Club Come here to laugh at Nu-Castle

[Herclueless]

Nice post mate.

I think Howe has done a super job at Newcastle, and dealt with the Isak bombshell really well. (What a cnut of a player by the way, for what he forced).

I put you slightly ahead of us,mostly because you have a stronger midfield than ours, as in options, but you rely on Guimares and Gordon. Amy long-term injury, especially to your captain, who is on an amazing run of consecutive league games is likely to have a big impact.

It's how you navigate those last bits to being able to challenge for the PL that is your difficulty. You will excuse me for hoping you don't get there before we do.

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It's a load of nonsense though really.

He's viewing the current squad with biased spectacles, and whilst explaining how this crop of standouts snatched from lower midtable clubs are so much better than even the best players signed under Ashley even acknowledges that they have been elevated by Howe, but then surely given that we're evaluating the quality of players signed at the time of signing them, you should also give consideration how much better the players signed under Ashley would have been had they been given the opportunity to be elevated by Howe, right???

I'm sorry, but Cabaye, Ben Arfa, and Remy are much more ambitious than plundering bottom half clubs for Nick Pope, relegation expert Ramsdale, and Tino Livramento. How good they may or may not be performing under Howe has no relevance to the "ambishun" demonstrated by the board in making the signing.

Also, "wayaye man, we signed Yoan Wissa lyk!"

Doesn't really make for a convincing argument.

 

[Notabadsquad]

It's a load of nonsense though really.

He's viewing the current squad with biased spectacles, and whilst explaining how this crop of standouts snatched from lower midtable clubs are so much better than even the best players signed under Ashley even acknowledges that they have been elevated by Howe, but then surely given that we're evaluating the quality of players signed at the time of signing them, you should also give consideration how much better the players signed under Ashley would have been had they been given the opportunity to be elevated by Howe, right???

I'm sorry, but Cabaye, Ben Arfa, and Remy are much more ambitious than plundering bottom half clubs for Nick Pope, relegation expert Ramsdale, and Tino Livramento. How good they may or may not be performing under Howe has no relevance to the "ambishun" demonstrated by the board in making the signing.

Also, "wayaye man, we signed Yoan Wissa lyk!"

Doesn't really make for a convincing argument.

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I'll come back to this. Interesting.

 

[Herclueless]

I'll come back to this. Interesting.

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It's obvious inarguable that Newcastle are better now than under Ashley, they're doing better recruitment, more consistently, and as a result are doing better on the pitch.

His point that I take issue with is that Newcastle under Ashley couldn't have made these signings, all they are doing now is hoovering up standout players from lower level sides. With some they're getting massively mugged off on the fees due to the Saudi blood money, which perhaps warps the narrative a little.

Different story when the Saudis first came in, and they signed Bruno and Tonali, however now that the hype has died down and players are seeing that they can't use Newcastle as the convenient stepping stone they had hoped, the signings have much less wow factor, and more just something any Prem club with the finance to do so could pull off.

 

[This Fish]

It's a load of nonsense though really.

He's viewing the current squad with biased spectacles, and whilst explaining how this crop of standouts snatched from lower midtable clubs are so much better than even the best players signed under Ashley even acknowledges that they have been elevated by Howe, but then surely given that we're evaluating the quality of players signed at the time of signing them, you should also give consideration how much better the players signed under Ashley would have been had they been given the opportunity to be elevated by Howe, right???

I'm sorry, but Cabaye, Ben Arfa, and Remy are much more ambitious than plundering bottom half clubs for Nick Pope, relegation expert Ramsdale, and Tino Livramento. How good they may or may not be performing under Howe has no relevance to the "ambishun" demonstrated by the board in making the signing.

Also, "wayaye man, we signed Yoan Wissa lyk!"

Doesn't really make for a convincing argument.

