January 2020 transfer window

[Paddingtonwolf]

There is no proof at all that Moutinho is injured ffs. Stop fucking catastrophising.

 

[Dire Wolf]

I don't think anybody wants us to fail and we all want to the club to succeed otherwise why bother supporting.

I have no doubt the recruitment staff at the club are working hard, you and I could work hard at being astronauts, if you haven't got the skills and ability you won't succeed. So far the recruitment team haven't shown ability to recruit well enough at this level.

I hope that changes.

Fuck me The End of Days is nigh... I actually agree with Johnny.

 

[Alan]

We've got three weeks until disappointment is warranted.

 

[t3ch]

well now that that's all wrapped up

 

[slink]

There is no proof at all that Moutinho is injured ffs. Stop fucking catastrophising.

All i said is he might be injured and the point still stands if he isn’t. The 2 players that cover our midfield positions are currently playing centre back and look better there. As i said above i’m not panicking but i am more than aware that our squad is very thin right now and our bench could look very interesting on Saturday, i see no problem in highlighting that.

 

[Norman Deeley]

Put this in business terms…
It was widely acknowledged in the summer that your senior management team needed strengthening. The CEO hinted as much on several occasions. Despite apparently negotiating with several candidates, your head-hunters only managed to bring in Mr Vallejo and Mr Cutrone, although a deal done with a shareholder in the company did also result in the arrival of Messrs Neto and Jordao.
Mr Vallejo seemed to be a nice man. But the shareholders were immediately concerned: he simply didn’t look up to the job. His early performance confirmed this and the CEO quickly lost faith with him.
No-one could doubt Mr Cutrone’s enthusiasm, but he didn’t seem the right fit for the company – and rumours persisted that he had never really wanted to leave his previous company. He became increasingly marginalised and again, the CEO seemed to have lost faith.
Both Mr Cutrone and Mr Vallejo left the company after only six months.
In the commercial world you’d conclude the head-hunters were simply incompetent, and you wouldn’t use them again. So why are we shareholders bloody worried right now? Because the senior management team is in even more desperate need of strengthening, the CEO is clearly unhappy and we’re using the same head-hunters, who have just three weeks to get it right.

 

[Jabbawolf]

Dont think you can put yourself on your ignore list...

:icon_lol::clap::icon_lol:

 

[Paul]

Put this in business terms…
It was widely acknowledged in the summer that your senior management team needed strengthening. The CEO hinted as much on several occasions. Despite apparently negotiating with several candidates, your head-hunters only managed to bring in Mr Vallejo and Mr Cutrone, although a deal done with a shareholder in the company did also result in the arrival of Messrs Neto and Jordao.
Mr Vallejo seemed to be a nice man. But the shareholders were immediately concerned: he simply didn’t look up to the job. His early performance confirmed this and the CEO quickly lost faith with him.
No-one could doubt Mr Cutrone’s enthusiasm, but he didn’t seem the right fit for the company – and rumours persisted that he had never really wanted to leave his previous company. He became increasingly marginalised and again, the CEO seemed to have lost faith.
Both Mr Cutrone and Mr Vallejo left the company after only six months.
In the commercial world you’d conclude the head-hunters were simply incompetent, and you wouldn’t use them again. So why are we shareholders bloody worried right now? Because the senior management team is in even more desperate need of strengthening, the CEO is clearly unhappy and we’re using the same head-hunters, who have just three weeks to get it right.

It's the 10th of January FFS.

 

[Jinky]

Whilst I agree some of the pantwetting is OTT, I really don't understand the 'holier-than-thou' attitude of some of the posters.

The squad is literally thread bare. We've managed to get by so far with a combination of excellent work from the background staff on our fitness and recovery (and of course, a little bit of luck) and some excellent management by Nuno. There is no doubt that certain players (Raul, for example) are being pushed to their limits - and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that he will eventually burn out. He's already started to look knackered. We've got away with not being too damaged by losing Boly to the extent I thought we would.

Jeff Shi was interviewed a few weeks ago and made noises that "things were already happening" on the transfer front, and this was before the window opened. We've been here before and I would rather he shut up completely because it gives people false hope or expectations.

Nuno has been making comments for a few weeks now, which has made it quite clear he wants players to come in.

While I agree we shouldn't be slitting our wrists right now as it's "only 10th January FFS", I do believe that some concern is required. Johnny is absolutely right - the last couple of transfer windows have been woeful and it does seem to have the stench of another window where we'll need to be bailed out by Mendes because the rest of our recruitment team are failing.

 

[Nuno's Beard]

I can't understand how some people, who know what a good job Fosun of done, and being the type of company they are would let what they have built just wilt. I think people really need some perspective. Our squad is thin, everyone knows and sees that. it is the 10th January, so there is another 3 weeks left and I am sure there will be players in. As mentioned by others, it is not just us after players, there is probably a fair few clubs after the same ones. It takes time, so I think people need to calm down a little!!

