SOTC

[Tomo]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0hvvds5?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

[Malago]

59 minutes ago, Tomo said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0hvvds5?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

Features another interesting interview with James Piercy.

[Mr Popodopolous]

Piercy stated £2m for a striker which feels pretty unambitious,  although you can get bargains of course.

Now if is £2m for a loan then you can get a range of players for that when we include wage and loan fee.

Edited May 20 by Mr Popodopolous

[Davefevs]

8 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Piercy stated £2m for a striker which feels pretty unambitious,  although you can get bargains of course.

Now if is £2m for a loan then you can get a range of players for that when we include wage and loan fee.

I don’t think he was referencing a loan.

[GrahamC]

9 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Piercy stated £2m for a striker which feels pretty unambitious,  although you can get bargains of course.

Now if is £2m for a loan then you can get a range of players for that when we include wage and loan fee.

Depends where.

Been said several times we’re looking abroad, you could get a striker from Ligue 2, Bundesliga 2 or Belgium for that.

I thought it was interesting that on one podcast Owers mentioned a couple of Eastern European countries as possibilities.

The Bulgarian lad for instance would be less than this.

Edited May 20 by GrahamC

[Mr Popodopolous]

3 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I don’t think he was referencing a loan.

Thanks. Neither did I, I wondered if I had misheard it.

3 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Depends where.

Been said several times we’re looking abroad, you could get a striker from Ligue 2, Bundesliga 2 or Belgium for that.

I thought it was interesting that on one podcast Owers mentioned a couple of Eastern European countries as possibilities.

The Bulgarian lad for instance would be less than this.

This is true, Ligue 1, Bundesliga 2..always think the latter is the closest style and standard wise to the Championship.

What about someone like McGuire on a free, his move with Blackburn fell through, MLS- yet age 23 so some experience yet room for growth, think he was reported as a free agent.

Edited May 20 by Mr Popodopolous

[Davefevs]

2 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Thanks. Neither did I, I wondered if I had misheard it.

This is true, Ligue 1, Bundesliga 2..always think the latter is the closest style and standard wise to the Championship.

What about someone like McGuire on a free, his move with Blackburn fell through, MLS- yet age 23 so some experience yet room for growth, think he was reported as a free agent.

There will be a whole host of potential candidates in other leagues, @GrahamC has been searching them all out!

Interesting to hear James say that Miovski was a target but ruled out on price.  Decent as he is, I’m happy that we don’t chase players like this if clubs are gonna overprice them (which is of course their prerogative).  He’s 3x more than I’d want to pay (and it ain’t my money)!

[Mr Popodopolous]

21 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

There will be a whole host of potential candidates in other leagues, @GrahamC has been searching them all out!

Interesting to hear James say that Miovski was a target but ruled out on price.  Decent as he is, I’m happy that we don’t chase players like this if clubs are gonna overprice them (which is of course their prerogative).  He’s 3x more than I’d want to pay (and it ain’t my money)!

Thanks and yeah there will. A marquee loan for the £2m on striker could be a gamechanger but I'm not altogether sure what the strategy is now.

A winger when we have been back 3 in the last phase of the season is odd for one.

A winger when we have been often going with two 10s as part of the frontline.

I was never so sold on Miovski tbh, reasonable but not sort the price even then let alone now.

Edited May 20 by Mr Popodopolous

[BLRed]

Let’s have a list of potentials then @GrahamC

personally I think the suggested 2 mill is a pitiful amount for what needs to be and should be a marquee goalscorer, especially given the attacking third is where our incomings are the prime focus.

that and we should have a lot of financial room to bring in a decent striker.

maybe they are spunking it all on twine and are hoping Conway re-signs.

personally I think Conway will be sold as I don’t see him re-signing so all the more reason we need to sign a top replacement.

all the above is of course completely speculative but just my immediate thought diarrhoea.

[Davefevs]

37 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

I was never so sold on Miovski tbh, reasonable but not sort the price even then let alone now.

Agree.  I saw the argument at c£1.5m.  Runner, puts himself about, and decent finisher…but as soon as that price he loses fascination!

I am looking forward to the first decent rumour though!

