Eddie Howe

[r0cafella]

12 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

People are either stupid or acting stupid re: Brentford and Brighton.  
 

The idea isn’t to emulate them exactly to finish where they do in the league.  The plan is to leverage what they do well on a higher level to similarly over achieve and create revenue.  And then adjust as we grow. They don’t raise their wage bill to get a higher calibre of prospect - we will be doing that. 

We probably do need a new pitch mind. This challenge the established elite is probably not going to wash moving forwards. We thought last summer was huge, this summer is even bigger. 

[Lish007]

Looking forward to Man Utd struggling next year with 2 games a week. 

[The College Dropout]

17 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

We probably do need a new pitch mind. This challenge the established elite is probably not going to wash moving forwards. We thought last summer was huge, this summer is even bigger. 

No sign we are changing our sales pitch which is a bit of a risk

[andycap]

12 minutes ago, Lish007 said:

Looking forward to Man Utd struggling next year with 2 games a week. 

Will they though? 

They could easily buy a boat load of players with the dodgy credit card they have. 😂 

[Froggy]

15 minutes ago, Lish007 said:

Looking forward to Man Utd struggling next year with 2 games a week. 

 

It will be a challenge for sure.

 

4 minutes ago, andycap said:

Will they though? 

They could easily buy a boat load of players with the dodgy credit card they have. 😂 

 

Think we've maxed that.  

 

Big, big wages coming off the books this summer though and good fees incoming for Rashford/Hojlund. We should have some wiggle room.

[andycap]

10 minutes ago, Froggy said:

 

It will be a challenge for sure.

 

 

Think we've maxed that.  

 

Big, big wages coming off the books this summer though and good fees incoming for Rashford/Hojlund. We should have some wiggle room.

Are rash and Hoijlund getting sold or are there contracts expiring? 

[Monters]

44 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

People are either stupid or acting stupid re: Brentford and Brighton.  
 

The idea isn’t to emulate them exactly to finish where they do in the league.  The plan is to leverage what they do well on a higher level to similarly over achieve and create revenue.  And then adjust as we grow. They don’t raise their wage bill to get a higher calibre of prospect - we will be doing that. 

Second poster today to call me stupid so I guess I must be... A few lengthy posts which simply state must be smarter, can't and won't argue with that.

If you'll indulge I would ask a couple more questions, how long have Brighton and Brentford been Premier League clubs? Is there a point where being a premier league club is not over achieving for them? Given the sums Brighton spent a couple of summers ago have they really over achieved since the latest manager took charge?

Finally you say we will adjust as we grow - perfect, we need to, is it is easy, doubt it.  Why haven't the clubs adjusted as they've grown? could it be to do with the difficulty of spotting players who will take you from 10th to 4th, 8th to 2nd or is it lack of ambition?

Risk is often talked about on transfers and I agree we should widen the net and have had success doing so but when the goal is top 6 the risk is infinitely bigger than that of a club that merely wants to stay in the league.

Broadly I agree with the moneyball principle but I do have blind spot where Brighton et al are constantly bigged up both her and in the media.

Ramblings of an idiot no doubt   

[The College Dropout]

9 minutes ago, Monters said:

Second poster today to call me stupid so I guess I must be... A few lengthy posts which simply state must be smarter, can't and won't argue with that.

If you'll indulge I would ask a couple more questions, how long have Brighton and Brentford been Premier League clubs? Is there a point where being a premier league club is not over achieving for them? Given the sums Brighton spent a couple of summers ago have they really over achieved since the latest manager took charge?

Finally you say we will adjust as we grow - perfect, we need to, is it is easy, doubt it.  Why haven't the clubs adjusted as they've grown? could it be to do with the difficulty of spotting players who will take you from 10th to 4th, 8th to 2nd or is it lack of ambition?

Risk is often talked about on transfers and I agree we should widen the net and have had success doing so but when the goal is top 6 the risk is infinitely bigger than that of a club that merely wants to stay in the league.