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Under Ashley there is no way we're signing;
Hall, Livramento, Trippier, Botman, Thiaw, Bruno, Tonali, Barnes, Gordon, Elanga, Isak, Woltemade, Ramsey, Wissa. Too risky for their prices.

So we may have signed: Targett, Osula, Minteh, Kuol, Ramsdale and Pope, maybe Burn? Even then, Burn doesn't have any resale value and Targett's wage demands are pretty high (rumoured to be £100k)

Signing Cabaye for £4m, Ben Arfa for £5m, and only loaning Remy is nowhere near as risky. Even back then when prices weren't so mental. Ashley's lack of ambition was clear, he wanted a vehicle to promote his sportswear tat on a global stage, everything else was a headache he could do without. When he did loosen the purse strings it wasn't ambition that guided his hand, it was an eye on resale as with Wijnaldum, Mitrovic, etc.

 

[This Fish]

It's obvious inarguable that Newcastle are better now than under Ashley, they're doing better recruitment, more consistently, and as a result are doing better on the pitch.

His point that I take issue with is that Newcastle under Ashley couldn't have made these signings, all they are doing now is hoovering up standout players from lower level sides. With some they're getting massively mugged off on the fees due to the Saudi blood money, which perhaps warps the narrative a little.

Different story when the Saudis first came in, and they signed Bruno and Tonali, however now that the hype has died down and players are seeing that they can't use Newcastle as the convenient stepping stone they had hoped, the signings have much less wow factor, and more just something any Prem club with the finance to do so could pull off.

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We're shopping in that small section beneath the finished articles that the truly elite clubs can attract, but above the other PL sides. But we did that from the off and are still doing it now. Could Brentford have bought Thiaw? Woltemade? Ramsey? Could Bournemouth?

I don't agree that all of these players viewed Newcastle as a stepping stone. For some, I'd say that the ambitions of the club match the ambition of the player right now. Tonali may soon enough draw admiring glances from Barcelona or PSG or whomever, but right now he's playing CL football for a Premier League club who've recently won a domestic trophy so he's happy.

The picture you're painting is one of stalled progress, and I don't think that's true at all.

 

[Herclueless]

Under Ashley there is no way we're signing;
Hall, Livramento, Trippier, Botman, Thiaw, Bruno, Tonali, Barnes, Gordon, Elanga, Isak, Woltemade, Ramsey, Wissa. Too risky for their prices.

So we may have signed: Targett, Osula, Minteh, Kuol, Ramsdale and Pope, maybe Burn? Even then, Burn doesn't have any resale value and Targett's wage demands are pretty high (rumoured to be £100k)

Signing Cabaye for £4m, Ben Arfa for £5m, and only loaning Remy is nowhere near as risky. Even back then when prices weren't so mental. Ashley's lack of ambition was clear, he wanted a vehicle to promote his sportswear tat on a global stage, everything else was a headache he could do without. When he did loosen the purse strings it wasn't ambition that guided his hand, it was an eye on resale as with Wijnaldum, Mitrovic, etc.

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Chelsea Youth Teamer, Relegated Southampton Youngster, Tottenham's Reserve Right Back, Centreback from France, bit part centreback from ailing Milan, Bruno/Tonali early outliers as mentioned, relegated Leicester midfielder, standout from Everton, standout from Forest, 1 in 3 striker from a mid Spanish club, one season wonder so far from midtable Bundesliga side, mid-table (and skint) Villa, mid-table (and 29!) striker.

Yeah aside from Tonali/Bruno that's not a list that really blows me away. That the fees are so mental now, and further inflated by your owners, makes it look a little more impressive on a superficial level, but I'd say that you'd have been able to sign pretty much all of these players under Ashley bar the two mentioned outliers.

Would Ashley have signed them might be another question.

You seem partially blinded by the performances after signing, which isn't really anything to do with the level of the signing at the time of signing.

To me it's absolutely stalled progress, I reckon that the owners were hoping to do a City, and due to some factors outside of their control that hasn't been possible. You aren't where they would have expected to be by now at the time of the takeover, is my opinion, and I view that as stalled progress.

