Transfer Talk Topic

[Dwmh]

1 hour ago, Sleeping Dave said:

This is indeed the return of Droy Was My Hero. Where have you been? 

Course it is.  Banned but er, not wanting to return as some kind of Ghost, I waited a while.
There is a lot going on in the world, and none of it can be discussed in the mainstream press or on a site like this.  So I have been busy reading, understanding and saying a bit here and there (and working a fair bit).
Whereas football - buying Fernandez aside, i don't think I have seen anything encouraging about Chelsea and the old site used to be notoriously unpleasant when the team was doing badly (eg 15/16).

I said else where that dwmh means "I was there when we were sh1t".  And I was thinking not watching the cricket and rugby the last week that I am very much a fair weather NT Cricket and Rugby fan.  So I feel the need to be present now.

Off to Rome tomorrow - might be able to give you an update on the B-team next week.  Tammy (who I always had expectations for) is injured, but Giroud, Tomori, RLC and recently Lukaku have made appearances.
At least I will know 3 or 4 of the players....

44 minutes ago, chara said:

2... Why did you choose your forum name?

Always felt a bit awkward when people called me Droy, after all Mickey Droy is still  a real person.
I usually signed off pms as dwmh in little letters, to make it clear.

3.  Mears family and the Groundsman / step Dad of my Dad's mate we had seasons tickets with.   He was short, sometimes cantankerous and old middle-aged  (40 <= middle-aged <=  my age now).  We argued often about young tall Droy merits vs short experienced old Chopper.

Just now, Max Fowler said:

 

 

So there is that female "influencer" who has made life difficult for Mason, Chillwell and Gilmour.  
But I can't help thinking that there was a lot more that affected a lot more players, not just 3.

No idea at all apart from a flip silly idea of a Monkey Pox epidemic explaining the injury crises the awkwardness and the rapid exit of so many players at very different stages in their career.

[chara]

20 minutes ago, Dwmh said:

Course it is.  Banned but er, not wanting to return as some kind of Ghost, I waited a while.
There is a lot going on in the world, and none of it can be discussed in the mainstream press or on a site like this.  So I have been busy reading, understanding and saying a bit here and there (and working a fair bit).
Whereas football - buying Fernandez aside, i don't think I have seen anything encouraging about Chelsea and the old site used to be notoriously unpleasant when the team was doing badly (eg 15/16).

I said else where that dwmh means "I was there when we were sh1t".  And I was thinking not watching the cricket and rugby the last week that I am very much a fair weather NT Cricket and Rugby fan.  So I feel the need to be present now.

Off to Rome tomorrow - might be able to give you an update on the B-team next week.  Tammy (who I always had expectations for) is injured, but Giroud, Tomori, RLC and recently Lukaku have made appearances.
At least I will know 3 or 4 of the players....

Always felt a bit awkward when people called me Droy, after all Mickey Droy is still  a real person.
I usually signed off pms as dwmh in little letters, to make it clear.

3.  Mears family and the Groundsman / step Dad of my Dad's mate we had seasons tickets with.   He was short, sometimes cantankerous and old middle-aged  (40 <= middle-aged <=  my age now).  We argued often about young tall Droy merits vs short experienced old Chopper.

So there is that female "influencer" who has made life difficult for Mason, Chillwell and Gilmour.  
But I can't help thinking that there was a lot more that affected a lot more players, not just 3.

No idea at all apart from a flip silly idea of a Monkey Pox epidemic explaining the injury crises the awkwardness and the rapid exit of so many players at very different stages in their career.

OK,,home and Dr(o)y.... Welcome back mate,,,, you have been mentioned more than any past member on many occasions here..... I can relax now!...no way would anyone else know #3

[kev61]

16 hours ago, Mark Kelly said:

That's because the defenders we have pissed money against the wall for are also not very good. Not much of an argument really Kev !

It IS an argument Mark.You think he is not very good.If you could turn the clock back would you have Christensen and Rudiger back? - I would in a heartbeat.

Christensen went on a free to one of the giants in europe.We pay stupid money for Cucurella and Disasi who are disasters, as well as paying a fortune for a one world cup wonder and a very poor mans Kante.

It could be that the pool of decent players is limited,but we are seeing the likes of Maddison clicking straight away with spurs.

