Our scouting network

[Guybrush]

Mind you with the World Cup this summer, that will surely affect our activity - let?s face it, the players we want to sign SHOULD be playing in it - so that will delay transfers until late in the window (no preseason) and if they have a good tournament - let?s face it, the players we want to sign SHOULD have a good tournament - then surely that will jack up their asking price 🤷🏻*♂️

Surely, If we want to compete, we need to be investing in and improving the squad every window, rather than playing catch up every fourth window.

Rant over 😆

[Ragatino]

Mind you with the World Cup this summer, that will surely affect our activity - let?s face it, the players we want to sign SHOULD be playing in it - so that will delay transfers until late in the window (no preseason) and if they have a good tournament - let?s face it, the players we want to sign SHOULD have a good tournament - then surely that will jack up their asking price 🤷🏻*♂️

Surely, If we want to compete, we need to be investing in and improving the squad every window, rather than playing catch up every fourth window.

Rant over 😆

Very good point. We're men of a certain age where the world cup used to turn up some gems no one had ever heard.

These days less so.

With the analytical and forensic scouting and recruitment, there is also a plethora of fan led Youtube channels who chop up footage of every 16-17 year old from far flung lands, generally with some god awful music over the top, showcasing the next gen's talent.

The profile of player NUFC are targeting is 19-24.

Players like Kees Smit is 20. He has only made 2 appearances for the Dutch U-21s team. The likelihood he'll be at this world cup is slim due to the quality of the Dutch national talent pool.

So, there is business that can be done. However, it will be and no doubt will be trotted out as a valid excuse should the summer transfer business not go well.

The difference is, that the fans, simply won't buy it.

[toonviking]

This thread beeing about our scouting, our signings since the takeover is going in the total wrong direction. The likes of Tripper, Bruno, Burn, No14, Hall, Tino... its been a while since we got one right.

All that Isak money we blew off on Wissa and Elanga, and blowig big money on Ramsey a totally mediocre midfielder is just mind blowing...

[Ragatino]

This thread beeing about our scouting, our signings since the takeover is going in the total wrong direction. The likes of Tripper, Bruno, Burn, No14, Hall, Tino... its been a while since we got one right.

All that Isak money we blew off on Wissa and Elanga, and blowig big money on Ramsey a totally mediocre midfielder is just mind blowing...

Yeah, I wonder why?

The cartel laughed at NUFC at first.
The deals were done rapidly as there was a urgency to spend and one thing about Ashley was there there was no PSR issues.

Signing Trippier was a impressive.
No one knew Bruno. It was a good signing but no one was calling it a coup.
No one believed No.14 was gonna be a success and laughed. In Spain they said we'd been robbed. That if he'd gone to another Spanish club he's have gone for 25-30m. The lad scored only 6 la liga goals the season prior to signing.
Burn, no one in the fan base wanted this and saw it as a desperation signing at the end of the window.
Hall didn't play for almost the entire first season, everyone, me included, were fuming saying the club wasted money on a 'project' player when the club needed ready made. Also, there was comments around it being an Ashworth signing and Howe didn't want him.
Tino's signing was questioned because of the big outlay when Tripz was playing so well and there was cover in that position.

Pretty much none of the about business was considered good at the time.

A season or so on Hall is a worldie, BDB a hero and Cup final goal scoring legend. No.14 made the club a 100m in clear profit when sold. Bruno becomes a talisman.

It's all clear in hindsight. The only people who know they would work out are the same people who acquired the more recent recruits. Eddie and his team.

Since then the club has become a serious threat.

So much so that the cartel has pushed through new rules to shackle the clubs progression. APT, associated Party Transactions AKA 'The Newcastle Rules' - the secret vote of 19 clubs which NUFC were not informed or included in.

What we see what played out in the summer's transfer window is clearly planned and orchestrated.

Clubs signing players to stop others getting them is common but the entire media machine and cartel clubs systematically use their influence with player agents and the big sports agencies to leak all information pertaining to NUFC's targets and jumping in for players that NUFC had been quietly trying to sign time and time again.

We all lived it.

When the likes of Delay, Joao Pedro, Mbueno, Sesko and Ekitike. All going else where depsite the best efforts of the skeleton recruitment team of the stats guys Andy Howe & board member Jamie Rueben, two men with good intentions but very little weigh in the sleezy world of football recruitment.

These were genuine targets but the list according to the cartel media was about 15 longer.

That being said. What was the club supposed to do? Sign no one. The melt down would have been just as bad if not worse.

With regard to 'Money being blow' - 250m spent - amortised over 5 years = 50m quid. Isak 130m + Kelly 20m + Miggy 15m = 165m

Profit - 165
Loss - 50
= 115m in the black from last year.

