Now That's What I Call Transfer Rumours! 7

[McDog]

4 minutes ago, Shak said:

 

Torn to pieces and 20 minutes are both an overstatement IMO. Could easily have gone behind early but Howe changed it quickly and then it settled down and was pretty even after that I thought.

 

Point is that no team has come out and dominated us, we generally give as good as we get until we have to start making subs.

 

 

I disagree, they were running straight through us until Eddie pulled back which is when it evened up. That reflects very well on Eddie, recognizes his preferred tactic isn't working and fixes it and we get a point.

[Lush Vlad]

13 minutes ago, McDog said:

 

 

I disagree, they were running straight through us until Eddie pulled back which is when it evened up. That reflects very well on Eddie, recognizes his preferred tactic isn't working and fixes it and we get a point.

That reads like you’re agreeing with him? I thought they looked all over us for about 10 mins. Without creating many clear cut openings. Then we changed shape a bit and dropped off slightly. If anything, we grew into the half and it evened up for large spells. 
 

It was only the last 20-30 were I felt like we were really up against it. Which was when we replaced two of our best players with a traffic cone and Forest Gump. 

[McDog]

59 minutes ago, Lush Vlad said:

That reads like you’re agreeing with him? I thought they looked all over us for about 10 mins. Without creating many clear cut openings. Then we changed shape a bit and dropped off slightly. If anything, we grew into the half and it evened up for large spells. 
 

It was only the last 20-30 were I felt like we were really up against it. Which was when we replaced two of our best players with a traffic cone and Forest Gump. 

 

 

I disagree it's an overstatement is what I meant.  We got run over and if you check back to the game thread it says the same. We righted the ship pulling back and when  the dregs came in we were under pressure again. Eddie pulling back was a game saver to me.

 

 

[mrmojorisin75]

13 hours ago, Shak said:

 

Absolutely, I'll be quite disappointed if we don't get a couple who'll improve the first team.

 

I'd love to see us go back in for Diaby, personally. Seems he's a long term target but it's been quiet. Leverkusen look mid table bound so might be willing to let him go now? I guess the theory is that Almiron has likely played himself into being a starter but our depth up front is shocking and Almiron being the only left footed winger isn't ideal IMO. Think it would impact Trippier a lot of he went out, we get great balance on that side from someone with a dangerous left foot cutting inside and Trippier overlapping. We know Howe likes to bed players in slowly and with Miggy in such great form it'd be an ideal time to bring Diaby in if he is a long term target.

 

Even with a fully fit squad we basically have ASM, Almiron, Isak and Wilson for three spots on the field and then a massive drop off in quality. Joelinton I'm actually comfortable with starting on the left in some games but he's better in CM IMO. We need another attacking player that can actually do something rather than just be hard working warm bodies in Murphy and Wood.

 

The Arsenal game was the latest in a number of games against the better sides in the league that have followed the same pattern.

 

We've basically matched or been better than everybody we've played this season for the first hour or so. However, our style of play means our lads wear down and fresh legs are needed. This is especially true against good teams where we don't have as much of the ball.

 

The Man City home game, the Man U away game, Liverpool away game and Arsenal away game all followed more or less the exact same pattern. Evenly matched game for an hour with the other team finishing strong and looking the far more likely to score.

 

The Liverpool game they got through.  Man U should have but for an awful miss by Rashford, they had other chances too. We were hanging on against Arsenal too.

 

All of those games we had Wood and Murphy on for the closing stages and in all of them once those two were on teams basically didn't have to worry about us as an attacking force and really took the game to us.

 

The only exception was the Man City game that I thought we could have won and the key difference there was ASM was still on the pitch.

 

Anyway, where was I?

 

Yeah, buy a winger. We're frightfully light up there and it'll end up costing us.

 

Diaby would be ideal but if that's not realistic at least get someone who we won't all be collectively heartbroken to see coming on with twenty minutes left.

