The Daily ITK Discussion Thread - POST MORTEM

[arunspurs]

No idea why Sissoko gets so much stick. Yes, move didnt work out. But he has always been a professional on & off the field. Lets back him this season. I am sure he will get his chances till & if Lamela recovers

 

[Basil Brush]

I'm sure there were a couple itks who said they would go into detail on the Walker sale issue after the window closed.

His behaviour leading to poch not standing in the way of him going?

To me, it was pretty obvious Walker has lost the trust of Poch last season. Just in the way that Trippier was getting a lot more game time. I believe Poch was happy to get rid of Walker, especially for £50m.

However, I am definitely not ITK.

 

[thinktank]

Yeah, was it grey fox? Also mentioned something about information on Rose too.

That's it; think it was foxy.

Found it in RO.

At least one but probably two incoming the next few days and not counting GK. Will report on Walker and Rose information after window closes

When you're ready, fella @Grey Fox

 

[EJWTartanSpur]

No idea why Sissoko gets so much stick. Yes, move didnt work out. But he has always been a professional on & off the field. Lets back him this season. I am sure he will get his chances till & if Lamela recovers

Precisely. Instead I'm reading drivel like 'Sissoko is an embarrassment to our club' a few pages back. Where do people come up with this overly dramatic garbage ?

Sakho may be an embarrassment to West Ham after his antics yesterday. Not that they need any help.

Sissoko is just a decent player, that we paid a little too much for, who can't really get any form going because he can't get in our wonderful starting XI. It would be madness to get rid of his depth at this point and not at least see what he can do to help the team if and when required.

Honestly. Can't believe some of the things I read sometimes.

 

[Lilbaz]

No idea why Sissoko gets so much stick. Yes, move didnt work out. But he has always been a professional on & off the field. Lets back him this season. I am sure he will get his chances till & if Lamela recovers

Because he wasn't isco. Some fans either have a jizz fest over players or think they are shit.

I think that a player that puts a shirt on for us and tries his best deserves our respect and support. Others think that they deserve to be slagged off. Which i think shows more about them as people and lessens us as a fan base.

 

[midoNdefoe]

why is it football manager when we made a 20-30m profit and are short of attacking options which from what the manager said we clearly wanted
hate it when people bring up fucking leeds, no one is asking for a 100m net spend, but investment in an area that was needed and what poch said was needed when the money should have been clearly there is hardly rampant overspend

People refer to 'football manager' because you've made an assumption that the right player was available and we just decided not to...?
Or maybe you are suggesting something else...
Either way, is be tempted to suggest it's not as simple as you seem to suggest...

 

[arunspurs]

Thanks @Hercules for the update.

Liked the update on Janssen. Hope he gets time with Llorente. I think we need to preserve Kane a bit more & keep him fresh, atleast for sake of World cup end of the season

 

[NYSpur]

yeh very good mate, very impressive
seeing as my point was attacking options and you could see from my list i meant attacking midfielders, but dont let that get in the way of the point you were trying to make
my point is in midfield we are very reliant on 3 players, son, eriksen and dele, if any of these are injured or suspended we are way short in back up, which actually the time you spent so cleverly on wikipedia actually supports

so thank you for endorsing my point

Well if your premise is that we "need" than perhaps your premise is wrong. Since attack is ultimately measured by scoring goals, whatever our strategy for doing that has worked regardless of the perception of "need." It seems like a false narrative although I can certainly understand why we would "want" more of those types of players. Also Dembele belongs on that list as does Winks. Even on your lists for other clubs, they rely on a core subset amongst those players listed.

 

[Johnny J]

Thanks @Hercules for the update.

Liked the update on Janssen. Hope he gets time with Llorente. I think we need to preserve Kane a bit more & keep him fresh, atleast for sake of World cup end of the season

I honestly couldn't give less of a shit about Kane being fresh for the world cup. I do agree we need to make sure we don't burn him out for us tho.

