Hojbjerg: Official - Signs for Spurs

[Whitey Grandad]

54 minutes ago, skintsaint said:

Has he left yet?

Not missing him already.

[Sheaf Saint]

1 hour ago, Chez said:

BBC saying its only £14m, but with add ons: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53436848 hope those add ons are not related to Everton actually winning anything.

I know finances have been severely effected by Covid19, but £14m seems a little low to me for an established Premiership midfielder. 

 

With only a year left on his contract though. 

And hopefully we won't just accept their first offer anyway.

[SuperSAINT]

From The Times [Via Sky Sports]

I assume they won’t be offering rice & beans as currency, so must have some cash somewhere.

————— 
SPURS TARGET GRAY DEAL

Tottenham will turn their attention to signing Demarai Gray from Leicester after the expected arrival of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from Southampton, according to The Times.

Spurs are putting their summer transfer plans into action, approaching Saints for Denmark international Hojbjerg, who is also the subject of interest from Everton.

Spurs are confident of securing that deal and are drawing up plans for their next target, with Leicester and England winger Gray on their wishlist. 

 

 

 

Edited 17 July, 2020 by SuperSAINT

[S-Clarke]

7 minutes ago, SuperSAINT said:

From The Times [Via Sky Sports]

I assume they won’t be offering rice & beans as currency, so must have some cash somewhere.

————— 
SPURS TARGET GRAY DEAL

Tottenham will turn their attention to signing Demarai Gray from Leicester after the expected arrival of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from Southampton, according to The Times.

Spurs are putting their summer transfer plans into action, approaching Saints for Denmark international Hojbjerg, who is also the subject of interest from Everton.

Spurs are confident of securing that deal and are drawing up plans for their next target, with Leicester and England winger Gray on their wishlist. 

 

 

 

Their regression continues if those are the level of targets they are aiming for.

[RobM]

Moving to Everton after declaring you want to leave to play in the Champions League is one of the best examples of what modern football is all about. 

[AidanL]

Hi, Everton fan in peace here.

Firstly, I would like to just say how impressed I have been with your recent form. Your lads really play as a team - you're well drilled and at the minute seem a threat to anybody. You completely dominated us at Goodison Park and it was one of our tougher fixtures at home this season. You were very unlucky not to get a deserved win.

Obviously we seem to be very interested in Hojbjerg. I haven't been able to see much of him play and on my Forum there are a lot of mixed opinions on him. Is the lad a ball winner, box to box, deeper playmaker? What role does he have in the squad? Is he mobile, good defensively? Would it be fair to say he is our Idrissa Gueye replacement? Lastly what is his attitude like? There seem to have been too many rotten eggs at Everton over the past few years and I wouldn't like anybody spoiling the pack even further.

I have briefly read a few comments on here about his potential departure, and it seems in general he will not be missed by you guys. Why may this be? He seems to be liked by Carlo and Mourinho.

Thanks for your time guys 

[trousers]

2 minutes ago, AidanL said:

Hi, Everton fan in peace here.

Firstly, I would like to just say how impressed I have been with your recent form. Your lads really play as a team - you're well drilled and at the minute seem a threat to anybody. You completely dominated us at Goodison Park and it was one of our tougher fixtures at home this season. You were very unlucky not to get a deserved win.

Obviously we seem to be very interested in Hojbjerg. I haven't been able to see much of him play and on my Forum there are a lot of mixed opinions on him. Is the lad a ball winner, box to box, deeper playmaker? What role does he have in the squad? Is he mobile, good defensively? Would it be fair to say he is our Idrissa Gueye replacement? Lastly what is his attitude like? There seem to have been too many rotten eggs at Everton over the past few years and I wouldn't like anybody spoiling the pack even further.

I have briefly read a few comments on here about his potential departure, and it seems in general he will not be missed by you guys. Why may this be? He seems to be liked by Carlo and Mourinho.

Thanks for your time guys 

What are the Everton dugouts like these days? I think that might be a deal clincher

[Matthew Le God]

8 minutes ago, AidanL said:

I have briefly read a few comments on here about his potential departure, and it seems in general he will not be missed by you guys. Why may this be?

He says he wants to leave for Champions League football and winning leagues. He isn't going to get that at Everton. If he joins Everton in football terms (rather than financial terms) it is a sideways move at best. As the league table shows!

Just because you have Ancelotti it doesn't mean you will make the leap to Champions League football any time soon. There is a reasonable chance Saints will finish higher than Everton this season! As for next season, Everton have already shown that when they throw money at things it doesn't work. 

