hypochondriac

Great news. The more active we are, the more likely we are to bin off as many of our players as possible.

Christ that's emotional. What an incredible man and what amazing words.

I agree 100%. Thays why last season was our best season since we qualified for Europe.

We can develop more of that stuff once we have an established prem team again if we ever get there.

It's not about wanting less, it's about being realistic. We won't be keeping hold of most of those players sadly. It's judt modern football.

Agreed. We would maybe have at best three or four players who could play in the prem from a promotion team. The rest would all need replacing once promoted.

What are you defining as good enough? A squad consists of a large group of players with differing abilities, some will play next year and clearly not be up to the Prem but they will still be important players for promotion. Every single team who gets promoted has players like that and I agree that we don't want too many because it will make the rebuild following promotion too large for one season. The likes of Armstrong and Charles are now proven Championship performers and it would be foolish to bin them off just because they can't make it in the prem. In the case of Armstrong I'd keep him to get goals for us next year and then I'd sell him. In answer to some of your questions with some players: Ramsdale- Gone Bazunu- I'd like to sell in an ideal world but only if we can bring in a better keeper which isn't a guarantee so will likely stay. KWP- Gone Bree- I'd keep for the squad and then get rid if we get promoted. I don't think he has a loser mentality nor has he really let us down even though he isn't particularly spectacular. Sugawara- Sounds like he's off anyway and would be no great loss THB- Will be sold and we will get substantially more for him than you were suggesting Wood- I'd keep if possible he's been better than I thought he would be Edward- Seems like an exciting signing and potential there to progress and maybe be ready for the prem. Bednarek- I'd sell. Wellington- Looks good to me Manning- Get rid Stephens- Get rid Downes- Is obviously going in the summer. Proven quality in the Championship but rubbish in the prem. Charles- Looks decent in the Championship now playing a different way and with clear potential in the prem. I'd keep hold of him if we can. Smallbone- I'd sell if we can but otherwise I'd have him as a squad player in the Championship. Aribo- Sounds like he is leaving. I'd consider trying to keep him if we can but if not it's not the end of the world Fernandes- Really hope we can keep him for a season. Think he would be great and potential to be a success in the prem in the right setup. Armstrong- I'd keep him in the championship as a proven performer. Will get us goals and I doubt we would be able to get someone better in our position. Sell after promotion. Lallana- No point keeping. Will probably retire. Dibling- Gone Edozie- I'd like to take a look at him to see how he has developed. He's still young and there's potential there for improvement. Frazer- Get rid Sulemana- Undecided but on balance I'd probably sell if we can get something half decent for him. In the right setup I still think he could be a success in the Championship. Onuachu- Sell and replace Archer- Should keep him in my opinion. I still think he could be a prem squad player in a half decent team. So based on that it doesn't sound like we would disagree much. I am proposing there to get rid or sell fourteen players. That is a huge change to the team with lots of new players needed. I would expect as a minimum new signings for: GK RB CB DM x2 Winger Striker x 2 with a potential new strongest 11 of: GK RB Edward CB Wellington Charles CM Fernandes Armstrong Winger Archer/New Striker Obviously that team would then be supplemented by squad players such as potentially Smallbone, Wood, Bree, Edozie looking to replace them. I'm not sure what about that you would consider unrealistic?

Are we sure nic isn't a soggy alter ego to make him look reasonable and intelligent by comparison?

We don't know what Edozie is like now after a year of development. The others should be good enough for a decent championship squad.

Didn't want to play for us I think January is pretty harsh. Maybe the club would have preferred he stay where he is for his development? Maybe he didn't feel ready to play in a rubbish team in the prem yet?

I don't understand the logic of that. We had them in the squad last time and we were challenging for promotion because they are decent championship players. Once we get into the prem then of course they aren't good enough but that's a different matter. In my opinion your valuations are absolutely ridiculous. There is a 0% chance that we get 10 million for THB and it's very unlikely that we let Downes go for 8. At the absolute worst THB will go for 20 but likely higher given he's played for England with us and we aren't going to make a loss on what we paid for him. We strengthened well last time we were in the Championship and with money coming in and looking financially healthy compared to other championship clubs, we should be able to do the same again.

Agreed. I also hope we keep Archer as an option up front with a new target man striker. Something like Bazunu Bree/New RB Wood Edwards Wellington Smallbone/New CM Charles Armstrong Fernandes (optimistic) Edozie Archer/ New Striker Would mean that only a handful of players remained from this season. Selling Dibling, Ramsdale, THB, Sulemana, Onuachu and Downes if that is what we end up doing should allow us to get in some top quality replacements for the Championship. Conservatively that should net us at least £100 million.

And how is the impact of that worse than not using it?

Looked him up. Was it bill browder? Red notice is well worth a read.

I can't remember his name but the American that Putin hates and who wrote a great book on the subject has been urging leaders to do this for ages and can't explain why it hasn't been done already.

It wouldn't change the ludicrously high amount of Islamist terror attacks in Germany this year. Anything to say about that? Care to offer a reason?

@sadoldgit

@sadoldgit

100% it is a mindset thing. I do remember being quite frustrated last season though when we drew games we should have won. It's why I worry if we do consider giving Juric some of next season- he doesn't have the correct mentality for the Championship in my opinion.

To be fair to him, it must be a very difficult line to tread. We still need a link to the Americans and not to piss off Trump whilst obviously taking actions that has the potential to upset him. I thought he handled it rather well under the circumstances and as you say a good week for him. If he can sort out some of the domestic issues that he has failed on so far then maybe he can turn things around. He still has the issue of less tax coming in though which will almost certainly mean further tax rises which isn't going to go down well at all.

There are similarities between being a road sweeper and managing a football club. On the one hand you have to choose the right shitty bit of pavement to sweep and on the other you have to choose the right players.

Mods can we lock this thread until we get this hot take tomorrow? Hardly seems worth continuing until then.

“Ukraine should be first to commit to a ceasefire and defy the Russians to follow”. Mandelson also calls on European governments, led by the UK and France, to make a major commitment of their forces to Ukraine’s land, airspace and sea, as a deterrent to Putin making future incursions, with - he hopes - the US providing the “ultimate” backstop if all were to go to hell (the backstop being American intelligence, air cover and access to its long range missile tech, I understand). The close ally of Keir Starmer also urges President Zelenskyy to sign the Trump “commercial” deal assigning mineral and energy rights to the US, to give “the US a stake in Ukraine’s future”.

Interesting that Mandelson is now calling for Ukraine to announce a ceasefire.

Agreed. On top of anything else, our interests do not always align with the other countries of Europe as shown by German reluctance to get involved against Russia and the likes of Hungary not agreeing to any of this.