Davefevs

James Taylor on

Especially when the EPPP / Premier League 2 (u23) was supposed to be the way forward for PL Club youngsters.

Completely.

? % This is a poor relation to the LDC, FRT, JPT etc.

Nope….the irony of your user name ??? Nigel Pearson is not the correct answer, so no correction required. Correct Ronnie. Reminds me of a young Gary Pallister (not Nige or Phlegm) in the way he moves and passes the ball. You win a piece of data of your choice.

4-2 now, I maybe went a bit early on this one ?

Nope. I thought that would be everyone’s first guess, then Fleming. The correct answer is still out there!

Nope.

Nope.

Burton 4-0 Leicester u21s - after 12 minutes.

Only full 90 I’ve seen was Peterborough and he was very good. Seen highlights (extended ones against Chippenham) and his short debut in last seasons pre-season friendly. Want to see him against someone who stretches him in behind, because he’s pretty dominant with stuff in front of him. Basically I want to see his mobility and what he’s like on the turn. Certainly capable on the ball. Reminded me of a young Middlesbrough defender in the mid, late-80s. Can you guess who?

This is a beaut!

Plus Michael Hardcastle - author of the teen football books, Free-Kick, On The Run, etc (the Mark Fox series) was a Huddersfield fan too. Used to love his books as a kid. He visited our school.

Agree. Certainly there is no intention to soak up pressure. We try to win the ball back early in the possession in their defensive third, and if we can’t trigger it, we drop into a block between halfway and their 40 yards out. Its not always successful though. With the ball, our intention is to play through Naismith and the midfield, sometimes using Atkinson, less so Vyner. Its not always successful though. What we also see is our transition when we break up their patterns, and vice versa when we get transitioned on. Sometimes we are transitioning off of the back of their transition. It makes football very fluid.

? agree…post mainly for the benefit of others who think we have to sell a “big-un”! Before the start of the season I estimated we were somewhere in the region of being £2.5m shy of complying. @Mr Popodopoloushas a slightly wider range, think he’s in the £2-4m ballpark. We’ve since had a number of “transactions” in and out and I think we’ve brought that deficit down, but not by a huge amount. We have to comply by the end of this season, although projections submitted in March might prompt action from the EFL. So we’ve got 6 months to sort things out…we still have January window, hence why no panic. That deficit might be covered by additional Covid allowances, and therefore we are currently satisfying EFL. If Stoke and Forest were putting in tens of millions in, surely we can exempt enough? Hence why I think we are complying, but with a very prudent outlook until the EFL formally confirm the “rules” and also new rules from next season onwards. We don’t want to do something now that will hamstring us in future. Its very much guesswork, and I can re-baseline my figs when 21/22’s accounts come out. They might come out earlier this year by the sounds of it.

Funny, when I watched many of last season’s u23 games, I thought we played a very different brand of u23 football to most. A lot of teams play the football you describe, nice patterns, look pretty but don’t do a lot with it. I’m generalising of course, but City I see playing more robust, less pretty football…but imho more akin to a proper senior championship match. All about opinions though.

As per another post, we don’t need £15m plus (or whatever Antoine is worth) to comply with FFP. Would be better off finding someone else of a lower value to sell, e.g. a Dasilva or a Pring, if that makes sense. You and me both. I honestly don’t expect him to go in this window, but every post that gets added I expect to see “xyz are bidding for him”. Phew.

Was an outfield player until relatively recently (Bath youth stuff). Guess Bajic is still working up to full fitness now he’s been given the all-clear following last week’s scan.

Good old Harv

Everybody knows who the old big-unit is ??? Yes, just trying to sort out my sub, I don’t have permissions currently.

What he said!

Depends how much we paid him initially doesn’t it? If we gave him £10k p.w. as an 18 year old…is he now deserving of more than Andi Weimann for example? I guess context is everything…I’ve no idea what he’s on or what he’s been offered. Poor old Andi had to take a 50% cut (we know from Nige it was a cut). It would not surprise me if we “overpaid” at the time and the reality of the current contract deal is more aligned to his ability / experience / performance levels. As you say the world has moved on. I think he’s experiencing what lots of other pros are…existing contract terms might be better than future contract terms. In this scenario, you can play the field a bit, but he also needs to be reminded that he can’t walk for free in the summer, compensation is due under FA or FIFA regs. Depends if money is the driver. I don’t expect him to play for buttons either. It’s a complex dynamic in a worsening market. I rate him though, and would be trying to get him to sign, but there are wage structures in place….for a reason. I think he’s playing well (in the main) at the moment too. Smudger….Semenyo (sorry, ooops).

Yep, and look what gems there are if you give them the right exposure. That’s not just games, but joining in training, becoming a member of the training squad, etc, etc.

Might be a final “test”…has he got that match day “desire” over and above training.

My view is slightly / subtly different….we are looking at Bamba because we can’t afford anyone unless we cut some costs (someone leaves). I don’t believe it’s the EFL constraining us, more it’s ourselves running the business properly. I don’t think we make the summer signings if so. We are under EFL monitoring (not restriction) regardless as we are in breach of the £15m lower-limit.