Yohan Cabaye retires

[Guest neesy111]

So where is the striker to replace Best then?

Danny Graham

 

Not a chance he's coming.

[KDT]

I'd say out squad is stronger (obviously minus Ba but he's only been gone 2 league games) now than it was from January onwards last season, our results from August to January with Ba included in the squad have been down to a different reason than our transfer policy.

 

Stronger?

 

We're 3 strikers light than what we had 12 months ago.

 

Like I said I'm including Ba in this mess.

 

From the start of the season until 2 league games ago we had - Ba, Cisse & Ameobi. We were only playing with 1 out and out forward so 3 strikers should have been enough.

 

If we had of persisted with Ba on the left of a 3 with Marv/Obertan as a replacement for him in that position should he get injured or need to cover for Cisse then I think those 3 should have been sufficient for us to be in a higher league position.

 

 

[ujpest doza]

So where is the striker to replace Best then?

Danny Graham

 

Not a chance he's coming.

He's been offered a deal by both us and SAFC, with them offering more money.

We want him as replacement for Best and as cover not as a starter but he wants to start games and also wants to go somewhere away from the temptations that his local p*sshead mates would bring.

 

Picture will become clearer after the COC Semi Final 2nd Leg.

[Guest bimpy474]

ITK 

[Dr.Spaceman]

So where is the striker to replace Best then?

Danny Graham

 

Not a chance he's coming.

He's been offered a deal by both us and SAFC, with them offering more money.

We want him as replacement for Best and as cover not as a starter but he wants to start games and also wants to go somewhere away from the temptations that his local p*sshead mates would bring.

 

Picture will become clearer after the COC Semi Final 2nd Leg.

 

What a load of horseshit. He hates Sunderland fwiw.

 

 

 

[Guest neesy111]

So where is the striker to replace Best then?

Danny Graham

 

Not a chance he's coming.

He's been offered a deal by both us and SAFC, with them offering more money.

We want him as replacement for Best and as cover not as a starter but he wants to start games and also wants to go somewhere away from the temptations that his local p*sshead mates would bring.

 

Picture will become clearer after the COC Semi Final 2nd Leg.

 

He regularly comes back up here any-case from what I hear.

 

I'll believe it when I see it widely reported, sorry but I'm  of the amount of stuff I hear about deals coming off but then don't.

[ujpest doza]

So where is the striker to replace Best then?

Danny Graham

 

Not a chance he's coming.

He's been offered a deal by both us and SAFC, with them offering more money.

We want him as replacement for Best and as cover not as a starter but he wants to start games and also wants to go somewhere away from the temptations that his local p*sshead mates would bring.

 

Picture will become clearer after the COC Semi Final 2nd Leg.

 

He regularly comes back up here any-case from what I hear.

 

I'll believe it when I see it widely reported, sorry but I'm  of the amount of stuff I hear about deals coming off but then don't.

He does, and when he does he's on the drink with them but coming home regularly isn't the same as being here full time.

[Guest bimpy474]

Well he could just not go out, sick to death of people using their mates or whatever as a reason for being a total twonk.

[ujpest doza]

Well he could just not go out, sick to death of people using their mates or whatever as a reason for being a total twonk.

Exactly, chance of a lifetime to play for the team he supports and he can't trust himself with his mates and the drink.

[Guest bimpy474]

Well he could just not go out, sick to death of people using their mates or whatever as a reason for being a total twonk.

Exactly, chance of a lifetime to play for the team he supports and he can't trust himself with his mates and the drink.

 

 

Pathetic if it's true that like.

[Optimistic Nut]

The way some people act you would think we were a football club of pure evil and these poor unfortunate players have been forced to play for us as slave labour.

 

The transfer policy that people are so confident will make all our lovely, blameless players want to leave is the same one that brought most of them here and gave them a chance in the PL in front of 60k people every week.

 

We are right to complain about aspects of how the club is run but to say that players will rightly want out is ridiculous TBH. They have their share of responsibility too, and it's only a matter if months since everyone was flying.

 

That transfer policy has got us to 16th to which you'll reply but we have players like ben arfa etc.  We are 16th mainly because of a flawed transfer policy.

 

What got us to 5th that we aren't doing now as we had the same transfer policy then.

 

Not really. We brought in five senior players in the summer and added a £9m striker in January despite our main guy already banging them in and the team doing well.

 

Compare and contrast to this time.

 

Ba, Santon, Cabaye, Obertan & Marveaux wasn't it?

 

One of those was replacing someone 6 months late, and 3 of them were replacing Barton, Nolan & Enrique. One of them missed pretty much the full season. We've also just signed someone for the first-team in January and would imagine will replace Ba.