 

[This Fish]

Chelsea Youth Teamer, Relegated Southampton Youngster, Tottenham's Reserve Right Back, Centreback from France, bit part centreback from ailing Milan, Bruno/Tonali early outliers as mentioned, relegated Leicester midfielder, standout from Everton, standout from Forest, 1 in 3 striker from a mid Spanish club, one season wonder so far from midtable Bundesliga side, mid-table (and skint) Villa, mid-table (and 29!) striker.

Yeah aside from Tonali/Bruno that's not a list that really blows me away. That the fees are so mental now, and further inflated by your owners, makes it look a little more impressive on a superficial level, but I'd say that you'd have been able to sign pretty much all of these players under Ashley bar the two mentioned outliers.

Would Ashley have signed them might be another question.

You seem partially blinded by the performances after signing, which isn't really anything to do with the level of the signing at the time of signing.

To me it's absolutely stalled progress, I reckon that the owners were hoping to do a City, and due to some factors outside of their control that hasn't been possible. You aren't where they would have expected to be by now at the time of the takeover, is my opinion, and I view that as stalled progress.

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You say that I'm blinded by performance after signing, but it's pretty clear you're letting your bias colour your interpretation of those players.

Hall and Livramento are two of England's highest rated fullbacks and both went for c£40m, Trippier left Atletico Madrid who were in the Champions League and had just won La Liga.. calling him Spur's reserve fullback is cheeky at best, insane at worst.
Botman was a highly rated centreback and we were competing with the likes of Milan for his signing.
Thiaw is also highly rated.
Isak was wanted by your North London rivals

None of them would be signed by Ashley as all of them represent ambition beyond survival.

The owners will definitely have wanted to buy their way to a title ASAP, but the established elite have made any challenge to their status quo bordering on impossible. They've literally rushed through rule changes to prevent Newcastle from benefiting from the same freedoms that they enjoyed. On the pitch I'd argue we're ahead of where we could have been expected to be, off the pitch not so much but that's due to the drawbridge being pulled up.

I think you've forgotten just where we were before the takeover. 19th, Steve Bruce at the helm, playing awful football, struggling to sign Hamza Choudury on loan and likely suffering our 3rd relegation in 15yrs. 4 years later we're in the Champions League for the second time, holders of the League Cup, having more than doubled the squad value, and revenue has gone from £140-£400m. Had that happened under any other ownership, it would be seen as a meteoric rise.

 

[Herclueless]

You say that I'm blinded by performance after signing, but it's pretty clear you're letting your bias colour your interpretation of those players.

Hall and Livramento are two of England's highest rated fullbacks and both went for c£40m, Trippier left Atletico Madrid who were in the Champions League and had just won La Liga.. calling him Spur's reserve fullback is cheeky at best, insane at worst.
Botman was a highly rated centreback and we were competing with the likes of Milan for his signing.
Thiaw is also highly rated.
Isak was wanted by your North London rivals

None of them would be signed by Ashley as all of them represent ambition beyond survival.

The owners will definitely have wanted to buy their way to a title ASAP, but the established elite have made any challenge to their status quo bordering on impossible. They've literally rushed through rule changes to prevent Newcastle from benefiting from the same freedoms that they enjoyed. On the pitch I'd argue we're ahead of where we could have been expected to be, off the pitch not so much but that's due to the drawbridge being pulled up.

I think you've forgotten just where we were before the takeover. 19th, Steve Bruce at the helm, playing awful football, struggling to sign Hamza Choudury on loan and likely suffering our 3rd relegation in 15yrs. 4 years later we're in the Champions League for the second time, holders of the League Cup, having more than doubled the squad value, and revenue has gone from £140-£400m. Had that happened under any other ownership, it would be seen as a meteoric rise.

