Ange in or out?

[Raziel]

I partially disagree. When Liverpool have decided they want a key player, they get it done quickly. Allison. Van Dyk. You'd even argue that once we fluffed the pillow for Diaz, they wasted no time getting it done. I won't get into Chelsea ot Emirates Marketing Project as I believe both operate in a nefarious fashion.

Not nitpicking mate, but think Pool took 2 windows to close on VVD

 

[Finney Is Back]

Idk the insider info. But lets not let that stop us speculating

My guess is, rather than overspend for say Eze and maybe others, Ange preferred to keep our powder dry. Knowing that our spending is not infinite. Banging saying 60m and 200k a week on Eze when he's not quite at that level, maybe a smart move or a foolish one idk. Certainally atm with Bentancur out, having Eze might have been massive. Yet he's more similar to Maddison and Kulu. As things stand we are desperate for another midfielder and an out and out forward.

What positions do you think we need? And what positions do you think we were trying for in the summer?

Ange wanted Neto and Gallagher.

Though I’m not convinced Gallagher is a what we need (I think we need a Carrick type deep midfield player instead)

 

[thfcsteff]

I hear the money thing all the time
Where is the pot of money that isn’t being spent?
We lose money
We have a huge transfer debt too
And we spend every penny the club has on players and wages
I’m stumped as to where the delta is that we ain’t spending
It’s not on the finial reports because I’m a sad gut who read the publicly available elements
So how do you spend more
We cut our wage bill but brought more players in
I suspect we have a lower wage bill now but an even higher transfer debt and we were second in that list not that long ago
Now having sold Kane, royal, skipp, winks, Hojberg there will be money in but it was a debt only a year ago of £250m if I remember correctly

I am not a financial expert in any sense.
I am not advocating 'pots of money' and I am not especially interested in 'pots of money' spending. What I have consistently asked for is that a manager gets backed for KEY signings, that is player who are intrinsic to that manager's brand of football. Time and time again -when the moment has been there to sign a KEY player- we have not done it. Not always obviously. It has happened sometimes. But I cannot remember the last time we brought in 2 - 3 KEY players in one window (that is high fee, high wages, instant runners). I suppose Lo Celso Ndombele, but we've discussed what a structural fudge up that was with regards to sacking the manager who wanted them less than 120 days later.

Where do you get the 'spend every penny the club has on players and wages'? I don't believe that. There are various companies and holdings within our structure which get good financing (especially to do with stadium and land speculation in the N17 area.

We have, indeed, focussed on cutting our wage bill. And of course we brought more players in, we have basically had to replace/refresh a squad since 2021, and we still aren't done. That will cost money.


A couple of links here outlining our financial health. I think it is wholly legitimate to ask for a little more in terms of money for key players/wages. I also believe we could and would do it if Daniel saw football and winning things in the same way he saw business, concluding deals, and succeeding in business.

Again, I freely admit I am not an economist.


https://tribuna.com/en/blogs/2024-11-12-most-profitable-sports-teams-in-the-world-reveale/

https://www.thestadiumbusiness.com/...enue-helps-spurs-top-500m-turnover-milestone/

 

[thfcsteff]

Ange wanted Neto and Gallagher.

Though I’m not convinced Gallagher is a what we need (I think we need a Carrick type deep midfield player instead)

As we always say though, give the manager the key players he needs!

 

[Finney Is Back]

If pointing out a biased view of the game yesterday and trying to stay realistic is 'whining' then please accept my apologies for the 'whining'

Apology accepted:

 

[Finney Is Back]

That's what we're saying. Again, playing Romero yesterday was a mistake, and a big one. I know hindsight is 20/20 but it's the staff's role to read into these situations and make the right decisions. If we had 9 players injured because they had been kicked up and down the pitch, that would be different but, in my opinion, this situation is the result of poor conditioning and the particular demands of Postecoglou's style.

Ignoring the injuries and saying they're 'part of the game' is, for me, a serious mistake and one that will end up costing us dearly.

Why was it a mistake? He had recovered from his toe injury.

