**** me , get the toaster out of the bathroom It is both baffling & depressing in equal measures, perhaps he really likes Plymouth & wants to be the star ?
But Wagner could be gone by Christmas as we tumble down the table. I was going to go to the Plymouth game in September, but I won't now. Sod's law says he's bound to score the winner.
Wagner going still doesn't mean we'll play a wing-back system, and doesn't clear the current logjam at full back where we have Giannoulis, McCallum, Aarons, Stacey (plus Fisher and Sorensen) all capable of covering the two roles. In theory the Sporting Director knows that the club template will continue into the next manager's tenure, and know that Mumba is a square peg for a team that don't have a square hole. Even if we do move to wing backs, most our fullbacks would be comfortable in wing back roles. I don't like the move, but I can see the sense in it. Mumba is one of the few saleable assets we have which doesn't create a big hole in the first XI. This could also be the peak in his value, he needs his defensive ability to rapidly improve or he's going to get exploited, and playing against better teams means his attacking output will be suppressed more. Curious how it all shakes out. Aarons & Giannoulis have both been linked with moves away, if those come to fruition then do we recruit another full back? We've been linked with a South American RB I think.
A DM & 3rd choice cb wouldn't go a miss . I generously used the Barnes signature as a competent cf. Sell sell sell
The best left modern wing back in league 1 going for less than a million is daylight robbery on ourselves
Not saying that Mumba was good enough to be first choice, but are we really suggesting that Giannoulis & McCallum are any better? I'd suggest not based on last season, more experienced in this division,yes. Fisher surely can't be thrown in to the 1st team squad? If one or more of those mentioned (Max, Andy or Dimi) leave or once we hit our usual injury crisis' we're potentially back to square pegs in round holes. It seems either we know a couple are leaving and have a target or 2 in mind. Or this feels like another 2006 season all over again where we're planning for medium term 2nd tier stay
Well argued, DH, but I'm still not convinced. Any new player eventually coming in will need time to adjust and settle in, particularly if he's from South America.
And there is the possibility that Mumba requested this move, although this would seem unlikely in an ambitious player since even now we must surely be seen as more likely to be near the top of the league than Plymouth.
Mumba may be at the peak of his value, who knows?, but we feel like a club which is not prepared to take risks any more on players. Our recruitment so far (and the players we have let go) has suggested a club which is happy to be somewhere around the edge of the play-offs in the hope of sneaking into sixth. Nothing too ambitious. This feels depressing after the highs of the Farke years, but perhaps it's realistic. As supporters who have seen Buendia, Pukki, Cantwell and so on working so well and beautifully as a team, it is difficult to adjust to the new ordinariness. I think the anger will still be there for much of this season and then we will readjust to the new reality of midtable championship mediocrity, with the possible added barb of Ipswich overtaking us. As always, your contribution is well thought out, DH, and, as always, mine is emotional and confused. For me, selling Mumba is symptomatic of what we have become as a club and probable proof that the decline isn't over yet.
If he knows he's getting 90 mins for 40+ games for Plymouth, he's got the chance to impress enough to earn a Prem move. Whilst at Norwich, he'd be relying on injuries/cameos to make a case for meaningful game time, and becoming a key figure for us might drive up his sale price to levels Prem clubs won't entertain. He can ask Max Aarons what that's like. I can see why he might want the move. Giannoulis and McCallum might not be better, but I think it's hard to argue they'll be worse, especially in the first half of a season where Mumba would be getting up to speed with the league and teammates. Also got to consider who we're able to sell. Agree it's hard to judge the squad mid-window, and especially to judge single moves in isolation. Going to have to "trust the process" and see where we stand when the window 'slams shut'. I think we also need to be prepared for the club taking calculated gambles with injury cover. Finances make it very difficult to have quality backups in all areas, so having players able to cover multiple roles might be crucial. If the club want to invest more in a CB for example, I wouldn't be surprised if that's someone capable of deputising at full back. Then we start the season with McCallum and Stacey as first choice full backs, and then rely on cover coming from a combination of that new CB, Sorensen, McLean, Nunez, and Fisher. Far from ideal, but I think these are the decisions our financial picture is forcing us into. I think our financial picture, and the cost-cutting measures that will be necessary if we don't go up this year, have forced the club to prioritise known quantities over more exciting risks. We know Stacey should be an upper-end Championship full back. We could have gone with the gamble that Mumba can be that, and perhaps more, but we could also have watched our promotion hopes extinguished by a series of bulldozing championship wingers that Mumba couldn't live with. It's pragmatic rather than exciting. If we don't go up this year, I think we'll see youth given more of a chance, because we won't have the money to do anything else.
