Daniel Levy - Chairman

[glorygloryeze]

I think we always knew Davies would be second LCB this season, while we waited for Vuskovic to be old enough to move.

LB I'm fairly sure we were getting Locko from Brest till he did his achilles 2 weeks before deadline day.

Remember also that we are bound by the club trained issue in terms of bringing more players in. We can't even name Spence and Regulion in our Europa squad. It's why we now need to get Cirkin in above anyone else.

Having Davies as second LCB, unless Ange was planning to change how we play our high line and inversion tactics, is sheer suicide once an injury happens to Udogie or he needs a rest etc. Chalk and cheese as players.

We may well have gone for that player, but we didn't and again, why wait until deadline day?

That club-trained issue thing i get, but then buying British trained would surely help on that front?

 

[billyiddo]

I appreciate that no window can be 100%, but i've been watching how we operate and how our transfer windows turn out for years and i barely see any changes since all this extra money has been coming in. We rebuilt the stadium to change how we operated, or so we were told...

Going by your posts I'd imagine your idea of things not changing will mostly be centered around missing out on some targets/some deals coming in late/some gaps being left in the squad - this will never change, it happens to every club every window and will continue to do so as long as transfer business in football stays how it is.

 

[glorygloryeze]

Going by your posts I'd imagine your idea of things not changing will mostly be centered around missing out on some targets/some deals coming in late/some gaps being left in the squad - this will never change, it happens to every club every window and will continue to do so as long as transfer business in football stays how it is.

It's around a few things:

1) a higher proportion of our targets coming in earlier so manager has more time to integrate them into the team and training regimes etc
2) every consecutive summer with the same manger having slightly less to plug and higher quality players targeted, e.g. this summer should have looked like we had made more headway in terms of buys for the 1st team than last year, as in the gaps that were there in previous windows less of them are still there afterwards
3) less deals are said to fall down because of wages

All 3 are things that having more revenue should mean we see less of. We are not Man Utd rich but we should also not continue to act as a souped-up Brighton

 

[Muttley]

I think we always knew Davies would be second LCB this season, while we waited for Vuskovic to be old enough to move.

I didn't actually. I was a little shocked that we entrusted Davies with 4th choice LCB. I'm still convinced we would happily signed Tosin or Kelly if their hearts weren't set on Chelsea and Toon. I also think we would have bought Calafiori if he'd given us any encouragement. Another name or two linked were Buongiorno and Hincapie who are both now getting rave reviews.

With the amount of smoke, I still think we were in the market to do a deal last summer for mostly left footed centre halves.

The more important question is whether we still have that same mindset. Davies is out of contract so we have to use Phillips and/or Vuskovic or buy a new player. Surely we wouldn't give Davies an extension? I think all our up and coming defenders seem to be right footed as well. It wouldn't surprise me if we sign a leftie, especially considering VDV's injury record.

 

[Gutter Boy]

Having Davies as second LCB, unless Ange was planning to change how we play our high line and inversion tactics, is sheer suicide once an injury happens to Udogie or he needs a rest etc. Chalk and cheese as players.

We may well have gone for that player, but we didn't and again, why wait until deadline day?

That club-trained issue thing i get, but then buying British trained would surely help on that front?

Davies has looked great at CB every time he's played there this season.

The Udogie cover is our major issue at the moment. Obviously Spence is meant to be doing that, but only having 3 FBs is hurting us.

Club-trained and home-grown are 2 different things. It's club-trained we don't have any of - it's why we need to look at players like Cirkin and maybe Jordan Archer for the LB and GK roles. Spence is HG but not CT, hence he can't be named in the Europa squad.

 

[Gutter Boy]

I didn't actually. I was a little shocked that we entrusted Davies with 4th choice LCB. I'm still convinced we would happily signed Tosin or Kelly if their hearts weren't set on Chelsea and Toon. I also think we would have bought Calafiori if he'd given us any encouragement. Another name or two linked were Buongiorno and Hincapie who are both now getting rave reviews.

With the amount of smoke, I still think we were in the market to do a deal last summer for mostly left footed centre halves.

The more important question is whether we still have that same mindset. Davies is out of contract so we have to use Phillips and/or Vuskovic or buy a new player. Surely we wouldn't give Davies an extension? I think all our up and coming defenders seem to be right footed as well. It wouldn't surprise me if we sign a leftie, especially considering VDV's injury record.

Vuskovic is playing LCB this season. He's got the aerial prowess we're currently missing too, as well as his passing ability.

Remember King and van Dyke were both right-footed LCBs.

 

[Muttley]

Vuskovic is playing LCB this season. He's got the aerial prowess we're currently missing too, as well as his passing ability.

Remember King and van Dyke were both right-footed LCBs.

I get it. There is a difference between being a 2 footed player like King. Then they almost prefer the other side. I hope Vuskovic is that type of player.

I did hear at one point that guys like Dragusin were being coached to play on that other side. I noticed when I was at the City game that Romero was to the right of Dragusin. He only shifted over when Davies came on.

