WallisFrizz

1 hour ago, villalad21 said:

23 shots and zero goals. 

That's mad. 

Sounds like us v Burnley at home last year.

9 minutes ago, Peter Griffin said:

I think part of the job of the police is to undertake surveillance and to track potential suspect's movements, so that when they do want to arrest them, they know where they are as some suspect actually try to evade capture by the police. I don't know if this is the case here but equally I don't believe anyone on here knows

So they chose not to visit the training ground or check the Brighton fixture list or ring his solicitor to make an appointment and instead descended on a nightclub in the middle of the night? Not a chance.

Any news on the medical and confirmed signing yet? Need some Countinho content to liven up the weekend. He should be in the country by now, I think.

Callum Wilson out for 8 weeks.

3 minutes ago, hippo said:

Here we are again Gary lineker :-

"Stephen Gerard's Aston Villa" 

Really fecks me off !!!

It annoyed me at first but now I quite like it.

Plus Chelsea were referred to as Thomas Tuchel’s the other day. Think its common to be honest.

Not going to worry about the spurs stuff until we’re approaching the end of the season and he’s been a roaring success.

Now the excitement has died down, I’m slightly concerned how long it’s going to take him to get up to speed with the league having played so few minutes over the last couple of years. 

22 minutes ago, useless said:

 

What’s so good about 8th, other than it being better than 9th? 

1 minute ago, Delphinho123 said:

I think Chelsea want to loan him and Everton want to sell. He’s also categorically not going to Newcastle according to Romano. 

So, I believe it’s between us and West Ham perhaps? 

I think the Digne deal will be one we pursue all window and if we can agree a fee with Everton, we’ll do the deal. We shouldn’t be paying any more than £20m though and even that’s steep considering the circumstances. 

I think if he finds form though he’s up there with Robertson and Chilwell etc in terms of ability. 

Think this will drag.

He will want to go to Chelsea or West Ham over us unless the Gerrard pull works it’s magic. Chelsea are hoping to wait till the end of the window and force Everton into a loan. You’re right, it won’t be resolved quickly. 

Somebody mentioned a few pages back the possibility of signing Digne and Hickey and letting Targett go. I wonder if that is the plan as I think Targett would at least recoup his transfer fee were we to see him in the summer. He’s a solid left back for a bottom half prem club.

I think Digne will go to Chelsea tho.

For those that wanted Hickey…

2 minutes ago, M_Afro said:

I really admire Bissouma as a player but I think you are right. Even if he is not found guilty or the charges are dropped, that does not mean he is innocent. It is incredibly difficult to prove sexual offences and on most occasions the perpetrator does not even get charged let alone found guilty.

The fact that they are dragging this out for so long would suggest that they think there’s something in this, otherwise it would have been dismissed by now. Even if it does get dismissed, if he is guilty, then he will likely reoffend in the future.

This perception that the criminal justice system is perfect and that guilty people get sent to prison and innocent ones don’t is a fantasy. As harsh as it might sound, it is better to avoid Bissouma and just get somebody else with a clean record.

Actually just to add balance, they aren’t dragging it out, getting from the point of allegation to a charging/no charging decision is a very lengthy process for a variety of reasons I won’t bore you with but it is still quite feasible that he could face no further action, maybe due to lack of evidence or just complete innocence. 

10 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

I think that’s harsh. He was just saying the club should do it’s due diligence and if they feel he’s innocent, just like Ched Evans was, then it’s worth pursuing. Or at least enquiring! 

I don’t think it’s harsh, I think people/organisations have been turning a blind eye to what they believe is the “relatively minor” stuff committed by the rich and famous for years and it’s not ok.

Anyway…back to transfers, preferably scandal free ones…

1 hour ago, DakotaVilla said:

At this stage he is innocent. It’s pointless to speculate either way but I’d be shocked if a club like Brighton are continuing to play him if it’s a truly egregious offence.

it’s absolutely something we should be looking to take advantage of if the due diligence indicates that there was no offence or even if it’s relatively minor or would you have rejected the opportunity to sign Neymar and Ronaldo - due to similar allegations they have faced -  in their prime for the same reason? 

This is the sharp end of elite sport. You don’t win any medals or trophies for being a lovely bunch of lads.

 

 

We’re just going to have to agree to disagree here but it’s attitudes like yours that allow people with success and power to get away with abuse.