[Davefevs]

9 minutes ago, BLRed said:

Let’s have a list of potentials then @GrahamC

personally I think the suggested 2 mill is a pitiful amount for what needs to be and should be a marquee goalscorer, especially given the attacking third is where our incomings are the prime focus.

that and we should have a lot of financial room to bring in a decent striker.

maybe they are spunking it all on twine and are hoping Conway re-signs.

personally I think Conway will be sold as I don’t see him re-signing so all the more reason we need to sign a top replacement.

all the above is of course completely speculative but just my immediate thought diarrhoea.

I think the marquee is Twine.

Don't forget we still have Conway, so can’t see the no9 being the “marquee”.  If Conway goes, then the recruitment drive changes.  Just depends on the timing / order things happen.  In an ideal world you’d want to know Conway’s decision first.

[GrahamC]

Just now, Davefevs said:

I think the marquee is Twine.

Don't forget we still have Conway, so can’t see the no9 being the “marquee”.  If Conway goes, then the recruitment drive changes.  Just depends on the timing / order things happen.  In an ideal world you’d want to know Conway’s decision first.

100%.

My original list was looking more at a fee around £3.5m, because I was factoring in Conway leaving, this player being his replacement & then probably a much cheaper striker option to come in too to replace Cornick, this assumes Wells, Bell & possibly Seb P-H are still in the mix.

£2m tops & you’re more likely looking at players like the following;

Samuel Essende in Portugal, Makhtar Gueye in Belgium, Killian Corredor in Ligue 2 in France & possibly a Kosovan who plays in Romania called Albion Rrahmani, though I saw he’s being linked with Rangers today.

Couple of others like Wilfried Kanga in Belgium & Ragnar Ache in Bundesliga 2 would be outside that price limit.

[shahanshahan]

And show the ends for another season. First one without Twentyman.

I was worried how the output would be, but I think it's been mostly tolerable.

[W-S-M Seagull]

Interesting that Piercy mentions the lack of experience in the squad, especially if Williams leaves.

Also the ladies manager also spoke about how the lack of experience impacted them this season. 

We're not likely to recruit anyone with any significant experience so this does really concern me. 

[Dastardly and Muttley]

5 hours ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

Interesting that Piercy mentions the lack of experience in the squad, especially if Williams leaves.

Also the ladies manager also spoke about how the lack of experience impacted them this season. 

We're not likely to recruit anyone with any significant experience so this does really concern me. 

It’s not just lack of experience in the squad - apart from Wells, no one in the club has any experience at the highest level.

[One Team]

5 hours ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

Interesting that Piercy mentions the lack of experience in the squad, especially if Williams leaves.

Also the ladies manager also spoke about how the lack of experience impacted them this season. 

We're not likely to recruit anyone with any significant experience so this does really concern me. 

A great interview with Piercy, he just speaks with such credibility and experience. 

It sounded to me that Williams could well be off with other Championship clubs interested. With him and James gone that clearly leaves a big gap. 

I have actually heard we will only be making two signings this summer, we shall see of course but I think we might need a couple more than that. 

As for the other womens team it’s an interesting comparison, they have been under invested in. They didn’t even get a pay rise when they won promotion, eventually getting something later. 

[GrahamC]

41 minutes ago, Dastardly and Muttley said:

It’s not just lack of experience in the squad - apart from Wells, no one in the club has any experience at the highest level.

Not saying I think it is wise to have so few experienced players but does that last bit really matter? 

I reckon Wells made 9 sub appearances in the Prem, don’t think he would add less value to the squad if his CV didn’t include them & it doesn’t seem to have done Ipswich any harm, does it?
 

[Silvio Dante]

1 minute ago, GrahamC said:

Not saying I think it is wise to have so few experienced players but does that last bit really matter? 

I reckon Wells made 9 sub appearances in the Prem, don’t think he would add less value to the squad if his CV didn’t include them & it doesn’t seem to have done Ipswich any harm, does it?
 

I think it’s more used as a proxy for the general lack of credibility in the setup. Undoubtedly the know how needed in the championship is different from that needed in the premier league, but what the premier league experience can give you is that bit of “professionalism” - look how James, King etc carry themselves.