 

[Jinky]

I can't understand how some people, who know what a good job Fosun of done, and being the type of company they are would let what they have built just wilt. I think people really need some perspective. Our squad is thin, everyone knows and sees that. it is the 10th January, so there is another 3 weeks left and I am sure there will be players in. As mentioned by others, it is not just us after players, there is probably a fair few clubs after the same ones. It takes time, so I think people need to calm down a little!!

The problem is we've been here before. All the noises from Jeff Shi and co were that they knew what they were doing and for us to "trust" them. But two windows on the spin we went chasing players who obviously didn't want to be here and we were left disappointed. Nuno has done a hell of a job to keep us competitive with the squad the size it is - and as per my previous post, there is an element of luck involved in that, because other than Boly, we've not had long term injuries.

It's fine for people to show concern. Just don't be OTT about it. Equally on the flip side, don't belittle people's opinions by sticking your head in the sand and posting shit such as "It'S 10tH JaN FfS" - because that's not helpful either.

 

[Nuno's Beard]

The problem is we've been here before. All the noises from Jeff Shi and co were that they knew what they were doing and for us to "trust" them. But two windows on the spin we went chasing players who obviously didn't want to be here and we were left disappointed. Nuno has done a hell of a job to keep us competitive with the squad the size it is - and as per my previous post, there is an element of luck involved in that, because other than Boly, we've not had long term injuries.

It's fine for people to show concern. Just don't be OTT about it. Equally on the flip side, don't belittle people's opinions by sticking your head in the sand and posting shit such as "It'S 10tH JaN FfS" - because that's not helpful either.

Have we really been here before though.... the last 3 years haven't been anywhere near where we have been before? I think the problem is some fans really don't appreciate how good we have got it at the minute. They obviously do know what they are doing as we are where we are, with the position in the league, in Europe and with the best manager and players in my lifetime at the club. People can state luck or whatever, but you have also got to accept that they have lot a lot of things right. They are an investment company after all, so they need the club to be a success. Do you really think that they don't see how thin the squad is and that they aren't working to address it? These deals are so complicated nowadays and don't just take 5 minutes......


It is fine for people to show concern, it would be silly not too, but some of the comments I have read and the level of panic I have seen is ridiculous in my humble opinion. No head in the sand here and I'm not belittling anyone, just like to think I am looking at things objectively.

 

[Deano]

Whilst I agree some of the pantwetting is OTT, I really don't understand the 'holier-than-thou' attitude of some of the posters.

The squad is literally thread bare. We've managed to get by so far with a combination of excellent work from the background staff on our fitness and recovery (and of course, a little bit of luck) and some excellent management by Nuno. There is no doubt that certain players (Raul, for example) are being pushed to their limits - and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that he will eventually burn out. He's already started to look knackered. We've got away with not being too damaged by losing Boly to the extent I thought we would.

Jeff Shi was interviewed a few weeks ago and made noises that "things were already happening" on the transfer front, and this was before the window opened. We've been here before and I would rather he shut up completely because it gives people false hope or expectations.

Nuno has been making comments for a few weeks now, which has made it quite clear he wants players to come in.

While I agree we shouldn't be slitting our wrists right now as it's "only 10th January FFS", I do believe that some concern is required. Johnny is absolutely right - the last couple of transfer windows have been woeful and it does seem to have the stench of another window where we'll need to be bailed out by Mendes because the rest of our recruitment team are failing.

Agreed, we are where we are due to excellent management and coaching - and fine, the manager likes to work with a small squad but the numbers we have now is pushing even that to the limit. The manager has even said we need help.

People keep saying we have 3 weeks until the window closes - that's true - We also have 5 games between now and the 1st of February, it would be preferable if we didn't have to play those games with 13 fit, senior outfield players.

 

[Jinky]

Have we really been here before though.... the last 3 years haven't been anywhere near where we have been before? I think the problem is some fans really don't appreciate how good we have got it at the minute. They obviously do know what they are doing as we are where we are, with the position in the league, in Europe and with the best manager and players in my lifetime at the club. People can state luck or whatever, but you have also got to accept that they have lot a lot of things right. They are an investment company after all, so they need the club to be a success. Do you really think that they don't see how thin the squad is and that they aren't working to address it? These deals are so complicated nowadays and don't just take 5 minutes......


It is fine for people to show concern, it would be silly not too, but some of the comments I have read and the level of panic I have seen is ridiculous in my humble opinion. No head in the sand here and I'm not belittling anyone, just like to think I am looking at things objectively.

