IrishVilla10

2 minutes ago, duke313 said:

Zaniolo could do that short term.

Thats a big unknown though 

2 minutes ago, rubberman said:

We've found 7 goals in the last 2 PL matches without Watkins scoring. We have multiple different scoring outlets now. Obviously if he was injured it would be a big loss - he's an important first team starter - but we could set up to mitigate that even without any more forwards in.

The big thing for me though is Ollie is a lot more than goals and assists, hold up play, dropping deep to pull defenders, the one touch pass and turn from the ball from the centre backs , constant running etc adds so much to our front line. Drop Duran in there and expect him to do all that is asking a lot. 

2 minutes ago, villaglint said:

Think they will be thinking the same about Diaz, Nunez, Jota, Gakpo, Salah against Diego and Torres.

Torres obviously not the quickest and even Burnley managed to get clear through from simple through balls a couple of times. 

It’s going to be an interesting game for sure, Diaby and Ollie up against matip and Gomez could be a treat. Like you say though I thought at times against Burnley we were a bit shaky at the back and there’s not really much pace in our back three so if we’re going high line it needs to be perfect for 90 minutes 

1 hour ago, WallisFrizz said:

Yeah, Dougie would be the big worry.

I have zero worries about any of our midfielders leaving. Especially not Luiz or kamara. And tielemans ain’t going either

Can’t see him posting this if he was away

4 minutes ago, DJBOB said:

I only wish Mings was healthy as he might be the defender needed against teams when we're under the kosh, but in possession - Pau is pulling all of the strings.

Mings in the middle and his recovery speed would have complimented him very well imo, such a big loss 

Why is this man for sale?

3 minutes ago, bobzy said:

We have Watkins, Duran and Diaby (theoretically) for 1 position in the team.  That's fine, really.

With the amount of games we potentially have I don’t think it’s fine at all. We’re an injury away from struggling, if it’s Ollie then we’re dropping a full season of expectations on Duran. We need another 

24 minutes ago, BOF said:

I know it makes sense for all involved. Sometimes it's not about being rational as a football fan. I don't like this transfer. I know there's a buyback. I still don't like it. Best of luck but I hope to see you back here very soon. God damn it.

I’m the opposite I’m a big fan of the transfer. So much better for his development 

11 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

I will never complain at us buying a Mousa Diaby figure for loads of money. As long as they're not shit. It's easy to not buy shit players.

It would be great if we could supplement big buys with some well-researched cheaper buys that can contribute in the next 12-24 months.

Yes! Exactly like Duran!

I don’t think it’s as simple as that

6 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

Nah, just in general I don't think we cast the net wide enough and are pretty wasteful/lavish with our incredibly generous owners' funding.

Bolded bit. Since Lange and McKenzie arrived yeah? Yes please. I'd like to see that list and feel better about our recruitment.

Obviously I wouldn't include John McGinn from before they arrived, signed five years ago on a recommendation by Steve Bruce's mate. 

Or incredibly well-known international Mousa Diaby signed for £30-50m. Every team in the world knew about him.

Or incredibly well-known and now-international after Bouba Kamara signed for £0. Every team in the world knew about him.

You can include them all on your list if you like.

As I said, I'm hoping Monchi sorts us out in this regard.

Everyone wants to be Brighton though, why most teams don’t take a similar approach who knows, there was lots of talk about us looking at Alvarez before he went to city but who knows if that was the case. The problem is now as well it’s not as simple as picking up cheap young talent from abroad, that young winger palace just bought cost 26 million, Forrest paid 20 million for a defensive midfielder from the same league last season, Brighton are about to pay 20+ for a 19 year old from ligue 1 too. So that model is now becoming more expensive as well as having more risk involved  

You could name signings from every season we’ve spent back in the league in relation to what our goals were at the time and credit our scouting, apart from maybe the spending of the grealish money. 

3 minutes ago, Mic09 said:

Zaniolo is not untested - he is a european level attacker. Bailey has been our regular starter for the last 2 years. Duran is hardly tested, yet more tested than Archer or jpb. Coutinho played very well in both pre season and against everton before the injury. Traore has always provided an interesting option off the bench.

Sure, we could use one more - but JPB and Archer are not the answer, so selling them (and allowing salaries for a new signing) is the smart move. 

He’s a European level attacker with an extensive injury record who didn’t play a full 90 for galatasaray, and don’t take this as me hating on him I’m excited to see how he gets on. But there’s good reason to be sceptical about how he’s going to adapt to this league. I don’t rate Bailey but he’s obviously one of our better options. IMO Coutinho is finished physically and anyone’s mad to think he’s going to be a difference maker for us. 
And I’m not against the selling of archer and JPB, my point was I can’t see us finishing with signing a left back and maybe a right back if they both leave but I should have been more clear, apologies. 

2 minutes ago, Mic09 said:

In attack, we have Bailey, Diaby, Watkins, Zaniolo, Dhuran. And thats before you consider Coutinho or Traore.

Bailey, inconsistent and injury prone, Zaniolo completely untested and also rumoured to have a groin injury, Duran is completely untested, coutinho is finished at this level and Traore is also not up to standard and also gets injured constantly. So realistically we’ve two attackers who up until now are up to standard and stay fit. 

53 minutes ago, alreadyexists said:

I think we’ll see Acuña come in, Digne leave, and I think maybe an RB come in, but that’s it.

All in all as it stands a very good window in my opinion.

Diaby is doing to be some **** player this season!! 

If archer and JPB leave then we’re very light in attack, we’re already light there to be fair. Bailey and coutinho both suffer from injuries and it would mean we’re putting a lot of faith in Duran. Attacking wise our bench at the weekend was pretty desperate 

4 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

Yeah, there are definitely signings coming in and Unai and Monchi have covered it in their comments…

I just wonder if there’s one “top class addition” rather than players to fill gaps or provide competition/cover.

A signing that will elevate us even further…

We’ll just have to wait and see… not long left now…

I’d be shocked if we haven’t tried or are trying for felix

5 hours ago, Jas10 said:

Are we raising funds to make a statement signing to elevate the team… before the window closes?

Certainly feels like it…

I expect several additions but just feel like a real “big signing” is on the way…

to take us to that next level…

If we lose archer and JPB you’d assume we have signings coming in 

1 hour ago, Mic09 said:

Expected points by who? Yeah, we went on an incredible run, but that was consistent with new management arriving. So expectation must be that this form continues to some extent. 

https://x.com/xgphilosophy/status/1439998349474664453?s=46&t=sTGvjtf6_DViKOnngWTX0w thread from 2021 but explains it. We overachieved the most in terms of expected points that’s all. 

39 minutes ago, Pinebro said:

Played against the worst side in the league.

Looked comfortable on the ball but defensively far bigger tests to come.

Everton aren’t the worst side in the league to be fair. But great timing after last weekend and will be good for his confidence 

He’s done at this level 

There’s no chance he’s staying here surely 

13 minutes ago, zab6359 said:

Have to admit the jury is still out for me in this one, taking players on loan from the Turkish league who no one else seems to be chasing is not how I thought this transfer window would pan out. I really hope he is a huge success though.

For what it’s worth Bournemouth almost had him in january, and their recruitment has been great recently. Almost had Jackson too who looks great for Chelsea now but was injured.