We have seen Jackson click straight away and then fade.It is not his fault.Poch is already panicking and fiddling with the team too much.

But the main reason we are struggling is because Nkunku and James aren't fit.....give me a break!!.

 

[xceleryx]

8 hours ago, Dwmh said:

I doubt there is a single player with 3 appearances for us that doesn't have an amazing video of what he did in training, or quotes from senior players about how great he is.    But lets face it on U21 clips and senior pro quotes, Salah was no RLC or CHO let alone a Josh McEachran.  More people on here (or should I call it there) in 13/14 were predicting big things for Tomas Kallas than for Salah.  

Shear and utter nonsense. 

Salah left Basel and signed for us at 21 and there had been hype around him years prior, in particularly the season earlier where he helped lead Basel to the Europa League semi-final where we knocked them out. He scored in one of the legs and was a genuine menace. Then repeated that the season after when they were in our Champions League group stage, scoring in both ties IIRC before he joined us. 

He always had talent, it was just considerably raw and we weren't a good side to develop that within at the time. Loaning him out to Fiorentina was a good move, as was loaning him to Roma the season afterwards, however including that option to buy was the naive moment. 

Not that any of it ultimately matters now.

[Mark Kelly]

4 hours ago, kev61 said:

It IS an argument Mark.You think he is not very good.If you could turn the clock back would you have Christensen and Rudiger back? - I would in a heartbeat.

Christensen went on a free to one of the giants in europe.We pay stupid money for Cucurella and Disasi who are disasters, as well as paying a fortune for a one world cup wonder and a very poor mans Kante.

It could be that the pool of decent players is limited,but we are seeing the likes of Maddison clicking straight away with spurs.

We have seen Jackson click straight away and then fade.It is not his fault.Poch is already panicking and fiddling with the team too much.

But the main reason we are struggling is because Nkunku and James aren't fit.....give me a break!!.

 

I'd have Toni back in a heartbeat but not Christensen in a million years.  Sorry Kev . 

[Floyd25]

4 hours ago, xceleryx said:

He always had talent, it was just considerably raw and we weren't a good side to develop that within at the time. Loaning him out to Fiorentina was a good move, as was loaning him to Roma the season afterwards, however including that option to buy was the naive moment. 

Not that any of it ultimately matters now.

I was on a different forum in those days and I can remember defending Salah and calling for patience with him as I just had a feeling he’d come good, but no one on that forum would have it. I agree though those loan deals weren’t bad business, but cashing in on him was a terrible mistake. 

[Morgs]

Lots of rumours on X that Lavia is out for a long period as its a ligament ankle injury - could be until the new year.  Our injury curse continues. 

[Chelsea_Matt]

Just now, Morgs said:

Lots of rumours on X that Lavia is out for a long period as its a ligament ankle injury - could be until the new year.  Our injury curse continues. 

I’m only amazed, my dear Morgerino, that it isn’t the whole season. I don’t know why we bother to buy players anymore 🤣

[Mark Kelly]

I saw something over the weekend that Chuk's injury was worse than originally thought too . 

What is going wrong?

[asvaberg]

18 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

I saw something over the weekend that Chuk's injury was worse than originally thought too . 

What is going wrong?

Someone call Eva in Harley Street. See if she's available for a contract again 🙂

[Morgs]

I dont see any way it could possibly be one, but this is starting to feel a lot like some very dark conspiracy. 

[ROTG]

1 hour ago, Mark Kelly said:

What is going wrong?

Darren Anderton was hired as part of the clubs new medical team

I'll get my crutches 

[Willian Dollar Baby]

2 hours ago, Morgs said:

Lots of rumours on X that Lavia is out for a long period as its a ligament ankle injury - could be until the new year.  Our injury curse continues. 

Whilst a shame for him and another injury to add to the list, his signing was pointless and feels motivated by greed rather than nessessity.

Enzo, Caicedo, Gallagher and Ugochukwo would be more than enough without European football. It worries me how much money we've spent on midfielders that don't score goals and don't add much physicality for set pieces. Part of the reason I think Poch is keen to play Chilwell at LW is the additional height it adds to the team. Think we will see a lot of Colwill and Disasi playing as the third CBs/fullback hybrid. 

