Dr Gloom

it's okay to get things wrong you know

“It’s been the most difficult window I’ve experienced,” said Howe ahead of Sunday’s match against his former club Bournemouth.

“The June part of the window was incredibly difficult and now this part hasn’t been exactly easy either. It’s always going to be difficult because you’re competing for a very small pool of players and the competition is high from other clubs.” When asked directly about the chances of signing Guehi, Howe replied: “There’s no news. I’m a step removed, but I’m aware there’s still work going on behind the scenes.”

that was exactly my point to craig - i'm not pretending to have a clue about who the realistic targets are, or who is available because who knows how much money they want or whether they would contemplate joining us? eales and mitchell will ultimately be judged by what they've managed to do before the window closes. we obviously aren't as attractive since missing out on european football, but i still find it hard to believe we can't improve both problem positions. leaving it till the last three days of the window is testing the faith. they haven't done it like this to date - howe said as much in a recent press conference that this has been his most difficult window so far.

I mean, no one said it but it's hard to imagine they have much more to spend if they drop £70m on Guehi. I may be wrong, but it seems unlikely given what they have done in recent windows - we haven't done a Todd Boehly style supermarket sweep and I wouldn't expect them to.

i think the club should sign a RW better than Murphy and MIggy, yes. This is not a controversial opinion, you know. it's the only position in the squad that hasn't been upgraded since the takeover. i could throw plenty of names at you but i have no clue whether they would join or not and neither do you

100%. i hope the media have got it all wrong and we announce two signings that the football reporters had no clue about whatsoever. that would be more keeping with our style since the takeover so far - players in the £30-50m range, announced out of nowhere with none of this very public and protracted increased bidding that we've seen play out in the media with the guehi story. it all feels a bit odd and not in keeping with they way they've done their business so far.

a case so flimsy it would be dismissed before going trial. we are debating whether it's worth spunking our entire summer budget on guehi - you appear to assume a bullshit artist on a message board should have inside knowledge of which players are available and willing to join us. how the fuck would any of us know about any of that?

zero evidence? did i miss something? i always thought he looked like a canny player for bournemouth, though he didn't impress me on sunday. i think he's a more natural CB than LB

nope. never tried it, but my god i could be tempted if we have to endure another season of miggy and murphy

how the fuck should i know? i don't speak to players' agents. it's their job to get the business done in good time - not mine

it didn't prevent the old recruitment team from getting business done with time to spare. they signed bruno and trippier in a january window when relegation was on the cards. the new set up might yet get it right, but they're cutting it fine. if the window closed tomorrow, it would be the worst since the takeover. that's why people are moaning on social media.

the club aren't paying me to identify and sign the players

yup, we've had months to upgrade two positions which clearly need addressing. chelsea slightly fucked up our pursuit of a RW by gazumping us on tosen but it has felt a bit rudderless since then. we are getting into panic-buy territory now. i hope they still have long-term targets which they have managed to keep under wraps which they will announce before the window closes.

disagree, like i said. i like schar and burn. i could grow to like kelly. murphy and miggy starting at RW makes me want to smoke crack

guehi and a RW on loan isn't the worst outcome. both positions need to be improved

no idea, but they have had months to figure all of this out. we have days left of the window now. they need to do something - in both positions - but it looks like the time invested in the guehi "saga" has been time wasted. hopefully they don't end up panic-buying. it's not something we've seen since the takeover so far, which i why i think people are questioning the new recruitment system. it's in its infancy, so they're might be a period of adjustment while eales and mitchell find their feet, but we never saw anything like this play out when amanda was in charge. deals were concluded without the media getting wind of it and most signings were concluded so the players could be bedded in with a bit of pre-season behind them.

i'm going to respectfully disagree. burn and schar are good players. we are led to believe kelly is too. krafth is an emergency option and has played more often in that role than we would have liked - solid defender, but he doesn't have the technical ability required to be called upon regularly, which is why i think a loan signing or a younger centre back with potential could fill the gap until botman and lascelles return. murphy and miggy man - do i need to say more? they're not good enough anymore. maybe barnes/gordon is the solution down the right, but we haven't seen much evidence that howe fancies either player in that position so far. it feels like murphy and miggy are the players he is going to use in his sytem at RW - not good enough, sorry.

yeah, i for one cant wait to get back to talking about the shitty ticketing ballot system

is guehi better than anderson? let's forget about the english player tax for a minute. i'm not sure. perhaps @The Fish can give is another player comparison.

i mean we do have cover in that position - we have Schar, Burn, Kelly, Krafth and A Murphy to cover two positions - plus Botman and Lascelles to return half way through the season. a stop gap loan or a cheaper younger player with potential, to eventually replace Schar, would give us the cover we need until the other two get back from injury. it would also mean we have more to invest on a much-needed RW. i hope we can do both. we need a RW and a CB. i think the window is a failure however if we begin yet another season with miggy and murphy at RW as they're no longer good enough for where we aspire to be. the ideal scenario is they secure Guehi (if he is indeed their top target) AND a quality RW, but the mood music around the club doesn't suggest that will happen and i think that would be a mistake

You literally just said we started two full backs at CB in the last game. I was under the impression that Kelly was signed as a CB who could provide occasional cover at LB, a bit like Dan Burn so I won't dig him out too much for struggling at LB the other day. Hopefully he'll be able to do a job in that position in some games, a bit like Burn can.

yeah, and the hope was miggy would continue his form last season but it was obviously a once in a career purple patch and he has since reverted to type. i'm still haunted by that tap in into an open goal he fluffed because he couldn't bring himself to use his right foot. it really is time to upgrade that position

Burn isn't a fullback man, howay. we've done that one to death. krafth is an emergency option. I would prefer to see kelly in there.