NUFC Transfer Rumours

[southernmag]

3 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

Would assume that is always the goal for every club tbf. 

 

It's good to hear him say it though, shows he doesn't have his head in the sand.

[Izakaya]

9 minutes ago, Shadow Puppets said:

One of Eddie’s most interesting quotes yesterday was that it’s important to get the squad in a good shape (squad size / transfer wise) in the week leading up to the start of the season. So it sounds like every effort will be made to get a couple of signings minimum in in the next 3 weeks.
 

 

Well..yeah, isn't that just what every club does every season anyway?

[SUPERTOON]

9 minutes ago, southernmag said:

 

It's good to hear him say it though, shows he doesn't have his head in the sand.

Of course he doesn't, if it was up to him, we would have had all business done by day one of pre season. 

[Infinitely Content]

Thinking specifically of Bruno, Tonali, Isak and Botman, do we think they were of the same 'pool' of players at the time of signing as those we've gone for this summer - namely Pedro, Ekitike, Cunha, Scalvini etc? Or perhaps were they of a tier below at that time? I feel the Elanga signing is very similar to the Gordon signing, whereas Bruno, Tonali etc had a higher reputation and were more accomplished players already.

It appears we're struggling to convince our identified targets to join the club and beyond simply money I'm struggling to understand why exactly? We've a really talented team, one of the best managers around, 2 out of the last 3 years Champions League qualification, a major trophy won... 

Eddie Howe's comments are right in that there's a small pool of players which would genuinely improve us, but for me players of the calibre of Bruno, Tonali etc as they were at the time of arrival would absolutely improve us.

[nufc123]

37 minutes ago, southernmag said:

One or two posters have said CM isn't a priority.

Madness.

[Zero]

 

1 minute ago, Infinitely Content said:

Thinking specifically of Bruno, Tonali, Isak and Botman, do we think they were of the same 'pool' of players at the time of signing as those we've gone for this summer - namely Pedro, Ekitike, Cunha, Scalvini etc? Or perhaps were they of a tier below at that time? I feel the Elanga signing is very similar to the Gordon signing, whereas Bruno, Tonali etc had a higher reputation and were more accomplished players already.

It appears we're struggling to convince our identified targets to join the club and beyond simply money I'm struggling to understand why exactly? We've a really talented team, one of the best managers around, 2 out of the last 3 years Champions League qualification, a major trophy won... 

Eddie Howe's comments are right in that there's a small pool of players which would genuinely improve us, but for me players of the calibre of Bruno, Tonali etc as they were at the time of arrival would absolutely improve us.

two reasons I can think of
1. We changed our approach and now looking at established / proven players, we all know this so I won’t elaborate more

 

2. I think we have been “targeted” or “bookmarked” by the other big clubs. In the past they probably don’t care what players we got. Now they do. Probably because of our ridiculous success rate (we almost got all our transfers spot on in terms of value of money). I genuinely think Ekitike case falls in this category. Very likely if we didn’t bid for Ekitike this summer, Liverpool would not submit the bid as well, and Ekitike would stay at Frankfurt. 

[southernmag]

3 minutes ago, Infinitely Content said:

Thinking specifically of Bruno, Tonali, Isak and Botman, do we think they were of the same 'pool' of players at the time of signing as those we've gone for this summer - namely Pedro, Ekitike, Cunha, Scalvini etc? Or perhaps were they of a tier below at that time? I feel the Elanga signing is very similar to the Gordon signing, whereas Bruno, Tonali etc had a higher reputation and were more accomplished players already.

It appears we're struggling to convince our identified targets to join the club and beyond simply money I'm struggling to understand why exactly? We've a really talented team, one of the best managers around, 2 out of the last 3 years Champions League qualification, a major trophy won... 

Eddie Howe's comments are right in that there's a small pool of players which would genuinely improve us, but for me players of the calibre of Bruno, Tonali etc as they were at the time of arrival would absolutely improve us.

 

I may be wrong but a lot of our earlier signings were more risky in that they were largely 'nearly there' players, who could be made into elite ones, rather than players all the big clubs had already identified as obvious top of the line targets. Plus we were willing to make more pragmatic moves for the likes of Wood, Burn, Pope etc, which were important in themselves.

 

I do think there's an element of talent hoarding/poaching going on from the big clubs, ie seeing us move for a player and then just blowing us out of the water with their financial firepower. But I think something fundamental has changed from our end too. It's like we're constipated in the transfer market all of a sudden.

[Infinitely Content]

I may be wrong, but I would just find it very surprising if it was indeed the case that the big clubs were essentially just copying our homework and signing players because Newcastle want them, thus making it difficult for us to get the players we want. From what I've been led to believe about the intricacy of scouting and analysis at Premier League clubs, that approach would feel odd in that it would negate a whole department and discipline within football.

[TRC]

19 minutes ago, Infinitely Content said:

Thinking specifically of Bruno, Tonali, Isak and Botman, do we think they were of the same 'pool' of players at the time of signing as those we've gone for this summer - namely Pedro, Ekitike, Cunha, Scalvini etc? Or perhaps were they of a tier below at that time? I feel the Elanga signing is very similar to the Gordon signing, whereas Bruno, Tonali etc had a higher reputation and were more accomplished players already.

It appears we're struggling to convince our identified targets to join the club and beyond simply money I'm struggling to understand why exactly? We've a really talented team, one of the best managers around, 2 out of the last 3 years Champions League qualification, a major trophy won... 

