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Haven't had chance to get round to seeing that yet. I doubt many of the managers we had under the Shepherd or Ashley days would have had the level of detail of Eddie, plus the added pressure of ambition mixed with financial restraint. In the past they seemingly had one or the other.

Matthew Syed challenges you to a game of ping pong.

@PaddockLad, where have you stolen and hidden this?

I've got to say.i had to Google what wedding🤣

Did the video from this week of Dan Burn on that High Performance Podcast get posted? He was saying Howe contacted people to try and determine whether Burn's mates could be a bad influence on him if he returned home. So I'd assume he will have done similar with Elanga, Pedro etc. Also on Pedro, people are worried about his attitude etc. If Howe is prepared to buy him, it's cos he thinks he can deal with that.

Done, thanks Andrew

Familiarity breeds contempt. I do think there's something to the psychology of it from a fan view that if the player is from overseas then somehow the club have tried harder to get a better player. Tonali had become a folklore before he had really kicked a ball. If he had been called Sam Thomas from Blackburn with a gambling habit, then I dont know whether we would have had as much love for him as we did for Sandro on his return. Elanga has international experience with Isak and presumably Krafth so you have a relationship already with the incoming player. Id wager Eddie has already spoken to the pair of them about the personality he is. Same could be said for Pedro with Bruno and Joelinton. Limited experience but has been in Brazil squads with them. It's not fantasy football, there's a load of human factors to consider with all of these signings and so far we've pretty much hit the bullseye every time.

Fixed. 👍 Cheers Andrew.

Okay

Well I read it all and I'm not sure what it tells us. All looks fairly normal stuff considering the country they're in - 4 or 5 Iranians who are now incensed at how pointless the whole thing was and disappointed it didn't topple the regime. What in there is worthy of the fabled dismissive coffee emoji We already know that 70% of Iranians wish for regime change.

Bit of a minor board maintenance thing but can everyone please check their TT emails are up to date? With a load of DMs floating about lately for people to get access to the discord the admin mailbox has had a ton of "undeliverable email" notices when people receive DMs and an email goes out automatically. @Gemmill @Kevin Carr's Gloves @Toonpack & @spongebob toonpants you're the most recent ones I can see a few for.

FWIW The voices inside Iran the regime doesn't want you to hear

Clearly. 🙂

Until you sign Guivarch. 🙁

We have to do the dance with their clubs on the price though. Pedro has confirmed attitude/behavioural problems on and off the pitch which is the reason they're willing to sell. He doesn't excite me for many reasons. I was hoping the years of signing decent players with issues were over but apparently not.

Better bring some Pimms as well.

Not an overseas player, but from an overseas league, but yeah I'll agree since he had plenty of PL experience. Buying from PL clubs also has a bit of an incestuous feel to it. Elanga I like mostly because of his pace, but he's also not selfish. Technical ability and positioning can improve with age and training but if you're not fast now you'll never be and speed (particularly on the ball) is so important in wide attacking players. It's why I'd never consider Pedro to be a wide player.

Oh, I'd be delighted too. I suspect we may get only one of Pedro and Elanga though.

I think Trafford, Pedro, Elanga and a CB would be a mint window. Trafford - Just broke the record for clean sheets in the Championship and could be our number 1 for the next 15 years. Surprised Man Utd aren't after him to replace Onana. Pedro - 30 goals in the last 2 seasons. Perfect replacement for Wilson and can play at LW, CF or 10 Elanga - Nigh on matched Murphy's best ever season for us, despite only being 22 and playing for a worse team. He's 6 or 7 years off being at his peak and already knows how to play with Isak at international level. Elanga and Pedro both have hefty sell on clauses so we are going to end up paying 20% over the odds, but if we can peddle Targett, Dubs, Willock, Longstaff et al to cover it, who cares?

Are you sure you wouldn’t want to emulate Brighton’s transfer model and finish 9th every year?

I appreciate you.

Matthew Syed is an utter cunt who's never been right about anything