Dr Gloom 21922 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 But if the next increment is in only 6 months time, is there much point in buying Townsend now? Gouffran is first choice wide left, and while Townsend is much better than Gouffran, he doesn't play there. A Spurs fan I know joked that if you played him on the left, he'd still cut onto his left, take it out for a throw-in and then shoot. If we were in the chasing pack I think we would have strengthened, but we're doing very well and £15m for Townsend is gilding the lily imo. townsend could have played right with ritchie or atsu on the left. or ritchie behind gayle. that instantly looks a more dangerous attack, with more options, more match winning potential and would take the pressure off shelvey to create all the chances. we probably will still be alright, probably. adding to squad from a position of of strength could have helped us over the line. i was gutted when we sold townsend last season because he was the standout player in his short spell. i've no doubt he'd have improved us if we'd found the extra couple of million quid - if that's what it came down to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 10857 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 townsend could have played right with ritchie or atsu on the left. or ritchie behind gayle. that instantly looks a more dangerous attack, with more options, more match winning potential and would take the pressure off shelvey to create all the chances. we probably will still be alright, probably. adding to squad from a position of of strength could have helped us over the line. i was gutted when we sold townsend last season because he was the standout player in his short spell. i've no doubt he'd have improved us if we'd found the extra couple of million quid - if that's what it came down to. To be honest I'd have loved to see us sign those two Croatian youngsters, bed them into English football. Coric is an attacking midfielder that should have helped Shelvey and Benkovic could have been blooded here and there. But when a £35m bid is rejected, there's not much more we can do. At the same time I would be annoyed if we spent £15m on Townsend, which meant in the summer we couldn't afford to spend £30m on a player to improve on Gayle, or Shelvey. "We were going to be promoted anyway, why buy a luxury player?" etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dynamite 7027 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Why would we want to improve on our 2 best players? The other 8 outfield players should be replaced first Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 35079 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Why would we want to improve on our 2 best players? The other 8 outfield players should be replaced first Take your point about those two not being a priority but because their roles are so vital to the team and because of what those roles are - main goalscorer and the most creative player in the team - it's probable they'll find it much more difficult next season. On the basis it's always far easy to destroy creativity / prevent goals than vice-versa they may be two positions where we need to strengthen. Accept they've at least earned a chance next season, Gayle in particular. There's other question marks over Shelvey too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 10857 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Yeah, what he said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dynamite 7027 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 (edited) Yeah, ideally we would find XI players better than the XI we currently have. But it still makes sense to replace the ones who look average in the championship/shit in the premier league than the ones who look good in the championship/average in the premier league. Tbf both Gayle and Shelvey have shown enough in the premier league to suggest they will be more than good enough if we go up. Dummett, Anita, Colback, Clarke, Lascelles on the other hand .... Edited February 1, 2017 by StraightEdgeWizard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12496 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Aye, that's the main reason I'm disappointed we haven't bought anyone. We are fine in this league but this squad is a long way off being ok in the PL, it would have been better to get 1 or 2 in that are PL quality and have them in the side for 6 months rather than leaving it all until the summer. The fact that utter bilge like Colback, Anita, and Dummett are still playing regularly 4 years after everyone realized they are shit is a joke. You can say McCarthy and Townsend had inflated fees but I'm not all that convinced they'll be much cheaper in the summer, the price of players is just going up with the rising PL money and we'll once again be in a position of relative weakness as everyone will know we have to improve a lot of the players to be safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holden McGroin 6583 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 (edited) Lets be clear, we're not just 3 points ahead of Reading, we're 3 points, 2 games and 27 goals ahead of 3rd place. Has anyone (and when I say anyone, i mean Happy Face ) got our win ratio with and without Shelvey ? Edited February 1, 2017 by Holden McGroin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 44872 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 two Croatian youngsters, bed them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Z8wq9Qnps&feature=youtu.be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 35079 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12496 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gloom 21922 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 after this non event of a window, i expect a minor meltdown on here if we drop points against qpr, with reading snapping at our heels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gloom 21922 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 which i will probably help orchestrate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayvin 5223 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Yeah it won't be pretty. I really don't think we'll lose though, we're just hesitant because of the Oxford game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobos 298 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Miserable negative old bastard I may be - but I'm worried that behind the scenes Ashley's fucking us again. Worried given Rafa's earlier windows, the stories in the mirror and the fact we've basically brought no one in - at a time when it would be ideal to start getting our Premership XI built , and bringing people into the team . