More transfer rumours

[The College Dropout]

Wholesale changes I’ve worked for Palace, Chelsea and City. 

[Conjo]

13 hours ago, Dr Jinx said:

There’s a case to be made that if Eddie Howe had been in from start of season with squad he has now, we’d have been comfortably in the top 10, maybe 8th.

 

So what’s the aim for next season? We’re not ready for top 4, but it’s not unrealistic to think we can aim for Europa places with just a few additions.

 

Wholesale changes have never worked at any club, too much and we could end up taking a huge step back.

 

The biggest challenge he has this summer is to change our style of play to possession based and controlling the ball.

 

The club have been quiet in terms of structure, sponsorship and anything else commercial related. I think all those announcements will reassure everyone about what the plan is?

 

My only concern by setting such an ambitious target is what happens if we fail to achieve it? We could see a great improvement in style of play and not get the results needed to get into European competition, and could risk calls for Howe to be sacked. Don't think I'd like that unless we go on an insane spending spree in the summer where conference league qualification would be seen as the bare bare minimum.

[Keegans Export]

13 hours ago, Dr Jinx said:

There’s a case to be made that if Eddie Howe had been in from start of season with squad he has now, we’d have been comfortably in the top 10, maybe 8th.

 

So what’s the aim for next season? We’re not ready for top 4, but it’s not unrealistic to think we can aim for Europa places with just a few additions.

 

Wholesale changes have never worked at any club, too much and we could end up taking a huge step back.

 

The biggest challenge he has this summer is to change our style of play to possession based and controlling the ball.

 

The club have been quiet in terms of structure, sponsorship and anything else commercial related. I think all those announcements will reassure everyone about what the plan is?

This is probably linked to the new rules around Sponsorship etc. Justifying a hefty sponsorship deal is easier when you're a club that will be playing PL football next season, rather than one that will probably be playing PL football next season.

 

I guess that doesn't just apply to those "related party transactions", even if we're targeting non-Saudi sponsors we can offer a much more attractive package once we're mathematically safe.

 

You're right though, in that the numbers involved will give us a good idea what our spending power will be. At the moment, our Fun88 deal is around £6.5m (SOURCE) and there's quite a big jump from teams around us like Wolves, Everton, Southampton (all £10m or less) and Spurs (£35m). My theory is that if we find ourselves a spot somewhere between the two, say £12-15m then our spending will be relatively modest. If we somehow manage to push through a deal closer to what the top 6 are getting then we'll be a bit more ambitious.

[The College Dropout]

Our results have been better than our football. Look at our goal difference. We rarely beat decent teams by more than 1 goal. We have not been as good as our results suggest - quality wise.

[Dr Jinx]

1 hour ago, The College Dropout said:

Wholesale changes I’ve worked for Palace, Chelsea and City. 

Have they? Chelsea were already a top 6 side and yes they did go on a spending spree but they already had Terry and Lampard, iirc their first signings included Duff, Geremi, Crespo, Mutu and Makelele, with only the last named really being a success there, well maybe there’s a case to be made for Duff once Mourinho took over but the base of their squad was solid enough at that point in time.

 

City were not top 6 but still healthier than what our club is currently. Aside from Robinho which also didn’t work out, they didn’t go wild to begin with.

 

I get the desire to have an essentially all new squad but that’s not going to happen straight away. They’re still figuring it all out, including the manager.. is he the right fit etc.

 

Dan Ashworth will be the driving force behind all of that.. it will be his vision. If Howe can’t deliver that, the club will be quite ruthless I’d imagine.

 

And we must also note that Eddie Howe will be feeling that slight bit of uncertainty as well, imagine working in a job and knowing that soon someone will come in to oversee everything you do. You might get on with them, you might not, but the dynamic changes. It’s not the same job you walked into.

 

Let’s just hope they’ve already had several good conversations and the first steps have been taken.

[Dr Jinx]

So for City, the season they got taken over they finished 9th, the next season 10th, then 5th, 3rd and then won it the following year.

[Manxst]

2 minutes ago, Dr Jinx said:

And we must also note that Eddie Howe will be feeling that slight bit of uncertainty as well, imagine working in a job and knowing that soon someone will come in to oversee everything you do. You might get on with them, you might not, but the dynamic changes. It’s not the same job you walked into.

