christ

7 windows without a first team signing is disgraceful.

Yes, it is. We haven’t brought in £30m. We’ve brought in £10m and we’ve loaned out a player who’ll move in the next PSR cycle. Furthermore, potential CL revenue wouldn’t be a factor in this PSR year. So even if we qualified we’d probably need to sell someone big to avoid a points deduction next season if we spent Also I’ve zero idea why - when we’ve found it so hard to move fringe players on - we assume there’s an easy, PSR-busting sale for players like Barnes that would save us in June. The people in charge of the club know what they’re doing. It’s a calculated gamble but then so is everything in football. There’s no easy solution but sticking with the squad that has us in fifth and not fucking us for future transfer window seems like the best bet.

But if we invested in any meaningful way we’d have to lose a purple anyway?

Kim Jong-un has had a glow up

Kelly deal is likely structured as a loan-to-buy for PSR reasons at Juve’s end, so we won’t be getting that fee until next PSR cycle. Which is to say we don’t have any more money to spend this window.

The problem with Mandy and Mehrdad is they were too involved with the squad. You saw it on the documentary. And I think that meant that they bought into that group of personalities and a few bad decisions were made as a result. For example, we shouldn’t have been giving Miggy a new deal when it was clear to everyone that six weeks was a complete aberration. We should’ve been looking at a way to get rid when his value was at its peak. Similar with Wilson, who has had injury problems since he signed.

People demanding communication from the club when they clearly haven’t paid any attention to any of the previous stuff the club has said I get why there’s frustration, but step away from the ledge lads. All this gnashing of teeth because we’re not replacing two fringe players - one of whom plays in a position we’re stacked in. From pretty much day one the club have said that there’d be a moment of reckoning when PSR became a legit concern we’d have to navigate around. We frontloaded our investment to get out of relegation trouble and into the CL, and now we’re in a sticky patch where we need to muddle through a few windows and get that spend off the books. The fact we haven’t had to sell a purple and haven’t incurred a points deduction is a testament to those in charge IMO.

A better one on one defender you’ll struggle to find but Tino did look like he was running through treacle at points today. Not one of his finest. However, Hall had a really weird game too. Seemed to be under strict instructions to keep Traore in front of him. He was pretty much non-existent as an attacking threat as a result. Gave him far too much respect in 50/50 situations too. Possibly a bit of a tactical over correction after the Bournemouth performance, which has neutered both full backs?

There were glimpses of last season at points today. A couple of times we got turned around and there was space to exploit due to our lack of pace/Dubs sitting in his box. Never led to anything but I felt a creeping sense of dread. I’d get Botman and Pope back in.

Good deal for all concerned. I personally can’t wait for the crying in twelve months when he’s absolutely tearing it up in Serie A.

Absolutely mad they could fit some proper journalism in between all the articles about what various parts of town looked like in the 80s.

The only thing more tedious than a window where we don’t sign anyone is wading through the dozens of posts of people saying “I can’t believe we’re not signing anyone!” despite the reasons for us not signing anyone being repeatedly explained. It’s a level of tedium that will only then be beaten by the same people’s furious posts when we’re having to flog our players in June to comply with the PSR regulations we breached by signing someone in January.

If we can pick up an experienced PL striker on a free to fill the Callum Wilson shaped hole on our bench then that’s great.

If we ‘go’ the East Stand will not be part of any rebuild/extension anyway.

The more the usual suspects in the media talk about it the more convinced I am it’ll never happen.

They’ll be the first people to complain about squad depth if someone gets injured.

A limited player who through a combination of decent man management and outrageous luck managed a grand total of three months of genuinely good form during his entire time here. No personal animosity towards the lad, but £10m is daylight robbery.

Felt like we were in second gear for 90 mins, but the result was inevitable the minute we scored.

Nah, it was some bald British bloke.

Who was the dildo Spanish football ‘expert’? Properly showed his hole

The club took a calculated gamble on PSR and it paid off. We’ve dramatically improved the playing squad within the financial headroom available to us. If you’re churlish and/or a complete spod you can nitpick about this deal here or that deal there, but realistically the club couldn’t have done much better.

I’m sure the city can survive without Strictly, Lee Evans Live and War of the Worlds for a few years.

I think Gordon loves it.

The thing that surprised me yesterday was how often he was caught on his heels and really stretching to get the ball whenever it was played into him. It did look like a player who is a half step behind those around him and wasn’t expecting it. I think he’s generally better than people give him credit for. He does a very unflashy job and carries a lot of water for those around him. However, he’s going to get fewer and fewer opportunities. If he’s happy to hang around on the fringes of the squad I’m sure Howe will cling onto him as he clearly rates him.

I think they’re superglued into the CD player