My problem is that I feel uneasy about trusting the process, because it's being organised by a SD who will be leaving as soon as he can. His future isn't with us, but with a direct competitor. Leeds will see us as a potential threat to their chances of promotion. However we talk around it Webber has a conflict of interest.
There are more shocked people in Janner land than in Norfolk today I can assure you. Very few people expected us to be able to consider signing Bali Mumba let alone achieve it. Two players in a week signed for seven figure sums in these parts is just cloud cuckoo land. It doesn't happen. However, having said that I can see why players would want to come down here even if it does seem like a step down rather than advancement of the career. Yes we are a much smaller club than many in the Championship but the one thing we definately are is happier than a lot. Last season nobody, and I literally mean nobody, outside of Plymouth expected us to take the title in league one. I get that from those who aren't part of it but there are reasons why we did so well. The first one is we have an Owner in Simon Hallett who is definately a fan and has been lifelong. He is very astute business wise and does not throw money away. He recruited a very strong team of Management. The chance he gave Schumacher was way more than most clubs would have given. No experience in Management before this job and known only for being a No.2 to Ryan Lowe. It became clear though very quickly to us fans who the force behind the success Lowe had was in reality. He then assembled a good backroom of experience to back him up. Recruitment of players was done in a very scientific way. They looked for youth and personality as well as ability or potential ability. Definately no dickhead types. The whole squad got on so well together it was great to watch. They backed each other, applauded if left out and their replacement did well and mixed outside of the training pitch. The fans grew to love them all and they were applauded even if things didn't always work out. In short they loved it here and the fans loved them being here. So, a chance to come back and be a favourite without playing lower league again and possibly recreating the season just gone. Not that hard to see why many of them wanted that or didn't shy away from taking a punt. Mumba will play a lot more here in front of people who won't give him endless stick if he cocks up now and again. He will get every encouragement and most likely will thrive rather than rot on a bench most of the time. As for Argyle, well they stand to make a pile of dosh on the back of it if it pays off. If it doesn't then thanks to the Owners astuteness business wise we won't go bankrupt again.
Webber could have left in 2020; he didn't, not out of self-interest but because of a commitment to our owners, who asked him to stay on. Even now, he isn't leaving "as soon as he can"; he's completing his contract. The two words which his record here bespeaks are "loyalty" and "integrity", the very opposite of what you are suspecting him of. What is your justification for saying his future is with "a direct competitor"? Isn't the truth of the matter that you have no idea what his future plans are (apart from his Everest ambitions)? What have Leeds got to do with it? The football business is populated by people working at, and playing for, clubs other than those they grew up supporting; does this mean all are "conflicted" and not to be trusted?
We could do with a few "sensibleyellows" on here at the moment. Good luck for the season, and I hope Bali lives up to Home Park expectations.
If I wrote a very cynical post regarding Webber arguing that he has only offered his resignation because he knows he can withdraw it and Delia will take him back, I suspect you would take me to task for imputing motives to Webber that I cannot possibly prove - i.e. I cannot know what is in his mind at any given point. And you would be right to do so. But this works both ways. You have no more proof of his loyalty and integrity than I do of his self-interest.
