kingfox

If we want a striker with ball carrying ability who can get us up the pitch, we may have to go all out for Fotis because there’s not really many good options around. That specific attribute is probably partly why we wanted Hlozek, Zaha and Bergwijn, you have three players there capable of getting you up the pitch and threatening on the counter. I wouldn’t say it’s Ioannidis or bust, but looking around at potential alternatives, he’s still firmly cemented as my first choice.

He can be as good as he wants to be, World class potential even, but I think the best way to describe Cherki is “Frustratingly talented”. I think his form took a dip last season because I think he expected to move to PSG, they signed Barcola instead. Blanc, Grosso and to an extent Pierre Sage, really didn’t favour him last season, as if they saw him as some kind of liability with an attitude problem. Under Sage though he had some magnificent off the bench cameos, where you really saw the best of Rayan Cherki and what he’s all about. He has the ability to light up a game and be the best player on the pitch, while another game he’ll try far too hard to make things happen and frustrate. Doubt he’d be attainable though, one of Europe’s big guns will surely take a chance on him.

All you need to do is look how Ipswich and Southampton have operated this summer, almost every signing for their first teams have experienced playing football in the Championship, Sugawara at Southampton is the only exception. This is the market we have to target, it might be a bit on the underwhelming side, but that’s where we are as a football club nowadays, we are in the same pond as Ipswich and Southampton, whether some fans like it or not. Also targeting this market will stand us in good stead should we drop back down to the Championship.

There’s a reason why he doesn’t get linked to director of football roles at other clubs, because he’s shite. Time for protests and the banners to come back out, this incompetence can’t continue any longer. Then if Top doesn’t act, then more protests and banners need to happen demanding that he sells up.

Cooper when he sees Rudkin tomorrow

Please, please, please. When it turns out to be Southampton or Ipswich

Looking forward to starting with a front three of... J.Ayew - Benteke - Zaha Against Spurs.

What’s Paddy McCarthy and Damien Delaney doing nowadays 🤔

Who next I wonder, maybe James Tomkins on a free transfer. Leicester City Crystal Palace retirement home FC.

Of the 1,000 North/South American based players you’ve suggested he might actually be the one

The new LB/LWB simply has to be more dynamic in certain areas. 1. More of a threat in the final third 2. Decent crosser 3. Able to be a ball carrier with the ability to dribble and beat a man

Just doing some digging comparing Hlozek’s 21/22 season at Sparta to Ioannidis’s 23/24 season at Panathinaikos, plenty of similarities to some key statistics... Dribbles per90 Hlozek - 5.04 Ioannidis - 5.42 Progressive Runs per90 Hlozek - 2.23 Ioannidis - 2.00 Smart Passes per90 Hlozek - 1.01 Ioannidis - 0.98 Key Passes per90 Hlozek - 0.73 Ioannidis - 0.77 Accurate Back Passes(Indication of link up play) Hlozek - 93.02% Ioannidis - 95.35% Yet more evidence that we’ve clearly targeted a certain type of player, someone that will not only get us up the pitch through dribbling and ball carrying ability, but also have the skill set to drop deep and operate pretty much like a 10.

Mentioned a few last week, but of those, I have a sneaky feeling for Nicola Zalewski of Roma. One year left on his contract and there’s been rumours of him potentially leaving.

Even if we don’t get Ioannidis, I think it’s pretty evident that we’re targeting players that give us ball carrying ability to get us up the pitch and threaten on counter attacks. Ioannidis averaged 2 progressive runs per90 in the Greece Super League last season, unfortunately there’s not many realistic strikers around who posted above that last season. For example, the only strikers in the Premier League to average over that number were Darwin Nunez, Gabriel Jesus, Alexander Isak, Nicolas Jackson and Joao Pedro.

Time to bring the nerdy stats out. Of all players to play over 1,000 minutes in the last five seasons that Zaha was in the Premier League, Zaha ranked for the following... 22/23 - 6.28 Successful Attacking Actions per90(Ranked 5th) 21/22 - 7.26 Successful Attacking Actions per90(Ranked 3rd) 20/21 - 5.29 Successful Attacking Actions per90(Ranked 12th) 19/20 - 6.86 Successful Attacking Actions per90(Ranked 4th) 18/19 - 9.39 Successful Attacking Actions per90(Ranked 2nd) Will he frustrate - Yes Will he run into blind alleys - Yes But Zaha will also make things happen in the final third, which he has proven time and time again throughout his Premier League career.

This might be a bit fvcking greedy, but one of Alfie Doughty, Archie Brown or Nicola Zalewski, along with another DM to add to Hlozek, Ioannidis and Zaha would turn this transfer window from being 1/10 to a 10/10.

The bloke is like a steam train, give me some of this at the KP!

Not my bloody fault that Rennes’s head of recruitment happens to read Foxestalk.

I said last Thursday that I wouldn’t be surprised if Zaha gets linked, a day later, boom! Ioannidis been recommended numerous times...boom! Hlozek been recommended numerous times...boom! Glover clearly just reads Foxestalk.

Zaha, Ioannidis, Hlozek. Martyn Glover clearly just gets his targets from the ‘Who do you want for next season in the PL’ thread.

And we go to live scenes of @Ric Flair

Regardless of tactics I just don’t see this current squad being good enough to be competitive. I’ve seen numerous comments saying our squad is of decent calibre, then they instantly back up that claim about what we need in the transfer market You pick the bones out of our squad, especially the defence, I really don’t see how it can be competitive in the Premier League. Faes had too many brain farts the last time we were in the Premier League. I’m not overly convinced with Vestergaard, especially when he’ll come up against pace. Coady wasn’t wanted by Wolves or Everton and wasn’t really fancied by Maresca in the Championship. Okoli, early days, but early signs are not convincing. Then you’ve got our left-backs who have been deemed by many as not good enough, myself included. Ricardo is the only defender I have full trust in. Then as I mentioned in my previous post, Choudhury and Soumare as our depth options in CM. Daka and Cannon as our depth options in ST. Clearly not good enough if you want to be competitive in the Premier League, to have depth like that just reeks of relegation. Cooper’s tactics in Pre Season have been frustrating, some of his selections have been head scratching, but regardless of all of that, he is only telling the truth about needing new players. So many fans on this forum have been saying exactly that for weeks, but as soon as Cooper says it, he is suddenly deemed an excuse merchant.

Of strikers I’ve followed over the past year, of players that fit the £20-30 million bracket, as I’ve said to you before, Ioannidis would be the number one choice. It’s understandable that some fans are wary with the league he’s coming from, but it’s his all round ability that impressed me from the get go, and that was before the season he’s just had. Knowing our luck, he’ll probably end up elsewhere, but at this moment in time, this is the most excited I’ve been since we signed Jermaine Beckford