January 2021 Transfer Window

[prawnking]

I hope we have an option lined up should Cutrone fail to live up to the required standards

Surely we can just send the list amassed on the Brighton verdict thread to the club?

 

[AndyWolves]

I fear the club are using Cutrone in a disingenuous fashion and are using him to say to other clubs that we can't be held to ransom.

I just hope we don't chuck Cutrone under the bus and say in two weeks time he wasn't good enough if we end up getting one of our targets

 

[PuntsWolf]

I don`t think he`ll be the same player when he comes back. Fluck a duck, with all the recent talk of heading a ball and dementia, how would you feel if you`d had a fractured skull and had to face your first head to head challenge?

Everyone’s different. Same as post my knee surgeries that first time you go out and try and play in a non controlled environment on an artificial pitch or when to try and do a sharp turn skiing. You panic, you shit yourself. But then the more you do it the more confident you get and then you don’t even think about it anymore.
Slightly different with heads to knees, but if there is no underlying damage then it’s pretty much the same.

Players live for the game. Plenty of research in the NFL and boxing that it’s bad for you. But they all still want to play, they all still want to box.

 

[sycophantia]

I’m sorry, but Cutrone hasn’t showed anywhere near the promise we need from him since he’s joined us for me to be comfortable with this strategy. He wasn’t the answer last season, and I’d be very surprised if he was this season.

I appreciate that the market’s difficult, but that’s on us for our summer recruitment. We have no one to blame but ourselves.

thats all very well but what are your alternative plans? If fosun don't want to spend the cash or Nuno doesn't want to get in some hasbeen, I don't see any other options.
I'm not saying Cutrone or MGW are the long term answers but we'll just have to go with it this season and see how they do.

 

[Kenny]

Maybe because I’ve blocked so many ‘look at me rage’ #wwfc nobs on twitter in the past but the responses to Tim’s tweet are pretty reasonable on the whole.

Based on this I had a look and yep, 90% of them are decent. The odd one about Fosun being skint and should do one but, they would still be moaning if we had signed Messi and Ronaldo "Great Fosun, ruin the team spirit, these 2 will never get on"

I think the Liverpool/Arsenal news yesterday is showing fans that Covid is starting to bite teams and some of the big ones as well and most are having to be sensible and take the approach of, get this season out of the way and then move forward.

 

[Jinky]

I disagree on this part. RAN and Vitinha were not bought to be successes this season. I think the option (rather than obligation) is just to protect ourselves financially in case something really went wrong for the club in a money sense. I know some are saying have we seen enough to justify spending £18m or so on each. For me, yes, I can see the potential. RAN is a big talent IMO. Vitinha is clearly technically very good, but is still adapting to the speed of the game.

Hoever is only 18 himself, with less first team experience than those two. He clearly is going to be good enough though, so I'd be slowly drip feeding him more time. He'll start the cup games I would imagine, plus times where we have a bigger build up of games when we need to rest Semedo. Otasowie in a similar boat but as a midfielder may be afforded more time.

I would play RAN & Vitinha as much as possible in the second half of the season to see if they are up to the job. That's £40 odd million invested in them for the summer transfer window. So if we're not spending any money this month and are "going again" next year, everyone is going to want to see some serious investment in the starting 11. I can just picture it now - we bring no one in this window, we spend £40m on Vitinha and RAN, and then roll out the line that we have to be careful what we spend and end up failing to strengthen again.

It isn't very often a club throws away a season, which is effectively what we are doing this season by the looks of it.

Lots of circumstances surrounding that, which I understand, but I don't think people can be too surprised with a bit of discontent from sections of the fan-base. As others have said, the response to Tim's tweet - and the response to bringing Cutrone & MGW back have been overwhelmingly positive, tbf.

If anything, all of this will force Fosun's hands in to re-assessing their transfer strategy. We can't sign as many young foreign, big potential style players any more due to restrictions around Brexit - and we can't sign big name, readymade players because we're not in a position to splash £60m+ on one player - but we are a club that's going to finish mid-table (I guess) this season, so where's the lure to bring in the kind of players we want/need from someone on the outside looking in? We won't have Europe etc.

It will be interesting to see what their tactics/strategy are moving in to the summer window.

 

[Kenny]

It isn't very often a club throws away a season, which is effectively what we are doing this season by the looks of it.

I think throwing the season away is the wrong term. Throwing a season away is more like what Burnley did when they first came up and Norwich last season. I think we have accepted we are unliley to challenge the Top 8 this season (maybe why we are, by the sounds of it, going with a strong line up and John Ruddy* tonight) and everyone at the club is cool with that. We get sucked into a relegation battle though and that coolness will soon fook off.
As for the Summer, not going to 2nd guess what our strategy will be but we will finally be free of some issues regarding FFP that should free us up a little, mainly on the wages front.



