Mahoney gone...

'Just more than 1m' fee so the echo say.
Cost us 425k compensation to sign from Blackburn.

Makes us lighter on the wing. Pugh gone. Even if Fraser stays we have questions over Stanislas' fitness, Brooks having to play centrally half the time as well. Is Ibe the answer?
 
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Just over a million, we'd better get 75% of any sell-on fee then

I thought we had space for him and thought he could do ok, clearly proved himself at Championship level, but if he needed guarantees about playing time then fair to let him go. Hope he realises that we've done him a solid by letting him go at that price
 
Winger desperately needed now, even if Fraser stays.

Can’t count on Stanislas and even when he is fit, he hasn’t looked up to Prem standard for the last couple years.

Ibe, well we all know about him.

Therefore we are effectively left with 2 wingers Prem standard wingers. Anyone know if there any youngsters coming through?

Saw Watford are interested in a French Under 21 International for 20m
 
Winger desperately needed now, even if Fraser stays.

Can’t count on Stanislas and even when he is fit, he hasn’t looked up to Prem standard for the last couple years.

Ibe, well we all know about him.

Therefore we are effectively left with 2 wingers Prem standard wingers. Anyone know if there any youngsters coming through?

Saw Watford are interested in a French Under 21 International for 20m

It makes more sense if (and I accept this is unlikely) Eddie is looking to move to a different formation, one with full backs providing more width. We have attacking full back options with Smith, Stacey, Rico. Daniels (less so these days perhaps)...Heck even Ibe did ok at times wing back last season.

We also have the 6 defenders needed to play a central back 3, with 3 direct replacements.
However we currently lack the number of central midfielders needed to move to a 3-5-2 type system.

It would also change the habit of a lifetime for Eddie to not focus on wingers.
 
I know our scouts don't read this, but . . . in the interest of promoting a Canadian replacement . . .
How about Jonathan David? He's 19, currently playing in Gent (Belgium). Just won the golden boot this month at the CONCACAF Gold Cup with 6 goals in 4 games.
Transfermarkt has him at only 10m euro, although his value has probably gone up after his recent performances this summer.
 
Winger desperately needed now, even if Fraser stays.

Can’t count on Stanislas and even when he is fit, he hasn’t looked up to Prem standard for the last couple years.

True, true, WHAT!!??!! HAhahahahaa

Seriously not up to it, Stan, are you kidding? Did you just want some attention? You know which one Stan is don't you? Just trying to be clear because that's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read on these pages, and believe me there's some huge competition for that. Let me just leave this here

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I know our scouts don't read this, but . . . in the interest of promoting a Canadian replacement . . .
How about Jonathan David? He's 19, currently playing in Gent (Belgium). Just won the golden boot this month at the CONCACAF Gold Cup with 6 goals in 4 games.
Transfermarkt has him at only 10m euro, although his value has probably gone up after his recent performances this summer.
he's a decent player... probably too much money. alphonso Davies is good too.
 
I wonder how Mahoney feels about this?

Played for a Champ club.

Signed by a Prem club but never played having been loaned out to 2 further Champ clubs.

At the end of it all end up playing for another Champ club, just like you did before all this nonsense.

2 years and not really any better off.

Genuine question: will a player feel like this was a waste of time in an already short career? Will he feel he's had a good couple of years' wages and the kudos of being involved with a PL team? Will he feel like he's back at square one after wasting his time with us? Will he at least have learned something from someone like Pugh or Eddie even if it didn't work out?
 
We still have King. Argueably he plays better wide of Wilson in a 3 than behind him.
Are we assuming we are still playing 442??? because it strikes me we have bought for a flexible 352 without wingers and that may solve other squad situations...over to Neil re formations
 
Would a player look back at the end of their career and regret turning down the opportunity to sign for a PL club? From a young players perspective, would you be concerned you might not get the chance again if you turn it down now?

We signed Joshua King, Emerson Hyndman and Connor Mahoney all for similar fees. Mahoney has just about enhanced his reputation, Hyndman has gone backwards, King is now one of the top forwards outside the top 6.

The success of King more than outweighs the disappointment of the other two. Had King chosen not to work with Eddie, might he ended up as one of footballs talented failures who drift down the leagues working under bad manager after bad manager? Seems unlikely based on what we now know in 2019, but we can’t deny it’s happened to many other hyped young players in the past.
 
Are we assuming we are still playing 442??? because it strikes me we have bought for a flexible 352 without wingers and that may solve other squad situations...over to Neil re formations
I was talking about a formation with 3 forwards. Be that 4-3-3 or 3-4-3. If the 3 forwards were King, Wilson and Brooks, then it’s only a very slight tweak to change to a 3-4-3 to a 3-4-1-2
 

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