 

Let’s just hope they’ve already had several good conversations and the first steps have been taken.

“Howe already knows Ashworth well and the pair share similar views on a range of issues, from how the game should be played to the importance of the academy. 

Go here for all the latest Newcastle United news

Indeed, it was only last December that Howe commented that he 'highly respected Dan and his work' at Brighton, the FA and West Brom.”

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-eddie-howe-dan-ashworth-23071272.amp

 

“Howe said: "Whatever the situation is, I can adapt and overcome. When I first came in, I said that appointing a sporting director is a matter of urgency for the club, because we need those structures that help the club improve. We have a lot of improving to do behind the scenes to get to be the club that we want to be. That’s in all areas. We want to build the club and, to do that, you need the right people and the right appointments to happen."

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-united-dan-ashworth-brighton-23569296.amp

 

“Not long before Ashworth’s statement landed on Brighton’s website, Howe welcomed the appointment of a director of football. 

Howe, speaking ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash with Aston Villam explained: “I’ve been used to working with a sporting director at Bournemouth, so I would encourage that. 

“I believe I can work under any framework really that the club decides which way they want to go but I’ll embrace that.”

 

Howe will be just fine with Ashworth coming in- there’s no issue there at all. 

 

 

[JonBez comesock]

We need to aim for 7th /8th 

 

We could of finished 9th /  10th this year with a little bit of luck 

 

Other teams will strengthen in and around that area of the league so we also need to match / beat them in terms of quality 

 

Obviously quality doesn’t always mean spend big as their are lots of free transfers that will improve our squad.

 

I would love to see two big signings 

1 centre forward - Abraham / Toney / similar 
plus 

Luis Paquetta 

 

Then if we can get a ……

decent centre half 

left back - Targett or similar 

 

I think that will be enough for a top 8/7 push without spending more than 100 million NET ….. (if we can sell a few too)

 

being greedy I would also like another winger to challenge frazer and maxi 

 

 

wouldn’t care if we lost 

almiron 

Hayden 

gayle

ritchie 

clarke

Lewis

wood

longstaff

darlow 

gillespie 

krafth 

Lascelles 

 

but it’s very difficult to sell deadwood with decent wages 

 

 

[Dr Jinx]

9 minutes ago, Manxst said:

“Howe already knows Ashworth well and the pair share similar views on a range of issues, from how the game should be played to the importance of the academy. 

Go here for all the latest Newcastle United news

Indeed, it was only last December that Howe commented that he 'highly respected Dan and his work' at Brighton, the FA and West Brom.”

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-eddie-howe-dan-ashworth-23071272.amp

 

“Howe said: "Whatever the situation is, I can adapt and overcome. When I first came in, I said that appointing a sporting director is a matter of urgency for the club, because we need those structures that help the club improve. We have a lot of improving to do behind the scenes to get to be the club that we want to be. That’s in all areas. We want to build the club and, to do that, you need the right people and the right appointments to happen."

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-united-dan-ashworth-brighton-23569296.amp

 

“Not long before Ashworth’s statement landed on Brighton’s website, Howe welcomed the appointment of a director of football. 

Howe, speaking ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash with Aston Villam explained: “I’ve been used to working with a sporting director at Bournemouth, so I would encourage that. 

“I believe I can work under any framework really that the club decides which way they want to go but I’ll embrace that.”

 

Howe will be just fine with Ashworth coming in- there’s no issue there at all. 

 

 

I hope you’re right, I don’t doubt Howe meant every word of what he said but when something like that is happening above you, you’re hardly going to come out and say anything negative.

 

If they already know each other that’s a good start. I can’t see how anyone wouldn’t be impressed with Eddie Howe either so hopefully Ashworth is as invested in him.

 

At the end of the day, it’s his overall responsibility to get Newcastle from A to Z, Howe just has to get the players working to the best of their abilities and cohesively so hopefully taking some of that overall responsibility off him will lead to improvements.

[Dan Gleebals]

I think top 10 has to be the target but I would not expect or go for Europa, or want to be in it.  It really does stretch squads with the schedule and we could really do without that, especially as we will not be able to add the quality or depth we need.

