Graham Potter

[stubbo]

https://www.whufc.com/news/graham-potte ... head-coach

​​​​​​In the past he's favoured a 3-4-3 formation...hard to see how we can do that currently with only 3 senior CBs, one of whom is injured. He's also played wingers (Solly March as an example) in the wing back roles.

Typically when a 3-4-3 gets announced on a match day the manager is immediately described as being too negative, too cautious etc. I guess it depends on the composition of the 4.

He's given young players chances...hopefully that continues at West Ham.

Welcome Graham.

 

[onsideman]

So many of us on here said that he had a huge job on his hands so I’m surprised that we have got rid of him after one transfer window and signs of progress.




 

What are these signs of progress you talk of?

 

Our defence was Areola/Fabianski in goal then Coufal on the right with Ben Johnson backup, Cresswell or Emerson on the left and Zouma with Aguerd central.

Now it’s Fabianski or Areola or Foderingham in goal with Wan-Bissaka on the right with Coufal backup, same people on the left but Kilman and Todibo in the middle.

We may look rubbish defensively but on paper, our defence is full of better players. Soler is better than Ward Prowse in my opinion but I accept we don’t all share that.

Rodrigues has been disappointing but most of us were happy to have signed an Argentinian international.

Up top we have added Fullkrug without losing either of the existing strikers and that was off the back of an impressive Euro campaign. I’m not blaming the manager for his injury whilst playing for Germany.

Summerville is better than Benrhama although trying to crowbar three left footed attacking wide players into the team meant that he either had to rotate too much or leave someone out - that’s the sort of luxury we have t had in a long time, like Duran on the bench at Villa, it’s good depth.

Then there are the attacking and possession stats - loads better than under Moyes. The Leicester game was a freak with how we didn’t win it and we are getting what we asked for there, or at least moving in the right direction.

The results have been underwhelming but a slight improvement on what Moyes did in his final season, which is why I use the word ‘progress’ and not ‘success’.

I didn’t want Lopetegui in the first place but having appointed him, we should have given him more than one window and half a season unless we were in tragic form or position, which were not. It’s not as good as we wanted but it’s early days.

If Potter brings us on then great but we definitely made some progress under Lopetegui compared to what we had before him and the massive job Moyes left him with.

I don't think you can measure 'progress' with squad changes. That's not really on the manager and it could be argued that his 'picks' have been more underwhelming than the others... and Summerville might be better than Benrahma but it's irrelevant because the manager barely played him.

The only true metric for progress (or otherwise) is the results... and we are way, way behind where we were last season after 20 games. It's incomparable... and even if you factor in the remaining 18 games last season when we fell away badly, we still averaged many more points per game over the season than we have until now. 

No signs of progress whatsoever. It's a myth

[Tomshardware]

Good appointment in my opinion, looking forward to the Villa game now.

[Gank]

Manuel, I’m in agreement with most of what Massive Attack says. Everyone knew that the job Lopetegui had on his hands was going to be a vast rebuilding job - he had to remove some dead wood, add to an old and small squad and improve attacking stats. 

So many of us on here said that he had a huge job on his hands so I’m surprised that we have got rid of him after one transfer window and signs of progress.

Having said that, I’m not against Potter being the manager and hope he does well. He was at the very bottom of my list of managers to replace Moyes, so I’m not overexcited by his appointment but Lopetegui wasn’t even on my list so I did rank Potter as a better fit 

 

Fair enough, Gank. Personally I thought he was a disaster and taking us nowhere. Brighton at home just the other week, they had lost 4 straight coming into the game but had most of the game and we were hanging on at the end for a point. That was 4 months into the season, so I fail to see where any progress was. Soton away boxing day, was fucking dreadful, hanging on at the death, Brentford just went there and won 0-5 for their first away win this season.

I agree it wasn’t great, I just wouldn’t go as far as ‘disaster’ in such a short time. If Potter does the business with roughly the same players then it might show Lopetegui for being weaker than I’m seeing him, and I’ll admit it if so.

[Gank]

So many of us on here said that he had a huge job on his hands so I’m surprised that we have got rid of him after one transfer window and signs of progress.



 

What are these signs of progress you talk of?

 

 

Our defence was Areola/Fabianski in goal then Coufal on the right with Ben Johnson backup, Cresswell or Emerson on the left and Zouma with Aguerd central.

