Chez

seeing them drifting nowhere, or should I say floundering in division 3, puts into stark contrast how Markus and nik nak managed the club in order to rise as quickly as possible back to the top tier. Their own rich owner seems to be mirroring our current owner, expecting the club to pay its way without the kind of financial injection (that Markus gave us, which obviously was a huge factor in us getting promoted) that gives you such a huge advantage over the rest. I thought with Eisner they would try to emulate us, by spending big and then recouping that investment once back in the top flight. Ah well. Never mind.

He certainly impressed whenever I saw him, giving us that much needed pace and willingness to try a few things to unlock a defence. It didn't always work, but we need guys that are willing to gamble now and then. Too much play it safe and keep the ball having made it into the final third. The manager needs to encourage our attackers to dribble, take people on, be more direct, not offload when in one on one situations. Tella could be a real star. I wonder if the manager will throw caution to the wind and start him right from the get go next season, or will he continue to ease him in.

Fair point. Kicking the can down the road has its merits. However, we might not need a left back, but its hard to say what we will need next summer . A new keeper possibly (as both are out of contract), two CBs may be out of contract, the full back position will still be light, another striker may be needed (as the `reserve' strikers are all out of contract next summer - its not all bad news), Romeu enters the last year of his contract... With the dire form shown after xmas, I fear for us a little with Ings' goals. Without him....

The West Ham mention is interesting. I assume you are thinking a little bit about Jarrod Bowen. He scored a similar rate of goals for Hull in the season and a half prior to his move, and then struggled, as West Ham did, to do much in the second half of 2019/20 season. Last season, often playing a wider forward role he played pretty well and scored a few decent goals, all be it only eight of them, as West Ham thrived. He may kick on this season, but at this moment in time I don't regret us not being in for him and having Che instead. Having said that they perhaps are very similar levels of player.

weren't most of the long shots by other players (and him getting the assist)? Harvey Elliot looks good in that video by the way. I see finishes using both feet, and plenty of them - which is a great start. There's a nice half volley, a few flashes of composure and a nice diving header. Overall the majority of the finishes are `relatively straight forward' and with plenty of time to set the feet. That lack of time in the Prem forces strikers to shoot early and under pressure. An extra yard of pace means you can get those feet set and you score far more as a result. Lots of good stuff in there, but we don't create anywhere near enough to just employ a reliable finisher. We need a few goals `out of nowhere', which is what Ings has given us. Hard to say from that video, if we will get it from Armstrong. Hope so. We didnt know we'd get that from Ings either I guess. Like Ings, he doesn't look rapid, but might have just enough pace. Its always difficult to know if the skills will be transferrable at the highest level. Being OK at lots of things, which may work well in the Championship, may not be as desirable as being great at one or two. I wasn't blown away like I was with the Patson Daka video, but I guess we are not the draw that Leicester are so no point in comparing.

hope it's a great success should it happen. Hope also that we can get a buy option. Hate to see him do well and then another club then buys him from under our noses a la Toby. Getting ahead of myself here though. As I have said before, he likes to bomb forward and looks very comfortable on the left side and willing to get to the byeline and ing a cross in or cut inside for a shot. No reason why he can't start ahead of Perraud. I agree with others that we should have four fullbacks. One injury and we are immediately stretched. Shame Valery and Vokins have not cut the mustard.

with you there. Desperately need some game changing flair in the form of a dribbler. We have runners in Theo and Armstrong, but we need some class and skills on the ball to open teams up. Goalkeeper seems to be a blindspot. Are we seriously going to give an contract to McCarthy? Personally I want to see two more fullbacks. I think its woeful squad building not to have four fullbacks, especially considering the way we play and what we ask of them. Why is every other position got at least two? It cost us big style last season. I don't want to see CBs out there and I don't want to see us signing cover. We should be signing a right back that pushes KWP not just willing to sit on the bench.

such as? Don't answer that as every position need strengthening really. But is there more pressing issues than scoring goals?

Long has another year and will require us paying half his wages at least to ship.

Like you say, good chance we need the services of more than two fullbacks over the course of the season. No reason why he couldn't be first choice left back. we are not obligated to pick Perroud and who knows how he will turn out.

