Greek LB £7.5m if promoted?

[pete 318]

If we get promoted will need to spend £13m on Giannoulus, Quintella and Gibson all on loan with obligation to buy if promoted.  I would suggest if we can get promoted the investment needs to be further up the pitch.  Pukki looking a little jaded lately and not the goal scorer he was two seasons ago, will need another goal scorer even if old Pukki returns.  Hugill and Idah not a reliable option for PL survival.  We never seem to get a financial bonus for our too brief visits to the PL  

[Midlands Yellow 3,943]

4 minutes ago, pete said:

If we get promoted will need to spend £13m on Giannoulus, Quintella and Gibson all on loan with obligation to buy if promoted.  I would suggest if we can get promoted the investment needs to be further up the pitch.  Pukki looking a little jaded lately and not the goal scorer he was two seasons ago, will need another goal scorer even if old Pukki returns.  Hugill and Idah not a reliable option for PL survival.  We never seem to get a financial bonus for our too brief visits to the PL  

I’m sure Daniel has been promised a very decent war chest to improve the squad if promoted. 

[WD40 720]

Reports I’ve seen suggest there are a minimum number of games Xavi would need to play to trigger the obligation. If new boy comes in and plays regularly, he might not get there. 

[AJ 1,218]

I can't believe we would sign both Xavi and Giannoulus should we go up; it would be one or the other with Byram and McCallum as good reserve options. The good thing about doing loans like this is we can spend a small sum (500k or whatever) and give a player a crack in our squad knowing they have good potential. If it works out, great we can sign them up at an offer price pre-agreed. If it doesn't, no bother we've got two options to try.

[Branston Pickle 3,638]

I’m astonished that the OP doesn’t appear to think we’d need to invest in defence if promoted, but each to their own...

[Essex Canary 0]

We could also look at it that we have spent less on them we have received for Lewis on a replacement LB, his backup and a replacement for Godfrey, even if we have to pay all the fees.

McCallum will likely go out on loan again to a top end championship team next season, in my opinion.

I also doubt Byram's ability to return to football, unfortunately. He spent the majority of his time at West Ham with long term injuries and the same has happened here. He is a quality player when fit but can we rely on him ever being back to full fitness?

[dylanisabaddog 4,876]

I would think we have found a way round buying Quintilla as someone has mentioned above. We're not broke but we can't afford to spend that much on 2 left backs

[Rich T The Biscuit 562]

1 hour ago, AJ said:

I can't believe we would sign both Xavi and Giannoulus should we go up; it would be one or the other with Byram and McCallum as good reserve options. The good thing about doing loans like this is we can spend a small sum (500k or whatever) and give a player a crack in our squad knowing they have good potential. If it works out, great we can sign them up at an offer price pre-agreed. If it doesn't, no bother we've got two options to try.

Byram has played most of his career as a right back not left back so he would be with Aarons and Mumba in that respect.

Which means 3 down either side plus some under 23's like Nizet and Thomas in reserve.

[mannings bandy legs 385]

1 hour ago, Essex Canary said:

We could also look at it that we have spent less on them we have received for Lewis on a replacement LB, his backup and a replacement for Godfrey, even if we have to pay all the fees.

McCallum will likely go out on loan again to a top end championship team next season, in my opinion.

I also doubt Byram's ability to return to football, unfortunately. He spent the majority of his time at West Ham with long term injuries and the same has happened here. He is a quality player when fit but can we rely on him ever being back to full fitness?

Don't feel we will ever see McCallum in a NCFC shirt,and maybe Byrams injury is non-recoverable enough for him to perform at this level.Which would be very unfortunate for him and the team.

[cambridgeshire canary 6,680]

'pukki is looking jaded'

 

11 in 21 is not a bad haul. That's almost like, a goal every other match on average. You want him to be scoring a hatrick every match instead? He is the 4th top scorer this season so far. Any team below us would kill for that kind of strker.

Edited January 15, 2021 by cambridgeshire canary

[Branston Pickle 3,638]

1 hour ago, Rich T The Biscuit said:

Byram has played most of his career as a right back not left back so he would be with Aarons and Mumba in that respect.

Which means 3 down either side plus some under 23's like Nizet and Thomas in reserve.

Sadly, to be more accurate, I think you’ll find that Byram has spent most of his NCFC career out injured....

Edited January 15, 2021 by Branston Pickle

[TheGunnShow 5,933]

If we sort the defence out with the way our forward players can link up, the attack looks after itself to some extent. Remember, we were so badly hamstrung last time in the Premiership due to such a litany of injuries to defenders and particularly centre-halves.

McCallum needs more seasoning as he's had a very quick rise. If, heavens forbid, we don't go up then I'd be more than happy having him as a first-choice left-back but if we go up, he needs more time.

[birchfest 397]

10 minutes ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

'pukki is looking jaded'

 

11 in 21 is not a bad haul. That's almost like, a goal every other match on average. You want him to be scoring a hatrick every other match instead? He is the 4th top scorer this season so far. Any team below us would kill for that kind of strker.

