Morgan Gibbs-White

[ricky2tricky4city]

He can say what he likes, until he changes his investment strategy that is the reality.....

and until we loosen up the wage structure you're not going to acquire a title challenging squad....

I don't know how many times this needs to be said....Levy cannot provide anymore money/investment/funds personally so the yearly pie gets divided up depending on strategy. But it's a zero sum game. We spend more on wages, we'll spend less on transfers. And how much we have to spend will fluctuate with income.

'Loosening up' 'pushing the boat out' 'show some ambition' are just code for spending some effing more money. I get the sentiment BUT he's never done that (maybe once) and his mantra has always been 'self-sustaining club' ...ie he's not lied.

As to his comments...I'm sure if he aligned himself with an average of the predictions in the 25/26 expectations thread, that would go down well , as would any type of top4 and a cup run comment. Whatever he said would be picked over, so in reality he's better off doing what he normally does and say nothing.

He can't bring the levels of spending that you (not you) desire, so it's a case of just accepting that (as you have no choice..or get on the CfT bandwagon) and supporting the team, and hopefully the framework we ARE able to work within can bring some success. (which it did?)

Just sing 'Champions of Europe...we know what we are' at the Lane this season and feel good about it?.

 

[harr1984]

I don't know how many times this needs to be said....Levy cannot provide anymore money/investment/funds personally so the yearly pie gets divided up depending on strategy. But it's a zero sum game. We spend more on wages, we'll spend less on transfers. And how much we have to spend will fluctuate with income.

'Loosening up' 'pushing the boat out' 'show some ambition' are just code for spending some effing more money. I get the sentiment BUT he's never done that (maybe once) and his mantra has always been 'self-sustaining club' ...ie he's not lied.

As to his comments...I'm sure if he aligned himself with an average of the predictions in the 25/26 expectations thread, that would go down well , as would any type of top4 and a cup run comment. Whatever he said would be picked over, so in reality he's better off doing what he normally does and say nothing.

He can't bring the levels of spending that you (not you) desire, so it's a case of just accepting that (as you have no choice..or get on the CfT bandwagon) and supporting the team, and hopefully the framework we ARE able to work within can bring some success. (which it did?)

Just sing 'Champions of Europe...we know what we are' at the Lane this season and feel good about it?.

Exactly! This is only a discussion due to @billyiddo saying Levy's comments were evidence that we will be looking to compete at the top rather than just challenge. Levy's comments were not to be taken seriously either way - nothing is going to change with ENIC in charge, most people are realistic enough to know that....

 

[SissokoWasGood (BoL)]

My worry was this signing was only being pursued because of opportunism rather than part of an ambitious strategy that is truthful about what gaps in our squad/team needed to be plugged to push on upwards to challenge for the top 4 etc.

I'll wait until the end of the transfer window to judge overall, but suffice to say, its looking all too familiar...

Very well put, this is what I was trying to say with my ‘deals’ idea and you said it better. Opportunism is exactly the right word.

If we actually wanted MGW as part of a considered strategy to build the squad for Frank, we definitely messed up big time and Maranakis won a major victory over us.

But if we didn’t, and it was opportunism, it just shows a familiar pattern, and we haven’t changed much.

 

[markysimmo]

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

Very well put, this is what I was trying to say with my ‘deals’ idea and you said it better. Opportunism is exactly the right word.

If we actually wanted MGW as part of a considered strategy to build the squad for Frank, we definitely messed up big time and Maranakis won a major victory over us.

But if we didn’t, and it was opportunism, it just shows a familiar pattern, and we haven’t changed much.

Has opportunism otherwise known as 'a Levy special' now reached the £60m mark? Wow.

I'm not even sure £60m was a bargain for MGW if that's the suggestion. Tbh sounds about the right level if viewed against other market prices.

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

Jordan basically saying the modern day club owners are turning to Trump mode.
ie. Ignore, do as you like, bully, threaten and make a mockery of governance and following laws, rules and regulations. Fantastic

 

[SissokoWasGood (BoL)]

Jordan basically saying the modern day club owners are turning to Trump mode.
ie. Ignore, do as you like, bully, threaten and make a mockery of governance and following laws, rules and regulations. Fantastic

I was thinking the same thing in terms of that analogy. Have to say it’s working for him though.

