My gut feeling now is that we have the budget for a Keeper, Lb and a winger and 2 of those 3 will be loans. Then, assuming Sammie goes we have Ryo lined up and if we move on Bucko and Siggy then they would be replaced. Can’t see us spending more than a couple of million.

I wouldn’t disagree…I watched back the match and interviews with JE and he said we needed to bring “more goals into the group.” Which felt like more than one forward / winger. Maybe add Germain Ryo to that list?

To be clear, I’m not saying the new lads are world beaters, only time will tell…but what’s really clear is that they both have attacking instinct. They both evoke a feeling that something could happen. Gueye is a ‘right place, right time’ guy who will get chances and be a good target man. Yuki, I had a soft spot for before last night because I saw him as a Dickov-esque barrel chested, industrious lad. Then he did that filthy chip over the keeper last night and I fell in love! 🤣🤣🤣 Two vast improvements on what we’ve had. Find four or 5 more similar level players before 30th and we’ll be just fine, for now!

Whoever it was out of Park, Rudy or Adam Owen that picked Gueye and Ohashi must be sat back, smug as you like…I said after watching them both for 45 minutes vs Stockport that they were better than Gallagher and tonight confirmed it. I genuinely can’t wait to see them play together and that finish from Ohashi was pure filth… Keeper, cover Left back, cm and 2x lightening fast wingers and we’re off!

So the manager wants to spend more and the directors want spend less? Standard… Let’s see how many more we end up with. Assuming SS is sold, I’m going with 5!

I haven’t had a new card for my season ticket…I’m sure I read somewhere that they weren’t issuing new cards to renewals and you could just use last years card? Any ideas?

Ehh?

I got the impression from that interview that JE was frustrated overall that he hasn’t had time to integrate new players into preseason. He started Gueye and brought on Ohashi at half time against Stockport with Vale an unused sub. Neither seemed to struggle physically, he’s referring to their understanding of how he wants to play. The fitness issues pertain to Batth and Mcfadz. Id be shocked if one of Gueye or Ohashi didn’t start. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Weimann and Batth on the bench.

Mate, whether you like it or not…it’s investment. Let’s have it right, no business need spend a penny on improvement or its success. It’s the owners right to keep every single penny. They’re £200m in, there’d be a section of people who’d probably agree with them keeping the proceeds of any sales. So, IF they decide to spend any of THEIR money on improving the business (club) then it’s investment. Fact. Whether it’s stakeholders (in this case, us fans) agree with the level of that investment, that’s another question. Im just gutted that they couldn’t keep funding it for a couple of years and then reinvest most of the money we’ve generated into the squad. Really hope they’ve had enough and just fuck off.

Not to be pedantic, but every bit of spend is investment. Regardless of how we feel, unless we own the club then the proceeds of sales are the property of Venky’s. If they sanction any spend then it’s investment and no business is mandated to do this. That said, I think the club has used this to swindle fans into thinking the tap might get turned back on when addressing the current court case, they keep referring to Venkys ability to fund the club, which infers them plugging the £20m per year deficit with their own cash when in honesty, them selling everything that isn’t nailed down, then using the proceeds to pay the bills is in fact ‘funding’ the club 🤦🏽‍♂️ Managed. Decline. I pray we’re put up for sale, post Aug 20th.

This. 💯 The further deals are paid for by SS sale. The sale hasn’t happened so they can’t pull the trigger on new signings. I’m not saying it’s the right thing to do, but it looks like reality.

I don’t think the classification of is it a signing or a contract extension is important and neither would I place much precedence on comparing it with the size of last years squad, either. JE didn’t use Telalovic, Fleck, Wahlstedt, Moran or Koumetia. He barely used Ayari. None of those players will be of any great loss. What we needed to do was cover any glaring holes (GK and St) and the loss of players who DID feature like. Wharton, McFadz, SS (likely) and now Gally. But for the keeper, that’s what they’ve done… Then once those primary positions are covered you push on with squad fillers, nice to haves and pl loans. I still think we’ll do another 4 or 5 incoming this summer.

There’s no concrete information on either side. We’ve probably got multiple enquiries in for players and it wouldn’t surprise me if the Rushworth loan enquiry came before we bid for De Lange. When those get leaked is not on the club…it’s fair to say, most of them come from the players side. The strongest plausible link we have from the UK and in Holland is that we’re negotiating for JDL. Let’s see how that pans out 👍🏼

Honestly, I don’t think we’re any faster or slower than anyone else. The speed of deals comes down to money. When clubs are flush - they go in, pay the money and take the player. Most times there’s a considerable amount of negotiation behind the scenes. But to put this in context, Palace negotiated for around two weeks on Adam Wharton to do a deal for £18m. A player who was being courted nationally and is now worth 3 or 4x what they paid. The agreement in principle / interest in JDL wasn’t even broken until this weekend. Let them get on with it…no need to swallow an extra £400k loss on what they want to pay, or bow to Ipswich re SS. It needs sorting but the main thing is that the 5/6 signings made last week means we can now field a decent team on Friday night. FWIW - I still see the SS and JDL thing being resolved this week.

