NUFC Transfer Rumours

[Kooiman]

1 minute ago, Weezertron said:

 

so... not fit for purpose?

So here's the funny thing. Maybe this says more to who I am, but Mitchell wasn't wrong, he was just an arsehole. 

 

When you come in somewhere new I'm a firm believer it's better to ask more questions than you try to bring answers for. If there are burning issues that's fine, but you need to understand dynamics and process before you try to apply improvements. It's the difference between dragging a horse to water and leading it, an undercurrent of trust. 

 

Last summer was a sensitive time. We'd missed out on Europe, the books needed to be balanced, and that meant some hard decisions were always likely to be made. At the same time, we'd completed a journey from the relegation zone to the Champions League places via a cup final. To imply any part of the process was 'not fit for purpose' publicly was always going to feel like a side swipe at players and staff. Does that mean he was wrong? Absolutely not, the fact we had to do the Elliot Anderson and Minteh deals while signing one player was evidence of how unfit for purpose it was. The same decisions that preceded those events secured us two outstanding fullbacks. Take the rough with the smooth. 

 

It's also become clear Mitchell was brought in without Eddie Howe's awareness. I'm certainly not advocating we run everything by Howe, but a general awareness is helpful. If someone was brought in above me at work and publicly described part of what I'd been working on as not fit for purpose, it would get my back up. 

 

That was Mitchell's glaring mistake (and by extension Darren Eales too). He needed to come in and show a bit of humility, if not only because he'd not exactly left Monaco full of glowing reviews. I think if he'd done that and lead with a line of 'Eddie and the team have done a tremendous job, and I'm excited to help build together on that with my expertise. There'll be tough calls, we might not always see eye to eye, but I know we want the best for this football club' he'd have acknowledged the potential tension in an authentic way. You could even cut the bit about seeing eye to eye if you want to play it very safe. 

 

From there, you can talk to Isak about his contract and move forward. Instead, he was a bull in a china shop that pissed off our star striker and left our manager feeling slighted. Fast forward to now and he's had to fuck off, meaning we've lost several good targets and may still lose our striker. None of that changes his initial assessment that things weren't fit for purpose, but it's increasingly clear neither was he. 

[Teslact]

1 hour ago, JT24 said:

Last summer.

Apt reboot

 

[Ben]

28 minutes ago, Kooiman said:

So here's the funny thing. Maybe this says more to who I am, but Mitchell wasn't wrong, he was just an arsehole. 

 

When you come in somewhere new I'm a firm believer it's better to ask more questions than you try to bring answers for. If there are burning issues that's fine, but you need to understand dynamics and process before you try to apply improvements. It's the difference between dragging a horse to water and leading it, an undercurrent of trust. 

 

Last summer was a sensitive time. We'd missed out on Europe, the books needed to be balanced, and that meant some hard decisions were always likely to be made. At the same time, we'd completed a journey from the relegation zone to the Champions League places via a cup final. To imply any part of the process was 'not fit for purpose' publicly was always going to feel like a side swipe at players and staff. Does that mean he was wrong? Absolutely not, the fact we had to do the Elliot Anderson and Minteh deals while signing one player was evidence of how unfit for purpose it was. The same decisions that preceded those events secured us two outstanding fullbacks. Take the rough with the smooth. 

 

It's also become clear Mitchell was brought in without Eddie Howe's awareness. I'm certainly not advocating we run everything by Howe, but a general awareness is helpful. If someone was brought in above me at work and publicly described part of what I'd been working on as not fit for purpose, it would get my back up. 

 

That was Mitchell's glaring mistake (and by extension Darren Eales too). He needed to come in and show a bit of humility, if not only because he'd not exactly left Monaco full of glowing reviews. I think if he'd done that and lead with a line of 'Eddie and the team have done a tremendous job, and I'm excited to help build together on that with my expertise. There'll be tough calls, we might not always see eye to eye, but I know we want the best for this football club' he'd have acknowledged the potential tension in an authentic way. You could even cut the bit about seeing eye to eye if you want to play it very safe. 

