Kitman

If I think about that I'll get depressed. The thing that the money men running the game don't understand (or care about) is that hope/blind faith is key to retaining your customer base. Even if that hope is objectively completely misplaced. Your audience will leave in droves if they realise there is no hope and they are just being fleeced like suckers to the benefit of the "big clubs". I realise they won't care one iota about other clubs suffering as a result, since they'd be happy to play in a super league which included only 6 English clubs, and fuck the rest of football leagues. However I'm not sure I'd continue to follow the premier league if it became a closed shop. It's hard enough to maintain any enthusiasm when wankers like chelsea can buy whoever they want and dont get what they deserve, which is a massive points deduction. I cant see that getting past the football regulator thankfully but Im sure youre right about the ambition to do it

It really is an utter disgrace and probably should be challenged legally on anti- competitive grounds. The idea that a club backed by PIF needs the same guard rails as say Palace or Brentford to ensure financial stability is ridiculous. However I suspect that nobody except the likes of us and Villa actually give a shit. Certainly enough clubs are voting for the status quo to ensure the Cartel continues to dominate. Maybe they don't think they'll ever be in a position to challenge so they want to keep us in the also rans.

Ngl, this is dredging up Andy Cole feelings for me. Sometimes I hate how football works.

Plus it'll help out Chelsea who I despiae

So which one is playing upfront and which at CB?

We should sell him to one of the saudi clubs for 150 million. I'm sure they could be persuaded to make the bid and afford to pay his wage demands. When he's had enough of weekenders in Dubai and offroading in the desert, they can loan him back to us at a discount.

What a cluster fuck. The club has clearly fumbled the ball and it's shaping up to be a miserable pre-season as a result. It's probably best not to look at any football news for the next 5 weeks.

Great, more Isak speculation. We need separate threads for transfers in and transfers out, so I dont need to waste my time on the latter.

It does seem like we've fucked it up with both recruitment and Isak. And every little thing that happens with Isak is subject to media speculation and just adds to the hysteria. Eales should have come out when Liverpool were up to their nonsense and say that he is categorically not for sale and any attempt to tap him or his agents up will be met with a lawsuit.

30 million for a reliable proven PL striker in his prime seems pretty good to me. The going rate seems to be in excess of 60 m at the minute and Wissa can take some of the load off Isak right away, plus he might actually be keen to join us. I dont see an issue with buying a player in their prime either, unless he's 29 in Obafemi years. If he plays for 3 or 4 good seasons and we sell him for a Ciggy type fee, that's not a lot of dough imo

It's now a Botched Mitch Bummer instead. I'll let myself out

God this transfer window is tedious, I can't wait for it to be over (sorry "slam shut")

With Ciggy's sale we havent actually spent anything in net terms on transfer fees, only the agents fees and wages for Elanga. Get the fucking deal done homies and stop farting around ffs

Ekitike isnt worth 95m. He might turn out to be a world beater but it's a helluva risk. Based on nothing at all, he might turn out to be a mediocre sulky french cunt. Ive never really got over Stephane Guiv'arch in the French striker stakes tbh

What's the odds they try to sell Lloyd Kelly back to us instead?

No-one is more desperate to be relevant and liked than SAFC. Which is funny because no-one knows who they are or cares about them. They'll be an easy 3 points and a grim awayday for most fans next season, before they sink into obscurity again having sacked 2 or 3 managers on the way down.

I'm finding this transfer saga quite tedious, I don't want to be duking it out with Liverpool in a dutch auction, to sign some moody french beanpole who probably has no intention of playing for us ever. Im getting flashbacks to the Guehi debacle last summer and I really havent got the stamina for this shit. I much preferred the days when the first we knew about a new signing was the press conference.

She must've learned this fascinating tidbit about Howe's friendship with the Liverpool DoF from her source: PL. Credit to her. She's managed to maintain all of its original charm and immediacy in relaying, fourth-hand, a third-hand, second-rate anecdote. 😜 This is unmitigated horse shit. Why would Howe encourage the sale of his most valuable player? The attempt to draw a dotted line to Howe with zero evidence is pathetic. LFC are plainly trying their luck, imo there's nothing more to it than that. The more interesting question is why are LFC doing this - do they genuinely believe they have some hope of success - despite every message from the club in the close season being he's not for sale - or are they just trying to unsettle Isak? Of course Taylor has no insight on the real questions because she's a shocking journalist with no connections with either club.

It would make more sense for him to go to saudi and earn a fortune for not very much football and very little risk to his health and reputation

We're more like a stalker tbh. I dont think Ekitike has ever had the slightest intention of joining us. Happy to be proved wrong as he's obviously a talented forward

Fine effort Andrew sir

Please can you add me too?

There's every chance that the agents of these targets have been using us as leverage to parlay up their clients' wages. Not to mention the selling clubs squeezing up the transfer price. We don't really know if the likes of Mbuemo and Pedro were serious targets, a lot of it has been amplified through social media with no direct corroboration from the club as far as Ive seen.

I may be massively missing the point (of there is one) but I assumed SR6 = six in a row rather than an actual postcode

World famous in sunderland