2020/21 Marcel Brands

[Simon Buttle]

My god with that argument we would have sacked Howard Kendall first season ,he bought 9 players if I remember correctly and they were generally very poor .
If you want everyone to do well that is more than any manager or DoF has ever done ,then you dismiss that we might make a profit on the ones who cannot settle ! You really want your cake and eat it .

I don't expect every single signing to work, for me it's been 50/50 with Brands so far. I did'nt dismiss us making any profit on Kean, i know fine well we will make a profit (although the only interested parties at the moment both want loans/ player swaps) All i said was we bought him to play for us, when he started games he played well 9 games 4 goals 2 assists. The rest of his game time came from short spells off the bench sometimes consisting of 2-3 min from the end of the game. It's no wonder he did'nt settle, i mean who would, part of the reason for him coming here originally would have been to get some form for going into the Euros. You have got the wrong end of the stick mate, i want Brands to stay for the moment for the point of club continuity and the fact him and Carlo seem to get on but at the same time he is not Teflon Marcel like some on here make out.

 

[Saint Domingo]

You would, but there are some very specific challenges.

I think you would ideally look to have a first team player plus understudy, then a promising U23 For the main positions.

The transfer ban has hampered part of that plan.

Secondly, the poor signings of the previous regime clogged the squad. The lack of transfer fee received and salary absorbed can’t be ignored. It’s the main reason the squad is thin and unbalanced.

Thirdly, the Moise Kean situation was facilitated by an agent we cant afford to upset.

Forthly, we have been unduly affected by injuries. Gbamin, Coleman, Gomes, Alla, Doucoure, James, Bolasie etc.

If in another universe, Walcott, Tosun, Niasse, or Bolasie had been any good, or Moise Kean stayed, or Iwobi stepped up, or Gbamin returned fit, the squad would have felt much more stacked and there would have been far more attacking options.

It feels to me that we have been firefighting. We have just not been able to get on the front foot. FFP has also been a limiting factor, but hopefully this summer is the turning point when several of the long term problems are gone and the headroom is there to plan.

In a normal football world. Ancelotti would have had these central midfield options available to him this season: Allan, Doucoure, Gbamin (pre injury) Gomes (pre injury), Delph (City version). That’s five very decent central midfielders who he could have rotated for fitness and form and for tactical formations. Instead Gbamin and Delph have been missing all season, Gomes is a shadow of the player he was, so we have played Allan and Docuoure to the point of injury and again been left relying on Davies and Siggurdson.

The twin injuries to Gbamin and Gomes in 18/19 really did set us back terribly. It was like we sold our best player Gueye and then didn’t replace him despite buying three central midfielders that summer.

If we can get Gbamin back this season and buy another midfielder or two in the summer then hopefully there’ll never be a situation where Carlo is once again relying on players who are painfully slow in the engine room. We should always have a clutch of 5 or 6 players at Allan and Docuoure’s level so that we can keep them all fresh.

 

[Bluestar]

In a normal football world. Ancelotti would have had these central midfield options available to him this season: Allan, Doucoure, Gbamin (pre injury) Gomes (pre injury), Delph (City version). That’s five very decent central midfielders who he could have rotated for fitness and form and for tactical formations. Instead Gbamin and Delph have been missing all season, Gomes is a shadow of the player he was, so we have played Allan and Docuoure to the point of injury and again been left relying on Davies and Siggurdson.

The twin injuries to Gbamin and Gomes in 18/19 really did set us back terribly. It was like we sold our best player Gueye and then didn’t replace him despite buying three central midfielders that summer.

If we can get Gbamin back this season and buy another midfielder or two in the summer then hopefully there’ll never be a situation where Carlo is once again relying on players who are painfully slow in the engine room. We should always have a clutch of 5 or 6 players at Allan and Docuoure’s level so that we can keep them all fresh.

This is exactly the point really.

Similarly, if Bolasie, Walcott, Iwobi, Bernard, Kean or Tosun had been decent, the attacking lineup would have had much more flexible. Even if one of them had performed at the level we require, we would probably be in the top four right now.

 

[Lanolin]

'If all the rubbish players we signed weren't rubbish, we'd be higher in the league than we are'. I mean it's true, i'll give you that.

 

[Bluestar]

'If all the rubbish players we signed weren't rubbish, we'd be higher in the league than we are'. I mean it's true, i'll give you that.

It’s the quantity of rubbish that is so startling. A really bad transfer policy and an enormous waste of money.

 

[Bluestar]

'If all the rubbish players we signed weren't rubbish, we'd be higher in the league than we are'. I mean it's true, i'll give you that.

In fact it’s circa £130m in outlay on players that hardly contribute anything and are on big salaries.

 

[Lanolin]

In fact it’s circa £130m in outlay on players that hardly contribute anything and are on big salaries.

No I get what you're saying. The two posts together just looked pretty funny, talking about how things would be different in an alternate reality.