 

From there, you can talk to Isak about his contract and move forward. Instead, he was a bull in a china shop that pissed off our star striker and left our manager feeling slighted. Fast forward to now and he's had to fuck off, meaning we've lost several good targets and may still lose our striker. None of that changes his initial assessment that things weren't fit for purpose, but it's increasingly clear neither was he. 

 

I think we need Turki Alalshikh to get involved, he seems like a Saudi that gets stuff done.

[BennyBlanco]

7 hours ago, Tonalis Bookie said:

 

Do you think benjamin sesko is signing for Eddie Howe before Unai Emery? (not touting for this here but....) or does this change if its Jose Mourinho and Unai Enery?

 

Purely based on a European reputation, not on skillset.

 

I think he’s signing for a team with European football and the manager that made that happen.

[Stifler]

32 minutes ago, Kooiman said:

So here's the funny thing. Maybe this says more to who I am, but Mitchell wasn't wrong, he was just an arsehole. 

 

When you come in somewhere new I'm a firm believer it's better to ask more questions than you try to bring answers for. If there are burning issues that's fine, but you need to understand dynamics and process before you try to apply improvements. It's the difference between dragging a horse to water and leading it, an undercurrent of trust. 

 

Last summer was a sensitive time. We'd missed out on Europe, the books needed to be balanced, and that meant some hard decisions were always likely to be made. At the same time, we'd completed a journey from the relegation zone to the Champions League places via a cup final. To imply any part of the process was 'not fit for purpose' publicly was always going to feel like a side swipe at players and staff. Does that mean he was wrong? Absolutely not, the fact we had to do the Elliot Anderson and Minteh deals while signing one player was evidence of how unfit for purpose it was. The same decisions that preceded those events secured us two outstanding fullbacks. Take the rough with the smooth. 

 

It's also become clear Mitchell was brought in without Eddie Howe's awareness. I'm certainly not advocating we run everything by Howe, but a general awareness is helpful. If someone was brought in above me at work and publicly described part of what I'd been working on as not fit for purpose, it would get my back up. 

 

That was Mitchell's glaring mistake (and by extension Darren Eales too). He needed to come in and show a bit of humility, if not only because he'd not exactly left Monaco full of glowing reviews. I think if he'd done that and lead with a line of 'Eddie and the team have done a tremendous job, and I'm excited to help build together on that with my expertise. There'll be tough calls, we might not always see eye to eye, but I know we want the best for this football club' he'd have acknowledged the potential tension in an authentic way. You could even cut the bit about seeing eye to eye if you want to play it very safe. 

 

From there, you can talk to Isak about his contract and move forward. Instead, he was a bull in a china shop that pissed off our star striker and left our manager feeling slighted. Fast forward to now and he's had to fuck off, meaning we've lost several good targets and may still lose our striker. None of that changes his initial assessment that things weren't fit for purpose, but it's increasingly clear neither was he. 

Was he really an asshole?

He was asked a question about what he brings and what he is going to bring differently to the club, he answered it by saying that the clubs previous approach to transfers wasn’t fit for purpose long term and that the club had moved on from the position they were in when the takeover happened, and what they needed going forward.

Fans and then the media after that all pissed their pants and thought that it was a dig at Howe.

[STM]

Mitchell was right in saying it wasnt fit for purpose, however he was about to make it worse by telling us to go for poorer/cheaper players (i guess).

 

There is nothing wrong with our identification of players, its the execution of transfer deals and the strategy behind them.

 

Somewhere along the line, our approach has become sloppy or unprofessional or too damn slow.

 

Again, Wissa is a great case in point. We may save ourselves 5m, but the strategy will have cost us other players of higher quality.

 

Somewhere down the line, we might feel the benefit of saving 5m on Elanga or 5m on Wissa, fine..... but id say missing out on CL footy next season will cost us alot more. Where is the sense in that strategy?

