King Kante

I have been high on SMS for a while, however he comes with some risks. Firstly would be his ability to deal with the intensity of the league, I can see him having some difficulties with that. Then there is the fact that I do imagine Rice here at some point. Either 2023 or on a free in 2024. If it is 2024 then it isn't such an issue, if it is 2023 then the question is would he just become squad filler after a year, as you wouldn't pair the two together.

Problem with Kounde isn't that he is a poor defender, the problem is that he doesn't look right for the PL. His habit of dangerous passing at the back, plus his lack of size is a dangerous combination in the PL. Additionally, if we did have to revert to a back 2 he would then be struggling to get into the team, even if he was good in a back 3.

I honestly don't see a need for a out and out DM if we continue with 3atb. For sure, we need to freshen up CM, but unless you're getting a Rice calibre player, then I don't see the need. For me, in a 3atb system, you really need No.6 types rather than No.4 types as otherwise it can quickly end up with 4 back the whole time and we already don't score enough. Personally, I have very high hopes for Gallagher. I think he'll slot in nicely here as he can take 25-30 games which means we can wrap Kante in cotton wool and wheel him out when needed and not continue to run him into the ground. Now don't get me wrong, that still isn't perfect but with the other issues we face it is secondary. I say this as the following issues at: CB CF The lack of goals from AM The depth issues at WB As a result, a big name CM or DM is a long way down the list; especially as we need to get real and acknowledge that we aren't going out and buying 6+ players for mega money i.e. £35m+. At this point, the absolute priority is that we get at least one decent CB. If we don't get that, then regardless of other players in other areas we're going to be in for a rough ride. That means premium dollar being spent here. Gvardiol looks decent and I think he is someone who could transition to the PL, however I do have a worry about Bundesliga CB's transitioning to the PL. After that Colwill is also someone I have faith in, maybe not for 50+ games but certainly for 20+. There really isn't a need to see another young boy with potential go elsewhere yet again so I want him back in the squad next year and given an opportunity. Obviously in an ideal world we would get 2 CB's that are ready to replace Rudi/AC but equally I really don't want to be spunking £30m+ plus on someone who gets called a dreg after 6 mouths again. There is part of me that thinks owing to circumstances we should just go for Romagnoli as a low risk option as long as his contract demands aren't too much while that would allow Dave to leave as it appears he wants to do so. Then we come to WB, which for me, is actually a major, major concern. I have been one of Alonso's biggest supporters down the years but his legs have lost a yard of pace he already didn't have. For sure, Emerson can come back but let's face facts. There is a reason Alonso got picked ahead of him whenever he got more than 2 games to show what he is about. Then we come to Chilwell, who we have absolutely no idea about what condition he is going to return in. Now I do not want this to come across as being uncaring (especially as I know personally what depression is like) but Chilwell's injury concerns me more from his mental position than his ACL. At the start of last season he didn't start pretty much due to him being depressed about what happened with England, his form dropped off massively at Leicester in his last five-six months due to him admitting mental health issues and in general in his first 18 months he was up and down with his performance levels (which I think was mentally adjusting to playing for a club like Chelsea.) As a result, I have major worries that an ACL that cut him down, especially when he was flying, is going to have had a big impact on him. That is also before we get to the implications of a ACL on a player with his running style and reliance on pace. That leads me to think we need to get someone like Cucurealla. However that would require a sizable fee which won't be offset by Alonso and Emerson going. Gaya only has a year left at Valencia and is someone that I think we maybe should also look at. Either way, I think we're going to have to do something at LWB/LB and not just pray Chilwell is ok and that Emerson can string some form together. Then we come to RWB. James is obviously No.1 but what do we have behind that? Not much, especially if Dave leaves. Now there may be a case for Sterling but that is a risk, however equally I am not sure we can persuade anyone more than half decent to sit behind him, unless we pay through the nose. CF is a position I don't even know where to start. Lukaku was obviously always a disaster to anyone that knows about football and now we're lumbered with him. Kai, I think will have a big season next year but we still require more options. There is of course Broja but after thinking about it more, I do not think I have seen a CF benefit from sitting on the bench too much. Hence, I am leaning towards him having another year at Soton or somewhere else in the PL. However, that places all our hopes on Kai, which is too much risk. Personally, I would really like Jesus as I think he could slot in nicely, even if I don't think he is great, but I cannot see him coming here to take up a position that far divorced from the one he has at City. CF for me is a conundrum but whatever happens I don't want to see Lukaku taking up too many minutes. Lastly there is AM. On one hand, I actually don't mind all of our AM's individually but as a unit they just don't work. That means we need to get one in to mix things up and sell one or two so not to have too many bodies. Dembele has been linked but I am not keen on him as he is injury prone and he strikes me as someone that only turns up when he knows he needs a new contract, not sure we need to take that risk. Raphina is probably were I would look to go as he knows the league but he'll be difficult/in demand. After that, I am not so sure as I haven't watched enough football outside of Chelsea this year but what I do know is that a decent AM always costs a lot. So, yeah. Not sure of the need to spend shed loads of money on a DM when we have all the above issues.