 

[Finney Is Back]

The issue for me is: i can't remember the last league game we were defensively comfortable or at least looked at ease and not ready to concede at a moment's notice when our high-line is bypassed. And no, i don't really count the Emirates Marketing Project game tbh

Sounds like you want to go back to Mourinho and Conte’s low blocks (I have no idea whether or not that is what you actually want…. Maybe I’ll trawl back through yoir posts back then and find out)

 

[Finney Is Back]

Chelsea did something unconventional that doesn't then rule them out as a comparison. We could have also followed their model obviously have chosen not to. That doesn't mean a comparison has no merit, it's just a very different approach and one that may or may not work long term.

Indeed. It is interesting how many people don’t want to compare us to Chelsea but still throw a hissy fit when we happen to lose to them. From what I can tell they are also the same people that wanted Pochettino sacked despite him being one of the few managers we’ve had who actually managed to get a few positive results against them.

 

[thfcsteff]

I am actually increasingly disgusted at the way Chelsea are effectively getting away with Sunday.
They're a squad assembled against all the principles of football (bought for a huge amount of money - stockpiled), and they can thus have two first 11s each week. People talking about what we spend, etc, should look at Chelsea's expenditure and how much their first 11 on Sunday cost versus ours. It is what it is, but let's not ignore it.
BTW, I have noticed the press have been relatively quiet with regards to the Caicedo 'red'. If it had been one of ours, it'd still be headline news!

 

[SpurMeUp]

Ange wanted Neto and Gallagher.

Though I’m not convinced Gallagher is a what we need (I think we need a Carrick type deep midfield player instead)

He would have been vital right now with Bentancur out. The heart of the team we need a leader in there. Gallagher has the right mentality.

 

[braineclipse]

I am actually increasingly disgusted at the way Chelsea are effectively getting away with Sunday.
They're a squad assembled against all the principles of football (bought for a huge amount of money - stockpiled), and they can thus have two first 11s each week. People talking about what we spend, etc, should look at Chelsea's expenditure and how much their first 11 on Sunday cost versus ours. It is what it is, but let's not ignore it.
BTW, I have noticed the press have been relatively quiet with regards to the Caicedo 'red'. If it had been one of ours, it'd still be headline news!

Good winning form will do that to a team imo.

The amount of money it took for Chelsea to assemble this squad is a good point. It's not just spending a bit more on 1-2 players. Their ridiculous level of spending is what it takes to build a squad that quickly (and still took time).

We're building a squad more through player development. That takes time. Let's use that time well.

If I'm getting Ange right he knows very well and has known for a while that this December almost certainly would be a difficult time. Seems to me he's using that adversity to further work on instilling what he thinks the players need to be successful over time. A bit like the Chelsea game last season, but over more time.

All reports are that the players are "Ange in", given our results over the last season, then our results and performances over the last month or so that's actually quite remarkable. And should be listened to by fans as well.

 

[Mr Gogolak]

Why was it a mistake? He had recovered from his toe injury.

When a player has to leave the pitch 15 minutes into his comeback game with a muscle injury, to me, that means that he's been rushed in or that he didn't train properly. In both cases, he had no business being on the pitch. If he had taken a knock, that would be a different story.

While injuries are part of the game, it's the coaching staff's responsability to keep the risk as low as possible. It's not just bad luck and we've had too many of these over the past 18 months.

Also, it's important to adapt your pre-season training to the manager's style. That's why a lot of managers prefer working with their own team. Postecoglou's willingness to work with the people already at the club is commendable but I'm not sure it's the most efficient way of doing things. Goes without saying that I don't have access to any special information, it's just my take on it though.

 

[Kompakted]

As we always say though, give the manager the key players he needs!

Gallagher was never coming here in a million years. Don't think Neto was either once Chelsea were in for him. Both agents likely made noises to keep us as an option while Chelsea were negotiating both deals.

 

[Gutter Boy]

He would have been vital right now with Bentancur out. The heart of the team we need a leader in there. Gallagher has the right mentality.

