Summer Transfer Thread and Gustavo Cisneros Type Rumours.

[edgysatsuma89]

A lot of loans have prearranged deals at the end of them.

[ozzjim]

With Guilbert why are we not pushing to sell him ffs? Loans dont benefit us at all. Lets get some cash in for him. As clearly smith dont want him here

I think he wants to be back in France and there are no takers on a perm.

[Sexual Ealing]

I don't think anyone is saying sack him. They are saying they don't have confidence, based on the style of play, decisions made, squad he's built etc, that he will take us to top 10/ 6. I think all of them would happily give him all the time possible to show he can, and all are desperately hoping he does. We are allowed to say how we think it will go, share our concerns for the season etc, without wanting him sacked or being accused of histrionics. In ten games if we are comfortable in mid table and look like we are starting to gel, I think 90% of us will be delighted.

Yes, of course. I aimed the histrionics bit at one poster's point earlier, whose point was patently bollocks, but I didn't want to start an argument. Now I've started 4 or 5! Apologies for any offence caused

[Villan82]

Stepping back, I have to say, I would take anything north of 14th.

We forget where we have come from. When we were in the wilderness of the Championship I would have snapped your hand off for mid-table mediocrity in the top flight.

[SoccerHQ]

Stepping back, I have to say, I would take anything north of 14th.

We forget where we have come from. When we were in the wilderness of the Championship I would have snapped your hand off for mid-table mediocrity in the top flight.

Disappointing if some mid table clubs like Wolves and Palace go past us tbh. Wolves have looked good first 3 games but still haven't scored a goal and wasted countless chances so dosen't look much different to last season and Palace are very much a work in progress team.

Leeds so far look a bit weaker than last season aswell and they finished one place above us.

Just writing off even a 10th place finish this season is far too premature. Remember that season under O'Leary when we were 18th at xmas and finished 6th and could've easily been higher. Arsenal last season were bottom 6 going into the new year and were 5 minutes from making europe.

Guess the DM will have to wait until January but we can still pick up points in the meantime to at least stay in the mix.

[Behind Bluenose Lines]

Apparently we're done according to Tom Ross (yes, I know!).

[ozzjim]

To get to 55 points we need 1.5 points per game ish, which would put us around tenth. I think that's a tough ask looking at our fixtures. Once the window officially closes I will do a poll to canvas where we are. Until then I'm holding out for a late Wink.

[john e]

Make a change, after Smith has gone mid-table Championship, to promotion, to survival, to mid table Premier League in consecutive seasons?  Sweet baby Jesus.

Without at all calling for him to be replaced, it is obvious that doing that and breaking into the top tier of the division require different skills - I mean, my God, how many times has Steve Bruce won promotion or finished midtable in the PL? I struggle to see how everyone can accept that players can be good up to a certain point, but not acknowledge that managers can be the same.

Because they can see the evidence with players no longer being quite good enough. All DS has done is improve us year-on-year. If we're near the bottom halfway through the season then I think most people would see a case for getting somebody else in.

But that’s exactly what will happen
He’s not going anywhere and nor should he
He will be given time to prove himself at this level

[SoccerHQ]

To get to 55 points we need 1.5 points per game ish, which would put us around tenth. I think that's a tough ask looking at our fixtures. Once the window officially closes I will do a poll to canvas where we are. Until then I'm holding out for a late Wink.

It's a long season ozz. We got to 55 points despite having that awful run from middle of Feb until pretty much the last 3-4 games.

Also need to remember it's very rare you get 55 points and don't finish top 10 given how abnormal all the away records were with no crowds. One season under Mon we finished 6th with 58 points didn't we?

If we get 50 + points we'll be in the top 10 I'm sure. Think they'll be a big gap between 4th and 5th this season so those teams will be more closely in pack to teams below them.

Don't think we'll get many points next month but I'd like to think we can start getting some results from October onwards. Southampton, Brighton and Palace all in November so I'd say that's a pretty good guide for how our season will develop as by then we should be putting out a settled team compared to these first 3 games.

[ozzjim]

Yeah maybe. My concern is the next 5 games sap our confidence. We could really do with picking up 2 wins in that run to just stay above the struggling sides before the sp called easier run kicks in.

[Big Ming]

To get to 55 points we need 1.5 points per game ish, which would put us around tenth. I think that's a tough ask looking at our fixtures. Once the window officially closes I will do a poll to canvas where we are. Until then I'm holding out for a late Wink.

It's a long season ozz. We got to 55 points despite having that awful run from middle of Feb until pretty much the last 3-4 games.

Also need to remember it's very rare you get 55 points and don't finish top 10 given how abnormal all the away records were with no crowds. One season under Mon we finished 6th with 58 points didn't we?

