Christ, imagine getting to choose between those two as manager when you're in the bottom 3 with 0 points.

I was about to post pretty much the same (even how I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned it!). Considering a poster on here was saying that a couple of years ago he was lined up to go to Olympiakos for 700k euros.

That's what I want to hear. Plus if that's true, I also want to hear we have signed him. Then I'd be happy with this window, but would be nice to see us sneak a quality loan in too if the price is right.

I would. I don't have a PS, never have, but I've considered buying one pretty much just to play them. They look amazing, and the reviews back it up.

Thanks, that's helpful. Everton no longer seem to be willing to add any kind of sell on percent to the deal though, not even 10% of profit, without dropping their offer to just over 5 million!! Which is not only frustrating but changes the complexion of the deal. So it's good to know he doesn't seem to go anywhere. How far in is your save? Annoying that the game will shift the sale price so dramatically over a small add on. I've played around to test and they don't care if I'm asking 10 percent of profit or 30 percent of total, their up front cash offer drops from 10 million to exactly 4.8 million. Stuff like that robs the game of its authenticity at times.

He was already on 30k a week supposedly.

It's not the point whether they are Premier League class. Not in the slightest. You don't need to be Premier League class to go up. You don't even need a squad, or even team, full of promotion class, let alone Prem class. Lest we not forget, Corry Evans got promoted with Hull, as a regular I believe, and I wouldn't call him Prem or promotion quality. If he was the only contract out next summer, or say him and Bennett, I wouldn't bat an eyelid about it. But they're not. There are, as I already said and you may have read, too many players going out of contract next summer for us to feel relaxed. We absolutely do not have the resources to replace them all adequately at once. In that I include our finances, our youth team, and our slow approach recruitment system that has repeatedly proven it can't do large scale overhauls quickly. And again, we have existing gaps already before the contracts run down. We need to get a large chunk of those lads signed up or we will be facing a monumental task. The bare minimum for me would be Nyambe, JRC, and at least 2 from Rothwell, Holtby and Chapman. We can afford to let Williams go if the youth CBs look good enough and Ayala proves up to the task right up to season's end, but if Del plays well through the season I'd (can't believe I'm saying this) consider extending him too. Even then we are still absolutely going to need at least one, probably a couple of CMs to replace Evans, Johnson and Bennett (who offers an emergency cover), and probably somewhat on the cheap. Losing Mulgrew makes no difference though other than a welcome wage saving. This is before we consider the effect on team harmonics of a large exodus and influx, and the unknown (far as I've heard) effect of Brexit on future European business just as we seem to have got going with that. It's also nearly irrelevant whether we go up with contracted Championship level players. Prem riches see to that. Further, Championship level players who just won a promotion have increased stock in the market and we would likely find loans or sales for most of them. But if they sit around drawing a wage we will barely feel it at that point.

I don't know if that was rhetorical, but yes, you're correct.

I'm sure if I watch that video again I'll remember where I shoved my other reservations and give them some company.

Well you called it. Sickeningly low fee by the sounds of it.

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/18772273.rovers-face-race-time-land-greece-u21-international/ LT caught up about half an hour ago (in terms of an article rather than tweets). In there it says he was in the last year of his deal, which, with covid too, probably explains why he won't have cost anything like the 700k he reportedly was going to last year. Says we will only find out if everything went through on time in the morning, which seems odd. Slightly worried that it says he has just 5 caps for Greece u21s. With how good he looked on that clip I'd have expected more. Wonder what the limits to his game are...he has Raya's reflexes, does he have his eccentricity?

He mentioned going to school with JohnGo in the podcast? I see the U23s and some senior players (Gally, Mulgrew) drew 2-2 with Huddersfield B in a friendly. I thought it was interesting from the article that Gally, even stepping down a level, was played on the right of a front three with Burns leading the line instead. It looks worryingly like this really is still TM's plan for Gallagher. Hope the new system suits it a bit better but I'm not expecting much.

Haven't Forest been embargoed before, about the same time we were? Wigan were docked for administration, which has been around for many years and always gets punished. Didn't Birmingham get some sort of punishment, or it's pending? They've definitely been tighter on it the last year or two. Ironic since covid will probably force them to back off on it again. Edit - a quick Google tells me Birmingham were embargoed a couple of years ago, but I was thinking of more recently they've been in some bother. Reading got a soft embargo last year. Notts Forest HAVE been embargoed before. So have Derby, Fulham, Bolton...I can't be bothered to google any more. I reckon the main factor is how good your lawyers are, how clever you were with your loopholes, and just a bit of getting lucky at the right time.