 

A starting CM to partner Bruno and Joelinton with Willock and Longstaff as cover.

 

Thuram seems like a no brainer to me at the prices being talked about (he's out of contract right). Big fucker with pace, skill, and an eye for goal.

 

That's if they're not willing to spend on a top target at this stage, there are surely options.

 

Guess maybe he's holding out to go free and get big monies.

[Cronky]

10 hours ago, Lush Vlad said:

That reads like you’re agreeing with him? I thought they looked all over us for about 10 mins. Without creating many clear cut openings. Then we changed shape a bit and dropped off slightly. If anything, we grew into the half and it evened up for large spells. 
 

It was only the last 20-30 were I felt like we were really up against it. Which was when we replaced two of our best players with a traffic cone and Forest Gump. 

 

It felt like in the first 15 minutes our high press wasn't working. Their passing and combination play was just too good. Things improved when their initial burst of energy calmed down a bit, and we defended a bit deeper and cut down their space that way. But we were lucky not to concede in that early period.

 

I thought the two substitutions were okay. Wilson was struggling to make an impact and Almiron looked tired for once. Obviously it would be good to have a better striker than Wood to come on, but that's where we at. As would usually happen in that sort of game away from home, we then had to batten down the hatches and hope for something from a set piece.

[BennyBlanco]

Daily Fail reporting that we’ve put a £16m bid in for Alan Varela but facing some competition from Barca. 
 

Can’t see this one as the kid is meant to be a bit of a “head the ball” isn’t he?

[Manxst]

1 hour ago, mrmojorisin75 said:

 

Thuram seems like a no brainer to me at the prices being talked about (he's out of contract right). Big fucker with pace, skill, and an eye for goal.

 

That's if they're not willing to spend on a top target at this stage, there are surely options.

 

Guess maybe he's holding out to go free and get big monies.

Only wants to go to certain clubs, allegedly:

 

“BILD learned two clear wishes from his environment: A winter transfer is now only conceivable if it were really one of the four dream clubs where the Frenchman also sees himself in the long term: Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Paris St. Germain.

On the other hand, the clubs, which are also highly interested, such as Newcastle United and Aston Villa can save their offers.”

https://m.bild.de/sport/fussball/borussia-moenchengladbach/wende-verzichtet-borussia-moenchengladbach-auf-die-thuram-millionen-82399840.bildMobile.html?t_ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bild.de%2Fsport%2Ffussball%2Fborussia-moenchengladbach%2Fwende-verzichtet-borussia-moenchengladbach-auf-die-thuram-millionen-82399840.bild.html

 

edit- also:

https://www.newcastleworld.com/sport/football/newcastle-united/bundesliga-star-snub-newcastle-united-offer-bayern-munich-manchester-united-interest-3977869

 

 

 

Edited January 7, 2023 by Manxst

[Lush Vlad]

26 minutes ago, Cronky said:

 

It felt like in the first 15 minutes our high press wasn't working. Their passing and combination play was just too good. Things improved when their initial burst of energy calmed down a bit, and we defended a bit deeper and cut down their space that way. But we were lucky not to concede in that early period.

 

I thought the two substitutions were okay. Wilson was struggling to make an impact and Almiron looked tired for once. Obviously it would be good to have a better striker than Wood to come on, but that's where we at. As would usually happen in that sort of game away from home, we then had to batten down the hatches and hope for something from a set piece.

Again, tend to agree on all of this. We weathered the storm against the best team in the league and reacted accordingly to try and nullify them. They really went hard the first 10 mins of each half. But there was no way they could keep that up for long spells. 
 

As for the subs. I don’t have an issue with them per se. It is the squad depth and mediocre as fuck players we are bringing on that are the issue. Almiron was fucked. Wilson is probably still being managed, due to his illness, long covid or whatever it is and the fact he gets a bad injury twice a season. 
 

