mitch01

I'm actually surprised Scott is going for that little. Think he'll be a fixture in England's midfield in a few years. £30m.for JWP slightly on the low side for me but combined with (hopefully) £50m for Lavia and it rounds out OK.

Damn. Would be a bad one. I think we desperately need him this year and I also think he would have a shot of stepping up in the PL. Hope we can convince him to stay.

ITK or just a hunch?

You don't agree that goalkeepers can improve their consistency and therefore performance over time? Decision-making, technique and physical attributes cannot be trained? I agree that some young goalkeepers just 'don't have it' and will never get there. But others do, and will. Which one Bazunu is remains to be seen. Obviously nobody knows for sure but I think there's lots of good things there. Him not being ready at 20 is not definitive proof.

Just off the top of my head, fantastic saves at home to Utd and away to Liverpool. Also performances for RoI. Also lots of good sweeping up behind the defence and distribution. Also some good sharp stops for Portsmouth in his time there. To be clear, I think having him as our starting GK in the PL cost us points and it was a very bad decision. Just I don't agree that it means he's a write-off or that he can't get to that level with a bit of time and experience.

I think a year in the Championship will be very good for Bazunu. Clearly has lots of talent but relying on him in the PL was a big error. But I think he'll come good and end up being a valuable player for us. Clearly not everyone agrees, but I guess we'll find out because it looks like he's our #1 again this year.

The glide past the defender in our first friendly this summer was very nice indeed. Bodes well.

I think getting one or two of the higher value players off our books for fair fees as soon as possible will be really important for the last month of the window. If we can shift two of Sulemana, ABK or Lavia, our negotiating position gets a lot stronger for JWP as it's no longer infeasible for us to keep him here if we don't get a good enough bid. Obviously it also frees up funds for incomings. Whereas as it is at the moment all the big hitters know we have pressure to sell. Hence West Ham's quite silly £25m bid.

Yeah he was a massive part of us staying up that year. The Bournemouth game alone. But for a good 12-18 months before that he flattered to deceive for whatever reason. Puel and Pellegrino perhaps not the type of manager he thrives under. Amazing player for us at times and then really incredible to see what he moved on to do at Ajax. Good on him.

Interesting, could well be right. Completing our payments for Onuachu and DCC isn't really part of the equation though. Lycano and DCC have been linked to permanent moves but I guess we wait and see how that plays out. You are right in the sense that we'll probably be paying some of their wages even if they leave permanently. I think we're looking at £45m for Lavia, £30m for JPW, £15m for KWP and £25m for ABK (some of which will go back to his old club). Add Salisu to that and I think it's around £125m. Speaking conservatively I think we can hope to get around £2.5m for Diallo, £4m for DCC, £2m for Lycano, £4m for Perraud, £5m for Aribo, £8m for Paul. But also likely I suppose that we'll be left with some players we can't shift just as a result of the sheer numbers we need to get rid of.

Be shocked if we didn't bring in quite a bit more than £100m on transfers. Lavia, ABK, JWP, KWP, Salisu, Onuachu all extremely likely to leave and would get us substantially beyond that by themselves. Then add even cut-price fees for players like Diallo, DCC, Lycano, Perraud, Aribo and we're approaching £150m I would say.

Agree. Add to that some combination of Sulemana, Mara, Edozie and Ballard and we'd be well-set, but very hard to tell who will be with us by September at this stage.

Adams would be a fantastic asset for us this season. Worth the risk of losing him for nothing IMO. As someone said above, we were noticeably worse without him in the run-in. He also seems a great fella. Hope he stays.

I think Mara is exactly the type of player who could really do with a year in the Championship so would be a mistake for all parties for him to leave IMO. He didn't look ready to properly affect games in the PL.

As I see it there are a fair few who will almost certainly be off (JWP, KWP, ABK, Lavia, Orsic, Theo, Elyonoussi, AMN, Salisu). I'd also like to see Diallo and McCarthy say goodbye. But also plenty who can be part of a promotion campaign. We should stand firm and keep Alcaraz, Sulemana, Adams and Tella assuming there's no contractual reason we have to sell. Added to that core, Edozie, Djenepo, Bazunu, Tino, Bree, Larios, Aribo, A. Armstrong could all benefit their careers with a strong season in the league below. Stu and Jan Bednarek will probably have decisions to make too but conceivably could be important players for us next year. Some wise recruitment using the money we bring in and blooding 3-4 from the academy (Doyle, Ballard, Sam A-A, Dibling) and I'm confident we can see a totally freshened up team and something we all actually enjoy getting behind next year. Which would make a very welcome change.

Recent Athletic article suggested the Borges deal may be revisited in the summer. I thought that would be dead following relegation with other big european teams interested but perhaps Wilcox will be an important factor.

I'm not usually one to be too down on individual players but AMN has been a disastrous signing. Clearly has lots of technical ability but never saw him properly apply it. Can point to at least two goals where his lack of intensity in closing down in the RB position cost us hugely damaging goals - Leeds (a) and Palace (h).

Bednarek what was that

I like him, he seems like a good fella. Not convinced his coaching / tactics are any superior to Ralph's but maybe his man management is, and I think he might give us a much needed dose of positivity going into the final stretch. 🇺🇲

I can't believe it's Feb 2023 and I'm back to watching Bednarek kick it in our own net. Really typifies the kind of spineless defeat we have become specialists at. How did we find a way to lose that. Hard even really to blame Jones.

Likely true! Just felt like his comments sounded like they were to do with selection of personnel as well, but perhaps he just meant the views of the personnel. Ta.

Trying to interpret Jones' post-match comments. Wonder if it's to do with promises already made over playing time to get certain players to join. Wouldn't explain (what I think are bizarre) choices to keep playing Bednarek, Diallo, Elyonoussi but Edozie (though I think he has great potential) is hardly an aggressive player.

So bringing Bednarek back into the fold hasn't improved things. I am shocked.

Vitinha looks really good to me. Powerful and a variety of finishes. Broja-ish but with a bit less pace, a little more well-rounded. Be a very promising signing. Fingers crossed.

Agreed. I'm seeing improvements in a few aspects of our performances. A proper striker with a physical presence would do us a lot of good. It would be mad to continue without one. We've been bad since Ings left other than when Broja hit a hot streak.