DutchRover

Ohashi is a quality player; his finishing is great and his movement in the attacking phase is exceptional. He also works hard in the press, so it is easy to see why managers seem to like him. I will concede he looked lighter at times, especially compared to someone like Gueye, but he played effectively 1.5 seasons without a break except for an injury. I would trust that a full pre-season and experience of last year will better prepare him for the Championship. He also made Japan debut too which is always a positive. Worth bearing in mind too that some of the best strikers ever have been much shorter than Ohashi, it's about the style we play as much as the individual.

I will believe the owners are willing to spend when they, you know, actually spend money...

All in on the academy seems to be Gestedes "exciting summer", even the two we signed for peanuts are basically u23s

Guarantee that he is the new 2nd choice LB and Pickering is the new left footed CB we desperately needed... It's like two new players.

Don't disagree with L1 comments, but I just do not see what value it brings them, even if we break even and they don't have to invest, they get no prestige from owning a L1 club and they'll never make profits in L1 to claw back the debt. It wouldn't even work as a tax write-off if we become self sufficient. Literally the only reason they won't sell us seems to be spite.

Again, we go from one of best midfielders outside big clubs in Netherlands, to a Sunderland youth guy they only signed from Aussie land last year and immediately shipped to Scotland.

I'd agree that having a full pre-season with his loan club makes sense, should allow him to bed-in properly and learn how they want to play, plus get to know his CB partners. I still have hopes for him, he has all the tools to be successful and as others have pointed out, Wharton and Carter were also similarly slow bloomers. Incidentally, getting players in early for a full pre-season was what we were promised this year... always easier to let players go than to bring them in for us.

It's why I believe Glen's comment about a wage-cap. Dolan will have wanted more than 10k based on his age and appearances etc, and we will have just said "nah" and let him walk. It's why we can't renew Brittain, Trav or Tronstad either, because we just can't be bothered to pay them and would prefer a toddler we don't have to pay.

Amount of gaslighting that comes from the club about "trying" or "offering" contracts and bids for players is pathetic and I am so fed up with it. If the club spent half as much time actually running the club correctly rather than trying to bullshit fans we wouldn't be in this position. The fact that we have not offered terms to Dolan, and I would wager Batth/Weimann, is latest in long trend of budget-cutting that is crippling the club.

Wouldn't be a surprise

LT has an interview with Fosu-Mensah, talking about looking for a new club after sitting out for a year. Pretty sure we were linked when he left Leverkusen last year, so perhaps a hint of interest? Especially if Kapuadi is going nowhere. I always rated him but his injury record is terrible, though that might mean he'd take a low wage to get back into game.

Wagg's crisps and £5 million add on when we get promoted.

Not targeting an additional CB to replace Batth, but we are still targeting the previously mentioned left-footed CB.

No surprise they can't be bothered to add extra needs to the list, for all we know the 6/7 they mentioned already factored in Batth and Weimann leaving. I half expect them to announce Pickering as the new Left Footed CB and Batty as an exciting young option behind Ribeiro at LB. O'Riordan I still have no idea what to think, seems great in L2 but not done much else; have to hope its a S Wharton situation. Atcheson I have heard good things from the academy.

It's not that people don't want good back-ups, it is a lack of faith in the owners/Suhail/Gestede to create a situation where we actually have the depth we need. In an ideal world a sensible team would renew Trav and Tronstad, have De Keersmaecker as the 3rd 1st choice so to speak, Tavares as 4th option and I guess Forshaw as the 5th choice player-coach type. But it is so against the evidence of Venky's entire reign that they would seek to achieve this.

De Keersmaecker would only come if we lose Trav or Tronstad, guarenteed. Gore I don't want anything to do with, makes JRC look like a low injury risk.

Forshaw is only 4th/5th choice if we don't flog Travis or Tronstad this summer instead of offering an extension. In which scenario he's suddenly 3rd choice again and we rely on him.

Any update on where the coalition is at? Been very quiet the last couple of months now.

To be fair, his love of fancy cars, watches and suits will endear him to Gestede who seems similarly inclined...

Yes, hence the David Brent jokes. He seemed ok in the Docu but if you look at what he actually did as CEO he was a disaster. He kept offering ridiculous wages with no relegation clauses, continued to spend despite the reduction in revenue to Championship, appointed Grayson who was a disaster, and in general was more concerned with lining his own pockets and living the fancy CEO life than actually doing his job.

God help us if that is the case, he nearly bankrupted them and they were on prem revenue

If 10k cap is true, it is a disaster and nl wonder Brittain won't resign

Was clear that this was going to be the case, Weimann I am not so bothered about but Batth will be a big loss. Puts more pressure on Gestede to bring in a dominant left footed CB to play next to Hyam/Carter.

The 2m must be heavily weighted in add-ons, can't imagine we have paid more than about 800k for the transfer, which itself would be spread across the 3 years.

Out of contract guys not expected back for preseason, no surprise there and don't expect we resign them anyway. Interesting that Batty hasn't resigned though, assume he wants to go get1st team football somewhere.