Keegans Export

I'm glad to learn that own goals, goals from defensive errors and penalties don't count. Same time next week at our place lads?

Whatever helps them cope I guess

Was it our best window? Or was it more that our squad was so poor at the time anyone we signed would likely be an upgrade? I mean, you've got Trippier and Burn in there and we've had plenty of people say recently that Livramento should be playing ahead of both of them.

One of the Athletic guys seems pretty certain it'll be Botman, Schar, Burn and Trippier if he's fit, Livramento if he isn't.

I think the reason nobody has intentionally breached FFP/FMV with the intention of a legal challenge is that they've weighed it up and decided it probably isn't worth the risk. Take Everton for example - they've focused their defence on an argument that they actually haven't broken the rules or that the punishment itself is harsh. That's a more straightforward argument than trying to show the whole FFP/FMV system is anti-competitive and should be removed altogether. By the time you've proved the latter how many points deductions, fines, forced relegations etc could you have suffered? And if you go all that way and don't win, then you're royally fucked.

Apparently when they first spoke to Nickson they asked him who was the #1 player on his list - it was Botman. That's why we chased him so aggressively that first transfer window.

Just playing devils advocate here, but if we assume the problems we've had are (primarily) the build-up of fixtures plus injuries and not having a deep enough squad to overcome those hurdles - then maybe signing more of the same is the plan? Howe has said as much - any Plan B is just going to be a variation on Plan A so maybe we do just want a squad of 25 who can run and press for 50-odd games per season? I'm not saying it's right, and it's not what I do, but I wouldn't rule out someone like Gallagher on the basis that he doesn't offer anything we don't already have.

I think at least one of the charges is relating to Etihad's shirt and/or stadium sponsorship - the accusation is that Etihad themselves only put up a small percentage of the sponsorship money, the rest was put in by the owners but disguised as coming from Etihad. So instead of the owners putting in the money themselves, they put it in via Etihad, artificially increasing the club's income therefore allowing more flexibility to spend within FFP regulations.

I think the charges are just lots of separate schemes and plots to get around FFP rules - paying staff through other companies, "topping up" sponsorships etc.

It's something like +£2.2m per finishing position in the league isn't it? Plus there's a big difference between 5th (potential CL football) and 8th (no European football at all). £7.5m could look pretty good value if he helps us finish the season strongly.

If we finish 10th he'll get sacked like. We're 7th now, 7pts ahead of 10th, with fixture congestion easing and players due back from injury in Jan/Feb. That'd be some drop-off.

The lack of Plan B is a legitimate criticism tbf We knew going into this season that there would be a pile-up of fixtures, it was perfectly possible that we wouldn't be able to play our high-tempo pressing game. Yet we don't seem to have any identity or strategy when we don't/can't do it?

Nothing from the previous 73mins suggests we've got it in us to score twice, never mind three!

First half was frustrating with the lack of cutting edge in the final third. Second half has been a capitulation. Honestly looks like they’ve just given up and gone "Well, you know, injuries"

Back to Trippier-Schar-Botman-Burn perhaps?

I still think we'll have a quiet January, in terms of spending at least. Based on a few assumptions; 1. Certain players will be back from injury sooner or later 2. We're out of Europe and the League Cup so the fixtures won't pile up so much from next month 3. January is often a bad month to do business (club execs have said as much publicly) 4. Howe clearly (ideally) likes to bed players in, much easier in the summer with pre-season etc. 5. I think we'll keep the majority of the summer budget for the summer, for the same reason as last season, we don't know which Uefa competition (if any) we will be playing in next season Obviously if a player we like is available at a price we like (eg Gordon) we'll pursue it but I don't think we'll be running around trying to bring in a number of £35-40m+ signings.

I think the Paqueta thing is spot-betting abroad, not bets he's placed himself so presumably harder to prove wrongdoing on his part.

Really? He only joined about 18 months ago.

Apparently Fabian Schar has Isak starting in his Fantasy PL team this week?

From the viewpoint of Barca, Real etc (plus, let's be honest here, if it wasn't for the fans backlash, the English clubs too) it'd be like a Champions League where they are pretty much guaranteed to be a part of even if they have a shit season domestically.

An "Open Competition", undoubtedly with a series of financial rules that favour Real, Barca etc...

Not even sure where to start with that...

The fact that we were relying on Dubravka and Matt Richie to get us through a cup quarter final shows how much work the squad still needs. Obviously the injury situation is pretty dire but both are still part of our 25. It's going to be a tough window to navigate. I think there's a chance they play it safe, assume we get a few key players back early in the new year and hope our easier schedule allows us to stay competitive. That'll allow us to go big in the summer for our primary targets (whoever they may be).

https://www.footballinsider247.com/sources-bournemouth-chief-richard-hughes-to-leave-the-club/ Some snippets here. Interestingly an article from early November saying he's expected to leave before the end of the year...

I wonder if Ashworth has said something along the lines of "I want to talk to Man Utd if they make an approach"