Exc: Hear Watford have been locked in talks with Primeira Liga side Arouca this January for winger Antony. Personal terms not expected to be a problem for 21-year-old Brazilian. Championship club just need to sign off the finalities of the deal and he'll be a Bili* player. Jacque Talbot just tweeted this
I’ll await the inevitable Bilic fall out on this one. This lad could be a gem and a total steal - but I suspect Bilic is wanting high-profile players at this point.
I honestly feel like he's been given a lot of support so far. I know he probably wants proven quality, but we've got a big squad now with injured players returning.
Well he isn’t supposed to be involved now and as Duxbury found out anything said in the summer doesn’t mean much .
I feel like he’s been given support with bodies/signings. But I’m practically certain that he wanted players who would be classed as immediate First-XI starters when everyone is fit - very debatable that he’s been provided with that.
Andrew French this morning has tweeted saying Bilic is getting ‘twitchy’ about it. While it’s a rule to be mindful of, it was clearly club propaganda at the time to make fans swallow the sales of Zinckernagel and Cucho. And it worked.
I like the fact that Bilic is being demanding, but just don’t see us having the finances to sign better wingers than we already have (unless we sell Sarr, which looks unlikely). But it should be possible to sign a CM starter, who is better than Kayembe and Gaspar. Could be an interesting few days
Looks like a big, strong winger with an incredible work rate. Screw the rule of eleven, I'm on board with this!
I presume this is a permanent move potentially or a loan ? Maybe a Sarr replacement lined up for the future .
You like that? You’ll love this… https://twitter.com/_jakehorwood/status/1619262384790736896?s=46&t=vtLrI6AS1gvxDzvR1ghsZg
So have many players who play for the team who are bottom of that league? My point is that Bilic wanted Pellistri. Now I accept that may well have been a move that we couldn’t pull off - but it’s a drop off from talking about a United player who is a Uruguayan international, to a cheap winger from Arouca that Bilic blatantly has never heard of. So don’t be surprised if we get a reaction from him based on the above. I’m not saying I would agree with that reaction. I’m merely pointing out that he is likely to be disgruntled.
Sounds like from another article someone posted Man U aren’t keen to loan players to us so maybe we tried but no success .
This guy looks decent. I'd be interested to see the differences between Antony and Martins as they're similar ages and positions. Having two young Brazilian wingers isn't a bad thing though!
Can you lay out the point you’re trying to make here because I really don’t get it? And I don’t understand how what you’re saying counteracts the points I’ve made?
#burnsythebilicwhisperer Tongue firmly in cheek in posting that but you've taken the channelling of Bilic a bit far in the last couple of days! Managers play these sorts of games in the media all the time and often want the moon on a stick. Who wouldn't? I don't see him walking out or whatever and frankly I couldn't give two hoots if he gives a grumpy press conference before next weekend because he didn't get all the toys he asked Santa for. As long as Manga's pulling the strings and Mogi's out of the picture we're already leagues ahead of where we were recruitment wise the past 4 or 5 windows.
I think the point he made was they are 6th but you had suggested anyone can be an ever present for the team that are bottom ?
I like the look of this guy. Shouldn't be too expensive, and playing pretty regularly in a slightly higher league. Great age, and the growing Portuguese/Brazilian contingent seems like a good thing.
Where have I said I care either? I’m merely pointing out what might get said, given his previous comments. I’m hardly channeling him by pointing that out - even less so given that I’ve said I wouldn’t agree with it if he did!
So what was the point of him pointing out they are 6th in a poor league? Look at the teams in that league. And much like ourselves, they are far closer to the teams below them than the ones above. I don’t see how his point of ‘they are 6th’ counteracts anything I’ve said!
I think the manager should be heavily involved in identifying the profile of player he needs in the short term, but I think Manga should be in complete control of specific targets, taking a long term view of the team / squad. I really like Bilic, but I think he is being pretty well backed in this window, and I'd have limited sympathy if he kicked off over the specific choice of winger. Also after seeing the YouTube video I am now convinced Antony will single handedly get us promoted.
Yes I like Bilic as a manager but he’s starting to get irritating with his constant not-so-subtle dismissing of our new signings. Given the players to come back and our financial position we clearly weren’t going to spend £15-£20m on 3 quality established champ players. Surely he would have realised this when he joined ?
I think he was just clarifying they were 6th not bottom, nothing more. I don’t think he was trying to tear your views to pieces .
