The January 2024 "Will we actually sign a striker or just Che Adams/Kieffer Moore" Transfer Thread

[Deano]

All those teams have been relegated from the PL except Everton, whom if the points deduction had happened last season would have been.

West Ham and Newcastle have been relegated more than once, their PL records are only marginally better than Southampton.

The likes of Brighton, Brentford and Crystal Palace are a couple of (wrong) sales/purchases or a managerial appointment from being relegated and of course Wolves are in that group.

In fact Aston Villa if Emery is lured away could easily find themselves back in that group too. Unfortunately not being self sustaining is not feasible in the long term for most clubs.

I didn't say they hadn't been relegated but they have spent the most time cumulatively in the league outside of the big 6. They'll all have seasons where they are poor and others where they're pretty good but in terms of longevity at the level I'm pretty sure it would closely correlate to spend.

 

[Carrotdude]

I’d argue that Bellegarde is fighting for one of the front 3 spots really so it’s 5 for 3 places.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

Jeff's gaslit people to such an extent that they believe wanting to have a squad that's a bit bigger than 4 into 3 at the the back, and 4 into 3 for the front three, is some sort of decadent extravagance.

It's mad. And look at GON; this job's done wonders for his profile, and to all viewers he's done a very good job - he'll have his suitors soon enough, and we've not really given him much to go on in terms of ambition. Yeah he took the gig in August under the instruction of working in tight conditions - but the business done in the Summer means that those conditions shouldn't be there anymore. If we don't actually allow him to build a competitive squad in the Summer, why would he decline other opportunities? The money we brought in and shaved off the wagebill in the Summer was INSANE, and now we're telling him "yeah I know we let you be confident you'd get players, but it's not happening, but we'll be OK in the Summer" as if we haven't got any experience of what happens when you lie to a manager

I think you're absolutely right, the only thing I'll add is that I don't think Shi is smart enough to have done this intentionally, I think his strategy changes weekly, daily, possibly hourly.

Those E and S articles are the ramblings of a mad man, its a wonder we are where we are.

 

[Johnny75]

I think you're absolutely right, the only thing I'll add is that I don't think Shi is smart enough to have done this intentionally, I think his strategy changes weekly, daily, possibly hourly.

Those E and S articles are the ramblings of a mad man, its a wonder we are where we are.

Those E&S articles are the ramblings of ChatGPT

 

[Law's Bus]

Next up, EP tells us why Steve Corica wasn't that bad if you think about it.

He wasn't that bad.

There was definitely 45 minutes where he actually looked decent.

For Leicester.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

It's not fear, obviously.

But it can be tiring, obviously I like a healthy discussion (!), but there have been times over the years where I've been reluctant to say something positive about a player that I know TWF doesn't like as it'll lead to a from Johnny or a 90s or Dave Edwards analogy as to why I'm wrong from Dan.

That's the reality.

They're not random opinions taken on a whim though are they, they're based on what's going on and 35+ years of watching comparable footballers.

If you want to say how much you like Matt Doherty then don't let me stop you, though I will say it's inexplicable as he's terrible, as he was from 2012-2017, as he has been ever since we sold him following Nuno somehow getting a tune out of him (ages ago now), as most Spurs and Ireland fans thought/think too.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

Those E&S articles are the ramblings of ChatGPT

They certainly read like that. But if they are that also underlines how odd Shi is, why volunteer to do the articles and then just create such nonsense.

 

[Johnny75]

They certainly read like that. But if they are that also underlines how odd Shi is, why volunteer to do the articles and then just create such nonsense.

Some PR twat probably told him it was a good idea and just to use ChatGPT as nobody will care or they can put enough noise out on social media to drown out the naysayers.

I hate modern day PR with a passion.

 

[Tony Towner]

1) Too much
2) I don't think he's brilliant, but Aina has been better for Forest than Doherty has been for us, he was also free, that's one example out of many potential options

Marçal played games for us, he wasn't a good signing. He was also better than Doherty.

