09 Jan 2021 10:15:05
Well its good to be in the 4th round draw on Monday always exciting.
Good result against a very poor Palace side, should have been 3 or 4 Fabio needs to practice his heading.
Can't believe how much room Palace gave Semedo and Traorie down the right wing, good goal from Adama.
We have to stop missing these chances one goal was enough last night but as in the past Wolves must take these chances and not rely on a one goal lead, and keep us all on tenterhooks towards the end of the match.
09 Jan 2021 10:55:18
Think Cutrone has to start v Everton. Silva looks more like a bought "pig in a poke" every game; &, I'm sorry, but age make no difference it's ability that counts.
09 Jan 2021 10:59:29
They doing round 4 draw and round 5 draw straight after, to do with fixture congestion I think.
The beauty of the draw is we could possibly have 2 easier teams in round 4 and 5.Sure round 6 is quarterfinal.
Getting ahead of myself I know but no harm in thinking the best.
Last night the build up to the match this week was better than the game itself lol very tired when it's late kickoff and as much as I enjoyed our play palace their game plan made it not a classic.
Agree we have to start putting our chances away. silva and dendonker could/ should of scored but they both were there in the right place.
Palace left back when Traore's hand brushed his face with 2 or 3 fingertips, he went down holding his face as if Traore had elbowed him that I really don't like more and more in the game now players trying to con the ref.
09 Jan 2021 12:39:39
Yes Phil, To many cheats now in the game, Kane is one of the worst for backing in to players and falling forwards. Refs are not strong enough to realise they are being conned.
Some of these players are hardly touched and they go down with
excruciating pain as if they have broke a leg.
Be nice to have an easy draw next round but even those can be difficult banana skins.
09 Jan 2021 15:15:11
Belfast as you will be able to tell if you read any of my posts I am not a Silva fan but for me it is not his current unsuitability that primarily annoys me, (I use the word current as presumably someone has seen potential), although it does, but the fact that we paid for a finished product rather than what he is, a v v high risk, project.
If we had paid a nominal sum up front say £3m with additional payments for appearances/ goals etc etc that meant we paid £35m or even more if it turns out he was indeed a player then that would be fine. But what happens if after 3 years he remains as he is now a player incapable of playing at any level in England - he isn't talented enough to play at a high level and isn't physical enough to play at the lower levels. He leaves on a free/ released and we will have written off £50m in wages and fees?
Sheer madness!
We are also paying him several million a year in wages - far more than most of the squad in fact - rather the few k a week he should be on. What will this be doing for dressing room mrale?
Given our FFP situ this over pay stops us buying other players - see this window - and that is really painful.
I have nothing against him - if someone offered me a few million a year to do a job I was totally unqualified for on a fixed unbreakable contract I'd sign up pronto as well - but the person who sanctioned this deal should be sacked. Simple!
09 Jan 2021 15:42:59
Absolutely correct Gold. Very good post.
09 Jan 2021 17:05:57
Agree entirely Goldie. Makes you wonder if Nuno feels compelled to play him for that reason.
09 Jan 2021 17:23:52
Well given make up of squad he didn't/ doesn't have a lot of options.
The lack of options being of course because we had spent all our money on Silva!
It would have been hard persuading a player of the quality of Wilson or Giroud to join last summer given the probability/ possibility that they wouldn't have got a lot of game time (if only! ) but they would have been a lot cheaper and a lot better - cost to include wages, ( Giroud's would be higher than Silva) plus fees over 3 year contract.
I think if we had bought Giroud in particular I would have gone 3 4 3 or 4,2,4 with Jimenez and Giroud up front and Traore (in the 3) on the wing. With his superb crosses they would gave scored a hatful of goals as defenders would not be able to double/ triple/ quadruple up on Jimenez and Traore without leaving Giroud completely unmarked.
Neto or Podence or both would be on the bench, unless we went 4,2,4, which would be a shame but you have to consider the impact Giroud would have alongside Jimenez (They are both slow but omg they are good in the air and in the box! )
Oh well that dream went the same way as signing Fernandes or Dias!
09 Jan 2021 18:40:32
Agree to an extent but feel that nuno and the owners could of never envisaged the glut of injuries coming at the same time and Jimenez injury is out the blue tragic for him and for everyone else.
Jimenez played virtually every game since signing and travelling the huge distance for Mexico national team. So I think fosun and nuno have had out of nowhere misfortune.
I believe as I've read it nuno shi and the rest of the team sit down in in depth meetings of who is signed.
So I think the blame for last summer's transfers should be the whole clubs fault.
Just my thoughts.
On a different note the baggies lost ha ha.
