Hope im wrong

[nopigfansintown]

Agreed

Reminds me of the Solskjaer situation a bit

Manager lost dressing room (Slav never had ours!)

Comes in, face they know, puts a smile back on their faces and the feel good factor improves results

Full season expectations rise, nice bloke but ultimately just a little short as lacks the cutting edge and nous

Hope I’m wrong, but you look at the best managers and they have an edge

Pep moves out Sterling
Klopp - Mane
Fergie - beckham, hughes etc

Even our managers who have had success had a bit of a bastard in them - Bassett, warnock, wilder

Is PH just a nice bloke who should be a coach (knill) or does he have it in him?

Reconvene in January…..

It remains to be seen. If we are sitting players behind the ball playing ultra cautious, negative dross you'll know it's when not if.

 

[AnstonBlade1]

Sell Berge for something near £20m and we should be thankful. Sign 3 or 4 quality players with that money and we're laughing

If Berge goes there’s no chance Hecky will see any of the cash.

 

[TopBoy]

The only way we had a chance of keeping Berge was to get promotion last season. His value will only decrease while he's in the Championship and his contract gets closer to the end. Sell him now, spend 1/4 of the transfer fee and 1/4 of his wages. And pay off the remaining installments left on his fee.

 

[bongleblade]

The signings have to be absolutely spot on this season, Khadra has to hit the ground running as does Doyle, huge pressure on our transfer department to succeed imo

 

[ShropsBlade]

Mate, we've been without real creativity (not counting MGW) since coming back from lockdown. Hence our stop-start approach. You're right, Fleck is now a burned out player and nowhere near what he was, Norwood is only a hero to those who ejaculate every time he whumps it over to a closed down wingback and Berge is very much not the style guru we thought he was. The midfield is the beating heart of any team and the catalyst of chances and goals. Until we cure ourselves or WILDER-19, we'll still look one dimensional, predictable and flaccid.

pommpey

What kind of negative crap is this ? We are a much better side with Norwood in it.How hard is that for some of our fans to understand.He has been here long enough now.

 

[Guesty]

The signings have to be absolutely spot on this season, Khadra has to hit the ground running as does Doyle, huge pressure on our transfer department to succeed imo

Doyle can barely hit the ground hobbling!

 

[BrisBlade]

Agreed

Reminds me of the Solskjaer situation a bit

Manager lost dressing room (Slav never had ours!)

Comes in, face they know, puts a smile back on their faces and the feel good factor improves results

Full season expectations rise, nice bloke but ultimately just a little short as lacks the cutting edge and nous

Hope I’m wrong, but you look at the best managers and they have an edge

Pep moves out Sterling
Klopp - Mane
Fergie - beckham, hughes etc

Even our managers who have had success had a bit of a bastard in them - Bassett, warnock, wilder

Is PH just a nice bloke who should be a coach (knill) or does he have it in him?

Reconvene in January…..

I can see your logic, but I'm hopeful you are wrong. We should give some credit to Hecky for the following:

- Moving on most of the real problems (Mousset, Burke, Olsen, Verrips) who just didn't fit and were dragging us down. OK, we still have McBurnie, so not a complete success but 80% there.
- Getting a tune out of Brewster, Berge and even Robinson where the previous two managers had failed. In particular, recognising we were playing Berge in the wrong position.
- Being a bit innovative with the formation when we got injuries (Berge, MGW and Ndyaie as a forward three).
- Finally addressing our weakest areas where we have little cover by bringing in Anel, Clarke, Doyle and hopefully Khadra. One really top CF loan and I would give the window a solid thumbs up.

Of course it could still all go tits up, but for me the signs are good.

 

[ShropsBlade]

Sell Berge for something near £20m and we should be thankful. Sign 3 or 4 quality players with that money and we're laughing

Sell a top player and replace him with 4 squad fillers.Blades ambition for you right there.

 

[Jon Bon II]

Reminds me of the Solskjaer situation a bit

Hope I’m wrong, but you look at the best managers and they have an edge

Pep moves out Sterling
Klopp - Mane
Fergie - beckham, hughes etc

LOL. If we'd moved Berge, or Ndiaye or even Sharp out in the same manner, do you think we'd all be stood around on mass, grinning from ear to ear going, 'Fuck! That Hecky is such a shrewd bastard. He's fucking rock!' No, this site would see a whinge, piss and blort fest of such epic proportions that it would make Woodstock look like Frecheville carnival on a soggy July afternoon.

 

[BrisBlade]

Sell a top player and replace him with 4 squad fillers.Blades ambition for you right there.

