King Kante

Quick question. Who actually thinks Emerson is a better player than Alonso? Emerwon has got to be the most dire outfield player for us. As for Kepa drop him for Willy now.

Well it is probably because he is realising that with this board toeing the line is only going to result in dire players or none at all.

In other news, Haaland scores a hat trick on debut in 20 minutes for Dortmund. That kid is an absolute beast.

This. We are the model of inconsistency. To actually find ourselves in our position is like drawing an 11 against a 6 is blackjack. At that point you have to double down. However, as we have seen through the years when ever we are in a strong position the club does nothing as our board just think, 'oh, we are in a good position here, lets sit on our hands and hope the dealer busts'.

Our awful run is inconsistency pure and simple and games like today will keep happening. Our chances of finishing in the top four are up in the air and we need someone else that can score desperatly. If the board cannot see that, they are even worse than I thought.

I would say pragmatic rather than negative. The inital comment stated that we should only be concerned with Utd but it is quite clear that they are not the only team that can catch us. Our biggest problem at the moment is consistency which is due to the inexperience of the squad. Thinking that this is not a big issue is naive.

Yes, next five games are key. If we are still 6 points+ clear by that point we should be ok, however it will be a big ask.

I do not disagree that the teams below us have their own issues. My concerns are more that if any of those teams put together a run and we continue to be inconsistent then we will be in trouble, so I would not only be worried about Utd like you initally indicated.

The problem is not just Utd putting a run together and being able to overtake us. At the moment, we are incredibly inconsistent which should be expected from such as young team, this means we do not know what we are getting from one day to the next as we saw over Xmas. Additionally, we also do not know how they will react when things get real in the last quater of the season when the pressure ramps up. Maybe they will be ok but our form over Xmas and experience of watching other young teams tells us that we should be wary. Lastly it is not just Utd. There is also Sheff Utd who are defying odds, Wolves who are a good team, Le Arse and Spuds. I am not saying those teams are perfect but more that they can still generate enough points if we continue to be very inconsistent.

Doesn't surprise me. Inter are trying to plug holes to help them out for the rest of the season as they're out of money. Signings like Young/Giroud for low fees and short term contracts makes sense, especially as they play in Serie A. These signings should not be seen as Conte thinking these are the best players possible but rather these are players that can fill squad places for the next 6-18 months; sorry to burst the ballon of those that think that this is him thinking that he is getting the best players possible.

To be fair, he came in and got a team from 10th to 1st in his first season. I think he thought that brought him credit that he could use, whilst I also think he was thinking now I can move on to winning the PL again and push for the CL. The thing with Summer 2018 is not that he didn't get one or two players he asked for but rather he didn't get any of them. Further, the players that were brought also did not fit his style. For me, Drinky, Baka, Morata and Zappa have the boards fingers all over them. Further, he was also banging on about how VvD should not be allowed to go to City (who look favourites after the Dippers p*ssed Soton off) because if they did it would prove impossible to beat them i.e. go and sign VvD, Granny. The club passed on that and now look at Liverpool since he has been there. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5192119/amp/Conte-urges-rivals-fight-Man-City-sign-Van-Dijk.html

No worries. I initially thought the same thing and then read some article I came across.

The thing with Conte is that he is a tactical genius. As a result, the signings that he wants may not be the best in regards to a club that churns managers but he wants them as they fit his profile. Ergo, signing him players that he doesn't want is going to quickly get his nose out of joint and they are unlikely to be able to fit his style. Therefore, it depends what you want as a club, a manager who can win you things doing things his way or a board that is in charge and replace managers every other season. Both methods can prove successful but it depends on what is your preference.

Radja's wife has cancer and wanted to move back closer to family.

Gaya would not require €100m to get him. I reckon a serious €70m would get him. However, the thing that is annoying is that he should have been brought 3-4 years ago as it was clear he was a top tier talent. For me, our LB targets should be Gaya, Grimaldo or possibly Gosens. Telles for me should also be looked at as a LB option for now who if he does not excel can be shifted to LB2 as I am not sold on Emerson at all and whilst I am a big Alonso fan in a 343, I appriciate he struggles in a back 4.

