Aleksz

Thing is, when you’re a head of recruitment you get tarnished with the brush of every single signing made, when football clubs don’t really work like that, especially when a lot of it can be manager led as @coolhandfox points out. Or in some cases there will be agents in Rudkins ear too. There are many chefs to spoil the broth. Look at last summers business for example, it’s pretty damn clear that Ayew, Skipp and Reid were Coopers doing. There was huge murmurs that Cooper was putting his foot down and demanding for premier league experience and he spoke about them all personally. There was also word that Cooper and Okoli shared the same agent. We can sit here and add him to a scapegoat list all we like but none of us will really know what he’s responsible for. Thought he/they really did well for summer 2023 (Apart from the slight over pays for Cannon and Coady) and that actually switching to what seems to be a more manager led approach for summer 2024 seems to have ruined that good work a bit.

Thinking about it, surely Everton put a sell on in there when they sold him to us?

Yeah I’m taking that. Not confident we’ll spend it properly mind.

There’s your answer. Bold of you (or anyone) to assume we’d spend any Cannon money we get now wisely. We’re linked to a Parma full back who can merely run and Tyrone Mings

But evidence says he’s likely going to provide you minimum 10-15 goals with a run of games no? Don’t think you can undervalue that.

Not happy with this if we’re taking 7m from Sheff Utd for a player who could be integral next season. But don’t mind if we’re gambling on getting nigh on double that from Sunderland. I understand other peoples justifications/opinions. It’ll split opinion this one and there’s probably no right answer.

On a side note, Another ❌ for Alan Nixon

I’d take that Sunderland offer. Gamble on it. Likelihood us they’ll not get promoted and we’ll need him if we go down anyway.

This is so so dumb to me. We could be Vardyless and a championship team next summer and we’re letting go a proven championship goal scorer with still plenty of time and room to improve.

Interesting.

I know what you mean the Ziegler article does read very weird but every source is pretty unequivocal that no one will be charged for 23/24, it’s just we a case of having 22/23 hanging over our heads which touch wood seems a pretty unlikely appeal from the premier league.

To be honest that was probably the thinking, he was already quite slight to be playing holding midfield and the club probably thought a league where he’ll get kicked up in the air would do him good, but no, evidently not

The choice of loan for Braybrooke was all wrong from the off. Shocking loan management again from the club, but that’s another can of worms.

Anyone that’s used their eyes in his brief cameo’s (or has actually put the effort in to watch him at U21 level) knows there’s a serious player there, certainly for the level that we’re heading for at the very least. Whether the same obscene potential is there post serious injury is another matter, but he’s being managed appallingly.

They’re less doggo than they were when they last beat us

It’s one thing not naming any in the XI yesterday, I understand the need for confidence for the starting XI. But to not name any kids on the bench is criminal, we had the game won with 25 minutes to go and trotted out Ayew and Reid. Not good enough.

Absolutely spot on this. Another area our DOF falls horrifically short. There’s no consistency in our managerial appointments at all, no plan.

This. We’ll need some of these youth players next year when half the squad has left and don’t want to play another year of championship football.

Obviously looks pretty average but that’s the lake we’re fishing in on the current budget. Can play both sides effectively and is two footed, any sort of cover and option to take one of the two full backs out of the side for a period is appreciated right now.

Molla Wague vibes

Mate I know you said the other day you prefer to take a positive outlook on things, but don’t knock others for seeing it for how it is and taking a more realistic view

I would also love to know because this is absolutely baffling

Well obviously, we’re all sat here debating and providing conjecture over who it may be. Maybe it’s us, maybe it’s Everton. Who knows, either way the journos have done their job on that front. But I’m pretty certain he’ll be spot on that there’s something coming out about one club in the next week or two. And he’ll know who that is. Regardless that no one “has shown him their books”.

And we don’t think that he’s quite obviously in the pockets of people that are very much in the know, journos, likes of de Marco as mentioned above and can align his very already good financial knowledge with the bits he hears on the grapevine? Come on. No smoke without fire and all that.

Literally this, they were spot on, we just had a lawyer good enough to pull us out of the shit. Writing off the likes of Maguire and co is naivety. Burying your heads in the sand. Better hope that it’s someone else, or if it is us that De Marco has another MOTM performance in him.