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Sorry to butt in, but his name is an anagram of 'Avoid Donkeys, Johnny'. Doesn't bode well.

Murder on Varane's floor? 😉

I think young Johnny's head's been turned more by interested parties than Linda Blair's was in 'The Exorcist'....

His true legacy……. Not supporting his brilliant head coach who was given the smallest budget ever given to a newly promoted club to thePL. Then took the heat off himself by firing him. Wrong man chopped!!

he will be on a fairly small wage as he signed his contract when he was in the academy , if he signs for a PL team i imagine his wages will go up maybe 3,4,5 or more times what they are now , he will get a good signing on fee of 7 figures , he gets injured next month and never plays again he would be wishing he is on a PL 4 year contract instead of his NCFC contract

I sincerely hope Delia and Michael do make money out of selling their shares/relinquishing control, because someone sure as hell will further down the line.

"Give us an E, give us an L, give us an I.... [half time whistle] "Give us an O, give us an L, give us an U ...

So Rowe won't be crossing to him then?

Luton 4-0 up. They're only 2 points from being at 1 point per game average which normally ensures survival. Hats off to them.

Yeovil are known as The Glovers - known for making gloves.

First Jack Clarke, then Jon Rowe, now Morgan Whittaker in three consecutive days. Did Lazio's scouts all just sit around watching the EFL highlights show at the weekend or something?

Thanks both. I understood @shefcanary's response and nearly 50% of @Parma Ham's gone mouldy's, which I'm calling a result. Very interesting stuff. I take my leave, none the wiser but considerably better informed.

Because they are illiquid they could also create a deal with Attanasio that he invests the equivalent of the currently-unrealised equity gain. This really is a free hit for Attanasio and a great gift by Delia and Michael. Particularly as it would look to the outside world as if Attanasio was putting the money in (which he technically would be…but…) Obliging buyers with what they must do next is fraught with legal ‘what if’ complications and likely not close to watertight however. The triggers would have to be specific and Attanasio will certainly have caveat clauses in not-even-really-force-majeure scenarios. Awkward. Irresolvable possibly. Then ‘…..listen…time passes……’ as Dylan rightly says. Attanasio would then make them life presidents, rename the City Stand in their honor and festoon them with praise…though would also naturally look like the second coming of Abramovich in a Norwich context…. The Cat C shares look a genuine cash injection, the rest a re-financing (though with all lever roads leading to Attanasio)… …so I would suggest the club must ‘fail further’ in a sporting sense and require ongoing - otherwise unavailable - liquidity for Delia and Michael to effectively cede-dilute-sell their shareholding over time (and according to ‘club need’).. This drip-drip-drip process looks like the flow of the river currently and is not as glorious an ending as it should be for Delia and Michael. They haven’t been able to race the Ferrari. They haven’t really been able to put any petrol in it without Murdoch’s help (who they trotsdem romantically lament). Now it is rusting, needs expensive servicing and they can’t even keep it statically on the drive and sit in it happily anymore. Parma

It's very complicated financially. There will be tax issues even if they "gift" their equity gain, be it CGT or IHT (as both as are in their 80's they will be mindful not to leave a hit for their relatives to tidy up, albeit one of them may yet survive more than 7 years). There has been discussion of finding a way of the current loan from Attanasio being converted into Smith & Jones equity, thereby benefitting the club by the value of the loan. However that is something I've not personally experienced in my employment so not sure who cops the taxable gain, which cannot be magic'ed away! As well as being seen to have not profited through an equity gain, they also want to ensure the club remains part of the community and that Attanasio cannot use the club as a personal plaything. Attanasio will want control of every day business, but any change in ownership in the future Smith & Jones still want a say (even after they have passed on). Some kind of remaining golden share held in trust could be the way forward, perhaps the CSF is the perfect vehicle? But all this will require better brains than me to unpick.

Or, OR.. A stupid offer that was rejected. Honestly, some people.

Some decent goals in there. We should all vote for the Maidstone player 😀

Personally I woudn't begrudge them making an equity gain and I think they could easily turn around and justify it by pointing out what others have on here about doing it to essentially 'do right' by other shareholders who want to cash out. Some people might be pissed but I'd imagine most would understand- or am I being naive?