Edited 18 July, 2020 by Matthew Le God

[The Cat]

40 minutes ago, AidanL said:

Hi, Everton fan in peace here.

Firstly, I would like to just say how impressed I have been with your recent form. Your lads really play as a team - you're well drilled and at the minute seem a threat to anybody. You completely dominated us at Goodison Park and it was one of our tougher fixtures at home this season. You were very unlucky not to get a deserved win.

Obviously we seem to be very interested in Hojbjerg. I haven't been able to see much of him play and on my Forum there are a lot of mixed opinions on him. Is the lad a ball winner, box to box, deeper playmaker? What role does he have in the squad? Is he mobile, good defensively? Would it be fair to say he is our Idrissa Gueye replacement? Lastly what is his attitude like? There seem to have been too many rotten eggs at Everton over the past few years and I wouldn't like anybody spoiling the pack even further.

I have briefly read a few comments on here about his potential departure, and it seems in general he will not be missed by you guys. Why may this be? He seems to be liked by Carlo and Mourinho.

Thanks for your time guys 

He's our best player at slapping the badge and fist pumping to the crowd.

As for football ability, he's alright. I guess he's mostly noticed for his energy and throwing himself about in midfield. Fairly good technique, decent first touch. Passing is hit and miss, most of our fans would say he plays the safe ball too often. His long passing isn't great.

Not particularly skilfull in the fact that he doesn't dribble round players, he's more likely to barge through them. 

Shooting is about as erratic as it comes. Can smash them from distance but as likely to be on target as they are to hit the big screens above the goals. 

He's not as bad as people are making out on here, but then that's often the case when players are leaving especially when they changed agents to force a move and started saying stuff like they want to play for a Champions League team.

 

[TWar]

38 minutes ago, AidanL said:

Hi, Everton fan in peace here.

Firstly, I would like to just say how impressed I have been with your recent form. Your lads really play as a team - you're well drilled and at the minute seem a threat to anybody. You completely dominated us at Goodison Park and it was one of our tougher fixtures at home this season. You were very unlucky not to get a deserved win.

Obviously we seem to be very interested in Hojbjerg. I haven't been able to see much of him play and on my Forum there are a lot of mixed opinions on him. Is the lad a ball winner, box to box, deeper playmaker? What role does he have in the squad? Is he mobile, good defensively? Would it be fair to say he is our Idrissa Gueye replacement? Lastly what is his attitude like? There seem to have been too many rotten eggs at Everton over the past few years and I wouldn't like anybody spoiling the pack even further.

I have briefly read a few comments on here about his potential departure, and it seems in general he will not be missed by you guys. Why may this be? He seems to be liked by Carlo and Mourinho.

Thanks for your time guys 

Can only give my personal opinion. He is a ball winner, as are most of our team. We play a team that focuses on quickly regaining possession high up the field and making aggressive incisive passes. As for the actual role of Hojbjerg, he is more in the box to box role than the defensive midfield role, which has been primarily played by James Ward-Prowse.

Personally, I do not rate Hojbjerg that highly as a box to box player, his passing is inconsistent and often not as aggressive as a lot would like. The strength of our midfield is mostly due to Ward-Prowse who has covered the most ground this season in the league and is an excellent tackler. I think a lot of fans were hoping we would upgrade on Hojbjerg anyway, even before rumours of him wanting out. The spot next to Ward-Prowse is one of our weaker positions, along with right-back, second forward, and arguably CB. I am, personally, surprised to see numbers like £35m being quoted for him as I do not rate him nearly to that extent. He is a decent mid to bottom of the league midfielder, he is pretty good at pressing, reasonably mobile but nowhere near to the extend of JWP, and can win the ball. He also has a little bit of utility, he has lined up at lb and rb this season, although to mixed results. He does not provide much going forward, doesn't shoot well at all, and doesn't provide many key passes. He also definitely has an error in him and has been known to give the ball away in some dodgy situations.

As for mentality, he seems pretty professional to me, went about this in the right way, didn't throw his toys out the pram to get a move so I think he is ok on that front. I could be wrong but I think Southampton is about Hojbjergs ceiling, and even then we would probably want someone to compete for his role with him. I think teams like Everton and Spurs should be aiming higher. If we get offered more than about 15-20m in this market I would be very happy for him to go.

[kjurwi]

5 minutes ago, TWar said:

Can only give my personal opinion. He is a ball winner, as are most of our team. We play a team that focuses on quickly regaining possession high up the field and making aggressive incisive passes. As for the actual role of Hojbjerg, he is more in the box to box role than the defensive midfield role, which has been primarily played by James Ward-Prowse.

