The way I see it is that new player contracts & purchases being made now are more about the seasons 2 & 3 from now rather than next season. SW, DF & Co are really using this season in the PL as a way of making the club financially stable and competitive in the championship (should we go down) for the next 4/5 years. Perhaps the only tricky problem they have is keeping the majority of fans onside this season. There will be plenty of fans that will start moaning after a few loses I just hope that the majority are like me. For me if we go back down we go back down as long as we do it playing our game and going for it then so be it. This is something Hughton never got, I think he thought it was all about staying up and as long as we did this by a single point the type of football we played didn't matter. So for me I'm more than happy with SW & DF concentrating this season on future proofing and treating every game as a cup final and just going for it playing our game. I think the more difficult season will be the one after this if we stay up in that the other PL teams we know us better, the expectations will be greater and if some of the promising youngsters / fans favourite players haven't made the step up the'll have to be replaced and that will cost more money than we'll spend this year. Nice problem to have though.
Great post carrow. I totally agree that some fans will be moaning if we get to the end of August and have only 2 or 3 points on the board. I’m pretty sure that DF will insist that the players stick to the tactics/style that saw us win the Championship at a canter, as opposed to adopting the Hughton thinking of ‘must not lose!!!' As long as that is the case and the fans are being entertained, my hope is that the majority will still get behind the team as we did when we lost to Stoke, with a rousing ‘On The Ball City’ at the end of the game!!!!
New link, 17 year old Left Winger Dylan Mbayo, another on for the future: https://www.fussballeck.com/bundesl...tionalspieler-im-fokus-von-hannover-und-kiel/ Plenty of other clubs apparently interested, so might not come to anything. And equally we might only be linked because we've been scouting the Belgian youth squads at recent tournaments.
The 4-5 years question raised by Carrowcanario is an interesting one and it almost leads to another bigger question, at what point does the underlying philosophy have to change? Currently we are more than happy (I think) with the buy young players, keep the wage bill low and concentrate on the team morale and spirit. This is admirable especially when coupled with playing quality football. But look at say Palace now. A few years ago they would have been in a similar position to us but now they have just sold a player for £50m with probably another big cheque to land soon for Zaha. It would be unrealistic for the club at that point to pocket say £45m and look for a £5m player because the fans would be saying that we need to improve the overall squad if we are to win anything. The other point is of course as has been alluded to by SW, if you bring in a £5m player with higher wages, how will that disrupt the team spirit for those earning substantially less than the new recruit. Who said football management is easy?
Another excellent post and we have quite a few of our players who have recently signed new contracts with improved salaries. This is going to be a pivotal season IMO, not just for the first team, but also for our Under 23s and I'm really hoping that they find themselves nearer the top of that League than languishing near the bottom. If we do well in the PL, then firstly the 'vultures' will be out in force in 12 months time and as you rightly say, if we start selling players for fees in excess of £20M, we can't keep replacing them with players costing a fraction of that, or Academy products. Definitely some difficult decisions ahead.
Synergy is the key, where the output achieved is greater than the sum of the the individual players involved. We achieved this in 1992-3 when we finished 3rd in the top division and then had the run in Europe, including beating Bayern Munich. We had no star players, but we had a team which played for each other and blended into a cohesive whole. IMO, that's what we have now and why we stormed the league last season. We won't bring in a load of new players but we will augment what we now have to increase the synergy. I'll be surprised if we don't start the season with a line-up of players from those who won the Championship. Drmic and Roberts may be on the bench, but I doubt they will replace Pukki, Buendia or Hernandez from the off. The way our attacking players fitted together with fluid movement and instinctive touches to open and exploit gaps is our best chance of success. Their pace on the counterattack will also make it difficult for opposing defences to push up the pitch. All three also have the ability to win the ball back in the opposing third and then turn it to immediate attack. That understanding doesn't develop in a pre-season, it takes time and new players will need to work on it until it becomes instinctive. Farkeball depends on that.
So, what's more likely? NCFC avoiding relegation in their first season back, or ITFC winning promotion back to the Chumpionship at the first attempt?
Not that i am too bothered by missing out on the lad from Benfica or Thill, but how is it we are being beaten to signings by a Championship side and a team from Ligue 2?!?! Seems mad! I know his attitude might be in question, but I love the look of the Turkish lad, Emre Mor, that we were linked with! He looks class and with some Farke coaching could fulfill his true potential (which i believe is toward being world class).
I'm not convinced that we were ever interested in Krovinović. Benfica would have preferred for him to go to a PL side, so if we wanted him our chances would be good. It's not a position we desperately need to fill, already having four players who can play as a number 10. The press want to push it that way, but had SW been interested, he'd have been in early as he was with Buendia. As for Mor, I don't think we're willing to risk the team spirit for an ego type player. Oliveira is a good player as well, but he just doesn't fit in attitude wise.
Perhaps these players want assurances of first team football that we just can't give them. The ethos at the club seems to be that you fight for your position and if you play well then you keep it. Thill went on record as saying he wanted to move for the guarantee of first team football and the Benfica guy is going on loan because he wants first team football, so again if can't guarantee that I can see why he would go elsewhere.
Our odds on relegation are evens. Ipswich odds on promotion are 2/1 agin, so on that basis we are twice as likely to survive than they are to be promoted. My personal view is that 2/1 is a good price on them for promotion and the odds on us for relegation are short. I think that both our survival and their promotion are quite likely. I agree with other posters if we do get relegated, it isn't the end of the world and it's quite likely that 20/21 would be a repeat of 18/19. I won't criticise the management if we go down.
Oliveira Rumour Alert: https://www.iapopsi.gr/aek-ayton-thelei-o-karntoso-gia-senter-for/ AEK Athens prepared to pay a fee for Oliveira, and a €1m a year salary for him. Sounds far too good to be true.
I am not talking about spending ridiculous amounts of money on players like Chelsea & Man City do when I say I would like to see a significant amount of money spent on players but would like to see maybe a player or 2 brought into the first team for roughly £2m/3m each (no more than £4-5m at a push) I know we have a budget but it would be nice to see a couple of mill spent on a player but not to go stupid like we did with RVW. I want to see the first team given the best chance of staying up this season and beyond.
I think we will sign players at or above that bracket. Rhodes would cost at least £4m in the fee and wages and Ralf Fahrmann would cost a similar amount if not more if he signs. I'm surprised that there are no rumours about a RB lately, as that has to be a priority and should we go for a top level DM, that would also be in that bracket or above.
Most likely due our salary cap and SW is on record as saying that he won't break it. Also, a lot of players we're rumoured to be interested in won't automatically make the first team squad. PS - great post earlier RER.
Passlack has been loaned by Dortmund to Fortuna Sittard. No chance of him returning as RB backup then.