It's clear the board bought Lavia as a Gallagher replacement whilst Poch's actions speak loudly. Gallagher has started every game and was handed the captaincy vs Wimbledon with Lavia being "slowly intergrated" until the transfer window shut. The board would have happily shipped him off to Spurs on deadline day if the offer came in. 

 

[xceleryx]

1 hour ago, Willian Dollar Baby said:

Whilst a shame for him and another injury to add to the list, his signing was pointless and feels motivated by greed rather than nessessity.

Enzo, Caicedo, Gallagher and Ugochukwo would be more than enough without European football. It worries me how much money we've spent on midfielders that don't score goals and don't add much physicality for set pieces. Part of the reason I think Poch is keen to play Chilwell at LW is the additional height it adds to the team. Think we will see a lot of Colwill and Disasi playing as the third CBs/fullback hybrid. 

It's clear the board bought Lavia as a Gallagher replacement whilst Poch's actions speak loudly. Gallagher has started every game and was handed the captaincy vs Wimbledon with Lavia being "slowly intergrated" until the transfer window shut. The board would have happily shipped him off to Spurs on deadline day if the offer came in. 

Wouldn't say Lavia's signing was pointless, let alone motivated by greed. We'd been tracking him for some time, so it's not as if he was just randomly on the radar and we made a move. I think people get caught up in just looking at the total of players we have for the midfield and less so the qualities the add to those pivot positions. 

Lavia can virtually play in both the roles we utilise, be it the more defensive DM type role we've got Caicedo occurring (although not his strongest IMO), or the slightly more adventurous role Enzo currently takes up. In essence Lavia can provide a more seamless alternative, particularly for Enzo as he's also more of a passer than a ball-winner. 

IIRC the original plan was to send Ugochukwo out on loan, but with not being able to shift Lukaku in a sale and then the Kepa situation unfolding as it is unexpectedly, we ended up not quite having the spots left to do it. Ugochukwo is also a more genuine DM, which I think is important to note. So if there are occasions where we want a genuine ball-winner and shield then he's arguably the best alternative we have profile wise. This also gives us the flexibility tactically should we desire to play a midfield three, with Ugo coming in as a genuine DM and freeing up Caicedo to play a bit more of a box-to-box type role alongside Enzo for example. 

Considering how rigid and limited our midfield has been in recent years in terms of being able to seamlessly interchange players, for me the collective we have is a welcomed change. 

We also need to consider we're not just buying or planning for this season alone. Sure, we'll have less games this campaign and it may mean not as many minutes to go around, but quite clearly the plan is for us to be playing back in some sort of European competition next season. If teams solely focused on immediate situations only they'd miss out on many a good player. 

Lavia was slowly being integrated because he had zero pre-season, he was never going to be thrown straight in on the basis of that alone. His last game watch literally the final game of the season at the end of May. It's just unfortunate he's gotten hurt before being able to get on the pitch for us. 

 

 

[Willian Dollar Baby]

1 hour ago, xceleryx said:

Wouldn't say Lavia's signing was pointless, let alone motivated by greed. We'd been tracking him for some time, so it's not as if he was just randomly on the radar and we made a move. I think people get caught up in just looking at the total of players we have for the midfield and less so the qualities the add to those pivot positions. 

Lavia can virtually play in both the roles we utilise, be it the more defensive DM type role we've got Caicedo occurring (although not his strongest IMO), or the slightly more adventurous role Enzo currently takes up. In essence Lavia can provide a more seamless alternative, particularly for Enzo as he's also more of a passer than a ball-winner. 

IIRC the original plan was to send Ugochukwo out on loan, but with not being able to shift Lukaku in a sale and then the Kepa situation unfolding as it is unexpectedly, we ended up not quite having the spots left to do it. Ugochukwo is also a more genuine DM, which I think is important to note. So if there are occasions where we want a genuine ball-winner and shield then he's arguably the best alternative we have profile wise. This also gives us the flexibility tactically should we desire to play a midfield three, with Ugo coming in as a genuine DM and freeing up Caicedo to play a bit more of a box-to-box type role alongside Enzo for example. 

Considering how rigid and limited our midfield has been in recent years in terms of being able to seamlessly interchange players, for me the collective we have is a welcomed change. 

