If only he could keep fit. He was arguably even slower than Troy (is that possible?) but was a better dribbler, better in the air, better at holding the ball up and somehow always seemed to bring the best out of Pereyra (who I believe he was good friends with).
First off, I'll start out by saying I don't think that we're getting relegated. The rebuild list isn't that different than we've said in the past. Players Leaving: 1) Welbeck. Not that I don't rate him, I think someone will pay more for him than we can now that he seems healthy. Don't think he can play every match anyway. 2) Gray. Everyone is done with him and rightly so. 3) Success. Either on loan or otherwise, he needs to go somewhere and get games. 4) Pereyra. He's said as much and he's just not happy with the physicality of the PL, so off he goes. The good news is that we should get something for him. 5) Doucoure. I think that this is the year we finally sell him. 6) Janmaat. Never healthy, we need an upgrade. Wants to leave. 7) Holebas. Old and petulant. Wants to leave. 8) Mariappa. Age. Possible leavers: 9) Capoue. Depends on replacements. Probably should transition to a squad player if he stays. Has a lot of miles on him. 10) Dawson or Cathcart. See Capoue. 11) Cleverley. Depends on replacements and whether he's happy as a squad player. 12) Gomes. Who cares really, done a job for us but we have 37 backup GKs. Incoming: 1) Cucho 2) Estupinan 3) Wilmot 4) Right back 5) Centre half (perhaps 2). These need to be footballing centre backs, not hoofball centre backs. 6) Left Back. 7) Box-to-box MF to replace Doucoure 8) Left Winger. Must have with Pereyra gone and Deulofeu out until at least January in all likelihood. 9) Striker with pace. Must have. Depending on other leavers: 10) Centre back 11) Creative midfielder 12) Right sided winger/forward. Bottom line is we need youth and players not afraid to make a difficult pass and take players on.
You see, this is how it should be. However, having experienced the last 8 years of Pozzo ownership, it's closer to the ramblings of a madman.
Janmaat has just signed a new deal so does he want to leave or not ? Success will probably be out till near Christmas with his injury I presume. It will be someone we don't want or expect to leave like Hughes or Masina that goes if we are relegated They will be here if we stay up but can see Pereyra and Doucoure going. Don't see Holebas and Mapps getting new contracts ...
Oh and welbeck allegedly signed a 3 year deal so not sure why he would leave unless we got the fee we wanted for him?
What about Deulofeu and Sarr? Gerry might stay until Christmas to prove he's not crocked, but it's likely he'll go whether we stay up or not. Sarr will go if we're relegated. Whether we go down or stay up, the list above still stands. So much deadwood it's unbelievable.
Never in the Premier League! Also, watching the third goal from that first video, I’ve decided that we should demand De Paul in exchange for Pereyra. What a brilliant through ball and weight of pass.
Think he could still be useful (hope to **** he starts tomorrow instead of you know who!), but I wouldn't be devastated to see Welbeck go, especially if we could get a semi-decent transfer fee for him Don't see a future here for Gray, but I also don't see many clubs being interested in him (maybe whoever gets promoted if they don't have much time to sort out a striker? Maybe a Championship club who loses their star striker? Probably better, less expensive options available for any of those teams, we might be stuck with him) Success got injured at an awkward time, it'll hinder his chances of a move away, and he's not anywhere near as good as Geri who would still be worth a punt for decent top flight clubs. Said before he screams somewhere like Turkey, hope we can get rid sooner rather than later, but we might be stuck with him, or it might have to be a loan Pereyra is definitely off, probably to Udinese, hopefully for a fee (dunno if we've received a fee for the other lads who have gone there, but if we signed Pussetto for about £7m from them, I'd imagine we could do some creative accounting there) Dunno about Doucoure, obviously if we go down he's straight off to some mid-table team (cough cough Everton), but if we stay up, he might end up staying. He's not Champions League quality like we thought he might be at one stage, and other clubs might find it too much bother signing someone who's stalled a bit in recent times from a Premier League club, unless we end up letting him go for way below peak value Janmaat: ditto Success, except with a new deal so probably happy to sit on the sidelines picking up his money Holebas hasn't been as bad as I'd feared he could be when he's come on since the restart, but his legs have gone, so he's probably off to Greece when his contract expires If we stay up, hopefully that's Mapps gone, he has no business being in a Premier League team in 2020. Not that he'd be a particularly good Championship player these days, but if we go down, he'd be a useful backup option at least, and one of those rare people who'd be happy to sit on the bench Looks like we're starting to see the decline of Capoue, maybe it's best we look for another centre mid or two (though he'd still be a useful backup). Probably leaves if we go down Surely to god we upgrade at centre back if we stay up. Keep one or two of our current lot as backup (don't really care who, they're much of a muchness in terms of quality), but we have to get rid of at least one of them. I fear we're stuck with them if we go down though, and I fear the Pozzos will be lazy and settle for what on the surface looks a ready-made Championship defence Cleverley might be finished, he's not a good Premier League player like he once was, and wouldn't be able to handle a tough Championship schedule as a starter. Maybe get rid and give Quina and TDB a more prominent role, though if Doucoure and Capoue both go it might be useful to keep him around the place to guide the youngsters Please Heurelho, do what you said you'd do and become JP's mentor/agent or whatever, we love you, but you're done As for 'incomings', I really want to see Cucho, and the signs are positive. We may well have lucked out loaning him to two struggling teams