PunkStep

1 hour ago, mim731 said:

I'm quite happy with Jorginho. He's not the long term superstar signing maybe some wanted, but it's a relatively low risk option for experienced back up. Seems like a hugely sensible bit of business. It feels a lot like last year when we were in for Vlahovic and when that didn't pan out we opted to wait and spend on the right person. Undoubtedly we need bodies in this window, but spending out huge on a player who would in all likelihood be on the bench seems insane.

Apparently we also don't want to damage our relationship with Brighton, which makes sense given we might well be back in for other players in the future.   I always felt like the January window should be for shoring up the squad for the second half of the season, rather than a squad refurb and this one fits that criteria. 

I do wonder if this is the sensible option done, and we might take a risk on a second signing late in the day. Maybe a Tielemans with a late, low-ball bid. 

Agreed, sensible bit of business bringing him in. We have learnt from last January, where we ended up with nobody. Some quality along the lines of Trossard and Jorginho to supplement the squad is good business and reminiscent of the kind of deal you'd see from United back in the day when they were still the dominant force. Fergie loved a bit of PL experience to come in as squad options. A Louis Saha here, an Alan Smith there. 

The eye-watering amount we'd have ended up paying for Caicedo would make no sense for ultimately a back-up option, see also Mudryk.

I think it's time to call it a day on the Tielemans links now. If truth be told, he's been pretty shit for the past couple of seasons now and definitely doesn't look like the kind of player that will fit Arteta's team- which asks a lot from our players. That recent video doing the rounds of him lightly jogging back says it all.

1 minute ago, SuperBacon said:

Nothing will ever top Gravesen at Real Madrid for me. 

Completely derailed Everton's season as well. He was rubbish when he eventually went back to them again, wasn't he?

Another twist- looks like we are about to sign the THIRD BEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD* for just £12m! Arsenal fans on Twitter are up in arms over this, believing that instead we should have paid Brighton £80m for Caicedo to warm the bench. Even if you argue that we'd be paying that amount for a long term replacement, bear in mind our top target this summer is Declan Rice. He won't be cheap and will play in the same position. Turn of FIFA career mode and get real, for fuck sake. We're not Chelsea, spunking money left right and centre.

This deal makes sense. PL proven, good on the ball and can fit the style of play, short term solution (1.5 year deal), inexpensive and has experience of winning things at the highest level. With Elneny out for the season and Lokonga being such a drop-off in quality from Partey/Xhaka, this is exactly what is needed for the run-in. This isn't the same as offering Willian, David Luiz or Cech lucrative long term deals with a view to be regular starters- so the mundane 'Chelsea retirement home' bantz can quietly go away.

*as per the 2021 Balon d'or, and who am I to argue

42 minutes ago, The Curious Orange said:

Definitely didn't see it coming this month - but from what I've seen Man City seem to be playing a strange formation 3-2-4-1 formation since the World Cup with no full backs and Lewis and Rodri as midfielders taking turns to drop into defence - which actually makes selling Zinchenko stranger as that sounds the exact role that would have suited him at city.

Absolutely, and also makes it odd that Cancelo isn't considered for that Lewis role seeing as he's effectively been doing it over the past 2 seasons anyway. Whenever City were in position, he'd push into midfield like Zinchenko does and it was a fundamental part of their setup. There's surely something behind the scenes going on. 

Blimey, who saw City offloading Joao Cancelo to Bayern this month coming??

I know there clearly wasn't something right as Rico Lewis has been picked ahead of him a fair bit lately and also Ake playing at LB, but he's still arguably the best full back in the league and has been a vital part of City's success in recent seasons. I'd go as far to say him, KDB and Rodri have been their key players over the past two seasons.

Next two days could be very interesting. Porro to Spurs is off as it stands, Enzo Fernandez to Chelsea could still happen and Arsenal are surely deciding how much they are willing to spend to try and bring in Caicedo. That tap-in merchant Romano has also been exposed twice over the past week, with HERE WE GO signings not going through after all. Tilde Romano.

25 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

Theo Walcott came on as well, and I quietly called him a cunt under my breath 😂

You fucking big man you!

Dyche could definitely keep them up. But then they will be shite next year and just fester around 15th-17th in the table. Dyche will be replaced by somebody more progressive, they will start well and then find themselves in a relegation battle the following season, get sacked and another Charles Reep-style manager will keep them up- wash rinse repeat. Thus the Everton circle of life.

He's definitely not stood out for me. There's talk of Newcastle allowing Saint-Maximin leave. I know he's one of those players whose performances doesn't translate into decent g/a stats (not every player has to though), but he's a much better player than Gordon from what I've seen. Chelsea will probably outbid them for him because they think wingers are fucking Pokemon cards or something.

3 hours ago, Mr_Danger said:

Remember to take in to consideration that you can stream a lot of games on Gamepass now too. The few I’ve tried have been surprisingly decent. Although I’m not sure how much hard drive space you even need to play Peggle Nights anyway.

That's actually very true, I have started doing that on my tablet recently. Plugged in my Xbox controller via USB and have played quite a bit of Fallout 76, which runs really well. In fact the loading screen times seemed to be quicker. The only thing is that you can't pause a game for a bit and do something else, as it disconnects your session- but it's a bit of a small price to pay.

1 hour ago, air_raid said:

Immediately sign another forward

And a right wing back! Although in Conte's world that isn't really a defender. All this after Emerson puts in a shift against Fulham as well (apparently, obviously I didn't watch it). 