We also need to consider we're not just buying or planning for this season alone. Sure, we'll have less games this campaign and it may mean not as many minutes to go around, but quite clearly the plan is for us to be playing back in some sort of European competition next season. If teams solely focused on immediate situations only they'd miss out on many a good player. 

Lavia was slowly being integrated because he had zero pre-season, he was never going to be thrown straight in on the basis of that alone. His last game watch literally the final game of the season at the end of May. It's just unfortunate he's gotten hurt before being able to get on the pitch for us. 

 

 

Just because a player is rated by the club doesn't mean we should always buy them, particularly when stylistically Lavia doesn't add much to what we have. We've plenty of sub 21 CM's with potential, in the last year we've also signed Santos, Casadai and Chuckwemeka too. Another 19 year old prospect does not move the needle for us and it is greed because Europe or not, there is not enough space for everyone. At £50+million it's another waste of resources all on a promise. 

I can't see Lavia getting a great deal of minutes ahead of those already in the squad. Gallagher is unquestionably more PL ready whilst Ugochuckwo has a profile that we don't have elsewhere. Namely a big physical player who can win headers. 

If we go by transfer fees it would seem Enzo, Lavia & Caicedo are viewed as the long term midfield three by whoever is buying the players. In which case there is a severe lack of goal threat and three players who are average and below in both height and aerial ability. This limits our ability to play a player like Maatsen at LB or means we must play 3 CB's to avoid getting dominated at corners. We struggle enough for goals as it is without adding more players that have no clinical edge in front of goal. 

Enzo, Caicedo, Lavia, Ugochukwu, Gallagher, Chuckwemeka, Casadei and Santos.

That's 8 players for 3 positions, or 2 if Nkunku plays at 10. That's 7 bought in the last year by the new ownership + Gallagher who they are desperate to cash in on. Gallagher and Enzo are veterans of the group at 23 and 22 respectively. We've spent a billion and have a squad that might be excellent in 5 years time but is incredibly unbalanced with a lack of experience right now. 

On the foreign loans point - that was a mess created by the club by loaning out Kepa and Ziyech unnecessarily at the cost of the development of players who actually have a future here. Lukaku is a more complex situation but also one which did not paint us in a great light. I get the feeling that noone at the club realised there was a limit on foreign loans until 2 weeks before the transfer window shut. 

Edited September 11, 2023 by Willian Dollar Baby

[ROTG]

1 hour ago, xceleryx said:

Wouldn't say Lavia's signing was pointless, let alone motivated by greed. We'd been tracking him for some time, so it's not as if he was just randomly on the radar and we made a move. I think people get caught up in just looking at the total of players we have for the midfield and less so the qualities the add to those pivot positions. 

Lavia can virtually play in both the roles we utilise, be it the more defensive DM type role we've got Caicedo occurring (although not his strongest IMO), or the slightly more adventurous role Enzo currently takes up. In essence Lavia can provide a more seamless alternative, particularly for Enzo as he's also more of a passer than a ball-winner. 

IIRC the original plan was to send Ugochukwo out on loan, but with not being able to shift Lukaku in a sale and then the Kepa situation unfolding as it is unexpectedly, we ended up not quite having the spots left to do it. Ugochukwo is also a more genuine DM, which I think is important to note. So if there are occasions where we want a genuine ball-winner and shield then he's arguably the best alternative we have profile wise. This also gives us the flexibility tactically should we desire to play a midfield three, with Ugo coming in as a genuine DM and freeing up Caicedo to play a bit more of a box-to-box type role alongside Enzo for example. 

Considering how rigid and limited our midfield has been in recent years in terms of being able to seamlessly interchange players, for me the collective we have is a welcomed change. 

We also need to consider we're not just buying or planning for this season alone. Sure, we'll have less games this campaign and it may mean not as many minutes to go around, but quite clearly the plan is for us to be playing back in some sort of European competition next season. If teams solely focused on immediate situations only they'd miss out on many a good player. 

Lavia was slowly being integrated because he had zero pre-season, he was never going to be thrown straight in on the basis of that alone. His last game watch literally the final game of the season at the end of May. It's just unfortunate he's gotten hurt before being able to get on the pitch for us. 

