NUFC Transfer Rumours

[Skeletor]

Its also not being spoilt to be unhappy at key positions not being filled. Especially one that hasn't been filled for 6 windows straight.

[nufc123]

13 minutes ago, Hhtoon said:

Honestly, I'll be disappointed if we don't strengthen as I want us to be the best we can be. But I can understand why it may not happen and I won't disrespect the owners who have done so much for us by saying they've failed.

I think you can praise the owners, and at the same time calling things out for different reasons. Sorry didnt mean to start a debate here. Move on..

 

 

Edited August 20, 2024 by nufc123

[ponsaelius]

I'm actually starting to think we might not do anything. I get the caution over getting it right but this will have been a disaster of a window if we don't deliver on at least one of those key positions.

[midds]

3 minutes ago, ponsaelius said:

I'm actually starting to think we might not do anything. I get the caution over getting it right but this will have been a disaster of a window if we don't deliver on at least one of those key positions.

It's absolutely a possibility like. What's worse - spending no money or spending it poorly? 

 

I'm sure the club could go around throwing bids in like out of date confetti but would that end up being counter productive in the long term?  

[Holloway]

a bit Dalglishy 

[Sibierski]

I think it's fair to question what is happening this summer, and come September, I'm sure in the international break there will be some comms either directly or in-directly from the club that outlines what the situation has been and plans moving forward.

 

Think this week will determine if club persists with signing Guehi, or ditches the CB option and puts the money and effort into a RW and gamble that we can get through to January when Botman is back and then make it to summer (if an opportunist chance doesn't come in January).

[Miggys First Goal]

So we could be in for a busy week or a boring week. 

[andycap]

3 minutes ago, midds said:

It's absolutely a possibility like. What's worse - spending no money or spending it poorly? 

 

I'm sure the club could go around throwing bids in like out of date confetti but would that end up being counter productive in the long term?  

The others around us have spent though which means we've stood still. Can we afford to do that? 

[Joelinton7]

54 minutes ago, nufc123 said:

Its not the fans talking about ambitions and Europe is it?

Aye, Eddie and the players have said as much that Champions League is our aim this year as well as a trophy win. 

[midds]

1 minute ago, andycap said:

The others around us have spent though which means we've stood still. Can we afford to do that? 

I'm just suggesting that spending on the wrong players could be potentially worse than not strengthening enough. We can all see that we're short in a few areas so it comes down to a choice of going with what we've got and waiting or signing a poor player who we're then stuck with and can't shift. It's not cut and dried imo

[Pablo]

I’m sure we will do something late if we can. Possibly loan with options if we aren’t sure.

keep our powder dry until the real targets are available. We are a proper club now, albeit limited in our spending power.

[Lazarus]

If we dont sign anyone think of how much we'll be able to spunk next summer!

[Ginola]

3 minutes ago, midds said:

I'm just suggesting that spending on the wrong players could be potentially worse than not strengthening enough. We can all see that we're short in a few areas so it comes down to a choice of going with what we've got and waiting or signing a poor player who we're then stuck with and can't shift. It's not cut and dried imo

 

I think this is exactly why it looks like we're going stronger for someone who we view as the right long term player in Guehi, rather than 2 players of lower quality for CB and RW that we'll need to replace again soon

[Theregulars]

18 minutes ago, midds said:

It's absolutely a possibility like. What's worse - spending no money or spending it poorly? 

 

I'm sure the club could go around throwing bids in like out of date confetti but would that end up being counter productive in the long term?  

I get this line of thinking but I think we’d be hard-pressed to spend the money poorly. It’s not difficult to imagine an upgrade at centre half and at right wing for a combined £65-70m, especially if you purport to have hired one of the most exciting scouting minds in the game. 
 

If the club’s formal position is that they don’t think those players exist I’d have to take it at face value, but I’d have serious reservations about the new set-up and the ownership’s continued appetite to improve.