Personally, I do not rate Hojbjerg that highly as a box to box player, his passing is inconsistent and often not as aggressive as a lot would like. The strength of our midfield is mostly due to Ward-Prowse who has covered the most ground this season in the league and is an excellent tackler. I think a lot of fans were hoping we would upgrade on Hojbjerg anyway, even before rumours of him wanting out. The spot next to Ward-Prowse is one of our weaker positions, along with right-back, second forward, and arguably CB. I am, personally, surprised to see numbers like £35m being quoted for him as I do not rate him nearly to that extent. He is a decent mid to bottom of the league midfielder, he is pretty good at pressing, reasonably mobile but nowhere near to the extend of JWP, and can win the ball. He also has a little bit of utility, he has lined up at lb and rb this season, although to mixed results. He does not provide much going forward, doesn't shoot well at all, and doesn't provide many key passes. He also definitely has an error in him and has been known to give the ball away in some dodgy situations.

As for mentality, he seems pretty professional to me, went about this in the right way, didn't throw his toys out the pram to get a move so I think he is ok on that front. I could be wrong but I think Southampton is about Hojbjergs ceiling, and even then we would probably want someone to compete for his role with him. I think teams like Everton and Spurs should be aiming higher. If we get offered more than about 15-20m in this market I would be very happy for him to go.

Pretty much the way i se him aswell. He's young and could become a good player  in a few years, but for now Saints is about his level.

[IOWSaintDaz]

£25M + is laughable for Hojberg, he's been on the decline ever since he signed for us, seeing him play too many misplaced passes, coupled with his bad decision making I wouldn't  be sorry to see him go at all, he has shown some good performances at times scoring the odd goal, but he has been overshadowed by JWP who is the lynch pin in our midfield and Hojberg does not even come close to him in terms of ablity, 

Everton or Spurs are welcome to him but I doubt he will be winning any trophies with them as they are both serial losers, hopefully Che Adams and Vestergard will follow him out the door too and we can reinvest the the over inflated transfer money wisely under the new regiime in some decent non Les Reed or Ross Wilson signings until the next time when the big clubs come sniffing around

[IOWSaintDaz]

On 17/07/2020 at 14:09, Whitey Grandad said:

Not missing him already.

Wish he'd just Pi$$ off to be fair, on the 27th of July hopefully when the transfer window opens up again, why the hell did Ralph play him against Brighton? we should stick with Smallbone and play him to the end of the season to give him as much 1st team experience as we can ready for next season

[S-Clarke]

1 hour ago, AidanL said:

Hi, Everton fan in peace here.

Firstly, I would like to just say how impressed I have been with your recent form. Your lads really play as a team - you're well drilled and at the minute seem a threat to anybody. You completely dominated us at Goodison Park and it was one of our tougher fixtures at home this season. You were very unlucky not to get a deserved win.

Obviously we seem to be very interested in Hojbjerg. I haven't been able to see much of him play and on my Forum there are a lot of mixed opinions on him. Is the lad a ball winner, box to box, deeper playmaker? What role does he have in the squad? Is he mobile, good defensively? Would it be fair to say he is our Idrissa Gueye replacement? Lastly what is his attitude like? There seem to have been too many rotten eggs at Everton over the past few years and I wouldn't like anybody spoiling the pack even further.

I have briefly read a few comments on here about his potential departure, and it seems in general he will not be missed by you guys. Why may this be? He seems to be liked by Carlo and Mourinho.

Thanks for your time guys 

He's a ball winning midfielder, but when he does win the ball it's either a sideways or backwards pass - or he'll give it away.

He's an obvious 'leader' because he shouts and waves his arms about a lot, very vocal, but sometimes it's best to let the football do the talking and that's not something he's really been too good at.

I'd say he's mobile, but not quick - pretty slow really, but he does cover the ground to win the ball back (after he's given it away). To me, I look at him and he's like a poor man's Schneiderlin - obviously you have experience of Schneiderlin too, so think of him but someone with less presence on the pitch and less 'technical' ability on the ball.

All in all, a bog standard average central midfield player. Mid-table PL football is probably his level, but he seems to think he's deserving of more which I've never really quite understood.

Truth be told, I won't miss him. I like powerful, mobile, incisive central midfielders who do the talking through their football - and he's certainly not that type of player. Good luck with him if you get him, but he's not really a huge upgrade on what you have.

