Transfer Rumours transfer thread fact and fiction

See, you can't even reliably cover all five!

Then, are you suggesting that these four players are actually good enough to play in top 6 teams?

Kulu, yes! Forster?!? Maybe in a team that doesn't play a sweeper keeper. Danso? Maybe. We don't know yet as it's early, but potentially decent cover, finally. He at least seems a slightly better fit than Dragusin. [More proof that players alone can make a difference.] Bissouma wasn't trusted by Conte, probably for good reason. He's capable but he's underperformed, and has been too inconsistent under various managers for it to purely be the coaching. Plus, he's had his suspensions and absences. I personally don't think he and Bentancur have been the midfield duo that we've been hoping they'd be under Conte or Ange. Not quite commanding enough when it counts, hence why Conte chose Skipp and Holjlberg either as a partnership or to partner Bentancur.

Yep, that might well be a problem.

The other problem, which is at least as obvious, is that the squad/cover simply isn't good enough.

Maybe, just maybe, with better players who have more guile, the system isn't seen as so naive.

We saw, for example, how in the early days of Ange, Holjlberg and Lo Celso coming on as substitutes. They changed the game for the better. Dare I say if we'd kept them we'd be more sturdy. Decent, no frills, reliable when fit, no major errors or inconsistencies, adult players. The hurry to get rid of them, and Skipp perhaps, seems strange when you consider who they've been replaced with. At least we should have improved on these. Instead Levy took the piss out of Ange, [Yes Bergvalll is good, but he's one player and he's still developing.] by giving him some gaffer tape and safety pins and asking him to build a roadworthy vehicle.

We need better players, even better than Holjlberg and Lo Celso, in the middle of the park. We also need decent cover at CB for both sides. Davies and Gray ain't it.

The fact that Gray, a teenager fresh to the league and out of position, has had to come in for Romero at CB is crazy, even crazier is expecting success, or claiming that we are 'decent enough' player wise when this is what we're doing. Who else in the top six does this and expects no, or minimum, slip in standards?

If we have any kind of success in this form, it will be nothing short of miraculous.

 

I’m suggesting those players are exactly what they are - squad players. Are you suggesting that we need players of equal calibre of their first team counterparts to be sitting on the bench most weeks? Because if so look around Europe and try finding a club that has as such.

How many CBs do you actually want? We already have four, plus Davies who’s far more competent than you’re making out. Danso was here for five minutes before picking up a muscle injury. Romero and van de Ven in both seasons have simultaneously missed games with muscle injuries. Dragusin had a run of games then gets injured. Davies hammy. It’s not just CBs either, Solanke didn’t miss a game for Bournemouth last season, injured for our second game and has missed more throughout. Odobert hammy. Werner hammy. Udogie hammy… see the pattern here? This is on top of the manager himself admitting whilst at Celtic that his system can be injury inducing.

We already have a bloated squad and you’re solution is just to say we need more, when what we actually need is for it to be better coached and managed. I can guarantee you that not a single person on this forum was talking about clubs like Forest, Bournemouth, Fulham etc with any envy of their squads. They’re all just being far better managed and coached.

And you’re trying to change history… again... Conte played Bentancur at every opportunity and he was brilliant under him. It’s under Ange that he’s struggling, just as Son, Maddison, Porro, Udogie and pretty much everyone bar Kulu is really, even Spence’s form has dipped the last few games.

 

When it comes to CBs, I have noticed this odd mania on r/coys that, working on the assumption that Romero leaves, we need to sign three starting-quality CBs this summer

Errrm...we need to sign one, tops, given we have Mickey Van, Danso and Dragusin available, plus Vuskovic coming in - though TBH I'm working under the presumption that Dragusin might be moved on to clear a path for Vuskovic to get minutes

 

Just buy a squad full of CBs, might appease some lol.

