TheBrownBottle

The quicker we get a good DoF in the better - one who Howe can actually work with.

Makes sense from Brighton’s perspective - not from ours. We were bidding after the press had clearly been briefed by his reps that he wanted to be in London. Borderline amateurish to be frank.

The concern for me is that we seem to once again to be failing to do due diligence. Everyone and his granny seemed to be aware that the lad wanted to be in London except for our transfer team. Not a good look.

You’ve got to be kidding - Rix groomed her. Had fuck all to do with meeting her in a club - he knew how old she was, and they didn’t meet in a nightclub. He’s a horrible fucking nonce https://www.scotsman.com/sport/rix-hints-at-true-story-but-judge-in-1999-gave-damning-summation-of-behaviour-2474457

I wasn’t excited about Joao Pedro tbh - more that if Howe wants him, that’s good enough for me. Personally, I don’t rate the lad particularly highly.

Generally I try to judge transfer windows when they’ve closed - though the best time is often the end of the season. Judging a transfer window before it has opened is pretty radge tbh

Yep - not often I’d paraphrase Trevor Francis, but I remember him talking about how the hardest thing in management isn’t improving poor sides, but trying to improve a really good one - you have to spend big money and be absolutely confident that the player you’re buying is likely to improve the side - and that getting a team from 7th to 6th is almost as hard as getting a team from 17th to 7th (he finished 3rd, 7th, 7th with Sheff Wed before it fell apart - which is what he was referring to). Far too many are giving it the ‘just buy cheap players from abroad’ patter. Great - but that’s adding to the pot luck element. Who we buy at this point needs to be really thought out - you don’t just gamble on some bloke from a midtable Portuguese side because you saw a YouTube video of him doing loads of pedaladas.

Just in terms of personnel - Joelinton is also versatile.

If we're spending 60m I'd rather we bought a top notch LCM rather than trying to convert a CF to play there - and I do think that a Joelinton upgrade would make a hell of a difference; there is a reason that our ball retention isn't exactly spectacular

As much as the pundits want to reiterate the message that ‘football is a business’ to stop fans asking questions - it isn’t. Businesses don’t run up these type of losses with no scrutiny nor questions. They aren’t valued at more than ten times their annual income. Football clubs are community assets, ultimately, and fans aren’t customers.

All true - but I just don’t see us playing with a 10. Our two man midfield would likely be overrun given the way Howe likes to play; it could mean that we’re changing style of course, but the Elanga bid suggest to me that this isn’t happening.

I’ve said it before, but Chelsea are also a very successful club - and they finished above us last season despite having a bad season (while we had the best one in my lifetime). What represents success for us represents failure for them.

Rose-tinted specs in action there. Trippier was linked for ages before he signed. We spent the entire summer linked with Isak and Ekitike. Botman linked for yonks before finally signing. Tonali came out of nowhere, mainly because she wasn’t the one negotiating it. Staveley couldn’t stop briefing the press in all honesty - she spooked Emery due to it.

He’ll choose Chelsea if they’re in for him and serious about it - the vast majority of players would. Nothing wrong with that, tbf. But we shouldn’t wait around forever to find out.

Forest bought a whole new squad when they came up. I think Leeds finish above them tbh - that’s why I think two. You’d need at least two PL sides to . Two seasons is a long time in football - and last year’s promoted sides had the most disastrous season I can recall in the decades I’ve watched football. All three were light years behind the worst PL sides - the gap was absolutely massive. Don’t get me wrong- you could be right; but the gap has increased significantly the last couple of years.

We don’t play with a ‘10’ and I can’t see us playing with one next season either - and it does seem like a fuckton of cash for a backup. If he is who Howe wants, then I’m all for it - I’m just scratching my head over it. Seems like a big chunk of the budget to me.

I’m kind of shrugging my shoulders at it - their expectations will be well above mine, given the money they have and the draw they have.

I never understood where that idea came from - Kevin Nolan around that time said that he’d wanted the move and Nolan advised him to go for it. It is one of the handful of moments where I thought Ashley was absolutely right to do what he did - he played hardball and sold a player for well above what they were worth; it was obvious to anyone with eyes Carroll wasn’t the next big thing, he was a decent PL centre forward having a purple patch. He was more Kevin Davies than Alan Shearer. Dalglish proved once again that he didn’t have an eye for a player.

Why?

It’ll need at least two current PL sides falling to pieces for this to happen. Which ones do you think will finish below them? Maybe Brentford fall apart without Frank? I’m struggling to name two sides likely to collapse

Yeah, that’s fair enough - we need another CF, no doubt about it. If this is the guy Howe wants, then hopefully it works out. I’m not convinced he’ll come here to sit on our bench for the big games, though.

Given we’ve went for Elanga, I’m not at all convinced Howe is looking to add another dimension. It looks to me like he’s wanting to play the same way, and just add better players to do it - which is fine, Guardiola doesn’t exactly shake his style up. There’s no way he plays four up top (even if Pedro plays as a ‘second striker) - we’d be overrun in midfield every week.

A first choice RW or a back up CF - I think Elanga would be the more important signing. Just my take, like.

I don’t want to actually have to listen to it - could you give us a clue?

It’s not a smart fee they’ve paid tbh