Abdul Fatawu (gone to Ipswich, official)

[Chelmofox]

3 minutes ago, DezFox said:

This is where a good coach comes in. Today’s market is wild. You have to pay 12 mill for macateer and twice this for Tyler ****ing Dibbling. 🤣 

 

Abdul is not perfect or hugely consistent but I just think for 20mill in today’s market, you are getting a lot of player that is going to get better. Need to make sure there is a sell in clause in there. 

But i strongly doubt he will become Ipswich's best player overnight. They were worse than us on the PL last time around. He's not joining Villa or Arsenal here, and likely for a good reason.

[DezFox]

10 minutes ago, Chelmofox said:

But i strongly doubt he will become Ipswich's best player overnight. They were worse than us on the PL last time around. He's not joining Villa or Arsenal here, and likely for a good reason.

I think he might be their best player. Who else have they got? 

[jimsmallman]

I will miss his occasional world-class goal. 
 

I will not miss him attempting to score a world-class goal with every opportunity that he has when it would be better to pass the ball. Several times a game. 

[TommyK]

For all his frustrations the guy is a game changer. They cost money. If we'd stayed up we'd be asking 30+. 

[fox_up_north]

Shame to see him go. The fee is the fee. We got several of our best ever players for less than a few million, combined. 

 

This window is about getting as much in as possible to service debt and keep us going, with enough to have a positive direction of travel.

 

This fee helps that, nothing more. 

[Les-TA-Jon]

Obviously a sale was inevitable. Classic Foxestalk revisionism going on though - as soon as we lose a player it suddenly becomes 'he was never any good anyway' 

 

Clearly, tricky to evaluate given our back to back relegations, general malaise of the club and that he did down tools a little towards the end of the season, but we probably won't have a player as good as him on our books again for several years...

Edited yesterday at 13:21 by Les-TA-Jon

[SB87_LCFC]

1 minute ago, Les-TA-Jon said:

Obviously a sale was inevitable. Classic Foxestalk revisionism going on though - as soon as well lose a player it suddenly becomes 'he was never any good anyway' 

 

Clearly, tricky to evaluate given our back to back relegations, general malaise of the club and that he did down tools a little towards the end of the season, but we probably won't have a player as good as him on our books again for several years...

Football fans are always fickle sadly, but i totally agree his departure was inevitable.

 

I have said in previous posts I felt he became a victim of his surroundings and towards the end was out for himself a little, perhaps he knew relegation was coming and wanted to generate enough interest in him to get the right move.

 

If the form of Will Alves is anything to go by, I think City fans might be content with parting ways with Abdul, even if it is only for a small profit on what we paid for him

[LCFCJohn]

1 hour ago, coolhandfox said:

 

I would have said the same, but a few journalists have mentioned that we have a £10 million transfer kitty.

 

To be honest, with the right free transfers and loan signings, you don't necessarily need to spend huge amounts on transfer fees.

 

The bigger issue is the wage bill. As a relegated club, we have to comply with the EFL's SCMP (Salary Cost Management Protocol) rules, which mean our player wage costs need to remain below 65% of turnover.

 

It's monitored quite closely, with clubs required to keep the league informed of any significant changes that could affect their position. That's probably why we're seeing the "a couple out, a couple in" approach, as the club looks to balance the squad while staying within its financial limits.

Bold bit is key. Add the academy in to that as well.

 

If you factor in the likes of Braybrooke, Alves, Page and Aluko who can/should be starting for us. 
 

Then using the free market, Chaplin and McCarthy already. And the loan market.

 

Get this right and you can put funds towards a more marquee signing, ideally a striker. We will need central defenders but that may be more likely from the above categories. Either way, we don’t need to bring more than 2/3 in for fees if we get the rest right imo.

[coolhandfox]

49 minutes ago, LCFCJohn said:

Bold bit is key. Add the academy in to that as well.

 

If you factor in the likes of Braybrooke, Alves, Page and Aluko who can/should be starting for us. 
 

Then using the free market, Chaplin and McCarthy already. And the loan market.

 

Get this right and you can put funds towards a more marquee signing, ideally a striker. We will need central defenders but that may be more likely from the above categories. Either way, we don’t need to bring more than 2/3 in for fees if we get the rest right imo.

100%

 

Lots of value out there.

[Fazzer 7]

Pleased he's gone. Pretentious moody lazy player who obviously didn't want to be here. 20 mil is good price for a player that puts such little effort in. 

[teblin]

55 minutes ago, LCFCJohn said:

Bold bit is key. Add the academy in to that as well.

 

If you factor in the likes of Braybrooke, Alves, Page and Aluko who can/should be starting for us. 
 

Then using the free market, Chaplin and McCarthy already. And the loan market.

 

Get this right and you can put funds towards a more marquee signing, ideally a striker. We will need central defenders but that may be more likely from the above categories. Either way, we don’t need to bring more than 2/3 in for fees if we get the rest right imo.

Yep, interesting people who we have been half linked like Smallbone and The Archie Collinsh still  haven't signed elsewhere.

[sphericalfox]

9 minutes ago, Fazzer 7 said:

Pleased he's gone. Pretentious moody lazy player who obviously didn't want to be here. 20 mil is good price for a player that puts such little effort in. 

Pretentious? Moody? Lazy? Are you sure you're not confusing him with one Riyad Mahrez? Personality-wise nothing alike.

[MGLCFC]

16 minutes ago, Fazzer 7 said:

Pleased he's gone.

When did this happen? Have I missed some news?

[Chelmofox]

8 minutes ago, sphericalfox said:

Pretentious? Moody? Lazy? Are you sure you're not confusing him with one Riyad Mahrez? Personality-wise nothing alike.