 

[SissokoWasGood (BoL)]

Has opportunism otherwise known as 'a Levy special' now reached the £60m mark? Wow.

I'm not even sure £60m was a bargain for MGW if that's the suggestion. Tbh sounds about the right level if viewed against other market prices.

I’ve never criticised Levy’s willingness to spend money at this sort of level. Solanke, Richarlison, etc. But I do think the way Spurs acted around this whole deal was because it was opportunistic.

I agree that it’s hard to justify spending more on MGW than 60 if you’re Spurs. Equally if he joined us, performed well in the CL for 2-3 years, I think he’s worth a lot more in that timeframe.

I think it’s like Richarlison and Kudus - those deals are for a lot of money in isolation but the clubs are willing sellers. There’s an opportunity to push the deal through quickly, not too much back and forth, not too much risk that the deal gets way out of our range. I think Levy likes those deals just as much as he enjoys the Van Der Vaart types.

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

I’ve never criticised Levy’s willingness to spend money at this sort of level. Solanke, Richarlison, etc. But I do think the way Spurs acted around this whole deal was because it was opportunistic.

I agree that it’s hard to justify spending more on MGW than 60 if you’re Spurs. Equally if he joined us, performed well in the CL for 2-3 years, I think he’s worth a lot more in that timeframe.

I think it’s like Richarlison and Kudus - those deals are for a lot of money in isolation but the clubs are willing sellers. There’s an opportunity to push the deal through quickly, not too much back and forth, not too much risk that the deal gets way out of our range. I think Levy likes those deals just as much as he enjoys the Van Der Vaart types.

I think there could be an element of that BUT I wouldn't think it is high up the list of importance? Besides it flys in the face of the work of all the other people that have been out in place to manufacturer 'a list' that the manager and dof or Lange etc have agreed on. ie they are the ones that need to be happy with the choices and acquisitions. I'm not sure Levy runs his eye over the list and scrubs out ones that maybe a little more painful to get over the line.

Unless you are looking to close a deal quickly to appease the fans ...tad ironic

 

[K.D.D.D.D.Soc]

Are we still signing him?

 

[SissokoWasGood (BoL)]

I think there could be an element of that BUT I wouldn't think it is high up the list of importance? Besides it flys in the face of the work of all the other people that have been out in place to manufacturer 'a list' that the manager and dof or Lange etc have agreed on. ie they are the ones that need to be happy with the choices and acquisitions. I'm not sure Levy runs his eye over the list and scrubs out ones that maybe a little more painful to get over the line.

Unless you are looking to close a deal quickly to appease the fans ...tad ironic

I fully believe MGW was on the list, made sense for the analytics, Frank wanted him etc. All of that I don’t doubt.

There was just something odd about the way we scarpered away from the deal at the first sign of pushback.

I think it just feels like…when Liverpool decided they wanted to push to win the league, they decided they needed a world class keeper and centre back, and they went and got them. They paid record money, and they just made it happen. But when we discuss Spurs doing the same there’s all sorts of reasons why it doesn’t happen. We know what those reasons are.

Every deal is slightly different and has its nuances of course. But this MGW deal feels like we only made a strong move because we thought it would be painless. And the moment it wasn’t, we backed away. Maybe there will be another signing or group of signings that mean we forget all about this. I just want to see signs that we want to operate differently in order to push on. I am sceptical that operating the same way we have since 2021 is going to get us there.

 

[glasgowspur]

I fully believe MGW was on the list, made sense for the analytics, Frank wanted him etc. All of that I don’t doubt.

There was just something odd about the way we scarpered away from the deal at the first sign of pushback.

I think it just feels like…when Liverpool decided they wanted to push to win the league, they decided they needed a world class keeper and centre back, and they went and got them. They paid record money, and they just made it happen. But when we discuss Spurs doing the same there’s all sorts of reasons why it doesn’t happen. We know what those reasons are.

Every deal is slightly different and has its nuances of course. But this MGW deal feels like we only made a strong move because we thought it would be painless. And the moment it wasn’t, we backed away. Maybe there will be another signing or group of signings that mean we forget all about this. I just want to see signs that we want to operate differently in order to push on. I am sceptical that operating the same way we have since 2021 is going to get us there.

I don't recall the vdv signing being very straight forward, was it not a protracted wrangle over two windows?