Completely agree. If we are talking about replacing with 'decent Championship players', I would rather have one Berge who has potential to get us out of this league than 3-4 guys to keep us in it.

 

[pommpey]

What kind of negative crap is this ? We are a much better side with Norwood in it.How hard is that for some of our fans to understand.He has been here long enough now.

I disagree. He's had a pretty remarkable rise with the club but since lockdown has been properly found out and exposed for all his shortcomings and proof if anything as to why Brighton and Fulham didn't take him up into the PL.

The problem with Norwood is that he has many fooled. If we ever sign a decent, grafting, hard tackling and visionary defensive midfield pivot, most will realise we have simply been tolerating all of his shitness and ineptitude. He doesn't 'make us tick' and the team isn't 'better with him in it'. He continues to be a liability and limited in going forward. He isn't as good at crossing as many say and his shooting is appalling. He just doesn't have anything great to offer us moving forward. Very much a 'Wilder' player and he needs to be moved on

pommpey

 

[Ndiayewillalwaysloveyou]

What kind of negative crap is this ? We are a much better side with Norwood in it.How hard is that for some of our fans to understand.He has been here long enough now.

Sell a top player and replace him with 4 squad fillers.Blades ambition for you right there.

So you want the same players here year after year? Norwood has been here 5 seasons now and passed his best, doesn't assist, score or tackle.
Berge is clearly too good for us so we're missing out on a big transfer fee unless we definitely go up this season with him and he stays.

It's called moving on from players who have passed their best/failed to succeed in the last few seasons.

 

[pommpey]

So you want the same players here year after year? Norwood has been here 5 seasons now and passed his best, doesn't assist, score or tackle.

I'm still amazed people can't see this. They proclaim the team is nothing without him, yet all he does is spray the ball pointlessly and predictably wide. That worked four seasons ago when we were in the nadir of 'overlapping centrebacks' but these days we aren't and haven't been for 18 months. Outside of that it's difficult to see exactly what he does which 'makes us tick'. If that is the case and we are so reliant on practically nothing, then it shows how in trouble we really are and how limited we are in creativity and ideas.

Time to wean the fans of the Norwood dummy, methinks

pommpey

 

[dc_blade]

So you want the same players here year after year? Norwood has been here 5 seasons now and passed his best, doesn't assist, score or tackle.
Berge is clearly too good for us so we're missing out on a big transfer fee unless we definitely go up this season with him and he stays.

It's called moving on from players who have passed their best/failed to succeed in the last few seasons.

I don't think it's fair to say that Norwood has "failed to succeed" in the last few seasons.

Here's his record over the last six:

2016:-17 2nd in the Championship
2017-18: 3rd in the Championship
2018-19: 2nd in the Championship
2019-20: 9th in the Premier League
2020-21: 20th in the Premier League
2021-22: 5th in the Championship

The worst you could say about that is he's a confirmed top-end Championship midfielder.

 

[Ndiayewillalwaysloveyou]

I don't think it's fair to say that Norwood has "failed to succeed" in the last few seasons.

Here's his record over the last six:

2016:-17 2nd in the Championship
2017-18: 3rd in the Championship
2018-19: 2nd in the Championship
2019-20: 9th in the Premier League
2020-21: 20th in the Premier League
2021-22: 5th in the Championship

The worst you could say about that is he's a confirmed top-end Championship midfielder.

His stats aren't great either. He's OK.

 

[dc_blade]

His stats aren't great either. He's OK.

Which stats? I thought this was pretty impressive:

 

[cahill]

But in the previous 18 months before MGW we created nothing up front which led to our relegation. I've just got that feeling that we won't have the speed, trickery or guile to do owt this season. Fleck hasn't been good enough for over 2 years, Norwood has no pace or trickery. Ndiaye won't be able to do it all by himself and nobody else has any pace up front apart from Brewster who seems reluctant to run with the ball at his feet. Hope I'm wrong and we can get the right player in otherwise it could be a long season.

For all our good football on Saturday against the Dingles, we did look a bit predictable up front.

 

[Lmaobob]

Sell a top player and replace him with 4 squad fillers.Blades ambition for you right there.

Where did I say squad fillers? ‘3 or 4 quality players’ is different to squad fillers you misquoting freak

Also, sell a top player who we can’t get the best out of or play in his best position… after getting relegated to the championship and recouping £5m less than what we paid for would be fucking unreal

 

[Newbury Blade]

Sell a top player and replace him with 4 squad fillers.Blades ambition for you right there.

