Not good enough. Not of the required standards. We can’t be throwing them in just because they are saving us pennies, and out of our academy.Just promote a young keeper from the academy, tired of buying goalkeepers and never using them. We have bigger priorities.
Fair enough, but how good do they have to be when they're almost certainly not going to play? Whiteman has been involved on occasion so assumed he was considered promising.Not good enough. Not of the required standards. We can’t be throwing them in just because they are saving us pennies, and out of our academy.
Our third string GK (going into this season) had played something like 2 games in 4 seasons.Just promote a young keeper from the academy, tired of buying goalkeepers and never using them. We have bigger priorities.
Fair enough. Is Whiteman not considered good enough? Thought he'd made a few bench appearances and signed a new contract recently.
I understand the "just in case" argument but until Gazza got a recent run in the team, I think between him, Lopez and Pletikosa, I'd made almost as many appearances.
Fair enough. Is Whiteman not considered good enough? Thought he'd made a few bench appearances and signed a new contract recently.
I understand the "just in case" argument but until Gazza got a recent run in the team, I think between him, Lopez and Pletikosa, I'd made almost as many appearances.
Until relatively recently, Gazza was himself the 'just in case' option, he got his chance and he took it. Surely that illustrates the benefit of having someone with promise who the club believe in as third choice.Fair enough, but how good do they have to be when they're almost certainly not going to play? Whiteman has been involved on occasion so assumed he was considered promising.
I understand the "just in case" argument but until Gazza got a recent run in the team, I think between him, Lopez and Pletikosa, I'd made almost as many appearances.
Our third string GK (going into this season) had played something like 2 games in 4 seasons.
And let’s face it, he’s a handsome houndUntil relatively recently, Gazza was himself the 'just in case' option, he got his chance and he took it. Surely that illustrates the benefit of having someone with promise who the club believe in as third choice.
Just promote a young keeper from the academy, tired of buying goalkeepers and never using them. We have bigger priorities.
Fair enough. Let's just hope the club try to find a HG replacement, as having three non-HG GKs takes up too many non-HG slots.Not good enough. Not of the required standards. We can’t be throwing them in just because they are saving us pennies, and out of our academy.
I'll remind you that we've signed the likes of Alli, Bale, Lennon and Dawson from the Championship who have come in and made an immediate impact to the first team. Rose and Walker too after blooding them through the youth system.
Or we could just go out and spend £200m on Bakayoko, Rudiger, Morata, Drinkwater and Zappacosta. Because, you know, ambition. Maybe we should have taken out a second loan on the stadium so that we could free up some cash to splash out on Fred, Dalot, Lukaku, Matic, Lindelof, Bailly, Mkhitaryan/Sanchez, Schneiderlin etc. I look at all those players that lot from down the road have signed in the last few years, if only we'd been more proactive....
People keep bringing up Liverpool as the shining example as to what spending money can do, forgetting that they were notoriously bad at getting the big money transfers right for years and years. Benteke, Lovren, Markovic, Balotelli, Stewart Downing, Andy fucking Carroll...need I go on. They have lucked out in the last two seasons and made some very good signings, but they quite simply would not have had the budget to do what they have done if they hadn't a) Reached a Champions League final and b) Sold a £120m asset. Neither of those things applied to us, instead the thing that DOES apply to us is a £627m capex project to drain our resources. The idea that we could have made moves like Liverpool did in the transfer market without selling any big players is absolutely ridiculous. If we'd cashed in on Toby to free up funds for Jack Grealish like Poch wanted, then yes we'd have an extra body in CM but how "ambitious" would you be calling Levy then? Seems like a lifetime ago that people used to laugh at him for wasting big money on high profile flops like David Bentley and Darren Bent every year, and I have to say Poch's record in the transfer market even when given relatively decent budgets to spend has been pretty hit and miss throughout his career so it's not like overspending at this time when finances are tight is a low risk strategy. No, that doesn't forgive not signing anyone at all but a bit of perspective is needed.
Clearly, we do need to add to the squad. But we need to be realistic. What I find so annoying is when we see players like Robertson, Maddison and Brooks tearing things up in the PL and our fan base complaining that we didn't take a chance on them when they were young and available at a good price in the Championship, then when we actually DO get linked with promising young players who are available at a good price then our fans complain that the signings are not ambitious enough. It's tiresome.
I hear your frustration but quite frankly, don’t be so knee jerk.It's quite simple. These signings are signings that pad out the squad, but they barely improve it, at least in the short term. We are stacked for wing forwards. Bowen isn't going to come in and displace Son, Lamela, Eriksen, Alli or Moura. Is Aarons better than KWP? KWP can't even get a game and got 3 assists in one game a few weeks ago. Can anyone imagine Aarons coming in and doing better?
So you want to know why I am annoyed? I will spell it out very clearly. These types of signings are not showing a sufficient level of ambition. They are not the type of signings a club who is trying to win the league make. Poch is not being sufficiently backed in the transfer market. Nowhere near.
The fact of the matter is we have been crying out for at least one top class CM for ages now. Our squad is woefully short. Where the fuck is the money and ambition and signings?
If Levy had actually backed Poch in the market, we could have won a league title or two these last few seasons. The problem is Levy always leaves us short. FFS, Winks is currently our only fit CM. It is quite literally a disgrace how Levy has left Poch so short. I'm amazed some fans can't see it.
Many of us were amazed we failed to strenghen in CM in the summer, and it's costing us. We will yet again fall short in the cups and league because of Levy's non existent ambition in the market.
a good enough homegrown keeper won't be pennies I'm afraidNot good enough. Not of the required standards. We can’t be throwing them in just because they are saving us pennies, and out of our academy.
a good enough homegrown keeper won't be pennies I'm afraid
Not good enough. Not of the required standards. We can’t be throwing them in just because they are saving us pennies, and out of our academy.
Then Alfie whiteman our young keeper may save us a fortune. Imho already worth the 3rd keeper slot in the squad next season and another homegrown.already been on the bench a few times in Cup games.. Think he's played for England at all youth levels so far and what I've seen of him. He's more than. Very promising.
Not good enough. Not of the required standards. We can’t be throwing them in just because they are saving us pennies, and out of our academy.