If we get 50 + points we'll be in the top 10 I'm sure. Think they'll be a big gap between 4th and 5th this season so those teams will be more closely in pack to teams below them.

Don't think we'll get many points next month but I'd like to think we can start getting some results from October onwards. Southampton, Brighton and Palace all in November so I'd say that's a pretty good guide for how our season will develop as by then we should be putting out a settled team compared to these first 3 games.

Always remembering that Southampton, Brighton and Palace will all have US marked down as winnable games by then....

[RamboandBruno]

Ramboandbruno You are correct about certain posters coming out as anti Smith at any given opportunity
And that is the knub of the matter it’s at the right at the heart of everything We discuss
I am probably one of those posters but I don’t see myself as anti Smith i am just not as convinced as others

My own position is very simple and I’ve said many times on here Jack Grealish is why we are where we are without him Smith wouldn’t even be in a job imo
I know there’s no such thing as a one-man team as every team has 11 players but we were close as you could get to it

Now the question is can Smith take us into the top half, top eight, top six without Grealish
We talk about the project we talk about The quest for European spots
But the evidence so far with a Smith team without Grealish is not good

Hand on heart I don’t think he’s good enough to take us into the top six
I don’t think that’s anti Smith I think that’s just me being honest About how far he can take us
Like certain players Hourahine, Hutton, Albert You need them to get you so far but then they aren’t good enough to get you further and it’s the same with managers

Now I’m not looking for Smith to fail I want him to succeed believe me more than anything
I’ve been a wrong loads of times before and I wouldn’t mind being wrong this time either
Yes I know he’s done everything he’s been asked of so far but like I say he’s had one of the best players in the world helping him out
We are spending hundreds of millions So the demands are high

Anyone else thinking the same as I do raises the question of
When do you say goodbye
Who do you bring in

Honestly I don’t know but we’re not there yet I’m not calling for him to go I’m just saying I’m not convinced he can take us ultimately to where we want to be
I know posters will take this as a personal affront and it’s not it’s just me Voicing what I’m thinking about where I think we are at that moment

John, I completely get where you coming from with this and respect that view totally, and I think I’ve probably said before, although I personally think Smiths done really well and can take us to the next level, if he can’t he’ll go, no doubt. And again your right, it’s a huge challenge for him now with Grealish gone, to show he can do it with the three or four new attack minded players brought in.
What I suppose irks me, is not your take on it, but regular reasons for some posters to decry the bloke. Finished 11th instead of 9th, Smiths shite, never beat Brentford with 5 or 6 first teamers out, manager might be gone by Xmas, no CDM bought, Smith is clueless etc etc. It’s a bit like we’re still in a crisis as a club, when we’ve moved far beyond that.
Anyway, it’ll all come out in the wash over the coming weeks and months.

[Risso]

Make a change, after Smith has gone mid-table Championship, to promotion, to survival, to mid table Premier League in consecutive seasons?  Sweet baby Jesus.

I blame the world we live in now. People want everything right now, in the way they want it and if can't be exactly right the world's gone to shit.

It's the football club owners who make the changes though, not fans. The average tenure for a Premier League manager is less than two years. Don't forget that if it wasn't for the first lockdown and the Chelsea match being called off, that the very strong rumours were that lose that game, and Smith was gone.

[Mister E]

Don't think we'll get many points next month but I'd like to think we can start getting some results from October onwards. Southampton, Brighton and Palace all in November so I'd say that's a pretty good guide for how our season will develop as by then we should be putting out a settled team compared to these first 3 games.

Judging by the late deals going on, our midtable rivals are strengthening as we claim to have finished our business: this may well not bode well for us.
It is the fabled CMF that will offer us tactical options and the ability to squad-rotate, but we may not see that.
I'm not clear about Smith, his abilities and his guiding principles. We've seen evidence of tactical capability and of managerial naivety. We've seen his loyalty to players and a seeming disconnect with some players.
I've said earlier that the apparent blindspot represented by the absence of a top-class DMF might suggest he believes it to be unnecessary, preferring the grafting / passing / scoring MF offered by McGinn, Sanson, Luiz and Ramsey Major; all of whom can 'do everything'. He may be perfectly happy with Nakamba coming in to a game to see it out (although his introduction on Saturday was bizarre: taking off Chuky on 62 was the right thing to do, along with bringing Watkins on at the same time, with Buendia going to the 10 role; not Nakamba, though, surely!!).
The link to JWP was interesting when linked with Grealish's comment about Villa needing a set-piece specialist: perhaps when it became clear the he was leaving they cooled on bringing in JWP.

All of which makes this season really interesting .... if only one could be dispassionate about it (which I certainly can't!).

[Skerra]

Looks like we are one of the very few teams not being mentioned in any transfer activity just now.