Agreed deal for Slimani

[jacapus]

If ever there was a case for early January signings/loanees last night was evidence of that.Im convinced that had we had a decent striker then we would be at least 4 points better off which will be crucial come May.
When will fcb ever learn ? Never is the answer.Panic signings at the end of the transfer window do little to integrate the newcomers who are expected to hit the ground running !

[ghostrider]

If ever there was a case for early January signings/loanees last night was evidence of that.Im convinced that had we had a decent striker then we would be at least 4 points better off which will be crucial come May.
When will fcb ever learn ? Never is the answer.Panic signings at the end of the transfer window do little to integrate the newcomers who are expected to hit the ground running !

If's and But's are fine but they don't present reality.
The reality was, we were extremely unlucky to lose that game and played much better (albeit untidy at times) football on the front foot as well as the back foot and in midfield than we generally ever come close to.

I'd say that's a massive positive, including a very good debut by Kenedy who can actually put a decent cross in and corner.
Using the word "IF"....if Rafa continues to set his team out to have a go as well as balance it out then this type of game would have been over by half time.
He just needs to stop this notion that panic protecting a 1-0 lead with a clearly under confident team will place unnecessary strain and potential mistakes into the mix.

I thought Darlow was so unlucky regardless of it not being a corner.

We threw 2 points away in one mindset but in another we gained a lot more than just 1 point.
We showed that we can compete on the front foot if Rafa coaches it into the players and stops this nervous last 30 minute shut out that generally comes a cropper.

[HughieG]

If's and But's are fine but they don't present reality.
The reality was, we were extremely unlucky to lose that game and played much better (albeit untidy at times) football on the front foot as well as the back foot and in midfield than we generally ever come close to.

I'd say that's a massive positive, including a very good debut by Kenedy who can actually put a decent cross in and corner.
Using the word "IF"....if Rafa continues to set his team out to have a go as well as balance it out then this type of game would have been over by half time.
He just needs to stop this notion that panic protecting a 1-0 lead with a clearly under confident team will place unnecessary strain and potential mistakes into the mix.

I thought Darlow was so unlucky regardless of it not being a corner.

We threw 2 points away in one mindset but in another we gained a lot more than just 1 point.
We showed that we can compete on the front foot if Rafa coaches it into the players and stops this nervous last 30 minute shut out that generally comes a cropper.

Didn't watch the game sadly, but ^this sounds about right to me. If we can turn these draws into wins every once in a while we're not far off from living up to our potential. Imagine if we'd had a more capable striker the whole season, we'd be sitting more comfortable in the table I'm sure.

Crazy how the league is close in both ends this season. We may look like a relegation team at times, but so many other teams do too. There's no telling how things'll end up come May.

[ghostrider]

Didn't watch the game sadly, but ^this sounds about right to me. If we can turn these draws into wins every once in a while we're not far off from living up to our potential. Imagine if we'd had a more capable striker the whole season, we'd be sitting more comfortable in the table I'm sure.

Crazy how the league is close in both ends this season. We may look like a relegation team at times, but so many other teams do too. There's no telling how things'll end up come May.

This is my gripe with Rafa. We can all argue about who we should have bought and it's Ashley, it's Charnley or whatever but the reality is that Rafa can literally instill enough confidence into this outfit if he gives them more of the first half mindset like he did with Burnley and also West Ham and the odd few teams he had a go with.

I understand the goal difference carry on and such but let's just have a go and build confidence through that.
It's there to be built up on and even more so now with Kenedy and Slimani waiting to have more input to push us on with the blessing of Rafa forward thinking in at least balancing the team out.

I could even end up taking to him if he did this and even believe he could push us forward but he really needs to allow this team to be coached to put at least half of that league to the sword as and when the opportunity presents itself.

Fingers crossed.

[jacapus]

If's and But's are fine but they don't present reality.
The reality was, we were extremely unlucky to lose that game and played much better (albeit untidy at times) football on the front foot as well as the back foot and in midfield than we generally ever come close to.

I'd say that's a massive positive, including a very good debut by Kenedy who can actually put a decent cross in and corner.
Using the word "IF"....if Rafa continues to set his team out to have a go as well as balance it out then this type of game would have been over by half time.
He just needs to stop this notion that panic protecting a 1-0 lead with a clearly under confident team will place unnecessary strain and potential mistakes into the mix.

I thought Darlow was so unlucky regardless of it not being a corner.

We threw 2 points away in one mindset but in another we gained a lot more than just 1 point.
We showed that we can compete on the front foot if Rafa coaches it into the players and stops this nervous last 30 minute shut out that generally comes a cropper.

My point was merely the influence of new players maybe at the outset of the transfer window but most certainly by the time the window closes when they are already integrated.It had nothing to do with last nights performance which showed positive signs despite the lack of an efficient striker.
Early signings are a pipe dream under the current regime & I dare say that Rafa had to make last minute decisions to allow the loan signings to come in at the eleventh hour.
Kennedy made such a difference (amazing what quality does for a team).With Slimani in the team alongside we would have won that game ffs. OK its ifs & buts - which give the opportunity to reflect in future transactions for the future owners,

[ghostrider]

My point was merely the influence of new players maybe at the outset of the transfer window but most certainly by the time the window closes when they are already integrated.It had nothing to do with last nights performance which showed positive signs despite the lack of an efficient striker.
Early signings are a pipe dream under the current regime & I dare say that Rafa had to make last minute decisions to allow the loan signings to come in at the eleventh hour.
Kennedy made such a difference (amazing what quality does for a team).With Slimani in the team alongside we would have won that game ffs. OK its ifs & buts - which give the opportunity to reflect in future transactions for the future owners,

I agree with you. I believe Rafa had to make last minute decisions.
Those decisions were simple and most likely come from Ashley or Charnley.

I'll speculate from my side as others do from their side.

I think Ashley and/or Charnley might have said" Rafa you can bring in players on permanent contracts or loans but you must cover for it by offloading."

I would imagine something like that.
So Rafa would have to offload and then bring in, which seems to be what happened.

No permanent signings is probably because there were no outgoing permanent transfers.
What he has done is cleared about 150,000 a week of the wage bill in order to accept Slimani's, Kenedy's and Dubravka's wages, with lesser paid loans most likely just going for experience for nominal fees.


Seems sensible to me.

[pboromag]

no permanent signings as the new owners would want there own players

clear the decks for the new ones

make the books look better