hertfordyellow

I will always be sceptical of investors who are involved in American franchises, because it is as far removed from what I would want for the club. I’m sure I’ll be told that this makes me a happy clapper or something but there it is. The only reason to be involved in ownership is to make money. Fans come very far behind profit in the pecking order and even though they will say they do, they really don’t understand the implications of relegation and the need to plan for it.

I personally think you are being very generous. It is tough to stay up. I expected to be in a relegation fight. That said there are a lot of average teams in that league. We were so far off the level to survive. I expected us to at least be in the mix rather than near constantly adrift. I can forgive being out classed by Spurs, I don’t forgive the acceptance of defeat almost from kick off and the lack of collective pride. It was the nature of the season that is unacceptable, relegation was always a possible outcome but the manner of the relegation is exceedingly embarrassing. Fans feel like fools because they defended the club from those that wrote them off at the start, only to be proven wrong spectacularly.

But the point is he didn’t take the rap, that’s the whole point. He blamed the fans, fixtures, COVID, Farke, injuries but not the signings and not himself.

We played last season behind closed doors and were one result away from 100 points. I think crowds can have an impact to a very limited extent. It’s not for the fans to try and get the players motivated. If they aren’t motivated beforehand there is nothing we can do to change that.

But we had 3 quality players instead in Buendia, Godfrey and Lewis. That’s the point you aren’t considering. There is absolutely no way we spend 60 million without these sales.

I’ve said similar in the past. 10 million isn’t a big transfer when nearly every other club in the league have repeatedly spent higher fees and more importantly higher wages. The escalation in prices and wages has been massive in the last 5 years. If you want an exciting prospect from the Championship with one good season, you need to spend 15 million +. It’s frankly out of control.

I think you will be disappointed this summer. It will be more evolution than revolution in the transfer market this year.

Sorry, I see the 58 million to get one more point argument disingenuous. Farke had Buendia, Lewis and Godfrey at his disposal in 19/20, Premiership players. Farke / Smith didn’t have them available in 21/22. 58 million worth of talent wasn’t added to the squad and so a direct comparison with points total is not accurate. The figure is actually negative spend when you accurately attribute the sale of these three players to the funds used to purchase the 58 million pound players. Also inflation cannot be attributed equally to each item. They have there own inflation rate. Linking petrol to players doesn’t make much sense.

Maybe my recollection is muddled, but it seems he was in the training videos but not playing quite often. He filled me with panic when he played as I don’t think he is a defender first, player second, he doesn’t like defending. But that is just opinion.

He will be in constant communication with Smith over the season and the truth is, Smith would rather play the u23 players than Tzolis, would rather play anyone than Kabak. We have had injuries, but ultimately we have been really short in most games and have had to spend most of the time trying to stop conceding rather than playing balanced football. Smith has been pretty open about the lack of legs, pressing etc. He would have to be deluded to not see the chasm in the performance level required. Back to your point, is that Sargent miss against Brighton a sliding doors moment? Three points, Sargent off the mark and then it all seems much better. I think that’s potentially clutching at straws though.

That wage limit is defined by us and can always be changed. The point being made is we could have signed 3/4 good players instead of 8 hit and hope signings. In terms of overall wages it would be the same amount. Ajer isn’t on 100k for example and I’m sure he has a relegation clause in his Brentford contract.

Safe standing to be trialled?

We could afford Ajer. We weren’t willing to get in a bidding war over wages that we didn’t think he was worth. That said, the money wasted on Kabak, Ajer looks like a bargain now.

I have spent quite a bit of effort on this forum defending Webber against some pretty wild criticism. He will leave the club in a better position than before he came. It is hard to argue he hasn’t. That said, my enthusiasm to defend him Has waived and this interview doesn’t do anything to change that. I get that he can’t pick out players and say they were rubbish but some acknowledgement that they collectively have been lacking wouldn’t be amiss. It left me quite unsure about the future as I found it represented a distorted reality and of a board very much out of step with its fans and community.

Great. Another self-flagellation topic.

Doesn't surprise me

Carl Bradshaw? Wasn’t there a taxi based altercation allegedly?

What would you protest?

I agree with plenty of this. Whatever the talent of the player brought in, we didn't seem to get anyone in who hates losing. Normann talked to talk but didn't seem that bothered in the end. There will always be some players who are quiet etc like Pukki, but that doesn't mean they aren't very competitive. Seeing Pukki pound the turf when he misses an opportunity shows it. We need to put hungry, ambitious and competitive above pure talent until we have a core of players that drag the others along with them with their desire to win. When I see the performances Smith got out of Idah before his injury, it does give me hope. Idah is a man mountain who previously has found it difficult to dominate the opposition. The three performances before his injury had that desire.

The wage bill as percentage of turnover is now pretty much 100% and they have a lot of debt (albeit Bloom is owed that debt). There will be a 70% limit set on wages. They will need to adapt pretty quickly

Are we in a mess?

So you are howling at the wind then. You are angry something didn’t happen, but don’t know that it didn’t happen. Pointless.

Can you show me your evidence that we didn’t contact Knutson?

Yep. Been confirmed in all stores

Yeah I work for them. It turns out everyone is outraged but also never used them. Typical British position.