[TWar]

47 minutes ago, IOWSaintDaz said:

£25M + is laughable for Hojberg, he's been on the decline ever since he signed for us, seeing him play too many misplaced passes, coupled with his bad decision making I wouldn't  be sorry to see him go at all, he has shown some good performances at times scoring the odd goal, but he has been overshadowed by JWP who is the lynch pin in our midfield and Hojberg does not even come close to him in terms of ablity, 

Everton or Spurs are welcome to him but I doubt he will be winning any trophies with them as they are both serial losers, hopefully Che Adams and Vestergard will follow him out the door too and we can reinvest the the over inflated transfer money wisely under the new regiime in some decent non Les Reed or Ross Wilson signings until the next time when the big clubs come sniffing around

Harsh on Che. He has been unlucky not to score more goals and looks great off the ball. He will come into his own next season I reckon. 

[Bolokov]

KWP and Winks. Straight swap for Hojbjerb. That'll do nicely

[saintwbu]

6 hours ago, Bolokov said:

KWP and Winks. Straight swap for Hojbjerb. That'll do nicely

Spurs think Winks is some kind of English Xavi. No one outside of Spurs seems to see it, but there’s no way they’re letting him go nor is he going to come to us.

[Chez]

14 hours ago, AidanL said:

Hi, Everton fan in peace here.

Firstly, I would like to just say how impressed I have been with your recent form. Your lads really play as a team - you're well drilled and at the minute seem a threat to anybody. You completely dominated us at Goodison Park and it was one of our tougher fixtures at home this season. You were very unlucky not to get a deserved win.

Obviously we seem to be very interested in Hojbjerg. I haven't been able to see much of him play and on my Forum there are a lot of mixed opinions on him. Is the lad a ball winner, box to box, deeper playmaker? What role does he have in the squad? Is he mobile, good defensively? Would it be fair to say he is our Idrissa Gueye replacement? Lastly what is his attitude like? There seem to have been too many rotten eggs at Everton over the past few years and I wouldn't like anybody spoiling the pack even further.

I have briefly read a few comments on here about his potential departure, and it seems in general he will not be missed by you guys. Why may this be? He seems to be liked by Carlo and Mourinho.

Thanks for your time guys 

He's a very strange player. 100 odd games and no can remember him having a particularly good game or doing anything that you might shout "well played". He's a jack of all trade and master of none. For that reason I don't think anyone has given him much stick while he has been here, but equally not many singing his praises too. Without question his bjggest problem is he gives the ball away too much with poor passing/decision making. We work hard to get the ball back and he will pick a pass straight to an opponent. He does this a lot.

Attitude wise, you will have no problems at all.

[Batman]

14 hours ago, AidanL said:

Hi, Everton fan in peace here.

Firstly, I would like to just say how impressed I have been with your recent form. Your lads really play as a team - you're well drilled and at the minute seem a threat to anybody. You completely dominated us at Goodison Park and it was one of our tougher fixtures at home this season. You were very unlucky not to get a deserved win.

Obviously we seem to be very interested in Hojbjerg. I haven't been able to see much of him play and on my Forum there are a lot of mixed opinions on him. Is the lad a ball winner, box to box, deeper playmaker? What role does he have in the squad? Is he mobile, good defensively? Would it be fair to say he is our Idrissa Gueye replacement? Lastly what is his attitude like? There seem to have been too many rotten eggs at Everton over the past few years and I wouldn't like anybody spoiling the pack even further.

I have briefly read a few comments on here about his potential departure, and it seems in general he will not be missed by you guys. Why may this be? He seems to be liked by Carlo and Mourinho.

Thanks for your time guys 

He has lots of energy and a good attitude

attempts many wonder passes, most dont come off and gives up possession just too much. Rarely passes forward in an incisive way. Horrendous in front of goal

he actually makes us worse when in the side.  As said, good attitude but somehow thinks he is much better than he actually is.

[Dusic]

15 hours ago, AidanL said:

Hi, Everton fan in peace here.

Firstly, I would like to just say how impressed I have been with your recent form. Your lads really play as a team - you're well drilled and at the minute seem a threat to anybody. You completely dominated us at Goodison Park and it was one of our tougher fixtures at home this season. You were very unlucky not to get a deserved win.

Obviously we seem to be very interested in Hojbjerg. I haven't been able to see much of him play and on my Forum there are a lot of mixed opinions on him. Is the lad a ball winner, box to box, deeper playmaker? What role does he have in the squad? Is he mobile, good defensively? Would it be fair to say he is our Idrissa Gueye replacement? Lastly what is his attitude like? There seem to have been too many rotten eggs at Everton over the past few years and I wouldn't like anybody spoiling the pack even further.