I actually think we are both looking at things objectively and it seems we both have very similar opinions. I can understand both sides of the argument. We both agree that some of the comments are OTT.

Finally, I get the whole "it's as good as it's been in our lifetime" thing, I really do. But equally, I don't think this should be used as an excuse for the failure of the last two windows. Someone summed it up nicely a page or two ago, when they said you can't stand still. We have to keep improving and moving forwards. That's Nuno's mentality and it should be the same right to the top of the club.

 

[The Bion]

(I will caveat that this is all baseless daydreaming/speculation and should be treated as such)

I wonder how much of it - assuming we are having trouble bringing people in, which we don't know for sure - is down to us just operating at a higher level now. It's one thing to negotiate with Middlesbrough, quite another to try and prise someone away from, ionno, Ajax (pulled that name randomly, I've no reason to believe we've ever been in negotiations with Ajax)

I feel reasonably confident in saying that football is pretty dirty all over, but especially at the top level. Maybe we're finding things difficult because we don't want to grease the correct palms, etc? I know Jorge is probably going to be a big help with that, and almost certainly has been already, but his reach will only extend so far. The club's been pretty consistent in saying they won't pay over the odds - in all honesty it's easy to say that but when it comes to getting the kind of players we want we're almost going to have to, because you don't find deals like Neves sitting around all over the place.

-edit- it's also worth remembering we've taken advantage of some teams' financial difficulties to get some of these players in - Porto were having FFP issues when we signed Neves, as were Milan when we signed Cutrone. Atletico needed to raise cash when we signed Jonny, who they themselves had only signed 6 months prior (albeit they made a very handsome profit on that)

There's only so many times you can cherrypick young talent at bargain prices, unfortunately.

 

[BGreenWolf]

We've had one bad window- last January's was perfectly fine, shifting out tonnes of deadwood and sealing the permanent Jonny deal.

 

[Nuno's Beard]

I actually think we are both looking at things objectively and it seems we both have very similar opinions. I can understand both sides of the argument. We both agree that some of the comments are OTT.

Finally, I get the whole "it's as good as it's been in our lifetime" thing, I really do. But equally, I don't think this should be used as an excuse for the failure of the last two windows. Someone summed it up nicely a page or two ago, when they said you can't stand still. We have to keep improving and moving forwards. That's Nuno's mentality and it should be the same right to the top of the club.

In my opinion I don't think it is being used as an excuse though, I think we were working to Nuno's remit of utilising a small squad supplemented by the under 23's, some of which have stood up to the test. But they have realised that the squad we have is to small and that reflects in Nuno's comments. Which is also a good thing in the fact that Nuno can openly admit when something hasn't been quite right. I think all of this is a learning curve for the club, what with Europe and everything else, but you can't hep be impressed with how quickly the have learnt. I agree with the comment above of us having three weeks but 5 games in between which will obviously be important, but I think that we will see movement before then, they really aren't that naïve.

We do have to keep improving and moving forwards as per Nuno's comments, totally agree with that. We should also recognise that seems to be Fosun's philosophy too though as we have improved year on year under them.

To use that cliché, 'trust the process'

 

[Langers]

It's very difficult to bring in players with the required qualities both on and off the pitch. To get into our XI, they need to be fucking good players. A huge part of our success is the mentality of the players Nuno uses. I'm gutted about Cutrone because I thought he would have become a really decent player for us but no point in keeping players who aren't happy or who can't settle. Sometimes things just don't work out - he had all the makings of an ideal signing for us but c'est la vie.

I too fail to understand the levels of criticism at this particular stage in the window - I hope we're not at the same point in a few weeks time obviously because 13 fit senior players is not enough but I do wish the club received a tad more patience whenever something doesn't go the way we want or expect them to.

So questions will rightly need to be asked - but not yet, let's see what happens and give the powers that be a bit more patience.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

A concern for me is that whilst it is obvious to any club that we are in desperate need for a striker and their price goes up as a result. It would go up even further if Raul gets a knock over the next couple of weeks. Makes me wonder if it'd be worth mitigating that risk by getting in the striker target ASAP as it may work out cheaper in the long run.

 

[pavlosmacwolf]

Of course we need a striker more than anything else, but we need a top class striker.
so who is going to sell a top class striker halfway through their own season, and at a sensible price?
Which top class striker is going to come to Wolves to play second fiddle to Raul?
and frankly with so many clubs out there searching for this striker, which one is going to choose Wolverampton over London or Manchester.
We are for sure going to get gazzumped with regard to deals we had in the pipe line, and with so many teams out there ready to throw money at almost anyone, right now, we just need to be patiernt.
We know what we need, like i know what i need to make my life better out here, finding it and then affording it is another matter, and football is simply nuts on the money front these days.
It's a kin' nightmare.