Winter Transfer Missed Opportunities and Regrets

[IBK]

They’ve got Palace tomorrow night.

Not sure why we’re not playing Everton, as I believe they’re the fixtures that were postponed when the Queen died.

Ah yes - forgot this...with us not having a midweek game. Alas Palace aren't very good at present...

[selassie]

Yes I was intrigued by this. I understand that Arsenal 'leaked' the news, so trying to understand why this potentially helps this potetial transfer...

Yeah if we leaked it then we are probably playing games with Chelsea. I personally can't see us pulling off the Rice transfer, I think he is a too good a player for any of our top 4 rivals to ignore if he does become available, we certainly won't get a free run at him. He will go for big money too, regardless of his contract situation. Can't see how we would get involved.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Just my opinion of course but I think many people can credibly accuse you of panicking, I’d go as far as to say that since Saturday you’ve been figuratively spraying molten effluence in all directions.

Its your opinion. The same way my opinion is that you and your ilk have a serious case of "small club syndrome" and are one of the numerous enablers that have allowed this club to sink to such a rut; I mean its so bad that you are struggling to even fathom a title push after almost half the season gone!! In the good old days even when we were 9 points behind at this stage, most of fandom never gave up. Anyway....it is what it is.

Do we need squad strengthening? Yes

Is January ever a good time to do it? No, January is for sticking plasters. So for me it’s far more logical to be annoyed with what the club didn’t do in the Summer. I’m not even convinced the January transfer window should exist aside from emergency loans or free transfers…it seems completely for the benefit of keeping Jim White in work.

Where do I start on this?

The funny thing about every single assertion you have made so far is you have put no evidence to support it. To think I am the one accused of acting like a woman, despite all your arguments being based on your "feelings" and safe repetitive balderdash that you re-echo from major posters on this forum. I could waste my time listing the Anelkas, Arshavins and Aubas we have signed in January, but you will still go back to your default groupthink.

The thing is you admit, like I do, that we didn't do enough in the summer to cover our weak spots. So what's wrong in having and taking advantage of a chance to correct it for the other half of the season? You even admit that we haven't won the league because we have half of our games to go, surely that suggests that putting in maximum effort to ensure your other half of the season goes well can't be a bad thing. Especially when its clear rivals are also making good use of it to address their inadequacies. Or is the whole world mad and we are the only ones who are sane?

I suggest sometimes we take a break and think "independently" about things. The idea of a place like this should be for us to exchange ideas and not just reverberate the company stance while patting ourselves on the back.

Is losing out on Mudryk to Chelsea disappointing? Yes


Is signing someone like Raphinia or Trossard…the equivalent of banging the ugly girl next door because the one you were really after ended up shagging your nemesis ? Also yes. Might feel good at the time, but has no real benefit and if she ends up pregnant you’re completely fucked.

Again, like I've said over and over again, I'm not fully convinced we need another winger, so you won't get much of an argument from me on this.

4th is not done till it’s done. We lost seven games in the period between January and May last year if you don’t think that many defeats would a) not happen b) not seriously imperil us getting in the top 4…I don’t know what to tell you. That’s not panic, you may think it negative I see it as cold hearted pragmatism to explore the worst case scenario.

Yeah I do think there is a possibility of us not making 4th, it involves Partey breaking his leg in February and not having adequate backup

[Mac76]

Yes I was intrigued by this. I understand that Arsenal 'leaked' the news, so trying to understand why this potentially helps this potetial transfer...

maybe they're trying to alleviate fans' disappointment at missing our on Mudryk and even perhaps trying to prepare them for our not signign anyone in January.

this article sums up our position fairly well: https://www.theguardian.com/football...stick-or-twist

It's always going to be a subjective question and while i get the point about nto overpaying or getting people who distrupt the squad, equally we'll be kickingn ourselves if we end of being a player or two short when we needed them.


The Newcastle game showed what happens when Plan A isn't working - we had next to no-one to bring on to change the game.

So i still think if we coudl get one or two decent players to fill gaps and add a bit of variation, even if just on loan so it's not a long-term commitment, it would be very worthwhile and insure us against injury and fatigue.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

I actually agree with a lot of what you're saying here. But like HCZ my view is that if there is a criticism to make over our transfer business it is more pertinent to look at last Summer rather than this January - which tends to be a transfer season for panic buys rather than proper squad planning. I think the truth is that back in the Summer, the club was not expecting to be in a title race. The real disappointment of Mudryk was that he did not fit into the panic buy category, but did we bungle this? I don't really think so. At this point the 'bungle' won't be failing to break the bank on a largely untested player, it will be not having a Plan B to strengthen the squad sensibly to at least try to capitalise on where we find ourselves. I'll reserve judgment on this point until the end of the window.

Let me make this clear, I wanted Mudryk because I believed in the club's assessment that he is an exceptional player and could take us further for years to come.

Not once did I indicate that the Mudryk signing meant we would win the league or he would be able to play every position on the field including Partey's.

However, the unusual deal for a soon to be world class player, suggested to me that my club was ready to push on, and leave their comfort zone and do what it takes to mix with the big boys "PERMANENTLY". Buying talented players you don't seem to need now is what big clubs have done for ages and evidence shows it does workout. Lets not forget the reality that 2 of our star wingers have just one year left in the club and we are struggling to get them to extend.