Now it’s Fabianski or Areola or Foderingham in goal with Wan-Bissaka on the right with Coufal backup, same people on the left but Kilman and Todibo in the middle.

We may look rubbish defensively but on paper, our defence is full of better players. Soler is better than Ward Prowse in my opinion but I accept we don’t all share that.

Rodrigues has been disappointing but most of us were happy to have signed an Argentinian international.

Up top we have added Fullkrug without losing either of the existing strikers and that was off the back of an impressive Euro campaign. I’m not blaming the manager for his injury whilst playing for Germany.

Summerville is better than Benrhama although trying to crowbar three left footed attacking wide players into the team meant that he either had to rotate too much or leave someone out - that’s the sort of luxury we have t had in a long time, like Duran on the bench at Villa, it’s good depth.

Then there are the attacking and possession stats - loads better than under Moyes. The Leicester game was a freak with how we didn’t win it and we are getting what we asked for there, or at least moving in the right direction.

The results have been underwhelming but a slight improvement on what Moyes did in his final season, which is why I use the word ‘progress’ and not ‘success’.

I didn’t want Lopetegui in the first place but having appointed him, we should have given him more than one window and half a season unless we were in tragic form or position, which were not. It’s not as good as we wanted but it’s early days.

If Potter brings us on then great but we definitely made some progress under Lopetegui compared to what we had before him and the massive job Moyes left him with.

[claret on my shirt]

i think it's a very good appointment, he seems a likeable guy and i reckon the players will buy into the way he wants to play and his managment style, that has to be a good thing. I think given time we'll be passing the ball alot better and he'll some fo the kids will get a chance. For those that reckon he dodged the Steidten question, i don't think he did. I think he very clearly said that we need all the staff pulling together and that there were alot of other good people out that, now if you read between the lines thats a very nice way of saying, my way or the highway. The only thing that worries me is he seems a little to nice, but maybe thats him just playing nice for the media. Can he handle the big players who have an ego etc. So overall i think its a very good appointment

[southbankbornnbred]

But the big difference with Brighton and Caicedo, for example, is that when they bought him they immediately loaned him out to a top-tier Belgian side and he played first-team, top-tier games in a decent European league. He was ready when they signed him. Once he got back, he went straight into first-team football at Brighton.

"The future" is great - nothing against signing players for the future. But it's also conveniently ethereal for people who don't know what they're doing. It can be the "jam tomorrow" of the sporting world world. Savio Nsereko was "one for the future".

The questions for Steidten - who is paid a lot of money to do this - are "when in the future, what's his development path and show me how you/we are ensuring he gets there?"

I really hope you're right. Nothing against the kid at all - and let's all hope he goes on to be a star. I'd like nothing more than that. Maybe the club needs to loan him out in this window, so they can gauge where he's at in terms of (which level) first-team football. At the moment, it's all a big mystery.

 

[Massive Attack]

Brady's also been a big player in all this, in particular with Potter and sacking Lopetegui the way they did, so the witch is just as much under the spotlight as Steidten and Sullivan is over all this.

[claypole]

Hope Potter does well but have a feeling we could get full sabotage mode from Sullivan. I get the feeling Sullivan was pushed into the appointment so we could see him at his most petulant, also felt Potter sidestepped the Steiden question at the press conference so can maybe see trouble ahead with that.

[stubbo]

 

It's too easy to say that, though, Scorch. We spent first-team money - big money by our standards - on the kid and almost nobody has made an assessment of whether he will reach the required standard. By most accounts that are out there, he's not ready for the Premier League. He's barely kicked a ball for us, and nobody even knows if he's Championship standard just yet.

Sure, it might work - in which case, fair play to Steidten and the player (of course). But on who's advice have we spent the best part of £20m on an unknown teenager?

Personally, I think we could have done more with that money.

 

Is that really true though? There's plenty of rumours around that the initial fee to be shelled out is actually pretty low (5m odd) and the 20m is only relevant if he goes on to fulfill his potential. 

Hard to judge without truly knowing the breakdown of the deal from the inside.

 

Yep, I totally accept it's a hard one to judge, Stubbo, without knowing the precise fee structures. I suspect the initial fee was more than £5m, which seems low for a supposed hot talent coveted by others.

He might well go on to be a very fine player. I certainly hope he will be - and I've nothing against the kid.