I feel like the original point that Shak was making (might be wrong). Which I was then agreeing with. Was that we didn’t fully lose control of the game. Until the subs. Due to the quality of those players coming on, being so much lower than the ones they were replacing and the rest of the XI. 

[Infatuation Junkie]

24 minutes ago, Lush Vlad said:

Again, tend to agree on all of this. We weathered the storm against the best team in the league and reacted accordingly to try and nullify them. They really went hard the first 10 mins of each half. But there was no way they could keep that up for long spells. 
 

As for the subs. I don’t have an issue with them per se. It is the squad depth and mediocre as fuck players we are bringing on that are the issue. Almiron was fucked. Wilson is probably still being managed, due to his illness, long covid or whatever it is and the fact he gets a bad injury twice a season. 
 

I feel like the original point that Shak was making (might be wrong). Which I was then agreeing with. Was that we didn’t fully lose control of the game. Until the subs. Due to the quality of those players coming on, being so much lower than the ones they were replacing and the rest of the XI. 

This is why I see a European spot so early in the new regime as a problem.

[WilliamPS]

10 minutes ago, Infatuation Junkie said:

This is why I see a European spot so early in the new regime as a problem.

Won’t build a top 4 squad without offering European football to incoming players.

 

And to not get Europe means finishing 7th, which will also mean 6 PL clubs have a better offer to players

 

The quicker the better as far as Europe is concerned. I now doubt it’ll be CL but leapfrogging the Europa conference would be v helpful in terms of incoming transfer

[et tu brute]

1 minute ago, WilliamPS said:

Won’t build a top 4 squad without offering European football to incoming players.

 

And to not get Europe means finishing 7th, which will also mean 6 PL clubs have a better offer to players

 

The quicker the better as far as Europe is concerned. I now doubt it’ll be CL but leapfrogging the Europa conference would be v helpful in terms of incoming transfer

European football also brings significantly increased revenue streams through higher levels of sponsorship/commercial deals. 
 

[GWN]

30 minutes ago, WilliamPS said:

Won’t build a top 4 squad without offering European football to incoming players.

 

And to not get Europe means finishing 7th, which will also mean 6 PL clubs have a better offer to players

 

The quicker the better as far as Europe is concerned. I now doubt it’ll be CL but leapfrogging the Europa conference would be v helpful in terms of incoming transfer

 

Believe in the top 4 mate 

[cubaricho]

1 hour ago, Infatuation Junkie said:

This is why I see a European spot so early in the new regime as a problem.

 

[Colos Short and Curlies]

When you see an opportunity you grab it with both hands and then work out how to deal with it later.

 

top 4 shouldn’t be something to be scared about because our squad can’t cope. If needs must we could pad it out with a couple of experienced free transfers on 12 month deals. Or we could go big and replace most of the squad outside the first 11. Many ways to skin the cat but we will face that problem whenever we first get champions league football

[bowlingcrofty]

Imagine thinking that qualifying for the champions league would be a bad thing  

[Andybiotics]

"Thank God we're not in Europe"

[Theregulars]

1 hour ago, Infatuation Junkie said:

This is why I see a European spot so early in the new regime as a problem.

Go home, Alan / Mike 

[Thumbheed]

36 minutes ago, bowlingcrofty said:

Imagine thinking that qualifying for the champions league would be a bad thing  

 

To be fair, I think there's merit in this in the sense our ambitions will be pinned back by our current revenue and as we know the CL money only really kicks in after the group stages, so having the necessary squad which allows us to compete in the CL and to requalify the following season would requure a big outlay in both fees and wages which could potentially be disastrous were we not to qualify the season after without the revenue to sustain that very same squad.

 

I think we're in a unique position that we'll be the only club who will come under genuine FFP scrutinisation fir as long as our revenue is measurably shite.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 7, 2023 by Thumbheed

[jonny1403]

4 minutes ago, Thumbheed said:

 

To be fair, I think there's merit in this in the sense our ambitions will be pinned back by our current revenue and as we know the CL money only really kicks in after the group stages, so having the necessary squad to compete in the CL and to requalify the following season would requure a big outlay in both fees and wages which could potentially be disastrous were we not to qualify the season after without the revenue to sustain that very same squad.

