comment by Micky Madlips (U1250)
posted 4 minutes ago
comment by Your Honour (U17603)
posted 6 minutes ago
Pretty easy to pick one of the most successful clubs in world football out of thin air and say you're a 'fan'.
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So what do you think of all the glory hunting kids now being Leicester fans for winning the PL ? Isnt that what football is about though? Selling jerseys to the kids in Thailand so you can fund your transfers
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Irrelevant where I am concerned, I've been a fan since I was 8 years old and had a season ticket and watched some of the worst Leicester teams in our history under Levien and Martin Allen ffs.

comment by Micky Madlips (U1250)
posted 4 minutes ago
comment by CDUBYA (U17121)
posted about a minute ago
Micky- Go back and read the first thing you put. You cant seriously not expect to get anything back.
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Didnt notice me calling anyone names though. You lot seem to be awefully sensitive when it comes to mentioning Leeds. No need to get your knickers in a twist.

I am sure Leeds fans didnt think they would go down like that either after spending all that money.
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People are bound to defend their club, especially when you come in here saying we will do a Leeds just because we're not massive like Barcelona, it was an uneducated comment as you clearly don't know how our club is run and what revenue we're currently generating.

Honor, Fair enough, been a Feyenoord fan all my life too

Barca is not my first team

Actually Feyenoord almost did a Leeds when we were spending like a headless chicken. Gullit ruined the club for many years.

comment by Micky Madlips (U1250)
posted 4 minutes ago
comment by CDUBYA (U17121)
posted about a minute ago
Micky- Go back and read the first thing you put. You cant seriously not expect to get anything back.
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Didnt notice me calling anyone names though. You lot seem to be awefully sensitive when it comes to mentioning Leeds. No need to get your knickers in a twist.

I am sure Leeds fans didnt think they would go down like that either after spending all that money.
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Yes your right. Its all our fault so sorry for bad mouthing Feyenord and Barca- very noble of you to interject on their behalf.

I also think your right and that we will get relegated. Please go and put your mortgage and everything else you own on it

CDUBYA, to be fair, it is your fault for bad mouthing Feyenoord and Barca. Unacceptable. You need to respectfully answer to all my concerns.

“…..I am a Barca and Feyenoord fan ….”

To be honest any remaining shred of credibility was lost right there.

The more I've thought about it overnight, the more Slimani feels like a good signing and the more Silva feels like a questionable one. That's not to say that he'd definitely be a flop, but Sporting will be under no obligation to sell today for anything less than an astronomical price. Also, someone posted a list of new signings earlier, none of whom have cemented their place in the starting 11 yet. (None of them started against Swansea.) But there are quite a few there who need to get integrated and get up to speed. Granted Slimani looks like a good deal and the kind of player that we're missing, but beyond him I'm concerned that we'd be over-buying rather than under-buying.

I'm sure some would point out that being in the Champions League brings more matches and that's true, but potentially only 6 more matches. That's not many games for an outlay on half a new squad. It feels like actually seeing the CL draw - and particularly seeing a favourable draw - has sprung us into action and start to take it more seriously rather than just enjoying whatever comes. All in all, I fear the potential Adrien Silva purchase (or McCarthy, or even N'Zonzi to an extent) may represent an expensive manic buy.

comment by Micky Madlips (U1250)
posted 9 minutes ago
CDUBYA, to be fair, it is your fault for bad mouthing Feyenoord and Barca. Unacceptable. You need to respectfully answer to all my concerns.
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For what its worth Micky a lot of lads of my age used to pretend to be dutch footballers when growing up

It's worth noting, if it hasn't already, that Gokhan Inler seems to have completed his move to Besiktas, signing a 3-year deal and posing in club kit with some new teammates.
And good luck to him there.

And also that Marc Albrighton's signed a new 4-year contract, albeit that news is a couple of days old now.

comment by The_Dungeon_Master (U4830)
posted 3 minutes ago
The more I've thought about it overnight, the more Slimani feels like a good signing and the more Silva feels like a questionable one. That's not to say that he'd definitely be a flop, but Sporting will be under no obligation to sell today for anything less than an astronomical price. Also, someone posted a list of new signings earlier, none of whom have cemented their place in the starting 11 yet. (None of them started against Swansea.) But there are quite a few there who need to get integrated and get up to speed. Granted Slimani looks like a good deal and the kind of player that we're missing, but beyond him I'm concerned that we'd be over-buying rather than under-buying.

I'm sure some would point out that being in the Champions League brings more matches and that's true, but potentially only 6 more matches. That's not many games for an outlay on half a new squad. It feels like actually seeing the CL draw - and particularly seeing a favourable draw - has sprung us into action and start to take it more seriously rather than just enjoying whatever comes. All in all, I fear the potential Adrien Silva purchase (or McCarthy, or even N'Zonzi to an extent) may represent an expensive manic buy.
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We're seriously lacking in experience in the middle of the pitch and going into Europe without anyone with experience is a bad idea. Silva is both experienced st European and International level and could be exactly the type of signing we need.

I also can't imagine any signing will be a panic buy, it would seem strange that we put a lot of effort into researching players to just panic buy one. If they are a serious target then you can bet the club have done their homework on the player.

My only issue with Silva is that it seems to have come from nowhere. Generally we seem to hear of us tracking players for ages (musa, mendy, slimani etc) before the deal happens. It may not be the case but this feels a bit more rushed and like we've been offered Silva as opposed to us approaching him.