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Fuck me sorry mate, yeah what was I thinking, surely only the richest club in the world could have signed a couple of Chelsea academy fullbacks, some relegation fodder keepers, and Yoann fuckin' Wissa man...

 

[This Fish]

Fuck me sorry mate, yeah what was I thinking, surely only the richest club in the world could have signed a couple of Chelsea academy fullbacks, some relegation fodder keepers, and Yoann fuckin' Wissa man...

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I mean, we can all play that game mate, who've you signed?

A Centre back from a midtable French side who's last season saw his team ship 65 goals, and attacking midfielder from midtable German side where Benjamin Sesko was the best player, a winger from West Ham who got half the number of goals and assists that Jacob Murphy did, and a striker from Germany who managed 3 goals last season...

This whole "richest club in the world" thing is daft really. Sure PIF have a distressing amount of money, but a) they aren't allowed to spend it, b) they see Newcastle as part of their portfolio not their focus and c) all of the rhetoric has been about steady progress not immediate success.

 

[Herclueless]

I mean, we can all play that game mate, who've you signed?

A Centre back from a midtable French side who's last season saw his team ship 65 goals, and attacking midfielder from midtable German side where Benjamin Sesko was the best player, a winger from West Ham who got half the number of goals and assists that Jacob Murphy did, and a striker from Germany who managed 3 goals last season...

This whole "richest club in the world" thing is daft really. Sure PIF have a distressing amount of money, but a) they aren't allowed to spend it, b) they see Newcastle as part of their portfolio not their focus and c) all of the rhetoric has been about steady progress not immediate success.

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That's an entirely different game actually, I'm not making any attempt to suggest that we're doing incredible things, nor compare our signings to yours, whilst you're trying to claim that signing Nick Pope from Burnley and Woolwich's reserve keeper are beyond your wildest dreams...

 

[This Fish]

That's an entirely different game actually, I'm not making any attempt to suggest that we're doing incredible things, nor compare our signings to yours, whilst you're trying to claim that signing Nick Pope from Burnley and Woolwich's reserve keeper are beyond your wildest dreams...

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did I? Or did I say that Pope and Ramsdale may have been signed under Ashley? I even threw in Burn.

It's just that the majority of our business post-takeover wouldn't have happened under Ashley's watch. And that it's clear that our ambitions are higher now. And that our progress from a team stinking up the league to one playing CL football has not stalled at all.

 

[Herclueless]

did I? Or did I say that Pope and Ramsdale may have been signed under Ashley? I even threw in Burn.

It's just that the majority of our business post-takeover wouldn't have happened under Ashley's watch. And that it's clear that our ambitions are higher now. And that our progress from a team stinking up the league to one playing CL football has not stalled at all.

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Pretty sure I clearly pointed out a difference between couldn't and wouldn't.

None of your signings require CL football or trophies to attract, any side willing to spend a bit of money could have made them. If Ashley had come over all funny one morning and decided he was going to go wild with funds for Newcastle, you'd have been able to sign any of these players, barring Tonali and Bruno, the statement signings made at the beginning of their tenure.

Perhaps a more relevant question would be, would you be able to sign either of those two players now? I'm not so sure, and I think your reduced level of signing now is enforced by a lower pull now rather than a conscious decision from your owners, which is another sign of the progress stalling.

 

[Notabadsquad]

There is nothing worse than bias getting in the way of objective analysis.

I see Newcastke as ahead of where they might have been or expected if it were not for the quality of Howe's coaching/management.

How many of the players that have been bought since the takeover would have been acquired under Ashley is somewhat moot. We will never know.

The very best as in finished article players (or as near as) are not going to Newcastle or us at the present time, so both clubs have to shop in the window next door and hope the coaching and natural development take hold.

The next challenge is retention, but invariably if such players are sold, it comes with a big increase in transfer fee but hinders progress. Difficult.

What has changed, at least for now is that Real Madrid, more so than Barcelona have not plundered the PL in the last 3 or 4 years for the best PL talent,which tells you that if they can't get beyond that trio/quartet of teams, just how hard it will be for everyone else.

