Careful, people take your words very seriously on here, as our most reliable ITK... that winky face after asking if another saga is on its way will have people thinking you know something, which I don't think is what you meant. Of course, if you have heard another saga is coming, that's a different story...

I see shutting down debate because the manager has the final say as kowtowing. We're here for discussion.

I expect a degree of foresight from managers. If they don't have any of that, they're not much use. Mark Hughes had tons of it, Coyle had none of it. We take part in discussion on a message board to discuss the merits of signings and see if we have any foresight of our own. Not to kowtow to the decisions of the manager. We all know he has say in the transfer policy and we don't, it doesn't need pointing out. But if he makes bad decisions he won't last (and most likely neither will our Championship status). What I said before is fact. If it turns out terribly, it will have been a terrible idea. Whether hindsight or foresight. But if someone predicted it was going to happen and it happens, that will have been foresight not hindsight.

No, what ultimately counts is whether it actually is a terrible idea or not. Eustace's desire to re-sign him counts for whether we do it, but if he has a dire season it will have been a terrible idea.

I once saw Lorenzo Amoruso overtake Michael Owen in a chase for the ball. Bursts of adrenaline vs tiredness can do a lot in a single situation. Doesn't mean that player is actually quicker overall.

If being Player of the Season doesn't warrant being one of the highest earners, I'm not sure what does.

Just for those who think EVs don't have the range etc to be viable...over in China right now, you can get the Zeekr 009. Its best version has a max range of 822 km (510 miles) on a full charge and does 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds despite it being a bit of a unit. It's kind of like a luxury minivan. I can't find how quick this version of it is capable of charging, but the 702km (436 miles) version can charge from 10-80% capacity in just 11.5 minutes with the right charger. So even if you only wanted to charge just over 5 minutes, you could add nearly 150 miles of range. I don't know if/when it will be available in the UK, and the price will likely be unaffordable to anyone reading this (though the very high price is more to do with the luxury element than the battery), but it gives an indication of where the road-ready technology is at. As ever, new technologies take a while to roll out en masse and become affordable to average people, but as ever, it will get there. That's not even the best battery the battery-makers (battery giants CATL, easily the world's biggest battery manufacturer) have created. They have made a 'condensed' battery that can store twice as much energy per kg, at about 500 wh/kg, which is considered high enough to make small commercial electric planes viable, and is currently being tested in planes in China. Claims of super batteries that aren't already out in the world should be treated with some level of scepticism, but this is CATL. They're the kings of the industry, and when they make claims they follow through.

That's fine then, that's where we'll be doing most of our player shopping this summer 😁

He's Japanese, and I think the photo you were looking for was:

Improving on Vale is not the benchmark for a decent signing.

Cool?

Mostly played as a CF, scored 9 goals in 38 games in League One last season. I don't think I need to say anything else.

Don't worry - it says competition from other clubs for his signature, so it won't happen.

Sarcasm? If not, check the date on that tweet.

The rest of the post, that you ignored. (Also sidenote, I never implied Eustace would threaten to quit, it was an example, nor is there any suggestion anywhere that he doesn't want to sign him...these two things are what promoted you from just missing the point to my being almost impressed by how much you missed the point).

That absolutely isn't the point I was making whatsoever. Like, not even close. I'm almost impressed.

Because if you had been paid to post it, you would totally admit that if he asked you...

He will be cheaper now than he was in January, as his contract is finished at the end of December. It's abundantly clear that whether Eustace and Park want him or not, we can't get him because of his public comments that we would have to offer him a very high contract to consider us after our absolute fuckup in January. We are blatantly not giving that kind of offer to anyone. McGuire is old news, not happening even if Eustace threatened to quit if he didn't get him.

I think our best hope would be a scenario like that, yes, without him breaking fully into the first team. Then hopefully he sees it as enough first team football to help his development, and signs a deal before he has caught too much of the eye of teams above. I know they know about him anyway, but there'd be a big difference between a talented 17 yr old available to them for (let's say 1 mill compo) who has maybe 10 sub appearances, and one available for one mill who has a dozen starts and 10 sub appearances, with say 6 Championship goals under his belt. The former attracts contract offers that the player may potentially reject in order to become a Championship regular the next season, the latter attracts silly 20-30k p/w contracts we'd get nowhere near. Of course, if/when we get relegated we likely lose him either way tbh.

If Tyjon is the next big thing for us this season, we won't make much money off him. He's too young, we don't have him on full professional terms yet. If he becomes a regular or semi-regular fixture for us this season, chances are he's off on cut-price terms by the summer. Think Ash Phillips before he signed that full pro deal with the 2.5 mill release clause, which was seen as a win for the club because we'd have got less for him without it.

The most impressive thing about Elliott for me was the intelligence of his game-reading given his tender years. Closely followed by very refined technique.

But since he's a year older than Elliott was and barely gets into the Northern Ireland U19s, significantly less talented. I assume you just meant that style of player?

If there is one, we'll find out.

He does strike me as the kind of man who wouldn't last 30 seconds.

It's a bad idea, because the fee may be correct at the time, but too low in the future. Szmodics has definitely become more valuable since his contract was signed. Asking too much would still get us offers above the release clause. The release clause is never going to be the exact maximum we are able to get. They're a terrible idea for a club unless they're necessary to secure a player who is almost out of contract, or if they're set at a stupidly high level (as most are in Spain, where minimum fee clauses are mandatory).