A bit of selective reporting here with lines taken out of context. Why he actually said was that he hates losing and it makes him unhappy (the same should be said for any footballer) he would love to stay at Norwich but not in the Championship, which is fair enough. He doesn’t want to go back to Russia, apparently Leicester were interested in him in January though so he will probably end up there. If he does then make we could move for Hamza Choudray or Dennis Praet although I doubt we could get the latter.
No links been made or anything but I like the look of Keane Lewis-Potter at Hull, think he would be a great signing. Only problems I can see is the he mostly plays off the left wing and we are pretty well stocked there already
Lawrence from Derby County attacking midfield has scored 10 goals in Championship this season. If Derby are relegated, then he might be available at a reasonable fee?
Michael Bailey's Athletic Q&A yesterday briefly touches on the transfer window. I think his expectation is that all 4 loanees depart, and that if Aarons goes the deal will be worth considerably less than we'd hope (perhaps <£15m). Any more departures will be due to bids we can't turn down. Largely the Championship squad will be the same as this year, with far less turnover than 2 years ago. My interpretation would be that we'll basically fill the gaps that the departures of Kabak, Williams, Normann and Gilmour leave. McCallum/Mumba could be an internal promotion at full back, then a CB and two midfielders. Webber seems to believe there's potential in this squad and signings that is yet to be realised, which I don't entirely disagree with, so the focus of transfer business will be building a team around those players (presumably Rashica, Sargent, Idah... Tzolis?). Will be interested to see how much focus is put on developing a Premier League-friendly playing style, versus just getting out of the Championship.
I think the emphasis will be on keeping the current players and promoting to replace players leaving. Four CBs and Sørensen as cover are enough, but we will need another DM to replace Normann as we don't have an obvious promotion option there. Rowe has now established himself in the squad and should develop further next season. Hugill could return as an option up front with the focus on a 4-3-3 and possibly a 4-4-2 as well.
I think this is key, even if it means forgoing an immediate return to the EPL. As for arrivals/departures, we need a new CB to play alongside Omobamidele in our first choice pairing. We should be able to afford someone suitable because there's bound to be huge interest in a Premier League-quality CB like Hanley ...........
Has the Cantwell loan got an option to buy at the end of season? If so, have any possible transfer fees been mentioned? He hasn’t scored for them yet. Is he likely to stay at Bournemouth? Who’s out of contract end this season?
I believe there is an option to buy, but not a compulsory one. He was an unused sub for them yesterday.
This seems to imply that he will be back next season? Anybody read MFW article this morning? Got my read on the Newsnow website.
Yes; here's an extract: "........ it’s the implementation (or non-implementation) of Farkeball in the top division that has been at the heart of the current malaise. It’s a system and philosophy that requires good technicians throughout the team but once in the Premier League, the level of technician required is of a far higher calibre than one who can operate successfully in the second tier. But, the more competent the technician, the more he costs. It’s also a system that requires centre-backs and full-backs to be comfortable in possession and able to receive the ball in tight areas. For all of their other qualities, neither Grant Hanley [or] Ben Gibson are, in the Premier League, able to do either consistently. That, for me, is where and why the identity started to fade. Farke tried to stick with it in 2019-20 but we were routinely outplayed, out-muscled and beaten and so tried, unsuccessfully, to tweak it this season. Smith, in my view, was merely left to pick up the pieces and try somehow to get a tune, in any way possible, out of a squad that was not technical, powerful, or athletic enough."
Though Farkeball succeeded magnificently twice in the Championship it has also failed twice in the PL for the reasons stated. SW recruited more height and power this season and Rashica's technical skills, but it hasn't been enough. Smith has improved us defensively by moving away from Farkeball to a intermediate passing game which has made us more competitive, but not enough so to get the points we need. The key now is what impact he can achieve with a pre-season and fresh start in the Championship.
Leicester are considering selling Maddison to raise funds to rebuild their squad. Am I correct in remembering a 15% sell on clause?
He's currently valued at £45m by TransferMarkt, having previously been as high as £54m, but I believe the sell-on fee would be minus the £20m+ we got for him.
Even if he goes for £35m that's probably £1.5-2m added to our transfer pot (depending on what Leicester paid originally). Could fund an extra player.
We got £20m plus £2.5m in extras. At 25, with two years left on his contract, they should be able to get £45m for him. Agree, the emphasis should now be on quality rather than quantity.
Only thing I disagree with in this article is that I think this implies we didn't recruit the right players for Farkeball - I don't think we recruited the right players for any style of football. Per transfermarkt, we've played at different points this season (I know there's more to football tactics than formations but it's a crude analysis): 4-1-4-1 4-2-3-1 4-3-3 3-5-2 3-4-1-2 4-4-2 5-3-2 4-1-2-1-2 Not one of those has worked. The 4-4-2 came close but only because it was chaotic and mixed things up against poor opposition, not because it was a sustainable playing style. And it immediately became impossible to use once Idah got injured because it required every forward in our squad remotely approaching "Premier League quality" to be on the pitch together. Honestly what is this squad, and in particular the midfield? We basically don't have a DM. Skipp and Tettey left, meaning our only DM is a youngster who has played that role just 13 times at Championship level. Normann could do it but lacks the discipline (and fitness). Gilmour doesn't have the physicality. Both would be better alongside a true DM, but Sorensen doesn't appear to be rated and there's nobody else. Rupp, Lees-Melou, McLean are all completely interchangeable, and reliably deliver 4 or 5/10 performances where they have no impact on the game at either end. Again, all could perhaps do a passable job alongside a true DM, but none exists. There is no central attacking threat. Nobody who can link to the attack beyond McLean sending hopeful lobs for Pukki to chase. Teams know you can let our midfield have the ball anywhere on the pitch and not one player will punish you. Just double up on Pukki and we're completely nullified.McLean and Normann have a goal each this season....and that's it for central midfield scoring. Go all the way back to the start of the 19/20 season and you only add 3 goals (Vrancic, Tettey, McLean). 68 Premier League games and our central midfielders have contributed 5 goals. What playing style were Farke or Smith meant to construct when we have no players capable of contributing to attacks from the middle of the pitch, or offering a substantial defensive shield. And when the key supply line to our striker, who requires a particular type of service, was removed and an entirely different type of attacking midfielder brought in? We have no specialists, at anything. It's ok having an attacking midfielder who can defend a bit (or vice versa), but they need to have a primary specialism. None of our midfielders do.