I have briefly read a few comments on here about his potential departure, and it seems in general he will not be missed by you guys. Why may this be? He seems to be liked by Carlo and Mourinho.

Thanks for your time guys 

He is a powerful box to box midfielder who is rarely injured, can run all day and when you make Europa League he will do 90mins Thursday and 90mins Sunday without a problem.

He is ideally suited to a pressing style where what he does off the ball is more important than what he does on it. Our Manager loves him and rates him very highly because he is extremely reliable in his off the ball work.

On the ball he is ok, occassionally plays some nice passes, mostly standard stuff. If played as a holding player he is a bit unreliable as makes inexplicable errors seemingly through lack of concentration and care with his passing. Besides, one of his best attributes is his energy so its silly to restrain him to just sitting in front of a back four. I'm always happy when he has the ball in the opposition half than in ours.

I would have been happy if he had signed a new contract here as he was our captain and one of the players that always started until very recently.

For a fellow mid table side like Everton he would be a good signing, not a fancy player but a hard worker with pride and motivation and seems like a great guy. From the outside you lack many of the above types so he would fit in well I think.

It does seem that he wants to join Spurs but I would wish him well whereever he ends up and with only a year left on his contract we can hopefully get a reasonable fee and profit on what overall has been a good signing for us.

Edited 19 July, 2020 by Dusic

[Saintletiss]

Come on chaps, we haven’t quite got the hang of marketing have we? 
 

Repeat after me, PEH is a potential world class, box to box, tough tackling monster with a eye for a defence splitting pass. 
 

We currently make him sound like a pound shop David Batty...

[Lord Duckhunter]

17 hours ago, AidanL said:

Hi, Everton fan in peace here.

Firstly, I would like to just say how impressed I have been with your recent form. Your lads really play as a team - you're well drilled and at the minute seem a threat to anybody. You completely dominated us at Goodison Park and it was one of our tougher fixtures at home this season. You were very unlucky not to get a deserved win.

Obviously we seem to be very interested in Hojbjerg. I haven't been able to see much of him play and on my Forum there are a lot of mixed opinions on him. Is the lad a ball winner, box to box, deeper playmaker? What role does he have in the squad? Is he mobile, good defensively? Would it be fair to say he is our Idrissa Gueye replacement? Lastly what is his attitude like? There seem to have been too many rotten eggs at Everton over the past few years and I wouldn't like anybody spoiling the pack even further.

I have briefly read a few comments on here about his potential departure, and it seems in general he will not be missed by you guys. Why may this be? He seems to be liked by Carlo and Mourinho.

Thanks for your time guys 

I’d echo the general consensus on here. Attitude & work rate  no problem, just a lack of quality & awareness at crucial times. Mid table player, may just scrape into a top club as a squad player, but wouldn’t start important games. 
 

Over plays the “look how much I care” card for me. Fronts up for interviews after poor performances, but that’s more to do with absolving himself of blame than anything else imo. Based on absolutely nothing, I imagine he’s a bit of a creep, managers pet type.  

[tajjuk]

3 hours ago, saintwbu said:

Spurs think Winks is some kind of English Xavi. No one outside of Spurs seems to see it, but there’s no way they’re letting him go nor is he going to come to us.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/harry-winks-tottenham-future-doubt-22376928

They seem to think Hojberg replaces him, so if Mourinho doesn't rate him and they want to balance the books they might let him go. 

[UpweySaint]

35 minutes ago, tajjuk said:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/harry-winks-tottenham-future-doubt-22376928

They seem to think Hojberg replaces him, so if Mourinho doesn't rate him and they want to balance the books they might let him go. 

I would be happy to give them cash plus Hojberg for Winks and KWP, could see both developing under Ralph.

 

Winks and JWP would be a really good centre mid pairing with Romeu and Reed for depth/tactical flexibility

 

Throw in a decent CB, clear out the dross and I would actually be quite content with that as a window. 

[Saint_clark]

1 hour ago, UpweySaint said:

I would be happy to give them cash plus Hojberg for Winks and KWP, could see both developing under Ralph.

 

Winks and JWP would be a really good centre mid pairing with Romeu and Reed for depth/tactical flexibility

 

Throw in a decent CB, clear out the dross and I would actually be quite content with that as a window. 

Reed will only come back for a starting place I would imagine, and after a season being one of if not the best centre mid in the championship I wouldn't blame him.

[Badger]

20 hours ago, AidanL said:

Hi, Everton fan in peace here.

