VVD, Tadic, Fraser, SD, Ryan. All strong characters who have been here for "a bit".
Assuming VVD stays? He's probably the most likely to leave next Summer.
VVD, Tadic, Fraser, SD, Ryan. All strong characters who have been here for "a bit".
Assuming VVD stays? He's probably the most likely to leave next Summer.
Choppy waters, I'd take 14th right now. (and a little cup run if you don't mind my greed)
Yes, assuming he stays. He might. Let's not mentally sell him just yet, please!
......but never hope for 17th.......unless your Sunderland.......

I'd take anywhere outside of the bottom 3 for a run to EL QF's or further![]()
I can see your point from the side that it would be exciting, but realistically the QFs and anywhere below 6th could be problematic. We can use the EL as a draw for players while we are in it but if we throw our resource at it to neglect a better league position we may not have that appeal. It's a real conundrum for me.
I don't think we're going to be in the top 6 regardless of how we do in the cup competitions this year.
I dunno, it's still early days but other than the usual top 4 contenders I haven't seen anyone look great personally, so there's still room for us yet.
I've said for some time that I think it IS in our business plan.
We're building up a stock of funds in a sustainable way that will allow us to progress without injections of money from our owners. We do it by buying low and selling high. So I genuinely do believe it's planned.
This way we make money to allow us to move up the pecking order plus being seen as a stepping stone means we get young hungry up-and-coming players keen to showcase themselves by playing their best for us.
No accident, in my opinion.
Vin
My personal opinion is that we'll get more of a 'traditional' (for want of a better word) top 6 this year. Being the Manc clubs, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea & Spurs. Below that I expect to see Leicester/Everton.
I get where you're coming from, the Sky 6 I suppose? I think top 4 will be Man U, man city, Chelsea and Arsenal to return to status quo. Haven't seen quite enough of Spurs to judge but Liverpool don't look special and hugely unbalanced too. Leicester I expect to be around there but tough to judge with the CL in their agenda too. I'm not wholly convinced by Everton either. It's such early days though that it's always difficult to tell... However fun to watch it unravel!
that's an amazing name for it ... love that.Agree with the sentiment LTL - but the club told us before the transfer window we are not a selling club... err... that worked out well for us - so there is no guarantee we won't sell anyone for a profit. Sorry, but am little cynical after this transfer window.Yes, assuming he stays. He might. Let's not mentally sell him just yet, please! We're *very* unlikely to sell all of them (unless we go down). There's still a strong core.
Maybe we won't be forced to sell anyone next summer.
We knew this time last year that Vic and Mane wanted out, & we got another season out of them both. I don't see anyone pushing for a move at this point, other than Fonte whose position is similar to Pelle's was last year, ie in the twighlight of his career.
Maybe we're not forced at all?
As others have said maybe it's part of our business plan to fund signings.
Also there's probably no one thinking of pushing for a move at this point but that all changes if a big club comes in.
I think the plan if you wish to operate on a budget is indeed to sign players up when they are cheap at 24 or below. Hang on to them 4 years. Then sell high--- but when they are at their peak performance and value at maybe 28. The timing doesn't always work out perfectly, of course.
We are not really succeeding at the "sell high" part. Players are leaving too early and we are not getting the fees we should. I'm not blaming the club for this necessarily, because to some extent they've been the victim of their own success with players getting good quite quickly. '
But I think we need to be seen as a place that truly develops players, and not just an easy entry point into the PL. Players that come should want to stay an extra year, because they will improve in that year and increase their value. But right now, there's still a bit too much "just get out of there ASAP." OL got 112 appearances out of Benzema (and he also came up through their academy). We got 67 out of Mane.
Of course OL was also dominating in Ligue 1 and playing in CL every year during that period, which was a strong incentive to stay a little longer.
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1) It relies on maintaining a 80% hit rate on recruitment, that's difficult in any industry, let alone football.
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