bluebruce

We will be getting a lot less for him in January than we would now. With 6 months on his deal he can sign a pre-contract. A club would only pay for him if they don't want to wait and get a guaranteed freebie. Only a foreign club can do the pre-contract I believe, but I'd say going abroad is by far his most likely destination.

Baker actually has 18 goals in 86 Championship games for Stoke...so he just typoed it.

Particularly strange when it's just Baker...doesn't seem like a signing we'd have to worry about being gazumped for within a couple of hours.

Exactly. We have brought in experienced players, and that's definitely something the club needed, not questioning that. But it's almost all we've done, in a year we brought in 40 million in sales (and allegedly have no impediments to funding the club, but they're clearly not putting anything in). I'm happy with most of the signings so far, think the recruitment team have boxed clever with them to a degree given the scandalously shit budget they've been given, but where is the next development for a big sale coming from to keep us funded at even this bollocks level? Mafoumbi seems like the closest thing to that, but he's not pulling up trees so far even at youth level. Hoth is a decent enough age, but keepers at this level don't net big fees even if he turns out ace, hell we sold someone as good as Kaminski for 2.5 mill. The only other one with a potential for very high resale would be Gueye at 26, and whilst I like him and think he will be a very useful asset for us, I don't see that turning into an 8 mill plus sale, as I think he'll be a menace at this level but not prolific enough for those numbers. I understand the recruitment team have their hands tied and we have probably chosen to bring experience to ensure we stay up, but the longer term strategy doesn't seem to be here. God we need rid of Venkys!

Pears has terrible positional sense and decision making, it's not just the howlers. He has decent reflexes, that's about as close as he gets to 'excelling' at anything, though I'm not sure I can use that term for it.

It rhymes with incontinence, which is actually quite apt.

You're right, contracted until 2026, that'll teach me to pay attention to what the 72 say. I suspect his contract at his previous club would have expired next summer and they've used that info. Anyways cheers for the correction. Wonder what they paid for him...making a quick easy profit it seems. Means he was also available for less a couple of months ago.

We received pretty much what we paid.

Just like that?

Just seen Toth's contract expires next summer too? 1 million really seems a silly fee to pay for him at face value. I could understand if he was a Hungarian international or something perhaps, but he has 1 U21 cap to his name it seems. Perhaps the quoted fee is miles off, as it was with Ohashi. Edit - correction, his contract expires in 2026, I was using a crap source.

This is the absolute last position we should take a gamble on. Tbh, I'd spend 90% of the budget on a top notch goalie if that's what it took. Our need is that dire.

Exactly. Seems like madness to me. I suppose the Szmodics money wasn't confirmed yet, but realistically that was always going to come.

There's a lot of past tense there. Have I missed something and the deal is off?

Whilst signing a keeper is crucial, I'm struggling to get excited about this one. It really doesn't fit the profile I'd have wanted. And the 1 million I'm seeing being quoted seems high for his CV. Guess it's one of those where you just have to trust the scouting team, as not a one of us will have seen him play, and the Hungarian league really isn't one you can compare to the Championship. I'd really have preferred someone from a stronger league, especially given how weak our other goalie is, but we won't know what we're getting til he puts the gloves on, if he does. But if he somehow turns out to be a cracker, the recruitment team will earn a hell of a lot of trust from me. Personally I'm suspecting this one is a bit of a Wahlstedt, Stergiakis type signing. Coming from a weak foreign league into one they're just not ready for.

Strange thing to say from somebody posting under the name Patrick Valery....

Yeh that's what I'd have expected. Just all the references to the transfer were free transfer rather than to be set by tribunal. Gave the impression there was no tribunal. Not that I looked too extensively.

Amario Cozier-Duberry looks like a good player from the videos, even if they're just highlights and much of it is at youth level. Could turn into an exciting loan signing if there's anything in it. I'm a bit confused though - apparently Brighton signed him from Arsenal for free. But after rejecting a new contract offer from Arsenal. The only way that should be possible is if Arsenal didn't offer him equal terms to what he was already on, but with him being only 19 and them being one of the richest clubs in the country, it seems highly unlikely that would be the case.

Probably a bit bumped up by the fact they can send someone to European football, and have one or two decent clubs. Point is it's not a league I'm impressed by keeping the joint most clean sheets in. We've signed more than 2 players with them though. I'd say they've all shown something except Mafoumbi, who is a youth punt. And Baath the jury is out for now. Not counting McFadz, was already here.

Is the Hungarian league not kinda...what's the word I'm looking for...shit?

We finished 7th, the highest we have finished since relegation from the top tier, but sure, he 'didn't have a lot of competition' for player of the season.

You could tell when he signed? He won player of the season in his first year... Lately though, crap, yeh.

I suspect there's more truth in that than you think...

No longer an option, we made them all.

When I said the subs meant we were buggered if we got an injury for the remaining 30 minutes...I forgot there is also extra time. Am I remembering rightly that an extra sub or two is allowed in ET now? If not, that was really one moronic decision by JE. Edit - Course, as soon as I posted that, ET became the best outcome...

Well it's gone well.... 1-1