The window more broadly

MrRobbo

Member
Location
Chaldon
Country
England
Now before I start, I know we have (so far) made a bare minimum of signings, and am well aware Glasner wanted bodies in early.

But things do feel a bit a little different/harder in this window.

The big teams have spent big, as usual. City and Chelsea in particular getting most business done early. But then looking across the rest of the league

Promoted sides – have all brought in lots of c.10m players, but no idea if they will improve the them. Sunderland have gone a little bigger.

Then you’ve had Glasner, Silva, Moyes, Howe, Nuno all admitting that they are struggling with squad size and/or too passive etc.

Bournemouth and Brentford have been decimated.

Prices being paid for average players feels well out of kilter.

Not new themes, but broadly it feels much worse/harder than usual
 
Now before I start, I know we have (so far) made a bare minimum of signings, and am well aware Glasner wanted bodies in early.

But things do feel a bit a little different/harder in this window.

The big teams have spent big, as usual. City and Chelsea in particular getting most business done early. But then looking across the rest of the league

Promoted sides – have all brought in lots of c.10m players, but no idea if they will improve the them. Sunderland have gone a little bigger.

Then you’ve had Glasner, Silva, Moyes, Howe, Nuno all admitting that they are struggling with squad size and/or too passive etc.

Bournemouth and Brentford have been decimated.

Prices being paid for average players feels well out of kilter.

Not new themes, but broadly it feels much worse/harder than usual
Agreed. And some clubs have started to panic.

For example:
  • Brentford have forked out £42m for Ouattara
  • Newcastle £40m on Jacob Ramsey
  • Forest £37m on Hutchinson
These kind of prices for pretty average players can't continue for too long surely?

The next 2 weeks will see to what extent we end up panicking and paying over the odds.
 
Agreed. And some clubs have started to panic.

For example:
  • Brentford have forked out £42m for Ouattara
  • Newcastle £40m on Jacob Ramsey
  • Forest £37m on Hutchinson
These kind of prices for pretty average players can't continue for too long surely?

The next 2 weeks will see to what extent we end up panicking and paying over the odds.

Yep those buys stink of a manager saying "I dont care if its 10m too much, I need bodies". Hutchinson is particularly mental, cost 20m last summer. 3 goals and 2 assists later sold for almost double.

Purely rational, but now is a time to stay calm and pick up players for the right price at the end of the window.
 
Yep those buys stink of a manager saying "I dont care if its 10m too much, I need bodies". Hutchinson is particularly mental, cost 20m last summer. 3 goals and 2 assists later sold for almost double.

Purely rational, but now is a time to stay calm and pick up players for the right price at the end of the window.
Agree Hutchinson is well over priced based on what done so far. Seems to be off back of a decent u21 tournament. Cherki cost less and far more ability
 
If - and I appreciate that it is a big if - we keep the current squad (which won two trophies), why should we panic?
Yes, I know that we have the Conference League as an additional set of fixtures, but make sure that we get through to the league stage and we can throw in some of the 'second string' players and bring in the regulars when it gets more critical.
Other clubs have been haemorrhaging players without much replacement; we are probably in a better position than we think.
 
Agreed. And some clubs have started to panic.

For example:
  • Brentford have forked out £42m for Ouattara
  • Newcastle £40m on Jacob Ramsey
  • Forest £37m on Hutchinson
These kind of prices for pretty average players can't continue for too long surely?

The next 2 weeks will see to what extent we end up panicking and paying over the odds.
Brentford now have two players (Outtara and Igor Tiago) who cost more than our record signing. Fair enough they've found and sold other players but they are the level we're competing with now.
 
Last edited:
Good thread Robbo.

Totally agree with what’s been said so far.
The Demari Hutchison and Watara prices are INSANE for two player who are yet to show anything like the figures or quality that kind of fee demands.

I think the Palace strategy not to overpay is right - proven quality now (not necessarily potential for the future is what we need). I don’t understand why people are so quick to dismiss players in their late 20’s early 30’s. Because they are to old?

We need (for this season especially) players who can hit the ground running. We have prospects for the future - what we don’t so much is “oven ready” depth.

Unfortunately for us (and especially Glasner) they’re not likely to become available at a price we can afford until the last week of the window.

If only we could get a consensus across Europe to end the window BEFORE the season starts!
 
Good thread Robbo.

Totally agree with what’s been said so far.
The Demari Hutchison and Watara prices are INSANE for two player who are yet to show anything like the figures or quality that kind of fee demands.

I think the Palace strategy not to overpay is right - proven quality now (not necessarily potential for the future is what we need). I don’t understand why people are so quick to dismiss players in their late 20’s early 30’s. Because they are to old?

We need (for this season especially) players who can hit the ground running. We have prospects for the future - what we don’t so much is “oven ready” depth.

Unfortunately for us (and especially Glasner) they’re not likely to become available at a price we can afford until the last week of the window.

If only we could get a consensus across Europe to end the window BEFORE the season starts!
It's about resale value. We can't afford to buy a seasoned player for say £35m to £40m and not get anything (or peanuts) for him when his contract ends 3 years or so down the line. WE might get away with one such purchase if we really needed it but we dpn't really need it at this juncture.

We're probably going to have take a breather this season and regroup for next year. I suspect we've had to repay Textor a fair amount of loan money (no proof of that but it wouldn't surprise me if that is part of the reason for our tight purse this Summer).
 