 

 

So in your opinion which one or maybe all  of the new kids on the block in midfield department, will play a similar number of games as MM and produce or exceed his assist and goals say in the next 3 seasons?

Just trying to understand the continual lambasting of a midfield which added quite a few trophies for the club?

[Sleeping Dave]

10 hours ago, Dwmh said:

1) Course it is.  Banned but er, not wanting to return as some kind of Ghost, I waited a while.
There is a lot going on in the world, and none of it can be discussed in the mainstream press or on a site like this.  So I have been busy reading, understanding and saying a bit here and there (and working a fair bit).
Whereas football - buying Fernandez aside, i don't think I have seen anything encouraging about Chelsea and the old site used to be notoriously unpleasant when the team was doing badly (eg 15/16).

2) Off to Rome tomorrow - might be able to give you an update on the B-team next week.  Tammy (who I always had expectations for) is injured, but Giroud, Tomori, RLC and recently Lukaku have made appearances.
At least I will know 3 or 4 of the players....

 

3) So there is that female "influencer" who has made life difficult for Mason, Chillwell and Gilmour.  
But I can't help thinking that there was a lot more that affected a lot more players, not just 3.

No idea at all apart from a flip silly idea of a Monkey Pox epidemic explaining the injury crises the awkwardness and the rapid exit of so many players at very different stages in their career.

1) Ouch! So you’ve been lurking the old forum then! 

2) AC Milan is now the old Chelsea it seems with RLC, Tomori, Giroud  and Pulisic all starting. Roma of course having both Abraham and Lukaku. Abraham must be kicking himself! 

3) interesting take. Something happened that’s for sure, the team just flat out died and it all happened so suddenly. 

[east lower]

3 minutes ago, Sleeping Dave said:

3) interesting take. Something happened that’s for sure, the team just flat out died and it all happened so suddenly. 

I'd look around Tuchel leaving and the period in the few months before and after for potential reasons.

[Max Fowler]

3 hours ago, xceleryx said:

Wouldn't say Lavia's signing was pointless, let alone motivated by greed. We'd been tracking him for some time, so it's not as if he was just randomly on the radar and we made a move. I think people get caught up in just looking at the total of players we have for the midfield and less so the qualities the add to those pivot positions. 

Lavia can virtually play in both the roles we utilise, be it the more defensive DM type role we've got Caicedo occurring (although not his strongest IMO), or the slightly more adventurous role Enzo currently takes up. In essence Lavia can provide a more seamless alternative, particularly for Enzo as he's also more of a passer than a ball-winner. 

IIRC the original plan was to send Ugochukwo out on loan, but with not being able to shift Lukaku in a sale and then the Kepa situation unfolding as it is unexpectedly, we ended up not quite having the spots left to do it. Ugochukwo is also a more genuine DM, which I think is important to note. So if there are occasions where we want a genuine ball-winner and shield then he's arguably the best alternative we have profile wise. This also gives us the flexibility tactically should we desire to play a midfield three, with Ugo coming in as a genuine DM and freeing up Caicedo to play a bit more of a box-to-box type role alongside Enzo for example. 

Considering how rigid and limited our midfield has been in recent years in terms of being able to seamlessly interchange players, for me the collective we have is a welcomed change. 

We also need to consider we're not just buying or planning for this season alone. Sure, we'll have less games this campaign and it may mean not as many minutes to go around, but quite clearly the plan is for us to be playing back in some sort of European competition next season. If teams solely focused on immediate situations only they'd miss out on many a good player. 

Lavia was slowly being integrated because he had zero pre-season, he was never going to be thrown straight in on the basis of that alone. His last game watch literally the final game of the season at the end of May. It's just unfortunate he's gotten hurt before being able to get on the pitch for us. 

Come on, Celery. You're clearly one of the brightest sparks on here but you literally argued the other day that it was a good thing we bought Lavia and Ugochuckwu because Lavia just got injured.

Woe betide Gallagher filling in or switching to a 4-2-3-1 using our £200+ million of midfielders. We have spent £300+ million on midfielders who couldn't hit a barn door with Lukaku in a getaway car. 