16 minutes ago, DakotaVilla said:

 At this stage Bissouma is innocent. It is for his accuser or the CPS to prove guilt. Very few people will know what actually happened but it appears that Brighton (a widely respected club) have done their due diligence and continued to allow him to play and he has been bailed and allowed to travel internationally freely.

He may well be guilty but if there is anything in this link the club would have done extensive back ground checks to see if he has any sort of similar behaviour in his past.

if the background checks don’t reveal anything then we absolutely should go all in to buy him now as the reality is that he will be going to one of the biggest clubs in the world if/when he is cleared. 

He may well be a sex offender but let’s use that as an an advantage to get him before the big boys come in??? 

Cole Palmer (who looks a real talent tbf) getting more plaudits for playing well against lower league opposition than KKH is for playing well against PL opposition.

Just now, a m ole said:

I know, I’m asking the OP where he’s got the false information from.

Sorry, quoted the wrong person.

10 minutes ago, a m ole said:

Where have you got that from?

https://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2022/01/04/bissouma-can-play-in-africa-cup-after-police-release-him-under-investigation/

That’s not charges dropped. He hasn’t been charged with anything, he is still under investigation for a sexual assault. If there is sufficient evidence he will be charged, if there isn’t he won’t be. It just means that he is not on bail and not subject to bail conditions.

Tuanzebe’s 16? Doesn’t bode massively well for his loan spell though.

5 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

what shirt numbers do we have free currently?

Wes could give him the 9 but I don’t like that. Hourihane could give him the 14 but that is his Barca number and seeing as he is coming for a fresh start from an unsuccessful spell he may want a new one but we don’t really have any good ones, unless a random one is significant to him.

48 minutes ago, villabromsgrove said:

Bissouma been bailed a couple of times and has been allowed to fly out for the African Nations tournament. If it was a potentially imprisonable offence he wouldn't have been allowed to leave the country. He still plays every match for Brighton so that would indicate that Potter and the Board believe him to be innocent.

Man City played Mendy for a year before he was charged. Unless Graham Potter sidelines as a CPS lawyer then it doesn’t matter what he thinks.

Also unless Bissouma is realistically considered to be a risk of never returning, travel would not be prevented. But yes it would indicate that it is a lower level sexual offence where chance of prison is low.

Regardless, I only want us to even consider signing him if the investigation is closed. To be fair I don’t think any club will go near him until that is resolved.

2 minutes ago, Peter Griffin said:

Sky saying we are in for Bissouma

 

Would that suit u Tro?

I’ve just seen that, where did that come from??

This was from an article on Football365…made me smile, particularly the bit about John    McGinn…

Philippe Coutinho at Aston Villa? That’s the sort of “Well, actually…” transfer nonsense we can get behind.

Philippe Coutinho to Aston Villa
Coutinho has been touted for a return to the Premier League pretty much from the moment he left and accidentally set in motion a change of events that would lead to Liverpool becoming the best team in the world for a while. Mainly these links have been humdrum: a return to Liverpool here, a megabucks transfer to Newcastle there. Weak sauce.

But now he’s being linked with Villa and that’s much more like it. There’s a huge amount to enjoy about an elite, exotic player heading to a club that is, at the moment, neither of those things. There are huge shades of James Rodriguez to Everton here and we would all do well to remember that that particular transfer was a huge success, for about 15 minutes. Like James, the link for what is on the face of it an unlikely move comes in the form of the club’s manager. only this time it’s former team-mate Steven Gerrard.

Emi Buendia and Coutinho spraying raking diagonals all day long while John McGinn desperately tries to do the work of three men behind them? Oh goodness me yes. Desperately want this one.

4 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Thats great that he is playing so his fitness should be good. If he hadnt kicked a ball in a  while then it would take him to get up to speed. Hopefully if completed on time he will make bench fir utd and start the league game

He’s also self isolating cos of Covid so may not arrive before the FA cup game.

Should also remind myself we haven’t actually signed him yet!

6 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Havent been following his career this season, has he played many games or is going to be one of these ones where we have to build up his fitness again?

Hopefully he can go straight in fir the utd game

 

He’s featured in most games but rarely played over 45 mins (has still managed a couple of goals though). Seems to be mainly used as a sub so I can see us using him like that for the first couple of games and building him up. Someone posted his 21/22 season appearances a couple of pages ago. I have no idea how well he’s been playing.