[bobbydazzla]

This summer has been exactly like my 17th birthday when I was positive I was getting a pair of decks, a mixer, a waxxa sound system and loads of money to spend on the freshest new rave tunes 

 

And what I actually got was a purple silk shirt from C&A 

[CheicksCalfs]

6 minutes ago, bobbydazzla said:

This summer has been exactly like my 17th birthday when I was positive I was getting a pair of decks, a mixer, a waxxa sound system and loads of money to spend on the freshest new rave tunes 

 

And what I actually got was a purple silk shirt from C&A 

[bobbydazzla]

2 minutes ago, CheicksCalfs said:

How in the name of jumping Jehoshaphat have you got your mitts on the camcorder footage from my 17th birthday. My mind is blown 

 

 

Edited July 25, 2025 by bobbydazzla

[oldtype]

12 minutes ago, STM said:

Mitchell was right in saying it wasnt fit for purpose, however he was about to make it worse by telling us to go for poorer/cheaper players (i guess).

 

There is nothing wrong with our identification of players, its the execution of transfer deals and the strategy behind them.

 

Somewhere along the line, our approach has become sloppy or unprofessional or too damn slow.

 

Again, Wissa is a great case in point. We may save ourselves 5m, but the strategy will have cost us other players of higher quality.

 

Somewhere down the line, we might feel the benefit of saving 5m on Elanga or 5m on Wissa, fine..... but id say missing out on CL footy next season will cost us alot more. Where is the sense in that strategy?

 

There is something wrong with our identification of players because we are persistently going after players that we simply are not able to sign in the current climate. 

 

I don't buy this whole idea that we could just bid 10m more for everyone and the deal would go through instantly before the big clubs come in. What's to stop them from just upping their bid themselves given that they have no meaningful financial constraints and we do?

[Kooiman]

22 minutes ago, Stifler said:

Was he really an asshole?

He was asked a question about what he brings and what he is going to bring differently to the club, he answered it by saying that the clubs previous approach to transfers wasn’t fit for purpose long term and that the club had moved on from the position they were in when the takeover happened, and what they needed going forward.

Fans and then the media after that all pissed their pants and thought that it was a dig at Howe.

I think you've answered your own question with this bit. 

 

The club's transfers had been a roaring success. Even Chris Wood, who didn't quite get the goals, did enough to keep us up and then returned a solid resale fee. You can debate whether the spending kept up with revenue and that strategy element, but this wasn't like Chelsea under Abramovich where they were flogging Crespo and Mutu after a season or too. 

 

Even if we presume he was asked a loaded question (which I don't doubt he might have been). How hard is it to simply say, 'I've been fortunate to work both at home and abroad. It's too early to get into specifics on what might change, but I'm excited to work with Eddie and the team'. 

 

If he was feeling generous he could even have thrown a passive acknowledgement of their work to date. Instead, he came in with hindsight analysis and an undertone of 'its a fucking joke here'. He was a fireman with a truck full of petrol. 

[Holloway]

Arsehole seems much more earthy than it's American counterpart 

[Hanshithispantz]

30 minutes ago, STM said:

Mitchell was right in saying it wasnt fit for purpose, 

How? Pretty much every player we signed is now worth more money, we could sell them tomorrow and make a massive profit. 

 

No evidence that Mitchell's approach would have seen us more than mid table trying to spin a profit on 'Brighton signings'. Not a chance we receive the CL money, or win a cup. It was a completely baseless insult.

 

 

Edited July 25, 2025 by Hanshithispantz

[oldtype]

Maybe the grand strategy is that the Top 6 have to run out of money for this window eventually and we'll finally get to sign players then.

[nufc123]

2 minutes ago, Hanshithispantz said:

How? Pretty much every player we signed is now worth more money, we could sell them tomorrow and make a massive profit. 

 

No evidence that Mitchell's approach would have seen us more than mid table trying to spin a profit on 'Brighton signings'. Not a chance we receive the CL money, or win a cup. It was a completely baseless insult.

 

 

 

I think Mitchell was talking about our panic week.

[Rod]

1 hour ago, Kooiman said:

So here's the funny thing. Maybe this says more to who I am, but Mitchell wasn't wrong, he was just an arsehole. 

 

When you come in somewhere new I'm a firm believer it's better to ask more questions than you try to bring answers for. If there are burning issues that's fine, but you need to understand dynamics and process before you try to apply improvements. It's the difference between dragging a horse to water and leading it, an undercurrent of trust. 