This will mean Djed Spence goes out on loan I presume. Wonder what he's done to rile up Italian Bryan Ferry.

When you say last gen titles,  as in Xbone titles? If so then I'm fine with that then, and the native hard drive can be used for X/S games. This might swing the S for me if so, because as others have said, the price difference between S and X is insane. Not fussed about 4K and don't want the disc drive. 

Also with the S you can also just get a seagate external drive much cheaper than having to shell out on the official extra memory thing, right? It'll presumably make the console work harder (especially the fan), and take up extra space on your shelf, but other than that it's got to be a much cheaper option. 

Really hope they can make a difference. Sadly, I fear they are outnumbered by swathes of fans across the globe that would be delighted if awful people buy their clubs if they thought it meant they will spend freely like FIFA career mode.

Better presumably? Although a certain Mike Ashley is still looking for a new club to take over...

Bit like that Newcastle tree-like defender Danburn.

It couldn't possibly get worse for Everton, could it? Well...

They agreed a deal to sign Arnaut Danjuma, he even passed a medical on Saturday apparently. Spurs have swooped in and hijacked the deal and are about to sign him. 

Anthony Gordon and Amadou Onana failed to turn up to training today, with the former pushing for a move to Newcastle and the latter linked with Arsenal and Chelsea (who in fairness could do with signing a few players).

And to round off the day:

Time to stick One Night In Turin in the VHS, Branquey.

1 hour ago, organizedkaos said:

-- Double Curses. Why does "Reply" not visibly post your reply --

It does if you're on the latest page of the thread, but if you're on a previous page, it doesn't. That's what happens for me anyway. 

30 minutes ago, Lion_of_the_Midlands said:

Frank has certainly not set the managerial ranks on fire, though that won't stop him getting linked to all the big jobs that come up. 

Yep. He only got the Derby job because Uncle Arry put in a word for him as he knew Mel Morris. Jobs for the boys innit.

I actually think he did well at Chelsea during his first season, given the task he was facing (best player sold in the summer, transfer embargo- and still managed to make the top 4). But his second season proved he was out of his depth, especially when Tuchel came in. He's been treading water at Everton since day one. Wasn't great at Derby either. Another golden generation disappointment.

2 hours ago, SuperBacon said:

I suppose you could say that maybe City didn't see Arsenal as a title challenger

Absolutely, there's no chance we'd have signed Jesus or Zinchenko otherwise. I will say City appear to be very respectful to players that want to leave and actually make it easier for them by not demanding a huge fee or trying to keep hold of them like others would (I suppose they can afford to from a financial perspective)- see also Sterling, Ferran Torres and going back a few years Leeroy Sane. But what baffles me is Zinchenko walks into that City side. He's exactly the kind of full back Pep likes and he's doing the same job Cancelo has been doing on the other side of the pitch.

Jesus' days as a starter were bleak anyway and Haaland's signing confirmed that, but you can't tell me Nathan Ake or that Gomez fella are a better fit for that team at LB than Zinchenko. They have struggled to fill that position permanently for ages now and they had the answer all along.

He's doing a terrific job, I mean that sincerely. United are hard to play against, and not in a way like Burnley of Arabia are. They threatened a lot, especially during that first half but even in the second half you knew at any moment they were capable of hitting us on the break and causing problems.

He's got Shaw playing well again and dragged AWB from the brink of obscurity. Eriksen has been a great bit of business (thought he was a bit shit today, but otherwise he's been very good). Ten Hag is the kind of appointment United should have made years ago, certainly after Moyes went and arguably before then. Obviously not him specifically back then, he was still probably assistant to Sscchteve McLaren at Twente, but an appointment along those lines. 

Ole on the other hand, was way out of his depth from day 1 and a characteristic PSG capitulation glossed over that fact. 

Oh and Zinchenko is something else. How City didn't see him as their undisputed LB is a massive fuck up on their part.

Fucking hell. What a game, I don't think my heart can take this season. United gave us more problems in that first half than any team this season (they were better than when they actually beat us), but what a performance.

Nketiah is doing an incredible job with Jesus out and Tomiyasu was much better at keeping Rashford quiet. With Trossard looking lively when he came in, that depth is looking alright at the moment. Just pray our centre midfield stays injury-free.

5pts clear, game in hand (against Everton) and have looked better than every team they've played so far. It all comes down to City. They're still favourites for me because we have to play them twice, but if we keep this lead until next month and beat City...maybe. Just maybe. 

It's fucking incredible. It can be used in so many different sets too- it crosses genres. Everything about it is immense- the vocals, the trumpet, the bass (my god it's beefy) but the beat is key for me. So different from any other track out at the time. 

It's got to be their year. They came so close under Sarri, but they're in such a healthy position right now. Napoli winning Serie A, Argentina winning the World Cup...all we need is Shilton to be outed as a nonce then you have one hell of a tribute to Maradona.

Juve are fucked and their shady activity has also impacted Spurs. Been given a 15 point deduction and as part of this investigation Spurs' sporting director Patrici has been given a 2½ year ban from football. 

No wonder that rat Agnelli and the rest of the board resigned recently. Juve are proper bent bastards aren't they?

I think Spurs' next choice of keeper should depend heavily on who will be managing the team and whether it will be a long term appointment or yet another 'quick bring in a winner even though they won't stick around for long' like Conte or Mourinho. If they have a manager that prefers to build from the back, which really most big teams do/should/could in this age, then Oblak is surely not the answer.