Upthemags

He was redundant, is the point. We had 3-4 other spots that needed immediate upgrading. Almiron, Burn, Longstaff were never going to cut it. 100 million pound without an upgrade on any of extant squad is a massive miscalculation, and it's showing this season.

Barnes was not a buy for the here and now - was never going to start. That brings it to around 100 million. We needed starters.

Recruitment has been a disaster, to be honest. We needed immediate upgrades for the here and now, and we landed 2 youth players worth 50 million, a redundant squad-player winger for 40 and a genuine upgrade who can't play until next season (hopefully). All in all, that was around 150 million pound without a single upgrade in the squad. Some of that is down to poor luck, sure. But in any case, it was a misstep to not take that 150 million and pour it into assets for the here-and-now. PIF/Howe thought the squad was good enough as-is after a purple patch of a season last year, and it's come back to bite us. With all of that said, though, Howe deserves another bite at the apple this summer and next season. Some portion, large or small, of our struggles has to be attributed to a shocking run of injuries, and Howe deserves a crack with a fully fit and upgraded squad.

I think the notion that he isn't worth the trouble is belied by the evidence -- he filled in, as a 19 year old, just fine at the Champions League level against one of the most nettlesome and paciest wingers in the world. I think Howe favors the squad regulars to a fault, and that's impacted Hall's ability to get minutes. Just look at Tino, he lit the world on fire and has struggled at times to see the pitch when all evidence suggested he ought be out there.

Cannot convince me this isn't strange

If he is to stick around, hope management will give due consideration to switching him back to his natural midfield position

Is that the first time a game like that has gone our way this season? The FA cup dream lives on

Two draws against two sides fighting relegation and a win against NF where we were arguably the worse side is hardly a triumph, I think is the point

It's really not a controversial point to be making. The back line, for all of Trips and Schars attacking ability, defends like a Championship side far too often

This side desperately needs another summer transfer window and some Ashworth fees to spend

I wonder if he might still need that operation... He was unflappable last season

It's great because the public nature of this saga has effectively backed Ratcliffe & co into a corner - they have no leverage, and have made their intentions (too) clear, and the fan base is effectively already celebrating Ashworth's on-boarding. We should gut them for all its worth. Nothing personal against Ratcliffe, just good business.

You get the sense Riyadh aren't in the business of being warm and fuzzy with other clubs' ownership

Eddie will be sacked if next season is a repeat of this one. Think most, if not effectively all fans, though, agree that his credit in the bank has earned him this season as a wash. Doesn't matter to me, as far as Eddie is concerned, whether we finish 8th or 13th this season. He deserves a crack with a fresh roster and reinforcements next season.

Put perfectly. Feel for the lad. Held his own (on a bogus yellow card no less) against the paciest winger in germany under champions league lights and was thereafter basically banished to the underworld. Very easy to dismiss it with "training performance," but there's clearly something on the business end holding this up.

Good riddance - under-performed last summer's window. Eddie doesn't seem to fancy him either. I'm assuming any fee/compensation provided us by ManU is revenue for FFP purposes?

Frankly insane how much stick Dubs gets here and elsewhere considering, for a couple months now, we've been literally the worst club in the top flight by xGA - not a perfect metric by any stretch tbf. I think in December alone Trips let in 7 or 8 goals himself.

Heard this lad was good any chance we make a move in the summer?

Fantastic performance - hopefully a sign of things to come with less congested schedule.

I think a full season in the bin due to injury, including major surgery, warrants concern regarding durability. And like it or not, late 20s players are less durable than their mid 20s selves. Not looking to press you on it though - entirely possible its just a blip as you suggest, though I'm skeptical that it is just that.

He's been effectively injured this entire season, though I appreciate him playing through those injuries. In addition he just had major surgery that'll sideline him for about half a year from competitive play... Suspect he's the type who would play through these things in the past, but he'll be 28, and it becomes much harder to pull that off as players age. Happy to agree to disagree, though, if you don't find that sufficient to warrant the "injury concern" label!

Not overly attached to Big Joe staying. He'll fetch a large fee for us and doesn't seem to have physical robustness to be able to stay on the pitch for a meaningful stretch of games.

Not a write off, it's letting our RB for the next decade start to get his footing. As tough a pill as it is to swallow, Tino, in his current form, is actually the superior option to Trippier (in his current form). Let's be reasonable

Think its silly to haggle over a few million pound, especially if Tripps has made clear he wants the move. Tino more than capable of taking the reins, and no better season than this one where stakes are lower