Did you go to games? He was pretty much arguing with everyone. Can't 100% remember the game, but it was a key one in terms of relegation towards the end of the season (i think it was Preston). He was fouled just outside the box and went crazy, arguing with the ref, lino and our own players. Shortly after, still visibly annoyed, he gave the ball away on the half way line that led to opposition scoring, and he took a stupid dive that he subsequently got booked for (and he just lay on the ground like he got shot, rather than tracking back and trying to recover the ball he gave away). 

 

There was a alot going on like this (i saw him arguing with Jakub, Winks and Riccy in one match alone). He has fabulous talent, but there is something not right with him, that a lot of our fans just put to the club as the problem. My problem with doing that, is that he was universally loved by our fans and the club (i think at least) have done a lot for him. If he had had a better football brain and was able to curb his temper, i think we would have stayed up.

[Tielemans63]

Surprised at some of the animosity towards Abdul. He could be frustrating but I felt like he was always trying at least to make something happen.

 

One of the the very few decent signings we've made in the last few years. I wish him all the best, seems like a decent lad to me.

[coolhandfox]

99 problems and Fatawu isn’t one of them.

[South Shire Fox]

1 hour ago, Fazzer 7 said:

Pleased he's gone. Pretentious moody lazy player who obviously didn't want to be here. 20 mil is good price for a player that puts such little effort in. 

Complete and utter bollocks. Was a greedy bastard at times and some of his decision making use to infuriate me but was probably one of the few in the team that actually tried. Has some of the best defensive stats for a winger about

Edited yesterday at 13:54 by South Shire Fox

[Happy Fox]

Having a medical today with Ipswich , good luck to him, I don’t know if he will be able to help Ipswich stay up in the premier league but this is a good move for him imo.

 

 

[sphericalfox]

1 hour ago, Chelmofox said:

Did you go to games? He was pretty much arguing with everyone. Can't 100% remember the game, but it was a key one in terms of relegation towards the end of the season (i think it was Preston). He was fouled just outside the box and went crazy, arguing with the ref, lino and our own players. Shortly after, still visibly annoyed, he gave the ball away on the half way line that led to opposition scoring, and he took a stupid dive that he subsequently got booked for (and he just lay on the ground like he got shot, rather than tracking back and trying to recover the ball he gave away). 

 

There was a alot going on like this (i saw him arguing with Jakub, Winks and Riccy in one match alone). He has fabulous talent, but there is something not right with him, that a lot of our fans just put to the club as the problem. My problem with doing that, is that he was universally loved by our fans and the club (i think at least) have done a lot for him. If he had had a better football brain and was able to curb his temper, i think we would have stayed up.

Incidents of frustration or irritation do not equal pretentious nor lazy, or even generally moody. You can have shit days, and shit games. You can also be allowed to moan once in a while. I wouldn't even say he was our worst offender of any of those in the team. Those descriptors suggest a prima donna who never tried at all. And that's utter bullshit.

[Jabbaranks]

Good luck to him. I kind of felt we saw the real Abdul last season, a player absolutely capable of scoring a goal out of nothing but when the chips were down (IMO) he didn't have the footballing minerals or nous to look at how he could have a bigger impact on games if the worldies didn't come off. 

 

Maybe better coaching might see him in a better light, but nothing but good luck to him.

[pmcla26]

I really hoped when we got relegated in 24/25 that we would bounce back up straight away and we would go on to see the best of him for us in the Premier League. 
 

The fee is decent enough now we’re in League One, but it’s ashame it’s transpired how it has. 

[Chelmofox]

57 minutes ago, sphericalfox said:

Incidents of frustration or irritation do not equal pretentious nor lazy, or even generally moody. You can have shit days, and shit games. You can also be allowed to moan once in a while. I wouldn't even say he was our worst offender of any of those in the team. Those descriptors suggest a prima donna who never tried at all. And that's utter bullshit.

I didnt say he was lazy, but i have questioned his football brain (which i appreciate is a cliche) and his temperament - which i feel we have seen multiple issues on. That temperament wasnt a moaning matter, it led to clear issues on the pitch that the rest of the team clearly had to navigate around because of his reputation, and us very much depending on him.

 

I dont sit in the 'he was rubbish anyway' camp, im just calling it as i see it. He has given me some of my best moments watching football over the last few years. Singing his song after the Southampton hat trick was incredible, and that goal against Ipswich was an outstanding moment (although ended up being a bit of a curse).

 

I dont wish any harm on anyone, and he is a player i will always keep an eye on when gone as it wouldnt surprise me if he hits an amazing run of form at some point. If it is Ipswich, expect a few bangers on TV for sure, but if they struggle, i worry for him a bit.

Edited yesterday at 15:19 by Chelmofox

[Richmondfox]

Mismanaged by our idiot managers and coaches way out of their depth.  Both wingers stunk out the place by standing still rather than running into space. 
 

No one bothered to fix the mistakes he was making every game and only focusing on the occasional banger.

 

I think he would’ve flourished under McKenna as he would’ve drilled him into passing the ball to overlapping full backs. Not so sure with their new manager. 

[sdb]

He looked better in the prem 2 years ago (when fit) than in the second tier last season. He'll have a lot of fun against more attacking sides and is a good signing for them. Just because 92% of our squad is rancid, doesn't mean Fatawu is.

[Taz_The_Fox]

Clearly a good player on his day, but I genuinely won't miss him doing the same thing over and over again to little or no effect 98% of the time. (cut in on his left and either fire a shot into a defender or into row Z) 

 

20million is a good price.