Clearly Boehly and Eghbali have been taking turns rubbing each other's crystal balls and had the wisdom to spend nearly £90 million on two defensive midfielders without sorting out our real problems.

In some crucial ways, it doesn't matter whether Lavia was the right addition or not. What matters is whether we have a repeat of our last campaign where our single biggest issue is scoring goals.

Clearlake have slashed our wage bill just to get you on the payroll arguing our real issue is not having enough defensive midfielders. And yet I wanted Lavia and agree that he is a fantastic addition.

Difference is - I look at where we spent our money this summer and before and see we have a painfully imbalanced squad. Too many defenders, too many defensive-minded midfielders, not enough goals.

We sold our top goalscorer from last season, our top creative player from the last few seasons, and replaced them with a Man City youngster and a raw, entirely unproven striker from La Liga.

Plus Nkunku where we were unlucky. You repeat forward players weren't available but of course they were. Again we prioritised youth at the cost of having a squad that competes for European football.

And so Poch will fall on his sword because our fans have high expectations than and the owners should have learned that from last season. Talk about being inflexible. The same mistakes with new names.

Edited September 11, 2023 by Max Fowler

[Dwmh]

12 hours ago, xceleryx said:

Shear and utter nonsense. 

Salah left Basel and signed for us at 21 and there had been hype around him years prior, in particularly the season earlier where he helped lead Basel to the Europa League semi-final where we knocked them out. He scored in one of the legs and was a genuine menace. Then repeated that the season after when they were in our Champions League group stage, scoring in both ties IIRC before he joined us. 

He always had talent, it was just considerably raw and we weren't a good side to develop that within at the time. Loaning him out to Fiorentina was a good move, as was loaning him to Roma the season afterwards, however including that option to buy was the naive moment. 

Not that any of it ultimately matters now.

Well if you s=witch track from the you tube clips to actual games for Basle you have a point.
I was replying to the points you made in the post taht I was replying to.

But it is still irrelevant, the judge of a transfer is whether we would have won the PL in 2015 and 2017, when we were close (and won).  Not in any of the other seasons where Salah might have helped us reduce a 19 point or more gap.

 

5 hours ago, Willian Dollar Baby said:

Whilst a shame for him and another injury to add to the list, his signing was pointless and feels motivated by greed rather than nessessity.

Enzo, Caicedo, Gallagher and Ugochukwo would be more than enough without European football. It worries me how much money we've spent on midfielders that don't score goals and don't add much physicality for set pieces. Part of the reason I think Poch is keen to play Chilwell at LW is the additional height it adds to the team. Think we will see a lot of Colwill and Disasi playing as the third CBs/fullback hybrid. 

It's clear the board bought Lavia as a Gallagher replacement whilst Poch's actions speak loudly. Gallagher has started every game and was handed the captaincy vs Wimbledon with Lavia being "slowly intergrated" until the transfer window shut. The board would have happily shipped him off to Spurs on deadline day if the offer came in. 

 

 

1 hour ago, Sleeping Dave said:

1) Ouch! So you’ve been lurking the old forum then! 

2) AC Milan is now the old Chelsea it seems with RLC, Tomori, Giroud  and Pulisic all starting. Roma of course having both Abraham and Lukaku. Abraham must be kicking himself! 

3) interesting take. Something happened that’s for sure, the team just flat out died and it all happened so suddenly. 

1 hour ago, east lower said:

I'd look around Tuchel leaving and the period in the few months before and after for potential reasons.

1.  No the Ghost was around for ages,

2  I probably got very confused about who plays for whom - not as though I have ever watched 90 mins of Italian football even on TV before.  (just arrived in Rome, and unlike London it is going to stay very hot)

3 & east lower
I wonder if Tuchel wasn't trying to get out of his contract to go to BM from that summer.  But if we try to link Tuchel leaving to the squad performance the cause - effect could go anyway between those two and anything else.  I certainly don't know.

 

[Sleeping Dave]

2 hours ago, Willian Dollar Baby said:

Just because a player is rated by the club doesn't mean we should always buy them, particularly when stylistically Lavia doesn't add much to what we have. We've plenty of sub 21 CM's with potential, in the last year we've also signed Santos, Casadai and Chuckwemeka too. Another 19 year old prospect does not move the needle for us and it is greed because Europe or not, there is not enough space for everyone. At £50+million it's another waste of resources all on a promise. 

