Nine

I think we’ll sign a versatile forward and maybe a younger prospect. But I also won’t be surprised if we don’t get anything done until summer, if we were to make a major signing this window I think it would have been done by now. The longer it goes on the less confident I’m feeling and it’s not necessarily a negative if we don’t make a move this window, I understand why people clamour for new players but under current circumstances the squad is healthy besides some looking a bit drained over the last couple of fixtures. Summer will be big though.

So they will try and roll the dice and hope for a bounce, personally I’d be surprised if anyone managed to get even half consistent (avoid relegation) form out of that group of players. Without a major collapse in form from teams around them then this is the year they finally go.

Tbf they did well with their game management, turned it into a slow paced shit fest of a game and got a point out of it (could have been 3). Not our best day.

I’m all for it If he wears a mask

Plus 99.9% of links since takeover are bullshit, they seem to be very good at keeping their cards close to their chest and everything under wraps until they want the news out. Transfers will more likely come out of the blue rather than a big build up.

Any details on how much of his wage they will be paying? If he was on the 80-100k reported then even if Forest pay half of that during his loan period it should open the door up FFP wage wise to a signing.

We’ve been fortunate enough fitness wise with our back 5, practically had our current first choice defence fit the entire season so far. Big factor in our great defensive record.

Indeed I agree, he won’t be replaced with an out and out striker.

Almost certainly something lined up then, if Wilson gets Wilsoned again we are left with Isak and then Joe as a crisis option.

I was in favour of Lingard last Jan as the situation was so desperate, even in the summer I said I’d have been okay with a 2 year contract in place of Murphy (Did not foresee the Isak signing which changed this )

As far as any forward we might sign this window or next I think it’ll be someone who is interchangeable across the front positions or even in a support striker/#10 role in a 4-2-3-1. I think rather than signing an out and out striker Howe will go for a player that can be just as effective out wide or behind, keeps options open and allows flexibility on signing players that will be expecting games as they won’t be kept out of the starting 11 by Wilson or Isak being in form. Joao Pedro is a good example, Moukoko less so.. I understand the potential of these players is different.

Clearly valued around the squad but not sure Id want to see him start a game outside of early cup comps.

Not really, the player will want to wait until he can sign a contract with another club as no fee usually means a much bigger signing on fee for player/agent

Bellingham it is then Or Moukoko Lol

A signing that didn’t work out long term yes, but he did the job he was brought in to do for that run to the end of the season. There isn’t just two ends to the scale here, to some it seems like there’s only two extremes - either a shit signing or a great one. Wood falls into the middle somewhere, did what we needed but could we have got more for that money? Probably but the key with Wood is we went for him because he had a clause that we caught knowledge of, clubs would have tried ripping us off otherwise due to the situation we were in. We went for a PL proven available striker at short notice and it paid off.. the player just hasn’t scored as many as people would have liked and obviously could have done better. I wouldn’t like to guess what might have happened had we not signed him. Has nothing to do with being emotionally clouded by Howe, its looking at a signing for what it is.

Id see him as one of the front 2 in a 4-3-3 midfield as well, physically he’s probably not there to sit behind as the 4 or 6 but he has enough to actively press and come wide to provide cover for the full backs/forwards when needed. I’m not sure how well he fits into a 4-2-3-1 though which to me might be the favoured formation we go to long term. He’d be useful in place of Longstaff/Willock especially though, not saying that he’d definitely perform better than either of those in our system but he’d be a great option.

Out of those 4 Tielemans is the most likely for this window, knows the PL and would slot right into our side without having to be eased in for long. The questions are how is he mentally? Personally? I think it’s unlikely they sell as his contract is up in the summer, wouldn’t be suprised if the player wants to wait and secure himself a better signing on fee than he would now if a transfer fee was involved. I can’t see us signing a starting 11 player from outside the PL this window.

Yeah I’m not sure that was intentional

There’s alot to be had from Gallagher under our set up I think, I’d trust Howe to get the best from him. He’d be a pretty shrewd signing imo. Although id bet 99% of links this window are inaccurate.

As useful as he’d be in that kind of role I don’t think he’s the type of personality to be happy with it.

Players like Isak really open the door for us to be more versatile either from the bench or starting, I expected we might shift towards a 4-2-3-1 at some point as Howe does favour that formation. As good as the 4-3-3 is it’s nice to see us able to switch it up against certain opponents when the right players are fit and available.

Come on, great ball from Longstaff

The flip side of changing the plans for this window arnt to be taken lightly though. Like you say they plan 2, 3 or 4 windows ahead of the present, so is this squad ready for a push in the CL as well as all the other competitions after one more summer window? Let’s say we sign 2 this window, 2 more in the summer. If you want to aim high and go for CL worthy players then these will be brought in on the pretence that we will be competing in the CL going forward, but then next season the extra games on the schedule for this squad mean we don’t finish top 4.. could be a problem. I guess the question is that the squad was meant to be built over a few more windows to be ready for Europe than we’ve had so far, so will it be ready even if we alter whatever the plans were this window to sign players? The just sign players and push top 4 and that’ll be only be a positive argument isn’t so black and white. I think unless a big opportunity arises for the right player they will mostly stick to their guns.

Those videos of the Everton fans harassing their players, embarrassing. Really disgusting fan base in general.