Personally I don’t see that someone having been in the premier league is here or there - it’s about “behaviours” - and more pertinently, the proxy is that in our upper echelons we don’t have anyone with experience of succeeding at this level

[1960maaan]

3 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

I think it’s more used as a proxy for the general lack of credibility in the setup. Undoubtedly the know how needed in the championship is different from that needed in the premier league, but what the premier league experience can give you is that bit of “professionalism” - look how James, King etc carry themselves.

Personally I don’t see that someone having been in the premier league is here or there - it’s about “behaviours” - and more pertinently, the proxy is that in our upper echelons we don’t have anyone with experience of succeeding at this level

I don't know who's choice it was for Matty James to leave, if it was his then we can't say much. But with King already going and Williams not signed up I think not holding onto James was an odd decision if it was ours to make. 

I would say Williams is now a priority , he will cost a hefty fee to replace so I would push the budget to keep him. 

We have seen over a few years how that little bit of nouse can , not just help the player but help the team through. There have been plenty of times , without charging around , King and James have helped the team through tough spells. Losing 3 big players from our midfield could really set us back .

[RedRoss]

8 hours ago, GrahamC said:

100%.

My original list was looking more at a fee around £3.5m, because I was factoring in Conway leaving, this player being his replacement & then probably a much cheaper striker option to come in too to replace Cornick, this assumes Wells, Bell & possibly Seb P-H are still in the mix.

£2m tops & you’re more likely looking at players like the following;

Samuel Essende in Portugal, Makhtar Gueye in Belgium, Killian Corredor in Ligue 2 in France & possibly a Kosovan who plays in Romania called Albion Rrahmani, though I saw he’s being linked with Rangers today.

Couple of others like Wilfried Kanga in Belgium & Ragnar Ache in Bundesliga 2 would be outside that price limit.

For what it's worth he's around the top of my list. As you say he might be out of reach with bigger clubs interested now.

[W-S-M Seagull]

1 hour ago, Silvio Dante said:

I think it’s more used as a proxy for the general lack of credibility in the setup. Undoubtedly the know how needed in the championship is different from that needed in the premier league, but what the premier league experience can give you is that bit of “professionalism” - look how James, King etc carry themselves.

Personally I don’t see that someone having been in the premier league is here or there - it’s about “behaviours” - and more pertinently, the proxy is that in our upper echelons we don’t have anyone with experience of succeeding at this level

Its about having the right people. 

We've had plenty of experienced Premier league or Championship players here before who haven't always had the right attitude. 

However you need the right people like Matty James. It's not so much about their footballing ability. But it's about what their leadership and experience brings to the team. They help to set the standards daily on the training pitch. When things are not going so well on the pitch they can be that calming influence.

Just the way they conduct themselves daily inspires the younger players. King and Weimann were very close to the likes of Tommy and you can see that their experience has been passed down to them. 

But once again this club has a bizarre obsession with doing things differently and doing it their own way. 

If Williams goes then our most experienced players will be Dickie, Knight and Vyner*. Is that enough? I'm not sure. 

*discounting Wells here as I think his time here is coming to an end. 

[Davefevs]

2 hours ago, Silvio Dante said:

I think it’s more used as a proxy for the general lack of credibility in the setup. Undoubtedly the know how needed in the championship is different from that needed in the premier league, but what the premier league experience can give you is that bit of “professionalism” - look how James, King etc carry themselves.

Personally I don’t see that someone having been in the premier league is here or there - it’s about “behaviours” - and more pertinently, the proxy is that in our upper echelons we don’t have anyone with experience of succeeding at this level

Whilst not forgetting Ipswich have PL experience off the pitch:

McKenna

Pert

Ashton

It’s partly about behaviours, but it’s also about “knowing” what is all about at the next level up.  We have Nahki’s 9 small minute sub appearances, that is the sum total of our PL playing experience in the whole club (someone please correct me).  We have nobody on the hierarchy side.

Pert and McKenna have both sat in the dugout.  Ashton has been promoted twice now.  He’s still a “insert expletives”, but he has knowledge / experience.  We don’t know how to get there, let alone how to live there once we (if we) get there.

[Harry]

The loss of James and King is often portrayed as us losing our only ‘Prem’ experience. 
Rarely do we see Andy Weimann’s name also included in this conversation. And he has more prem appearances and more prem goals than King & James combined. 
So it’s always worth chucking his name into that conversation too. 
 