Especially when you consider the bad luck to slip when taking the penalty against Derby and also his selfless pass to Idah on the opening day. He bangs those in and he's closing in on 15 at the half way stage. I think Pukki needs support, especially for next year if we were to go up, but he certainly isn't jaded! 

[Tetteys Jig 830]

Hopefully see what Soto is about soon if we can get his permit sorted. I'd imagine he'd go out to a high end league 1 side or a championship side if he came back.

If we go up then my priority would be a dynamic, powerful winger/striker type player to provide back up to Pukki/ push for starting 11 in attacking mid. Think along the lines of Anthony Martial style player (yes... clearly we can't afford/attract him).

Another centre back would be high on the list as well. Ronnie Edwards at Posh looks like a fantastic prospect here but it'd likely be a bit soon for him so maybe we need to aim higher. Ricky Jade-Jones is worth keeping an eye on there as is Siriki Dembele to compete for the attacking roles

[1902 1,167]

31 minutes ago, mannings bandy legs said:

Don't feel we will ever see McCallum in a NCFC shirt,and maybe Byrams injury is non-recoverable enough for him to perform at this level.Which would be very unfortunate for him and the team.

Have I missed something that means we won't be seeing McCallum? Last I heard he was a promising young player doing well in the championship.

[Midlands Yellow 3,943]

3 minutes ago, Tetteys Jig said:

Hopefully see what Soto is about soon if we can get his permit sorted. I'd imagine he'd go out to a high end league 1 side or a championship side if he came back.

If we go up then my priority would be a dynamic, powerful winger/striker type player to provide back up to Pukki/ push for starting 11 in attacking mid. Think along the lines of Anthony Martial style player (yes... clearly we can't afford/attract him).

Another centre back would be high on the list as well. Ronnie Edwards at Posh looks like a fantastic prospect here but it'd likely be a bit soon for him so maybe we need to aim higher. Ricky Jade-Jones is worth keeping an eye on there as is Siriki Dembele to compete for the attacking roles

Soto looks awesome, fingers firmly crossed we get to see him play. 

[BobLoz3 492]

56 minutes ago, Rich T The Biscuit said:

Byram has played most of his career as a right back not left back so he would be with Aarons and Mumba in that respect.

Which means 3 down either side plus some under 23's like Nizet and Thomas in reserve.

Byram came in and played LB, in the Prem, for 11 games straight and then got injured. He actually kept Jamal out of the LB position, such were his performances. 

Yes, he is considered an RB but can play both sides. And he is a brilliant player when not injured. 

[AJ 1,218]

11 minutes ago, birchfest said:

Especially when you consider the bad luck to slip when taking the penalty against Derby and also his selfless pass to Idah on the opening day. He bangs those in and he's closing in on 15 at the half way stage. I think Pukki needs support, especially for next year if we were to go up, but he certainly isn't jaded! 

Agreed and any side would want him, yes there's a pressure on him to score goals, but that is his job after all and a job he does well. He's in good form in reality and does so much more for the team than just his scoring, you notice that most when he's not on the pitch! Hugill needs to start prodding in a few, but so do Cantwell and the rest of the midfield. We certainly haven't scored as many this season, but we haven't conceded so many either so I think all round that's okay.

[AJ 1,218]

57 minutes ago, Rich T The Biscuit said:

Byram has played most of his career as a right back not left back so he would be with Aarons and Mumba in that respect.

Which means 3 down either side plus some under 23's like Nizet and Thomas in reserve.

As Bobloz3 just said, he can cover LB. I know it's not his preferred positions, but if he's here as cover he can cover both

[BobLoz3 492]

1 minute ago, 1902 said:

Have I missed something that means we won't be seeing McCallum? Last I heard he was a promising young player doing well in the championship.

Yeah I have no idea what the guy who posted this is talking about. McCallum will very much be in Farke's thoughts. We're getting another LB in. And we will keep either one of him or Xavi if we go up. McCallum may well get another loan but we don't know that. Will all depend on pre season performance

[Branston Pickle 3,638]

2 minutes ago, AJ said:

As Bobloz3 just said, he can cover LB. I know it's not his preferred positions, but if he's here as cover he can cover both

He can, but - not to repeat myself - Byram is far more likely to take a space on the injury list than anywhere on the pitch.....

I hope he comes through it, but do fear Byram might end up in the same category as Matt Jarvis, both signed from West Ham with very similar injury records and very similar NCFC careers so far: ie good when fit but perennially injured. Jarvis managed 14 games for us, Byram is currently on 17.

Edited January 15, 2021 by Branston Pickle

[AJ 1,218]

7 minutes ago, Branston Pickle said:

He can, but is far more likely to take a space on the injury list than anywhere on the pitch.....