Newcastle are in a good place, but that next move is akin to one small step....

Case in point, Semenyo, Guehi as 2 outstanding players not currently at the so-called top teams. In Guehi's case, Real might just win the race for his signature because they can talk in January. Semenyo only goes to one of 3 teams, although joining us or Newcatle would probably mean more playing time and help both teams close the gap.

 

[This Fish]

Pretty sure I clearly pointed out a difference between couldn't and wouldn't.

None of your signings require CL football or trophies to attract, any side willing to spend a bit of money could have made them. If Ashley had come over all funny one morning and decided he was going to go wild with funds for Newcastle, you'd have been able to sign any of these players, barring Tonali and Bruno, the statement signings made at the beginning of their tenure.

Perhaps a more relevant question would be, would you be able to sign either of those two players now? I'm not so sure, and I think your reduced level of signing now is enforced by a lower pull now rather than a conscious decision from your owners, which is another sign of the progress stalling.

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Yet we've literally just signed Thiaw (comparable in renown to Botman was), Elanga and Ramsey, comparable in renown to Gordon at that time... and Woltemade who is comparable to 22/23 Isak.

I don't think we could have signed Thiaw or Woltemade without Champions League football, nor Elanga and probably not Ramsey either.

Could we pull Tonali as he is now? No probably not because he's one of the best midfielders in the league, but could we pull a player who is now as renowned as he was in 23/24? Yeah, definitely.

The struggle we have is that the level of player we want is more rare than hen's teeth. Not good enough yet for the established elite sides to show an interest (e.g. Sesko, Mbeumo, Pedro, are all examples of players who we could have signed if we did the deal before the elite clubs showed interest.) but better than what we've already got (e.g. Ramsey was bought as an upgrade on Longstaff, Thiaw an upgrade on Schar, Ramsdale an upgrade on Dubravka.)

I don't think we have a lower pull at all, that's bonkers. We're in the Champions League (we were relegation bound when Trippier, Burn, and Bruno joined) we're an established europe chasing team, we can pay more money, we've got better players, we've a highly regarded coach.

I'd be curious to know, just how are you measuring progress? Because, my every measure I can think of, we're progressing.

 

[Herclueless]

Yet we've literally just signed Thiaw (comparable in renown to Botman was), Elanga and Ramsey, comparable in renown to Gordon at that time... and Woltemade who is comparable to 22/23 Isak.

I don't think we could have signed Thiaw or Woltemade without Champions League football, nor Elanga and probably not Ramsey either.

Could we pull Tonali as he is now? No probably not because he's one of the best midfielders in the league, but could we pull a player who is now as renowned as he was in 23/24? Yeah, definitely.

The struggle we have is that the level of player we want is more rare than hen's teeth. Not good enough yet for the established elite sides to show an interest (e.g. Sesko, Mbeumo, Pedro, are all examples of players who we could have signed if we did the deal before the elite clubs showed interest.) but better than what we've already got (e.g. Ramsey was bought as an upgrade on Longstaff, Thiaw an upgrade on Schar, Ramsdale an upgrade on Dubravka.)

I don't think we have a lower pull at all, that's bonkers. We're in the Champions League (we were relegation bound when Trippier, Burn, and Bruno joined) we're an established europe chasing team, we can pay more money, we've got better players, we've a highly regarded coach.

I'd be curious to know, just how are you measuring progress? Because, my every measure I can think of, we're progressing.

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Come off it, Elanga? He's a one season wonder off the back of spamming breakaway assists for a Terrorball Forest team under Nuno...

I'm not sure I'm being clear enough on this, what he goes on to do or not do for Newcastle over the next 3,4,5 years or whatever is irrelevant, as it stands you signed a relatively quick winger from Nottingham Forest, just because you got fleeced for £45m for the privilege doesn't mean you signed the equivalent of prime Figo ffs...