I know that the Jan window is a tough window but the way this club deals with incoming transfers is a joke. Last Jan we had a pending ban that whilst we may have thought we would get anyway with it, we did nothing to mitigate it. Surely if a club is in that position and also knows it is going to lose its best player in the Summer they should try and mitigate things by getting in place some transfers then so that the players can come in during the Summer i.e. what we did with Puli. What did we do? We brought an overweight striker on loan and a kid that was always going to require time to settle. Also, the positions of most concern CF, LB and CB were ignored. We then got the ban and acted surprised but did not appeal to CAS like everyone else. What is also apprant is that the club also decided not to put any potential deals together if the ban got overturned for this window. Hence, we entered this window like any other club straching around for players as if we could not have been doing something in the background from the Summer. So, now we find ourselves in a situation we we are comoletely reliant on a 22 year old CF who if he gets injured or his form dips we are buggered. That is before we get to LB which has been a clear weak point for about a year now as Emerson is bang average and Alonso can only excel in a WB role. Honestly, the board is useless when it comes to recruitment. No foresight whatsoever.

We really need a LB and CF this window. Just sort it out. Pay a little more if needed if that means the right quality. The difference in signing now to Summer could be CL football. If we end up in the Ropey next season then Summer is going to get more difficult in attracting the right players.

Yes lets hope so. Problem with thinking in such a way is that we also know from previous experience that spending stupid money on average players cannot be completely ruled out. As for this window, I just want a LB and CF. Imo a CB is also needed but it would have to be a player that upgrades us straight away and I just do not seeing that happening.

Is Dunk being linked because he is a Chelsea fan? If we are signing a CB from the PL that is obtainable then I would rather Coady. However, if we are talking £50m then I rather we just wait til Summer.

Not ever really been sold on Chilwell for £70m+. Some of his performances in Nov-Dec made me think twice but I cannot help thinking he is like Cresswell who played well for about six months when he went to Wet Spam and then suddenly got linked with top dollar transfers. For me, Telles at £30m or Chilwell for £70m+ is not really a hard decision as whilst Telles isn't the greatest LB he is not £40m worse than Chilwell. As for signings this window we really need another CF. As great as Tammy has been he is still not the finished article and needs some competition. Werner is the dream but if not him then I am ok with Dembele as long as things do not get crazy fee wise. One player I am surprised we are not looking at is Immobile. That bloke is a goal machine in a top 4 league, not on high wages and at a middling club. I know he underperformed last time he went out of Italy but surely he must be worth a look.

Yeah, he is the best fit player we could possibly ask for. However, you know Granny is going to drop £60-80m on Zaha instead.

Pretty sure he is going to Utd. He will be first choice CF there as Rashford and Martial can play wide and they will give him insane wages. Plus he grew up in that neck of the woods.

We can probably get £20-30m for Bats in a cash transfer to CP. They cannot score goals and he is popular their with the fans (my Dad's side of family are all season ticket holders.) Selling him for cash in Jan makes sense as his contract is running down. Giving him to Palace plus another £40m is eqivilent to giving Palace £60-70m for a second rate player.

If you cannot get players like Werner, Sancho etc in Jan then just try and get a Bale or James on loan. Signing Zaha even for £40m plus Batsh*t on £150k plus a week is madness. Zaha is an archetypal mid table club player. If we sign him he will be a dud.

Obviously, for this window we probably are not going to get Sancho as Dortmund have a fight on their hands for fourth. Only way it may be possible is if he has some sort of clause in his contract that can be activated. That said, I am fairly confident he will come here, unless both CHO and Pulisic do some sort of magic trick that CR7 pulled off in the 06-07 season where he went from very good to insane. As for transfers in this window I think there are only four viable candidates and that is: Ake, Werner, Haaland and Telles. The reason for this is due to the first three have well documented reasonable/low buy outs, which means no p*ssing about with the clubs and just getting a deal with the player, whilst Telles is in his final 18 months and Porto are a selling club. Obviously, Werner and Haaland are going to be tough as everyone wants them, my money is on Werner to Munich and Haaland to Utd, but we should try at least. That would leave us with Ake and Telles which would be ok if not amazing as both of those players would improve their respective positions; although I must admit I am not entirely sold on Ake.