But we have to ask ourselves...are we the sort of club, with the sort of resources, that can take £15m-£20m risks in the transfer market on unknown teens? Chelsea and others can, sure. But that's a big chunk of our spending in any transfer window (and, don't forget, it counts against PSR).

We landed AWB, an England international, for around £15m to £18m (depending on reports). And we needed backup and first-teamers in so many positions. But we spent good money on a big-risk kid instead.

Like I say, it's a fair question to ask Steidten what he's actually delivering. If the answer is merely 'promise' then there are some further questions to be asked? Promise doesn't win you Premier League games. We develop a lot of kids with 'promise' - and we've barely used them over the past few years.

I think part of the problem was they fully expected to get Duran over the line and believed they had it sewn up.  Villa needed to sell for PSR and Duran was a problem for them, and we'd agreed the fee with the player publically demonstrating he was up for it.

Then they suddenly shifted Luiz and Diaby, and Duran was no longer needing to be moved on, which pushed his price up, and cut our legs from under us.

Still a fuck up and on Steidten for focussing on the wrong deal (maybe he just likes being in Brazil) but I think not getting Duran totally blindsided us.

[Manuel]

One prediction I'll make with Potter, and I'm hardly sticking my neck out admittedly, but we won't see the tonkings at home that we've witnessed this season and towards the end with Moyes.

[El Scorchio]

The other thing Steidten needs to do is make sure he's overseeing a transfer programme in which we get value for money. Whoever made the call (and it was probably mostly Lopetegui, due to his Wolves connection), everybody at the club should be embarrassed by the £40m fee for Kilman and a (so far) astronomical fee for an absent Brazilian teenager who isn't ready for the first team.

You don't bring in a technical director with a lot of power over transfers simply to drive UP the price of bang average players.

Now that the manager's role is sorted (for a while at least) attention needs to turn to what Steidten actually brings to the table.

Wasn't the whole point of Guilherme that he's for the future and not now?

 

It's too easy to say that, though, Scorch. We spent first-team money - big money by our standards - on the kid and almost nobody has made an assessment of whether he will reach the required standard. By most accounts that are out there, he's not ready for the Premier League. He's barely kicked a ball for us, and nobody even knows if he's Championship standard just yet.

Sure, it might work - in which case, fair play to Steidten and the player (of course). But on who's advice have we spent the best part of £20m on an unknown teenager?

Personally, I think we could have done more with that money.

 

 

But in this case it isn't- they literally said he's for the future. If (and we always moan about not doing this) we actually want to get ahead of the game with young players and not just fork out huge wedge after someone else has developed them and reaped the real reward then this is what we have to do. Who would he even displce in the first team anyway? You need these players at the club and able to step in if for example Kudus moves on in summer or next year. See Brighton as example A. We've all been crying out for it and we can't really moan when we actually do it.
Granted there's risk with t and TS may well live or die with how the kid turns out but this signing isn't to be judged now- more in 3 years time. There's much more to grumble about with the Kilman and Fullkrug deals. That's just money down the toilet pure and simple whereas if this kid turns out to be what they think we will get handsomely rewarded with a player or a lot of money. Sure it was risk but you need to do that if you want to get in on the ground floor with players or we're stuck paying big bucks with no ROI as we've been doing in the past.

Yes we could have done more with the money in the immediate short term, but that's the way of thinking that's been strangling the club financially for years. that's Rodriguez, that's Kilman, that's fullkrug. That's all those players on big contracts you cannot shift who eat up squad places and budget.

We can't have our cake and eat it. I'm reserving judgement on this kid for a while and actually I'm delighted we've tried to use a bit of vision to get someone 'the move before their massive money move'. It might flop, but I sure hope it doesn't. But is it going to be worse value than a hatload of players we've signed in the last decade? Absolutely not.

[southbankbornnbred]

Somebody needs to tell Tim Steidten that we're not fucking interested in his Insta pics of him flying around in private jets to hob-nob with high-profile wankers who won't join us anyway.

I don't care if he ends up on the Number 25 bus to Romford, providing he lands the right players and staff with the right mentalities.

He needs to focus on outcomes, not his luxurious personal inputs.

 

 

 

 

Haha! Love it: that's what I'm talking about.

Ron did not need a private jet. Just a tube ticket and a blanket to cover the modesty...of him winning the cup!