As for Thiaw, Botman, etc. I think you're severely underestimating the pull of PL if you think that most of the other 19 clubs couldn't have tempted a player away from Milan or Lille.

You're competing with mid-table sides to sign the best available from other mid-table sides and relegated clubs. That you can't see this after a summer where the running joke for the most part was players that Newcastle missed out on is a little bewildering. Come the crunch, Man Utd still had a greater pull for players than you do.

 

[Herclueless]

Yet we've literally just signed Thiaw (comparable in renown to Botman was), Elanga and Ramsey, comparable in renown to Gordon at that time... and Woltemade who is comparable to 22/23 Isak.

I don't think we could have signed Thiaw or Woltemade without Champions League football, nor Elanga and probably not Ramsey either.

Could we pull Tonali as he is now? No probably not because he's one of the best midfielders in the league, but could we pull a player who is now as renowned as he was in 23/24? Yeah, definitely.

The struggle we have is that the level of player we want is more rare than hen's teeth. Not good enough yet for the established elite sides to show an interest (e.g. Sesko, Mbeumo, Pedro, are all examples of players who we could have signed if we did the deal before the elite clubs showed interest.) but better than what we've already got (e.g. Ramsey was bought as an upgrade on Longstaff, Thiaw an upgrade on Schar, Ramsdale an upgrade on Dubravka.)

I don't think we have a lower pull at all, that's bonkers. We're in the Champions League (we were relegation bound when Trippier, Burn, and Bruno joined) we're an established europe chasing team, we can pay more money, we've got better players, we've a highly regarded coach.

I'd be curious to know, just how are you measuring progress? Because, my every measure I can think of, we're progressing.

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You have progressed, and now that has and will continue to stall as further progress from the point of spunking a bunch of money at it to drag yourselves up from 19th to top 6 is much harder than pushing on from top 6, you may have already peaked, time will tell.

What part of failing to sign most of your preferred targets in the summer, and starting off with 2 wins from 7 in the league, feels like progress is continuing apace to you??

 

[This Fish]

Come off it, Elanga? He's a one season wonder off the back of spamming breakaway assists for a Terrorball Forest team under Nuno...

I'm not sure I'm being clear enough on this, what he goes on to do or not do for Newcastle over the next 3,4,5 years or whatever is irrelevant, as it stands you signed a relatively quick winger from Nottingham Forest, just because you got fleeced for £45m for the privilege doesn't mean you signed the equivalent of prime Figo ffs...

As for Thiaw, Botman, etc. I think you're severely underestimating the pull of PL if you think that most of the other 19 clubs couldn't have tempted a player away from Milan or Lille.

You're competing with mid-table sides to sign the best available from other mid-table sides and relegated clubs. That you can't see this after a summer where the running joke for the most part was players that Newcastle missed out on is a little bewildering. Come the crunch, Man Utd still had a greater pull for players than you do.

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No shit.

Manchester United (despite their recent struggles) remain one of the most famous, most trophied and most storied clubs on the face of the planet. That we couldn't beat them to the signings we're after is no great shock. However instead of shopping for midtable PL clubs' cast offs (Hendrick, Shelvey, Geremi, et al) we're signing their best/better players. And you yourself admit that we're competing with top clubs for players in the market, Chelsea, Man Utd, Bayern Munich, Milan, etc. These are the clubs we're trying to beat to a player and no, we're not winning most of those races, but we're trying.

And that's an improvement on where we were. Instead of finding a risky bargain from the continent (Cabella, Thauvin, Cabaye, Sissoko,Cisse), we're signing top talent (Botman, Bruno, Tonali, Thiaw, Woltemade). Instead of failing to agree a loan deal for Leicester City's unwanted midfielder, we're cherry picking Forest's assist-King.