Agreed - Its ironic how keen some are to write off £400k (FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS) of someone else’s money, whilst moaning that the pasties have gone up a quid at the ground! 🤷🏽‍♂️🤣🤣

The transfer window closes in 24 days not 24hrs. We don’t know what the discrepancy is. It could be £400k or £4m, I suspect it’s closer to the former or the reports would be less certain from Holland, but here’s a thought…why not exercise a bit of patience and see how it unfolds? I don’t think anyone would’ve predicted we’d sign 6 players last week before being formally linked to a goalkeeper with a reputed fee of €2m? The focus for me is on the game now. I don’t think any further significant signings will be made until we sell someone (most likely SS).

One way of understanding who we might sign or the profile of player is to look at the shape we play in possession: Pears Carter. Hyam. Pickering Brittain. Trav. Sonny. Hedges JRC. Dolan Gueye This explains lots of things, like why we’re looking for a Lcb and not a Lb specifically to cover Pickering. My feeling is that they’re looking to fill a gk (as reported) a Lcb/Lb, and inject some pace in the wide area on the left. We need a CM regardless of Travis situation. I also think Dembele and Ryo Germain are being lined up in those AM positions.. GK - New / Pears / Hilton Rcb - Carter / Hyam / Batth / O’riordan CB - Hyam / Batth / McFadz Lcb - Pickering / McFadz / New RM - Brittain / Duru / JRC / Weimann CM - Trav / Sonny / Buckley / JRC / New (for 2x spots) LM - Hedges / Siggy / New / Weimann AM - Dolan / Siggy / JRC / Weimann / Ohashi / New (for two spots) ST - Gueye / Ohashi / Mafoumbi / Leonard / Tyjon I make that 5x signings before the window shuts and I think we could sell Hyam and Siggy and still cope just fine if we signed the players above.

From the evidence of preseason and Stockport away on Friday, I predict this as the line up… Pears Brittain. Carter. Hyam. Pickering Travis. Sonny JRC. Dolan. Hedges Gueye Subs - Hilton, Duru, O’riorden, Batth, Batty, Buckley, Siggy, Markanday, Ohashi

I think Pears is technically ok. He even has good games and has saved us…BUT he’s not a number 1 mentally and is capable at any point of having a complete mind fart. Whether they be kicking, letting one in at his near post, or from distance…he’s a liability and that does not breed confidence. Good goalkeepers are solid, and make very few mistakes. Which builds confidence and momentum in a team. Great goalkeepers are ‘good goalkeepers’ (as above) who make important saves. Saves at crucial times in games. Think Schmeichel in his hay day or Alisson at Liverpool. Think Brad Friedel…the number of times he single handedly kept us 1-0 up with crucial saves. Pears is neither of the above, sadly. I do think with age, and maturity he could become a ‘good’ keeper….but we can’t gamble our future on him evolving quick enough.

The manager talked openly about Szmodics situation on Friday mentioning this weekend as being important. Szmods absent from the training ground too. Plus a few Ipswich accounts seeming a lot more confident… Us being linked by legit internal and external sources to a €2m permanent signing means we’re confident of some cash. My guess - Szmodics will go through early this week and De Lange by the end of the week.

With the noises all but confirming the SS deal is done, it feels like we’re commuting some of that fee to the De Lange deal (€2-2.5m). Hopefully they follow it up with a couple more permenant signings. I’m thinking (hoping), the Lcb from Italy, unleaded’s marquee winger, Gordon on loan from Liverpool and Baker from Stoke 🤞🏽

Thanks, are we still negotiating with the winger you mentioned?

Weimann will be used in the wide forward positions I reckon.

I don’t disagree with any of that. I was just giving some context. Backing JDT was a bad call considering they sacked him three weeks later!?

Employees are managed by managers but their ties are linked to the whole club. IF the club had backed him and not JDT at Christmas then it would’ve been a different case. The saddest thing about it is that they sacked JDT weeks after bowing to him on Travis. I hope JE can repair the damage but I have a feeling he’s keen to go. Best mates with Sam G and Garrett apparently…👀