Claudio Fannieri

On that basis I think it’s far more likely he will head back to the North West and his native Liverpool. On that basis I would think that puts Stoke as favourites although wouldn’t be suprised to see Blackburn get involved but a lot will depend on finances as I am sure his wages will still be a pretty big commitment for any championship club.

I would also add lack of football intelligence to that as well. He seems to be quite reactionary in his play, his pace and ability to run around a lot makes up for a player who is poor in possession.

Might be reading a bit too much into this but we are linked with a keeper and then Mads is nowhere to be seen in the match day squad yet the 2 keepers rumoured to be available to leave end up involved. I do wonder if there is some concrete interest in Mads and the club is considering cashing in.

This is exactly the type of signing we need to make to get back to the our successful model. If we want to be successful and get back to being a progressive club then we have to accept that buying players with a high ceiling but accepting that in within 2/3 seasons we are likely to move them on for a significant profit and then rinse and repeat. We are starting to rebuild a portfolio of assets that can potentially be sold on in the future for significant profit, we have Mads, Abdul, Stephy, hopefully Okoli can become one and we can add a couple more before the end of the window alongside our academy prospects such as Nelson, Alves, Braybrooke, Popov and Richards etc Our recovery is going to take time but the more we see academy prospects progressing and the signing of young, hungry players then the more likely we will see us start to move back to the club we were 6/7 years ago.

As with all the players who played last night, it obviously needs to be tempered with the quality of the opposition, however a goal, assist and a very good performance shows what he can bring to the club and if this gives us another rotation option and a decent alternative for the front 3 positions then I think he could prove to be a solid if unspectacular addition.

Not sure why the obsession about comparing with Nelson, again like Alves and Facundo, Okoli has clear benefitted from his loan with Frosione and that gives him a massive advantage in terms of experience and dealing with top level football. Nelson desperately needs a season on loan to play 30+ games and gain that much needed experience and know how. I actually think in 12 months Okoli and Nelson could be a very good partnership especially if we do drop back into the championship.

Very promising cameo and great to see him get some minutes under his belt, however let’s remember it was against a tiring league 2 side. Reality is he will is unlikely to get significant game time here this season so the sensible option is a loan to a team where he can thrive and play 30 games + and target a minimum of 12-15 goal involvements. With that level of experience under his belt I think he returns next season ready to step up and be a regular in our match day squad regardless of division. personally I would like to see him get a loan to a league one side, challenge him but also provide him with an opportunity where he can take games by the scruff of the neck. Physically I thought he looked very good, he has definitely been working hard in the gym.

I thought apart from one error, Okoli had a decent game and looked pretty solid. Mavididi and Ricardo have to start vs Villa with BDR and Kristiansen dropping out and JJ moving to the left.

Too be fair that was a decent performance, played some really good stuff at times, granted it was league two opposition but even so can’t complain with tonight.

Just a thought, there have been lots of rumours of Ramsdale leaving Arsenal in this window, could it be they have come in for Hermansen as direct competition to Raya and we have decided to cash in and are frantically lining up a replacement.

Shakey

My big concerns regarding Cooper is that he has had a full pre season schedule including a number of friendlies and yet we look at 6’s and 7’s out of possession and in possession we lack any kind of control and it all seems a bit slap dash and without any real patterns of play. In addition we seem to be very passive and intensity has been low with the exception of that 20 minute or so purple patch against Spurs. I have an unnerving feeling that Cooper has some genuine limitations as a coach and already the squad are sensing this hence the rumoured morale issues and now we are hearing/seeing some players are unhappy and possibly want out. I think the club have massively dropped the ball on this appointment and unless they address pretty quickly can only see the situation getting worse. The momentum, energy and confidence associated with newly promoted teams seem to have evaporated already and he is constantly talking down the squad in terms of ability and the step up, we all know this season is going to be tough but too hear the manager constantly harping on about the levels, the step up and the adjustment of a squad littered with premier league experience is becoming as draining and damaging as it was listening to Rodgers and his refresh.

Just watched the documentary it was a brilliant watch. What a fantastic man, great outlook on life and amazing attitude to adversity.

I am sure there is a post like this nearly the end of every transfer window and it invariably ends with very little happening. I will wait with baited breath and to also be disappointed

Wonder if this is a club signing rather than a Cooper driven signing. Fits the profile of the types of signings made last summer.

I have an horrendous feeling something like that will happen, either Aurier or Djed Spence

Not sure where to post this but Head of Operations Justine Hewitt has left to the club to join Lancashire CCC

Appreciate that, clearly though some of the players seem very disappointed with Cooper, seems like a massive opportunity missed when Enzo left to bring in another forward thinking dynamic coach and instead we have plumped for an uninspired choice and already we are seeing the consequences of such short sighted thinking.

Not ideal situation at this stage and the circumstances rings some alarm bells as to whether the club is a happy ship. My bigger concern is our ability to bring in a suitable replacement, given Coopers current desire for proven premier league experience I wouldn’t be shocked or surprised if we signed Steve Cook 😩

What is concerning is this is a player happy to stay last season and play in the championship in the season leading up to a major tournament and yet now we are back in the premier league he wants out, suggests that all is not well and it does make you wonder if there others in a similar situation, Riccy P for example.

Don’t disagree in the slightest, I just hope once we do finally get our act together and issue a post/statement it is at least worthy of the man.

We have posted about the Carabao Cup fixture so social media team are active. We were slower than other clubs regards Shakey as well but in fairness when we did post it was a very touching and well thought out statement. Hopefully they will follow suit for Sven.

Tough few weeks for the club, losing 2 large personalities and key people in the success of King Power and Leicester City. Whilst Sven was unable to deliver on the field success there is no doubt his appointment massively raised the profile of the club and attracted some big name players. RIP Sven

Personally I think 31 points will see us relegated I think we will need like 34/35 as a minimum which will mean us accruing 41/42 points. My concern is given the mentality of trying not to get beat rather than trying to win games, we will struggle to secure the necessary wins to get us anywhere near. Given Coopers mentality to date I can see us drawing a lot and struggling to get more than 25 points but this is just my personal opinion and as my lad reminded me yesterday I am terribly negative this season 😂

Great post and what I would say is that in no way do I think Rudkin should be the scapegoat, this is a collective clusterfcuk with a number of people carrying a degree of accountability. Top, Whelan, Rudkin. Rodgers and his staff all significantly contributed to our demise and the current mess we find ourselves in. The landscape of the game and the club has changed so much over the last 10 years and it feels like the club have just kept faith with the tried and tested, this has proven to be outdated and naive. Rudkin has so many roles within KP, we should have a 100% focused DoF not split across 3 or 4 other projects. In truth Top either needs to radically shake up our operations, bring in reinforcements or restructure so the people in the roles are fully committed and do not have other work based distractions or commitments or he needs to make some ruthless changes of personnel because the current structure and the people within it are no longer fit for purpose. The only other solution if he is not prepared to move with the times is to accept that this is perhaps no longer a viable business to run and sell up. We need freshening up this current regime is stale, and we need new ideas and impetus. Whether that is a changing of the guard or a freshening up of his senior management/exec team but something needs to happen quickly because the football operations and non football sides of the business are falling very short.