 

[Dave]

The point is there was fresh energy at the club, and signs we wanted to push on. We did push on. This time there was no new energy and signs that we didn't have the ambition to push on. And we haven't.

[Optimistic Nut]

Fair point.

 

 

[huss9]

Well he could just not go out, sick to death of people using their mates or whatever as a reason for being a total twonk.

Exactly, chance of a lifetime to play for the team he supports and he can't trust himself with his mates and the drink.

 

yeah, but how does that change if he goes to sunderland?

[Guest firetotheworks]

The point is there was fresh energy at the club, and signs we wanted to push on. We did push on. This time there was no new energy and signs that we didn't have the ambition to push on. And we haven't.

 

It wasn't perceived as signs of ambition and fresh energy at the time, tbf. We were all worried that the new, unproven replacements for Nolan, Carroll, Barton and Enrique would be up to it, or if they were just bought because of their price.

[Dave]

Well yeah, there was definitely scepticism about the transfers and in particular only signing Ba as the Carroll replacement. The club were proven right, they backed their scouting team and it worked out as well as could be hoped.

 

This summer they were happy to keep the money and take no risks, only to find out that they actually took the ultimate risk and it's failed.

[Guest firetotheworks]

Well yeah, there was definitely scepticism about the transfers and in particular only signing Ba as the Carroll replacement. The club were proven right, they backed their scouting team and it worked out as well as could be hoped.

 

This summer they were happy to keep the money and take no risks, only to find out that they actually took the ultimate risk and it's failed.

 

Without doubt. There's an argument to say that we're on the other end of the same hindsight that we had back then as well. I don't know if Ashley thought that the risk from last time vindicated the risk this time. Weirdly, in the same way that relegation was good for us in that we stayed grounded, perhaps finishing 5th has been bad for us in that we've got carried away with thinking that operating in risk is in any way sustainable.

[madras]

Well yeah, there was definitely scepticism about the transfers and in particular only signing Ba as the Carroll replacement. The club were proven right, they backed their scouting team and it worked out as well as could be hoped.

 

This summer they were happy to keep the money and take no risks, only to find out that they actually took the ultimate risk and it's failed.

 

Without doubt. There's an argument to say that we're on the other end of the same hindsight that we had back then as well. I don't know if Ashley thought that the risk from last time vindicated the risk this time. Weirdly, in the same way that relegation was good for us in that we stayed grounded, perhaps finishing 5th has been bad for us in that we've got carried away with thinking that operating in risk is in any way sustainable.

do you think we were realistically in for douglas, debuchy and de jong last summer ? for me that was the same transfer strategy as the summer before. when it pays off it's good, when it doesn't you look a mug but it's wrong to praise one and slag off the other as the same formula is being used regardless.

[Guest firetotheworks]

Well yeah, there was definitely scepticism about the transfers and in particular only signing Ba as the Carroll replacement. The club were proven right, they backed their scouting team and it worked out as well as could be hoped.

 

This summer they were happy to keep the money and take no risks, only to find out that they actually took the ultimate risk and it's failed.

 

Without doubt. There's an argument to say that we're on the other end of the same hindsight that we had back then as well. I don't know if Ashley thought that the risk from last time vindicated the risk this time. Weirdly, in the same way that relegation was good for us in that we stayed grounded, perhaps finishing 5th has been bad for us in that we've got carried away with thinking that operating in risk is in any way sustainable.

do you think we were realistically in for douglas, debuchy and de jong last summer ? for me that was the same transfer strategy as the summer before. when it pays off it's good, when it doesn't you look a mug but it's wrong to praise one and slag off the other as the same formula is being used regardless.

 

That's kind of the point I was making by saying that we're now on the other end of hindsight. What would also say is that the strategy needs to be adjusted depending on our ambition. I think it either didn't change to suit it, we thought that the transfer policy already matched the ambition, or we didn't have any ambition. I think the second one is close to the truth.

[madras]

Well yeah, there was definitely scepticism about the transfers and in particular only signing Ba as the Carroll replacement. The club were proven right, they backed their scouting team and it worked out as well as could be hoped.

 

This summer they were happy to keep the money and take no risks, only to find out that they actually took the ultimate risk and it's failed.

 

Without doubt. There's an argument to say that we're on the other end of the same hindsight that we had back then as well. I don't know if Ashley thought that the risk from last time vindicated the risk this time. Weirdly, in the same way that relegation was good for us in that we stayed grounded, perhaps finishing 5th has been bad for us in that we've got carried away with thinking that operating in risk is in any way sustainable.

do you think we were realistically in for douglas, debuchy and de jong last summer ? for me that was the same transfer strategy as the summer before. when it pays off it's good, when it doesn't you look a mug but it's wrong to praise one and slag off the other as the same formula is being used regardless.