[onsideman]

So many of us on here said that he had a huge job on his hands so I’m surprised that we have got rid of him after one transfer window and signs of progress.

 

What are these signs of progress you talk of?

[Manuel]

Manuel, I’m in agreement with most of what Massive Attack says. Everyone knew that the job Lopetegui had on his hands was going to be a vast rebuilding job - he had to remove some dead wood, add to an old and small squad and improve attacking stats. 

So many of us on here said that he had a huge job on his hands so I’m surprised that we have got rid of him after one transfer window and signs of progress.

Having said that, I’m not against Potter being the manager and hope he does well. He was at the very bottom of my list of managers to replace Moyes, so I’m not overexcited by his appointment but Lopetegui wasn’t even on my list so I did rank Potter as a better fit 

 

 

Fair enough, Gank. Personally I thought he was a disaster and taking us nowhere. Brighton at home just the other week, they had lost 4 straight coming into the game but had most of the game and we were hanging on at the end for a point. That was 4 months into the season, so I fail to see where any progress was. Soton away boxing day, was fucking dreadful, hanging on at the death, Brentford just went there and won 0-5 for their first away win this season.

[Massive Attack]

 

You genuinely believe Lope was sacked for losses to City and Liverpool?

I do agree that it was an expensive wasted exercise. But do you continue with an expensive wasted exercise that's not working? of course you don't. 

 

He was sacked off the back of it, which he was as those 2 losses were the closest we had when he got sacked after a 4 game unbeaten run. It's true it wasn't just for that as the Club didn't feel he did enough in changing everything over just half a season but it was off the back of those 2 fixtures. 

And yes I do believe we should have stuck with what Lopetegui was trying to do as it was always going to take a full season to manage it. Both Pochettino at Chelsea (ironically after Potter) and Iraola at Bournemouth proved successfully that it needs roughly that length of time to achieve it. And now look at both Clubs absolutely flying and in Chelseas case a distant memory to where Potter left them. My hope is he's learned his valuable lesson there and will now use that experience to his advantage for us. He sounds like he has but actions do speak louder than words and he can't just talk a good game, he'll now have to produce it. So we'll have to see and find out.. 

Agree with a lot of that. 

Also tend to feel Potter is a better fit for the club...rightly or wrongly English, articulate, a bit of a chip on his shoulder/point to prove etc, but also supposedly with a lot of self belief and a bit of ego.  Got a certain Pardew-esque aspect to him, and he was always well liked.

I also am hopeful that the stuff Lopetegui did won't be wasted, as Potter and Lopetegui share a lot of principles in terms of playing the game itself...so it shouldn't be a huge about turn as Lopetegui from Moyes would have been,

Time will tell, and who knows if the Club and it's 'higher ups' are a good fit for Potter...but there is hope amongst the fanbase at the borader level again.

 

 

 

 

Honestly though, my gut feeling is this will likely turn ugly and think we may be dragged in to a relegation battle. The Chelsea gig raised alarm bells for me watching him struggle under the intense pressure and questioned whether our Clubs level of expectancy will be too much for him to cope with. I appreciate others believe it'll be the polar opposite to that and hopefully they're right and we can actually do well come the end of the season pushing for a top half finish whilst playing some decent Football. He's got 6,000+ passionate away support for his 1st game in a proper FA Cup tie under the lights, so what better time than to get your 1st win under your belt and build some much needed momentum going forward. 

[oioi]

Somebody needs to tell Tim Steidten that we're not fucking interested in his Insta pics of him flying around in private jets to hob-nob with high-profile wankers who won't join us anyway.

I don't care if he ends up on the Number 25 bus to Romford, providing he lands the right players and staff with the right mentalities.

He needs to focus on outcomes, not his luxurious personal inputs.

 

 

 

[Gank]

Manuel, I’m in agreement with most of what Massive Attack says. Everyone knew that the job Lopetegui had on his hands was going to be a vast rebuilding job - he had to remove some dead wood, add to an old and small squad and improve attacking stats. 

So many of us on here said that he had a huge job on his hands so I’m surprised that we have got rid of him after one transfer window and signs of progress.

