Watford are losing 2-0 I'm watching it http://www.hesgoal.com/news/84289/Crystal_Palace_vs_Watford.html Best of luck to Brentford but I hope Watford go back down If Palace sign Armstrong then they will probably get some goals from him. Strange that we were linked with Ajer got out bid then seemingly gave up on recruiting a centre back . Wreckless to hope Omobamidele and Zimmermann will be good enough cover
The gap between the bottom half of the Prem and the top half of the Champs is starting to look huge, isn't it? The way things are going there could well be half a dozen clubs who are permanent yo-yo clubs - Norwich, Watford, West Brom, Fulham, Brentford etc.
Well Leicester were in League one not so long ago and have since won way more Silverware than Tottenham in that time. Other than the best few at the top Man City ,Man United, Chelsea, Liverpool ,Leicester and Arsenal the other sides have to settle with mid table or relegation. I get what you mean though it's pretty much nailed on that Norwich will flirt with relegation or go down and Tottenham will win nothing again.
Agreed. But my point is that the strength of those mediocre clubs has improved so much over the last few years. Yes, they're still where they were in relative terms, generally with no chance of getting any higher, but their squads look monstrous now compared with those of Championship clubs. Farke said last season that only 7 relegated clubs had gone straight back up in 10 years. Last season two of them did so, with the other making the play-offs. This may just have been a fluke season, we'll see. But it's looking harder and harder to become a Prem regular once you get there, but also harder to get past the clubs with parachute payments and squads in depth if you are one of the Championship wannabes.
Meanwhile, Mo Leitner has joined FC Zurich on a one-year contract. I'm sure we all hope it goes well for him and proves his springboard back into the game.
Michael Bailey seems convinced that Villa won't be signing Cantwell in this window: https://www.footballfancast.com/ast...rs/aston-villa-cantwell-norwich-buendia-lange Let's hope he's right.
I definitely do. I hate to see that talent wasted. He seems a complex character and that's not always a good thing for a sportsperson.
Still rumours that Palace and Norwich are competing for Armstrong. This would be a great signing but highly unlikely after agreeing to sign Sargent for quite a wedge.
This has pretty much always been the case Norwich probably being in the top 23 in the country and with no billionaire backers we are unique. Sides like Bolton, Coventry, Sheffield Wednesday, Wigan Forrest Portsmouth Ipswich even would probably believe they should be in the top tier . I'm not even particularly excited about this season I know we will have to endure dry spells where we don't score for weeks and don't know where the next points will come from. If we somehow manage to stay up I'll be pleased but if not we will have an amazing squad to boss the Championship again . Our future is in good hands and the board appear to have given Farke a fighting chance by strengthening the squad. Can't remember Brentford ever being in the top flight so it's not the same 3 replacing each other .
Josh Sargent scoring record is not that impressive. Perhaps he will be used as a back up striker playing behind Pukki? Armstrong is a Pukki type striker, a strong finisher when given the chance. We would break a club record to secure him but perhaps that’s what we need to do to survive in the PL.
Josh's record at youth level is crazy scoring loads and becoming a regular for USA . At 21 he is not the finished article but clearly very promising and versatile. If the fee of around £10m is true then it seems like a bit of agamble especially as Armstrong will probably go for about £15m . Surely the funds would have been better used to try and get Armstrong? I very much doubt we are in contention to sign Armstrong but I feel he would score goals for us and less risky than Sargent. Playing for struggling Werder probably didn't help his stats.
Sargent played both as a striker and WR. He can also play as second striker behind Pukki, but I think he's well suited to replacing Emi, as he's just as tenacious pressing and defending to support the RB. He's proven at the top level whereas Armstrong isn't, remembering how Pukki's scoring dropped from 26 to 11 in the PL. He also suits Farkeball's movement up front wherever he plays. The price is €10m rather than pounds, which is £8.5m, which is about half what we might pay for Armstrong. https://www.bundesliga.com/en/2bund...best-position-werder-bremen-usa-striker-16737
Blackburn seem keen to push the fee towards £20m for Armstrong, which is very much beyond us. With Newcastle taking a 40% cut of the profits, you can see why Blackburn want a big fee. Palace or Southampton seem likeliest, don't think our interest was much more than an early bid. I've seen articles suggesting Villa won't go for Cantwell this window, so that's probably him staying for now. Can't find the original Athletic source for it. I think if we get Tzolis and Sargent over the line, that's us done for attacking reinforcements, and in a pretty healthy position. It's the defensive side that'll hopefully get some attention now. At least those prices don't tend to go as mad as the deadline approaches compared to attacking players.
Tzolis is expected to play for PAOK vs Bohemians on Thursday, and then hopefully complete his transfer. Sounds like there's potentially some discussion around sell-on percentages still to be resolved.
Not the original article but quoting from his tweet: https://www.footballfancast.com/ast...rs/aston-villa-cantwell-norwich-buendia-lange Let's hope he's right.
With Cantwell apparently staying, at least for now, Rashica already settling in and Sargent having a medical tomorrow by all accounts, we can afford to wait for Tzolis, especially as he will probably have to isolate once he arrives. We're not short of attacking options it's now a CB, FB and DM we need.
Tzolis is more of a project anyway, I'd be amazed if he's involved before the international break. I think at this point, we almost need to accept that the first few games are going to be very difficult and with a makeshift side. I really hope we can use the first international break, with most of the squad hopefully at Colney, to really bed things in and put the opening fixtures behind us and start fresh.