I think it needs a degree of context, at the point Lopetegui left we'd signed 2 players both on frees and both because of in club connections. I don't think we'd have signed anyone else if we hadn’t brought him in.

Good is a stretch too far and we've discussed the choices the club made situationally countless times, but once those decisions have been made it's an alright signing if given a very narrow remit. He has been used too much this season in positions he shouldn't be playing though and the length of the contract and his fitness at the start of the season are indefensible

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

They're not random opinions taken on a whim though are they, they're based on what's going on and 35+ years of watching comparable footballers.

If you want to say how much you like Matt Doherty then don't let me stop you, though I will say it's inexplicable as he's terrible, as he was from 2012-2017, as he has been ever since we sold him following Nuno somehow getting a tune out of him (ages ago now), as most Spurs and Ireland fans thought/think too.

But I'm not saying how much I like Matt Doherty.

I'm saying:

He was fine v Brentford away in the cup by all accounts (even TWF wasn't over the top critical of him for once) and whilst doing nothing outstanding against Brighton he did nothing wrong either.

He was dreadful v Fulham - for sure.

GON clearly rates him above Bueno too, which i can understand at the moment sadly.

"Randomly popping up" makes it sound shitter than it was too, it turned out to be a important, and well taken goal.

So all that in mind he's turned out to be a useful signing, he's played in 15 league games, the 3 year thing not withstanding.

I've used terms such as "fine", "nothing outstanding", and "useful" and you've come at me like a train, do you see the point I'm trying to make?

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

It's not "fine" is it, it's an unacceptable situation that he's getting Premier League minutes in 2024 let alone starting games on the wrong side. We have a tiny squad and we would never ever ever pick him by choice, that's quite the problem.

Dan Bentley isn't "fine" is he and he's doing the exact same job to a similar standard.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

Dan Bentley isn't "fine" is he and he's doing the exact same job to a similar standard.

Na, Bentley has cost us 4 or 5 goals and has played 4 or 5 games, it's just not comparable at all.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

It's not "fine" is it, it's an unacceptable situation that he's getting Premier League minutes in 2024 let alone starting games on the wrong side. We have a tiny squad and we would never ever ever pick him by choice, that's quite the problem.

Dan Bentley isn't "fine" is he and he's doing the exact same job to a similar standard.

We would never ever pick him by choice? What do you mean?

He has literally been chosen over Bueno?

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Bentley's clean sheet (not like he didn't have to work at it) vs Doherty's goal, about the same, no?

They're both bottom end Championship players at absolute best and they shouldn't be here.

 

[Tony Towner]

There are literally thousands of footballers, we have several full time scouting staff, it seems that once again they can't identify either a short term solution that is financially feasible, or a longer term solution that we could mould for the rest of the season to become useful for next season.

Why are you so sure it's the scouts? There's plenty of evidence to suggest the issue lies higher up than that

 

[Lycan]

I'd say Bueno isn't that good and we should've jumped at the interest from Leipzig & Newcastle in the summer but I'm worried about the pile on...

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I'd say Bueno isn't that good and we should've jumped at the interest from Leipzig & Newcastle in the summer but I'm worried about the pile on...

He isn't right now, never stops crosses and attacking wise he's dining off that cross vs Palace well over a year ago.

Still empires better than Matt Doherty.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

Why are you so sure it's the scouts? There's plenty of evidence to suggest the issue lies higher up than that

If the higher ups are restricting the cash (as we assume) then the scouts should surely be identifying players that won't cost as much, as i said ages ago, Broja, Ings and Adams are hardly imaginative are they? ANd i'm sure they said during the summer that the scouts need longer to identify players which should be fine by January.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

Still empires better than Matt Doherty.

And yet he isn't.

 

[Tony Towner]

Bueno's last start was against Forest, Doherty was better on Monday than he was in that game. To be clear that says more about the former than the latter, but it's true imo. He's been miles off offensively and defensively this season