RobsonsWonderland

1 hour ago, Max Cherry said:

Be interested to see how much we bid, especially given the reported Mac Allister fee. 

I think Liverpool had this sorted a long time ago that nobody else had a look in ... A bit like the young lad from Fulham the year before.

Both benefitting from lower transfer release clauses then their true market value (you wonder if the agent tipped them off) and then I guess Liverpool / Klopp do still have a massive pull for a lot of players.

4 hours ago, Optimistic Nut said:

 

So we just do what we do with Willock and Joelinton, with these two on the right? Love it. 

Like the Total Football flexibility of Holland at their peak... I'm in! 

17 minutes ago, MrRaspberryJam said:

 

Craig Hope.

 

No idea how or why our transfer budget has managed to shrink so considerably given we've qualified for the CL and have a mammoth new shirt sponsor. But there we go Craig. 

Still think Craig is bitter from being banned after his bust up with Bruce.

I'm guessing that's all resolved but he is definitely on the glass half empty when reporting on Newcastle 

My thoughts are

We have spent the previous 15 years trying to find excuses not to spend money

Now we have people in charge who are looking to develop and build from the ground up.. and will spend every penny available to get us there.

Signing Dan Ashworth was always to develop and identify emerging talent at the best cost... Brighton use it to flip players and build their cost base, Chelsea, man city did it so they could sell youngsters to fund the ffp of the first team.

Our early success has pushed us ahead of the plan and now we seem stuck between the two camps... Do we buy talent for the future and stick to the plan or focus on the  first team for next year's champions league campaign.

The latter might only be six games.. so maybe we are hedging our bets and going for the long term strategy.

Just wait to agents Trippier and Wilson are at the England Camp.... Maddison and Rice will be signing the day they get back lol

17 minutes ago, madras said:

Don't think I would. If I were already a mega multi millionaire I'd like to think money wouldn't be any sort of factor in deciding where to go if I was to carry on.

How much is enough?

Very rare people in any walk of life settle for what they currently have... Look at Messi who if he wanted could have stayed or signed for Barca on reduced wages and continued his legacy.

16 minutes ago, McCormick said:

Besides Champions league football this season I’m not sure what we can provide  that makes us more attractive than Spurs at this current moment.

 

Bigger wages? Probably not.

More exciting project? Possibly but it’s fairly nebulous and anything can happen in football.

Better stadium? Nah

better training facilities? Nah

Better squad? On paper, no.

Better city? I’d say so but many would prefer London.

Better chance of finishing in the top 4 next season? I’d say that was up in the air with them being able to focus on the league.

Bigger global fanbase? No

Better crowd? Yes but it’s not usually key component of a players decision to sign for a club.

Depends if you they look short or long term.. 

Spurs have survived of having Kane and a shed load of money from Bale back in the day.

Even their stadium revenue will not allow them to challenge the likes of City, Chelsea or fingers crossed us in the future.

And I'm not sure if their new manager is any different to Rodgers, Gerrard or Lennon who all had success in Scotland 

Does that mean our Fairs Cup win can get the credit it deserves! 

5 hours ago, Gaztoon said:

So how many days into the transfer window will the use of "worrying" and "underwhelming" be appropriate ?

 

 

 

I'm giving everyone a couple of weeks downtime after a long season before they decide to make their moves... I mean Dubai must be full of wall to wall footballers this time of year! 

Would the majority of us be excited if we were buying him today... I reckon so.

And when he goes will he be remembered more like Ginola, Robert, Ben Arfa then the likes of Obertan, Duff, N Zogbia? 

He was probably a lot of people's top player for a number of years so I can't understand the hatred he picks up... Yes there are better players in the squad now but let's not forget his best years were playing for Bruce! 

35 minutes ago, TRon said:

 

That's right. Not so much to do with how well Liverpool are run as much as it's about their history and standing in the game. Let's not forget, they haven't qualified for the CL, but they will still be a lot of player's choice ahead of us at the moment, and of course they can throw more money at them as the game is rigged in favour of the established elite.