If Ings had three years on his contact and there was no talk of him leaving, would we be looking to sign another striker? Or in other words, does this bid mean that Ings is almost certainly departing this summer, hence we are (smartly) looking to buy a replacement before we sell? Or do we need another striker even if Ings stays?

It does feel like he has been on his way out for a long time now. They (Brighton) signed a DM called Caicedo back in January, but he's quite young, so perhaps isn't ready and thus this latest signing.

I like the sound of that rumour.

we don't `risk of getting nothing for them' if we make them see out their contracts. It is certain that we will get nothing for them. Also, there is no assurance that we stay up even if they do both stay. What makes you think he will a) "cream of money from their sale"? b) fees not being ploughed back in? He needs a premier league club if he is to recoup most of the money he spent buying us. If you sell two first team players and spend nothing to replace them, you put that league place at severe risk, and he's not an idiot, is he?

very good point. You can add in his ability to bring the ball down, composure on the ball and willingness to play rather than smack it clear. Slow as fuck, but if he had pace he's be worth £80m. Salisu is a completely different type and doesn't have any of that.

clutching at straws a little I think. By not signing a new deal, and by the sounds of things, negotiations ending, he's basically saying that he don't wanna be here. He wants to be at a bigger club and is confident one will come in for him. But you never know...

Spurs come in on the last day with £28m bid. Tough to turn it down, even if it places us in a bind. However, if Spurs are leaving it that late, then we start to gain the upper hand and can possibly keep pushing the price up. No matter what, we need to be talking to strikers' agents and have deals ready should our reserve price be met.

Good news. Every million will matter.

Firstly, what happened last summer or previous summers matters little. Covid will have decimated our finances and you don't take a £70m loan out at 8% if you have cash to spare on transfers. Whatever we spend will be determined by the size of the offers for Ings and Vestergaard. I think your valuations seem fair, but I've no idea if anyone really wants Vestegaard. The rest however, I have massive doubts. The Gunn deal is £2.5m with add ons. And that's from a Premiership side. That's how little money there is swilling around the game at the moment. Whether City see a percentage of that, I am not so sure. An important factor here is that I can't see many championship sides spending money this summer. Maybe the odd club, (Swansea spent a massive £1m on a striker last week) but realistically which championship club this summer (with the covid crippling them) is (and only championship sides are gonna look at him) buying Obafemi for £5m? You wont get a penny for Nlundulu, Long and Valery. We will be paying some of Long's wages to shift him and Valery too. Seriously, who is giving us money for Forster and Elyounoussi? On the wages they are on, we'd need to allow them to go for free to tempt anyone. Celtic loved Forster but didn't have the finances. Who does? We might get something for Lemina, possibly £5m at a stretch, but if I was a Prem side looking at him, I'd just offer a loan to us and then if he works out sign him next summer. If I was a betting man, that's what will happen. My maths makes that £2.5m of income, perhaps rising to £5m, possibly. We've probably spent exactly that on the first years' payment for Perraud.

...so a strange decision to call time on Saints negotiations. Always worth having us as fall back you'd of thought.

For me its a clear advert from the agent - negotiations are over with Saints, come and talk to me. Strange that he has to do that. Everyone knows he has one year left. You'd of thought if a club fancied him, they'd of been talking to him by now.

buy another striker now and then another next summer...with what funds? We have fuck all money. We took out a £70m loan to keep the wolves from the door and that debt will rise to £100m in five years time without repayments. If we keep spending and never start paying it off, where does it end? I know as fans we should just concentrate on the football and let the club worry about the finances...

fair enough, but like you say, we've spent money on Perraud - so a small net spend already. How much do you think we have to spend this summer? What fringe players are you thinking we can get income from? Lemina, maybe?

we get him and his goals for another season, but when he goes the following summer on a free, financially its a shit show. Question. If he was going this summer on a free (instead of next), who realistically would we sign as his replacement?

I am not a great scout, but from what little I have seen of Patson, I could have lived with that deal. He's a pacey, extremely confident two footed finisher. I think Leicester may have got a gem there. We shall see. It's going to be a gamble no matter who we sign to replace Ings, and as we have seen you can easily waste millions, but having money in your pocket does broaden the number and type of players you can go for.