I guess it's still a massive ask of Vuskovic to perform at centre half in the PL at the tender age of 18. Phillips will be 20 by that stage though. I guess you have to throw them in at some stage.

I'm also observing that, apart from Liverpool, most of the top PL sides have 5 centre halves anyway.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I didn't actually. I was a little shocked that we entrusted Davies with 4th choice LCB. I'm still convinced we would happily signed Tosin or Kelly if their hearts weren't set on Chelsea and Toon. I also think we would have bought Calafiori if he'd given us any encouragement. Another name or two linked were Buongiorno and Hincapie who are both now getting rave reviews.

With the amount of smoke, I still think we were in the market to do a deal last summer for mostly left footed centre halves.

The more important question is whether we still have that same mindset. Davies is out of contract so we have to use Phillips and/or Vuskovic or buy a new player. Surely we wouldn't give Davies an extension? I think all our up and coming defenders seem to be right footed as well. It wouldn't surprise me if we sign a leftie, especially considering VDV's injury record.

All the players you mention either are playing as first choice
Or think they are
Tosin and Kelly aren’t starting week in, week out
Bongiornio I hear about every week on the Euro pod and eh seems to be the stat CB in serie A
Hincapie would suit us because he can play LB too

 

[SkipRat]

I think we always knew Davies would be second LCB this season, while we waited for Vuskovic to be old enough to move.

LB I'm fairly sure we were getting Locko from Brest till he did his achilles 2 weeks before deadline day.

Remember also that we are bound by the club trained issue in terms of bringing more players in. We can't even name Spence and Regulion in our Europa squad. It's why we now need to get Cirkin in above anyone else.

That would be great, if I didn't have a nagging feeling that we will loan him out again.

Also, is he a LCB?

If not, then we will have 4 RCB with Romero, Drags, Phillips, as well.

 

[Gutter Boy]

That would be great, if I didn't have a nagging feeling that we will loan him out again.

Also, is he a LCB?

If not, then we will have 4 RCB with Romero, Drags, Phillips, as well.

We're not allowed to loan Vuskovic next season (EPL rules), unless he goes abroad again, which isnt what he needs to help him settle into the country

 

[Gutter Boy]

I get it. There is a difference between being a 2 footed player like King. Then they almost prefer the other side. I hope Vuskovic is that type of player.

I did hear at one point that guys like Dragusin were being coached to play on that other side. I noticed when I was at the City game that Romero was to the right of Dragusin. He only shifted over when Davies came on.

I guess it's still a massive ask of Vuskovic to perform at centre half in the PL at the tender age of 18. Phillips will be 20 by that stage though. I guess you have to throw them in at some stage.

I'm also observing that, apart from Liverpool, most of the top PL sides have 5 centre halves anyway.

Vuskovic is already a man amongst boys in Belgium, despite being the youngest player on the pitch. I think he might have a Deli Alli level unexpected first season impact

 

[metalgear]

Vuskovic is already a man amongst boys in Belgium, despite being the youngest player on the pitch. I think he might have a Deli Alli level unexpected first season impact

not seen him play but hope that he can adapt to a high line in a very fast league

 

[billyiddo]

It's around a few things:

1) a higher proportion of our targets coming in earlier so manager has more time to integrate them into the team and training regimes etc
2) every consecutive summer with the same manger having slightly less to plug and higher quality players targeted, e.g. this summer should have looked like we had made more headway in terms of buys for the 1st team than last year, as in the gaps that were there in previous windows less of them are still there afterwards
3) less deals are said to fall down because of wages

All 3 are things that having more revenue should mean we see less of. We are not Man Utd rich but we should also not continue to act as a souped-up Brighton

1) every club says the same thing in this regard, going back over the last few seasons I think we compare favourable to most in this regard what happens is maybe a couple of deals cone later and then people react to this as though it's only us experiencing it - it's not.
2) I think if we went back to the end of last season and we gauged the areas where most people felt we needed strengthening the consensus would have been starting CF 100% and then maybe RWF/LWF depending on how people saw Son - as it turns out Ange is obviously a happy Johnson so the need for a starting RWF probably wasn't that high on his agenda, though the Neto deal might suggest otherwise and with Son still around neither would a starting LWF - Odobert brought in as competition for both. I think as this season has played out the need for a DM has become more apparent, but the overall feeling at the end of last season would have been pretty content with Biss Bent & Sarr competing for 2 positions plus two highly rated youngsters for competition. LB seems a glaring miss and potentially CB too though Davies gets unfairly spoken down here, because people want to make things seem worse than they are imo. Buy then we get back in to the point about not realistic to expect everything done in 1 or 2 windows when rebuilding.
3) i don't know what has broken down due to wages. But as long as there are bigger clubs/better teams in for the same players there will be a chance of that happening.

 

[Glenda's Legs]

Obviously Sky have their Transfer Window Deadline Day coverage just for us as everyone else has done their deals earlier in the window.

