Hard to really judge a window before the seasons really kicked on, but I think it’s a decent start. Have we improved our starting XI? Arguably not, but our squad looks stronger so we should hopefully mitigate any disasters like last season. A lot hinges on how we use our squad and how our players develop. Our CB partnership needs to be established soon, with chemistry and understanding between them. Salisu has the highest ceiling and his raw attributes are so useful for how we play, but his partnership with Stephens either needs work or needs binning as they leave players unmarked too often. Whether we see Bednarek or Lyanco come in will be interesting, and how they get on will be so important to our season. We also need to find a way to get the most out of our attacking mids / 10s / wingers. We created a lot against Newcastle because Moi was finding space and linking play really well, and Djenepo was driving at them into the box. Their end product was obviously frustrating, but the signs are there that we can break down low blocks and stubborn defences. Tino at 10 would be brilliant to see too (or even at 6). Centre midfield is a weird one. Romeu and JWP have started the season quite poorly compared to their usual high standards. Hopefully the international break can allow them to sharpen up their fitness and return to their best. I would love to see Diallo claim a place in the starting XI, as he has shown he can become a brilliant and dynamic CM. It’s just that he can be really sloppy, and the margin for error for a CM in the premier league is non-existent. Hopefully we see him sharpen up and develop there, cos he’d be one hell of a player if he did. Depth wise it’s disappointing and a big risk, but I guess we gotta see if the academy players can crack on. I’m surprised Ralph didn’t use Chauke or Finnigan against Newport, really. I’m encouraged by what I see from A. Armstrong, Broja and Perraud, delighted with what I’ve seen from Tino, and extremely intrigued to see how Lyanco kicks on.
It might be quite a shrewd move keeping a bit of leftover money for the January window. You never know what kind of a fix you might be in halfway through the season.
In case there are people still talking about us missing out on Delaney (there are on the other site) - by all indication he was on over 80k a week perhaps even closer to 90k I have definitely seen people say “premier league wages would have appealed to him” in wondering why he went to Sevilla (champions league and one of the nicest parts of Europe but whatever) Clearly if those wage numbers are true we were never in with a shot. Forget resale value - we would have basically had to pretty much give him JWPs contract to join. That wasn’t going to happen
I am glad it is the very lovely Mrs Godders who looks after our housekeeping money and not some of the people who post on these threads otherwise we would have the bailiffs round in a fortnight.
We say that literally every summer, though, heh. And then in January, we say that it's shrewd not to spend money then, because prices are always inflated in the midseason window. I'm guessing we have spent what we have to spend. We might have a small amount available to cover the wages of a loanee, but that's about it.
I remember mentioning this to my friend who is a mad Liverpool fan - re: a Wijnaldum replacement Assume they were priced out but if the way things usually work is to be believed then they should have bid and turned his head Certainly wouldn’t be surprised if he moves their next summer since finances this year are clearly an issue for them
Bit early for that I think. We’ve lost 2 (possibly 3 with Bertrand although he’s been declining) of our better players for decent fees (I understand the reasons why they needed to be sold) and too early to tell if we have improved the first XI anyway. We do appear to have more depth on paper but too soon to judge any teams window yet
"F*ck right off!!... ...just out of interest though, how much were you thinking of er, you know, offering? Not that we're selling of course, I'm just asking for a friend..."
It isn't accurate. The supporting article states that they didn't include "undisclosed fees" so our only incoming transfer they counted was £15m on Armstrong. The whole article is a load of crap.