 

[klacey]

I'm happy with how the window went, but could have been slightly better.

Pros: Replacing Walker with what could be a better player and for half the price, Levy brilliance
Bringing in Sanchez who has a big future, could easily have gone to the elites.
Llorente will bring some much needed alternatives up front, for a very good price for this mad window.

Cons: I think everyone knows the lack of pace was the biggest disappointment.
Not signing Barkley in this window
Vinni not going out on loan to gain much needed first time games and build confidence.

Overall though, i'm happy and hope pace and Barkley will be added come Jan.

 

[allatsea]

mate its not going to happen
they have bought him to play, why on earth would they buy him to sell to us later, they arent some tin pot club

Perhaps he only signed with them on condition of a fixed price clause in his contract which we can meet ?

 

[knowlespurs]

Yeah, was it grey fox? Also mentioned something about information on Rose too.

and ducks

 

[knowlespurs]

Fuck fuck fuck

might as well keep him, its a position we dont have much cover in

 

[Breezer]

Thanks @Hercules and all the rest of the ITK.

Based on his post, I'm going to take a wild guess: Zaha was the one we thought we would get. Probably had an agreement w the player, thought we could talk Crystal Palace to release at the 35M (or a little more) number now, and Crystal Palace didn't cave.

I'm afraid not. We never went back in for him. We may have spoken to the player but not Palace. Our low wage offer is the main reason Zaha signed a new deal at Palace. If we really wanted him the deal was there to be done last transfer window when the Palace owner thought Zaha was off.

 

[knowlespurs]

Perhaps he only signed with them on condition of a fixed price clause in his contract which we can meet ?

would be surprised mate

 

[Lenten]

didn't really understand the bit that talks about Dembele in advanced role due to quick defenders, can anyone elucidate?

 

[NYSpur]

Summary of the window. We have to commend Daniel Levy. There were differences of opinions between him and Poch. I think it is safe to say both saw the light. There is absolutely no way anyone can criticise Daniel and moan about our missed targets, and 'Pinch of salt' ITK's who have given you very accurate, and honest updates, be it positive or negative. We do cross reference on occasions know

Big shout out to Rob (Governor) and A&C, for their excellent work. Before I go any further, I will be donating £50 between today and tomorrow. Bosses please inbox me to remind me.

I will bullet point what was said with results and reasons, to the best of my knowledge.

1. Ross Barkley=As was said all along, not fully fit, and issues with his injury, we wanted to deal at figure which will not go public, but less than chavs, but not much less. He came to London, hoping to be diverted William style, but Everton refused to talk to us, as chavs tried Daniel's famous (after Willian) exclusivity clause

When it became apparent after a flea got in his ear Ross scarpered, to return on our terms in January.

2. Our contingency was Gomez as loan with option to buy. We were more keen on the loan with option in our favour, and not Barca. We would have to of made a commitment to buy either way. In the region of 40 plus million. Poch was asked, and was not keen. Daniel then walked away.

3. Llorente was the silent one, and so silent that our relationship with Swansea made sure it stayed that way. Chavs wanted to deal earlier in the window, but Swans wanted Bony, but couldn't deal until GS was sold. We were tipped off by their hierarchy that bid was accepted by Spanish club, and chavs. Poch made a personal call to him. Once that was done chavs stood no chance. This is all Poch.

4. VJ, Poch loves him as a person, and admires his attitude. Poch wants it to work for him, and told him he needs 3 specialist strikers, and with all the games he would get his games.

5. DS= Without our backroom staff this deal would not even of developed. We had been talking to Ajax, having a full dossier on him. Chavs were very keen, along with the two Spanish giants. Also Bayern were keen. He spent a lot of time talking to Poch, and eventually that swayed it. He was shown videos of our complex and stadium. Enough said.