 

That's kind of the point I was making by saying that we're now on the other end of hindsight. What would also say is that the strategy needs to be adjusted depending on our ambition. I think it either didn't change to suit it, we thought that the transfer policy already matched the ambition, or we didn't have any ambition. I think the second one is close to the truth.

i'd have thought when the plan works we can be more ambitious (ie more money coming in means we can spend more), that plan also entails selling to invest aswell and it seems like we are as stubborn in our selling (good) as we are in buying. two sides to the same coin.

[Guest firetotheworks]

Well yeah, there was definitely scepticism about the transfers and in particular only signing Ba as the Carroll replacement. The club were proven right, they backed their scouting team and it worked out as well as could be hoped.

 

This summer they were happy to keep the money and take no risks, only to find out that they actually took the ultimate risk and it's failed.

 

Without doubt. There's an argument to say that we're on the other end of the same hindsight that we had back then as well. I don't know if Ashley thought that the risk from last time vindicated the risk this time. Weirdly, in the same way that relegation was good for us in that we stayed grounded, perhaps finishing 5th has been bad for us in that we've got carried away with thinking that operating in risk is in any way sustainable.

do you think we were realistically in for douglas, debuchy and de jong last summer ? for me that was the same transfer strategy as the summer before. when it pays off it's good, when it doesn't you look a mug but it's wrong to praise one and slag off the other as the same formula is being used regardless.

 

That's kind of the point I was making by saying that we're now on the other end of hindsight. What would also say is that the strategy needs to be adjusted depending on our ambition. I think it either didn't change to suit it, we thought that the transfer policy already matched the ambition, or we didn't have any ambition. I think the second one is close to the truth.

i'd have thought when the plan works we can be more ambitious (ie more money coming in means we can spend more), that plan also entails selling to invest aswell and it seems like we are as stubborn in our selling (good) as we are in buying. two sides to the same coin.

 

That's the point though, if finishing 5th isn't the plan working, then what is? By that ideal, we should have been more ambitious and that meant spending more money as wisely as we had done the previous summer.

[madras]

Well yeah, there was definitely scepticism about the transfers and in particular only signing Ba as the Carroll replacement. The club were proven right, they backed their scouting team and it worked out as well as could be hoped.

 

This summer they were happy to keep the money and take no risks, only to find out that they actually took the ultimate risk and it's failed.

 

Without doubt. There's an argument to say that we're on the other end of the same hindsight that we had back then as well. I don't know if Ashley thought that the risk from last time vindicated the risk this time. Weirdly, in the same way that relegation was good for us in that we stayed grounded, perhaps finishing 5th has been bad for us in that we've got carried away with thinking that operating in risk is in any way sustainable.

do you think we were realistically in for douglas, debuchy and de jong last summer ? for me that was the same transfer strategy as the summer before. when it pays off it's good, when it doesn't you look a mug but it's wrong to praise one and slag off the other as the same formula is being used regardless.

 

That's kind of the point I was making by saying that we're now on the other end of hindsight. What would also say is that the strategy needs to be adjusted depending on our ambition. I think it either didn't change to suit it, we thought that the transfer policy already matched the ambition, or we didn't have any ambition. I think the second one is close to the truth.

i'd have thought when the plan works we can be more ambitious (ie more money coming in means we can spend more), that plan also entails selling to invest aswell and it seems like we are as stubborn in our selling (good) as we are in buying. two sides to the same coin.

 

That's the point though, if finishing 5th isn't the plan working, then what is? By that ideal, we should have been more ambitious and that meant spending more money as wisely as we had done the previous summer.

thats why i asked about de jong, douglas and debuchy last summer. was it lack of money or just not getting the right deal ? fwiw i think with no proof whatsoever that twente would have accpeted our rumoured upped bid and he'd have come had supercalifrajilisticborussiamonchengladbach not bid higher.

[Guest firetotheworks]

Well yeah, there was definitely scepticism about the transfers and in particular only signing Ba as the Carroll replacement. The club were proven right, they backed their scouting team and it worked out as well as could be hoped.

 

This summer they were happy to keep the money and take no risks, only to find out that they actually took the ultimate risk and it's failed.

 

Without doubt. There's an argument to say that we're on the other end of the same hindsight that we had back then as well. I don't know if Ashley thought that the risk from last time vindicated the risk this time. Weirdly, in the same way that relegation was good for us in that we stayed grounded, perhaps finishing 5th has been bad for us in that we've got carried away with thinking that operating in risk is in any way sustainable.

do you think we were realistically in for douglas, debuchy and de jong last summer ? for me that was the same transfer strategy as the summer before. when it pays off it's good, when it doesn't you look a mug but it's wrong to praise one and slag off the other as the same formula is being used regardless.