*Apologies for playing to the crowd.

 

[Paul]

Based on this I had a look and yep, 90% of them are decent. The odd one about Fosun being skint and should do one but, they would still be moaning if we had signed Messi and Ronaldo "Great Fosun, ruin the team spirit, these 2 will never get on"

Was the poster a Binky from Oxfordshire ??

 

[Kenny]

Was the poster a Binky from Oxfordshire ??

Stop looking for digs young man


One of them was a Colin Robinson though

 

[Jinky]

I think throwing the season away is the wrong term. Throwing a season away is more like what Burnley did when they first came up and Norwich last season. I think we have accepted we are unliley to challenge the Top 8 this season (maybe why we are, by the sounds of it, going with a strong line up and John Ruddy* tonight) and everyone at the club is cool with that. We get sucked into a relegation battle though and that coolness will soon fook off.
As for the Summer, not going to 2nd guess what our strategy will be but we will finally be free of some issues regarding FFP that should free us up a little, mainly on the wages front.



*Apologies for playing to the crowd.

We are as far off the top of the table as we are the bottom and are closer to 6th place (the usual spot for a Euro place) than we are 18th. There's also no guarantee regards the summer window that we can "go again" next season and get ourselves back in the top 6/7 mix. Which is why it seems a bit... lame (?) to be "ok" with giving up the ghost on this season and accepting a mid-table finish.

One minute we are being told we have a list of "50 strikers". The next we are being told Cutrone is "the man", despite not being deemed good enough by Nuno & co previously.

For the sake of argument (and I know how things get twisted on here), I get it. I understand it and I appreciate it's difficult to do business in a normal January window, let alone this season with everything going on - but I don't particularly agree with it. Josh King for £10m, for example, seems like a no-brainer.

 

[Dublin Drummer Wolf]

Yeah fans not gonna be happy with that

I'm fine to give him a chance, if he's willing to come back and prove himself. He does have qualities, and three goals and four assists in the minutes he had is better than I think people realised. But I can see why people would see it as lacking in ambition etc

Could be the making of him if he applies himself

 

[Kenny]

One minute we are being told we have a list of "50 strikers". The next we are being told Cutrone is "the man", despite not being deemed good enough by Nuno & co previously.

If that list had Cutrone on it, does he count?

I don't think he was moved on because he was deemed not good enough though. He went because he wasn't happy and we know Nuno will say goodbye to anyone who isn't happy. A negative person around the squad he won't accept. We (kind of) know the reasons he was unhappy - Not playing and then spending hours on his own in a foreign country. Now, the 1st part of that should not be an issue but the 2nd part is down to him. If he has the same set up as before he has failed and we will have failed for not ensuring part of the deal to bring him back included him having family/friends over with him.

 

[Deano]

If that list had Cutrone one it, does he count?

I don't think he was moved on because he was deened not good enough though. He went because he wasn't happy and we know Nuno will say goodbye to anyone who isn't happy. A negative person around the squad he won't accept. We (kind of) know the reasons he was unhappy - Not playing and then spending hours on his own in a foreign country. Now, the 1st part of that should not be an issue but the 2nd part is down to him. If he has the same set up as before he has failed and we will have failed for not ensuring part of the deal to bring him back included him having family/friends over with him.

Well he had his friends and family with him for Fiorentina and was rubbish there. Hardly scored any goals, doesn't have the all round play to make up for that and that situation regressed to a point where he was barely getting on their bench and they were not going to sign him despite having the option to do so.

I hope Cutrone comes back and bangs in the goals to fire us up the table, it goes without saying - if he does it's a great move and saved us money in the process but there is no evidence there on anything he's done in his career to back up that's even remotely likely to happen.

 

[Johnny75]

I would play RAN & Vitinha as much as possible in the second half of the season to see if they are up to the job. That's £40 odd million invested in them for the summer transfer window. So if we're not spending any money this month and are "going again" next year, everyone is going to want to see some serious investment in the starting 11. I can just picture it now - we bring no one in this window, we spend £40m on Vitinha and RAN, and then roll out the line that we have to be careful what we spend and end up failing to strengthen again.

It isn't very often a club throws away a season, which is effectively what we are doing this season by the looks of it.

Lots of circumstances surrounding that, which I understand, but I don't think people can be too surprised with a bit of discontent from sections of the fan-base. As others have said, the response to Tim's tweet - and the response to bringing Cutrone & MGW back have been overwhelmingly positive, tbf.