A bit harsh, he's no Matt Jarvis. Yes he's had a few injuries, but he has been around most of 2012, 13, 14 and 15 for Leeds, and played nearly every game for Wet Spam in his first season for them as well as being available for us all last season. Yes he's had injuries at Wet Spam which could be down to the way they looked after him, as he clearly didn't have that issue at Leeds. He was unlucky on his loan to Forrest with a fracture to his knee but not muscular so I wouldn't worry about that one. He's a nice lad, I hope he gets over this hamstring issue and can go on to do well for us

Edited January 15, 2021 by AJ

[Rich T The Biscuit 562]

9 minutes ago, BobLoz3 said:

Byram came in and played LB, in the Prem, for 11 games straight and then got injured. He actually kept Jamal out of the LB position, such were his performances. 

Yes, he is considered an RB but can play both sides. And he is a brilliant player when not injured. 

Agree, he did really well and can play there, guess the point I made is that mainly in his career he's been deployed as a RB and guess Farke would see that as his first choice position. The fact he can play LB if needed makes him valuable if he can remain fit, if....

[Branston Pickle 3,638]

It’s not particularly harsh.  We’ve played not far off 70 games since the start of 2019/20 season and Byram has played under a quarter of them.  The majority of last season he was injured - missed the start of the season injured and picked up his current injury in the home game v Liverpool. 
It’s certainly not a criticism of him, but reliability does become an issue and some players (him, Jarvis, MLJ back in the day) are definitely good enough but just seem unlucky.

Edited January 15, 2021 by Branston Pickle

[PurpleCanary 5,554]

3 hours ago, pete said:

If we get promoted will need to spend £13m on Giannoulus, Quintella and Gibson all on loan with obligation to buy if promoted.  I would suggest if we can get promoted the investment needs to be further up the pitch.  Pukki looking a little jaded lately and not the goal scorer he was two seasons ago, will need another goal scorer even if old Pukki returns.  Hugill and Idah not a reliable option for PL survival.  We never seem to get a financial bonus for our too brief visits to the PL  

The EDP is casting doubt on the reported figure, but it is in euros so even if true it is - currently - about £6.6m rather than £7.5m. And the Quintilla figures, whatever they are, may be in euros too.

[king canary 7,580]

25 minutes ago, AJ said:

A bit harsh, he's no Matt Jarvis. Yes he's had a few injuries, but he has been around most of 2012, 13, 14 and 15 for Leeds, and played nearly every game for Wet Spam in his first season for them as well as being available for us all last season. Yes he's had injuries at Wet Spam which could be down to the way they looked after him, as he clearly didn't have that issue at Leeds. He was unlucky on his loan to Forrest with a fracture to his knee but not muscular so I wouldn't worry about that one. He's a nice lad, I hope he gets over this hamstring issue and can go on to do well for us

It really isn't that harsh- the last time Sam Byram started 20 games in a season was the 14/15 season. Over the past 3 seasons (2 with us, one with Forest) he's been injured far more than he hasn't been. 

[AJ 1,218]

If we do sign him, there totally needs to be a Supercalafragalistic Dimitri Giannoulis chant...

[Yellow and Green 334]

1 hour ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

'pukki is looking jaded'

 

11 in 21 is not a bad haul. That's almost like, a goal every other match on average. You want him to be scoring a hatrick every match instead? He is the 4th top scorer this season so far. Any team below us would kill for that kind of strker.

Just to add to this, he is very much a known quantity this time around. Most games he is playing against a five man defence who don't give him too much space.

 

[......and Smith must score. 1,336]

1 hour ago, BobLoz3 said:

Yes, he is considered an RB but can play both sides. And he is a brilliant player when not injured. 

That's the problem and why he cost virtually nothing.

Hope I'm wrong but I think he could well turn out to be very much a sicknote. With Matt Jarvis it cost us an arm and a leg to find that out.

Edited January 15, 2021 by ......and Smith must score.

[Yellow and Green 334]

1 hour ago, Tetteys Jig said:

Hopefully see what Soto is about soon if we can get his permit sorted. I'd imagine he'd go out to a high end league 1 side or a championship side if he came back.

If we go up then my priority would be a dynamic, powerful winger/striker type player to provide back up to Pukki/ push for starting 11 in attacking mid. Think along the lines of Anthony Martial style player (yes... clearly we can't afford/attract him).

Another centre back would be high on the list as well. Ronnie Edwards at Posh looks like a fantastic prospect here but it'd likely be a bit soon for him so maybe we need to aim higher. Ricky Jade-Jones is worth keeping an eye on there as is Siriki Dembele to compete for the attacking roles

Famewo is older than both Edwards and Jade-Jones, so I'd imagine he would be higher up on their list of options.

Next season (if we get promoted) will be interesting for Famewo, McCallum and Soto. They're clearly highly rated but it'll be interesting to see if they will be trusted as PL back up options, or if it would be more beneficial for them to get another season under their belts on loan.