Perhaps you should have refused to play, mate, that seems to be the done thing now

One to revisit in Jan perhaps?

Looks as though he would have been a good one to get in

There was time to get the deal done but M.A. panicked and bought Furling instead.

A 'come and get me' plea if I've ever I've heard one.

See you in January.

tetchris if this did indeed cause M.A. to panic and buy Furling instead...then thank goodness. Not only do we not have at least 1 expensive recruit agitating on the bench, not only does Elkin get a shot at some 1st Team football which is important for him and the optics on the Academy, but also because I believe Furlong may prove to be a pivotal signing.

Furlong gives us true balance at RB, will play the position in the way KMcK always wants the role played, will be 7/8 out of 10 every week, and with natural balance/pace/power will open things up to allow our forward players (incl Leif) to to the damage they have failed to inflict so far this season with (e.g.) Johnson clogging things up down the Right. Wait and see ! He will also improve us in the air in both boxes by the way.

Seem to pair new signings with either people they played with or nationality / language. I think outside of his footballing ability, he would give Nunez someone to communicate fluently with.

Lets see what happens in January

If we do go back for him in January, then MA will give them a masterclass and knock the price down even further, as by then Caceres will be wanting out.
Plenty of other options in the team & Baggott more than capable and Furlong.
Feel a bit sorry for Caceres though.

i hear azon's spanish is pretty good (as is pert's apparently), so nunez should be fine on the language front!

I bet we go back in the Jan window for him

Tetchris. Try getting ur facts right. The Furlong deal jad nothing to do with this one. We signed Furlong as competition for full back, tho yes, he,can play cb as well. And we were still in for Carceres after Furlong signed.

Samwhite, I think he's probably more professional than someone no longer with us.

@Cadiar seems like this refusing to play nonsense is only prevalent in England. Egeli knew of our offer and interest but continued to play for Nordsjælland all the way until he officially signed for us

Cadiar. He was probably acting on instructions from his " agent " so as to not put the fees at risk. Agents are the biggest load of scumbags in sport and cause these type of issues.

Needs to serve his time at WBA first like everyone else .., can’t be skipping the queue.

We all know the final piece of the jigsaw. Announce Kyle Bartley.

Blues1 - you seem very close the the micro detail out our deals?

Whats the scoop, you’re an agent? Mark Ashtons gardener?

I’m not as close to Mark as you are so have to rely on sources much closer than me.., Phil laid it out in basic English…, we wouldn’t pay £5 million because they took a bit too long, so signed another WBA defender instead, who can cover. We have four players who go can play centre back who are experienced. Kipre is right footed. Could play there if required.

So signing FOURTh right back for the squad, does seem highly unlikely for one position, unless he could play centre back too. Young, Johnson, Clarke and Furlong all for one position…, are you sure.

I know we haven’t been very good at squad building, we seem unbalanced, in quite a few areas…, but even for us that would be a bit much.

Furlong was signed and this lad jetisoned precisely because furlong is versatile - so we did buy another WBA defender instead.

£5 million .., Wolf wasn’t even on our balance sheet…, a four year contract and he costs us £1.25 million year one on our P&L .., a lot less than a fourth right back.

So no…., he won’t be coming in January.

The reasons we didn’t prioritise a deal that (financially) was SO easy to do, still exist.

Clearly we weren’t convinced in footballing terms…., suspect he’d want to play he’s an Uruguay regular in a World Cup year for gods sake.

What were we even thinking? Muddy strategy, no vision or planning.

Make O’Shea captain and then drop him?

I hate your plan? …, sign a player likely better than OShea and put him on the bench.

Have you ever visited Uruguay?

You wouldn’t want a really unhappy South American on your bench…., that you made lots of promises to, that you didn’t keep.

And OShea not getting a game as team captain makes no sense.

Better to sign an easy ‘address book’ option from WBA.

It’s 100% muddy thinking. He’s no squad player. He’s too good.

Furlong. He’s not too good!

What a strategy…, genius isn’t it, elite, visionary.

Anyway. You know best…, you always do. Don’t know why Phil bothers, you should write the articles.

PortmanTerrorist - we shouldn’t sign players in case they’re too good?

Sounds like a recipe to be elite for sure.

We should sign players from WBA, we already know aren’t elite. So no to upset our first 11.

I mean…, it’s doesn’t sound a great strategy. And not knocking Furlong, he’s better than Johnson, defending at least, who costs a fortune. Probably not better than Young.

He certainly isn’t elite though, never will be able to play at a level above this.

Sigh. Yeah. The sad thing is inthink you’re right.

We didn’t sign an Uruguay regular international in case he’s too good.

Why were we even looking at him then?

Our vision and planning does seem to be based around panic.

That’s what the evidence suggests .., if you say so…, and your as emotionally attached to Ashton as anyone, you can’t state him form your self esteem.

Chase a bargain international player…, didn’t sign him because the club take a week to decide - sign a player with half the quality, after that date.

The definition of panic and not trusting your own talent ID.

The finances were easy.

So it’s football reasons…, he’s too good isn’t it, he wants to play, he’s a World Cup side to get in.

And we can’t have someone better than OShea - it does look that way.

Furlong is fine…, he’s not great, no threat.

Genius. Elite. Visionary. Well planned.

I hate the opposite. THAT.

For gods sake wake up. This is REALLY poor strategically, a mess.

And no that doesn’t make Futlong a terrible signing or bad player, it’s just not what elite clubs do.

You’re SO happy with confused mediocrity, you really have zero aspiration for our club, you and the nodding dogs.

About 15 of you who couldn’t spell elite.

Leaving an offer and delaying a week is a common negotiation tactic. I guess we were tired of waiting and didn't want to risk non-completion before the deadline,.implying the selling club is difficult to work with.