Eddie Howe's comments are right in that there's a small pool of players which would genuinely improve us, but for me players of the calibre of Bruno, Tonali etc as they were at the time of arrival would absolutely improve us.

I don’t buy that tbh, there are multiple players at each team in the PL who would improve us. 

[Kid Icarus]

57 minutes ago, southernmag said:

One or two posters have said CM isn't a priority. I think it was an area of need even with Longstaff, as he and Willock arguably don't offer enough these days. Now that Sean's gone, we at least need a body in there to provide cover for our three starters. Ideally I'd replace Sean and Willock with better, perhaps more creative, higher ceiling players, but that seems a pipe dream at the moment.

 

I think if we take on the upcoming season without the additions we need, it'll only be a matter of time before the squad and our season breaks down. I think Eddie knows this but whether he's being enabled to fix that remains to be seen.

 

 

Big but subtle difference between priority and a priority.

 

We need a CM, but it doesn't take priority ahead of a striker and CB.

[Pilko]

There are absolutely loads of players out there who would improve us right now that we aren't signing. Either our scouts aren't finding them or our manager won't consider them.

 

I don't get the fixation with only wanting to sign from this tiny pool of about a dozen players over a period of years. Yes, by all means target them first and try get the best we can in, but when it doesn't happen why aren't we immediately making a move for the next best alternative.

 

Someone said it perfectly the other day - we're looking for upgrades on Longstaff, Wilson, Schar/Burn and Pope not Rodri, Haaland, Gvardiol and Ederson. There's fucking loads of players who would improve us - even when you put the managers key "filters" on the market e.g. can press, not a dickhead, strong, quick etc.

 

Eddie's comments about the market being tough and we can't control it etc are spot on, but that's the same for everyone outside the "cartel" and many of the other clubs seem to move, react and secure deals a hell of a lot faster than we do. We are slow movers in everything and it's really starting to harm us.

 

I'll judge it properly when the window closes of course but TL;DR version so far is we've made a difficult situation even harder by being stubborn, indecisive and slow.

[Ikon]

So, anything happening? Been quite busy. Only read about the Isak stuff. 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Not on a Sunday, surely. 

[Belfast Boy]

If plans go the way it's looking, if give Bamford a spot on the bench over DCL.

[TheInfiniteOdyssey]

Sometimes it’s not about increasing the ceiling of the squad’s quality, it’s about increasing the floor. 

[Dr Venkman]

Get Trafford Done 

[NUFCDoog]

The position we need to strengthen least is the goalkeeper, so I expect we'll go rest of the summer pissing about, sign no one, then last couple weeks we'll have it confirmed Isak is staying and end up signing Trafford.

 

We'll then be gaslighted into believing it's a good window. 

[Mole]

I get the impression from everything I've read this summer they've tried to improve the squad by improving the first XI and thus moving people who were guaranteed starters to strong rotation pieces instead of back ups who can't be relied upon.

 

I do agree with this approach mainly when it comes to squad building if you can afford to do so, but it might have got to the point where you can't realistically pull that off if everyone you've tried to go for is turning you down for someone else or/and too expensive.

[jemo96]

Is Dibling still a possibility? Gone very quiet on him. Or is he just a big homesick baby. 

[gbandit]

Just now, jemo96 said:

Is Dibling still a possibility? Gone very quiet on him. Or is he just a big homesick baby. 

He’d save the window for me 

[Pilko]

13 minutes ago, TheInfiniteOdyssey said:

Sometimes it’s not about increasing the ceiling of the squad’s quality, it’s about increasing the floor. 

 

Agree. Both are important. I love that we're trying first and foremost to improve the ceiling, but it seems to be that or just sit and do nowt.

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

3 hours ago, southernmag said:

 

It's good to hear him say it though, shows he doesn't have his head in the sand.

 

In what world would Eddie Howe have his head in the sand? 

[ChrisMcQuillan]

2 hours ago, Pilko said:

There are absolutely loads of players out there who would improve us right now that we aren't signing. Either our scouts aren't finding them or our manager won't consider them.

 

I don't get the fixation with only wanting to sign from this tiny pool of about a dozen players over a period of years. Yes, by all means target them first and try get the best we can in, but when it doesn't happen why aren't we immediately making a move for the next best alternative.

 

Someone said it perfectly the other day - we're looking for upgrades on Longstaff, Wilson, Schar/Burn and Pope not Rodri, Haaland, Gvardiol and Ederson. There's fucking loads of players who would improve us - even when you put the managers key "filters" on the market e.g. can press, not a dickhead, strong, quick etc.

 

Eddie's comments about the market being tough and we can't control it etc are spot on, but that's the same for everyone outside the "cartel" and many of the other clubs seem to move, react and secure deals a hell of a lot faster than we do. We are slow movers in everything and it's really starting to harm us.

 

I'll judge it properly when the window closes of course but TL;DR version so far is we've made a difficult situation even harder by being stubborn, indecisive and slow.

 

100% fully agree with every word in this.

[Pixelphish]

I'm not feeling very sportswashed at the moment I must admit. 

[Shearergol]

28 minutes ago, NUFCDoog said:

The position we need to strengthen least is the goalkeeper, so I expect we'll go rest of the summer pissing about, sign no one, then last couple weeks we'll have it confirmed Isak is staying and end up signing Trafford.

 

We'll then be gaslighted into believing it's a good window. 

Disagree