How did your transfer window go?

[Rick]

Welcome back @Storts

The plus of our window is that we kept everybody that we wanted and got rid of the players whose wanted rid of.

The minus point is that we still have ropey options in attack off the bench, and we will be relying on Robbo to stay fit since we don't have a back up. If we get an major injuries it will fuck us.

5/10 window for me. Should have built on winning the champions league and I don't feel like we have at all 

[Honey Honey]

9 hours ago, Storts said:

I mean it's a good business model to buy young talented players that can double or triple in value...it's the signings of ageing stop gap players that can be damaging as a model. How have you torn up the foundations exactly? Nobody can sit here and say replacing Rafa with Bruce isn't a backwards step in that department - but Rafa clearly had no interest in being there anymore, regardless of whatever PR he puts out. 

It's funny you mention us though...because that is exactly what we are in the process of doing. It may be at a higher level but we are now replacing our older players with younger ones. We've signed Lo Celso to replace Eriksen, and N'Dombele to replace Dembele, Sessegnon is coming in to replace Rose. Two young players from abroad to replace more established ones. It's a business model we've always looked to use, buy young talented players and let them develop into larger assets. 

I know how frustrated you are with the club, with the ownership and the managerial situation but think it's an overreaction in terms of tearing up the foundations. You've lost what? Perez? And replaced him with a younger talented club record signing, you didn't even have a choice with it either because of the release clause. Rondon was never your player and chased the money to China like your old manager. You've lost a few other players that you wanted rid of anyway. 

Obviously until you get a takeover you're never going to be happy and the club *probably* isn't going to improve to wherever you want it to go to, but I think adding two talented young attackers to go with Almiron, to your solid defence, was actually a pretty decent window all in all. 

Both Rondon and Perez wanted to stay under Rafa so don't give this nonsense spin we had no choice. Rafa wanted to stay under the right project conditions and your whole arguments premise is the idea that Rafa is a liar who lied for several months. 

Your comparison to Spurs differs massively. You've still got Eriksen and Dembele. We lost our top two goal scorers. To suggest it is even remotely the same is barnpot stuff. That's a completely different model clearly.

You can try make excuses for my opinion with "wherever I want to go" but it looks more like you just don't get it. You say it is a pretty decent window but that just doesn't get my point one bit does it. It might be a disaster it might be ok it might be great. It's a gamble and a roll of the dice in the full context. To pretend otherwise is to be grossly naive.

[Storts]

1 hour ago, Harvsky said:

Both Rondon and Perez wanted to stay under Rafa so don't give this nonsense spin we had no choice. Rafa wanted to stay under the right project conditions and your whole arguments premise is the idea that Rafa is a liar who lied for several months. 

Your comparison to Spurs differs massively. You've still got Eriksen and Dembele. We lost our top two goal scorers. To suggest it is even remotely the same is barnpot stuff. That's a completely different model clearly.

You can try make excuses for my opinion with "wherever I want to go" but it looks more like you just don't get it. You say it is a pretty decent window but that just doesn't get my point one bit does it. It might be a disaster it might be ok it might be great. It's a gamble and a roll of the dice in the full context. To pretend otherwise is to be grossly naive.

Perez had a release clause Leicester met. Rondon was never your player. It's tough to lose both of them, but I think you've replaced them in the best possible way, particularly considering the limitations that your owner clearly has, and admits to. 

It differs because we have better players, but the premise is the same as you were suggesting, replacing proven Premier league players with unproven younger foreign signings, the levels are vastly different but the philosophy isn't as you are suggesting. Dembele we sold 6 months ago actually without a replacement. Eriksen will end up going, even if he's still here, he's mentally checked out. 

Lets be honest, we're not going to agree on this, we never have on Ashley and the regime up there and we never will. It was the same last transfer window. Isn't every transfer a gamble though? I get what you're saying completely about losing your two top goalscorers, that never going to be ideal - but I do think you've replaced them in the best possible fashion. Time will tell. 

[Honey Honey]

42 minutes ago, Storts said:

It differs because we have better players, but the premise is the same as you were suggesting, replacing proven Premier league players with unproven younger foreign signings, the levels are vastly different but the philosophy isn't as you are suggesting. Dembele we sold 6 months ago actually without a replacement. Eriksen will end up going, even if he's still here, he's mentally checked out. 

That isn't why it differs or has any similar premise  but I can't be bothered going into depth.