Gonna have Phillips and Dorrington back in the summer too. The latter I think will go on loan again, ideally somewhere in England this time. Phillips will be an interesting one though, I doubt the plan was to loan him out three years on a trot after signing him, not sure he’d have expected that either.

 

We only just arrived at four actual CBs. If we had four that we actually wanted keep earlier in the process we maybe wouldn't need to be rushing players back or playing teenagers and LBs in CB.

As good Davies may be he's not getting into any top six team as a CB.

What is with you trying to accuse me of trying to change history?

I like Bentancur, he's probably out best CM, but he's not been consistent. Injuries and racism suspensions. The Bentancur Bissouma pair is what I am referring to as being disappointing. Who is as good as him in our squad?

He also reminds me of Modric before he bulked up under Redknapp.

Under Conte, Bentancur's partner of choice was Holjlberg. Not Bissouma. Maybe he was brilliant partly because he had a better more sturdy partner instead of constantly playing alongside kids. Or maybe it was the more rigid system, you know the one that some fans found boring.

We were very wee coached under Conte, but he was reluctant to trust a Bentancur Bissouma pair.

 

As a squad player, Davies would make a lot of squads. Arsenal have Kiwior, Chelsea have Badiashile/ Adarabioyo, Liverpool have Quansah, none of these CBs/ defenders are anything special yet are there to be called upon by their respective teams, that’s exactly what Davies is for us. It is quite rare for a club to have more than 3 very good CBs, some barely have 2. We’ve got 2 great CBs, 2 decent CBs and a solid pro who steps in when required. Even prior to Danso’s arrival the depth was relatively fine, the management of it wasn’t.

Because you make incorrect statements to push your points. We never suffered regular batterings with Modric and Kranjcar in a pivot, we didn’t suffer regular batterings in general under Redknapp in his early period - I checked the data too to ensure I wasn’t forgetting, Redknapp won 14, drew 7 and lost 9 in the league after taking charge in October 08. He never suffered more than two defeats in a row during that period and only three losses involved a 2+ goal deficit - 2-0 West Brom, 5-2 Utd and 3-1 Liverpool, these defeats were separated by 2+ months and 1 month respectively, so it was never regular. You then said Bissouma or Bentancur wasn’t commanding enough under Conte when Bentancur was arguably Conte’s best player up to his injury. I agree a Bissouma x Bentancur pair wasn’t trusted enough, but suggesting Bentancur wasn’t commanding enough just isn’t true, he was brilliant most weeks.

 

Dorrington is surely going to get a Championship loan, given now he's fit again he's broken into Aberdeen's starting lineup

Phillips is an awkward one, though, because after two seasons of Championship loans he surely needs a PL loan, but that is most likely to be one of the promoted teams considering the teams we'd usually consider are going to be playing European football next season at this rate...

 

The only other option I can think of is Westerlo to replace Vuskovic, it’s probably not much of a higher pedigree than the Championship to be honest but it could build different attributes playing in a foreign league. Alternatively we look to flip him, paid about £2.5m iirc, we could probably get north of £10m.

 

What we really need is to be flipping Dante Cassanova for £20m+

Oh wait, we're not part of a cabal who needs each other's help to allow us to keep dodging PSRmageddon every year...

 

Dorrington just needs to stay fit and play. Hopefully a Championship loan or like you say, Westerlo, next season. I imagine Vuskovic will come straight into the squad, everything I see on his says he’s mustard.

Phillips is a difficult one. I have concerns about his mobility having followed a bit of commentary on him his during his loans and that might impact his immediate future at the very top of the game. I could see us flipping him to a Championship club and moving on - we have plenty of young promising CBs. He’ll have a good career though.

 

I think a return to Everton is on the cards.

First season at Bramley Moore, they know they'll be able to get him for waaaaay below what they sold him for and he clearly still loves them.

 

Was always going to be a complete joke of a signing...decent human being but crap forward

 

His injury record with Spurs medical staff would be the most horrific match of all time