Broadly I agree with the moneyball principle but I do have blind spot where Brighton et al are constantly bigged up both her and in the media.

Ramblings of an idiot no doubt   

Not calling you stupid. Didn’t read your post directly. Seen this convo many times. Saw Holmesy quote W

[Dr Venkman]

 

 

"The most important thing about what makes this city special is the people. The positivity you get, the love for the football club, the love for life, there's always a positive outlook here which is different to some other regions in England.”

[The College Dropout]

10 minutes ago, Monters said:

Second poster today to call me stupid so I guess I must be... A few lengthy posts which simply state must be smarter, can't and won't argue with that.

If you'll indulge I would ask a couple more questions, how long have Brighton and Brentford been Premier League clubs? Is there a point where being a premier league club is not over achieving for them? Given the sums Brighton spent a couple of summers ago have they really over achieved since the latest manager took charge?

Finally you say we will adjust as we grow - perfect, we need to, is it is easy, doubt it.  Why haven't the clubs adjusted as they've grown? could it be to do with the difficulty of spotting players who will take you from 10th to 4th, 8th to 2nd or is it lack of ambition?

Risk is often talked about on transfers and I agree we should widen the net and have had success doing so but when the goal is top 6 the risk is infinitely bigger than that of a club that merely wants to stay in the league.

Broadly I agree with the moneyball principle but I do have blind spot where Brighton et al are constantly bigged up both her and in the media.

Ramblings of an idiot no doubt   

But to answer your questions.  
 

well firstly. The plan is to not actually be Brentford or Brighton. Thats fundamental.  It’s to take elements of what they do well:

Brentford have the lowest wage bill of any team to stay up every season for the last. Brighton regularly outperform their wages and squad cost. 
 

Neither club has shown a real desire to consistently qualify for Europe or do considerably better. As neither get close to maxing their spend under the rules. Their owners having invested their own money into the clubs are happy with regular PL football. 
 

Currently only us Villa and Forest have ambitions to challenge.  I personally think we need to leverage every trick there is.  A part of it is signing players to expose and flip. But not the whole story. 

[Holmesy]

52 minutes ago, Monters said:

Second poster today to call me stupid so I guess I must be... A few lengthy posts which simply state must be smarter, can't and won't argue with that.

If you'll indulge I would ask a couple more questions, how long have Brighton and Brentford been Premier League clubs? Is there a point where being a premier league club is not over achieving for them? Given the sums Brighton spent a couple of summers ago have they really over achieved since the latest manager took charge?

Finally you say we will adjust as we grow - perfect, we need to, is it is easy, doubt it.  Why haven't the clubs adjusted as they've grown? could it be to do with the difficulty of spotting players who will take you from 10th to 4th, 8th to 2nd or is it lack of ambition?

Risk is often talked about on transfers and I agree we should widen the net and have had success doing so but when the goal is top 6 the risk is infinitely bigger than that of a club that merely wants to stay in the league.

Broadly I agree with the moneyball principle but I do have blind spot where Brighton et al are constantly bigged up both her and in the media.

Ramblings of an idiot no doubt   

I don't think I called you stupid either but apologies if that's the way it came across. I have had this discussion on here a couple of times though and it is often met with - "so you'd rather be Brentford or Bournemouth than us?" when nothing of that sort has ever been said. 

 

The point is they do CERTAIN things better than we do, and I think we would benefit from emulating parts of their recruitment model. Surely that should be a given; look at what every other club does well and try to emulate it - training methods, training facilities, generating commercial revenue, match day experience, playing style and......player recruitment & development. When we're hampered by PSR, we need every edge we can get.

Brighton have dropped off from their golden period of blooding players like Enzo Fernandes, Alexis McAllister, Caicedo etc. Maybe because other teams starting using their moneyball model but the point stands that they innovated to find an edge that had them punching well above their weight, and has led to a consolidated PL position.

