Shukes Posted July 22, 2021 Report Share Posted July 22, 2021 Good signing. A player with a point to prove, paced, direct and has a trick or two. Let’s not forget that he will have a very willing player in the box to get on the end of crosses. Hafnia 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuffRob Posted July 23, 2021 Report Share Posted July 23, 2021 I think we are definitely seeing a realignment in this squad at the moment. Could almost say Gray is a straight swap for Bernard and Townsend for Walcott (who maybe we actually could have done with last season). Halved the wages, but still have two player who will most likely be just as effected as the players they replaced (but perhaps more so). I think the players coming in will definitely be hungrier. Neither of these player are likely to elevate us to CL, but the two they replaced where not doing that either. I know we need better players than 'mid table' ones if we want to improved, but the reality of FFP is I don't think the club have any option but to have a frugal season (or two) and balance the books. These are the rules of footballs governing bodies now, and there is no getting away from it. We just don't have the 'revenues' that allow us to buy big season after season. We have had two seasons of massive loses, the balancing needed over 3 seasons comes home to roost this year. It does not matter that we have owners that are willing swallow these loses- its just not allowed now. This season might just have to be a 'pause' on trying to spend our way in to the upper echelons. The club win have to demonstrate this season it is at least trying to conform to FFP rules. So in this climate, Gray is a decent enough signing as maybe a replacement for Bernard.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hafnia Posted July 23, 2021 Report Share Posted July 23, 2021 13 hours ago, Bailey said: It doesnt matter of the player costs us a tenner or £100mil. All that matters is what happens on the pitch. If you want a squad full of players costing less than £2mil you should watch more of league 2. Schmichael £1.25m Simpson £2m Fuchs - free Morgan - £1m Huth £3m Kante £5.6m Drinkwater £0.675m Mahrez £0.4m Albrighton free Vardy £1m They did ok didn't they? No-one is saying that buying cheap is the model for success - but buying players with talent with something to prove is. Btay, Goodison Glory, Palfy and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palfy Posted July 23, 2021 Report Share Posted July 23, 2021 1 hour ago, Hafnia said: Schmichael £1.25m Simpson £2m Fuchs - free Morgan - £1m Huth £3m Kante £5.6m Drinkwater £0.675m Mahrez £0.4m Albrighton free Vardy £1m They did ok didn't they? No-one is saying that buying cheap is the model for success - but buying players with talent with something to prove is. I quite like that, but let’s wait and see what Gray and Townsend have to offer if anything before we get entrenched in battles of their worth to the squad, personally I think Brands and Co aren’t sure what we are going to get very much a gamble how calculated we will have to wait and see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hafnia Posted July 23, 2021 Report Share Posted July 23, 2021 25 minutes ago, Palfy said: I quite like that, but let’s wait and see what Gray and Townsend have to offer if anything before we get entrenched in battles of their worth to the squad, personally I think Brands and Co aren’t sure what we are going to get very much a gamble how calculated we will have to wait and see. That's my whole take on it. If Rafa and brands have identified them as being players to offer us something we need. Which quite evidently is width and pace then we need to see how they do. Lets be honest at a total cost of £1.6m and the combined wage of less than what Bernard is probably on it represents very low risk. Matt and London Blue 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romey 1878 Posted July 23, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2021 51 minutes ago, Hafnia said: That's my whole take on it. If Rafa and brands have identified them as being players to offer us something we need. Which quite evidently is width and pace then we need to see how they do. Lets be honest at a total cost of £1.6m and the combined wage of less than what Bernard is probably on it represents very low risk. It just feels like we’re replacing deadwood with deadwood, just cheaper. Not necessarily a bad thing but I expected more progression this summer. Like I’ve said, though, if these signings aren’t the sum of our transfer window and we do supplement with one or two quality signings then they won’t feel so disappointing. Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bailey Posted July 23, 2021 Report Share Posted July 23, 2021 3 hours ago, Hafnia said: Schmichael £1.25m Simpson £2m Fuchs - free Morgan - £1m Huth £3m Kante £5.6m Drinkwater £0.675m Mahrez £0.4m Albrighton free Vardy £1m They did ok didn't they? No-one is saying that buying cheap is the model for success - but buying players with talent with something to prove is. I can make you a list of a lot of other players that cost less than £2mil and aren't at this level as well though and plenty of them have a point to prove too. You are going around the houses again instead of addressing the point. The question is over talent. Price tag doesn't really matter. There is no doubt that financially this is a good deal in that Gray is worth more in today's market. I talked about the opposite in the Lingard thread about where his value is and from that point of view signings like this are better because no matter what happens, the player will be worth more and he will still have years ahead of him. I should point out that they paid around £2mil for him as well and he went there with a point to prove. How did that work out? The problem is, I just don't think he is a particularly good footballer. Rodgers couldn't improve him and Leverkusen stopped playing him pretty quickly. I have watched some videos of him and he looks brilliant for the U21's but you see the space and time he has. You then watch the clips for Leicester and not only are there not a lot of impressive ones, they mainly show him running into dead alleys and making poor decisions. He has good acceleration and he can dribble, but I am not sure he beats too many defenders at this level with those skills and the rest of his game is below average in the league. There has been a lot of talk made out that Dom will love him because he will