V.Johnathan.Wilson

In the sea of money I feel like things like good managers improving players beyond what was expected of them is seen as an afterthought, I remember it being a hot topic when Ralph Hasenhuttl was around and how he improved James Ward Prowse.

Was asleep when your responded (+8 GMT). Keyspan and Sharp is a little alternating letter cryptography puzzle that goes: Key Enthusiastic Young Shot Stopper hasn't played as Raya Now Plays -> Aaron Ramsdale. (More hopeful than anything, but cybersecurity was mentioned before so I expect at least one cryptography clue). New York's football team is owned by Red Bull, Keyspan and Sharp are also colored Blue and Red (Red Bull Colors), K - S the left hand bat, this player like Matt O'Reilly is a danish midfielder hence lightning striking twice, its gotta be Red Bull Salzburg's left footed central midfielder Maurits Kjaergaard but we're waiting on their CL playoff fixtures to finish hence why things are quiet. (This one I'm more confident on considering that its a position that we seem very invested in). There was also Martin Baturina with his name meaning there are two Martins hence the double lightning bolt, Dinamo = Dynamo -> Electricity -> Lightning, and of course Baturina -> Bat -> Baseball. I've never seen wordplay clues ever be correct so outside of the "double" martin I doubt this one is correct plus he's also in the >20m bracket but is a central midfielder like Kjaergaard and O'Reilly.

You could find a dozen players that you could interpret from those pictures so the likelihood of a picture being completely wrong is "highly unlikely". Its a pretty fool proof approach to reporting on rumors that people not well versed in cryptography or mensa style maths would struggle to make sense of hence why it keeps journos out of the loop (unless there's a journo that's a mathematics pro on the side). I managed to find clues for four possible alternatives to Matt O'Reilly in the New York Mets/Lightning Image, all four are either left footed or right footed players who are good with their left foot and all I'd say are up there with Matt O'Reilly.

Lazio's midfield doing a "Gennaro Gattuso impersonation act done badly" was not what I had on my bingo card for today's game.

I think in the case of O'Reilly it'll all be on Celtic playing the shrewd businessman game rather than agents as I'd find it hard to believe that O'Reilly's parents would whispering in his ear that playing under Russell Martin ain't it anymore.

I was looking back at the highlights of the Oxford preseason match and I was surprised to find out then and there that Des Buckingham had been managing them since 2023. Now it makes that game feel not as bad now cause Des Buckingham is a seriously good manager, you pretty much have to be to be in order to be dominant in a league that has salary caps enforced since money is not an advantage. Postecoglou of Tottenham did it in Australia and Des Buckingham did it in India. Knowing that he's at the helm for Oxford they're going to shock everyone in the Championship mark my words. Though for us its also maybe a tad concerning granted that Des uses varied pressing tactics which we'll likely have to deal with a lot in the premier league. Don't believe me? This guy broke 17 records in the Indian Super League as documented here: https://www.mumbaicityfc.com/news/mumbai-city-fc-announce-departure-of-head-coach-des-buckingham

Maurits Kjaergaard another more affordable but good quality alternative to Matt O'Reilly (also left footed like Matt O'Reilly), just scored a brace for Salzburg in the Champions League playoff round (Salzburg despite being a gegenpressing team usually dominate the ball in their league so their players I'd expect they would be good with and without the ball). I sure hope we're not allowing Celtic to pigeonhole ourselves in this race to secure a central midfield/attacking midfield reinforcements.

Burnley also didn't retain Harwood - Bellis, Ian Maatsen and Nathan Tella and spent a large amount of money spent on making wholesale changes to the squad that went up which could've potentially ruined their team chemistry which I gather is important component in a possession focused strategy oh and spending 3/4 of the season using Trafford Over Muric. I feel there's a lot more to it than Burnley getting beat for choosing to use possession based tactics.

Veliz was pretty good for Tottenham before he got a bad injury, the injury would be a concern but if we can get both him and Buonanotte on loan then its a maybe from me. I know there's a limit on loans from Premier League teams but not sure what the limit is

Next best after Matt O'Reilly on that list I provided from the "we could afford" bracket would be Martin Baturina who is rated very highly but he would be pushing in terms of finances as well maybe not as much as Celtic are with O'Reilly since I don't really know how much the average going rate for Dinamo Zagreb's best talents are. SR have business history with them but uh I think the less said about the player we bought from them the better 🤣

There are some on that list that are uh highly unrealistic 😅

I guess if we start seeing a link to someone from this list not named Matt O'Reilly then we've truly moved on. Still hope we haven't given up, 225 touches in the box hope we push higher bids for him or at least had talks planned out to possible backup options if we don't intend to bid higher.

Hmm wonder if this has to do with the Facundo Buonanotte rumor that suddenly came up this morning Western Australia time.

Anything worth it in the Facundo Buonanotte Links or is it another smokescreen?

I think those FPL transfer predictor pieces are more a running joke than actual journalism. Not that'd i'd rate it that much on the comedy scale.

There were 17 apples on the tree and 3 flower patches in the Adam and Eve Picture, Sem Steijn had exactly 17 goals and 3 assists last season in the Eredivisie, he is also on his last year at FC Twente. Stainless Spoon relates to both his initials and his player agent, that's my guess.

NY Mets Colour is similar to Netherlands sports colour, also some aspects of the Adam and Eve picture and the stainless spoons clue from a while back align with this Dutch player I've mentioned in the Transfer Thread.

Probably couldn't afford about 6-7/10 of these. Lewis Miley maybe whenever Newcastle need another PSR workaround at any point down the road, Garner if Everton get relegated so not now, Svanberg maybe and Bourigeaud would be pushing it both money and age wise, Camara just got signed to Monaco so he's off the list. There's the dutch guy Sem Steijn who I've mentioned previously who is not listed here

Folks find it funny that I became a saints fan at the age of 7 because they had the longest name in the 2002/03 premier league season. Tbh having less expectations as a fan means that you can enjoy the show way more, being a fan of a big team turns you into someone like Saeed or Mark Goldbridge who make themselves feel like they're going through torture watching Man Utd week in week out.

Depends on how you use the 20, I would be surprised if there weren't any quality players suited to ball playing systems who's contracts are running out in 2025 or 2026.

Baseball could always be considered reference to our manager, I hadn't thought of that one until just now.

Budweiser Beer -> BVB -> A Bolter -> Maybe that guy who wants out from Borussia Dortmund has some legs to it.

So who's the alternative to Matt O'Reilly in the event we don't get him? Sem Steijn from FC Twente springs to mind scored 17 goals but only 3 assists in the 2023/24 Eredivisie season, listed as both an AM and a CM, caught my eye when I was browsing Transfermarkt for attacking midfielders. Not sure if FC Twente are a ball dominant side though as I don't really watch the Eredivisie.

Circle of Obsessed, Coo, Coup is pronounced like Coo. Our next signing is going to be a complete coup.

How they didn't score I will never know but nice no look tackle there from Bree I guess.