[ponsaelius]

The Matt Targett signing is probably for me what a misstep for us in the market looks like. It was well reported at the time he wasn't our first choice for left back, but we ended up going for him permanently to get the requisite body in the door early and get our window rolling that summer.

 

Ultimately though he was right in the 'buy wrong, buy twice' category given that we've since signed two new left backs in his position. Wrong age, wrong pricepoint and ultimately just the wrong profile. Unlucky with injuries no doubt but ultimately even without those injuries he's an example of a bad signing I'd say given that he'd only ever have plugged a gap and then depreciate in value. He's obviously better and more expensive but I think Joe Gomez would fall into a similar category and would be a mistake of a signing. 

 

What I would say is I feel like we've lost all confidence in the Nickson type signings from Europe. There has to be Bruno, Botman type profiles we can go for in that £30-40 million price point with minimal fuss negotiating with European clubs. There has barely been a single solid rumour of that type except for Thiaw.

 

This is the first window so far where I'm really struggling to get my head around what we're doing, and as a result also worrying that we don't really know either.

[midds]

1 minute ago, Theregulars said:

I get this line of thinking but I think we’d be hard-pressed to spend the money poorly. It’s not difficult to imagine an upgrade at centre half and at right wing for a combined £65-70m, especially if you purport to have hired one of the most exciting scouting minds in the game. 
 

If the club’s formal position is that they don’t think those players exist I’d have to take it at face value, but I’d have serious reservations about the new set-up and the ownership’s continued appetite to improve.

I broadly agree mate, I'm just trying to weigh it up myself. Spend nothing and wait until target#1 becomes available or buy badly and be saddled with target#3 for 4 years. We're in the unfortunate position where we have to get our buys correct or it'll fuck us 3 years down the line. We need direct hit after direct hit after direct hit and settling for a player we're not 100% convinced about could potentially shaft us. It's not an exact science, we all know we're short but it's stick or twist time 

[gbandit]

I agree with your post @ponsaelius. I remember we all expected the deal to be done at the start of the window and it dragged on for a bit while we were linked with that Brazilian LB who went to Forest? It felt to me like Howe didn’t want to go for Targett but like has been said, it was an easy transfer to do and it did improve us at the time. In terms of value, he was never going to increase but he could have held his value. It’s possible we could still make our money back on him if he goes on loan this season and performs well. It’s hardly a disastrous signing but has hampered us 

[Theregulars]

3 minutes ago, midds said:

I broadly agree mate, I'm just trying to weigh it up myself. Spend nothing and wait until target#1 becomes available or buy badly and be saddled with target#3 for 4 years. We're in the unfortunate position where we have to get our buys correct or it'll fuck us 3 years down the line. We need direct hit after direct hit after direct hit and settling for a player we're not 100% convinced about could potentially shaft us. It's not an exact science, we all know we're short but it's stick or twist time 

Yeh that’s a really good analysis - the conversations likely include those very points. Is it worth going with number 2/3 for this number now when he may be available for that number next year etc.

 

FWIW I think it’s worth doing now if a player is 25 and under - Howe would likely at least turn them into a saleable asset. 
 

Against that backdrop, a loan and one big buy seems reasonable. 

[RobsonsWonderland]

4 minutes ago, gbandit said:

I agree with your post @ponsaelius. I remember we all expected the deal to be done at the start of the window and it dragged on for a bit while we were linked with that Brazilian LB who went to Forest? It felt to me like Howe didn’t want to go for Targett but like has been said, it was an easy transfer to do and it did improve us at the time. In terms of value, he was never going to increase but he could have held his value. It’s possible we could still make our money back on him if he goes on loan this season and performs well. It’s hardly a disastrous signing but has hampered us 

He also benefitted massively from being better than Matt Richie at Fullback.

 

Do think its sliding doors as injury free he might have pushed on as a player (like others have)

[J7]

Obviously we can only really judge at the end of the window, but I do find it a bit odd that we’d be able to attract someone of the pedigree of Mitchell, then seemingly draw a blank on signing first team players when we have two obvious gaps. 
 