You've shot your own Dembele use as an example in the foot then. Obviously not that important a player after all.

[Storts]

3 minutes ago, Harvsky said:

That isn't why it differs or has any similar premise  but I can't be bothered going into depth.

You've shot your own Dembele use as an example in the foot then. Obviously not that important a player after all.

Well if you ask a number of our fans he was a crucially important player and our form second half of the season after he left was abysmal. 

[Honey Honey]

7 minutes ago, Storts said:

Well if you ask a number of our fans he was a crucially important player and our form second half of the season after he left was abysmal. 

Thicko's then. You lost 3 of the 6 games he started last season. Worse form without him? 

[Storts]

5 minutes ago, Harvsky said:

Thicko's then. You lost 3 of the 6 games he started last season. Worse form without him? 

Our league form after he left was diabolical yeah. We won 5 of 14 league games from Feb onwards, losing 7 of them. We also had a massive gaping hole in the middle of the park - meaning we had to play Oliver Skipp and Danny Rose in centre mid at times.

The caveat to this is that I didn't like Dembele and wanted him gone, but selling him without a replacement wasn't a very good decision and as I said the majority of our fans loved him and thought he was a genius (weirdos) 

The point of it all though, was that he is very proven in the Premier League and we've replaced him with an unproven younger player, albeit highly rated, that there are no guarantees he will adjust. 

[Dan+]

Talking points of ours for me...

James Justin - This is a completely risk free signing for around £6mil - similar to when we signed Demarai Gray for under £4mil, no matter how he performed, his profile of player, young, english and has some experience in the Premier League will guarantee that he leaves us for more than this providing his contract doesn't run down, and that's even if he fails. This is that all over again. Justin has had enough respected people rate him, and Luton fans absolutely adamant he'll be playing PL football, this just doesn't really have a downside to me. Even better that he can fill in on both sides at full back.

Youri Tielemans - I thought he played so well on loan here that we quite simply wouldn't be able to get him permanently for a number of reasons, mainly that Monaco may realise what a talent they have on their hands (they seemingly have totally given up on him) and that some bigger clubs will come and snare him. What's lucky for us is that his time at Monaco has probably made him quite determined to pick his next move wisely and what he can almost guarantee at Leicester is first team football, a fanbase that love him and a club that'll pay him well, under a manager he flourishes under. That's a pretty strong case and for me it's one of the best signings made by a Premier League club this window.

Harry Maguire - I've made it very clear all summer (and before then but nobody will believe me) that Maguire is a good, but not top defender, and that we were always going to be able to demand a fee well in excess of what his ability is worth simply because he's an England international and a popular figure. He is a loss and I'm annoyed at how late in the window it went through when Manchester United finally realised we aren't that easy to push around anymore. Fact is though, we have taken in a world record fee for a defender that we statistically (as in the actual results and goals conceded) performed better without last year - they aren't opinions, they're facts.

Ayoze Perez - I think this is a good addition to the team and he will be a really decent foil for Vardy - think the Okazaki with a bit more finesse and end product.

Failure to bring in a wide player - This was my biggest gripe of the window - something that can be rectified by us playing a system that isn't dependant on the productivity of our wide players as quite simply ours just will not score enough, unless Barnes really does hit it at this level this year. I think the way we've signed this summer points to us playing with a diamond, which worries me in some ways but Rodgers has made it work before so he gets it. This is certainly the weakest area of our squad though for me now. Albrighton is a steady player at this level but our most reliable winger. Barnes is in very early days yet so it's hard to rely on him too much and Gray and Ghezzal just aren't good enough.

Failure to sign a centre half - This is the biggest risk we've taken but I actually admire it as we spent £12.5mil on Benkovic and £20mil on Soyuncu last summer. This to me should have been factored into any prospective deal to bring in someone like Tarkowski - you'll pay Burnley say £45mil but then block the progress of these two who we did invest a pretty big amount of money in, so what's the real cost of it? Signing Tarkowski sends out the message that Soyuncu isn't good enough. Soyuncu is a bit rash but he's only young, hasn't been given many chances to get to grips with the Premier League yet and has shown he's got something about him. It's funny that when we had a Radio Bournemouth pundit on the line (who basically said we'd be told to fuck off re: Ake) that Ake himself was all of those things I've just described Soyuncu as and yet here we are now, he's probably the best centre half outside the top six. Benkovic again is the same although he seems a bit injury prone a way off featuring but I like what I've heard about him so far. The worry, of course, is that both of them fail to get to grips with the league this year and we're then relying on Jonny Evans and a 36 year old Wes Morgan. If Evans gets an injury, we are in trouble and that's a bit risky, but I respect that we've managed our money well and I like the fact we aren't just panicking into signings now like we did in the past. Even the Praet signing I don't feel was a panic but more one we left a bit late for no obvious reason.

