NUFC Transfer Rumours

[MrRaspberryJam]

1 minute ago, Matt1892 said:

You improve by buying better players, so knowing we need a better player than Lascelles at the back you go out and not only buy a better player than him but also than Schar, meaning he drops to the bench and you have improved your first team.

 

There was no balance to a Bruno, Joelinton and Willock midfield as the latter two want to play on the left of midfield, which was why everyone was talking about how much we missed Longstaff. We also had the game on his return where Anderson had to start in midfield and Gordon came on as sub to play there.

 

But buying a replacement for Schar is not a priority. Again, he was outstanding last season, and he was very good again against City on Saturday. So I ask once more whats the desperation to bin him off from the XI when money can be spent on other positions that were a priority? 

 

 

What game was that?

[AyeDubbleYoo]

1 hour ago, Whitley mag said:

Not the window I expected at the start was convinced we were getting Szob and Thuram.

 

Apart from Tonali don’t think the window has excited me like the Ferdinand/Ginola summer etc, but that’s because we just seem so clinical in our approach and to be honest I think the sale of St Max confirmed Howe wants a functional hard working team.

 

At the end of the day though its night and day to life under Ashley and I’m just grateful for that.

 

However, I do think the success of these last 2 transfer windows hang largely on Gordon and Barnes. We need creativity and goals from the pair of them, otherwise people will rightly draw comparisons to the likes of Kudos and Szob etc if they prove big successes.

 

I mean, Kudos hasn't arrived and all Szob has done is dived for a penalty. So those comparisons might turn out to be fine. 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2023 by AyeDubbleYoo

[Matt1892]

8 minutes ago, Theregulars said:

Was it not just 1 game (Chelsea away) that we had a patched-up team? The game against Leicester our starting midfield (IIRC) was Bruno, Longstaff (carrying a knock) and Willock? 

 

I understand the desire for improvement but is there not a part of you which thinks Schar, Burn, Miggy etc have earned the right to start this year and try themselves at highest level? Each played out of their skin last year and improved as things went on.

I think for a team to improve from our position is done by buying better players and creating more competition for places.

 

It is then up to those new players to take the spots held by Schar, Burn and Miggy. In the same way it is on them to put in performances so they remain first choice.

 

I can’t imagine a position where we say that we shouldn’t buy better players in those positions because other people deserve to be guaranteed starters and not challenged.

[Matt1892]

1 minute ago, MrRaspberryJam said:

 

But buying a replacement for Schar is not a priority. Again, he was outstanding last season, and he was very good again against City on Saturday. So I ask once more whats the desperation to bin him off from the XI when money can be spent on other positions that were a priority? 

 

 

What game was that?

Leicester.

[The College Dropout]

11 minutes ago, Theregulars said:

Was it not just 1 game (Chelsea away) that we had a patched-up team? The game against Leicester our starting midfield (IIRC) was Bruno, Longstaff (carrying a knock) and Willock? 

 

I understand the desire for improvement but is there not a part of you which thinks Schar, Burn, Miggy etc have earned the right to start this year and try themselves at highest level? Each played out of their skin last year and improved as things went on.

I think no matter who we signed - if fully fit - these would all start the season with the shirt. 
 

 

If we signed Anderson, imo he would start on the bench until Schar levels dropped or rotation comes in.   Likewise I think Burn has the LB position to lose and even if he loses it - I reckon it’s more of a job share.  If Gordon plays on the left the problem with Miggy is that his competition is Murphy 

[The Prophet]

There also has to be some appreciation that i) this is a slow build ii) we're in the market for a particular type of player and we're not willing to compromise at the moment.

 

The recruitment team will have assessed the areas we lack depth. It's telling we were linked with a number of RCBs (Anderson, Silva, Tapsoba) before went in for Hall. Either our primary target wasn't available at the right deal or Hall became available and it was too good an opportunity to pass up.

[The College Dropout]

But with that slow build we must also accept not everything will be perfect.  We may be left purposely a little short so we can get ideal targets for ideal prices down the road.  
 

