Dman

yep - exactly how I remember it. Not great, I do get that, but I understand why he might make that choice - certainly didn't 'down tools'

Is downing tools actually a correct term for it? If I remember rightly, he refused to extend his contract to finish the season post covid. For which, he had no obligation to do btw. At the time he had interest from some big clubs and didn't want to risk an injury to jeopardise that move. It'd piss me off as a fan, but I get why he would do it.

If we only lose 1 of them, is it actually all that bad? Personally of the 2 I'd rather we sold Tella than Sulamana, who I think will rip this league apart and has higher potential, but if we've managed to cope to date without him so selling him and keeping Tella isn't a terrible thought.

Exactly how I see it. My biggest concern is up top. That's where we need to get it right.

Why? If anything it helps us? Get us out of the division, no commitment for players who aren't good enough to step up, buy players who are. It's a sensible approach imo.

He's had a strange career really. Was absolutely flying a few years back when at Bournemouth under Howe, but then decided to down tool in and around the time where his contract was up and was being linked to top 6 clubs. Ended up at Newcastle, where Howe followed him and never really trusted him again after he downed tools. In short, not a terrible deal, not a great deal. A bit like the Holgate one for me.

Come on mate, its bloody obvious that the 2 ex Swansea players have come here because of Martin. That's fine, they look decent deals for this level, but they're some sort of Wilcox masterclass. Time will tell - I'm biding my time before I get carried away that he is some kind of genius.

so say your theory is right and they 'rushed' through a deal and still managed to agree a fee for less than originally quoted, what would stop us from matching that offer when news of the deal broke? (by the way, newsflash, clubs talk to agents so would have known way in advance of the press). As we know, personal terms are loosely agreed in advance of a deal with the club being agreed. Once a fee is settled, aside from a medical, what else is there to agree? You're talking shite. Its a good deal for Leeds, its not some form of rushed panic buy. A rushed panic buy is spending £20m on Big Paul.

You're clearly underestimating this club. We spend window upon windows chasing players with no interest in coming here. Spoiler - Che isn't signing a new deal. He didn't when we were in the PL (which you' expect to be a better deal), he isn't now. He wants out.

I don't think he's done a great deal right either - He's shifted the players which bigger teams want, that's about it. We don't sign Manning or Downes without Martin being in charge - so he's only really responsible for bringing in Charles.

How do you know that they weren't negotiating in the back ground? Reports were that Swansea wanted £20m for him - they got him for £12 - £16m. I'd put a very decent amount of money on the fact that there has been discussions for some time before the deal was announced.

Playing devils advocate here a bit, but I don't really have a problem with getting him on loan. A try before you buy - if we go up (unlikley imo), we have ability to move on to better players who'll be more suitable for the PL. There was no chance we'd get Downes in on a permanent deal. Maybe if we go up, not in the championship though - this is a shop window for him.

yep. It's been obviously coming since the start. Oh well, at least we got an extra, eerrrr £5m, for JWP!!!!

I'm hoping that Holgate is seen as a erplacement for Tino / KWP, rather than ABK. I'd like to think the links to Wood suggest we're still in for another CB as well. Which would leave us with; Stephens, Bednerak, New... Holgate, Charles who can cover if needed for a short period of time. That feels like a good balance imo.

Exactly what I was saying a few months back when people were lauding us for holding out for pennies in the Martin deal. Cut off our nose to spite our face.

I really don't mind this at all. Can play a few positions in CB and RB. I actually think he's better at RB than he is CB. He'd give us a lot more balance with him at RB given with Mannings inability to defend, which leaves us way to exposed with 2 attacking full backs. Loan is low risk - There's a player in there, hopefully we have an option to buy.

Have you been living under a rock for the past 2 seasons? How often have we seen this happen.

Rushed through a deal? 1 week before the start of the end of the window and got him for a relatively decent fee. Not sure what, if anything, about that is rushed?

Scaremongering 😂 Everything points to the fact everyone is open to be sold - There is too much smoke around Tella and more specifically Che, for it to not be true. It's not guesswork, its forming an opinion based on the evidence provided which is pretty strong. A little more guess work around KWP and Sulamana granted, but I don't think anyone at all would be surprised if either were to leave. The fact that we we're in for a winger from Genk to me would suggest we're expecting at least 1 to leave. Also seemingly linked to a few RB's, which again, would suggest that 1 is off.

Was probably licking his lips before he actually saw him play.

If the window closed today and we have the same squad as we currently have now, I don't think you'll find many moaning. The trouble is, it doesn't and we wont. We'll almost certainly lose Che & Tella and we'll most probably lose KWP and Sulamana as well. The issue isn't so much losing them, more so we're giving ourselves no time to replace them.

Feels like we've wasted so much time on this deal when it was clear that Painstil was never keen on coming here anyway. Lets hope big Paul is fit and ready, we're gonna need to use him this season 🙃

It makes complete sense. We cannot rely on anyone other than Che through the middle. Can't believe we've not been all over Piroe at 12m.

I would imagine that we knew Lavia wouldn't play a game in the champ and probably assumed that JWP would be gone sooner than he was.

He'll go to Bournemouth - I'm almost certain of it.