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Sandro Tonali

The Prophet

by The Prophet
in Football

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54

54

Posted
Posted
44 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

So what he actually said:

 

“The current rules and regulations say there is nothing to stop it (signing a player from Saudi Arabia), currently. But there are … there is a potential that the various different organisations will look at things across related parties and what you can do to acquire players at a fair market value, [although these] have already been in place for quite a while.”

 

 We always look two windows in advance, so we will have planned for what we will try to do to strengthen the team in the summer of 2024.

 

If the right opportunities come in January we don’t mind bringing that forward. We did that with Anthony Gordon last January. We brought that forward when we had the opportunity. Nothing is any different.

 

What we always try to do is have that flexibility. So, what we have said to the recruitment team is, we could get an injury, we could get a suspension and there might be a player who wants to go. So, we have to have that agility.

 

We obviously know we are going to be without Sandro for the rest of the season. But we’ve got quite a number of midfield players and we have a number of players who can play in different positions. You saw that the other night [knocking Manchester United out of the Carabao Cup] and that is one of the strengths of the squad. We’ve got a few injuries, but fingers crossed they are back and ready for January anyway.

 

To answer the question, we’ve got a number of things we can do. It might not be a like-for-like replacement for Sandro. It could be a player who can play in a different position or multiple positions.

 

It could be that young Lewis Miley gets more minutes and comes to the fore between now and January. We might look in a different area of the pitch.

 

But obviously it is a blow losing Sandro. He was one of our big signings in a key area of the pitch.

 

He was going to be one of our most influential players so we have to do everything in our power to make sure the squad is as competitive as possible going into the second half of the season.

 

We do have a little bit of flexibility and we are able to look at the market. But there are lots of ways to do it. Whether it is a straight loan or a loan with an obligation or an option. You can sign a player and monetise it with a long contract. We are going to have to be quite creative, but we do want to be active.

 

He is a top player and a big signing, we will miss him. To contextualise it, it could have been an ACL. These things happen in football, although not in this context. For me, from the minute it happened, you look at yourself.

 

 

What could we have done better? What could I have done better? What lessons can be learned from this? Could we have known? Should we have known? You look at your processes.

 

I’ve been doing this for 16 years and nothing like this has happened before. We pride ourselves on due diligence and getting the right characters.

 

You have all seen the culture and cohesion in the group is extremely strong, and that’s not by chance. We spend an immense amount of time looking at the character as well as the athlete.

 

We have and will continue to review what we have done in the past and will do going forward. It’s really tricky about what you can and can’t know about people in this world of GDPR [date protection] and what you can and can’t check.

 

We haven’t come up with anything yet. Speaking to other sporting and technical directors it’s almost like, “How could you have known?

 

It’s really difficult for me to get into what other clubs do or don’t know. All we can do is look at our own internal investigation and internal process. It’s a really difficult question for me to answer [whether AC Milan knew], I just don’t know."

 

"Asked about a pay cut, Ashworth explained: “Any player’s contract situation is private and confidential. All I can say is that Sandro has been outstanding since this has happened and has been fully collaborative. He’s been an outstanding professional in that context. Beyond that, I cannot comment.”

 

I think if you know a player’s going to be out for 10 months whether that’s through a medical injury or through something like this, you’d either have to look at the deal again or structure the deal in a different manner. But as a player, from the performances of the player and the character and personality, [we have] no reservations [about signing him].”

That's my sporting director that. :love:

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GideonShandy

GideonShandy

Posted
Posted
21 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

The silver lining is he could still be an excellent player for us.

Hope so. At the moment i fear it's just as likely that a year from now he puts in a transfer request to make a sentimental return to his boyhood club because he's homesick and can't settle in the region etc.

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alexf

alexf

Posted
Posted

Starting to feel a bit like a witch hunt. I mean even if he had, his punishment is longer than anyone else has got before.

If he was betting AFTER being given the punishment then I could understand the talk of adding on time, but to try and make it a "separate offence" is just ridiculous. 

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Doctor Zaius

Doctor Zaius

Posted
Posted

When did we sign him? July? If he hasnt been betting over here, it sounds like he's been made aware of the investigation and still signed for us. If he has been betting over here then he might well face further punishment from the FA. This is terrible news :lol:

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Matt1892

Matt1892

Posted
Posted
On 24/10/2023 at 14:14, reefatoon said:


My concern is if he can’t train he might take up walking and a tree might fall on him. 

image.thumb.jpeg.656f1de0ca60488c5969c339e6cb1109.jpeg

 


Like I said, it’s a legitimate concern when you follow the logical steps.

 

The FA were always going to investigate as if he is a gambling addict then you do not stop when you move house.

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Hudson

Hudson

Posted
Posted (edited)
4 hours ago, r0cafella said:

 wonder what prompted Ashworth to reveal this stuff. The who saga has kinda blown over. 

Not really, the FA will investigate him for his UK betting and find something.

 

Unless the club knew something and stepped in straight away with help and extra eyes on him. Might explain the strange start to his time here ?

 

 

 

Edited by Hudson
Situation change after posting

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Mattoon

Mattoon

Posted
Posted

Surely if they find out he has been gambling since arriving, which is likely if he's an addict, then the only additional punishment they could impose is prevention of training? If they get to add consecutive time to his already lengthy punishment then it truly is some kind of witch hunt.

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