6. SA=Another one down to our backroom staff. Daniel commissioned experts he trusts in France, along with very highly regarded legal counsel in the U.K., who were liaison with appropriate authorities to risk assess. Once they knew it was over, SA was so confident he declined Yanited and chavs especially. Poch played a blinder also.

7. Foyth=Came out of Poch's influence and connections. Daniel, you naughty boy what you did with PSG. Can we say they were never serious?

8. GK=Poch wants 3, and convinced he will prove a shrewd signing, and rates his staff to improve him beyond compare. He also showed well in Spain.

9. Wing forward, we had a few options, but reasons we pulled with Poch's blessings. Zaha is interesting, and may be revisited later. All down to Poch, and Zaha has 35m clause that becomes effective around April.

10. Jadon could be a Zaki Fryers in January or summer. Watch this space.

11. Dembele will be utilised in advanced roles, subject to matches. Due to our pacey defensive additions.

12. Lamela is not far off, and will be used in No. 10 role. Hope it works out for him, because if not Roma is calling.

13. Danny boy Rose is happy. No issues with him. Still think he may go amicably end of season. We promised him that. Key to that will be if he is upgraded in his contract, as all the ones we want will be. Don't worry about Toby. All good.

There you have it. No moaning please. Overall we done good business. COYS!!!

Great stuff! I appreciate all of the insight. You are the type of insider who reminds me of an insider I used to be close with for the Florida Gators and their football recruiting efforts, mostly positive and logical. I appreciate that.

I feel the most insightful nugget you threw out that people are forgetting is the fact that DL had an agreement with the stadium backers whereby he could not spend more than outgoing receivables until some time next year. I have always watched previous windows through this lens not knowing what the reason was, but watching the fact that we almost always balanced the books. If that is the guideline it rules out a lot of exciting but impossible rumors from the get go. Looking forward to next year and hoping that the shackles are truly off, but I am still really happy with this years returns.

As far as this year goes (estimates only I know these aren't exact but it shows the scale of a gap between 10 million and 35 million needed for certain targets)...

Out:
Walker 50
Bentaleb 17
N'Jie 6
Fazio 3
Wimmer 18
Sigurdson 3
Total 97

In:
Sanchez 42
Llorente 12
Foyth 9
Aurier 23
Total 86

I suspect this is the reason we did not purchase Barkley NOW! If he could be used right away perhaps we would have prioritized differently, but I'm guessing the thinking was save that money to January when he is healthy and evaluate what is working and not working on the club. Perhaps then we prioritize a Janssen or Sissoko sale to fund what is necessary to get Barkley. That said, at $35 million now where was the money coming from if we look at the trends from the previous 5 years where we had a total of 1 million net spend. The other hint here is the LOAN for Gomes. This could be assumed in the net spend numbers NOW without an issue. Bottom line is that unless we were able to sell Janssen and/or Sissoko I don't see how Barkley could have been done once Chelsea stepped in.

Also, struggling to see how Jadon can be a Zeki. The 10 million hurdle coupled with going to a world class club seem very different than what happened with Zeki.

Again, thanks so much for the info during the ride. It was great!

 

[Breezer]

Breeze, whilst we've got you.

Could you clear up that 'Winner' rating on my post about Gelson Martins, which sent the forum into meltdown on Wednesday night?!?

Was it just you agreeing with me that he's what we need, or more?

Sorry mate i'm not really allowed to answer questions.

 

[eddiev14]

Sorry mate i'm not really allowed to answer questions.

No problem!

Cheers for the input anyway. That one got a lot of people excited. Cracking little player.

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

Sorry mate i'm not really allowed to answer questions.

Bingo.

People, stop it please otherwise when the next window closes there won't be any input from our ITK's at all. And while i'm here this is worth repeating, bolding and posting in red.

We've been told people are sending our resident ITK's PM's badgering them for information. This is bang out of order and it'll just piss them off so much that they'll stop posting info.

If you do this, they will tell us and you'll be banned from the entire site for good.