Bournemouth have signed young talent such as Huijsen, Zabarnyi and Rayan off the top of my head, and you could argue all three would improve our squad and/or first team. They're too good for Bournemouth hence why they get snapped up, but they joined a smaller club because they weren't yet established players. Other than Hall, we have signed Ashby, that lad from City, the Korean fella and Osula that I can think of, which suggests we're not exactly tearing up trees when it comes to scouting young talent.

We paid £55m for Elanga, the same for Wissa and I personally still believe we overpaid for Ramsey, significantly. That all stemmed from a limited transfer policy and a lack of long-term strategic planning in addition to every team we deal with knowing we've got money to spend.

 

Last summer should have been the catalyst for us changing the way we do things and who knows, maybe we are - we're not privy to what goes on behind the scenes. 
 

[Monters]

1 hour ago, The College Dropout said:

Not calling you stupid. Didn’t read your post directly. Seen this convo many times. Saw Holmesy quote W

All good mate... I was in a workshop at work and feeling facetious

[Monters]

36 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

But to answer your questions.  
 

well firstly. The plan is to not actually be Brentford or Brighton. Thats fundamental.  It’s to take elements of what they do well:

Brentford have the lowest wage bill of any team to stay up every season for the last. Brighton regularly outperform their wages and squad cost. 
 

Neither club has shown a real desire to consistently qualify for Europe or do considerably better. As neither get close to maxing their spend under the rules. Their owners having invested their own money into the clubs are happy with regular PL football. 
 

Currently only us Villa and Forest have ambitions to challenge.  I personally think we need to leverage every trick there is.  A part of it is signing players to expose and flip. But not the whole story. 

Like I say I broadly agree but still stick by the bit where they don't further extend because it's bloody difficult to do so... Totally agree that it needs to be part of a much bigger strategy \ overhaul of the culture within the club!

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I broadly agree too but it’s a bit of a truism to say we need smarter, cheaper and better signings. Everyone wants that, it’s obvious. 
 

I think pretty much all our signings have had sound logic to them, and we’ve also gone for highly rated players like Khusanov who went elsewhere. I don’t think our transfer department is near as shite as people like to suggest. 

[Monters]

17 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

I don't think I called you stupid either but apologies if that's the way it came across. I have had this discussion on here a couple of times though and it is often met with - "so you'd rather be Brentford or Bournemouth than us?" when nothing of that sort has ever been said. 

 

The point is they do CERTAIN things better than we do, and I think we would benefit from emulating parts of their recruitment model. Surely that should be a given; look at what every other club does well and try to emulate it - training methods, training facilities, generating commercial revenue, match day experience, playing style and......player recruitment & development. When we're hampered by PSR, we need every edge we can get.

Brighton have dropped off from their golden period of blooding players like Enzo Fernandes, Alexis McAllister, Caicedo etc. Maybe because other teams starting using their moneyball model but the point stands that they innovated to find an edge that had them punching well above their weight, and has led to a consolidated PL position.

Bournemouth have signed young talent such as Huijsen, Zabarnyi and Rayan off the top of my head, and you could argue all three would improve our squad and/or first team. They're too good for Bournemouth hence why they get snapped up, but they joined a smaller club because they weren't yet established players. Other than Hall, we have signed Ashby, that lad from City, the Korean fella and Osula that I can think of, which suggests we're not exactly tearing up trees when it comes to scouting young talent.

We paid £55m for Elanga, the same for Wissa and I personally still believe we overpaid for Ramsey, significantly. That all stemmed from a limited transfer policy and a lack of long-term strategic planning in addition to every team we deal with knowing we've got money to spend.

 

Last summer should have been the catalyst for us changing the way we do things and who knows, maybe we are - we're not privy to what goes on behind the scenes. 
 

Honestly no probs - it was a shit way to start a reply so apologies back at you and TCD.