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerbarton 24 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Don't forget that in addition to Reading being just 3 behind, we also face 3 very tough fixtures in a week soon. Meanwhile Reading's next set of fixtures are very kind indeed til they play Brighton. We should have added to the side, even if it were Barrow just for strength in depth. As others have mentioned, Ashley's default setting is not to spend unless we're in the shit. It's come back to bite him so many times before, but he just never learns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayatollah Hermione 13866 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Must remember that we have two games in hand on Reading. Two wins sees that distance grow massively again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essembeeofsunderland 811 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 We won't win our next two games Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gloom 21922 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 that's the spirit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobos 298 Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Well, last night's interview pretty much confirmed my suspicions. We need to burn Ashley out or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12496 Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Aye it seems it's another case of refusing to spend when in a position of strength, we look likely to go up so that's good enough for him. We should have been looking at strengthening not only for the promotion push but looking ahead and preparing for the PL. I understand that in the end Everton were reluctant to sell McCarthy and Palace were asking for more than was originally thought however well run clubs aren't tunnel visioned in their targets as NUFC seems to be. Players that would have improved us moved around, Villa getting a couple of them. I know Hogan and Hourihane wouldn't be most peoples first choices but the fact is they would improve upon players like Colback (and probably the AMC position which honestly we don't have anyone that can play it properly), if we carry on ignoring players because (the club assumes) they wont be class in the PL we're going to end up with Jack fucking Colback getting 20+ PL games (if we make it back of course). I still think we have enough to scrape through and gain automatic promotion, especially once Gayle is back. The issues are that the club has yet again ignored a chance to buy from a less desperate position, which means buying more in the summer and having possible settling in issues at a riskier time, which all have potentially helped force at least one foot out the door of the best manager the club has had since Robson. Despite being in a similar position, table and points wise, to the 09/10 season I think it's fair to say it's a little shakier, so again while I think we'll go up I don't see peoples fears as unwarranted. We had improved a lot in the Jan window (as Alex and AH mentioned in another thread), we had more ability all over the field and weren't so reliant on 1 or 2 players being available, and we also had a far stronger looking defence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essembeeofsunderland 811 Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Aye it seems it's another case of refusing to spend when in a position of strength, we look likely to go up so that's good enough for him. We should have been looking at strengthening not only for the promotion push but looking ahead and preparing for the PL. I understand that in the end Everton were reluctant to sell McCarthy and Palace were asking for more than was originally thought however well run clubs aren't tunnel visioned in their targets as NUFC seems to be. Players that would have improved us moved around, Villa getting a couple of them. I know Hogan and Hourihane wouldn't be most peoples first choices but the fact is they would improve upon players like Colback (and probably the AMC position which honestly we don't have anyone that can play it properly), if we carry on ignoring players because (the club assumes) they wont be class in the PL we're going to end up with Jack fucking Colback getting 20+ PL games (if we make it back of course). I still think we have enough to scrape through and gain automatic promotion, especially once Gayle is back. The issues are that the club has yet again ignored a chance to buy from a less desperate position, which means buying more in the summer and having possible settling in issues at a riskier time, which all have potentially helped force at least one foot out the door of the best manager the club has had since Robson. Despite being in a similar position, table and points wise, to the 09/10 season I think it's fair to say it's a little shakier, so again while I think we'll go up I don't see peoples fears as unwarranted. We had improved a lot in the Jan window (as Alex and AH mentioned in another thread), we had more ability all over the field and weren't so reliant on 1 or 2 players being available, and we also had a far stronger looking defence. Good post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howmanheyman 33196 Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 You've made it, Howay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobos 298 Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 Miserable negative old bastard I may be - but I'm worried that behind the scenes Ashley's fucking us again. Worried given Rafa's earlier windows, the stories in the mirror and the fact we've basically brought no one in - at a time when it would be ideal to start getting our Premership XI built , and bringing people into the team . Do I win a prize for predicting the future? I can smell Ashley and it's not good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 30610 Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 You literally quoted a post from two days ago. You ain't Nostradamus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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