Good post. Most people outside of our fanbase have no appreciation for how we’ve done this and how remarkable it is. Our promotion squad only cost something like 10M quid, which is absolutely ludicrous, and it’s given us the financial freedom to build this new squad in one window. If we do stay up this year, it’s going to be fascinating to see what phase 3 of the evolution looks like… Early 20s players now bought for 20M, developed and moved on for 50-60M. Taking the AOL system to the next level with international reach. Stadium extensions to maximize revenue. Whatever we do, we have to keep a focus on youth, and maximizing the connection with the fans, which is currently outstanding. Good times.
The best part of these new players is that they seem to be buying into the comaradarie that the players from last season had as well as that link they have with the fans
It’s quite a beautiful thing that the club rebirth and the City rebirth are happening in tandem. Just kind of feels like a true stamp in time all of this, rather than a moment.
looking into guerrtruida a lot more, I knew he was top but wow another top signing in defence for us he's good at CB and DM too
https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport...dIAUmcTqcNbgklGb0I_aem_DwABJbpel7QDmzQY5reOxQ Alan Brownes first interview since joining Boro.
Wish him well there. Injury stopped him in his early days and then promotion happened and he was never realistically having a future here. Seems a really sound fella and looks a good move for the lad. We may not like Boro but we will admit it’s a decent little club and it’s far bigger than Preston was for the lad.
Watching the way the players were whipping up the crowd, against Brentford, was slightly manic ... ... it's like the whole club is on some strange mission to take over the world
Our versatility now is so good, we can adapt to any challenge we are going to be facing this year. (Considering Ballard, Hume, Isidor, Rigg, Neil and Traore aren't in any of these sides)
Not to spend more time on Brobbey than necessary but he also underperformed his xG by 6 last season in their league when he only scored 4 goal total. Given all that was surrounding him and the fact that he had never had any issue with underperforming his xG before I am willing to give him quite a lot of leeway. Its probably helpful as well that he's not expected to come banging goals in as the no.1 striker from GW4 onwards as well. Very hopeful he will be a good signing. I think the other two deadline day ones essentially cannot go wrong though. Cheap and short-term deals at the worst.
He is 23 so would only have been 21/22 when all this was going on, so easy to understand. The Ajax fan earlier said he is the type of player that plays better if loved - well at the moment no better place for that. We have seen how the fans have reacted when someone shows a bit of fight in a duel or puts a tackle in (as demonstrated on Saturday when 3 challenges went in in quick succession, 2 from ELF) and seeing how strong he is, the first time he puts a defender down on his arse the fans will quickly get behind him and show him "the lads" love, never mind when he scores. Personally, I think it is a good signing and brings exactly what we are lacking, making a perfect blend with Elizer and Wilson.
I think we're ok to spend time on him! Just to reiterate, even with last year being a relatively poor season, he still contributed over 0.4 goals and assists per 90 in the league and 0.9 in the Europa League. The former obviously isn't great for the main striker in a league's top team but it's still not disastrous. The bigger concern/unknown is how it translates to the Premier League and to our side.