I certainly wasn't trying to say "so you'd rather be Brentford or Bournemouth than us?" and agree we need to get better at a lot of the things you mention but there is something about those clubs that trigger me but that's my issue and when for another day!

Bournemouth certainly seem to be on a hot streak scouting wise at the minute and every player you mention would improve our squad but do they get these players signed due to commitment to move them in a year or so? Noone can really answer but if that is the case, I'm not sure I want that for us... again you could argue hitting higher highs with us could persuade them to stay longer so who knows...

I will be honest and admit I should be nowhere near the DoF role... obviously lost my eye for a player as I was far more excited signing Wissa and Elanga despite the over inflated fees than I was Ramsey and after last summer its not or should not be up for debate that a change in plan is needed.  

 

 

Edited March 20 by Monters

[Holmesy]

9 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

I broadly agree too but it’s a bit of a truism to say we need smarter, cheaper and better signings. Everyone wants that, it’s obvious. 
 

I think pretty much all our signings have had sound logic to them, and we’ve also gone for highly rated players like Khusanov who went elsewhere. I don’t think our transfer department is near as shite as people like to suggest. 

I largely agree about our transfer activity post-takeover, and maybe it's just all been tainted by one horrific summer followed by a window of tumbleweeds. It's more what that summer highlighted that worried me, and what we're doing in response to ensure it doesn't happen again.
 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

2 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

I largely agree about our transfer activity post-takeover, and maybe it's just all been tainted by one horrific summer followed by a window of tumbleweeds. It's more what that summer highlighted that worried me, and what we're doing in response to ensure it doesn't happen again.
 

 

Yeah, I understand the concerns, I'm also really hoping that having a new executive team in place is really going to help.

 

I never expect anything from January so that doesn't bother me, but we need a good summer for sure. And some better luck. 

[Interpolic]

Summer was the byproduct of having no proper transfer team in place after the exit of a huffy and egotistical DOF. 

 

We need to fix a few things imo, one of the less frequently mentioned ones being we need to be in a financial position where we're adding numbers every season. Adding very little in 4 of the last 5 windows leaves us needing big overhauls too often. 

 

I'd love to see more additions of the Lewis Hall profile - highly rated youngsters who might not be ready for a year but with massive upside. The summer will be interesting and show us how well the operation is working with Wilson in. 

[Conjo]

Maybe we should start targeting our 4th and 5th choices first so they get snapped up by our competition, and then we can move onto our 1st choice unchallenged?

 

[Shearergol]

So everyone's grand plan is to sign young players who turn into world class superstars but not the ones who don't. Not quite sure why nobody has already thought about that.

[Holmesy]

1 hour ago, Shearergol said:

So everyone's grand plan is to sign young players who turn into world class superstars but not the ones who don't. Not quite sure why nobody has already thought about that.

Did anything about our summer transfer activities suggest that was our plan?

[The College Dropout]

1 hour ago, Shearergol said:

So everyone's grand plan is to sign young players who turn into world class superstars but not the ones who don't. Not quite sure why nobody has already thought about that.

Beyond the risk. A lot of clubs don’t want to spend the time developing those players.  Newcastle 2030 is one reason I think the club went with the strategy they did last summer. 

[Froggy]

4 hours ago, andycap said:

Are rash and Hoijlund getting sold or are there contracts expiring? 

 

Napoli have an obligation to buy Hojlund for €44m.

 

Barca have an option of €30m for Rashford. 

[Robster]

20 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

Did anything about our summer transfer activities suggest that was our plan?

Well that plan, of going after established targets, who were also coveted by the Cartel, doesn't appear to be popular either.

 

 

Edited March 20 by Robster

[Holmesy]

1 hour ago, Robster said:

Well that plan, of going after established targets, who were also coveted by the Cartel, doesn't appear to be popular either.

 

 

 

Nope, it was shite!