For me I would love to see a season where we improve in the final third whilst building on the defensive solidarity we now how.  I would like to see us compete more with the top 8, especially at home, were we should be taking more points.  Our record with top 8 has largely been terrible so this is a big area for improvement.

 

I would also like to see a blueprint for the "rest of the club" - i.e. plans for the training ground and academy start to be identified and implemented.

As others have said, it will unfortunately take time to get rid of the dead wood in the squad and replace them so we need to be patient.

 

 

[madras]

11 minutes ago, Dan Gleebals said:

I think top 10 has to be the target but I would not expect or go for Europa, or want to be in it.  It really does stretch squads with the schedule and we could really do without that, especially as we will not be able to add the quality or depth we need.

For me I would love to see a season where we improve in the final third whilst building on the defensive solidarity we now how.  I would like to see us compete more with the top 8, especially at home, were we should be taking more points.  Our record with top 8 has largely been terrible so this is a big area for improvement.

 

I would also like to see a blueprint for the "rest of the club" - i.e. plans for the training ground and academy start to be identified and implemented.

As others have said, it will unfortunately take time to get rid of the dead wood in the squad and replace them so we need to be patient.

 

 

If we achieved Europa next season that's 3 Windows down the line and a sign to players of where we are going. There is no too early to get into Europe.

 

Saying that I don't expect it, I hope we'd be in with a shout though come March/April.

 

 

Edited May 10, 2022 by madras

[Raconteur]

2 hours ago, The College Dropout said:

Wholesale changes I’ve worked for Palace, Chelsea and City. 

We made five changes ourselves in January and all five slotted into the team very well (Wood’s goal return notwithstanding). Purchasing six more in summer wouldn’t be that much of a stretch.

 

Three of those five January signings might be getting replaced this summer anyway, and even listing our absolute best eleven, we could easily find six holes that need replacing before we aim for Top 6 and putting *ENORMOUS* emphasis on the FA Cup.

[RodneyCisse]

Having another player around his level would allow him to go a full season without injury as he could be rotated/played when he gets into a bit of a streak.

[Dan Gleebals]

58 minutes ago, madras said:

If we achieved Europa next season that's 3 Windows down the line and a sign to players of where we are going. There is no too early to get into Europe.

 

Saying that I don't expect it, I hope we'd be in with a shout though come March/April.

 

 

 

True, did not think of it like that!!  

[The College Dropout]

3 hours ago, Dr Jinx said:

So for City, the season they got taken over they finished 9th, the next season 10th, then 5th, 3rd and then won it the following year.

Not true.

 

The takeover happened late in August and they finished 9th - in the first season with new ownership. They did most of their business in January because of the late takeover.

The next season, with a full transfer window and a change of Manager they finished 5th. Narrowly missing out on 4th and would have got 4th if they had Mancini in from the start of the season. The rest is as you say.

City were in an almost identical position to us in the league when they charged right up (they did have better players already on staff but an inferior manager).

3 hours ago, Dr Jinx said:

Have they? Chelsea were already a top 6 side and yes they did go on a spending spree but they already had Terry and Lampard, iirc their first signings included Duff, Geremi, Crespo, Mutu and Makelele, with only the last named really being a success there, well maybe there’s a case to be made for Duff once Mourinho took over but the base of their squad was solid enough at that point in time.

 

City were not top 6 but still healthier than what our club is currently. Aside from Robinho which also didn’t work out, they didn’t go wild to begin with.

 

I get the desire to have an essentially all new squad but that’s not going to happen straight away. They’re still figuring it all out, including the manager.. is he the right fit etc.

 

Dan Ashworth will be the driving force behind all of that.. it will be his vision. If Howe can’t deliver that, the club will be quite ruthless I’d imagine.

 

And we must also note that Eddie Howe will be feeling that slight bit of uncertainty as well, imagine working in a job and knowing that soon someone will come in to oversee everything you do. You might get on with them, you might not, but the dynamic changes. It’s not the same job you walked into.

 

Let’s just hope they’ve already had several good conversations and the first steps have been taken.

