Chez

He hasn't taken any sort of dividend so far that I can see. I imagine his plan was simply to buy relatively low, improve operations to ensure we are stable and stronger PL side and then watch the price for PL clubs go up over time as the yanks and other billionaires keep hiking the prices up for this type of toy.

Because the transfer money comes in (and goes out) across varied time periods, the annual accounts paint a different picture in terms of player trading profit and loss. 22/23 -€54m 23/24 +€83m 24/25 tbc And for added context, operating losses before player trading gives an idea how much we need to recoup to try to balance the books. 22/23 operating losses -€30m 23/24 operating losses -€40m 24/25 tbc

Yes. They have lost some talent, but added others.

the more I look at us, the more doubts I have about us challenging. The keepers are the same, but McCarthy looks slower than last time round. It wasn't a strength, it still isn't. In defence, KWP and Bednarek were our two best players at the back last time. Both gone. The replacement RB is a step down. THB might remain (and thus will be the same) and the left back position feels the same in terms of defensive quality, although we certainly have more depth. It also wasn't a strength last time. Central midfield feels roughly the same strength wise. Charles may have improved a little since last time, but more importantly will be his changed role that better suits him. Smallbone hasn't improved and is only useful when you have loads of the ball. Aribo was a key player in the run in. And he's off. We lacked bite last time. I still don't think we have that. We look a little weaker out wide. Fraser looks slower, and there are less options. Brooks impressed me more than others on here, I know, but that little bit of quality is missing (assuming Dibling/Fernandes depart). A lot may rest on Robinson being a star. Up front, the central strikers offer more variety, but do they give us a strong focal point like Adams? Not sure. Armstrong is obviously here again, but is his heart in it? We are reliant on him being quickly reinvigorated like last time as his finishing got us out of jail a fair bit. I know there is much more to it than just players. Martin had us dominate possession which strangled the life out of many teams. However, we were totally clueless without the ball and got murdered if we gave the ball away. Still's tactics must improve us, simple as that.

to Samsunspor, possibly.

They still have a front three of Fatawu Daka Mavididi. I'd of thought they would be there or there abouts.

I do, but I don't think the Gothia cup of the modern age is going to convert Liverpool glory hunters from Basingstoke into Saints fans, but at least we can lose the lump of quartz padding out the trophy cabinet t make way for that piece of silverware.

I was at Luton but don't remember much. Hot sweaty night. Not a lot of fun seeing us throw the game away. Nope. We were on our way to relegation at one point. We were 20th, only 7 points above 22nd with 6 games left. We beat Brighton and that effectively made us safe. A Richard Chaplow goal (on loan) as I recall. Hard to see from that way end. I forgot he had two spells with us...

they will have been looking at other creative options, but its all about getting the best for a price they can afford. They are making four year investments in these guys. If you have to wait until the last week to do that, so be it.

Sadly, yes. Having beaten them, there was no one left. Horrible feeling see the path open up for them. Fuck me do I need to witness two crushing defeats of them this season. A 3-0 cruise at our place and a last minute winner at fratton will do nicely. Downs, with something akin to the Yeboah goal at Wimbledon. Happy place found.

I think the Spertsyan bid was the start of July. It was reported as being, maybe around the 12th. That's a while after, but highly likely to be the `creative' player mentioned. My guess is he will join us in the last week of the window.

Would be good to know the exact wording to determine if they are totally discounting it or there is still a possibility of a loan or two. if you can buy a player for £6m that can get you promoted and then play at the higher level too, great. But unless you have top quality players, we won't get promoted, and pretty much every successful side over the last decade has loaned in players to help them go up.

` I was not at that game or Millwall away the previous season, so the virtues of Les and Fraser (scorers of vita and less vital late goals) never rubbed off on me. Bets of luck to him and Burnley.

Can we get you in the room, prior to the next round of negotiations, for a pep talk?

Out of interest, do you know when that was said. I was just wondering if it was before or after the Spertsyan report?

did they not watch him stroll around failing to run a game all season with us?

I am trying to remember what this board was like after we lost away at Luton (second game after drawing the first 0-0) with bagpuss spending just £90k on a skate with dodgy knees.

or maybe it was, as reported, Spertsyan turning us down as he wanted to see if a top flight club would sign him. Maybe that move isn't completely dead, but is only going to happen in the last week of the window.

us or them?

That's what I was told by someone who would know. But they only played 3 official U18 PL games. He was on the bench for two of them. However, I am guessing there were friendly games prior to those, so maybe he didn't start in any of those either. It matters not. He's older and more confident and he's off. So lets get a massive sell on clause and a first dibs buy back so if he is either very successful or a big failure we can take advantage, again.

Ah, the old considering walking away noises. They are all in now. This deal will be done very soon.

It's been answered on various threads. We identified three positions to strengthen and confirmed we didn't have to have sell players in order to buy. Which is why we signed two players. Obviously we have sold players too. it doesn't appear to be lack of funds, it's about getting the quality of the player they want to come to us rather than hold out for alternative...and the selling club being ready to sell/loan etc.

It was. As much as it pains me to say it, the side they had that year was pretty decent though. They maximised its potential by winning a trophy. We didn't quite do the same with our two top sides in 2014 and 2016. When you have a good PL side, that is the time to really go for it, because you simply are never going to have a better opportunity. What chance of us winning this season? Zero.

Yes, but I think it was more about how much money they now have left after getting that deal done. I'd of thought they could still afford Dibling. From an Everton point of view, they feel like a nice pair of signings to me. Might not make them winners overnight, but creates a younger more talented squad.

to be fair the skates beat Man at Old Trafford. Another issue was we didn't seem to get to semi finals and finals with our best performing sides. The Poch 2014 team and Koeman 2016 sides had everything needed to win a major cup, but they didn't get a run started.