I do wonder if there’s more going on behind the scenes than we know about with this reported power play by Howe and the ‘final say’ stuff. 
 

That said, I’m purely speculating. Let’s hope we’re just not hearing about who we’re after.

[midds]

18 minutes ago, Theregulars said:

Yeh that’s a really good analysis - the conversations likely include those very points. Is it worth going with number 2/3 for this number now when he may be available for that number next year etc.

 

FWIW I think it’s worth doing now if a player is 25 and under - Howe would likely at least turn them into a saleable asset. 
 

Against that backdrop, a loan and one big buy seems reasonable. 

That would be a canny compromise

 

It's not an enviable position to be in for Mitchell and I'll understand whatever he chooses to do. He seems a smart bloke and I'm sure he's working as hard as he can for the club, just because little is leaking out doesn't mean nothing is actually happening. In years gone by I'm sure Charnley was 100% sitting on his hands without any intention of spending a single penny but this lot absolutely want the club to be as good as it possibly can be. I'm totally convinced they're working on things behind the scenes and making the decisions they think are correct for the club. 

 

If nothing happens - ok, go with it and see what the crack is like in January

If they go big - we've got target#1 and we're sure he'll slot in immediately

If they go medium/small - it'll refresh the squad a little and we'll probably get value for money with money still to spend in January

 

I'm just going to trust them and try and enjoy the games personally 

[Gallowgate Toon]

I'm all for trying to get A1 players etc. but there's more than one way to build a squad if that route isn't available. If anything, PSR has introduced more chess playing that you should be doing to maximise the game, as shit as that is.

 

If we don't get any additional competition for at least either CB or RW by the end of the window then it would be very poor - no other way to spin it.

[Whitley mag]

56 minutes ago, ponsaelius said:

The Matt Targett signing is probably for me what a misstep for us in the market looks like. It was well reported at the time he wasn't our first choice for left back, but we ended up going for him permanently to get the requisite body in the door early and get our window rolling that summer.

 

Ultimately though he was right in the 'buy wrong, buy twice' category given that we've since signed two new left backs in his position. Wrong age, wrong pricepoint and ultimately just the wrong profile. Unlucky with injuries no doubt but ultimately even without those injuries he's an example of a bad signing I'd say given that he'd only ever have plugged a gap and then depreciate in value. He's obviously better and more expensive but I think Joe Gomez would fall into a similar category and would be a mistake of a signing. 

 

What I would say is I feel like we've lost all confidence in the Nickson type signings from Europe. There has to be Bruno, Botman type profiles we can go for in that £30-40 million price point with minimal fuss negotiating with European clubs. There has barely been a single solid rumour of that type except for Thiaw.

 

This is the first window so far where I'm really struggling to get my head around what we're doing, and as a result also worrying that we don't really know either.

Fully agree with the part that we’ve lost confidence in our scouting and the Ashworth, Staveley episodes confirm power lines at the club have been blurred.

 

Mark Douglas alluded to this last night and questioned the point of our world wide scouting network currently.

 

There’s a lot of dynamics at play here, the relationship between Howe and Mitchell, also Eales is very much under pressure as Staveley appears to have been the deal maker previously, we end this window with nobody and there’s serious questions to be answered.

 

 

Edited August 20, 2024 by Whitley mag

[gbandit]

I do like serious questions. One thing I can’t handle is casual or half-hearted questions. Serious or nothing for me. Love to read a good post about power lines and dynamics when there’s no evidence to really back it up as well

[Terrymac1966]

Fits nicely with the end of June panic. Those in charge of driving us forward have left and we are in a mess of pottage with no obvious scouting network involved here ...bet my bottom dollar minor European clubs have picked up some damn good centre backs due to how effective their scouts are. Why are we not hearing of Argentinian Brazilian Eastern European up and coming. It seems messy and to a certain extent more reactive than preplanned.