I can't see Lavia getting a great deal of minutes ahead of those already in the squad. Gallagher is unquestionably more PL ready whilst Ugochuckwo has a profile that we don't have elsewhere. Namely a big physical player who can win headers. 

If we go by transfer fees it would seem Enzo, Lavia & Caicedo are viewed as the long term midfield three by whoever is buying the players. In which case there is a severe lack of goal threat and three players who are average and below in both height and aerial ability. This limits our ability to play a player like Maatsen at LB or means we must play 3 CB's to avoid getting dominated at corners. We struggle enough for goals as it is without adding more players that have no clinical edge in front of goal. 

Enzo, Caicedo, Lavia, Ugochukwu, Gallagher, Chuckwemeka, Casadei and Santos.

That's 8 players for 3 positions, or 2 if Nkunku plays at 10. That's 7 bought in the last year by the new ownership + Gallagher who they are desperate to cash in on. Gallagher and Enzo are veterans of the group at 23 and 22 respectively. We've spent a billion and have a squad that might be excellent in 5 years time but is incredibly unbalanced with a lack of experience right now. 

On the foreign loans point - that was a mess created by the club by loaning out Kepa and Ziyech unnecessarily at the cost of the development of players who actually have a future here. Lukaku is a more complex situation but also one which did not paint us in a great light. I get the feeling that noone at the club realised there was a limit on foreign loans until 2 weeks before the transfer window shut. 

I’m in this camp, these clowns are making it up as they go along. No real strategy apart from huge, huge spending on potential. It’s nothing but absolute madness I’m afraid. 

[Ham]

3 hours ago, Dwmh said:

Well if you s=witch track from the you tube clips to actual games for Basle you have a point.
I was replying to the points you made in the post taht I was replying to.

But it is still irrelevant, the judge of a transfer is whether we would have won the PL in 2015 and 2017, when we were close (and won).  Not in any of the other seasons where Salah might have helped us reduce a 19 point or more gap.

 

 

1.  No the Ghost was around for ages,

2  I probably got very confused about who plays for whom - not as though I have ever watched 90 mins of Italian football even on TV before.  (just arrived in Rome, and unlike London it is going to stay very hot)

3 & east lower
I wonder if Tuchel wasn't trying to get out of his contract to go to BM from that summer.  But if we try to link Tuchel leaving to the squad performance the cause - effect could go anyway between those two and anything else.  I certainly don't know.

 

Hang on... Were you The Ghost on the old forum?

 

[JaneB]

18 minutes ago, Ham said:

Hang on... Were you The Ghost on the old forum?

 

I noticed the mention of Ghost too but I’m pretty certain that was another regular who changed his username for a while, but it was definitely not @Dwmh

Thats all the info I’m giving out.

[Sleeping Dave]

24 minutes ago, JaneB said:

I noticed the mention of Ghost too but I’m pretty certain that was another regular who changed his username for a while, but it was definitely not @Dwmh

Thats all the info I’m giving out.

I was the Ghost. Mr Tucker banned me and then never reinstated me under Sleeping Dave. After 6 months or so I created the Ghost. I thought it was fairly widely known it was me, there were certainly quite a few members who knew it was me. Droy certainly knew, but I thought (incorrectly) he had already been banned at that stage and figured it out by lurking. 

Michael then emailed me, acknowledged the mishap and merged the Ghost with the old Sleeping Dave account. 

Edit: hope I didn’t say too much now? 

Edited September 11, 2023 by Sleeping Dave

[east lower]

4 hours ago, Dwmh said:

3 & east lower
I wonder if Tuchel wasn't trying to get out of his contract to go to BM from that summer.  But if we try to link Tuchel leaving to the squad performance the cause - effect could go anyway between those two and anything else.  I certainly don't know.

 

You may have read stories that were circulating where Simon Jordan eluded to reasons existing for the new owners to be well within their rights for exiting TT. He wouldn’t say what they were. 
 

Serious stuff that split the dressing room, the Tuchel supporters and those aghast at what he’d supposedly been up to. Also gave the owners all the excuses they needed on their quest (in my view) to rid the club of legacy from the last owner.