get crosses in but I think he is unpredictable and not a good crosser of the ball. Dom will be timing his run to expect the ball in and I can see Gray trying to take a man on again. There is also a very good chance he plays on the left and cuts inside all the time, because he looks even worse on the right. Hopefully he proves me wrong and can show that he is a much better player than I think he is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palfy Posted July 23, 2021 Report Share Posted July 23, 2021 29 minutes ago, Bailey said: I can make you a list of a lot of other players that cost less than £2mil and aren't at this level as well though and plenty of them have a point to prove too. You are going around the houses again instead of addressing the point. The question is over talent. Price tag doesn't really matter. There is no doubt that financially this is a good deal in that Gray is worth more in today's market. I talked about the opposite in the Lingard thread about where his value is and from that point of view signings like this are better because no matter what happens, the player will be worth more and he will still have years ahead of him. I should point out that they paid around £2mil for him as well and he went there with a point to prove. How did that work out? The problem is, I just don't think he is a particularly good footballer. Rodgers couldn't improve him and Leverkusen stopped playing him pretty quickly. I have watched some videos of him and he looks brilliant for the U21's but you see the space and time he has. You then watch the clips for Leicester and not only are there not a lot of impressive ones, they mainly show him running into dead alleys and making poor decisions. He has good acceleration and he can dribble, but I am not sure he beats too many defenders at this level with those skills and the rest of his game is below average in the league. There has been a lot of talk made out that Dom will love him because he will get crosses in but I think he is unpredictable and not a good crosser of the ball. Dom will be timing his run to expect the ball in and I can see Gray trying to take a man on again. There is also a very good chance he plays on the left and cuts inside all the time, because he looks even worse on the right. Hopefully he proves me wrong and can show that he is a much better player than I think he is. I don’t think he will prove you wrong history is on your side, but we have to give him the opportunity and time to fit in and maybe some focused coaching from Benitez and we will see a decent player for not a lot of money. I think we will have to get used to bargain basement buys for a bit as we try to work within FFP rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hafnia Posted July 23, 2021 Report Share Posted July 23, 2021 1 hour ago, Bailey said: I can make you a list of a lot of other players that cost less than £2mil and aren't at this level as well though and plenty of them have a point to prove too. You are going around the houses again instead of addressing the point. The question is over talent. Price tag doesn't really matter. There is no doubt that financially this is a good deal in that Gray is worth more in today's market. I talked about the opposite in the Lingard thread about where his value is and from that point of view signings like this are better because no matter what happens, the player will be worth more and he will still have years ahead of him. I should point out that they paid around £2mil for him as well and he went there with a point to prove. How did that work out? The problem is, I just don't think he is a particularly good footballer. Rodgers couldn't improve him and Leverkusen stopped playing him pretty quickly. I have watched some videos of him and he looks brilliant for the U21's but you see the space and time he has. You then watch the clips for Leicester and not only are there not a lot of impressive ones, they mainly show him running into dead alleys and making poor decisions. He has good acceleration and he can dribble, but I am not sure he beats too many defenders at this level with those skills and the rest of his game is below average in the league. There has been a lot of talk made out that Dom will love him because he will get crosses in but I think he is unpredictable and not a good crosser of the ball. Dom will be timing his run to expect the ball in and I can see Gray trying to take a man on again. There is also a very good chance he plays on the left and cuts inside all the time, because he looks even worse on the right. Hopefully he proves me wrong and can show that he is a much better player than I think he is. Not going around any houses. You say £2m is league one or two....... It's not and so many broad generalisations are being made You haven't even seen these lads in a blue shirt yet .... But you have been talking them down as if they are going to be shite No one knows!!!! Not even you All we have is positivity in the sense that we are signing value players with attributes that are massively missing You can say I told you so if they turn out to be crap but like Palfy said you are using history to predict their impact under a manager who knows what he wants. So. .. in short,let's see eh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwlad Posted July 23, 2021 Report Share Posted July 23, 2021 2 hours ago, Palfy said: I don’t think he will prove you wrong history is on your side, but we have to give him the opportunity and time to fit in and maybe some focused coaching from Benitez and we will see a decent player for not a lot of money. I think we will have to get used to bargain basement buys for a bit as we try to work within FFP rules. Not forgetting we are a mid-table side, hardly attractive to top players who also expect European competition. We really have to prove ourselves this season or twelve months down the line it will be, same old. Hopefully the new faces will be keen to do just that. Matt, chicagoblue and Palfy 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bailey Posted July 23, 2021 Report Share Posted July 23, 2021 7 hours ago, Hafnia said: Not going around any houses. You say £2m is league one or two....... It's not and so many broad generalisations are being made You haven't even seen these lads in a blue shirt yet .... But you have been talking them down as if they are going to be shite No one knows!!!! Not even you All we have is positivity in the sense that we are signing value players with attributes that