 

[Bullet]

Seems @metalgear and @glorygloryeze have such high expectations, they will never be satisfied.
Even if we had Liverpool's squad they would be fuming that Nunez can't hit a barn door and Jota is injured and Salah is ageing fast.
Woe is me.

 

[thfcsteff]

I didn't actually. I was a little shocked that we entrusted Davies with 4th choice LCB. I'm still convinced we would happily signed Tosin or Kelly if their hearts weren't set on Chelsea and Toon. I also think we would have bought Calafiori if he'd given us any encouragement. Another name or two linked were Buongiorno and Hincapie who are both now getting rave reviews.

With the amount of smoke, I still think we were in the market to do a deal last summer for mostly left footed centre halves.

The more important question is whether we still have that same mindset. Davies is out of contract so we have to use Phillips and/or Vuskovic or buy a new player. Surely we wouldn't give Davies an extension? I think all our up and coming defenders seem to be right footed as well. It wouldn't surprise me if we sign a leftie, especially considering VDV's injury record.

I think money/wages has a lot to do with all of it TBH

 

[thfcsteff]

That would be great, if I didn't have a nagging feeling that we will loan him out again.

Also, is he a LCB?

If not, then we will have 4 RCB with Romero, Drags, Phillips, as well.

He is right-footed. Can play on the left, but right CB primarily. I think he is going to be the long-term for Romero/Dragu (he is 17!)...I wonder if the club rate Phillips as a player for us or an investment/sale?

 

[thfcsteff]

1) every club says the same thing in this regard, going back over the last few seasons I think we compare favourable to most in this regard what happens is maybe a couple of deals cone later and then people react to this as though it's only us experiencing it - it's not.
2) I think if we went back to the end of last season and we gauged the areas where most people felt we needed strengthening the consensus would have been starting CF 100% and then maybe RWF/LWF depending on how people saw Son - as it turns out Ange is obviously a happy Johnson so the need for a starting RWF probably wasn't that high on his agenda, though the Neto deal might suggest otherwise and with Son still around neither would a starting LWF - Odobert brought in as competition for both. I think as this season has played out the need for a DM has become more apparent, but the overall feeling at the end of last season would have been pretty content with Biss Bent & Sarr competing for 2 positions plus two highly rated youngsters for competition. LB seems a glaring miss and potentially CB too though Davies gets unfairly spoken down here, because people want to make things seem worse than they are imo. Buy then we get back in to the point about not realistic to expect everything done in 1 or 2 windows when rebuilding.
3) i don't know what has broken down due to wages. But as long as there are bigger clubs/better teams in for the same players there will be a chance of that happening.

A good read mate. Agree with some parts, not with others.
At the end of last season I was adamant that we needed a world class 6 who would cost us big money (ironically, Biss and Bentancur have really come on some in that regard, albeit I'd still sacrifice one if I could get a Zubemendi-esque talent - he won't come I know). The signing I hoped we'd push the door out for was Kimmich, but who knows if he was ever going to eav Bayern? Still, I'd have tossed a bank his way and asked him to come in, do his stuff AND in the process, teach a couple of ours a few things.

I was never a fan of Neto personally, but it is clear Ange wanted a real option on the right. We settled for Werner on the left. We needed a LCB, and I cannot think of many who did not feel the same. I agree with you re: Davies, who is a much better player than he is ever given credit for, but I think much of the criticism unfairly stems from what he isn't i.e. a sprinter. FWIW I would much, much rather play him in VdV's absence because I am old-school with regards to LCB should be left-footed for me.

I agree too that the nature of competition for signings means things will always shift. We are currently the third most profitable 'club team' in the world. We're big enough to do key and vital deals where the manager might want them. I still lament that we did not get Eze done early when it was there to be done (before Olise left Palace), as I think he'd have been a superb addition to the squad. Still, we're all managers and dealers eh? If I knew all that, I wouldn't be sitting here typing this LOL!!!

 

[Muttley]

I think money/wages has a lot to do with all of it TBH

It definitely comes into it when you become a young free agent like Tosin and Kelly. Both have tripled their salaries to over £100k per week.

Apart from the core 1st team, it would be interesting to know which full-time squad player is on the most. My guess would be Reggie or Forster and I doubt it would be over £100k.

I bet Werner is a rich man.

 

[SkipRat]

He is right-footed. Can play on the left, but right CB primarily. I think he is going to be the long-term for Romero/Dragu (he is 17!)...I wonder if the club rate Phillips as a player for us or an investment/sale?

I don't know, but what I have seen of him for both Plymouth and Stoke, he has been pretty damn fine.

In fact IIRC, Plymouth fans were saying he was the reason they stayed up.

And I have not seen him put a foot wrong.

I just don't get it. Any decent manager maximises the use of the squad he has at hand. I don't get Ange's snub of players in key positions. Like Djed, Reg, Philips, Veliz...

I want to know what Levy is injecting our manager's with lol!