Things are slowly picking up for the better as we now have a defeat, a draw and a win in the Cup. Next up Burnley and that ginger moaning twat Dyche. Make no mistake he will have his animals wound up to cause as much discomfort and even injury, as he hates Leeds and Bielsa. I hope we smash them to bits like last season. The transfer window has been painful to watch. Everyone, even the management expected 2 or 3 new first team players, yet have only seen Junior. We are a few bodies down as we lost Berardi and Pablo. We have replaced Alioski but we are still fewer bodies than last season. Yes a few days left in the window but prices have been increased, when everyone thought they would be reduced. The majority of transfers are loan deals with options to buy, as clubs move their transfer outlay to next summer. I notice Noa Lang who was only bought for £6m a matter of weeks ago is now quoted at £30m. last week it was £20m but increased by another £5m then yesterday another £5m to £30m. It got so bad that PSV decided to give a huge pay rise to Noni Madueki rather than sell him for less than £30m. Yes £30m for a player they got for free and valued at £12m on most websites. It seems every single player Leeds were interested in had his value inflated meaning we refused to get involved, even Cunha went for £30m, and yes it may well hurt us unless our squad can keep fit and our kids improve enough to help out. Yes Berardi may well be replaced by Forshaw but it’s still a gamble. Looking at what transfers have happened throughout Europe, the majority are loans. Lots of creative deals whereby accounts are blatantly being fiddled so that club wage bills engineered to look low, and by having a player down as loan his value doesn’t get onto the club accounts. All the top teams in Europe are doing it because they have no cash, yet all doing deals that defer paying for a player until next season or the season after. Spurs spent £15m on a player and have left him where he is on loan? How can PSG not be bending the rules by having Messi on a free but paying him a £25m signing on bonus and £25m per year? Will they sell enough shirts? Juventus have signed loads of players either on free transfers or on loan, and remember Juve are actually the most skint club in Italy. They now realise they need to move Ronaldo off the books and want someone to pay them £30m for him. Not a chance as Man City are the only club left who could afford him but have said no but will take him on a free. The other thing with Ronaldo is his wages which are £31m NET (After tax) £600k per week, so double that with tax. Still looking for some activity here before the window closes: Loan Players: Bogutsz......... Club Ibiza Kiko ................. Elche Edmondson .....Fleetwood McCalmont .....Morecambe Kun ................Real Union Elia Caprile ..Aurora Pro Patria Davies ...........Bournemouth Gotts ? Hosannah? Stevens? Kamwa? The argument for covering for Kalvin Phillips: With Phillips in the team Games 117 Wins 65 Draws 24 Lose 28 Points per game 1.87 Win rate 56% Goals per game 1.67 Goals against 0.97 Without Phillips Games 26 Wins 11 Draws 1 Lose 14 Points per game 1.3 Win rate 42% Goals per game 1.3 Goals against 1.5
According to oddschecker, these are the likely candidates if Leeds and Bielsa parted company! I know its extremely unlikely but here they are:-
Will be interesting to see what season West Brom have, like the look of their bloke, if and when, MB decides to call it a day.
Only 3 blokes capable of giving is Bielsaball Pep Simeoni Sampaole Giorgi Sampaole is very high on Bielsa’s top list and has even said that he believes him to be a better coach, because he has a good Plan B, whereas Bielsa has only Plan A Why are we even looking at this though, is Elland with Bucks and having a few Friday lunchtime sherberts?
There's a couple of things that people forget when looking at the squad size. Clearly Firpo has replaced Alioski, which leaves the 2 players you mentioned - Berra & Pablo. My view is that Struijk has replaced Berra. Although listed as a squad member, as we all know, he was really only an u23 who they hoped might fill in if we were desperate. Turned out that we were very desperate! Instead of being on the periphery, he cemented himself into the squad as a reliable & valued contributor. I also have high hopes for Forshaw. He's a new member of the squad, effectively. He might not be a like-for-like replacement for Pablo, but I tell you, if he hits the form before his injury, he'll give Klich & Dallas a run for their money. So as far as I'm concerned, we have a stronger squad this season, not weaker. Berra & Pablo were at best bit-part players. We now have 2 true competitors replacing them. And (almost) all have a year's PL experience now too.
Pep actually announced recently that he's leaving Citeh at the end of his contract (2023?), with a view to having a rest then managing an international team, so that's him off the list!
Hope you’re right, as I see it, it’s just a matter of time before Forshaw breaks down again, he’s two years behind the rest one being a season of PL experience, he’s not coming back, we should cash out and replace.
He's been at three clubs who could back him financially. I'm not saying he's a bad manager, but if you look at what Bielsa has done without that moneyman, makes Bielsa in my bias eyes anyway, a better manager.
Looks like that Portugese twat is signing for scum again, hope to **** that doesn't mean we're getting James, as he'll be well down the pecking order now
Yes Ronaldo has signed for Scum for £15m plus £8m add ons and that also saves Juventus £31m per year in wages. Wonder how much he gets paid in Lancashire. It is a bit of a joke though in terms of level playing field. Remember Chelsea, Man Utd and Arsenal were all sanctioned (got off with a slap) by UEFA for starting their own league yet these 3 clubs have each spent a fortune ghis summer and its still not over for any of them as they all have other players lined up like Trippier, Kuonde etc.
Berardi wasn't fit until the end and only then did he get a 'farewell' appearance. Has he found another club btw? Hope so. Pablo was very rarely used. I'd say well underused imo. Poveda showed glimpses of quality/potential but appearances were few and far between as the season progressed. *********** Struijk is now a big upgrade on what Berardi was. Roberts/Rodrigo are fighting it out for the old Hernandez spot and both were in front of him last year in Bielsa's head. We've retained that position and we have the possibility of Gelhardt/Greenwood having another year under their belt and possibly pushing for gametime if they grasp the opportunity. I believe Pablo was the better option last year but he would have been a year older again this year. Poveda was behind Summerville at the end of last season as far as I could see and I think that is now confirmed by Poveda going out on loan. Summerville looks the better player to me. I see that as an upgrade.