 

That's kind of the point I was making by saying that we're now on the other end of hindsight. What would also say is that the strategy needs to be adjusted depending on our ambition. I think it either didn't change to suit it, we thought that the transfer policy already matched the ambition, or we didn't have any ambition. I think the second one is close to the truth.

i'd have thought when the plan works we can be more ambitious (ie more money coming in means we can spend more), that plan also entails selling to invest aswell and it seems like we are as stubborn in our selling (good) as we are in buying. two sides to the same coin.

 

That's the point though, if finishing 5th isn't the plan working, then what is? By that ideal, we should have been more ambitious and that meant spending more money as wisely as we had done the previous summer.

thats why i asked about de jong, douglas and debuchy last summer. was it lack of money or just not getting the right deal ? fwiw i think with no proof whatsoever that twente would have accpeted our rumoured upped bid and he'd have come had supercalifrajilisticborussiamonchengladbach not bid higher.

 

I do think that we tried, yes. I don't think the amount that we have maybe saved on Debuchy, or could potentially save on Douglas has been worth it, though. The striker situation was an odd one. We looked to strengthen and give us a plan B, or from the long ball tactics we've been playing, possibly a new plan A, but I think more effort should have been invested into getting Debuchy and Douglas. Taylor cannot be counted upon because of injuries and Williamson isn't good enough and neither is Simpson. Of course, we know this, Pardew, Llambias and Ashley know this.

 

Unfortunately, one or two of those three, probably Llambias and Ashley put all of their ideas regarding value and price into money and not the potential impact that approaching things that way has on results. Either that, or they thought, again, that we could see ourselves through to January, similar to the way that Best and Guthrie took up the baton when we needed them last season. Again, it's all risky.

[madras]

Well yeah, there was definitely scepticism about the transfers and in particular only signing Ba as the Carroll replacement. The club were proven right, they backed their scouting team and it worked out as well as could be hoped.

 

This summer they were happy to keep the money and take no risks, only to find out that they actually took the ultimate risk and it's failed.

 

Without doubt. There's an argument to say that we're on the other end of the same hindsight that we had back then as well. I don't know if Ashley thought that the risk from last time vindicated the risk this time. Weirdly, in the same way that relegation was good for us in that we stayed grounded, perhaps finishing 5th has been bad for us in that we've got carried away with thinking that operating in risk is in any way sustainable.

do you think we were realistically in for douglas, debuchy and de jong last summer ? for me that was the same transfer strategy as the summer before. when it pays off it's good, when it doesn't you look a mug but it's wrong to praise one and slag off the other as the same formula is being used regardless.

 

That's kind of the point I was making by saying that we're now on the other end of hindsight. What would also say is that the strategy needs to be adjusted depending on our ambition. I think it either didn't change to suit it, we thought that the transfer policy already matched the ambition, or we didn't have any ambition. I think the second one is close to the truth.

i'd have thought when the plan works we can be more ambitious (ie more money coming in means we can spend more), that plan also entails selling to invest aswell and it seems like we are as stubborn in our selling (good) as we are in buying. two sides to the same coin.

 

That's the point though, if finishing 5th isn't the plan working, then what is? By that ideal, we should have been more ambitious and that meant spending more money as wisely as we had done the previous summer.

thats why i asked about de jong, douglas and debuchy last summer. was it lack of money or just not getting the right deal ? fwiw i think with no proof whatsoever that twente would have accpeted our rumoured upped bid and he'd have come had supercalifrajilisticborussiamonchengladbach not bid higher.

 

I do think that we tried, yes. I don't think the amount that we have maybe saved on Debuchy, or could potentially save on Douglas has been worth it, though. The striker situation was an odd one. We looked to strengthen and give us a plan B, or from the long ball tactics we've been playing, possibly a new plan A, but I think more effort should have been invested into getting Debuchy and Douglas. Taylor cannot be counted upon because of injuries and Williamson isn't good enough and neither is Simpson. Of course, we know this, Pardew, Llambias and Ashley know this.

 

Unfortunately, one or two of those three, probably Llambias and Ashley put all of their ideas regarding value and price into money and not the potential impact that approaching things that way has on results. Either that, or they thought, again, that we could see ourselves through to January, similar to the way that Best and Guthrie took up the baton when we needed them last season. Again, it's all risky.

that's  how i see it.

 

i'd love to know how much lille wanted for debuchy as the player himself seemed to intimate  that they had moved the goal posts, would we not stump an extra half mill, was it it an extra mill or more ?

[Zero]

I remember someone said Debuchys deal was abandoned because Lille wants to milk out more money from us AFTER a fee was agreed.  It is probably a prinicple issue.

 

In fact I don't think Debuchy is the missing piece we needed most. The other positions are.