are massively missing You can say I told you so if they turn out to be crap but like Palfy said you are using history to predict their impact under a manager who knows what he wants. So. .. in short,let's see eh. Footballers just don't change stripes overnight. I don't need to see them play in an Everton shirt to find out what they are good at otherwise what would be the point in having a scouting department! You say the attributes are missing but we already have Iwobi to run down blind alleys and spoon a cross over the bar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncanmckenzieismagic Posted July 26, 2021 Report Share Posted July 26, 2021 Was interesting to see him play just behind the striker last night instead of on the wing, looked decent tbf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romey 1878 Posted August 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2021 Tired quite badly in the second half, but I really liked what I saw from him. London Blue, dunlopp9987 and c1982 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c1982 Posted August 14, 2021 Report Share Posted August 14, 2021 2 hours ago, Romey 1878 said: Tired quite badly in the second half, but I really liked what I saw from him. I agree - think we still need a ‘stand-out’ first choice winger but Gray (and Townsend) could prove to be really handy additions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibdane Posted August 14, 2021 Report Share Posted August 14, 2021 I saw a few plays where I thought he had some clever link-up. He has a high ceiling, but maybe also a low floor. Time will tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Btay Posted August 14, 2021 Report Share Posted August 14, 2021 Thought he put some really dangerous balls in. Will take a few games for the connection between the guys up too but it’s refreshing to see someone receive the ball out wide and back themselves. Haven’t had that since Gerry. StevO and Matt 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shukes Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 Early days. But sounding like an astute piece for business so far. If nothing else, the lad is going to be exciting to watch. MC11, London Blue and dunlopp9987 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC11 Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 Great business if he can stay focused and perform like that week in week out. Sibdane 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palfy Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 A great finish to day from a very acute angle if he would have went for the near post instead of the harder shot of across the goal it would have definitely been saved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
London Blue Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 He is showing the talent we knew he had when he was a Leicester, he looks more mature and determined. He gives us width and pace, I think he will be one of the signings of the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bailey Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 Very happy to eat my words with this fella. It is very early days and he started like this in Germany before falling off a cliff but he definitely adds a new dimension to our attack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palfy Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 He’s been better than I expected but let’s give him 10 or 12 games and see how consistent he can be. We don’t want to big him up to soon then be discussing let’s give him a fair crack at the whip. Sibdane and Bailey 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Formby Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 Posted February 3, 2019 Still think Demarai Gray would be a good signing. He has quicksilver feet. Only 22. Impressed me every time I have seen him. No idea how to quote one topic into another (it was in General Weekend/Midweek Football) but glad my impressions weren't wrong. What a super footballer - pace to burn, great balance, great feet. So glad we picked him up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo 2.0 Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 Click the "+" next to the post that you want to quote and when you next go to make a post it'll quote as if you were doing it normally . @Formby Matt, Formby and MikeO 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Btay Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 He has a simple game. Get the ball, burn his man and looks for a shot or cross. The amount of balls he is whipping into the box is unreal. Looking like a great asset. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwlad Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 1 hour ago, Bailey said: Very happy to eat my words with this fella. It is very early days and he started like this in Germany before falling off a cliff but he definitely adds a new dimension to our attack. Bags of confidence, he's got Rafa on his side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romey 1878 Posted August 22, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2021 He had a cracking game, was the one most likely to make anything happen for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Formby Posted August 22, 2021 Report Share Posted August 22, 2021 10 hours ago, Zoo 2.0 said: Click the "+" next to the post that you want to quote and when you next go to make a post it'll quote as if you were doing it normally . @Formby Thanks, @Zoo 2.0! Zoo 2.0 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidan Posted August 22, 2021 Report Share Posted August 22, 2021 He looked really good on MoTD and interestingly had the highest pass accuracy out of all the players who started the game, suggesting he didn't often waste possession. Be interesting to see if he can keep this form up. He's come here as a kind of "make or break" signing, so has a lot to prove. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryj Posted August 22, 2021 Report Share Posted August 22, 2021 On 23/07/2021 at 10:57, Hafnia said: Schmichael £1.25m Simpson £2m Fuchs - free Morgan - £1m Huth £3m Kante £5.6m Drinkwater £0.675m Mahrez £0.4m Albrighton free Vardy £1m They did ok didn't they? No-one is saying that buying cheap is the model for success - but buying players with talent with something to prove is. How could you forget our very own captain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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