That sounds unlikely though? 1.5 mill up front maybe, with several million more guaranteed in instalments and then another 2 or so in 'maybes' if certain targets are hit. I find it highly improbable he is only guaranteed to cost 1.5 million.

Ah thanks Chaddy, that makes considerably more sense now. Stayed somewhere he could break into the first team in the next few years, good call.

The question definitely remains of why would this kid turn down Olympiakos due to wanting first team football, only to go on to sit on our bench? Better remuneration? Just changed his mind and decided he needs to get out of the Bulgarian leagues to move his career on? Told he would be second choice and get the cup games here but only third choice at Olympiakos? Been told by us that he will genuinely be neck-and-neck with Kaminski? Simply couldn't resist the lure of being coached by Ben Benson?

Just watched that highlight reel again and I know it's just a highlight reel but...I reckon when every one of our young prospect keepers sees that reel or watches him in training, they'll be straight on the phone to their agent asking them to find them a new club. Between him and Kaminski, doesn't look like another keeper is breaking through here for the next...oh, 14 years? ?

It's not about which ones are individually to be worried about losing though. It's about how many of them could be lost all at once if we don't sign a lot of people up to new contracts before then. Even with the saved wages, it would be a nightmare to expect our current slowly-slowly recruitment approach to replace them all, let alone fill the pre-existing gaps. Obviously we'll be fine to (and must) lose the likes of Fisher, Evans and Bennett, but I wouldn't want to lose most of the rest all at the same time. One or two of them ok.

And just like that, I took all my reservations and stuck them up my arse to die. Raya-like reflexes on a 6 ft 5 keeper who has found a way to sneak glue onto his gloves? Yes please.

Aye but still just a prospect. Whilst 68 apps for a keeper at 21, even in that league, is admirable, and he is probably a much better prospect than our others, I was kinda expecting someone with more experience, or at a higher/more comparable level but still young and able to improve. Someone in maybe the 23-26 category. This player seems (from the CV alone of course) like the sort that, if we already had him, we'd be looking to buy someone else with more experience so we can loan him out, like we have with Fisher. Fisher doesn't seem trusted at all to be the backup though, and rightly from what I've seen...he was crap in pre-season when given his big chance to impress, and I expect he will be gone next year when his contract expires. As has been said, I'm sure he's been well scouted and hopefully can be comfortably relied on for 3-4 months if Kaminski was to get a horror injury.

About half the team are due to be out of contract. Dack (will activate the 1 year extension on his though), Holtby, Rothwell, Mulgrew, Williams, Evans, Johnson, Bennett, JRC, Chapman, Nyambe. And Fisher, who we are buying another keeper just so he can go on loan. Obviously there are mixed opinions on several of those players, but however you slice it that would be a HUGE rebuilding job to replace most of those all at once. And we already still have gaps. And we know how well we do with large scale transfer business...

Is a 21 year old goalie from the Bulgarian league good enough to not just be another young goalkeeper rather than a first team goalkeeper though? Genuine question as I've no idea how good he is or isn't.

Not to contradict, but, is it even possible for this to be true if taken literally? Surely he has to sign his contract before tonight's deadline? I know there are some rules about if you've got the bulk of the deal done and paperwork submitted you can finalise a bit later, but I didn't think that applied to the player signing the contract too (I guess in a way he could only sign once clubs are signed off with each other though).

Yeh it wasn't. Not by me anyway.

Anybody played a few seasons on FM 20 and seen how Ben Brereton turns out? I'm probably about to sell him for about 12 million to Everton in January 2020 (can tell it's just a game, hah!) but I do have some concerns as his potential ability has consistently shown as being at least 4*, possibly 5*. I'll be slapping a sell on fee in there of course but it still keeps making me think I might be making a mistake. He's my only asset who I don't imminently need who I can get a lot of money for at the moment. I don't massively need the cash, I'll only see 2.5 million of it as budget for this season anyway and I think I can squeeze my remaining budget to buy the three first-teamers I'm lining up. But I'd like to sign 17 year old Fran Lopez, who my scouts tell me is slightly better than Ben right now (different type of forward though, which my main style doesn't really use) and has potential of 4 to 4.5 stars. It's that 0.5 possible difference that's giving me pause for thought... although from past experience I'll probably be regularly hoovering up forwards with as much or more potential than Ben within a year or two, and that at 20 with only 2.5 CA he probably won't hit his potential anyway. Selling Breo for 12 million and bringing in Lopez for 1.3 mill seems a no brainer (not sure if the owners will pocket the difference when deciding my summer budget though) but I'd just feel more comfortable if I knew how good BB really can get on here...