r0cafella Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 18 minutes ago, Optimistic Nut said: Top GK, plus another as backup would be ideal but if we have to keep Pope another year or could haggle Ramsdale down to £12-15m as backup, I'd settle for that. Left & right-back cover is essential. Someone like Hickey from Brentford who can play both would be the jackpot, like. I'd be keeping Schar or Burn but not both. Go for a younger defender 25 or under who'd push Thiaw & Botman for their spot. Sell whoever fetches the biggest fee out of Schar & Burn. Sell two of Woltemade/Wissa/Osula, not arsed which two. Get the number 9 signing right in the summer. Sell Murphy, sign a new RW. I think that'd be enough of a squad to compete for top 5 when we have either no Europe, or Europa/Conference League level opposition in Europe. We will have to see how it plays out but I imagine 2-3 of our purples are sold in the summer. Replacing them will be a massive challenge. We are at a crossroads imo. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toon25 Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Actually feeling quite optimistic about the summer We've got key people in place, and people that seemingly don't want off, so that'll put us miles ahead of where we were last summer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
r0cafella Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 2 minutes ago, toon25 said: Actually feeling quite optimistic about the summer We've got key people in place, and people that seemingly don't want off, so that'll put us miles ahead of where we were last summer. Please tell me the search of this optimisn, would legit love some Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUHRLYASLEEVESUP Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 1 game a week is going to be massive for us next season, will paper over loads of cracks & we can all give high 5s to the magnificent job he & Hopkins look to have done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
r0cafella Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Oh yeah I expect an improvement next season regardless. I'm more concerned about the long term and closing the gap to those cartel clubs though. I hope I'm wrong but I think replacing our stars will be extremely tough but I expect improvement because we might actually look like the sun of our parts next year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groundhog63 Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 23 hours ago, Milburn said: Fair enough. Personally I’d like the manager to be plug and play and rather easy to replace. But of course, a structure like that is not built overnight. Deluded patter that, tbh Plug and play manager, is it? 😂😂😂😂 That might graft if you've a club with unlimited funds and a massive squad of expensive players, it doesn't more often than not, but it might. ( See Chelsea, Liverpool post Klopp, Manure) Top two teams in the "best league in the world" have resident managers so bucking your ideal We've got the best guy for the job. It may be frustrating but we need someone who's looking after the long term journey. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Character and personality is key. I don’t expect many of the old guard to leave. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holloway Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 aye he's not going to bin off a significant part of the leadership group. I'd imagine Schar and Willock will go, Pope it will surely depend upon his willingness to accept the back up role Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PauloGeordio Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 31 minutes ago, Holloway said: aye he's not going to bin off a significant part of the leadership group. I'd imagine Schar and Willock will go, Pope it will surely depend upon his willingness to accept the back up role If he recovers from his injury I can see Fabby getting another year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBrownBottle Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 1 hour ago, Groundhog63 said: Deluded patter that, tbh Plug and play manager, is it? 😂😂😂😂 That might graft if you've a club with unlimited funds and a massive squad of expensive players, it doesn't more often than not, but it might. ( See Chelsea, Liverpool post Klopp, Manure) Top two teams in the "best league in the world" have resident managers so bucking your ideal We've got the best guy for the job. It may be frustrating but we need someone who's looking after the long term journey. The top manager in the league had zero experience before taking his current role; which suggests that the idea that these head coaches are irreplaceable because there’s no-one out there might be overstating things Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Prophet Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 2 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said: The top manager in the league had zero experience before taking his current role; which suggests that the idea that these head coaches are irreplaceable because there’s no-one out there might be overstating things True, that manager was also given a lot of patience and resource to get his team where it is today though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBrownBottle Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 1 minute ago, The Prophet said: True, that manager was also given a lot of patience and resource to get his team where it is today though. Absolutely - Arteta can be used to justify picking your man and backing him, and also to justify the idea that ‘who can you name who could do the job’ doesn’t hold water because it’s possible to appoint the right man from nowhere. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
r0cafella Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 Just now, TheBrownBottle said: Absolutely - Arteta can be used to justify picking your man and backing him, and also to justify the idea that ‘who can you name who could do the job’ doesn’t hold water because it’s possible to appoint the right man from nowhere. Absolutely and id argue Eddie has had similar backing to Lego head too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBrownBottle Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 2 minutes ago, r0cafella said: Absolutely and id argue Eddie has had similar backing to Lego head too. Pro rata he definitely has - with the proviso he was starting from a higher base, of course (before the inevitable comment re this) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Prophet Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 19 minutes ago, r0cafella said: Absolutely and id argue Eddie has had similar backing to Lego head too. Potentially in terms of pure finance, but Howe hasn't faced anywhere near as much pressure as Arteta did because he's yet to finish significantly below par. In footballing terms, it was a very rare show of support from the Arsenal board. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interpolic Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 It hasn't exactly been plain sailing for Howe in terms of steady additions to the squad - we've not made a major signing in 4 of the last 5 transfer windows and he lost his best player. Meanwhile Arteta is adding expensive players every season on top of a very strong base, paying top end salaries. Look at the 2 squads. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groundhog63 Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 1 hour ago, TheBrownBottle said: The top manager in the league had zero experience before taking his current role; which suggests that the idea that these head coaches are irreplaceable because there’s no-one out there might be overstating things I didn't suggest otherwise Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBrownBottle Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 2 minutes ago, Groundhog63 said: I didn't suggest otherwise Sorry Groundhog, I know you didn’t - it’s why I had the semi-colon, but I should have been less lazy and made it a separate comment. Apologies. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groundhog63 Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 30 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said: Sorry Groundhog, I know you didn’t - it’s why I had the semi-colon, but I should have been less lazy and made it a separate comment. Apologies. Don't be daft, gave me an opportunity to feel smug 😂😂😂 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peppe Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 3 hours ago, r0cafella said: Please tell me the search of this optimisn, would legit love some Me too, I just assume all our good players will leave for Liverpool, because that will cause the most harm to my sanity Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 17 minutes ago, Peppe said: Me too, I just assume all our good players will leave for Liverpool, because that will cause the most harm to my sanity I'm honestly already angry about how next summer went and it's barely spring. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peppe Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 5 hours ago, Mike said: I'm honestly already angry about how next summer went and it's barely spring. Aye Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRC Posted April 20 Share Posted April 20 Pressure is on this bloke in the summer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBG Posted April 20 Share Posted April 20 Just the summer? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcmk Posted April 20 Share Posted April 20 On 09/03/2026 at 07:07, Optimistic Nut said: Top GK, plus another as backup would be ideal but if we have to keep Pope another year or could haggle Ramsdale down to £12-15m as backup, I'd settle for that. Left & right-back cover is essential. Someone like Hickey from Brentford who can play both would be the jackpot, like. I'd be keeping Schar or Burn but not both. Go for a younger defender 25 or under who'd push Thiaw & Botman for their spot. Sell whoever fetches the biggest fee out of Schar & Burn. Sell two of Woltemade/Wissa/Osula, not arsed which two. Get the number 9 signing right in the summer. Sell Murphy, sign a new RW. I think that'd be enough of a squad to compete for top 5 when we have either no Europe, or Europa/Conference League level opposition in Europe. We definitely need a specialist like a Caicedo in midfield. I wouldn't keep Ramsdale, don't think any of the defence trusts him. I think he's a total liability. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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