Go on then…Rate the summer 2024 Transfer window.

[Elliottman]

5 minutes ago, macphisto said:

Does that mean much as we've been mostly terrible during the Ashley years? 

It depends how long you’ve supported the club.

 

But given they’ve been here about two and half years and the mess they inherited I’d say yes, means a lot. 

[TRon]

1 hour ago, Upthemags said:

There are some good points in this post, but there's a glaring hole throughout this, and a glaring hole with letting a manager dictate transfer policy:

 

The manager simply does not have enough hours in the day to be well versed in the young talent throughout the world. And, relatedly, the manager's skill is not in identifying talent before it has fully blossomed. That means that regardless of how judicious Eddie is and how long-term his thinking is, he simply isn't the right man to be making transfer decisions that have (literally) decades-long ramifications for the club.

 

I have no doubt Eddie rightly identified Guehi as someone who could step right in, and immediately perform and push us forward. The problem, though, is in a PSR world, we can't field a team of Guehis. Whether we like it or not, our revenues means we have to play ball the way your Brightons play ball, your Aston Villas, your West Hams. We simply cannot afford to bring in 1 Marc Guehi (or zero Marc Guehis) each summer window. We'd never field a complete Champions-League challenging team as players would age out before new ones could be brought in.

 

The point has been (rightly) belabored on here by some that a DoFs job is to have an eye for the long term. That is spot on. My hope is that for future windows, Mitchell comes to Eddie with a list of players to pick from, and we go from there. I really hope that isn't a breaking point for Eddie if it were to come to fruition because we would be losing a top 5 manager in the league.

 

In any case, if we keep up our current form, this is all probably a non-issue. If we finish 5th, I can't see PIF moving to expel Eddie or to rock the boat/change transfer policy in any way. And I think any of us would be happy if that were the case.

 

 

Great post. I also agree in large parts with Cronky's post, but I do think the game has moved beyond the manager controlling recruitment. As it is, I think the lack of movement in this transfer window might well lead to some departures of our biggest players if we don't qualify for Europe, which means we'll have to start the process over with whatever proceeds they bring in.

 

Hopefully we'll have a storming season though and that will solve all problems in one go.

[Deuce]