david-avfc

13 minutes ago, wishywashy said:

https://www.estadiodeportivo.com/futbol/mallorca/equipo-que-quiere-pagar-clausula-kangin-lee-negocio-del-siglo-20230419-417416.html

I saw a video on social media apparently from his agent at bodymoor heath, probably just trying to build up interest as I don’t think we’d be too receptive to an agent live streaming his arrival at the training ground if there were genuine talks ongoing but nonetheless it does seem like he’s potentially on our radar.

2 hours ago, turvontour said:

I really dont think it is. Weve got Kamara, Cash and Coutinho out injured right now, and I looked down at our subs training together pre kick off Saturday, and saw Dendonker, Traore, Chambers, Digne, Duran etc. Its pretty strong for a team who is looking to finish top half. All our best young players are out on loan too. 

For the premier league I think our squad size is ok if not a little light in certain areas but if we got into Europe there isn’t enough depth to manage the number of games properly. I guess it’s a case of cross that bridge when we get there but already at the moment we’re short of proper wingers, in midfield we have little cover for our main holding duo as Dendoncker I don’t think has the ball playing skills to fit Emery’s system, and up front our only back up is a 19 year old - fine if Ollie stays fit but an issue if he doesn’t (which would become more likely if we added another 10-15 games to the season). 

I can’t see what a 3rd championship loan spell would achieve, there’s no progression there at all. Maybe a loan spell abroad like Balogun at Arsenal / Reims is the best option if he isn’t going to be in Emery’s immediate plans

I think he’s been on the bench at times so he feels part of the squad after such a difficult start here rather than because he’s been genuinely considered ready to play.

With Konsa and Mings playing so well there’s no need to risk him by rushing him back, and equally there’s no need to risk disrupting the team by changing up the centre back pairing at this stage of the season either.

13 hours ago, Starscrem_Prime said:

Was absolutely class today. If 50% of Emery signings fit in to the team half as well, we'll be laughing after summer.

This signing really feels like Emery knew exactly what he wanted and ensured we got the right player to fit the system. Didn’t need to be a big name or expensive. Hopefully a good indication of what’s to come this summer.

Duran already has experience playing regularly at a reasonable level in the MLS so I don’t think a loan spell is urgently required for him. Emery previously mentioned he likes players with “different profiles”, I think he likes that Duran is a lot more physical than our other forward options even if he is still very much a prospect at this point. Best case scenario we get into Europe and can prove himself at that level.

Great that he’s proving the doubters wrong. I don’t think he is a “natural” top quality finisher but he works so hard and offers a lot and in the right system he’s good enough to score regular goals as we’re seeing. As a relatively inexperienced centre forward I’m sure he’s learning a hell of a lot tactically about how to be effective from Unai and it looks like he’s really stepped up his game already. I can’t imagine he got any of proper training from Gerrard.

The only worry I had about Emery was whether the players would buy into his very specific methods.. I think the improvement from Watkins and a few others are showing they’ve all bought into his approach and are now improving as players because of it.

4 hours ago, pas5898 said:

Chelsea will have some higher level unsettled players available come this summer. They can't play them all and some egos will be bruised by sitting on the bench, or not even making the squad.

Ziyech, Pulisic, Zakaria, RLC, Fofana (the striker), Madueke barely playing, even the most overrated footballer in history Mason Mount might be available.

Perhaps a cut price deal for Chukweumeka on the cards. We could send him back to the U23 where he should have been all along 

I don’t really agree with the criticism that Martinez is particularly bad with the ball at his feet. Realistically there aren’t many goalies around who are going to be as good as equivalent outfield players on the ball… and the very few who come close are already at the top clubs. They’re all going to look cumbersome in possession and occasionally hit one too long or too short, it’s just the nature of the beast and I’ve always thought Martinez is above average to be honest.

