King Kante

If we had a decent Summer then I would have agreed. However, we're on our knees in a number of positions so if the right player was not avaiable we should've got a stop gap.

In regard to the period we had with a lot of decent signings, that was when we had De Visser doing the scouting. Once he went signings went to pot again like 2007-2010. Only time we buy decent players is when there is a reasonable buy out - Costa, Kante, Cesc etc.

Whoever thinks that should not be allowed an opinion on transfers.

Really poor game. After tonight, I really hope to never see Barkley, Pedro, Zouma or Batsh*t in a Chelsea shirt again. All four of those players are at best bottom quartile PL players. I execuse Pedro as he has been a good servant and it is a case of age and lack of playing time. The others though have no excuse.

An industry such a PL/top level football is not going to be effected by Brexit full stop. The Tories have always been a low regulation party and they are not going to start messing about with immigration law that is going to affect blue chip industries. If a club in the PL or Championship want a player they are not going to start impacting that because the industries are too big to be messed around with. As for offshore accounts, yes income from sponsorship etc is probably going to continue to be funnelled offshore but income from wages will continue to be taxed as PAYE as they are employees. UK immigration law is going to change due to Brexit but this, like elsewhere, will effect poorer people rather than rich people. Anyone that looks into countries that have strict rules will quickly see that any individual that is worth millions can get a visa regardless as they can self finance themselves or bring in money to the respective exchequer. This will be the same with the UK.

Imo Brexit is very unlikely to affect transfers because the UK government appears to want to move to a points based immigration policy. This esstentially means poor immigrants get locked out (unless they are in industries with dire needs) and rich immigrants get in and it is easy £££££ for the government. No way, do the UK make it difficult for a PL player to come and play here as they make too much money off of them. Argue all you want about Brexit and immigration but rest assured, the UK will allow in as many multi-millionaires that pay tax as they can get.

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.