I like the fact the Kosovan lad is left sided. Kosovo are not half rocketing up them FIFA rankings as well, some real talent there. Swiss Prem has some big sides and produces players , so without knowing anything about him in real terms, it all stacks up for me.
The most likely scenario is any buyers are waiting for the parachute pot to run dry, proper money men don't get mega wealthy by paying top dollar for something when they don't have to. Once they start hemorrhaging cash they'll be desperate to get shot. It's like paying 60,000,000 for a player with a few months left on his contract when you could just wait and get him for nowt. Fans think with their hearts and are impatient, potential owners with no connection to the club will be thinking with their wallets. They're in no rush. There'll be a tipping point where any buyers will have SD & Co over a barrel and will get us for peanuts, we just have to be patient. I just wish the bloody thing would hurry up because it's doing my head in....
Hard to say without seeing him. I’d no objections when we resigned Flanagan but I’d like a bit more for first 11. I know we are all happy with Wright and Willis. Top class for the league there.
Yeah I reckon there up there with the best defenders in the league, we’ll have 6 first team centre backs if both do sign
You need cover but you want a defined 3 who start 90% of games. Hopefully Wright can stay fit, Willis has been pretty bulletproof. We’ve 50 games plus as a bare minimum so we need the ability to rest and rotate. 6 is a good number I think.
Looks like it. I’m concerned that we seem to be totally overlooking RB where we are desperate, especially if we are looking at a wing back setup. I think Danny Graham will return and I think he’ll be solid for the league then we have the 4 option up top, and I still have a slight concern about midfield balance. I have to say I fancy us to get up this year though, I think we are in solid shape and I don’t see any stand out competitors, with Wigan and Charlton financial problems. Be good to see Toney leave Posh that be a big boost, and I will maintain the hope we go for Maddison, that’s a left footed midfielder with creativity and I think that would satisfy me on the balance issue.
I am entirely not "ITK", rarely post anything (certainly very little of interest!) but have hugely enjoyed the rollercoaster that this thread has become... The fact that a deal is reported as being "almost done" has to be positive. There can be a million and 1 things that can cause any deal to get thrown off the rails. Assume for a minute that they are £1 or 2m apart on the price (I`m sure I`ve seen that somewhere). How does that get bridged? Has Santorini made a few quid (albeit not hard cash) on the share value? He could easily have done - are the other investors requiring him to assist in the final split? Is the Russian fella saying "my value for the deal isn`t the shares but what I bring to the club based on my football knowledge I expect my shares at a discounted/zero price [i.e. someone else pays for them]"? Is Furface saying "you can all **** yourselves - I`m not paying it all" - I imagine he`s been involved in a fair few more valuable negotiations than SD and that he knows time is on his side... Is SD getting paid something for his shares and an extra amount to buy out possible employment claims or as a "consultant" - what impact does that have on the share price...[remember if there aren`t any special classes of shares then they`ll all be valued at the same price...] Are the other existing shareholders being asked to waive any dividends that might have been declared? The reality is that it is often the last step in any negotiation that is the hardest to take - the fact that it`s being reported that we`re close is a positive - the fact that it`s not been signed off yet reminds me we are Sunderland after all... The other important feature of the deal is that Smug and I have a bet (a pint if I recall correctly) as to whether or not there`ll be a vaccine for Covid before the deal gets done...obviously I`m not using the Russian vaccine (yet) to claim victory! KTF
I personally wouldn’t object to that. For the trimming of costs he deserves a small bit of credit, as long as request is reasonable.
Can’t see us being able to afford Maddison with Donald still here , hopefully we get either Maddison or szmodics though both very good at this level
He’s a free agent I think we could maybe offer him a one year deal with clauses related to extend and pay a bonus if we go up. I don’t think he’d be unrealistic in his demands, given the Covid landscape.
