Paulie

I think whether it’s a lack of effort or lack of fitness is irrelevant... you cannot carry be a successful side in the premier league today without pressing up the pitch and Barkley is severely limiting our ability to do that. He’s giving us nothing without the ball and that’s causing a chain reaction through the middle of the park. His lack of pace and energy means Ollie runs himself into the ground, McGinn and Luiz are constantly outnumbered. On top of that he’s in a creative rut right now. Part of me really feels bad for the guy, but he can act frustrated all he wants... it’s was like night and day once we brought Ramsey on for him.

Lacking pace and stamina at the moment, and is a liability when we press. if he’s not going to offer a creative outlet/alternative to grealish then I’m not sure why he’s out there

And the fact that the same situation happened in the Juventus Napoli match the same night and it was called a no brainer offsides. I am honestly still in disbelief it happened. Even when the goal went in I was saying to myself “at least VAR will take a look and see he’s offside and chalk it off” and we didn’t even get a video replay/review. Bonkers.

Am I wrong in thinking that we should set Ollie up at the edge of the opponents box, lob balls into the channel, and once the defender makes a touch have Ollie jump him and challenge? that is the same situation no?

Why are pundits saying that this is “how the law is set up”? it most definitely is not how the law is set up, a section of the law is being misapplied.

On his day he’s quite a player and has the physical attributes that you need against the top sides. With that being said, Hause and Konsa have both been more reliable and I feel that Mings has lost his place as an automatic write in to the starting XI, at least in the near term.

100th match as manager today. Taken us from 14th in the Championship to currently tied for 5th in the Premier League. Legend. Dean, NSWE, and Jack have revived this club. What a story. You know how they say you never know the good old days are the good old days while you’re in them? Enjoy every second, every twist and turn of this. The most fun I’ve ever had as a fan of sport in my 27 years on Earth.

One thing that is flying under the radar, and is something that Dean should be appreciated for maybe over all his other attributes... the culture in the dressing room. he has empowered Jack, Tyrone, and John to lead their own way and it is infectious. You can tell even the new guys like Bert love it here. Traore had a hell of a rocky time at Lyon by most accounts we heard before the transfer, and I believe the culture of infectious positivity and accountability will have compounding returns throughout the club. Long may it continue

yeah I did some more digging does not seem to be the case - disregard.

It felt to me like there was a goal to come in the match either way, and I was assuming he was waiting for that goal (either from us or them, both sides were creating chances) to make a midfield sub. either Nakamba or Hourihane. Seemed the trezeguet sub with traore coming on was part of the plan once trezeguet started looking leggy.

We won't have to pay Chelsea anything. I believe his contract ends 5/31/2021. Can sign a pre-contract agreement on a free transfer in January.

commentator was moaning on about how he needs to be more direct, take more shots, thats all bollocks. I do not want him to ever second guess what he is thinking. Appreciate the moments of brilliance.

The most important thing this season, to me, is we keep progressing and show our core players (Grealish, McGinn, Luiz, Mings) that they can continue to grow and flourish here. this past window and this season was always about that. We were able to not only retain our top talent but sign them all to renewed deals. Based on our post-lockdown form, relegation always felt far fetched to me given our transfer investment as well compared to other relegation-threatened clubs. On the flip side of that, realistically challenging for Europe this season is an unreasonable ask given our handcuffed wage bill. Next summer transfer window is where things get really interesting... another summer of talent retention and focused, concentrated investment. Will be one we absolutely have to get right, and ideally the discussions about challenging for Europe will be in the picture. if we were 1 season ahead of the plan when we were promoted, Crazy to think where we are in the long range plan after survival. This summer showed we are where... year 4 of the plan after just year 2 I imagine?

only difference is tammy was initially slotted directly back into the first team XI at chelsea and it seemed like that was chelsea's plan all along. hard to see where barkley fits into the chelsea midfield 12 months from now.

Or maybe he was held out because his transfer was pending...?

I like what we are doing here. Jack was successful on the left but he’s got bags of ability and experience playing centrally. We want to keep him around and build the team around him and we are doing it. Move him where he wants to go and construct it to fit.

This would be absolutely massive.

Its already been disclosed that we have ~100m budget for transfers, so if you are operating under those constraints then there is no difference between a 22m and 28m signing to our financial bottom line, right?

If you view this deal under the two following assumptions it looks like quite a solid signing: the quality of play in the championship is not far off what is being played outside of the top 6 premier league clubs. we have seen clubs come up from the championship and immediately be competitive in the mid table of the premier league, and we have seen a number of young players excel in the championship and then immediately slot into a premier league side and perform (Abraham, Mount, Grealish, Reece James, Adam Traore, Maddison) Following the assumption above - 26 goals scored in the championship (a league congruous to the premier league in both style of play and quality) is arguably just as, if not more, meaningful than 20+ goals scored in any of Europe's top leagues.

People want to sign quality and get upset about the price tag. People want to sign value and get upset that the player is off the pace. Can't have it both ways. Its not your money, and honestly whats the difference between 22m and 28m? 6m in additional cost to get your man, or you don’t pay it and risk not getting him at all. Absolutely bizarre state of affairs in here. I'm perfectly fine paying whatever it costs for a player that our manager is familiar with, is versatile across the front line, and banged in 26 goals last year. Thats really all it boils down to. If you dig around looking for "better value" you end up getting what you pay for.

Rashica Watkins/Wesley Buendia Grealish Luiz McGinn Targett Mings Konsa Guilbert Would be the most threatening side going forward in the better part of a decade.

List of goal scorers with 25+ in one season at the Championship level, since 2015: Mitrovic, 19/20 Watkins, 19/20 Pukki, 18/19 Abraham, 18/19 Maupay, 18/19 Wood, 16/17 Andre Gray, 15/16 Pretty decent company. Only one to not have a shot at the top division thus far is Ollie.

I find it strange that there seems to be a consensus about the quality of the championship as a league and the grind that it is, while also people seem to write off players who light up the championship because they "haven't done it yet in the prem". We have seen multiple clubs over the past few years come up and hold their own after promotion... Wolves, Sheffield, and us (to a lesser extent, but we stayed up nonetheless). The gap in quality between the top 6 of the championship and the bottom 12 of the premier league has tightened drastically. If the concern about buying a foreign player is the amount of time needed to acclimate to the English game, buying Watkins seems to remedy that concern. He knows how Dean wants to play, he fits into the idea of a fluid, interchangeable front 3, is great in hold up play and is an athlete capable of holding his own against Premier League CBs. Scored 1 in 2 this past season.

This is a bizarre argument. If they won promotion, they would not be available. If Ollie Watkins was the type of player that could will a side to promotion, he would not be available for ~20m pounds. Evaluate a player on the entire body of work, on their own merits, and how they will fit into our system. Micah Richards won the league TWICE with City, based on this argument he should have dropped right into our side and been Van Dijk right?

Have to say, I don't get where the Benrahma hate is coming from. He oozes class. Great first touch, quick with the ball at his feet and does not hesitate or think about his next move, just gets it and goes... all traits needed to be a successful forward/winger in the prem in my opinion. Easy to see why Dean has wanted him for 3 windows now.