Not a fan of Sterling but he he does graft which is important for our type of play, otherwise you have a Lukaku situation where the player just stands around (which you can only get away with if your peak Hazard on the ball.) That said, of all the City players who are a possibility Jesus is the one I would want as he is the type of CF we actually need rather than the type people imagine we need.

Rice will have to wind down his contract. I have always said this summer isn't possible and let's be real, he isn't moving anywhere but here. This will be like one of those deals Barca and Real pull where they just tell the player they'll get them when it is cheaper and stay put.

Think Willian never made double digit goals and assists in the same year, so Mount doing that at a younger age shows that he has the potential to go up a couple of steps on Willian. Then you have the fact, that whilst he plays the most minutes, his g+a per 90 are still the best in the squad. As for his position, it isn't his fault he is getting played there because there isn't a real No.8 position in the formation we play or because are current WF cannot compete with his numbers.

He is in his stat padding phase atm, gotta remember he loves nothing more than scoring goals that don't matter.

I hope it continues that way. I hate players who get too full of themselves.

A

Yeah, that is one positive with his bid. That said, all the financing and due diligence (as it would need to be gone over again) still normally takes longer. Obviously, we were in a goodish place with him returning as some of the leg work had been done already.

Surprised this has moved so quickly. Multi-Billion pound take overs usually take a lot longer. Hopefully nothing has been missed and all due diligence has been done properly.

It does. As I said a few pages ago, they were just throwing blood into the water to cause a frenzy.

Nah, he only has the odd moan when the Dippers are winning, when they're losing he is ridiculously bad with his moaning and aggressiveness. Everybody seems to forget about last season where he was walking out of interviews, answering sarcastically all the time and even getting confrontational. Hate the guy just as much as every other Dipper.

What is idiotic if true, is that when he was playing full time, he was the 4th worst outfield player in the league at pressing.

The Times have had a number of articles pilling into the club since the sanctions. There was one that said we should be relegated. Ignore anything from them, they have been throwing red meat articles out since the start of this.

Interesting if true. Ratcliffe wouldn't be wasting time like this if he wasn't serious. I'd imagine there must be something in the Boehly bid that isn't the best, I'd imagine this is either to do with where the money is coming from and/or it is something to do with leverage.

Honestly don't want to watch anymore games this season if the players are just wanting to go through the motions. I am not too worried about 4th simply because Le Arse and Spuds have to play each other, Spuds also have the Dippers away.

