Transfer Rumours transfer thread fact and fiction

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Even I don't think that Mourinho was going to let Skipp and Winks leave without bringing in a replacement. I like Winks but he's wholly unsuited to playing Mourinho-ball and if there was any chance of making the best of a bad appointment, giving Mourinho more players that he wanted had to be a better idea than not doing so.

If Levy had authorised selling some of the players Mourinho wanted gone, it's likely that our transfer window would have looked quite different.

Of course it’s entirely possible that Levy did authorise the sales and told the players to go find new clubs, and they either couldn’t or wouldn’t. Selling players is a lot harder than I think people realise. Nobody is forced to sign a contract.
 
I thought Watkins was one of a fluid front three at Brentford. He was also a Gooner!

Yeah, but thats like saying Firmino plays the same role as Salah in a fluid front 3 or that fluid front 3 of Kane Alli and Eriksen had the time had them all interchanging roles. Kane is most definitely in the middle of the time. Bergwijn is most definitely out on the wing most of the time.

I believe Watkins was central in the fluid front 3 but i will leave that to @Dier Hard to say as he watched him most
 
Of course it’s entirely possible that Levy did authorise the sales and told the players to go find new clubs, and they either couldn’t or wouldn’t. Selling players is a lot harder than I think people realise. Nobody is forced to sign a contract.

It's possible but nothing's leaked to that effect and that makes it an outside shot.
 
Yeah, but thats like saying Firmino plays the same role as Salah in a fluid front 3 or that fluid front 3 of Kane Alli and Eriksen had the time had them all interchanging roles. Kane is most definitely in the middle of the time. Bergwijn is most definitely out on the wing most of the time.

I believe Watkins was central in the fluid front 3 but i will leave that to @Dier Hard to say as he watched him most
A couple of seasons back Watkins played on the right in a similar role to what Marcus Rashford plays at Man Utd, but he was moved to a CF last season after Neil Maupay joined Brighton
 
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Yeah, but thats like saying Firmino plays the same role as Salah in a fluid front 3 or that fluid front 3 of Kane Alli and Eriksen had the time had them all interchanging roles. Kane is most definitely in the middle of the time. Bergwijn is most definitely out on the wing most of the time.

I believe Watkins was central in the fluid front 3 but i will leave that to @Dier Hard to say as he watched him most

Watkins started out at Exeter as a CAM but he was moving like a CF back then, then when he moved to Brentford he played primarily on the wing but took the central role in the last 12-18 months or so of his time there. You can see that as his body’s matured he’s been built into a proper CF.

If we’d have signed him when I said we should we also would’ve used him as a CF. It’s where his future has always been to be honest. He can definitely play in a variety of forward positions but if you want the best of Watkins then CF or just behind is his best role.
 
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Maybe because Mourinho said it at the time of his signing...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...tes-Spurs-chiefs-signing-Steven-Bergwijn.html

He wanted a big bruiser up front (Willian Jose) to replace the injured Harry Kane...Levy bought him a winger....as he does....over and over again.

Look, I get that you want to defend Levy at all cost....but his time running of running the club as his personal fiefdom has to end....for the good of the club as a whole.
Is that the same Willian Jose who has scored 1 in 13 for Wolves and that was against Sheffield United?
We brought in Vinicius this season and he used him extremely badly, going from isolating him to chucking him up front with Kane, seemingly at random.
He's still got 10 goals and 3 assists and looks a better option than the Wolves loanee.
 
Is that the same Willian Jose who has scored 1 in 13 for Wolves and that was against Sheffield United?
We brought in Vinicius this season and he used him extremely badly, going from isolating him to chucking him up front with Kane, seemingly at random.
He's still got 10 goals and 3 assists and looks a better option than the Wolves loanee.

That's the one.

I'm not saying it was a good choice...it wasn't and most of us thought so at the time...but Mourinho wanted him and the fact that Levy bought Bergwijn instead won't have pleased Mourinho and will have made him more objectionable than he already was.

Failing to bring in the players that managers want is a big thing and probably ends a very significant number of managers' reigns....even when the players involved are not worth it.....see Mourinho/United/Toby Alderweireld. He sulked about that like a spoiled 3 year old.
 
That's the one.

I'm not saying it was a good choice...it wasn't and most of us thought so at the time...but Mourinho wanted him and the fact that Levy bought Bergwijn instead won't have pleased Mourinho and will have made him more objectionable than he already was.

Failing to bring in the players that managers want is a big thing and probably ends a very significant number of managers' reigns....even when the players involved are not worth it.....see Mourinho/United/Toby Alderweireld. He sulked about that like a spoiled 3 year old.
Managers need to grow up and stop acting like spoiled children.
Some of the signings that I've heard them moaning about after the fact are ****ing ludicrous and a lot of them seem divorced from reality.

This is why we need a Director of Football. You want a player? Describe what qualities you're after and I'll give you available, realistic options.
Don't tell me that you want Cristiano Messihimovic and then cry and sulk when it doesn't happen.
 
Managers need to grow up and stop acting like spoiled children.
Some of the signings that I've heard them moaning about after the fact are ****ing ludicrous and a lot of them seem divorced from reality.

This is why we need a Director of Football. You want a player? Describe what qualities you're after and I'll give you available, realistic options.
Don't tell me that you want Cristiano Messihimovic and then cry and sulk when it doesn't happen.

I'm told by others that person is Hitchen.....<laugh>
 
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Which ten and can we up it a bit?

Excluding young players, pick anyone except Kane and Son and I probably wouldn't argue with you <laugh>.

Though I personally wouldn't shed a tear selling:
Toby, Sanchez, Dier, Aurier, Doherty, Winks, Sissoko, Dele, Lo Celso and Lamela.

This is obviously dependent on replacing some but they're players I wouldn't miss.
 
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If we want to act like a big club, Levy needs to offer Michael Edwards a bumper salary to come back to the club or find someone else who has a track record of doing the job and wants to do more for their money than stroke Levy's vanity.

He needs to get out of micro-managing everything and concentrate on the big picture and facilitating the settling of sticking points.
 
If we want to act like a big club, Levy needs to offer Michael Edwards a bumper salary to come back to the club or find someone else who has a track record of doing the job and wants to do more for their money than stroke Levy's vanity.

He needs to get out of micro-managing everything and concentrate on the big picture and facilitating the settling of sticking points.

Yeah I've said similar to this on the way forward thread numerous times.

We need our own Edwards/ Monchi/ Zorc etc. Realistically I don't think we can get any of those, so I think the next best option is to sniff around the staff of clubs like Ajax, Dortmund, Barca, Salzburg etc who have a great track record of finding and developing good talent and look for someone in their set up who'd be interested in taking on a DoF role at our club. Show Hitchen (and Levy) how **** gets done - and effectively.