that Antony Gordon fell off his bike whilst eating a Greggs cheese sandwich which Richard Masters had secretly and surprisingly put onions in, thus causing a world war many years earlier. It's actually all so simple, if you REALLY think about it. So, I hope he kicks a ball in the goal bag for England.

Makes a fair point. And there might be a localised tornado which wipes out all of our players as well. Makes you think.

I don't understand. Why aren't Spain just sitting back and doing nothing?

Time to admit you're wrong and bring Gordon on yet, Gareth? No, let's just pass sideways slowly.

12 midnight tonight, or after all the fax machines have stopped whirring.

Anderson was looking quite a prospect with quite a few wanting him in the team especially during our injury crisis, and that's for a team looking to compete in Europe - until an injury held him back last season. And Forest do seem to have a fairly scattergun approach to transfers.

I'd find that OK, for a 3rd choice keeper, if Downie is right.

Still struggling to understand that retracted SSN tweet re clubs supposedly in PSR trouble and how anyone could know what any other club's internal finances are supposed to be. You could make a semi-educated guess on who was near the edge but that's all it would have to be.

My thinking is that we were probably planning to loan him out for another year anyway. Inserting a buy-back clause, if we do that, would be like loaning him to another PL club in Everton, assuming he does well there.

If we get DCL as a back up striker to Isak, when he should also have a lesser workload next season due to no Europe, and having Gordon in reserve at a pinch, I think it could work for us. Yes, Minteh might end up as a world beater, but put in a buy-back clause if he can cut it after a season in the PL with Everton. Allows us to concentrate on RW, defence and GK.

Wouldn't be surprised if selling him to Everton, with DCL coming the other way, still happens. I'd actually made my peace with that deal, just before it was off again

Legacy fan alert.

Instead of all this malarkey, I remember when we paid an eye-watering £1.75m to Bristol City for Andy Cole and fretting that could be a huge mistake at the time, before him and Beardsley then nearly tore up the league. Never even in my wildest boyhood dreams did I imagine that later I'd be worrying about amortisation, the sale of infrastructure or the farming out saleable assets (human beings by the way) for the sake of profit calculations. Ah, for a simpler time. Jumpers for goalposts etc.

Didn't we have a reported £40m bid from Lyon just turned down plus reported interest from Liverpool's new manager for Minteh? If you were to be a more cynical person, which I'm definitely not, you might call it as looking like laughable shenanigans all round. The thing that should bother the PL is that they are now looking to sign off on any deal, whether it's within the rules they set or not.

Glad you picked up on the niche reference and ran with it better. Its made me think that in future, I should make even more obscure theological analogies in general football dialogue, and in life in general.

Yes, and Harry Kane stuck a twig in his spokes.

I tend to think of it as a good thing that other clubs are interested in our players. Whilst they can obviously get stuffed, it shows we're doing something right and it feels good that we're seemingly not prepared to budge. And also that there are no stories about the players themselves or their agents rattling on about "dream clubs" etc

I've watched that interview about 3 times now. He's the man they need to play, you can see it in every expression. Let him loose and he'll tear teams apart.

That was outstanding work assuming it was right. I remember laughing out loud when that came in, but hadn't remembered who had said it

Agree with this. Media training is all well and good, but it means you just ignore what they say and it makes them look daft when they try to trot out a party line which is at odds with what you can see. Gordon seems to care less and also to care enough to speak to the fans he's representing. As well as probably saying the same things behind the scenes and that's what you need when the team is in a funk. Deserves a chance to go out and show what he can do for England, but I'm not sure he'll get it. Howe was right about him first time, and if he's being touted as Southgate's successor then Southgate should probably listen to him.

Yeah, reluctantly I'm in the same boat. Then challenge the rules.

He's only crying because his own deal was blocked. Waiting for him to nail his own financial rules to the door of Old Trafford, complete with an interview from Lorraine Kelly. Those rules are basically unenforceable imo and leading all clubs to do things they wouldn't otherwise transfer wise, with none of it being about sustainability.

I wonder how many clubs would fail the acting in good faith test over the years?