In our position we have to make trade offs so it’s not perfect. 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

The fact we're ahead of schedule is also important, we never planned to be buying 4 £60m players to slot straight into the first team. Let's not forget that an elite DM costs £100m+ now, for example. 

 

We're doing brilliantly, we need to just enjoy it.  

 

 

Edited August 24, 2023 by AyeDubbleYoo

[Matt1892]

4 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

From January we started all of our first team CM options.  We were very light in midfield. Had the injuries to Longstaff and Willock happened 6 weeks earlier it would’ve cost us the CL spot. 
 

The fact we have signed a CM (arguably 2) without selling any suggests there was a sizeable gap in the squad.  It was a risk. And it worked out. But we were light and it could’ve cost us.  
 

It almost feels like rewriting history but saying that we were not light in midfield when we didn’t replace, we didn’t struggle when Longstaff was out with the balance of midfield and and that one injury to Bruno who was struggling badly would have seen the wheels completely come off.

 

 

[The Prophet]

We were light in midfield. The club played a calculated gamble and it paid off.

[MrRaspberryJam]

6 minutes ago, Matt1892 said:

Leicester.

 

Oh aye the game where we needed 1pt to qualify for the CL. Definitely nearly lost out on our CL spot there.

 

[Matt1892]

It is getting a bit like this with the transfer window. 
 

“How many out of 10 do you rate this window”

 

[Whitley mag]

10 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

 

I mean, Kudos hasn't arrived and all Szob has done is dived for a penalty. So those comparisons might turn out to be fine. 

 

 

 

Early days but they will be comparisons that will be made as season progresses. In my opinion we took the safe route and went with PL experience, time will tell if that was the correct approach.

[The Prophet]

I'm probably completely wrong, but my reading was that once we bought Tonali we no longer wanted a Maddison/Szoboszlai type of player.

[Theregulars]

12 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

I think no matter who we signed - if fully fit - these would all start the season with the shirt. 
 

 

If we signed Anderson, imo he would start on the bench until Schar levels dropped or rotation comes in.   Likewise I think Burn has the LB position to lose and even if he loses it - I reckon it’s more of a job share.  If Gordon plays on the left the problem with Miggy is that his competition is Murphy 

 

I undertand and to some extent agree with your reasoning: in theory we're light at competition for right centre back. My hope if we don't get one (and I still think it's an if) is that Howe will have Lascelles in the best possible condition to deputise. I acknowledge a bias but I'm really happy to give Lascelles that opportunity for what he's given the club in his time here. If we get shafted in a match as a result then I concede defeat. 

 

The Burn criticism I think is based less on watching him than just thinking "he's a CB at LB". I think Burn has been brilliant and felt a bit uncomfortable with the idea of buying a starting LB to demote him. Again it's an area where rotation will help - hence Hall - but I think Burn is plenty good enough. 

 

Re Murpphy - as someone who has slated him in the past - he's totally adequate competition and back-up. He understands the system through and through, is fit as a fiddle, carries out instructions and has goals and assists in him. You've got to have capable players who are happy to sit on the bench for most of a season and still give you everything - he is that, and is therefore such a valuable squad commodity in my view. 

 

I think, overall, we're a rotational squad defender light for a 4-fronted campaign. Proceeding without reinforcement is a small, but not insignificant, and in my view justifiable risk. 

[XLVIII]

I’m not going to rate this window, but I long for the days we signed the likes of Rossi and Sibierski…

[The College Dropout]

11 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

We were light in midfield. The club played a calculated gamble and it paid off.

Tbh I don’t think they expected us to finish 4th.  Our January was not a ‘let’s go get a 4th spot’ window. 
 

If we were in a similar spot this season. I don’t think they do the same things. 

[Theregulars]

19 minutes ago, Matt1892 said:

Leicester.

Yes - my mistake - Anderson did start. 

[Theregulars]

15 minutes ago, Matt1892 said:

It almost feels like rewriting history but saying that we were not light in midfield when we didn’t replace, we didn’t struggle when Longstaff was out with the balance of midfield and and that one injury to Bruno who was struggling badly would have seen the wheels completely come off.