Martinez has shown he’s a top keeper but he needs to work on the emotional side of his game, he looks too intense and wants to be the one who makes us win - whether that’s by “tactically” wasting time, winding up the opposition or running up for a corner, when really all he needs to do is focus on his game - making great saves, dominating the box and distributing the ball as per the manager’s instructions 

33 minutes ago, est1874 said:

Have to disagree with Emery there. He says losing 2-3 is acceptable but losing 2-4 is embarrassing. At home against Arsenal when we've been leading and we'd rather try to steal an equalizer at the death by taking a risk, what's the **** difference? We're highly unlikely to be relegated or to get into Europe so the additional -1 GD is meaningless. If he's embarrassed by it then that's just ego. I personally couldn't give a ****, I'd rather see the players take a risk out of passion than be content to lose by a goal.

There was another interview where he was asked about the timewasting and he said those weren't his instructions to the players either, considering Martinez is the one leading most of that stuff so I think he's just annoyed with Martinez' antics all round and presumably the corner/4th goal was the icing on the cake.

Martinez is a top keeper but needs to calm himself down on the pitch, it's not all about him. I worry that Neil Cutler was able to manage Emi's emotional side and that's been lost since the backroom staff changes were made.

Ollie’s record since Emery has come in has actually been very good, 5 goals and 2 assists in 9 games / 8 starts (excluding a short cameo in the FA cup disaster). Hopefully it’s a sign he’s getting back to where he was when he was firing under Dean Smith. The previous manager was an absolute disaster on and off the pitch, but Watkins now looks far more settled under Emery and the whole team seems to be clicking better in the final third too. 

His long term record now is 34 goals in 100 games for us, which isn’t bad considering he’s had a couple of tough spells. He’s never going to be a world class player but if he stays at this level he’s a solid PL striker 

A shame he’s appeared to stagnate as I had high hopes for him. The preseason he had one year under Dean Smith he was our best player and deserved a crack in the first team, but when the season came around Smith reverted to El Ghazi and other senior players who weren’t fully fit or bedded in and he lost his momentum. He then went out on loan to Stoke and started well but then got injured and lost his momentum again. Haven’t been following him this year but seems like he’s been in and out of Cardiff’s team and unfortunately hasn’t done much for them 

What I don't get is if Man City / City Group is accused of providing false financial information, then why aren't they under a criminal investigation for fraud as presumably this means they've also posted falsified accounts to companies house too (presumably the PL reviews the formal set of accounts as part of their FFP due diligence)?

What irks me most about this player is that he just seems so lazy defensively, like he can’t even be bothered to make challenges or do any of the hard work. He’s decent in the final third if we get the ball to him in space but that’s a fairly small slice of the overall role of a full back. He has no pace or skill to create an opportunities either. 

1 hour ago, Brumstopdogs said:

I agree Digne could have done better too. Twice he is the wrong side of his player which is clearly crap positional play.

On Mings though - it was his clearance in the first place that didn't clear the lines properly and when the ball came back in the box he didn't deal with the danger (llike Digne) despite there being 3 Leicester players towards the back post. He wasn't in a position to impact any of them.

I expect Emery won't be happy with most of the defence for the 2nd goal. Could be argued Young didn't do enough to stop the cross and Konsa possibly helped keep Leicester onside if he was deepest!

There was nothing wrong with the clearance to be honest, it was whipped across goal with pace and he got his foot to it to block it and managed to get it well out of the box despite facing his own goal. From the subsequent cross yes he was a little bit in no-man’s land but Digne is behind him but just stands there like a lemon not bothered about defending at all

3 hours ago, maqroll said:

This fella says we will have £160m to spend..

 

Presumably that includes amortisation of all previous signings still on our books too?

Wages for the last set of accounts (the 20/21 season) was around £130m and has clearly increased since then - signing Buendia, Bailey, Ings (obviously now removed), Young, Coutinho, Digne , Olsen, Chambers, Carlos, Kamara, Dendoncker, Moreno and Duran in on permanent deals and a few new contracts for other players (e.g. Ramsey). Grealish, Targett, El Ghazi and Hourihane the only notable outgoings (along with Barkley’s loan from that season) probably a few others forgotten but presumably that’s £25-30m added to the wage bill at least

4 minutes ago, HalfTimePost said:

I nearly suggested this earlier, not surprised at all and we should probably consider it, though people will meltdown if we sell another. But we won't get this opportunity again.