 

I think we're in a unique position that we'll be the only club who will come under genuine FFP scrutinisation fir as long as our revenue is measurably shite.

 

 

Why do you think the CL money only really kicks off after the group stage? I thought it was like 40/60?

[The College Dropout]

13 hours ago, Shak said:

 

Torn to pieces and 20 minutes are both an overstatement IMO. Could easily have gone behind early but Howe changed it quickly and then it settled down and was pretty even after that I thought.

 

Point is that no team has come out and dominated us, we generally give as good as we get until we have to start making subs.

Oh we got dominated against Arsenal for sure. Overran on some occasions. Backs to the wall for a lot of time. Only really got any respite when the game got spikey. Had we lost it we couldn’t complain at all. 

[Thumbheed]

8 minutes ago, jonny1403 said:

Why do you think the CL money only really kicks off after the group stage? I thought it was like 40/60?

 

Posted earlier in the thread. I guess the best example of the dangers of 'going for it' is West Ham right now. They look like they could be in serious trouble after gambling for the CL despite being on the brink of qualification for 2 years.

 

21 hours ago, Solitude20 said:

 

 

“The 32 teams who have qualified for the 2022-23 Champions League group stage will all receive a starting fee of €15.64 million, while group stage performance bonuses will also be paid for each match - €2.8 million for a win and €930,000 for a draw.”

 

 

source: 

https://en.as.com/soccer/champions-league-prize-money-2022-23-how-much-will-the-ucl-winners-receive-n/?outputType=amp

 

The indirect income would be higher though. Reaching the UCL consistently means more income from sponsors and match tickets/merchandise. 

 

Either way, I'm not gonna be too disappointed if we don't go for it, but I wouldn't mind an exciting young players or 2 coming in.

[STM]

Surely by qualifying for the CL, it simply means you need a bigger/deeper squad of (quality) players, which is something we intend on building anyway?

 

We could sign 5 players in the summer, who would either usurp current first teamers, relegating them to the bench or would themselves be players with potential who would sit on the bench.

 

We could easily afford to sign 2 quality players like Maddison/Diaby, then 3 younger players like Fresneda/Varela and we'd have enough depth to compete on a few fronts.

 

Again, we are talking season 2 of the new era. Even if we didn't get top 4 next year, it would hardly be panic stations.

 

I can only see good problems.

[The Butcher]

7 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

Oh we got dominated against Arsenal for sure. Overran on some occasions. Backs to the wall for a lot of time. Only really got any respite when the game got spikey. Had we lost it we couldn’t complain at all. 

They hardly created anything tho. 

[Thumbheed]

13 minutes ago, STM said:

Surely by qualifying for the CL, it simply means you need a bigger/deeper squad of (quality) players, which is something we intend on building anyway?

 

We could sign 5 players in the summer, who would either usurp current first teamers, relegating them to the bench or would themselves be players with potential who would sit on the bench.

 

We could easily afford to sign 2 quality players like Maddison/Diaby, then 3 younger players like Fresneda/Varela and we'd have enough depth to compete on a few fronts.

 

Again, we are talking season 2 of the new era. Even if we didn't get top 4 next year, it would hardly be panic stations.

 

I can only see good problems.

 

It does but we'd need the revenue to sustain that and I don't think we're there at this stage yet.

 

Big outlays without the revenue to sustain these squads puts us in Leicester/West Ham/Everton territory.

 

Building sustainably with gradual improvements in squad quality alongside increasing revenue puts us in a far stronger position in the long run with the exact say goal and outcome (hopefully).

 

 

 

 

Edited January 7, 2023 by Thumbheed

[JonBez comesock]

Would love to see 

 

Kone CDM

plus the young Spanish RB 

 

that will do in this window