I know a lot can change quick but as fans we can’t help but get ahead of ourselves in a situation like this where someone could be coming or going. At the start of the window I was resigned to the fact that Capoue would leave, the Athletic then release an article in which is says Capoue is likely to stay, the social media team then put a picture up of Capoue all smiles. Then a few hours later it’s almost a dead cert he’s going to be off. I think I have the same worries as many people. Capoue leaving leaves us awfully short of physicality in the middle of the park. I really hope Chalobah can step up, but still seems a little brittle and Cleverley over the last year seems to be picking up injuries regularly. Dele-Bashiru and Quina are small in frame so really do think we’ll lack that imposing figure. Hughes is a tough tackler but just doesn’t have that same presence. Part of me does think if we’re getting a good fee for a 32 year old who will be approaching 34 if we was to go back up isn’t such a bad idea, but he is such a Rolls Royce of a player. I could accept losing Geri, Doucoure and even Sarr, but this one, I feel really does hurt the squad. Whatever your opinions are on the dressing room, to lose Gomes, Mariappa, Holebas, Doucoure, Capoue and potentially Deeney in one summer is massive, players will really need to step up.
Yep. We did have a fleeting dream that a midfield of Capoue, Doucoure and Chalobah would kick sand in everyone else’s face, but it’s hard to see a dominant midfield emerging at the moment. A couple of weeks from now all may be clearer.
Let’s get the idea that any of Hughes, Chalobah, Quina, Doucs, Capoue etc are going to accept sitting on the bench in the championship. They’re not. We get to keep 3 of them perhaps 4. In a perfect world we could choose which 3 we wanted to keep, but players will have their own views on dropping to the championship, some of them are not getting any younger, and the club has to cut its outgoings dramatically, not by thousands by millions of pounds. If we have a good offer for Capoue, and I have seen no evidence beyond some tweets from notITK fans, we have to accept it.
Neither have played much football but Gibson's barely played for two years. I would say that's a big gamble as well
Has this been confirmed that it's a loan deal? Has it actually been confirmed that anything is happening at all? Valencia are potless and imagine Capoue is on decent money. How are they going to pay a loan/transfer fee and wages if they have no money?
Nothing gets confirmed at this club. You only get to hear of things a few weeks after the event, if at all.
If it's only a loan deal then I doubt he will be going anywhere. If it was a permanent deal I would be a lot more worried as I thought it was initially.
It's easy to forget that during Pearsons' high point with that set of Christmas wins that Chalobah was one of his biggest stars in the team. It's his natural position and he has shown he can do it fairly reliably when given a run of games so has the chance to get up to speed which he wasn't afforded previously. That following run of losses also saw a pattern; Chalobah subbed off at the 70th minute which then took away some of the energy and bite he brought and the pressure of .
No it hasn't. I think the Pozzo's secretive way if conducting business is putting alot of our fans on edge. I completely understand this. It does look an awful lot like we are going into the new season woefully under-prepared in terms of fitness, and assembling an able and motivated squad. Hopefully there are positive deals being done that haven't been announced. I hope and think that those saying we're definitely finishing nearer relegation than promotion are overreacting tbh. Anything short of a playoff place would be extremely disappointing.
Lack of friendlies. Players having to quarantine, a shorter pre-season (not the club's fault), potentially being stuck with players who are injury-prone.
How do we know there haven't been behind closed doors friendlies just like there normally is? I always thought the club would prefer all our pre season games were played behind closed doors with no cameras, and now they have an excuse. The players are also likely significantly more match fit given the previous season only just ended. Maybe the club would prefer the time is spent working with the new coach.
It seems that a lot of the Spanish reports have suggested that Valencia want Capoue on loan, but in his update yesterday, Leventhal said that Capoue, despite his age, “would command a significant fee.” No idea how much that would be, but I don’t think this is a case of us just trying to bin off his wages.
Will this be any different for us than other Championship clubs though? Boro's last Championship game was only 4 days before our last PL game, so it's hardly as if we'll have had much different in the way of holiday and pre-season. "Being stuck with players who are injury-prone" is a hypothetical; plus we're only going to field players on the first day who aren't injured.
Especially when from October, I think we play every 4 days until January. This is probably the only time he'll have to solidly coach the team with few interruption.
Why do you say that? edit - I see you've answered this elsewhere. I think they are probably playing games. Behind closed doors game happen quite a lot during a season with nobody really knowing they've happened. We already have a decent squad for this level and have only lost 3 players that were probably not good enough anyway.
Indeed but Gibson's isn't down to injuries I believe. Dyche usually knows a decent centre back when sees one. Why it never worked out for him is beyond me though.
So if he sees a decent centre back when he sees one it doesn't bode well he's not played for two years!
Of course it's hypothetical. I'm just outlining the reasons some are concerned. I think they have every right to be. As others have mentioned, a midfield of Chalobah, Cleverly and Hughes, doesn't scream consistency. Really hope we keep Capoue.
He should command a decent fee. In a slower paced league he's got the quality to play at a high level for 3 more years.
but at 32, with no chance of getting a big contract at 34, Capoue will want a full transfer and if say we value at 6m and he has 2 years left on a contract - a £3m loan fee is much the same
Capoue would walk in to most of the teams in the lower half of the premier league. He'll be in demand from some of them, plus a few clubs in Europe. Can someone give me one single reason as to why he would stay with us? (apart from Kudos)