If anything, all of this will force Fosun's hands in to re-assessing their transfer strategy. We can't sign as many young foreign, big potential style players any more due to restrictions around Brexit - and we can't sign big name, readymade players because we're not in a position to splash £60m+ on one player - but we are a club that's going to finish mid-table (I guess) this season, so where's the lure to bring in the kind of players we want/need from someone on the outside looking in? We won't have Europe etc.

It will be interesting to see what their tactics/strategy are moving in to the summer window.

Just for the sake of clarity, we wouldn't have broken any rules regarding the signing of U18 or U21 players even if the new rules were instated for the summer. (Hoever was at Liverpool and not from abroad)

I don't think the new rules impact our strategy at all.

 

[Tredman]

Well he had his friends and family with him for Fiorentina and was rubbish there. Hardly scored any goals, doesn't have the all round play to make up for that and that situation regressed to a point where he was barely getting on their bench and they were not going to sign him despite having the option to do so.

I hope Cutrone comes back and bangs in the goals to fire us up the table, it goes without saying - if he does it's a great move and saved us money in the process but there is no evidence there on anything he's done in his career to back up that's even remotely likely to happen.

His goals per minute record last season at Fiorentina was far from rubbish.

 

[Kenny]

I hope Cutrone comes back and bangs in the goals to fire us up the table, it goes without saying - if he does it's a great move and saved us money in the process but there is no evidence there on anything he's done in his career to back up that's even remotely likely to happen.

I think every fan hopes the same.

Obviously can't comment on his time at Fiorentina and what happened there. From what I remember he started quite well then fell away, to the point he wasn;t getting picked at all. I think we and the club will know come full time v Albion if we made the right call, not so much in terms of goals but what his alround play is like in the 2 or 3 games he will play.
My 1 hope though is we do actually play to his strengths. So many times in his first stint, he was playing off the last defender and looking for the ball down the inside to play onto but instead we either went wide or back. He cut a frustrated figure at times. Hoping with the the likes of Vits, MGW or Podence playing off him he is more than likely to get a few of those balls each game

 

[Deano]

His goals per minute record last season at Fiorentina was far from rubbish.

Why didn't he get more minutes then? Doesn't score enough goals to compensate for what he lacks in all round play.

 

[Jinky]

Just for the sake of clarity, we wouldn't have broken any rules regarding the signing of U18 or U21 players even if the new rules were instated for the summer. (Hoever was at Liverpool and not from abroad)

I don't think the new rules impact our strategy at all.

I don't know enough about the new rules myself, but am going on what I have read elsewhere. Like this -

For context, if the Brexit rules about to be introduced had been in place over the past couple of years, Wolves would have had major trouble in signing Pedro Neto and Fabio Silva. Bruno Jordao wouldn’t have joined and they definitely would not have been able to sign other promising youngsters Christian Marques, Theo Corbeanu, Nigel Lonwijk and Hugo Bueno. Also, Ki-Jana Hoever would not have been at Liverpool in the first place for them to buy him for an initial £9 million this past summer.

Heck, in previous seasons they would not have been able to sign 31-year-old Fernando Marcal, who started for Lyon in August’s Champions League semi-finals.

 

[Kenny]

Why didn't he get more minutes then?

Have they changed managed during Cutrones time there?

 

[Jinky]

I think every fan hopes the same.

Obviously can't comment on his time at Fiorentina and what happened there. From what I remember he started quite well then fell away, to the point he wasn;t getting picked at all. I think we and the club will know come full time v Albion if we made the right call, not so much in terms of goals but what his alround play is like in the 2 or 3 games he will play.
My 1 hope though is we do actually play to his strengths. So many times in his first stint, he was playing off the last defender and looking for the ball down the inside to play onto but instead we either went wide or back. He cut a frustrated figure at times. Hoping with the the likes of Vits, MGW or Podence playing off him he is more than likely to get a few of those balls each game

Agree there. His movement off the ball at times was excellent. We just didn't have the players to find him. Or should I say, we weren't playing those kinds of passes and instead opted for the safer sideways pass retaining position. You're absolutely right that at times he looked pissed off - and rightly so.

I think a lot of his previous issues will still be there (I can't imagine he improved his English much while he was back in Italy!), so that's still a problem. He might have grown up a bit and learnt some things from the way his first stint here ended, but ultimately, there will still be issues for him to overcome (which I hope he does).

Like someone else said, bag the winner against Albion in a weeks time and he can ride the crest of that wave for the remainder of the season.