Having said that, I’m not against Potter being the manager and hope he does well. He was at the very bottom of my list of managers to replace Moyes, so I’m not overexcited by his appointment but Lopetegui wasn’t even on my list so I did rank Potter as a better fit 

[Lee Trundle]

"Iraola at Bournemouth"

Hahahaha 

[Manuel]

 

100% kept on to finish the season before taking stock and have said so in the past. Unlike others I was never impatient to chuck the baby out with the bath water because we lost to Liverpool and Man City having suffered injuries to key players, whilst trying to change an entire philosophy around how we used to play. 

As for Potter, I've said it how it is with him and stand by it. Doesn't mean he won't get backing just I don't think he's a decent manager at this level having seen how he operated before. If others are more excited by his playing style and results then good for them but I haven't liked much of what I've seen of his Teams so far. 

I just feel this will be a very expensive wasted exercise and we'll be back to square one again soon, but this time when we go talking to decent managers, they'll think twice about joining after seeing how badly it all played out publicly through the media recently. 

 

You genuinely believe Lope was sacked for losses to City and Liverpool?

I do agree that it was an expensive wasted exercise. But do you continue with an expensive wasted exercise that's not working? of course you don't. 

 

He was sacked off the back of it, which he was as those 2 losses were the closest we had when he got sacked after a 4 game unbeaten run. It's true it wasn't just for that as the Club didn't feel he did enough in changing everything over just half a season but it was off the back of those 2 fixtures. 

And yes I do believe we should have stuck with what Lopetegui was trying to do as it was always going to take a full season to manage it. Both Pochettino at Chelsea (ironically after Potter) and Iraola at Bournemouth proved successfully that it needs roughly that length of time to achieve it. And now look at both Clubs absolutely flying and in Chelseas case a distant memory to where Potter left them. My hope is he's learned his valuable lesson there and will now use that experience to his advantage for us. He sounds like he has but actions do speak louder than words and he can't just talk a good game, he'll now have to produce it. So we'll have to see and find out.. 

The fact that you are literally the only poster still here backing Loppy can only mean one of two things, that you're a footballing genius that can see something the rest of us can't, or you're a bit of a twat. Just saying.

[southbankbornnbred]

Wasn't the whole point of Guilherme that he's for the future and not now?

 

It's too easy to say that, though, Scorch. We spent first-team money - big money by our standards - on the kid and almost nobody has made an assessment of whether he will reach the required standard. By most accounts that are out there, he's not ready for the Premier League. He's barely kicked a ball for us, and nobody even knows if he's Championship standard just yet.

Sure, it might work - in which case, fair play to Steidten and the player (of course). But on who's advice have we spent the best part of £20m on an unknown teenager?

Personally, I think we could have done more with that money.

 

Is that really true though? There's plenty of rumours around that the initial fee to be shelled out is actually pretty low (5m odd) and the 20m is only relevant if he goes on to fulfill his potential. 

Hard to judge without truly knowing the breakdown of the deal from the inside.

 

 

Yep, I totally accept it's a hard one to judge, Stubbo, without knowing the precise fee structures. I suspect the initial fee was more than £5m, which seems low for a supposed hot talent coveted by others.

He might well go on to be a very fine player. I certainly hope he will be - and I've nothing against the kid.

But we have to ask ourselves...are we the sort of club, with the sort of resources, that can take £15m-£20m risks in the transfer market on unknown teens? Chelsea and others can, sure. But that's a big chunk of our spending in any transfer window (and, don't forget, it counts against PSR).

We landed AWB, an England international, for around £15m to £18m (depending on reports). And we needed backup and first-teamers in so many positions. But we spent good money on a big-risk kid instead.

Like I say, it's a fair question to ask Steidten what he's actually delivering. If the answer is merely 'promise' then there are some further questions to be asked? Promise doesn't win you Premier League games. We develop a lot of kids with 'promise' - and we've barely used them over the past few years.

[stubbo]

 

100% kept on to finish the season before taking stock and have said so in the past. Unlike others I was never impatient to chuck the baby out with the bath water because we lost to Liverpool and Man City having suffered injuries to key players, whilst trying to change an entire philosophy around how we used to play. 

As for Potter, I've said it how it is with him and stand by it. Doesn't mean he won't get backing just I don't think he's a decent manager at this level having seen how he operated before. If others are more excited by his playing style and results then good for them but I haven't liked much of what I've seen of his Teams so far. 