09 Jan 2021 20:31:50
Future-- I know (for us:) we are going over old ground here buddy but let's be realistic what 18 year old has EVER repaid their fee in the first four months of playing?! You say about a nominal fee with add ons but sadly fella that just isn't how these deals work these days! And why should it, why should the selling club go 'OK well you take the best young prospect we've had for decades but you'll only need to pay us top price IF he lives up to his potiential'?! Sorry but that's just not realistic, when you buy young players (pretty much anyone under 21) then the fee is for their potiential rather than the player. Was Walcott worth £20m+ after scoring a few goals in the Champ for Southampton, of course not but he could have been a steal if it had worked out! As I've said before it's hard to judge Fabio when we've had to deviate SO far from the plan! We took about three months to bring Podence into the first team and he was 24! Fabios come straight in from the youth teams in Portugal and is suddenly being asked to fill in for a 20 goal a season striker. The question should not be is Fabio worth £35m because we won't know the answer to that for a couple of years. No what I think your question actually should be is were we as a club in a position to take a gamble of a £35m on an 18 year old striker?! Well again time will tell but its definitely made things harder this season! Take Rueben Dias, City paid £51m for a 23 year old that had never played outside of Portugal. Was he worth that on face value, of course not but was he worth it on potiential value?! Time will tell again but I suspect City have got a steal there to be honest. But here's the thing, City can afford to gamble on a 23 year old CB. For me that's the real question, could WE afford the gamble? As I keep saying only time decides that one but as ever I trust the clubs judgement but that's essentially what it comes down to for me ðŸ‘.
09 Jan 2021 20:40:50
Future: Totally agree with your posts, Silva only played 12 league games for Porto scoring 1 goal before he joined us and has shown not a glimpse of natural ability. I was checking the Wolves wages on line and couldn’t believe that he is on 80 grand a week. We are not a club that can pay that amount for a player who might come good in the next 2 years anything can happen in that time. Also Wilson or Origi would have been excellent signings for you never know we might play 2 strikers some day and when Jimenez returns he could get injured again. Few weeks to go in the window yet. We don’t create too many chances so an experienced striker is a priority .
09 Jan 2021 21:32:26
Agree that you couldn't have envisioned the scale of the injuries but as we had been injury free for 2 years we probably became blase. We were bound to get some injuries eventually and of course it was always possible that one of them would be Jimenez. However other than covering the 2 missing WBs, Otto and Doherty, we didn't sign any senior players. Not even to cover the obvious need to replace/ phase out Moutinho who clearly was going to find 38+ games a year without significant recuperation periods beyond him - as has proven to be the case. Nor to provide a back up for Jimenez who was capable of playing in case he was the one that got injured as he did.
Let alone expand and rebalance the squad as Nuno repeatedly requested and we have paid the price accordingly this season
With respect to Nuno's involvement/ agreement with the policy, whilst he has no choice but to be supportive of the decisions of the club - at the end of the day you have to back your boss or you lose your job, he has consistently over the last 6-12 months made it clear - pretty unsubtly - that he was not happy with the size and balance of the squad. Indeed only a couple of weeks ago he was talking about us being active and making signings in January. Then suddenly, presumably after he was told it was not happening, he had to come out and change his message.
We had been v successful in the transfer market until recently and strangely our decline in the market corresponds directly to the departures of Dalrymple in the summer of 2019 and perhaps more importantly Thelwell in Feb 2020.
I have no idea if they were brilliant or the guy (s) making the decisions now - which as I say is almost certainly not Nuno, indeed I wonder how much input he has because it has obviously been ignored this last 6 months- are useless but you have to hope they are humble people who can acknowledge that they aren't football people and we recruit staff who actually know what they are doing or allow Nuno to have a far greater say in matters and actually do as he has asked expand and rebalance the squad next summer ready to renew our challenge at the top of the Premier League.
Long answer - sorry.
10 Jan 2021 16:49:40
No prob on long post mate.
10 Jan 2021 17:27:42
Bully will send a FULL analytical response when I get a moment.
Don't actually think we are as far apart in views as it may appear though.
2 v quick points though
You mention Theo Walcott - he was sold for a headline fee of £12m but it was a "modest" £5m up front with "add ons" to make it a possible £12m full price.
Despite being a far better athlete and player on the day he arrived, he had far more and better adult football experience and indeed played for England within 6 months of his transfer to Arsenal, only £9m was ever paid by Arsenal and I doubt - subjective opinion of course - that he ever became worth £35m (price adjusted for inflation! ) .
I do however disagree with you that most deals are not done this way - the way in which Walcott's was. Check the deals done in the last year even Bruno Fernandes - a player we have discussed before and who was already an experienced and established player was sold with 50% add ons in his contract indeed Chris Smalling a player nearer the end of his career than the beginning had 25% add ons when sold to Roma.
Surely the percentage of "add ons" should increase as the risks of achievement increase which they do with younger less established players.
Logically - only a fool would pay the full possible outcome up front given all the risks there are in that outcome being achieved surely both parties should share the risks and rewards - or you'd buy my lottery ticket for £2m as it may win?
Finally :Zeli Ismail.