Firstly, I would like to just say how impressed I have been with your recent form. Your lads really play as a team - you're well drilled and at the minute seem a threat to anybody. You completely dominated us at Goodison Park and it was one of our tougher fixtures at home this season. You were very unlucky not to get a deserved win.

Obviously we seem to be very interested in Hojbjerg. I haven't been able to see much of him play and on my Forum there are a lot of mixed opinions on him. Is the lad a ball winner, box to box, deeper playmaker? What role does he have in the squad? Is he mobile, good defensively? Would it be fair to say he is our Idrissa Gueye replacement? Lastly what is his attitude like? There seem to have been too many rotten eggs at Everton over the past few years and I wouldn't like anybody spoiling the pack even further.

I have briefly read a few comments on here about his potential departure, and it seems in general he will not be missed by you guys. Why may this be? He seems to be liked by Carlo and Mourinho.

Thanks for your time guys 

He's worth every penny of the £35m you or Spurs want to splash out on him, honest !

I think most of the replies you've had have been quite well balanced, despite some of the earlier comments on the thread. For me, he's not as bad as some of his critics have made out (stats prove otherwise re his tackling etc), although he's not as good as he thinks he is with talk of CL football at this stage of his career.

Positives are that he covers a lot of ground, is a decent tackler and ballwinner, but negatives are that this is often followed up by a misplaced pass, or losing possession too easily. I think Gueye , from what I saw and read of him, had more about him to be honest. PEH isn't a patch of the Schneiderlin who left us, or Wanyama for that matter although covers more ground than VW used to. (Not judging the Schneiderlin at Everton as he seemed to have lost his way with you reading an Everton forum).

He does seem a decent bloke, and interviews very well This probably gives him a bit of protection from more flak from the crowd when the pass goes astray. Although it hasn't descended to the badge kissing antics he does a good line in clenched fists and applauding the crowd, as did Lallana, and we know how that ended.

All reports suggest he is hankering after a move to spurs, probably more ££, and London life the attraction. Shame as he might go up a gear under Pep, or Ancelloti, but if he goes to Spurs then better have a sweepstake on when Mourinho publicly blames him for a stray pass and falls out with him.

Any suggestions as to any player that might come our way as part of the deal, Jonjoe Kenny mentioned somewhere but pure speculation.

[Badger]

6 hours ago, saintwbu said:

Spurs think Winks is some kind of English Xavi. No one outside of Spurs seems to see it, but there’s no way they’re letting him go nor is he going to come to us.

Exactly, he wouldn't consider joining us. It is possible that Mourinho in classic Jose style wants to clear the decks to bring his own players in, just for the spite of it, but even so, doubt Levy would sanction Winks leaving in case of a fans backlash.

[Saint Garrett]

I can't help but feel that since he made his intentions known, Saints fans have started looking at him in a much more negative way.  He was excellent last year, and has had another decent season this year.  His work rate is outstanding, and he is a leader with a great attitude.  His passing can be a bit slack, and his shooting is poor, but for what we need him to do he is fantastic.  I think he does a lot of the dirty stuff that doesn't get recognised, but in our system, he is a great asset to us.

Seems our fans are now focusing on his negatives, rather than his positives.  Personally I'm a big fan, and losing him is a blow to us, but I completely understand his endeavor to move on to a new challenge.

You also forget he's still only 24.  I don't know whether he's already hit his ceiling with Saints, as he's got another 3/4 years until he hits his prime years, but I guess there is only one way to tell.  Not sure he's suited to a "possession" team though necessarily.

On Winks, I wouldn't bother, think he's bang average, and not sure he's suited to playing in a two in centre midfield, especially given we basically play with 4 forwards.

Edited 20 July, 2020 by Saint Garrett

[SuperSAINT]

5 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

I can't help but feel that since he made his intentions known, Saints fans have started looking at him in a much more negative way.  He was excellent last year, and has had another decent season this year.  His work rate is outstanding, and he is a leader with a great attitude.  His passing can be a bit slack, and his shooting is poor, but for what we need him to do he is fantastic.  I think he does a lot of the dirty stuff that doesn't get recognised, but in our system, he is a great asset to us.

Seems our fans are now focusing on his negatives, rather than his positives.  Personally I'm a big fan, and losing him is a blow to us, but I completely understand his endeavor to move on to a new challenge.

You also forget he's still only 24.  I don't know whether he's already hit his ceiling with Saints, as he's got another 3/4 years until he hits his prime years, but I guess there is only one way to tell.  Not sure he's suited to a "possession" team though necessarily.

On Winks, I wouldn't bother, think he's bang average, and not sure he's suited to playing in a two in centre midfield, especially given we basically play with 4 forwards.