I’m afraid though, that the most important “experience” left the club in September. Phil Alexander was the one ‘off field’ person who would have been able to bring any experience or competence to the club. Let’s not forget, he was highly recommended by Scudamore. I’m assured also that he was “very clever” (direct quote) in some of the finances involved with our summer transfers last year (referencing Knight & Dickie - probably 2 of our best signings in a decade). 
But of course, as soon as Phil started asking questions about certain people and their job roles and responsibilities, daddy was asked to intervene and get rid of him. 

[NcnsBcfc]

8 minutes ago, Harry said:

The loss of James and King is often portrayed as us losing our only ‘Prem’ experience. 
Rarely do we see Andy Weimann’s name also included in this conversation. And he has more prem appearances and more prem goals than King & James combined. 
So it’s always worth chucking his name into that conversation too. 
 

I’m afraid though, that the most important “experience” left the club in September. Phil Alexander was the one ‘off field’ person who would have been able to bring any experience or competence to the club. Let’s not forget, he was highly recommended by Scudamore. I’m assured also that he was “very clever” (direct quote) in some of the finances involved with our summer transfers last year (referencing Knight & Dickie - probably 2 of our best signings in a decade). 
But of course, as soon as Phil started asking questions about certain people and their job roles and responsibilities, daddy was asked to intervene and get rid of him. 

Many thanks @Harry, I was guessing that it was PA, that JL was referring to in his "Ego" comments.

Ultimately i can't understand the concept of the "committee", that the club seems to have now settled on. Surely as an organisation if it wants to do things better, then it needs more experienced employees who not only have the right contacts in the game, but also have the right mentality (read Ego). Whereas a committed group, who are all focused on the same goal is commendable, you do need people who challenge and have their own views, or the group can just fall into Confirmation bias around every decision.

At the moment, the club looks like a bunch of people who "think" they know what they're doing. That may well be the case in terms of the stadium/City finance, but does Gavin Marshall know anything about being the Chief Executive of a Football club (i think not). Hence why Lisa Knights insisted on being present during the FBC podcast interview with him, in case he said anything that he shouldn't (I can't imagine PA would have needed such a babysitter).

When asked in the Podcast, what the club were going to do differently next season and in the next few years to get into the playoffs at least (given that we hadn't done in in the previous 9 seasons), GM was completely flummoxed and starting using ideas like "hope" and "fingers crossed". In essence the SLT at the club don't really have a plan as to how we are going to do things better or more effectively. You can't help feeling PA was telling them things that they didn't want to hear and thus had to go (not unlike the breakdown in relationship with NP).

Interesting summer ahead. I think I'll just follow Ian Gay on twitter (@bristolboy) as he seems sure in his own mind exactly what's going on at the club, even if the Chairman, Board, Tinnion don't. 

[1960maaan]

49 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Whilst not forgetting Ipswich have PL experience off the pitch:

McKenna

Pert

Ashton

It’s partly about behaviours, but it’s also about “knowing” what is all about at the next level up.  We have Nahki’s 9 small minute sub appearances, that is the sum total of our PL playing experience in the whole club (someone please correct me).  We have nobody on the hierarchy side.

Pert and McKenna have both sat in the dugout.  Ashton has been promoted twice now.  He’s still a “insert expletives”, but he has knowledge / experience.  We don’t know how to get there, let alone how to live there once we (if we) get there.

I saw a panicky Tweet earlier from an Ipswich fan worried about losing him to Brighton. Now seeing Tweets saying he's been given permission to talk to 2 Clubs .  It's silly season , and one Club mentioned was Man U, but that would be a big loss for them IMO.

Personally I don't worry about experience of the Prem on the pitch, as you say Ipswich and there would be other examples. I worry that we have turned into an experience free dictatorship without even having a Dictator. 
Jon is Chairman without adult guidance at the Club, no battle worn Directors to give guidance , no knowledgeable CEO to take the strain . Just Dad in the background to add muscle when something upsets him.
It would be an unusual way to run a Market stall, let alone a multi million pound company . 

[chinapig]

11 minutes ago, 1960maaan said:

I saw a panicky Tweet earlier from an Ipswich fan worried about losing him to Brighton. Now seeing Tweets saying he's been given permission to talk to 2 Clubs .  It's silly season , and one Club mentioned was Man U, but that would be a big loss for them IMO.