Give it another season or two.

Everyone thinks Liverpool/ Chelsea will be back into the top 4 next season but that would mean Arsenal, Us, Man U or Spurs will miss out.

Say if  Liverpool missed out for a second season all of a sudden the pressure builds and doubts start to emerge.

Football unravels quite quickly once players have better options.

I think he just needs to be allowed to shoot every now and then... Looking to find a pass every time has killed his game a bit.

10 minutes ago, Froggy said:

 

He was getting half a mil a week to play golf for the best part of two years.  That man is anything but gutted.

Yeah but lots of good golf courses for him across there lol

2 hours ago, r0cafella said:

I see what you mean, and understand what your coming from. 

I think a lot of it is to do with only certain clubs can afford to pay ultra high wages... So if Chelsea / Madrid / PSG need to ship players out they need to do some crazy deals. 

The random factor was when China / now Saudi come along to find new escape routes for the mega wealthy.

Bet Bale was gutted he quit  before the Saudi money come along

Mark Robinson, Carl Servant, Didier Domi Wayne Quinn, Danny Simpson, Andy Griffin, Ollie Barnard... All bought as a cheap FB options over the years.

Some never played more then a handful of games others Champions League.

Sometimes managers take a punt and it fails other times it works.

But for 3million or whatever it was and a bloke who would be behind Trippier, Kraft it might be worth the gamble

48 minutes ago, timeEd32 said:

How could that be allowed?

I thought the

A, the premier league has stopped the long term contracts deals after Chelsea found the loop hole

B, you can't own two clubs in the same competition i.e. champions league 

4 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

It’s more we believe links to players who we constantly get linked with tbh. We seem to go back in for players we like from previous windows.

Ok.. so according to .Com these were the players we were linked to in January.

Even the likes of Thuram have been recurring over a couple of windows.

I'm just saying no one else has a thread with such panic attached to it.. I can't even remember this progressing any further then a rumour never mind clubs talking, links, failed bids etc.

So keep me right... 

We don't believe any rumours linked  to quality players,

But we should  believe any rumour for a player we don't like

And as 99% of our transfers are out of the blue  we still need  to panic when another journalist jumps on another journalists story about another journalists rumour?

Wonder if we are selling Bruno or Big Joe to Liverpool for less money then we are buying Mctominay? 

Talk sport saying Man U to start talks with Mason Mount... 

Just waiting for the Chelsea Chairman to put a late  double their offer bid in,  to try and steal him like they did every other player last year.

They probably even forgot he plays for them in the 50 man squad!

Remember we are a year or two ahead of where we expected to be so FFP, crap sponsorship deals and players we can't shift are all still on the table.

Even Klopp needed 2.5 seasons to build and mold his team before they were the major force.

Don't believe the hype,

Don't believe the hype,

Don't believe the...oooh some Scouse Chronicle writing wannabe says Liverpool are going to force our hand with a  100 million pound bid.

The sky is falling,

The sky is falling.

Next you will be telling me they are linked to Big Joe! 

1 minute ago, Stal said:

 

I don't know why, but I see Ward Prowse as a modern day Neil Redfearn.

A slightly better Ryan Taylor... Would be ideal if we could sub them on for free kicks! 

My pet hate is Stand up if you love the Toon.

Might be because my knees are fucked but mostly because you will all be sitting down after two minutes! 

Prefer the Southampton, Brighton, Leicester natural rise of the crowd... Where everyone was on their feet willing the lads across the line.

Here's me thinking we qualified for the Champions League not the Eurovision Song Contest!

I would rather have 50% of the fans singing a crap chant then 90% staying silent.

But that's a cultural mindset within our team.

I bet half of them would revert back to type if they switched clubs.. aka Shelvey.

Sure whoever we sign will have to step up their fitness and focus to become a starter