Remind me when we last did this?
This “no ambishun” crap is so tiresome.

 

[Millhousesblade1889]

If, god forbid, McBurnie does 'return' he will make absolutely zero difference to this team.
In fact I'd go as far to say he'll be detrimental to the team!

I knew someone would say this the minute I named him, however, he is still going to return at some point and adds competition.

It will give some of the numpties in the crowd something to boo as well

 

[Millhousesblade1889]

Sell a top player and replace him with 4 squad fillers.Blades ambition for you right there.

Sell a player that wants to play higher than what we can offer him. Cash in while he still has a decent contract length. I’m sorry but he isn’t anywhere near as influential as what MGW was, if we get £22m plus he goes for me

 

[robbiez666]

I don't think we're favourites to go up. I don't think we should be.

We are very reliant on very few players to create and score. Most of those have question marks over fitness and injury. If we lose a couple there's no chance. Our squad depth is unknown to a great extent.

I imagine we'll be more likely to be challenging for a playoff spot than automatic promotion.

But the joy of football is that anything could happen. We won't have a real idea until October.

 

[Ndiayewillalwaysloveyou]

Sell a player that wants to play higher than what we can offer him. Cash in while he still has a decent contract length. I’m sorry but he isn’t anywhere near as influential as what MGW was, if we get £22m plus he goes for me

I think some fans forget what division were in or likely to be in for a while. An international, ex Premier/Champions league player at a good age should want to aim higher than the EFL.

Berge has 2 years left and is unlikely to sign a new deal unless we get promotion THIS season, so any decent fee over 20m now is good business(next season be worth half) and helps the transfer budget for a couple of position's still needed.

 

[finlaytheblade]

The only way we had a chance of keeping Berge was to get promotion last season. His value will only decrease while he's in the Championship and his contract gets closer to the end. Sell him now, spend 1/4 of the transfer fee and 1/4 of his wages. And pay off the remaining installments left on his fee.

He's still here and is not a topboy yet ,maybe he will get there this season .
Can't see anyone giving us our money back as of now, so maybe we might see him at his very best whatever that maybe. Enjoy !.?.

 

[TopBoy]

I love Berge as a player and as I've said previously always seems to have another gear or two to go up. But the best way to improve a side is to replace the worst players in the side. If we can sell one of the better ones in Berge, replace him with somebody inferior but upgrade 2-3 other positions then that is good business.

 

[finlaytheblade]

He's still here and is not a topboy yet ,maybe he will get there this season .
Can't see anyone giving us our money back as of now, so maybe we might see him at his very best whatever that maybe. Enjoy !.?.

Sorry don't know how my grandaughters got in there.
Maybe they are saying chillout .!!

 

[Sean Thornton]

Agreed

Reminds me of the Solskjaer situation a bit

Manager lost dressing room (Slav never had ours!)

Comes in, face they know, puts a smile back on their faces and the feel good factor improves results

Full season expectations rise, nice bloke but ultimately just a little short as lacks the cutting edge and nous

Hope I’m wrong, but you look at the best managers and they have an edge

Pep moves out Sterling
Klopp - Mane
Fergie - beckham, hughes etc

Even our managers who have had success had a bit of a bastard in them - Bassett, warnock, wilder

Is PH just a nice bloke who should be a coach (knill) or does he have it in him?

Reconvene in January…..

Wasn’t leaving Mane’s idea rather than being moved on?

 

[Ndiayewillalwaysloveyou]

Sorry don't know how my grandaughters got in there.
Maybe they are saying chillout .!!

Least it wasn't you and the missus on the video

 

[Sean Thornton]

I'm still amazed people can't see this. They proclaim the team is nothing without him, yet all he does is spray the ball pointlessly and predictably wide. That worked four seasons ago when we were in the nadir of 'overlapping centrebacks' but these days we aren't and haven't been for 18 months. Outside of that it's difficult to see exactly what he does which 'makes us tick'. If that is the case and we are so reliant on practically nothing, then it shows how in trouble we really are and how limited we are in creativity and ideas.

Time to wean the fans of the Norwood dummy, methinks

pommpey

The occasional Hollywood ball sticks in some peoples memory.

 

[adiosmiamigo]

If we do anything other than invest the money back into the squad then don't sell. If we re-invest it then absolutely. We don't play to his strengths and £20m for a championship player would be near unheard of

To my way of thinking,persuade him to give us another season,see where we are.If we sold him,i doubt very much that the majority of the money we would receive,would be invested on players,imho.