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Reply | So it’s Taylor and Matusiwa to start today and at Brum
at 11:09 2 Aug 2025
Like peeps above, surprised to read your first para; we're predicted 1st or 2nd in nearly all the content creators' write-ups I've come across. NTT20 released their 1-24 podcast last night: hopefully they make it 6 out of 7 seasons for correctly predicting the winner! pod.fo/e/307ea3 (Spotify link for those interested, will probs be released as a YouTube vid sometime this weekend)
Doubtless they have momentum and would imagine a vociferous crowd (always been quiet or standard in my three previous visits, didn't have the points for 23/24). Should be a tough opener for both.
Is Iwata expected to partner with Tommy Doyle? I wouldn't be confident claiming that bests Azor and Jack. Not long to find out. Agree it's our chief vulnerability, while Brum's overall striker package may also exceed ours. Give me Hirst over Stanfield any day mind. |
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Reply | Hackney
at 10:38 2 Aug 2025
Doesn't sound like one of mine 😂 |
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Reply | However well the club is run
at 10:13 2 Aug 2025
I would prefer Sunday morning emails to Sunday evening emails when it comes to the Monday morning sales windows. I was tasked with buying tickets for elderly SB members last season and missed a fair few boats for my sins. Friday emails, even better, but it is what it is! |
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Reply | Hackney
at 10:07 2 Aug 2025
He will have felt he graduated from the Championship last season. The only non-Leeds/Burnley player to earn the recognition of making Opta's team of the year, U21 Euros winner (even if in a smallish role and at 23 years old).. to be told he didn't at last make the grade would clearly be disappointing, and it would be understandable if he hasn't given up hope yet, especially if his agent continues to drip-feed him that hope.
We may be the safest vehicle to minimising the delay which he may have to suck up, 12 months stalled-ish in career if not earnings, but we'd then transition to a relegation favourite in 26/27. That could place him in Omari's position in two summers' time, with the prospect of Championship football again at the age of 25. Compared to the safer bosom of a Bournemouth (Alex Scott's path) or Palace (Wharton's), I can see why he hasn't scrambled for £35Kpw just yet.
On the brighter side, we offer brilliant McKenna-led coaching, great money, and a probable platform for bucketloads of PL minutes in the not-distant future.
From our perspective, I pray we're making serious progress with alternatives and find resolution soon. There will be several non-English Hackneys who could meet our key requirements for the price, I'm certain of that. Regrettably I don't know them by name just yet! 🤞 the club does. |
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Reply | Funny and sad how football changes so soon
at 18:50 1 Aug 2025
I would also put this down to how comfortable everyone is creating new threads lol. We seem to create anywhere between three and fifty threads on a single subject, which means more finger tapping for us all, stuff disappearing quickly and us mostly repeating each other. I recognise this is a cherished aspect of the forum tho! |
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Reply | I’m a pretty patient guy
at 18:32 1 Aug 2025
If the injury gods are kind this month then I'm optimistic we're in a good place to ride out August.
An energetic 20' from Ali with the potency we boast behind him, that doesn't test my blood pressure.
Taylor & Matusiwa is a respectable pairing. Hopefully at least one is match fit for 90', so we may only concede notable ground in this major area of the park towards the end of games (even better if one of the academy duo has taken a monster stride forward 🤞). All the positions encircling them are packed with strength and depth thankfully.
It's a precarious place to find oneself though no doubt! Two quick wickets next week would be lovely. |
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Reply | Hackney
at 15:43 1 Aug 2025
I wouldn't bet against this but dynamics were different in that case - a player determined to join us, battling very stubborn owners, and a transfer fee representing much less of the available pie at the time. Maybe we're comfortable spending the Hackney fee twice this month on CMs but I can see a world in which we're not, if things drag on too long to delay alternative options. |
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Reply | Ivan Azon....
at 15:27 1 Aug 2025
Funnily enough, one of the Como men keeping Ivan out of the team was suggested to me yesterday (by a friend with no relevant contacts) - Tasos Douvikas. Ivan joined in the same window, last winter, and hasn't received a kick yet which seems odd (has made the bench every game from what I can tell), but then Como are a mid-table outfit in a much better league than the Championship. And if he impressed enough in Spain Div 2 to be a Valencia target today, despite no appearances for his new club.. |
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Reply | ITK Rommers
at 12:15 31 Jul 2025
Anyone want some delap def info ? by The_Romford_Blue 26 Nov 2024 10:34The buyback situation is far better for us than we all thought.