Dennis Praet - This again tells me he's playing the diamond. I actually think another smart buy and somebody who'll fit this system having played in it for Sampdoria for a couple of seasons. A well rounded steady player by all accounts. He's not stupidly expensive either for this era.

Clear out - The squad is massive and there are too many players who simply won't play. I think Silva's got to go really as a high earner and the Praet signing only pushes him further down the pecking order. Slimani's finished here as well. Iheanacho and Gray both live to fight another day as I don't think we can really afford to get rid of either now although those two are both concerns to me and they've both got to really up their games to convince me, and hopefully Rodgers that they're worth persisting with. Diabate should go. James should be sold but the Championship window going means it won't happen. King I actually don't mind still having here although firmly as back-up, he's exactly the type of character you want about the club but I'm easy if he gets a move too, although similarly to James the Championship window also closing largely rules it out unless he fancies Europe, but I can't really see it. Mendy may go and I think we could just about survive that but I actually don't think he's a bad fit in our side now, but he's not got the potential really of Ndidi or Choudhury so it works against him. There's a chance there's someone else I've completely missed off too, but our squad is massive and yet I still feel like we're a bit short in some areas.

 

7 out of 10 but to be honest it's hard to grade transfer windows before we've seen them play for us over a decent time period, so this could grow.

For some context, I'd rank summers 2016 as a 1/10, 2017 as a 4/10 and  2018 as an 8/10.

[Honey Honey]

7 hours ago, Storts said:

Our league form after he left was diabolical yeah. We won 5 of 14 league games from Feb onwards, losing 7 of them. We also had a massive gaping hole in the middle of the park - meaning we had to play Oliver Skipp and Danny Rose in centre mid at times.

The caveat to this is that I didn't like Dembele and wanted him gone, but selling him without a replacement wasn't a very good decision and as I said the majority of our fans loved him and thought he was a genius (weirdos) 

The point of it all though, was that he is very proven in the Premier League and we've replaced him with an unproven younger player, albeit highly rated, that there are no guarantees he will adjust. 

14+6=20. 18 other games. Nearly half a season without him starting not accounted for in the results.

The stats from when he was actually there suggests he was sold on the grounds that he wasn't key so they could get away with it. If the end result was that you didn't get away with it for squad reasons that is something different.

You seem to think the issue I'm taking with the "business model" is that proven players are replaced by unproven and that's that. It's more comprehensive than that. Go back to what I said in the first place about our business model and why it is wrong. Business models are about stability and foundations. Your attempted comparisons do not suggest it is the same on those terms.

There's no greater example for my argument than you raising Eriksen. You're keeping him and nurturing a replacement at the same time. That is about stability. If the replacement is shite it doesn't matter as you still have him, there is limited damage to the results that deliver revenue. Bobby Robson used to do it this way as well. Sign young talent to nurture into the team as a replacement for someone older due to move on. 

It's a very different "business model" trying to say any where young players are signed is the same model is to completely miss important elements.

As I said from the off in the thread, our approach is vulnerable to totally wild swings which is not good business it is a gambling business. You can't say the same with your attempted comparison players.

[RandoEFC+]

I might come back and try to do this thread proper justice when I have time, but overall very pleased. We've sold well, bought a variety of young-mid 20s players in key positions, we've just got that one issue at centre half where Keane and Mina will be first choice and might not be a great partnership as neither of them are blessed with top level pace.

Losing Gueye and Zouma is a blow, and to be honest we don't know how much Iwobi, Gbamin, Kean and Delph are going to improve the first team, so I can see us only making incremental improvements this season, but the bigger picture is that there's a lot better value in the squad now, it's definitely the manager's team, the average age has come down a lot and I'm much more confident about how we'll look 2-3 years from now than I would have been at the start of the window.

[Vegan Kel]

Made three decent signings, although two cost ridiculous fees but that's football these days.

I would like to have seen more players leave, especially Pogba who contributes absolutely nothing 99% of the time, but hopefully in a year's time the deadwood will be gone and we'll have signed a few strong characters to add some much needed leadership which has been lacking for about ten years now.