CloudFox

I'm so glad I wasn't being crazy when I saw that post of Okoli and thought it was weird. Even checked Instagram as I'd just seen a Story of him in Tanzania still. There are so many other better things they could have posted. Some "ice cold finishes to enjoy on this hot day", or simpler yet, just a picture of Drinkwater on the pitch from Vardy's last game, with the caption "Just a reminder for today 👀". It's really not hard, is it. And it shouldn't be winding me up as much as it is, but it is

Think we were linked with him before he went to Man City? Southampton being linked would make sense since he has worked with Will Still at Lens last season.

Would be very interested in that. Loan should mean his wages aren't huge either, which if we signed him permanently you know they would be. He may have fallen off a cliff last season, but I do think that relates to no move materialising last summer.

I'm not against this, if he's second/third choice (depending on if Mads goes). He's a good experienced pro, a safe pair of hands, and could be great from Jakub et al to learn from. So long as it's a short contract on low wages, it could be a sensible signing.

Danny Rohl with Chrissy P in tow? Yes please.

Fair enough, McNeil I may have missed there. He's still better as a hug-the-line winger rather than wide forward though.

Of those, only Boyd could really be described as a flair-style winger though. The others are largely functional wingers whose strength was crossing and tracking back. Our wingers can do all that, but are capable of far more, while excelling more as wide forwards than cut in rather than hug-the-touchline players. Albrighton would have been excellent under Dyche, for example. Mahrez, not so much.

Do we know that for certain? I'd like to believe that's the case (and completely agree with you), but I don't 100% recall managers being in any of those conditioning montages we sometimes in pre-season/"the first week back" posts. Happy to be proved wrong though.

Interesting. When you say "this isn't the case", are you/were they specifically talking about our fitness and conditioning team/Matt Reeves?

Unfortunately I think the first week is fitness testing anyway, so doubt Ruud would be involved anyway, which might give something away. Not sure there's any coaching straight away—more testing, fitness checks, etc etc. And you've got Matt Reeves (?) and his team for that still.

His trainers?

Saw some comments that Wilder is out because he wasn't on board with a heavy data-based approach to recruitment. And when it came to Selles, their AI model showed he was the best match for their players. All probably hearsay, but you could understand why fans would be worried it was a bad call all 'round.

Yes, but I don't think we are going to make as many changes as people think. We are terrible at offloading players, and I can't see us getting rid of Winks, Vestergaard, Soumare, Faes, etc. They're all going to be on high wages, and if we can't offload them, we can't have them just sitting on the bench or in Seagrave when we know 3/4 of those at least are good for Championship level. Agreed. I wouldn't be surprised if we somehow end up with him to be honest. Striker area, I don't think we have any choice. Midfield will depend on the futures of Winks and Ndidi. We should revamp it, but will we...? I'm not confident we have the cash right now with PSR and points deductions swirling. Would you mind sharing which defenders would be well accustomed to his style? Obviously not Vestergaard or Faes. Coady barely played under him at Everton I think. Nelson's Oxford experience should help him, and could see him being Tarkowski-esque. Maybe Okoli...? My concern is that our defenders generally are not good at defending, which we've all moaned about for ages! The wingers bit is the biggest red flag for me, along with our need to focus on youth more (I just can't see Monga playing much under him). Assuming Mads and El Khanouss leave this summer (I hope not on the latter, but...) then our wingers are our best assets. We need to make sure they flourish—for our chances of promotion, for potential resale value, and frankly for our own enjoyment again as fans. We can't bring in a manager who doesn't get the best out of our assets. Maybe Dyche could, but I just can't see it.

I'm not disputing that wouldn't be a strong front four (if we can keep Fatawu, BEK, and Mavididi we just need a half-decent striker to put chances away of open up spaces). I meant more, would Wilson or DCL want to play for us? I just feel like we would be seen as too much of a step down compared to still playing in a top flight team.

Hiring Dyche would make zero sense. No continuity, no squad ready to play his football, and little-to-no money to go out there and buy the squad he'd want/need. I'm not saying he's a bad manager, but he's not right for us as a club at this moment in time. Hiring him would be a terrible decision if it comes to pass.

Yikes, three windows? That is a long time without transfers (although I guess Frees are allowed, based on that wording). This very much feels like the fans, players, and club are being punished, when it's an ownership problem.

Nice ideas, but would either be willing to drop down to the Championship? Maybe Wilson, given his age and injury record. DCL due to his injury record too maybe?

I have no issues with pink kits or kits that are a bit "out there" in terms of colour scheme, but it feels a bit soon to do one again.

Based on that story, that might be why he's finally getting sacked!!

Yeah I think you're right. Based on all the managerial uncertainty and the radio silence from the club, we were never going to get out business done early. Players on free transfers are unlikely to want to wait around for us to get get our ducks in a row post-1st July.

Swansea have signed Burgess from Ipswich. Interesting move considering he started 16 times I think for Ipswich in the Prem last season.

It looks like one of those science illustrations of a human body, showing muscles but no skin 😅 I'm trying to figure out how they've justified that. Is it supposed to be in the shape of an "M", maybe...?

Fair point! 😂 I'd forgotten they went down - in hindsight I should have posted it in one of the many Manager threads.

Be interested to hear how he does.