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Transfers January 2020 transfer thread
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sammyspurs
make it £1,000
Eriksen to sign Inter contract in 'next days'
Christian Eriksen has been linked with a January transfer to Manchester United, Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain, and the Serie A side are said to have completed a deal for the midfielder
www.football.london
I've personally always been more intrigued by trying him at CDM rather than RB
I’m personally more intrigued by turning him into a player for another team. But that’s maybe just me.
Wow, pretty fantastic post Stanley. I've enjoyed your other posts so I read every word of this one. But gotta say that was a pretty long-winded way of saying "It was the diamond".This is my opinion about it if you are interested:
Unfortunately I don't have to say this often, but: watch out it's pretty long
(These aren't facts, just my opinion. Everyone is perfectly entitled to their views)
The world of transfers
First of all, I see the scene of acquiring/selling players as a very complex and rapidly changing environment:
Valuations almost seem arbitrary, agent sometimes have a different agenda, unpredictable factors mean no new player is a guaranteed succes and factors that are taken into account for scouting might be hugely debated among staff.
Evolution versus revolution
This is the part where I fully agree with you. I also believe sometimes a squad needs a revolution instead of just an evolution, as things might turn stale and dull after a while. An evolution could be seen as rather low risk and high chance of succeeding. A revolution on the other hand, is hard to pull off, and to no surprise is damn expensive. Lots of "splash the cash" attempts haven't gone as one might've hoped (West Ham, Everton, Man United).
The bigger picture of our club
This might be an unpopular opinion, but please let me explain: we over performed under Poch and we weren't able to adapt our spending structure to it. Levy dreamt of going into the new stadium with a squad that was not silly to aim for top 4, instead we became already regular CL participants with genuine hope of winning the big trophies. I think Levy had foreseen a budget each season to accommodate the squad at remaining Europa League quality. However now 2 problems arose: the stadium costs went out of control and the squad needed more money to remain at a CL contender level. In my opinion Levy initially hoped that we would remain CL level without investment given our track record in 16/17, in which we had a young squad that ticked very well.
Last season as a warning sign
Then last season some conclusions were drawn by fans, journalists etc.: (1) The squad isn't getting any better (League form at the end was terrible, unfortunate injuries exposed our squad depth). (2) MP is a manager that can reach a CL final (which was with a bit of luck, however almost no CL finalist never had luck to get there in the first place). (3) MP can walk if he isn't backed (and openly flirted with the idea multiple times). (4) The seeds for dissatisfaction in the squad were maybe planted (Eriksen couldn't attract his dream move, Toby couldn't attract his dream move) and the CL final loss will only have worsened it.
Attempt at a revolution does happen eventually
So this summer MP was backed by Levy and some challenges occurred1) rumors suggest Poch was pretty stubborn about the players he wanted (think of passing on Tielemans allegedly). (2) Levy drives a hard bargain, which endangers the timing and sometimes outcome of the transfer. (3) Some unforeseen factors come into play (Dybala and the image rights debacle). (4) limited squad places and HG rules. (5) perhaps often overseen, it was extremely difficult to offload our unwanted players, which is something you can't blame Levy for entirely. Even with these challenges we did do a lot of good transfers in Ndombele, Sess, GLC and Clarke.
My take on Levy's transfer style in this is the following: I fully agree with his stance on bargaining since valuations are arbitrary anyway. However I also believe that sometimes his stubbornness has cost us. In summary I do believe that his transfer negotiating approach has had a net positive impact, even though it's flawed too. In my opinion Levy works best with a manager that has 5 targets per desired position and then Levy can work his negotiating magic. If Poch was stubborn about his targets (and let's face it, his succes rate with 'his' players isn't even that great), I can understand why the window turned out to be a bit underwhelming. The two of them should've adapted more towards each other, so both were at fault.
In short, here are the reasons why we didn't have a revolution yet, according to me:
- The timing to take the final step and become a silverware winning squad came to quickly (because of stadium costs, not having the revenue yet to sustain (very different to afford!!) these heavy expenditures)
- It's not in Levy's comfort zone to splash the cash, but sorry for saying this but at that moment Poch might not be the manager to splash the cash for (Might have lost the dressing room, is flirting with RM, stubborn on targets...). You could argue that after all Poch had done for the club, he would deserve the chance to have his 'revolution within reason' (he didn't deserve a blank cheque book and full control, because that would've been irresponsible and bad governance). Which he did deserve, and also to the best attempt of Levy got. Of course Levy could've done better within the reasonable range, I'll admit that.
- Obviously we will need someone to take over those responsibilities from Levy, ideally Campos. Levy is a great Chairman and CEO, but we need a strong connaisseur of football philosophy that transcends incoming and outgoing coaches like Poch, Mourinho.
TL;DR Levy's at fault, Poch's at fault, the timing is at fault, but I don't hate anyone for it. Nobody is perfect, and since a full revolution could have a huge impact on the sustainability of the club, I prefer no revolution over a failed revolution and wait until we have better staff to do it.
Michael Brown? Of course...think this name is sexier tho: suits you lol
I'm glad at least someone was able to read between the lines
When we sign someone why does it always take weeks for them to actually sign. Every other club signs someone and completes the deal on the same day after the medical is complete.
I can imagine levy having to funnel through 10 different tax free jurisdictions, which might account for the delay. Summer window was prime example. Lo celso been mooted all summer. Didnt actually sign until deadline day. So frustrating and makes us look like amateurs.
I can imagine levy having to funnel through 10 different tax free jurisdictions, which might account for the delay. Summer window was prime example. Lo celso been mooted all summer. Didnt actually sign until deadline day. So frustrating and makes us look like amateurs.
Isn’t he the fella from SC who’s boss was old mates with Redknapp ?
Mendes-one of our own
You'd know all about long-winded, Mr. Convoluted Prose. Good to see you getting a dose of your own medicine.
I think he should be our Director of Football personally
Yes I think we all worry about the time it takes because of that cunt Willian
Yes, the cases are very similar too as
Stanley
happens to be right as well. 
Often, my dear Five, the right message can't fit on bumper sticker. I'm sympathetic to your preference for pithy, Trumpy 3 word chants and difficulty with anything more verbose without a lie down but it's just fact my man. The truth is often more complex and takes a few more words than "lock her up", "build that wall" or "Brexit means Brexit". Have a good nap.
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What's mid-table? 2019 was our worst stretch of form in a decade and we still finished on a 7th place pace for the calendar year.
Mid-table for me 8-13. So worst run of form we were almost mid-table.
Not calling you out, specifically, but 500 quid is quite a lot so let's get the specifics right.
And that is why, presumably, you took Stanley's War and Peace, and promptly truncated it so that it could fit on a car bumper sticker for your 4-litre gas guzzler. You're down in the dirt with everyone else, you filthy Pharisee.Yes, the cases are very similar too as
Often, my dear Five, the right message can't fit on bumper sticker. I'm sympathetic to your preference for pithy, Trumpy 3 word chants and difficulty with anything more verbose without lie down but it's just fact my man. The truth is often more complex and takes a few more words than "lock her up" or "build that wall" or "Brexit means Brexit". Have a good nap.
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