Anyway, thats what Mudryk meant and the manner by which he went to a direct rival only makes the annoyance worse.

But back to what we all agree on, our squad is wafer thin and IMO one injury away from being totally average. Strengthening the squad with every opportunity we get is a no brainer and I struggle to see what exactly there is to argue about on this fact.

[IBK]

maybe they're trying to alleviate fans' disappointment at missing our on Mudryk and even perhaps trying to prepare them for our not signign anyone in January.

this article sums up our position fairly well: https://www.theguardian.com/football...stick-or-twist

It's always going to be a subjective question and while i get the point about nto overpaying or getting people who distrupt the squad, equally we'll be kickingn ourselves if we end of being a player or two short when we needed them.


The Newcastle game showed what happens when Plan A isn't working - we had next to no-one to bring on to change the game.

So i still think if we coudl get one or two decent players to fill gaps and add a bit of variation, even if just on loan so it's not a long-term commitment, it would be very worthwhile and insure us against injury and fatigue.

Really good article

My hunch is that we will bring someone in. My concern is that this will be a deviation from our long term plans. Should the club act to appease the manager and avoid accusations that no attempt was made after Mudryk to try to capitalise on our current league position? I'd say yes - but only for teh right player. It remains to be seen whether he is out there and available.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

maybe they're trying to alleviate fans' disappointment at missing our on Mudryk and even perhaps trying to prepare them for our not signign anyone in January.

this article sums up our position fairly well: https://www.theguardian.com/football...stick-or-twist

It's always going to be a subjective question and while i get the point about nto overpaying or getting people who distrupt the squad, equally we'll be kickingn ourselves if we end of being a player or two short when we needed them.


The Newcastle game showed what happens when Plan A isn't working - we had next to no-one to bring on to change the game.

So i still think if we coudl get one or two decent players to fill gaps and add a bit of variation, even if just on loan so it's not a long-term commitment, it would be very worthwhile and insure us against injury and fatigue.

Yup, I remember saying/thinking during the game, that with the squad we had, even if we played Newcastle for an extra 90mins, we still wouldn't score.

Got to agree with your post.

[IBK]

Let me make this clear, I wanted Mudryk because I believed in the club's assessment that he is an exceptional player and could take us further for years to come.

Not once did I indicate that the Mudryk signing meant we would win the league or he would be able to play every position on the field including Partey's.

However, the unusual deal for a soon to be world class player, suggested to me that my club was ready to push on, and leave their comfort zone and do what it takes to mix with the big boys "PERMANENTLY". Buying talented players you don't seem to need now is what big clubs have done for ages and evidence shows it does workout. Lets not forget the reality that 2 of our star wingers have just one year left in the club and we are struggling to get them to extend.

Anyway, thats what Mudryk meant and the manner by which he went to a direct rival only makes the annoyance worse.

But back to what we all agree on, our squad is wafer thin and IMO one injury away from being totally average. Strengthening the squad with every opportunity we get is a no brainer and I struggle to see what exactly their is to argue about on this fact.

I didn't suggest that you guaranteed that Mudryk would win us the league, merely warned against the risks of a (fan - not your) mindset that signings guarantee success, and referenced these in seeing the Mudryk disppointment in context. FWIW I agree 100% with your position that Mudryk was far more than a panic buy- which I agree makes our failure to land him deflating. Still feel that this from the Guardian article sums things up well and tempers the suggestion that we bungled the deal, though.

It was another example of the clanging nuisance Todd Boehly and company have made of themselves in the market: they have shaken things up to their liking, in the short term at least, but Arsenal are among those who would rather avoid being dragged into the maelstrom. After all it is currently their modus operandi, not that of Chelsea’s new regime, bringing results.

Like I say, I support strenghtening the squad now - but only if the player is right and fits our longer term plans...

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

I didn't suggest that you guaranteed that Mudryk would win us the league, merely warned against the risks of a (fan - not your) mindset that signings guarantee success, and referenced these in seeing the Mudryk disppointment in context. FWIW I agree 100% with your position that Mudryk was far more than a panic buy- which I agree makes our failure to land him deflating. Still feel that this from the Guardian article sums things up well and tempers the suggestion that we bungled the deal, though.

It was another example of the clanging nuisance Todd Boehly and company have made of themselves in the market: they have shaken things up to their liking, in the short term at least, but Arsenal are among those who would rather avoid being dragged into the maelstrom. After all it is currently their modus operandi, not that of Chelsea’s new regime, bringing results.

Like I say, I support strenghtening the squad now - but only if the player is right and fits our longer term plans...

Yeah I read the Guardian article, nice but says pretty much what we've been saying on here already....in fact I could accuse the guy of being on Gweb.

From what you've said, my disagreement with you is that I wont change my stance that we messed up the Mudryk deal (seeing as I called out our dithering even before it became fatal).

Also like Mac76 pointed out, I don't think all our signings have to be about thinking about the long term...I support anything that strengthens the squad now (loans, recalls, whatever). It should be clear to all that we tried our darndest to get over the line this season.

Some people are petrified of getting egg all over their face, I'm not one.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Really good to read..though probably more ammo for those who might not want to strengthen the squad
https://www.goal.com/en-ng/news/arse...730db706a9f6a5