 

[Carlito]

How , just tell me how .Even the most blinkered know it is a matter of trying to get the dross out first and you have to agree he has done all he can from basically giving them away up to loans and the odd few sales .
Carlo has said the size of the squad he wants and they both know who he wants so what can Marcel do ? Other than have a word with Harry Potter .

You're talking as though Brands has been operating on a sell-to-buy basis, which hasn't been the case at all. Much of the crap that he's brought in will be no easier to shift than what Walsh left behind.

Maybe that's what Ancelotti preferred? it's only his first full season here, it was essentially a free hit for him.

He'll have this current crop of players sussed now and will know what he wants.

One thing I'm always happy to acknowledge is that we don't know what sort of brief he's working to.

You would, but there are some very specific challenges.

I think you would ideally look to have a first team player plus understudy, then a promising U23 For the main positions.

The transfer ban has hampered part of that plan.

Secondly, the poor signings of the previous regime clogged the squad. The lack of transfer fee received and salary absorbed can’t be ignored. It’s the main reason the squad is thin and unbalanced.

Thirdly, the Moise Kean situation was facilitated by an agent we cant afford to upset.

Forthly, we have been unduly affected by injuries. Gbamin, Coleman, Gomes, Alla, Doucoure, James, Bolasie etc.

If in another universe, Walcott, Tosun, Niasse, or Bolasie had been any good, or Moise Kean stayed, or Iwobi stepped up, or Gbamin returned fit, the squad would have felt much more stacked and there would have been far more attacking options.

It feels to me that we have been firefighting. We have just not been able to get on the front foot. FFP has also been a limiting factor, but hopefully this summer is the turning point when several of the long term problems are gone and the headroom is there to plan.

There comes a point where blaming Walsh doesn't cut it anymore, especially now that Sigurdsson, his signature albatross, is going to be retained.

It was clear from the off that Silva didn't want Kean (he made zero effort to integrate him into the team), so I don't think that's really hard luck. Was there no communication about what sort of striker the manager was looking for?

Coleman broke his leg four years ago, before Brands even arrived, and he sits on the bench behind a centre-back half the time. I think there's been ample time to resolve this situation.

There have been other injuries, but then that's the case at every club. It's difficult to sympathise when the DoF has, for example, now signed four left-sided midfielders (Richarlison, Bernard, Iwobi and King) without addressing areas where we're constantly left short.

 

[blue1948]

You're talking as though Brands has been operating on a sell-to-buy basis, which hasn't been the case at all. Much of the crap that he's brought in will be no easier to shift than what Walsh left behind.


One thing I'm always happy to acknowledge is that we don't know what sort of brief he's working to.


There comes a point where blaming Walsh doesn't cut it anymore, especially now that Sigurdsson, his signature albatross, is going to be retained.

It was clear from the off that Silva didn't want Kean (he made zero effort to integrate him into the team), so I don't think that's really hard luck. Was there no communication about what sort of striker the manager was looking for?

Coleman broke his leg four years ago, before Brands even arrived, and he sits on the bench behind a centre-back half the time. I think there's been ample time to resolve this situation.

There have been other injuries, but then that's the case at every club. It's difficult to sympathise when the DoF has, for example, now signed four left-sided midfielders (Richarlison, Bernard, Iwobi and King) without addressing areas where we're constantly left short.

I never said it was a sell to but ,I said that Carlo does not want a big squad -his words not mine- therefore Marcel needed to shift a lot of players ,simple as that really. Of course Carlo wants new players which means that there is/will be more to move on .No sell to but just simple maths .If you read what Marcel has said it is that he never signs a player the manager doesn't want and that he talks an agreement with them where they have a real input so if that is true then yes there have been bad signings but all clubs have them .

 

[Carlito]

I never said it was a sell to but ,I said that Carlo does not want a big squad -his words not mine- therefore Marcel needed to shift a lot of players ,simple as that really. Of course Carlo wants new players which means that there is/will be more to move on .No sell to but just simple maths .If you read what Marcel has said it is that he never signs a player the manager doesn't want and that he talks an agreement with them where they have a real input so if that is true then yes there have been bad signings but all clubs have them .

I find it very hard to believe that Ancelotti requested a complete lack of cover in several key areas.

 

[Goat]

I find it very hard to believe that Ancelotti requested a complete lack of cover in several key areas.

We have cover in all areas of the pitch.

Just in some areas its not great, the quantity is there tho.

 

[billyblue80]

Has to sort out the right hand side this summer. Also another pacey midfielder who can drive us forward and has creativity.

 

[Carlito]

We have cover in all areas of the pitch.

Just in some areas its not great, the quantity is there tho.

That could be said of centre-midfield and centre-back (and to be fair, the four senior CBs are all alright for the most part), but not anywhere else.

 

[Carlito]

Actually, I should have added left-mids there, too.

There are five of those on the books if you include Gordon.

 

[billyblue80]

Tell you something apart from Richarlison and James he hasn't bought an attacker of genuine quality. Iwobi and Bernard have been disappointing. Gomes isn't suited to this league either. He needs to buy dynamic players with pace from now on we have a old man's midfield without Doucoure and Davies.