because the hype has cooled on him a bit (though he's shown enough to suggest that he's worth persisting in). Find it hard to see much interest in Deeney for next season, but having him as backup for Cucho would be fine by me. Suarez might not come back, but if get a decent fee for him and keep Cucho I'm not too upset about that. Would like to keep Estupinan, it's an area we could do with depth in, though Masina hasn't been bad this season so I also wouldn't be devastated to lose him for a decent fee and sign someone else there. Would either of them stay with us in the Championship though? Been a bit of a frustrating time for Wilmot this season, though from what I've heard, the Swansea fans rate him and think he's been a bit unlucky. Crucially he's a centre-back who can actually play football, and can slot in the midfield, build the team around him if we go down, if we stay up, I'm not so sure though Femenia's probably worth persisting in, he's not been too bad this season, but if Janmaat leaves or is otherwise crocked as he's sure to be, we need someone to push him for a starting spot at the very least Probably will end up needing at least one new midfielder, although Quina and TDB will hopefully play a more prominent role next season (Premier League might be a bit much for TDB next season, though I'm sure he'd get decent opportunities in the Championship) Welbeck, Pussetto and Pedro are interesting players out wide, all useful options for us at the moment, though question marks remain over whether they're a) gonna stay and be able to play a full season for us in the Premier League b) good enough or ready for top level football, or c) willing to stay if we go down. Stay up, and I'd say sell Welbeck, keep Pussetto as backup, loan Pedro and buy/loan someone as we wait for Geri, if we go down, Welbeck is probably off, in which case maybe Pussetto can become first choice with Pedro challenging him for a starting spot. On the right, it's simple, stay up and keep Sarr, go down, hope to get a decent price and get someone new
We can all dream, can't we? If he comes to England, he'll either prove a level above us, or get worn down like Pereyra to the extent where he'd be useless lol
Looking forward to having the bite of Hogg back in midfield,and the goals of Alcacer upfront. We've missed both this season.
de Paul with another goal and assist yesterday although the assist to Okaka was a fortuitous deflection. Udinese's standout player once again.
This thread... I thought our fans were different to other clubs. But one bad season and we are decrying our club and most of the players as garbage. We are staying up and will probably do so comfortably. We CANNOT be this bad next season, and it's unlikely we will be. Jeez, some of these comments will look ridiculous in 12 months.
Udinese's position mirrors where we should have been after the Burnley game, so frustrating the number of opportunities we've blown to pull clear.
He was here to score goals though and had plenty of game opportunities when fit, but was basically a one-game wonder.
Did he though? Maybe I’m not recalling things correctly but did he ever actually get a run in the side? He probably missed more games due to injury than anything else but even when fit I don’t think he had much opportunity and most fans wrote him off. ‘The manager sees him everyday in training; if he’s not playing then it’s because he’s not good enough’.
I’ve liked Quina , what I’ve seen of him. He always looks to go forward and they may be nothing games but still some premier league games and tough cup games playing alongside other fringe players. He’s maybe not the answer this season but he is one of our most promising Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
We are already very far from that even being a possibility. That is total b.ollocks, whatever happens from here.
Whatever division we're in next season, let's sign some people with character and bottle. Cathcart, Kabasele, Femenia - all meek as a mouse, get rid. Masina seems like a nice guy but is dozy as anything defensively, back up. Dawson is limited but cares and tries, keep. Foster - thinking about his next cycling holiday in the summer, back up or get rid. Chalobah, never been the same player since injury, laid back style doesn't work in a crap team, back up. Cleverley, legs have gone with too many injuries, get rid. Doucouré will leave anyway and might flourish in a team that's better than us but he's no leader either. Hughes keep, with a couple of leaders alongside him he'd be even more of an asset. Capoue probably our greatest ever Premier League player but absent when the chips are down, back up. Pereyra obviously checked out, don't let the door hit you on the culo on the way out. Gray not even a footballer anymore, can never see him getting any confidence, get rid. Obviously there'll be no takers for Deeney but he can sit on the bench and come on last ten. Welbeck - keep, still got fitness issues but works hard and doesn't hide. Get in some real men and start to stand up to teams. Boothroyd's promotion team is probably my favourite ever Watford team as they were real men and steamrollered the opposition, could play a bit and were more than the sum of their parts. This bunch of ***** are just a collection of weak willed individuals.
If we go down, which looks like we are 45mins away from it, then the rebuilding project we have is massive. We won’t be back in the Prem for a while. We will lose all our quality on the cheap. Sarr, Deulofeu, Doucoure, Hughes, Estupinan, Suarez. Pereyra, while not quality, will also go. We might also potentially lose Kabasele, Chalobah, Capoue, Masina (back to Serie A), Femenia (back to La Liga), Cucho (La Liga). No-one will buy Dawson, Cathcart, Deeney, Gray, Mapps, Foster, Janmaat, Holebas (if he doesn’t retire), Success. Best team we can hope for in the championship without signings right now. Foster Janmaat, Dawson, Cathcart, Holebas Cleverley, Dele-Bashiru Pussetto, Quina, Pedro/Cucho/Penaranda Deeney/Gray It’s going to be a long championship season.
I can see us being in a relegation battle no matter what league we are in next season. Cleverley, Gray, Chalobah, Deeney, Cathcart, etc have all been playing like lower end Championship players at best.