Personally I don't worry about experience of the Prem on the pitch, as you say Ipswich and there would be other examples. I worry that we have turned into an experience free dictatorship without even having a Dictator. 
Jon is Chairman without adult guidance at the Club, no battle worn Directors to give guidance , no knowledgeable CEO to take the strain . Just Dad in the background to add muscle when something upsets him.
It would be an unusual way to run a Market stall, let alone a multi million pound company . 

Brighton are in the lead so to speak along with Man Utd and potentially Chelsea.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/may/20/brighton-pushing-to-seal-deal-for-ipswich-manager-kieran-mckenna

[1960maaan]

50 minutes ago, chinapig said:

Brighton are in the lead so to speak along with Man Utd and potentially Chelsea.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/may/20/brighton-pushing-to-seal-deal-for-ipswich-manager-kieran-mckenna

I saw the Chelsea link and dismissed it out of hand, Pochettino has just started to get a tune out of them . Anywhere else their end of season form would give him a little grace , but that's forgetting they are as big a confused mess as anyone. 

Man U would be hard to turn down , they are starting at a far better place for an incoming man than when Moyse took over . It has been rubbish for a while and any improvement would be seen as success.  Moyes taking over from a living legend was always a tough ask.  
Chelsea are a basket case but you could get a 3 year deal and expect to get paid up after 8 months.
Brighton I thought was a good next step , though it does feel a little quick.

[W-S-M Seagull]

2 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Whilst not forgetting Ipswich have PL experience off the pitch:

McKenna

Pert

Ashton

It’s partly about behaviours, but it’s also about “knowing” what is all about at the next level up.  We have Nahki’s 9 small minute sub appearances, that is the sum total of our PL playing experience in the whole club (someone please correct me).  We have nobody on the hierarchy side.

Pert and McKenna have both sat in the dugout.  Ashton has been promoted twice now.  He’s still a “insert expletives”, but he has knowledge / experience.  We don’t know how to get there, let alone how to live there once we (if we) get there.

 

1 hour ago, Harry said:

The loss of James and King is often portrayed as us losing our only ‘Prem’ experience. 
Rarely do we see Andy Weimann’s name also included in this conversation. And he has more prem appearances and more prem goals than King & James combined. 
So it’s always worth chucking his name into that conversation too. 
 

I’m afraid though, that the most important “experience” left the club in September. Phil Alexander was the one ‘off field’ person who would have been able to bring any experience or competence to the club. Let’s not forget, he was highly recommended by Scudamore. I’m assured also that he was “very clever” (direct quote) in some of the finances involved with our summer transfers last year (referencing Knight & Dickie - probably 2 of our best signings in a decade). 
But of course, as soon as Phil started asking questions about certain people and their job roles and responsibilities, daddy was asked to intervene and get rid of him. 

This is really depressing. 

[Harry]

I wouldn’t leave Ipswich to go to Brighton. 
Historically Ipswich are the bigger club. Both get 30k gates. Brighton, no matter how hard they try, will not finish higher than 8th. Better of staying at Ipswich in my opinion, whom you can easily get to the same level as a Brighton in 2-3 years. 
If McKenna leaves Ipswich I can’t see it being for Brighton. 
Chelsea or Man U - absolutely. 
Although didn’t the Man U players ridicule him when he was number 2? 
Poch may be looking for a way out of Chelsea as he wants more transfer control. 
I see McKenna staying at Ipswich. It’s easy to forget that they are actually a fairly big club with European history. They’re bigger than Brighton 

[chinapig]

10 minutes ago, 1960maaan said:

I saw the Chelsea link and dismissed it out of hand, Pochettino has just started to get a tune out of them . Anywhere else their end of season form would give him a little grace , but that's forgetting they are as big a confused mess as anyone. 

Chelsea are a basket case but you could get a 3 year deal and expect to get paid up after 8 months.

The Chelsea ownership group is still undecided on Poch. These are people who know little about football but have a high opinion of themselves*.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/may/19/my-phone-is-going-to-be-on-mauricio-pochettino-in-dark-over-chelsea-future

He has also hinted that he could walk anyway, particularly as he has little say on signings. Watch this space.

*Thank heavens our club isn't like that.