Indeed.  Ancelotti & Jose don’t want him because he’s not very good. 

[benali-shorts]

The Times reporting Everton have made a bid of around £14m for him (not the £25m mooted previously). I'd be surprised if we got anything near £20m in reality, probably nearer £15m (or KWP plus £5m). 

The salient bit in the article reads: "Everton have bid about £14 million for Southampton’s Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who has hankered for a move to Tottenham Hotspur".

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/beautiful-relationship-between-carlo-ancelotti-and-marcel-brands-has-the-say-on-everton-signings-prjs05dvd

[Austerikke]

Are you Austrian, SuperSaint? Referring to you emblem....

[StrangelyBrown]

On 18/07/2020 at 17:58, AidanL said:

Hi, Everton fan in peace here.

Firstly, I would like to just say how impressed I have been with your recent form. Your lads really play as a team - you're well drilled and at the minute seem a threat to anybody. You completely dominated us at Goodison Park and it was one of our tougher fixtures at home this season. You were very unlucky not to get a deserved win.

Obviously we seem to be very interested in Hojbjerg. I haven't been able to see much of him play and on my Forum there are a lot of mixed opinions on him. Is the lad a ball winner, box to box, deeper playmaker? What role does he have in the squad? Is he mobile, good defensively? Would it be fair to say he is our Idrissa Gueye replacement? Lastly what is his attitude like? There seem to have been too many rotten eggs at Everton over the past few years and I wouldn't like anybody spoiling the pack even further.

I have briefly read a few comments on here about his potential departure, and it seems in general he will not be missed by you guys. Why may this be? He seems to be liked by Carlo and Mourinho.

Thanks for your time guys 

Off the ball Hojbjerg is very hard working, disciplined and works well in our system, which is my guess as to why our manager likes him.  

On the ball it's a completely different thing. He would do very well in a slower league - his brain and his natural instincts just aren't up to the pace of the game in the premier league when he has the ball and as a consequence is ponderous and frequently misplaces passes unless they are in the direction he is facing. His shooting is woeful.

Attitude wise he runs around a lot which in the relegation scrap last year was really valuable, but as we've got better and are looking upwards he's looked more and more limited.

I'm not sure he's an Idrissa Gueye replacement, more of a poor man's morgan schneiderlin (as mentioned above).

I guess he's young and could improve, but I suspect he's more cut out for a different league. IMO if we get £25m plus we've robbed you or Spurs.

[Depressed of Shirley]

At £14m, I'd keep him and let his contract run down. If we sell, we still need to spend to replace him, so we don't see any profit.

[SuperSAINT]

1 hour ago, Austerikke said:

Are you Austrian, SuperSaint? Referring to you emblem....

No. It’s in honour of Ralph.

[SuperSAINT]

 

 

[Dark Munster]

"Spurs are still way off what the Goodison Park side have offered."

I'm shocked, I tell you. Shocked.

[CB Fry]

Hojberg was gone before Ancellotti pitched up at Bayern, right? 

[S-Clarke]

2 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Hojberg was gone before Ancellotti pitched up at Bayern, right? 

Technically, he came in during the pre-season in which he was sold. But if I remember right, he was announced as the replacement for Pep a good 6 months prior - so he'd have been studying that squad quite a lot in the interim I'd have thought.

[Austerikke]

18 hours ago, SuperSAINT said:

No. It’s in honour of Ralph.

i see, thanks for your answer. cuz i am

[Saint Garrett]

Eric Dier just signed a new 4 year deal at Spurs...would have expected Hojbjerg to replace him really...although Mourinho does prefer a dominant pair in CM.

[DRAGONZ_RULE]

It's an interesting phenomenon.

Last season, Southampton were struggling, Hojbjerg came into the side and completely transformed it, and was arguably Saints player of the season in 2018/19. He scored some crucial goals and generally had an excellent season.

He then gets made Club Captain for 2019/20, his performances have not quite been at the level they were last season, even before the season started there were rumblings about his unwillingness to sign a new contract. It seems his head had already been turned before the season began and it has probably impacted on his form. Certainly it has impacted on the fans' perception of him, as he is now fairly roundly disliked around these parts.

Throughout all that, Hassenhuttl built the whole team around him, Guardiola has been very vocal over the years about how good he believes Hojbjerg is, and now two of the most successful managers in recent history in Mourinho and Ancelotti both want to sign him for their teams, with both of those clubs holding European ambitions.

So what is going on here? Do the Saints fans who watch him week in, week out have it right, or do 3 of the world's leading managers, plus the current Saints manager, have it right? Or is it somewhere in the middle?