What Elanga does in the next 3-5 years definitely does matter. He was signed because the club sees something in him, that he's got potential to improve on his decent season and be a consistently good PL player. Just as it matters for your signing of Mathys Tel. If he rocks up and does nothing, you've had your pants pulled down, if he delivers on his promise you've made a good signing.

 

[Herclueless]

No shit.

Manchester United (despite their recent struggles) remain one of the most famous, most trophied and most storied clubs on the face of the planet. That we couldn't beat them to the signings we're after is no great shock. However instead of shopping for midtable PL clubs' cast offs (Hendrick, Shelvey, Geremi, et al) we're signing their best/better players. And you yourself admit that we're competing with top clubs for players in the market, Chelsea, Man Utd, Bayern Munich, Milan, etc. These are the clubs we're trying to beat to a player and no, we're not winning most of those races, but we're trying.

And that's an improvement on where we were. Instead of finding a risky bargain from the continent (Cabella, Thauvin, Cabaye, Sissoko,Cisse), we're signing top talent (Botman, Bruno, Tonali, Thiaw, Woltemade). Instead of failing to agree a loan deal for Leicester City's unwanted midfielder, we're cherry picking Forest's assist-King.

What Elanga does in the next 3-5 years definitely does matter. He was signed because the club sees something in him, that he's got potential to improve on his decent season and be a consistently good PL player. Just as it matters for your signing of Mathys Tel. If he rocks up and does nothing, you've had your pants pulled down, if he delivers on his promise you've made a good signing.

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No it doesn't, whether he goes on to win a Ballon D'Or, or is lumped out on loan every season until his contract expires, you signed a winger from Nottingham Forest...

Big whoop.


Jesus Christ, "cherry picking Forests assist-king"...



You're right, sorry, you're basically Real Madrid now.

 

[This Fish]

You have progressed, and now that has and will continue to stall as further progress from the point of spunking a bunch of money at it to drag yourselves up from 19th to top 6 is much harder than pushing on from top 6, you may have already peaked, time will tell.

What part of failing to sign most of your preferred targets in the summer, and starting off with 2 wins from 7 in the league, feels like progress is continuing apace to you??

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You're right in that getting from 19th to 6th is easier than 6th to a true title challenge. But it's been 4yrs man. First year we were all but written off as relegation certainties and ended 11th. Then a season later we're in teh League Cup final and securing CL football. Then a season of struggling to manage the strain of trying to compete on multiple fronts with a small squad meaning we finish 7th (oh no!), and then we win a trophy and secure CL football again! That's cheating at Football Manager stuff man. All while dancing through the laser beams of PSR and APT and FFP.

Re: failing to sign our targets. You miss every shot you don't take. It would have been way worse had we not bothered even trying for Sesko, Pedro, Ekitke, Delap. And we've ended up with a top centreback, depth on the flanks, depth in midfield, and one of the most exciting young strikers in Europe. It was as decent window. Add those players to the ones we've got and That's a spicy meatball.

So far we've only lost to Woolwich in the 90+6 minute, our ten men lost to Liverpool in the 90+10th minute, and Barcelona. We've 9pts from Emery's Villa, Champions Liverpool, Leeds, Wolves, Bournemouth, Woolwich and Forest. Which is about what I'd expect. Especially as we played the first few games without a recognised striker. Only the league leaders have conceded fewer goals and our striker now has 3 goals in his last 3 home games. Phwoar.

We're progressing fine mate.

 

[This Fish]

No it doesn't, whether he goes on to win a Ballon D'Or, or is lumped out on loan every season until his contract expires, you signed a winger from Nottingham Forest...

Big whoop.


Jesus Christ, "cherry picking Forests assist-king"...



You're right, sorry, you're basically Real Madrid now.

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Excuse me sir, I think your logic is broken. We signed a 1 in 3 striker from Real Sociedad, he turned out ok. You signed a skinny left back from Championship Southampton, he turned out ok.

Do you only measure success if you buy the best player from the best team? That's both expensive, and a waste of your scouting department...