It’s only that city have the first option to match any bids we receive. There’s no specific fee set for them to have him back on the cheap. It’s just that they can match whatever someone like Chelsea offer. They have a few days to react to the bid that we must disclose to them.
Found out on Sunday. Good news.
This was the one that caught me in the solar plexus but I'm backing Romford's man to be on the case this time around. Tbh the news doesn't feel a great deal further forward as I'm sure we all expect him to be passed fit. If Hackney's agreed a timescale by which he'll decide is what I'd love to know, is someone may find out please. |
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Reply | ITK Rommers
at 09:57 31 Jul 2025
Maybe (do wages help arrive at £25m? Believe transfer fee is £13m + potential £4m). If we go up next season, I think we should look to poach starters from the best clubs in the best leagues in the world, even if they're dipping into their 30s. A sprinkle of genuinely elite talent could make all the difference, even if they provide little resale value. Maybe we tried this in Phillips, just in reality we were loaning a player who struggled to get a kick for West Ham. |
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Reply | ITK Rommers
at 09:22 31 Jul 2025
Could well be the case - I haven't see half their overseas acquisitions play tbh, but I wonder if Xhaka has for him to take that leap of faith. I'd put both ahead personally because they're future parachute clubs at worst, while the rest of us inc. Burnley are missing the status to turn us into survival favourites in any opening PL season. We need our Rocky moment and then it would hopefully get much easier. |
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Reply | ITK Rommers
at 09:04 31 Jul 2025
Yes Sunderland and Leeds are definitely ahead imo. They were the two genuinely big clubs outside the PL. They have the support, stadium capacity and name recognition to instantly feel like they belong near the middle of that league. We didn't have the clout to pull off a Granit Xhaka transfer last summer, no shame in that. He was starting for the 2nd best team in Germany last year! We'll need to rely more heavily on our smarts to break through.
The Championship is now a sea of medium-sized clubs with varying recent success, pocketed by a couple of over-achievers and oddities (e.g. 3-stand Oxford and Ryan's Wrexham, no offence to those two). I count 7 or 8 current PL members who match that profile. |
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Reply | Wrexham closing in on Broadhead
at 08:42 31 Jul 2025
Amen - and he's been much more available than I feared he may be when we signed him (the glass knees picture painted by fans of his previous clubs), so if a Wrexham fan's reading this thread, it isn't something that would keep me awake at night.
Look forward to welcoming him home from the stands in November, as well as Kayden in August, Burge in February, Mass in March, Fridge in April, and I fear Woolf in ... based on the other thread. Will be the first time in my 20+ years following Town that ex players line up against who brought us genuine jubilation, and who moved on effectively because the club felt they'd outgrown them. |
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Reply | Sunderland spending this summer third highest in PL history…
at 23:58 30 Jul 2025
Curious. We spent £106.5m according to Transfermarkt, while Southampton reportedly spent £98.5m plus two undisclosed fees, for young players sent straight out on loan to an unheralded Turkish team. Perhaps Sky recorded our initial fees differently to other sources - recall Omari's reported fee varied from £18m-£22m on the main sites when it was announced.
The Philogene fee is where we meaningfully separated ourselves from 4th down in that table, but I didn't appreciate Sunderland are up to £135.8m already. They've spent £113.5m according to the aforementioned site, which must be behind on announcements.*
*Ah just noticed you mentioned add-ons. Our add-ons must have guaranteed us a place on the board! [Post edited 31 Jul 0:00]
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Reply | Woolfenden
at 22:40 30 Jul 2025
Agree with you there but equally I don't value Woolf at £0. 😉
Another I'd be gutted to see leave but it makes sense he'd want to, and that we'd consider it. Personally I think McKenna's preference is for aggressive, disruptive CBs, while Woolf's defending style to me is the opposite of that: to shepherd and contain threats. O'Shea and Greaves want to engage with ball/attacker as much as possible, with Greaves overcommitting himself quite often after his return from injury. |
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