 

Last summer was a sensitive time. We'd missed out on Europe, the books needed to be balanced, and that meant some hard decisions were always likely to be made. At the same time, we'd completed a journey from the relegation zone to the Champions League places via a cup final. To imply any part of the process was 'not fit for purpose' publicly was always going to feel like a side swipe at players and staff. Does that mean he was wrong? Absolutely not, the fact we had to do the Elliot Anderson and Minteh deals while signing one player was evidence of how unfit for purpose it was. The same decisions that preceded those events secured us two outstanding fullbacks. Take the rough with the smooth. 

 

It's also become clear Mitchell was brought in without Eddie Howe's awareness. I'm certainly not advocating we run everything by Howe, but a general awareness is helpful. If someone was brought in above me at work and publicly described part of what I'd been working on as not fit for purpose, it would get my back up. 

 

That was Mitchell's glaring mistake (and by extension Darren Eales too). He needed to come in and show a bit of humility, if not only because he'd not exactly left Monaco full of glowing reviews. I think if he'd done that and lead with a line of 'Eddie and the team have done a tremendous job, and I'm excited to help build together on that with my expertise. There'll be tough calls, we might not always see eye to eye, but I know we want the best for this football club' he'd have acknowledged the potential tension in an authentic way. You could even cut the bit about seeing eye to eye if you want to play it very safe. 

 

From there, you can talk to Isak about his contract and move forward. Instead, he was a bull in a china shop that pissed off our star striker and left our manager feeling slighted. Fast forward to now and he's had to fuck off, meaning we've lost several good targets and may still lose our striker. None of that changes his initial assessment that things weren't fit for purpose, but it's increasingly clear neither was he. 

I actually wish that you were our CEO or whatever. You talk so much sense. You should email this exact message to St James' Park right now. It might shake them up.

[Rod]

39 minutes ago, Stifler said:

Was he really an asshole?

He was asked a question about what he brings and what he is going to bring differently to the club, he answered it by saying that the clubs previous approach to transfers wasn’t fit for purpose long term and that the club had moved on from the position they were in when the takeover happened, and what they needed going forward.

Fans and then the media after that all pissed their pants and thought that it was a dig at Howe.

It was a dig at EVERYONE involved in the football club. Ridiculous statement from him.

[Rod]

40 minutes ago, STM said:

Mitchell was right in saying it wasnt fit for purpose, however he was about to make it worse by telling us to go for poorer/cheaper players (i guess).

 

There is nothing wrong with our identification of players, its the execution of transfer deals and the strategy behind them.

 

Somewhere along the line, our approach has become sloppy or unprofessional or too damn slow.

 

Again, Wissa is a great case in point. We may save ourselves 5m, but the strategy will have cost us other players of higher quality.

 

Somewhere down the line, we might feel the benefit of saving 5m on Elanga or 5m on Wissa, fine..... but id say missing out on CL footy next season will cost us alot more. Where is the sense in that strategy?

We will qualify for Champions League.

[KingArthur]

1 minute ago, Rod said:

We will qualify for Champions League.

At the moment. No chance. 

[nufc123]

4 minutes ago, Rod said:

We will qualify for Champions League.

No chance with the extra games. Our rivals are much improved also.

[Ilovetoon8788]

4 hours ago, Turnbull2000 said:

Current starting 11 for Villa? Elanga possibly bedded in slowly.

 

Gordon or Osula

Barnes Joe Tonali Bruno Murphy

Hall Botman Schar Tino

Pope

 

Fucking fuck me. Suppose it's a better team than three years ago. 

 

 

 

 

its a good starting 11. but with c.league and all the fixtures.. we simply have no depth. a couple of injuries and we look a bang average team.

[Rod]

2 minutes ago, KingArthur said:

At the moment. No chance. 

Might even win it this year, 

[Stal]

47 minutes ago, Stifler said:

Was he really an asshole?

He was asked a question about what he brings and what he is going to bring differently to the club, he answered it by saying that the clubs previous approach to transfers wasn’t fit for purpose long term and that the club had moved on from the position they were in when the takeover happened, and what they needed going forward.

Fans and then the media after that all pissed their pants and thought that it was a dig at Howe.

Arsehole dear, we're British not American...

 

...except for the Americans.

 

Sorry @Mike et al.

[Mike]

No thanks to yanks tbh.

[Kanj]

Nee bother pet