That Outarra one really shocked me when I saw that this morning.
No wonder it's been difficult getting a price for Guehi. If teams are paying those kind of prices it's very reasonable not to accept 30m for him.
 
Agreed. And some clubs have started to panic.

For example:
  • Brentford have forked out £42m for Ouattara
  • Newcastle £40m on Jacob Ramsey
  • Forest £37m on Hutchinson
These kind of prices for pretty average players can't continue for too long surely?

The next 2 weeks will see to what extent we end up panicking and paying over the odds.
I don’t think we will pay over the odds, we might pay a fee if we can find a sensible deal abroad, outside of that a couple of loans could happen.
These inflated prices could be the biggest reason we haven’t done much yet. We might not have wanted those particular players but they do indicate the price range for players we would want.
The worry is the amount of big spenders in the league is getting bigger and creating this inflation, the question being can we keep up.
 
IMO still need another CB and attacker. Maybe one of them could be a loan. I guess the loan market could work to our advantage if qualify for league phase they would have time to get up to speed before the first conf league game
 
Agreed. And some clubs have started to panic.

For example:
  • Brentford have forked out £42m for Ouattara
  • Newcastle £40m on Jacob Ramsey
  • Forest £37m on Hutchinson
These kind of prices for pretty average players can't continue for too long surely?

The next 2 weeks will see to what extent we end up panicking and paying over the odds.
And looks like Bournemouth are paying £25 million for Doak😳

I say this every year, just because clubs are throwing money around like confetti it doesn’t mean these players will improve them
We all know we need players, but as you say at least we’re not spending silly money on average at best players

I’m happy with our situation, who wouldn’t be? We’re serial trophy winners and playing in Europe 🤣 as long as we don’t panic last minute and bring in a couple more Holding type signings just to get bodies in the door
 
Yeah far too much bed wetting going on. Personally I love seeing us spend frig all and end up with a better player than oppo.

FFS LiVARpool spent ONE HUNDRED TIMES more than us but we just beat them
 
Agreed. And some clubs have started to panic.

For example:
  • Brentford have forked out £42m for Ouattara
  • Newcastle £40m on Jacob Ramsey
  • Forest £37m on Hutchinson
These kind of prices for pretty average players can't continue for too long surely?

The next 2 weeks will see to what extent we end up panicking and paying over the odds.
We are in a different situation to these three clubs - probably. Brentford have been severely depleted and need to invest to avoid relegation
Newcastle are in a right mess with Isak and have Champions League. They also have expectations of being a consistent top 5 club so they need depth
We may, rightly, dislike Forest's chairman, but he is a sole owner, very ambitious and is not afraid to do what is necessary to succeed even if it means flirting with more point deductions
I suspect if Parish wants to stay as 'The Chair with the Hair' (not my invention) his best bet is for the club not to invest too much (which he cannot afford). It is looking like established clubs are more and more safe from relegation and the most likely way to progress is to splash the cash -which clearly isn't going to happen - or trade wisely. Parish is too attached to the players otherwise Guehi and Douclure would have departed when their value was at their peak. Cups will be our best chance of glory and that obviously happened this year. May not happen again for a while
 
We are in a different situation to these three clubs - probably. Brentford have been severely depleted and need to invest to avoid relegation
Newcastle are in a right mess with Isak and have Champions League. They also have expectations of being a consistent top 5 club so they need depth
We may, rightly, dislike Forest's chairman, but he is a sole owner, very ambitious and is not afraid to do what is necessary to succeed even if it means flirting with more point deductions
I suspect if Parish wants to stay as 'The Chair with the Hair' (not my invention) his best bet is for the club not to invest too much (which he cannot afford). It is looking like established clubs are more and more safe from relegation and the most likely way to progress is to splash the cash -which clearly isn't going to happen - or trade wisely. Parish is too attached to the players otherwise Guehi and Douclure would have departed when their value was at their peak. Cups will be our best chance of glory and that obviously happened this year. May not happen again for a while
Parish is not a risk taker like his predecessor or a rule breaker like the Forest chairman. He has however progressed the club to the most successful period in its history with the best team we’ve had since Coppell was manager. He had yhe club’s best interests at heart.
 
We have some history of panic buying.

Some of us will fondly remember the days of another Ollie - Ian Holloway. Prior to our first season back in the PL (2013-2014) he bought in 15 players (inc the odd loan). Gayle had some success and was around for 3 season, Chamakh was useful when not injured, Marriappa was okay as was Bannan (but Pulis did'nt seem to rate him). But then there was Kebe, Grandin, Marange, Guedioura, Jerome Thomas, Dobbie, Campana, Hunt ( who may have been alright but broke his foot in training and never played for us).

A lesson in the relative merits of quality and quantity.
 
If - and I appreciate that it is a big if - we keep the current squad (which won two trophies), why should we panic?
Yes, I know that we have the Conference League as an additional set of fixtures, but make sure that we get through to the league stage and we can throw in some of the 'second string' players and bring in the regulars when it gets more critical.
Other clubs have been haemorrhaging players without much replacement; we are probably in a better position than we think.
Yes, but...

When Glasner commented on injuries before Wembley, he said we still have our core of 15/16 players.

Not enough.

Players coming back fully match fit from injury and U21s/fringe stepping up (especially for Europe), but I can't see us maintaining position without say 2 additions.
 

Holmesdale Online Shop

Back
Top