If we get the right price and it it is used to finance a rebuild then I think we should cash in. If we get a terrible price and the money disappears into a black hole I'll be livid. All depends on what Knapper has planned and how he negotiates... in fairness to Webber he never got his pants pulled down on transfer fees when we were selling.

It's been slow as **** for me too. Awful.

That makes her sound like an idealistic and utopian old Bolshevik appalled by the real-world brutality of Stalinism.

He has fewer career goals, at a worse goals-per-game and goals-per-minute rate than Idah. Yes, I know he's predominantly a wide player, and he'd probably be more useful than Placheta and Hernandez, but this is the second time this evening you've made a statement that completely contradicts facts in an attempt to criticise Idah.

Passion is clear in everything Wagner does. He cares and shows it. I never really got that feeling with Smith. Sorry, but that is how it appeared to me. Imo Smith should have taken a break after Villa to recharge his batteries. Farke had just taken us to a record breaking season and had ten games of the most difficult circumstances possible - covid disrupted preseason, injuries, no prep with Kabak and Normann, loss of Buendia and Skipp, weakness at the time of Sargent and Tzolis - and almost the most difficult starting fixtures imaginable. We were just coming out of that phase of the season - we even got the elusive win that might have kick started the season. And we sacked Farke....for nothing.

Given how racist the crowd can be I don’t blame him

I agree. Idah is a good striker. Our supporters are overly critical of players IMO, especially young players for some reason. That said I don’t think it’s quite working out for him here, behind Barnes and never really cementing a 1st team place even with Sargent out for a long period. I also understand why he no longer wants to be a bit part player. Maybe a fresh start best thing for all parties. SVH seems a similar proposition in terms of fairly young, clearly has talent from his previous seasons and not working out for him where he is. I can see the logic in swapping one for the other assuming SVH is seen as better fit for how we want to play and we get a good sell on clause on Idah when he inevitably (IMO) comes good.

Not if his goal record in Holland is anything to go by. Fingers crossed he finds that form here. And if Idah sets the world on fire up at Celtic then we can mull what to do with him in the summer.

Pink Un say Gijon have pulled the plug on the move.

Oh yeah, pretty disappointed with myself for missing that!

That's true about Idah, but can Hooijdonk has never been effective at either at Bologna. He has never scored for them in the league in a season-and-a-half, although he has never been more than a backup. I've never seen him in the Netherlands though, and his record there is pretty decent. I'm not sure if that's a reference to Serie A or Verona in particular. If it's the former, then that's not really true nowadays, as the number of goals has been comparable to the Premier League over the last decade. If it's the latter, fair enough. He wouldn't be a guaranteed starter now that Henry is fit and Verona have a reasonably high chance of getting relegated.

numerous reports Celtic have not put an offer in nothing firm whats so ever reading numerous reports now that he wants to play in England

Excellent. Have thought all season that our attack would be much better if we put a donk on it.

This would be a real shame as I really like Dimi and I get the impression when he comes over to supporters that he really likes the club. I just presumed he had at least another 1.5 years on his contract, didn't realise he was this close to being out the door to be honest.

Looks quite good to be fair, and for me at least, that font looks suitably modern whilst retaining a touch of older times about it. Prefer it to a lot of these generic round badge offerings a la Brentford and Bristol City. And it's a million times better than that Leeds one which got rejected as quickly as it came up. I suppose it's missing a combine harvester and a bottle of Scrumpy but you can't have everything.

Morgan Rogers also being sold for 16 mill by Middlesbrough after 6 months. Signed last summer by ex Norwich head of recruitment Keiran Scott for 1 mill. Ridiculous increase. We could do with his signings right now.

Goes to show why our transfer strategy has to be spot on. Find one youngster who shows promise and the fee is £20m.

Thank God! Don't see many millennials or recent 'net immigration' new joiners being that interested in fighting for the cause.

Interesting that Lord Clarke yesterday ( who has supported the Rwanda bill up until last night ) says the reason he cannot support it anymore is that this would be the first step to the U.K. becoming a dictatorship.