Most of these did a good job for Chelsea - Duff, Geremi & Makelele in particular.

 

They scraped 4th the year before. First year under Roman they finished 2nd and went to the CL semi-final. Ditching a lot of the players that helped them get 4th (Hasselbaink in particular).

 

We signed 5 players in January and it worked fine.

[The College Dropout]

4 hours ago, Conjo said:

 

My only concern by setting such an ambitious target is what happens if we fail to achieve it? We could see a great improvement in style of play and not get the results needed to get into European competition, and could risk calls for Howe to be sacked. Don't think I'd like that unless we go on an insane spending spree in the summer where conference league qualification would be seen as the bare bare minimum.

So?

[The College Dropout]

3 hours ago, Raconteur said:

We made five changes ourselves in January and all five slotted into the team very well (Wood’s goal return notwithstanding). Purchasing six more in summer wouldn’t be that much of a stretch.

 

Three of those five January signings might be getting replaced this summer anyway, and even listing our absolute best eleven, we could easily find six holes that need replacing before we aim for Top 6 and putting *ENORMOUS* emphasis on the FA Cup.

Exactly. We'l be ok if we aren't starting Wilson, Almiron, Shelvey, Schar, Targett & Joelinton next season. We'll survive the transition.

[buzza]

34 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

Exactly. We'l be ok if we aren't starting Wilson, Almiron, Shelvey, Schar, Targett & Joelinton next season. We'll survive the transition.

Wouldnt mind any of Wilson, schar, targett and big joe starting next season.

 

[The College Dropout]

23 minutes ago, buzza said:

Wouldnt mind any of Wilson, schar, targett and big joe starting next season.

 

I'd be v. dissappointed if all 4 started. Any more than 2 starting would be a dissappointment imo.

 

I don't think any of these are top 8 material.

[SUPERTOON]

Just now, The College Dropout said:

I'd be v. dissappointed if all 4 started. Any more than 2 starting would be a dissappointment imo.

 

I don't think any of these are top 8 material.

A fully fit Wilson is, obviously aware the issue is he won’t be fully fit. However going of pure talent alone he is and he would walk into Wolves and West Ham right now and they are currently top 8.

[TRon]

59 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

I'd be v. dissappointed if all 4 started. Any more than 2 starting would be a dissappointment imo.

 

I don't think any of these are top 8 material.

 

I think Wilson is, only question mark against him is his availability due to repeated injuries. Other than that I consider him to be a top quality Premier striker.

[The Prophet]

1 hour ago, The College Dropout said:

I'd be v. dissappointed if all 4 started. Any more than 2 starting would be a dissappointment imo.

 

I don't think any of these are top 8 material.

 

Providing we buy Targett,  I think you're going to be disappointed.

[The Prophet]

We're probably looking at something like:

 

New keeper 

 

Trippier 

Schar

New CB

Targett

 

New CM

Bruno

Joe 

 

New RW

Wilson/New ST

ASM

[Decky]

6 hours ago, Conjo said:

 

My only concern by setting such an ambitious target is what happens if we fail to achieve it? We could see a great improvement in style of play and not get the results needed to get into European competition, and could risk calls for Howe to be sacked. Don't think I'd like that unless we go on an insane spending spree in the summer where conference league qualification would be seen as the bare bare minimum.

 

I'm a huge fan of Howe but we're an ever evolving project now and once the final whistle goes away to Burnley then surviving relegation is in the history books and its now about building a side to push for a European spot. Of course that all depends on the backing he gets in the summer but we're lead to believe he'll be well supported. We didn't win in our first 15 games this year and we're 1 point from 10th spot with 2 games left, so if next season is similar to this then finishing in the top half wouldn't be good enough progress for the summer and January we're expected to have.

 

We have to push for Europe and he has to be judged on progress throughout the season and should rightfully come under pressure if it looks like we're failing to hit that goal. We're going to really see what he's made of now and I hope he does well because I'd love to see him here for years with success to go along with it. 

 

 

Edited May 10, 2022 by Decky

[Hanshithispantz]

The structure is more important than Howe like, Pep is great but Man City are just an incredibly well ran club from top to bottom. I think Howe has the knowlege and he will put the effort required in no doubt.