Revenues up to 345m quid despite missing out on European Competition last season.

The finances are in good shape. That being said spending over the odds is not sustainable, when there are 7 players out of contract in the summer of 2026 & A futher 5 players out of contract in 2027.

The players brought in cost more than they probably should, Wissa was never a 55m player. Ideal world the club would have signed Igor Thiago from Brugge for 30m quid.

However, without a Director of Football & Eddie Howe not having been on a long sabbatical where he'd been touring Europe and had a list of players, as he did that first season Signing Tripz, Bruno, et al taking a risk on an unknown 23 yr old looked like far more of a risk than Wissa who banged in 19 non-penalty Prem goals last season.

This all played out whilst the No.14 noise was battering the club's reputation and drew media stooges to constantly questions the ambition and direction of the clubs project. Boy o boy didn't the negative fans lap that up.

Some people just don't want to be happy haha.

All that said. Would I have preferred Semenyo to Elanga? No, Probably not. I wanted a more technical player than both of them RW. I wanted a wide play maker, an Maghnes Akliouche or even a Kubo.

I understood that Elanga was signed to plicated No.14 as his Swedish national team mate. Only for the rat to bail days later.

What's the point of all this?

- No one is every completely happy with summer transfer.
- The Executives have failed in their roles, quit the club and in Mitchell's case, I believe, intentionally disrupted the club with his attitude, unprofessionalism & mismanagement of Specific players contracts.
- The Executives have failed the manager over spending or failing to secure the commercial revenues to enable the club to sign it's top targets quickly, quietly and efficiently.
- The team has out performed their commercial spend every season since the take over.


In Summery.
It ain't too bad folks.

The clubs not gonna get relegated. Still in the Champions League.

Cross the road to walk in the sunshine once in a while.

[Jammy89]

Well written Rag - feel quite a bit better reading that.

[Ragatino]

Well written Rag - feel quite a bit better reading that.

With regard to 'Money being blow' - 250m spent - amortised over 5 years = 50m quid. Isak 130m + Kelly 20m + Miggy 15m = 165m

Profit - 165
Loss - 50
= 115m in the black from last year.

Revenues up to 345m quid despite missing out on European Competition last season.

This season in the UCL should see Revenues up again on the 345m from last season.

Villa saw 140m Euro / 121m quid bump in their revenues from their involvement in last seasons UCL.

345+120m = 465m

Reading between the lines of all the talk from Eddie, Wilson, Hopkinson regarding PSR/SCR/January business impacts on Summer business, my take is that they know that with the rat.14 money + the bumper UCL season money on account that the transfer budget will be substantial enough to compete for their No.1 targets.

With the Media Machine already gearing up to sell Tonali, as the lies and garbage starts to be pumped out months in advance, Juve's No.1 Target, Pep's one to one chat after the cup match, Real Madrid's Midfield Priority, then the laughable ones Arsenal eye Tonali - not a chance they can compete.

Should Sandro decide that he wants to go. Yalla, Vamos! off you go pal. There is no point in the club holding on all summer and going through the same BS as last year.

Get the transfer done in June. Push Real, Juve and the other European Giants to compete and sell to the highest bidder.

Enzo, Wirtz, Caicedo all +110m midfielders - Sandro's is in that bracket 115-120m with 3.5yrs left on his contract.

take that all day long.

[Ragatino]

Adding a massive chunk to the enhanced UCL revenue of 465m could see a revenue of over half a billion quid.

Gordon might be moving on too. Not gonna cry myself to sleep about that one trick pony either. 80-100m for an England starter, especially off the back of a successful World Cup

Same for Tino, if he doesn't want to sign a new contract and wants to move on. Off you go son. The club should take 80m for a player who is quality but the injuries are a concern at his age... They don't get better as players age.

Selling Sandro
Sandro - 110
110+465 = 575m
70% of 575 = 402.5m

Selling Sandro & Tino
Sandro - 110 / Tino - 75
185+465 = 650m
70% of 650 = 455m

Selling Sandro & Gordon
Sandro - 110 / Gordon - 80
190+465 = 655m
70% of 655 = 598m

Selling Tino & Gordon
Tino - 75 / Gordon - 80
155+465 = 620m
70 of 620 = 434m

Selling all three
Sandro - 110 / Tino - 75 / Gordon - 80
265+465 = 730m in revenue
70% of 730 = 511m quid

The club has to get better at selling players and refreshing the squad.
`
The benefits financially are there to take advantage of.

70% of revenue spend ranges from 434m with two sales of Tino & Gordon, Sandro's sale yields a higher return. Selling all 3 would enable the club to spend 511m.

That is top table cartel busting cash.

This is without any additional sponsorship or commercial partnership revenue included.

We're in a performance related business, no room for sentiment.