C of E - The thing is, he doesn't look like the signing we need to me. He looks like a replacement for Drinkwater rather than an experienced enforcer. Also remember that Gokhan Inler also seemed like the kind of player who would fit the bill of an experienced midfielder as well. This team has done miracles by finding their own way. Also, we've known all summer that we were in the Champions League, yet the links between us and an experienced midfielder like Silva or N'Zonzi only pop up after Mendy picks up a knock?

As I say, nothing's guaranteed with new signings, but there are several things ringing alarm bells for me here. I'd rather see Amartey or Mendy given the chance to step up.

Yeah granted Inler didn't work out but then he probably would have been better suited to playing in Europe. Drinkwater can't play every game so maybe Silva replaces him for CL games. We still need a squad and currently we have no replacement for Drinkwater.

Nothing is ever guaranteed with any player, even within the league. Benteke and Bony are prime examples and Torres even more so.

I'm sure Drinkwater would be delighted to see someone brought in to replace him for Champions League games...

King's your replacement for Drinkwater. If you want someone to play that role in each of the home matches following a CL game then King fits the bill. I couldn't justify spending £25m+ on someone else to do that. And that's if Drinkwater even needs the rest.

comment by Jobyfox (U4183)
posted 51 minutes ago
“…..I am a Barca and Feyenoord fan ….”

To be honest any remaining shred of credibility was lost right there.

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This.

Micky

Dunge - not sure the Inler example is a good one. He never got the chance to integrate and get up to speed. We needed a ball playing cm with an eye for a pass, what we didn't know is that DD would become the new Cambiasso for us and more. I'm sure Ranieri had a long term plan of integrating Inler and playing him with Kante

Once Drinkwater started performing miracles in that role then Inler was never going to get the games he needed to get up to speed. We will never know how good he could have been - 5 games, intermittently across the season isn't enough

I agree with CoE. We look short in midfield with DD having to drop deep to protect that back 4. Amartey is still developing. Mendy is more of a Drinkwater kind of player - but Silva apparently has a great engine on him - a box to box midfielder. That's what we don't have now we have lost Kante

Slimani on his way for a medical by the way

comment by The_Dungeon_Master (U4830)
posted 19 minutes ago
I'm sure Drinkwater would be delighted to see someone brought in to replace him for Champions League games...

King's your replacement for Drinkwater. If you want someone to play that role in each of the home matches following a CL game then King fits the bill. I couldn't justify spending £25m+ on someone else to do that. And that's if Drinkwater even needs the rest.
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Whether Drinkwater likes it or not, it's a squad and it's about what's best for the team.

I don't really think King replaces Drinkwater personally, he doesn't have his tackling or passing ability and Vardy with King behind him isn't really going to suit his game that much.

And with Inler having gone to Besiktas, even though he turned out not to be an option, he was still a squad member so we're one experienced central midfielder down at the moment. If Drinkwater picks up an injury and is out for a few weeks, do we really want King playing every game? That wouldn't fill me with any confidence at all. King is a squad player, someone to come on for 15-20 mins, not starting and definitely not in Drinkwater's role.

comment by Blackstarr (U12353)
posted 3 minutes ago
Slimani on his way for a medical by the way
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Great news.

Granted that Inler was bought for a different role (although I think he did have enough chance to at least show more than he did - he was painfully behind the game most times he came on the pitch). I was more pointing out that the inexperienced pairing of Drinkwater and Kante were tremendous last year while the experienced Inler was disappointing and couldn't even get on the bench.

Granted I don't have a lot to go on with regard to Silva, but he does indeed read as a box-to-box player, a passer and a dribbler. But, as such, that's why I see him as a very similar player in description to Drinkwater, and he'd represent an incredibly expensive backup.

We're on the verge of paying £50m+ for two players from Portugal - a league with a few really good teams but the rest not so much. This feels like a big gamble to me and not one I'm particularly keen on. Buying Slimani I get - a different player to what we have, noted goalscorer and should have an easier time settling and integrating due to having his international teammate Mahrez here. So on that front things looks good.

C of E - It seems you and I are going to have to disagree on that. Particularly the bit about Drinkwater having to accept being dropped for Champions League matches for an unproven £25m+ CL specialist.

The chances are he won't get dropped but if he did he'd have to accept it if it happened, the same as any other player.

We play away at Porto in December which is time for him to get up to speed and then potentially replace Drinkwater for a game. It's that sort of game where we need someone more experienced.

Drinkwater can't play every game and we need someone better than King to replace him and £25m for a player experienced in Europe and at international level, plus captain of his club meaning he's another leader, is good value for money these days.

I think we need to move on from the days of Uloa costing us a fortune, the transfer market has gone mental and we've got a lot more money now. If we want to compete at the top of the league then we need to be spending this kind of money. It's a sign that the club is moving forward which can only be a good thing?

The dark days of Leicester City are over, this is a new era and we're now a team with realistic aspirations of a top four finish again. I'm not saying we will finish top four and nobody expects us to, including me, but it's not unrealistic like it once would have been. If we did I wouldn't be surprised really and a Champions League team wouldn't think twice about spending £50-60m on two players.

I'd say losing Kante is a massive blow. Similar to when we lost Ronaldo, no matter who you bring in, they don't have the synergy right away.

If you bring these two in, where do they play? One is to replace Kante I would presume? Who would the other replace?