It will be interesting to see what happens over the coming weeks and months.  

[DT]

I suspect if Spurs is the destination then KWP will be part of the deal, though I do hope we get some profit on that. Personally think Hojberg has declined since he joined us so maybe a move will be good for him. Infuriating the other night when, advancing down the left wing, he turned a full 180 and punted the ball 40 yards back to our keeper. Kind of sums him up.

PS McCarthy has to get better at distribution. His kicking gives me the heebijeebies

[DT]

2 minutes ago, DRAGONZ_RULE said:

It's an interesting phenomenon.

Last season, Southampton were struggling, Hojbjerg came into the side and completely transformed it, and was arguably Saints player of the season in 2018/19. He scored some crucial goals and generally had an excellent season.

He then gets made Club Captain for 2019/20, his performances have not quite been at the level they were last season, even before the season started there were rumblings about his unwillingness to sign a new contract. It seems his head had already been turned before the season began and it has probably impacted on his form. Certainly it has impacted on the fans' perception of him, as he is now fairly roundly disliked around these parts.

Throughout all that, Hassenhuttl built the whole team around him, Guardiola has been very vocal over the years about how good he believes Hojbjerg is, and now two of the most successful managers in recent history in Mourinho and Ancelotti both want to sign him for their teams, with both of those clubs holding European ambitions.

So what is going on here? Do the Saints fans who watch him week in, week out have it right, or do 3 of the world's leading managers, plus the current Saints manager, have it right? Or is it somewhere in the middle?

It will be interesting to see what happens over the coming weeks and months.  

Good points well made. I'd say all are correct in their estimation of him. Either way though it's not working out for us with him so probably best to shift him on for as much money as possible. Ralph realises this too I think. And we have enough to replace him already. 

[Dellman]

2 minutes ago, DT said:

Good points well made. I'd say all are correct in their estimation of him. Either way though it's not working out for us with him so probably best to shift him on for as much money as possible. Ralph realises this too I think. And we have enough to replace him already. 

He is infuriating to watch because he appears to slow things down with square and back passes. I've reached the point when I just hope he goes and we get good money for him. We've played better without him recently. I reckon he is a genuine type and a good professional and if he leaves i wish him good luck with Mourinho but I fear his fate may be similar to Schniedlerin or whatever his name was--forgotten already!

[SuperSAINT]

15 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Eric Dier just signed a new 4 year deal at Spurs...would have expected Hojbjerg to replace him really...although Mourinho does prefer a dominant pair in CM.

Dier says he sees himself as a centre back now.

[SuperSAINT]

Saints apparently giving Spurs 48 hours to respond to Everton bid:

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/tottenham-pierreemile-hojbjerg-southampton-offer-premier-league-a4504186.html

[Harry_SFC]

If Hojbjerg was better at passing he would would be perfect for Ralph's system. He has great fitness levels, he's dynamic, good at intercepting/winning it back and also wins a lot of headers. The most fundamental trait for a central midfield player is to be able to keep the ball. Not just keep it by passing it backwards, but be able to be progressive in possesion and make things happen.

Personally I'd be happy with £10 million plus KWP, or £20 million outright. Looks like we're holding out for £25-30 million though. Everton may be stupid enough to bid that but Spurs won't be. 

[iansums]

This is where JWP has impressed me so much this season, he rarely gives the ball away and is also looking to make forward passes far more often.

[spyinthesky]

According to the Liverpool Echo, Everton are now in the driving seat for Hojbjerg.
I guess Hoj will probably be disappointed with this unless his pay package is better than at SMS.
Everton are unlikely to challenge for top honours unless their owners have deep enough pockets to shell out a lot of cash on players as well as financing their proposed new stadium.

[The Curse of St Mary's]

1 hour ago, Harry_SFC said:

If Hojbjerg was better at passing he would would be perfect for Ralph's system. He has great fitness levels, he's dynamic, good at intercepting/winning it back and also wins a lot of headers. The most fundamental trait for a central midfield player is to be able to keep the ball. Not just keep it by passing it backwards, but be able to be progressive in possesion and make things happen.

Personally I'd be happy with £10 million plus KWP, or £20 million outright. Looks like we're holding out for £25-30 million though. Everton may be stupid enough to bid that but Spurs won't be. 

I think Everton are stupid enough as there midfield is awful so more likely to pay what we are after. Even PEH would improve there midfield but what a come down for him after saying he wants CL. It will be about the "project" in a save face interview.  They would probably double his current salary so I'm sure he be ok.