Aidan

Just now, Matt said:

Do you know what depression is? 

Absolutely

Glad to hear he's alright

15 hours ago, Matt said:

It actually very much is

Yeah to be fair if I tipped up in a Bentley and ridiculous clothing on my first day at work and then gave absolutely nothing to my employer, everyone would sympathise with me.

I don't want to sound brutal, but dele appeared to not give two shits when he signed with us. Its possible to struggle with mental health and still at least pretend you care about something.

Regardless of the rumours about his mental health, he has a poor attitude.

Was thinking the same thing today. Hope all is well still, he's a big loss to TT

23 hours ago, Hoof_It_Nev said:

the club don't even truly know 100% how much they have to spend...

I hope this isn't the case because it will mean the board aren't confident that we haven't breached FFP.

Happy with that provided that Patterson kicks on and manages to stay fit. I'm not sure he has 28 games in him this season. Hopefully we are looking at one or two more fullbacks.

As much as I hope Dele is okay, mental health isn't an excuse for a poor attitude. I wonder if anyone will risk a loan move this window for him, because for sure nobody is offering him a contract.

Another season patiently waiting for more player's contracts to expire.

Iwobi is obviously one of the better players in our squad, and he also isn't very good. Can we just settle on that?

There must be someone on a free on similar wages we can replace him with. He's one of those nothing players that doesn't excel in any particular area, and has a few average attributes. Disappointed if he does sign a new deal. Need to move on for the sake of his own career too.

18 minutes ago, Palfy said:

He was an initial payment of 35 million with 15 million in add in’s which I am assuming were met. 

I'd be interested to see how add-ons are actually structured. Who knows if the bulk of the £15m are appearance and goal based, or if it's the club reaching targets such as European football, or winning/reaching a domestic cup final etc.

Who knows if it even is £15m.

6 hours ago, plaidharper said:

Wish we could move him on but can't really see anyone coming in for him...  Why would they? Sadly probably another one that sits around running down his contract.  

We have to hope that there are clubs out there ran as incompetently as ours is.

I can't believe he's 26. Why did I think he was about 23?

Didn't he play there for Carlo a couple of times? I might be wrong but I'm sure he's played there before.

Read today on Twitter that we are apparently looking for a CF, wingers and full back, with CB in the balance, think the source was the athletic.

I don't think Iwobi has been as bad as before the performances he gave in the first half of the season. I think it's unfair to say he's been that bad under Dyche.

I wouldn't be opposed to selling him, but I doubt anyone will be interested paying his wages.

He's a good player to have in the team, and will add some depth next season. 

I guess we have to sign him, we aren't going to get better value for money and need a few players through the door this summer.

To be fair, he was very sturdy at the beginning of the season and isn't a bad option to have. I hope we will be replacing Mina with a strong CB who can start alongside Tarks, but I doubt it.

I wonder why, I mean I'm not complaining. Maybe he prefers facing more shots? Maybe he loves the club and wants to see us improve?

Either way, the fact he's just signed a new deal, doesn't want to go and we won't want to sell him, means if he was to leave there would be a lot of £££ involved.

1 hour ago, Gwlad all over said:

Big spending clubs to whom 60mil is small change.

Surly there are more valuable players to big clubs out there at £60m. I know it's not unheard of, like Gordon to Newcastle, but I just can't see it.

3 hours ago, Zoo 2.0 said:

Pretty sure I saw reports of £60-70m for Onana which would be too much to turn down for me.

Sure if he commands that fee, I suppose everyone has their price, but what's the likelihood of someone spending that amount on him? I think he needs another season of development at least, for that kind of money.

19 minutes ago, Romey 1878 said:

I'm just fondly remembering him charging in to protect his keeper and chesting that red shite arse wipe well away. The best part about it was the huge smile on his face as he did, he loves a confrontation!

When they had a player down injured, he had his hand around the back of his neck which looked quite intimidating, but it looked as if he was doing a bit of a welfare check, as if to say "are you okay, yeah? stop fucking about and get on with it then". Worth his weight in gold is Tarks.

And I believe he's played every minute this season. Time to find him a partner. Think he is the best CB we've had since Jags.

1 hour ago, Zoo 2.0 said:

In squad number order (Keep):

Goalkeepers: Pickford, Begovic, Lonergan

Defenders: Tarkowski, Patterson, Godfrey, Coady 

Midfielders: McNeil, Gray, Doucoure, Iwobi, Gueye, Garner

Strikers: DCL

In squad number order (Sell/Release):

Holgate - Not good enough, horrendous attitude.

Keane - Actually stepped up to the plate under Dyche but is still below the standard we need. Makes me nervous as he's always on the cusp of dropping a clanger.

Onana - I'm actually a fan of him, which I know puts me in the minority. For the amount of money that's being talked about I'd let him go though as it would go a long way to replacing the amount of dross I want us to move on.

Mina - All the best you mad bastard.

Townsend - Not his fault that injuries have fucked up his season but I think he was on the verge of not being good enough for us before the knock. I don't think he'll come back and pull up any trees so would be happy to move on, even if that's us doing it on the cheap to free up wages.

Mykolenko - I really don't think he's good enough. Always looks nervous as fuck IMO and has a bit of a wobble in him defensively. Offers very little going forward too which is noticed more when we've been used to Baines and Digne doing just that - hoping we can convince someone on the continent to take him.

Maupay - One of the worst strikers we've ever had.

Coleman - Let him retire and move to the coaching staff if need be. Sentiment aside he's probably been past it for two years now and this latest injury won't have helped matters.

Davies - Shite.

Simms - Nothing against the lad, but if we can get a few quid from a Championship side to give us funds to sign an actual striker then I'll be happy seeing him go. I can't see him suddenly being ready to play 30 games next season which is exactly what we need. 

Keane I can understand, but I don't think we necessarily have to sell him.

Selling Onana, Simms and Mykolenko would just be silly, especially considering the numbers we need to bring in this summer and the fact that we just might not (a la the January window).

1 hour ago, Goodison Glory said:

I understand where you are coming from wanting experience and our financial constraints, but singings like Phil Jones are what got us into this situation.

I think we need to search the championship and hope a few of them hit. And we also need to hope our international network has improved - follow the Brighton model in unearthing talent. 
 

Thelwell - over to you. 

I think we need a mixture, and when I'm talking about experience I'm not necessarily talking about Phil Jones (although if he had a better injury record I would be open to him). I'd just like to see two or so experienced players come in and make sure that this season doesn't happen again.

2 hours ago, Goodison Glory said:

 you should add Branthwaite to the list. He's def coming back and not really a "kid" 

Good point, I hope he gets plenty of game time next season I really like him as a player.

Given Dom is fit, JWP would be a great asset to our squad IMO

1 hour ago, Btay said:

We’ve got to find 4/5 players at least and get those signings absolutely right.

I think we have to sign at least 6/7 players, ideally 9/10.