 

[glorygloryeze]

I don't recall the vdv signing being very straight forward, was it not a protracted wrangle over two windows?

If you mean Mickey VDV, yes it wasn't straightforward and we waited until i think 2 weeks before he season stated to officially sign him (reports at the time were that he was willing and ready to join weeks before but we were juggling other options like Tapsoba etc). I don't think negotiations were over multiple windows

If you actually meany Rafael VDV then that wasn't protracted at all, Madrid called us on deadline day and said "d'you fancy it"?

 

[Lilbaz]

If you mean Mickey VDV, yes it wasn't straightforward and we waited until i think 2 weeks before he season stated to officially sign him (reports at the time were that he was willing and ready to join weeks before but we were juggling other options like Tapsoba etc). I don't think negotiations were over multiple windows

If you actually meany Rafael VDV then that wasn't protracted at all, Madrid called us on deadline day and said "d'you fancy it"?

Also went over the deadline. With the problem with the fax machine.

 

[DeanoAustin]

No idea what’s gone on but I wasn’t particularly invested in this. Would have been happy to get him but long past getting upset about transfers.

My take on Levy’s comments are that he means it but he won’t do it by risking the financial security of the club. He got in the title race twice before with managers overachieving (Poch and Harry for a little bit) so he’s not going to compete with wages and transfers. He’ll look to gain an advantage in other areas in order to compete. It’s very very difficult to do though.

 

[K.D.D.D.D.Soc]

Cue Queen Elsa to sing.

 

[glasgowspur]

If you mean Mickey VDV, yes it wasn't straightforward and we waited until i think 2 weeks before he season stated to officially sign him (reports at the time were that he was willing and ready to join weeks before but we were juggling other options like Tapsoba etc). I don't think negotiations were over multiple windows

If you actually meany Rafael VDV then that wasn't protracted at all, Madrid called us on deadline day and said "d'you fancy it"?

Actually I meant vvd, phone must have auto corrected.
Original post was that Liverpool went out slapped the money down and hey presto best CB in the world rolled in.
I seem to remember it being a bit messy.

 

[Silly McSilly Face]

That, money, I weirdly think the child birth/issues a week ago didn't help and NF pushed out the help for him, so plays on loyalty, I doubt their owner is hardly shy at using intimidation/emotional blackmail to his favour either.

We move on, you have to hope we knew a week ago that the deal was dead and we have others on boil.

Its more that I think we were probably sold on the idea that Forest were willing to do a deal and that the player really wanted to come. That was what was leaked to the press our side (i.e. Romano "here we go"). Turned out Forest weren't willing to do business at all and had been trying to tie him down to a deal for weeks, the player never pushed for the move and didn't seem that bothered about coming (I.e. we weren't an "opportunity too good to miss).

 

[Bishop]

I don't know how many times this needs to be said....Levy cannot provide anymore money/investment/funds personally so the yearly pie gets divided up depending on strategy. But it's a zero sum game. We spend more on wages, we'll spend less on transfers. And how much we have to spend will fluctuate with income.

'Loosening up' 'pushing the boat out' 'show some ambition' are just code for spending some effing more money. I get the sentiment BUT he's never done that (maybe once) and his mantra has always been 'self-sustaining club' ...ie he's not lied.

As to his comments...I'm sure if he aligned himself with an average of the predictions in the 25/26 expectations thread, that would go down well , as would any type of top4 and a cup run comment. Whatever he said would be picked over, so in reality he's better off doing what he normally does and say nothing.

He can't bring the levels of spending that you (not you) desire, so it's a case of just accepting that (as you have no choice..or get on the CfT bandwagon) and supporting the team, and hopefully the framework we ARE able to work within can bring some success. (which it did?)

Just sing 'Champions of Europe...we know what we are' at the Lane this season and feel good about it?.

I don't want to get into the whole convo but Levy is not our owner so not sure whey this is the defense. The issue is ENIC who can afford to invest more if they chose to, they choose not to.

 

[Bishop]

Actually I meant vvd, phone must have auto corrected.
Original post was that Liverpool went out slapped the money down and hey presto best CB in the world rolled in.
I seem to remember it being a bit messy.

It was messy because Southampton accused them of tapping him up and weren't willing to sell at the time, but it was eventually sorted out by Liverpool "slapping the money down and getting their man". It was only as complicated as the expense of buying him.