Gallagher is nowhere as good as Sarr, and with Maddison showing he can cover that role too, that's not been a problem position for us. Gallagher's lack of quality on the ball would quickly have become as derided as Hojbjergs

 

[scaramanga]

Gallagher is nowhere as good as Sarr, and with Maddison showing he can cover that role too, that's not been a problem position for us. Gallagher's lack of quality on the ball would quickly have become as derided as Hojbjergs

Gallagher wouldn't get away with the 5 or 6 yellow card tackles he makes a game if he played for us either.

 

[Mikey10]

I am actually increasingly disgusted at the way Chelsea are effectively getting away with Sunday.
They're a squad assembled against all the principles of football (bought for a huge amount of money - stockpiled), and they can thus have two first 11s each week. People talking about what we spend, etc, should look at Chelsea's expenditure and how much their first 11 on Sunday cost versus ours. It is what it is, but let's not ignore it.
BTW, I have noticed the press have been relatively quiet with regards to the Caicedo 'red'. If it had been one of ours, it'd still be headline news!

MOTD2 looked at the Caicedo foul and agreed it should have been a red (same view on Deki’s btw, which looked worse to me when seen again). Sky also said on Sunday Caicedo should have been off.

On Chelsea’s spending, that’s where the game is. I’m not really of the view any longer that this sort of stuff is cheating; those in charge are happy to accept it, so it’s de facto within the rules.
We may not like it, but it’s now how the biggest teams will continue to use financial power to win things.

 

[billyiddo]

I am actually increasingly disgusted at the way Chelsea are effectively getting away with Sunday.
They're a squad assembled against all the principles of football (bought for a huge amount of money - stockpiled), and they can thus have two first 11s each week. People talking about what we spend, etc, should look at Chelsea's expenditure and how much their first 11 on Sunday cost versus ours. It is what it is, but let's not ignore it.
BTW, I have noticed the press have been relatively quiet with regards to the Caicedo 'red'. If it had been one of ours, it'd still be headline news!

They also sacked 3 (?) managers in as many years to eventually find one that clicked (so far) - judging by the discourse around our club atm that's a cardinal sin to many of our supporters.

 

[Baleforce]

Gallagher is nowhere as good as Sarr, and with Maddison showing he can cover that role too, that's not been a problem position for us. Gallagher's lack of quality on the ball would quickly have become as derided as Hojbjergs

I don’t think Gallagher is as good as PEH, we’d have been spending a fortune to get worse.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I am not a financial expert in any sense.
I am not advocating 'pots of money' and I am not especially interested in 'pots of money' spending. What I have consistently asked for is that a manager gets backed for KEY signings, that is player who are intrinsic to that manager's brand of football. Time and time again -when the moment has been there to sign a KEY player- we have not done it. Not always obviously. It has happened sometimes. But I cannot remember the last time we brought in 2 - 3 KEY players in one window (that is high fee, high wages, instant runners). I suppose Lo Celso Ndombele, but we've discussed what a structural fudge up that was with regards to sacking the manager who wanted them less than 120 days later.

Where do you get the 'spend every penny the club has on players and wages'? I don't believe that. There are various companies and holdings within our structure which get good financing (especially to do with stadium and land speculation in the N17 area.

We have, indeed, focussed on cutting our wage bill. And of course we brought more players in, we have basically had to replace/refresh a squad since 2021, and we still aren't done. That will cost money.


A couple of links here outlining our financial health. I think it is wholly legitimate to ask for a little more in terms of money for key players/wages. I also believe we could and would do it if Daniel saw football and winning things in the same way he saw business, concluding deals, and succeeding in business.

Again, I freely admit I am not an economist.


https://tribuna.com/en/blogs/2024-11-12-most-profitable-sports-teams-in-the-world-reveale/

https://www.thestadiumbusiness.com/...enue-helps-spurs-top-500m-turnover-milestone/

I looked at the company structure last week
It’s a shell structure feeding into the club
The profits from all of them seem to be going into the holding entity which is the £500m turnover company that owns and buys players
I don’t think we have extra money to spend more. If the club was making a profit I’d say we would

 

[Gazza]

So many fans are living in fear of alternatives to either Enic or postecoglu with rationally the alternative being unpalatable or worse … we surely couldn’t possibly do better. This is a mindset. Then bring in obscure counters like the only alternatives are what we are seeing at West Ham or some other drivel