 

 

This is all accurate, we gambled and got lucky in that regard. With that said, I don't look at our CM options now and think we're going to be light unless there's an unpredictably high concentration of injuries in that area. 

[The College Dropout]

3 minutes ago, Theregulars said:

This is all accurate, we gambled and got lucky in that regard. With that said, I don't look at our CM options now and think we're going to be light unless there's an unpredictably high concentration of injuries in that area. 

Aye but we’ve spent £50m on a new CM. Not sold any. And our academy lads in that position have developed. Hall can also play there. We’re much stronger there now compared to Jan. 

[Theregulars]

23 minutes ago, Matt1892 said:

I think for a team to improve from our position is done by buying better players and creating more competition for places.

 

It is then up to those new players to take the spots held by Schar, Burn and Miggy. In the same way it is on them to put in performances so they remain first choice.

 

I can’t imagine a position where we say that we shouldn’t buy better players in those positions because other people deserve to be guaranteed starters and not challenged.

Sorry - perhaps I didn't make my point as I intended. I meant to say that those players have earned the shirt and the right to play such that I don't think having rotation / better competition for them now is an immediate priority (in the same way that another midfielder was, and cover for Trippier was). I completely agree that the ideal scenario would be more competition across the squad to raise levels, but (regardless of what we think of them) clearly there are spending and acquisition limits. 

 

I think it all plays into what @The College Dropoutis saying: 7/10 is reasonable simply because 10/10 or 9/10 would mean the squad is closer to flawless / 2 purples for every position. People who expect that perfection or close to it will always be disappointed - the owners and manager have said evolution not revolution etc. 

 

I do think a lot of it is shopping syndrome - more is better.

[Theregulars]

1 minute ago, The College Dropout said:

Aye but we’ve spent £50m on a new CM. Not sold any. And our academy lads in that position have developed. Hall can also play there. We’re much stronger there now compared to Jan. 

Completely agree - we've significantly improved. 

[Joe1984]

11 hours ago, MrRaspberryJam said:

To what extent do you believe that Anthony Gordon has the skills and knowledge to perform on the wing effectively?

 

- Not at all

- to some extent

- very much so

- don't know

It's a don't know at the moment.

 

I'm not gonna start rating a player who's been here 5 minutes.

 

He's needs time to get up to fitness and used the Eddie way of playing. Then we will see if there is anything there.

 

Think Joelinton under Bruce compared To under Eddie.

 

I'm not saying he will become a world class player. If the potential for that is in him, then its down to him to apply himself and unlock that potential.

 

Same for any player really.

[MrRaspberryJam]

[Rich]

Is it possible for us to have a 10/10 window with FFP constraints as they are, do we reckon?

 

I've been thinking about it since being eviscerated by hakka and my own reading of the window is massively clouded by my "FFP is bollocks" stance from last season. I honestly didn't think it would hamstring us so much, especially after finishing fourth, though I do think we're being a bit cautious when compared to other clubs.

 

Heading into the window I expected us to be looking for a right-sided centre-back to challenge Schär, a first-choice left-back to replace Burn, a first-choice central midfielder to replace Longstaff, possibly a younger central midfielder to bring through (Miley has negated this), and a right-winger to challenge Almirón. I thought we'd spend around £150M (net).

 

I was thinking Maxi would stay for another season, but I kept going back and forth over whether he'd leave or not. He's clearly had to leave for FFP reasons and we've still only been able to spend around £93M net, around two-thirds of my expectation while losing a really useful player from the squad.

 

I'm still more than happy with the business done, though I understand the argument that it's a little more "long-term" than people would like when there are some positions in the first XI that are a constant source of frustration. That's why I'd probably settle on an "8" or a "very good", depending on how you'd define it.

 

The recruitment team and leadership team are clearly thinking much more bigger picture than I am, though. They've given me very little reason to doubt them so far and, injury crisis pending, I'm still confident of another superb season despite the increased demands on the squad.

 

Still, a "9" for me would've been Maxi staying in addition to the business done, while a "10" would be a surprise right-winger coming in between now and the deadline that is clearly better than what we've got there, but maybe Miggy and Murphy are planning on making me eat my words again.