DakotaVilla

If we get three/four points over the next two games we’ll be just fine. We need to bunker down for these next three games without McGinn and then reassess after this period. At least with Konsa and Pau fully back we should be more defensively solid. 

It’s unfair to say White has no interest in football. He seems interested enough when playing for Arsenal. 
 

He has no interest in playing a squad filler role for the PE teacher in a ridiculously defensive set up and to be honest I don’t blame him.

You can’t shit house your way to win a tournament 1-0 off a corner or a bit of luck these days anymore. And to try and do that with the amount of attacking talent we have is a sporting crime. 

Schedule around this time will be:

11th April - Europe QF 1
14th April - Arsenal A
18th April - Europe QF 2
21st April - Bournemouth H

Easiest tie possible (bruge or Plizen) with a walking pace away leg first would help.  

4 points through the next three league games and we should be ok. A task made immeasurably harder though due to McGinn’s stupidity v Spurs. 

He needs to deliver a man of the match performance today as a minimum.

Totally let down his manager, his team mates and the fans through utter stupidity v spurs. 

For me he’s playing for his position now as he turns 30 later this year and if we received a big bid from Man Utd or someone else it would be very hard to not think we wouldn’t be better by using that fee to source a younger higher level replacement and fund a big upgrade at right back as well as other key positions. 

He’s had months now to get ready for his big moment. Let’s hope the moment doesn’t overwhelm him. 

If you lose critical players and have to play a lot of games your performances will be affected, it’s really that simple.

Emery chose a set up due to the players he had available and that included a number just back from injury. 
 

After every disappointment, Emery has always managed to get the team back on song relatively quickly. The utterly stupid McGinn red card though has made his job a lot harder than it needed to be.

Hopefully we squeeze a result in the west ham game as the international break will serve us well. 

With hindsight everyone is wise. We gambled on Kamara’s fitness and that blew  up in our face big time with a freak injury. 

We bought in development players that were available now (they might not have been available or probably would have been more expensive in the summer) for a reasonable fee who we think have very high potential to fill out the squad and potentially become first team players. 
 

Ultimately if we end up in champions league and win the conference nothing will really have been lost. 
 

Games at the highest level hang on the smallest moments.

Konsa destroyed the game plan. McGinn is finished after that.

First of all Diaby has not cost 50m yet. It was reported that at least 10m euros was linked to add ons.

I also distinctly remember Diaby starting the season as one of our best players and  being talked about as potentially the signing of the summer by other clubs. 
 

Yes, he’s had a sticky run through the winter but Emery has only ever spoken positively about his application and commitment. 
 

As we saw at luton, ultimately quality always shines through and I have zero doubt that Diaby is going to be a very important player for us in key games in the run in and next season. 

The FFP implications of not having a stand for a season are significant especially as we appear to be on the limit and the lack of a stand would likely impact our home record as well.

Add to that the council’s situation and inability to even put a pound towards sorting out the transport requirements and it becomes very clear why the club really had no option  but to shelve the development. 

Personally, I am increasingly coming to the view that the only way we can make this work is by building a new 60/70k stadium on a new site closer to the city. That’s the only way we genuinely safeguard our future in an era where your competitiveness as a football club is dictated by your income. We can’t rely on Emery or the next manager to always deliver miracles season in/season out. 

Agreed. If Man city, Liverpool and us win 2 out of the 3 competitions it won’t even be close. 

With the attention the team is getting and potential champions league place and progressing deep in a European competition landing huge sponsorship deals should be like shooting fish in a barrel. Let’s hope President Business delivers on this. 

We shouldn’t need to sell any of them unless A, One of them agitates for a move which is unlikely or B, Emery wants a massive war chest to bring in 2/3 champions league quality players. 

With champions league looking very likely, hopefully going deep in the conference league, premier league prize money, adidas deal, champions league revenue, no doubt other commercial deals waiting to be announced and other sales/loan terminations that will be prioritised (Zaniolo, Lenglet, Digne, Donks, Coutinho, Sanson, Hause, Olsen, Chambers, kesler Hayden, Archer - buy back and sale - Cash, Carlos and possibly Duran if he’s still playing up) that should leave plenty of scope to reduce the wage bill dramatically and replace with 3/4 free/min release fee signings or younger players with high ceilings on significantly lower wages. There really is no need to sell a crown jewel unless we really want to. 

Moreno is likely to start V spurs, especially if Ramsey is out.

I expect price rises and significant areas of the stadium re-designated as hospitality or as higher premium tickets. How they manage this consultation and give impacted season ticket holders first option to move to other parts of the stadium will be key to avoid a huge PR issue. Obviously one would hope that they get all this information out early and not repeat the debacle of the lower grounds.

On the ball he’s excellent already. Imagine what Emery can do with him in a few years.

He seems like a bright lad and has the physical attributes so you would think the off the ball development will also come quickly enough. Very excited about his development over the next few years.

I doubt they’ll risk Pau considering he missed Luton and will be pleasantly surprised if Jacob is fit enough. 
 

Question is do you play Lenglet and Chambers or maybe Konsa and Pau play a half each if they are fit enough. 
 

If Ramsey isn’t fit enough then you play Watkins and Bailey for a half each.

Hopefully this will be the slowest and most boring one paced turgid game of the season. Kill the game with minimum expenditure of energy and zero injuries and then look to finish them off at VP after Spurs. 

Ultimately we’re all guessing but I very much doubt we have to sell a key player to avoid a points deduction re PSR. If that was the case the club wouldn’t have signed three development players for a significant transfer fee total in January. 
 

I suspect that we can meet PSR and raise funds for a couple of transfers through a couple of relatively straightforward disposals (Donks, Sanson, Digne, Cash, Carlos etc) and some well structured sponsorships (ie up front payments) including the adidas deal etc. 

The point re selling a key player would be to give us huge headroom to operate in the summer. Ie sell Doug and then have the ability to buy a world class replacement, an elite RB, Nico Williams and his brother etc . 

6 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

Just out of interest, which would people prefer.

a) win Conference League, finish 6th

b) lose to Ajax but finish in CL spot. 

Tough one. 

It’s really not that tough at all. Emery has said a number of times his priority is champs league football

He’s nowhere near the level of Trez, Ghazi, Conor, Uncle Albert or even Jedinak. 

I agree with Sheepy that he’s outshone Carlos and done so in more arduous circumstances. As long as the wages and transfer fee were sensible Lenglet would be a no brainer of a 4th choice CB. I still suspect though we’ll go for a younger right footed CB option instead. 

3 hours ago, wishywashy said:

 

Dan Bardell is being oddly cryptic in response to the notes.

Dan knows far more about what goes on at VP than many but is always very discreet re what, when and how he shares that info. 

The last time he said something even remotely approaching this, Purslow left the club.