The Kraken

We didn’t have to spend that money on existing players. It was a choice. You just said it yourself. £25m gets you a premier league player, if you get it right. We spent 4 times that amount. In extremely basic terms that demonstrates that the transfer policy in itself over the summer was flawed. Blaming a lack of money on all of it seems illogical to me.

And there we have it. We spent more than £100m in the summer. If spending that much and not getting more than “1, maybe 2 premier league level players” is not getting it wrong then I don’t know what is.

The problem has always been both the manager and the players. Anyone who suggests it’s all of one or all of the other is an idiot. Today was a perfect example of terrible management, awful formation and tactics, and below par from almost every player. Today I pin more blame on Juric than anything else as the shape and team choice was just utterly bewildering. But the players did themselves no credit either.

Shit from the players, shit from the manager. Dreadfully dull to watch and an unwanted return to Rusty’s U formation.

At one point I swear I saw Sugawara getting kitted up meaning that there was a possibility we could’ve had 5 on the pitch.

We’ve been doing it for most of the second half. It’s absolutely baffling.

This formation is really, really weird. 4 full backs, Joe Aribo consistently dropping in to the back three, no focal point up front. Really not very entertaining, it’s all too slow.

That one was really poor.

There were two defenders back on the goal line anyway. It was rubbish by Manning but he had plenty more to do than just dink it over the keeper.

Might watch the rugby.

Ashley Barnes needs to be getting the clippers to his head. An astonishingly bad thatch.

Cut that fancy shit out. Backpass.

Downes not even in the squad.

A consistent mistake, this one. The kit change wasn’t the 6-3 scoreline. It was 3-1, the year before, 3-0 up at half time when they made the change.

No, a 10 minute runout was always the plan after half time.

I’m guessing but all evidence seems to say “yes”.

This. Ralph was on his last legs the previous season when we lost 9 of the last 12 and got 5 points from them. Then over the summer he was forced to hire a coach of the owners’ choosing. And it was likely that his input into transfers was minimal. He certainly had his limitations by then but the handling of him and the first team was more shocking. Getting rid of Ralph ended up being the logical choice. That wasn’t the mistake, replacing him with Jones clearly was. By the time Selles took over it was well down the road of being game over.

I think we’re here. The new manager is nowhere near being impressive, but it’s clear to almost anyone that there has been a bit of a positive difference since he took over.

And you have consistently been wrong about it. I can’t stand VAR but you simply cannot say with any accuracy that it is less precise than one human on the pitch. VAR uses multiple cameras to view and gets multiple replays. Someone who sees it up close gets one chance, and may get a limited angle. Youve got a completely skewed version on many things but this is the most bizarre of all.

Bob60 might be my favourite unhinged alt yet👍

Still getting excruciatingly wound up about the sodding CoT ffs 🤣

Could me more of a Peter Madsen.

Some google translate posts from Rennes’ mboard. Disappointingly they seem alright for a bunch of Frenchmen. 15M was with the 3M bonus and it is possible that his former club did not receive much, given his playing time and his performances. But not exactly a glowing endorsement of him. For those who find his career choice strange, joining the bottom of the Premier League still remains an opportunity to enter the big leagues and the most beautiful football championship in the world. In addition to leaving a club plunged into a deep crisis and managed haphazardly, he is also leaving a championship in economic and soon sporting bankruptcy. So okay, the Championship extends its arms to him. But in the meantime, he's in the Premier League spotlight. Surely a childhood dream for him which is coming true with the increased desire to get back on track. We are really not in a strong position to mock his career choice. How can players say to themselves that if they cannot win in Rennes, they will succeed elsewhere? It's beyond me. What a leap for the last of England! This type of player who doesn't last 6 months, that says a lot about his mentality in the event of a battle. He is on loan with OA, will the English club spend 15M on him to play in the championship? So if it turns out he's looking for playing time for 4 months, before coming back this summer to take stock, see where Stade Rennais is at, who is the coach and does he have any touches following his playing time in the Premier League which will be higher than if he had stayed here. Yeah... relaunching in a team in the doldrums (worse situation than ours) in a championship where they get stepped on every weekend and where their only ambition is to defend well so as not to lose their bags, There's no worse context for an offensive player who wants to fiddle with the ball and produce great team play. At least, it will build his character and physique. Perhaps he will come back with less qualms and more "fighting spirit", like Assignon after his loan to Burnley last season? No wonder. His record is cataclysmic. Another huge flop.

https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2025/premier-league-target-albert-gronbaek-hands-in-rennes-transfer-request/ Hasn’t got going all that well, dropped and fell out with the manager so he put in a transfer request.

It’s at Bethpage this year as well, so will attract the twats from New York, basically the worst of American fans. But they’re everywhere. I still remember Medinah 2012 when on day 3 some cretin shouted ‘Fuck you Seve’ very loud on tv after a European shot (Seve had died in 2011 and the Europeans wore his logo, and the US team were especially deferential to our teams remembrance). Classless prats in the fans though. The Masters may be completely up their own arses but they run a tight ship when it comes to keeping your average loud American far away from being able to ruin things for everyone else simply by opening his massive gob.