I'd sell Digne and try and get someone likeDjed Spence as backup RB (if he's not already in Rennez) using Youmg at LB backup instead

 

Edit: to be clear I'm not saying I believe this guy, just that I think we should consider it. This guy is most probably BS

I wouldn’t lose any sleep if we sold Digne, but if he was to leave I’d be a bit worried about the timing with not much time to bring in a replacement so late in the window, especially as Moreno is still very much unproven in the PL

2 minutes ago, VillaParkAvenue said:

Brad Young. Or Buendia.

Brad Young wasn’t good enough for League 2 or the Scottish Championship unfortunately 

5 minutes ago, MWARLEY2 said:

So just took a look at our expenditure across the last 4 transfer windows .£40 million net.

I was amazed by this. 

So so low . I can only imagine that we are paying for past excesses . What other reason could there be. 

The new North Stand ? Ffp problems ? Too high wage bill. ? 

Or just that the net spend is distorted by selling 1 player for £100m. £120m if you include Chukweumeka who was a good youngster but about as useful as a chocolate teapot for the senior team

20 hours ago, Delphinho123 said:

Not happening yet. He’s been tied down to a long term deal. The club want to see how he develops. He’ll get another 12 months in the championship and then we’ll decide whether to sell or keep. 

Well hopefully he has a good run for Boro and we can line him up for a loan to a lower PL side for next season or maybe a top tier abroad, there always seems to be English players joining the Bundesliga these days. I've said before but it's a shame / poor management that we didn't loan him out in the summer as we'd have a far better understanding of his current level after a full championship season under his belt, he probably still needs a full season somewhere for him to progress and for us to assess

12 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

Clearout continues, ready for new arrivals…

 

Augistinsson out, Lee Kang-In in?

A stretch but you never know how these dominoes work 

The apparently all-knowing Fabrizio Romano has claimed we were interested in Deulofeu but he’s picked up an injury so a transfer this window is now a no go. Edit- just seen someone beat me to it.

I think he’d have been a useful player for us but I was a bit concerned by his age and inconsistency throughout his career, and he would probably have been a relatively expensive signing. Maybe better prospects out there, hopefully the club is working on it already.

Think we really need to sign a winger this week. I know Emery likes to play with more flexibility than out-and-out wingers but with only Leon Bailey available we’re clearly lacking in options in that space. Emery has publicly said the same, too.

Other than that I think we’re short of strikers, Duran is one for the future and we’ve been playing with a hybrid 2 up top so only 1 recognised senior striker in the squad also looks like a gap in the squad.

I’d be really disappointed and quite shocked if we didn’t bring in players in those 2 positions this week. As for midfielders, it would be great to make a major signing like Guendouzi, but it’s not a priority as we have enough options to see us through to the summer.

56 minutes ago, nick76 said:

 

I’d be surprised if any PL side wants Nakamba, he’s been here 3 and a half years now and has only really been a bit part player for us which shows he isn’t really good enough for the league. He’d have been OK for a promoted side in the summer perhaps as a cheap PL experienced squad player but as a mid season addition I can’t see him adding much value to any PL team.

Not sure if Championship teams could take his wages, or if he would want to drop down either. I could see him at a mid or bottom half French side or back to a secondary European league like Belgium, Netherlands or Turkey, but those clubs have no money hence why he’s probably still here.

13 minutes ago, Johnnyp said:

Lange was involved in Kamara. We all presume it was Gerrard who identified him. Nobody knows that to be true. Probably the same as Duran - watched for a good while. 

As if Gerrard identified Kamara, the bloke doesn’t know football outside Merseyside. I bet he couldn’t identify half of his own squad.