A couple of things: 1) That article is a few months old. A number of Billionaires have seen large fluctuations recently. Bezos 'lost' about £15bil yesterday, Zuckerberg is down around 40% since last year. 2) You're overlooking that he has still gained about 1000% net worth in his equity holdings, even with the crash, since 2016. 3) All losses at the moment are what are called, 'unrealised losses' since he never sold or does he have any intention of selling so he will just ride this out. 4) Charts that are provided principally focus on the equity wealth, apart from Real Estate, no one really knows what a Billionaire has in hard assets. Therefore, he could be sitting on large gold, mineral (possible with the industry he is from), commodity wealth from all we know. 5) Fluctuations happen all the time in investing and sometimes, hard ones. If you go back to the chart, his wealth is around where it was after Covid and still significantly up over a 5 year period. Focusing on one year, isn't what these types of people do. 6) That Oxfam article is pretty biased. Firstly, they use the bottom of the Covid crash to calculate the wealth these individuals have accumulated and ignored where they were at prior to it. Additionally, I very much doubt, now there is another crash or market volatility, they are going to write about how some Billionaires have lost 50%+ of their wealth since the top of the market, since it doesn't fit their agenda. 7) People get too caught up with what a 'cash buyer' means in acquisitions. Unless a Billionaire is attempting to move away from particular industries, they don't sell shares. Instead when you hear they're a cash buyer, what they have done is they've leveraged against other assets within their portfolio.

Not so sure about Gnabry as I think he operates best when he gets space to run into like some other players we have and struggle because no team gives us that. Jesus however is interesting to me, he is one player who is PL experienced with a decent goal scoring record and has good movement and reasonable link up play to play the F9 role. If available for reasonable money, I would be all over him.

Let's see, I am not really a fan of Yank ownership, but he was by far and away the best of the Yank options. Personally, I am waiting to see what happens with this as whilst he has made the right noises, actually putting your hand in your pocket, especially in an intelligent way, is very different.

He goes home with his £4.25bill in his back pocket still.

Yeah, Reece, Mount, Trev (if happy with a sqaud role), RLC and Gallagher (from what I have read) all seem to be very attached to the club. Can't see any of them leaving unless forced or aren't playing at all.

I do a little investing and things like this aren't really an issue, especially for individuals like Ratcliffe whose investments are in established industries that aren't on the brink of extinction. Firstly, he isn't going to sell his shares, so all he has currently is a paper loss, secondly within five years' he will either be richer than he is now or back to his peak. People like Ratcliffe don't panic in such situations and they especially do not sell in such situations. It is a little like saying any investor when Covid hit was 50% less rich than they were the month before. Most people who where in that boat, are still richer than they were before the Covid crash. I mean, just look at that graph, even with the current volatility he is still almost 10x richer than he was at the start of 2016. That is an insane amount of growth.

I think since the players came back from the international break, their only focus was the CL. We got knocked out of that so now they're completely on the beach. We're lucky we have a 8 point gap, essentially 9 points with our GD. Tbh, I think we'll get 3rd as I do not see Le Arsè or Spuds getting 15 points and I am sure we win win a game or two, but it is so frustrating to watch. James, Alonso and Mount were the only ones that seemed bothered.

Defence is now a real worry. In my opinion we only have one starting calibre CB in Silva who is 38, you can maybe stretch to Dave at RCB. After that you've got the following issues: James: Can be slotted into RCB but that just means he takes Dave's place. Additionally, it requires a RWB. I was find with this when Hakimi was an option or trying to blood Livra, but where are we getting that calibre or type of prospect? Trev: Not good enough to be starting. He is a solid enough 4/5CB but I don't think we can rely on him full time. Sarr: Not good enough. Could argue CB6 as that is almost an impossible position to fill, but in reality I am not confident whenever he starts. Colwill: Very big leap for him to go from 25ish games for Huddersfield to 50+, including CL with Chelsea. Best thing for him would be a PL loan next season to someone like Leeds. For me, if we are to keep the 3atb system we now may need 3 CB's or 2 CB's plus a RWB. However, if we got to a back 4, then you are asking a lot of Silva and Dave/James are never playing there. Just need the sale to happen asap.