If Knapper is wanting to build us back into a team who can retain the ball and control possession (As you'd expect coming from Arsenal), and a Rowe sale today allows us to bring in 2-3 players to start to do that then i'd be quite happy. But, If we sold him and we continued how we are then i'd be pretty pished as we're basically absorbing attacks and hoping that someone like Rowe has a moment of brilliance. Except we'd no longer have Rowe. When I think of things as a whole, there's players i'd be more upset about losing and consider it a step backwards if we sold, and by that I mean components of a team and not individuals. i.e. Sara, Gunn or Sarge i'd feel really quite devastated if this talk was regarding them. But I don't feel the same about Rowe, and I think this is because i'm not sure he will ever advance his game beyond being a bit of an enigma. I could be completely wrong but he doesn't seem to have the stamina to consistently affect the game, and is somewhat focused on himself more than the team as a whole. But then he is young, and he's raw. It's a really tough call. Because as a fan, these moments of brilliance are really stand out and Rowe just pulls it out the bag. But I think we should be more looking to develop a greater sum of all parts if we want success and a team for fans to get behind and support. Just wish we knew what the plan was really, as I haven't a clue what we are or where we're heading in regards to identity and style of play. If he was to go this window it could be anything from a cash grab to the start of a new team development. Who really knows!?

Hmmm. If his injury had been worse and restricted his play do you think we'd have been loyal and offered him a new contract? The player and club enter a contract and both are fully aware of how the game works. All we can expect is 100% effort on the pitch from players under contract. The odds are stacked in favour of the players now but that's the law and I can't see why they shouldn't enjoy the same freedoms as the rest of us. I often hear (not in your post) that there is no loyalty in football like the old days. Not so long ago I read a book about Bobby Moore who was always said to be loyal to West Ham. But the reality was he asked for a transfer every season because he had offers from Spurs and Liverpool. Even when his contract had expired West Ham could insist that he stayed with them. Things have gone full circle.

Ignore the Pink'un boys. @Soldier on spotted there was action here from the Flighttracker work he did. The Pink'Un boys have been playing catch up ever since!

He's probably a replacement for Placheta

Well I suppose if you're that desperate to win then, yes, Big Vince does count, for the first time ever...🤩

I'll probably be slated for this, but IMO Rowe is a luxury player who will score goals out of nothing, but we cannot build a 'sum of all parts' team around him. Also, it seems as if he is very likely to leave anyway. He's a confident player and I get the feeling he believes he can snatch the moment and is ready for higher things. I hope for his sake he is and he doesn't end up just warming the bench at a PL club. Sara, on the other hand, despite his recent performances being below his usual standard, is someone who could be the pivot of a 'sum of all parts' team. For me, he is the one we must try to keep, especially once Wagner has gone and we go back to playing with a midfield.

Clubs have very little say these days. Players hold ALL the power. You would think Rowe felt some obligation to the club after we paid him for a year whilst injured but seems loyalty only works one way.

Vey good post. The points highlighted have been well known for sometime. Still staggering that the owners worshipped at the feet of their beloved 'Stuart' who set up those appalling contracts.

You can be anyone you like in cyberspace....before the end of the January transfer deadline I'm going to be Oliver Twist. "Please Sir.. we want a decent CDM"...

That feels extremely unlikely - we all know how football works and it is utterly screwed.

Apparently the sale of idah is just £3m!! Fire sale to find funds for varane? Or fire sale because we are seriously broke? Or fire sale to clear decks ahead of a rebuild?

I will renew even though i am a committed 20%er.

Nah, they got themselves organised, took the fight to the local council/planning department, made a decent case and justifiably got it rejected. Had a similar one a couple of years ago where there was a plan to build a primary school (there's a large one two hundred yards away) on a local playing field and they'd clearly no idea of the traffic in that part of town, especially off the ring road and the main residential roads near there. An area that's already bad at rush hour would have been jammed down that stretch of the ring road and with two primary schools practically diagonally opposite to each other. Again, strong local community efforts got it rejected. I might not always agree with their wishes, but as someone who's a keen proponent of Swiss semi-direct democracy I'm generally pretty keen on local communities organising to keep their communities as they see fit, rather than having outside interests imposing everything on top of them.