I just feel this will be a very expensive wasted exercise and we'll be back to square one again soon, but this time when we go talking to decent managers, they'll think twice about joining after seeing how badly it all played out publicly through the media recently. 

 

You genuinely believe Lope was sacked for losses to City and Liverpool?

I do agree that it was an expensive wasted exercise. But do you continue with an expensive wasted exercise that's not working? of course you don't. 

 

He was sacked off the back of it, which he was as those 2 losses were the closest we had when he got sacked after a 4 game unbeaten run. It's true it wasn't just for that as the Club didn't feel he did enough in changing everything over just half a season but it was off the back of those 2 fixtures. 

And yes I do believe we should have stuck with what Lopetegui was trying to do as it was always going to take a full season to manage it. Both Pochettino at Chelsea (ironically after Potter) and Iraola at Bournemouth proved successfully that it needs roughly that length of time to achieve it. And now look at both Clubs absolutely flying and in Chelseas case a distant memory to where Potter left them. My hope is he's learned his valuable lesson there and will now use that experience to his advantage for us. He sounds like he has but actions do speak louder than words and he can't just talk a good game, he'll now have to produce it. So we'll have to see and find out.. 

Agree with a lot of that. 

Also tend to feel Potter is a better fit for the club...rightly or wrongly English, articulate, a bit of a chip on his shoulder/point to prove etc, but also supposedly with a lot of self belief and a bit of ego.  Got a certain Pardew-esque aspect to him, and he was always well liked.

I also am hopeful that the stuff Lopetegui did won't be wasted, as Potter and Lopetegui share a lot of principles in terms of playing the game itself...so it shouldn't be a huge about turn as Lopetegui from Moyes would have been,

Time will tell, and who knows if the Club and it's 'higher ups' are a good fit for Potter...but there is hope amongst the fanbase at the borader level again.

[Massive Attack]

 

All due respect mate. I am struggling to see what your argument is and why you won't let it go. Let's boil it down. Are you saying that after the least six months you think Lope should have been kept on? If your answer is no then what's your point.?

 

100% kept on to finish the season before taking stock and have said so in the past. Unlike others I was never impatient to chuck the baby out with the bath water because we lost to Liverpool and Man City having suffered injuries to key players, whilst trying to change an entire philosophy around how we used to play. 

As for Potter, I've said it how it is with him and stand by it. Doesn't mean he won't get backing just I don't think he's a decent manager at this level having seen how he operated before. If others are more excited by his playing style and results then good for them but I haven't liked much of what I've seen of his Teams so far. 

I just feel this will be a very expensive wasted exercise and we'll be back to square one again soon, but this time when we go talking to decent managers, they'll think twice about joining after seeing how badly it all played out publicly through the media recently. 

 

You genuinely believe Lope was sacked for losses to City and Liverpool?

I do agree that it was an expensive wasted exercise. But do you continue with an expensive wasted exercise that's not working? of course you don't. 

 

 

He was sacked off the back of it, which he was as those 2 losses were the closest we had when he got sacked after a 4 game unbeaten run. It's true it wasn't just for that as the Club didn't feel he did enough in changing everything over just half a season but it was off the back of those 2 fixtures. 

And yes I do believe we should have stuck with what Lopetegui was trying to do as it was always going to take a full season to manage it. Both Pochettino at Chelsea (ironically after Potter) and Iraola at Bournemouth proved successfully that it needs roughly that length of time to achieve it. And now look at both Clubs absolutely flying and in Chelseas case a distant memory to where Potter left them. My hope is he's learned his valuable lesson there and will now use that experience to his advantage for us. He sounds like he has but actions do speak louder than words and he can't just talk a good game, he'll now have to produce it. So we'll have to see and find out.. 

[Jaan Kenbrovin]

Quite impressed by his press conference. Spoke about the very key issue I think Lopetegui failed on first and foremost, which was develop an identity on the pitch the players and fans are both on board and excited by.

Even under Moyes in his worst times the club had a character about them you at least felt they were pulling in the same direction and trust they could get right.

Felt like Lopetegui was just an outsider and he and the players never managed to really gell together. There was very little excitement in our players as a unit and that lack of belief showed in performances, as well as results, that saw us not achieve back to back league wins.

[stubbo-admin]

The other thing Steidten needs to do is make sure he's overseeing a transfer programme in which we get value for money. Whoever made the call (and it was probably mostly Lopetegui, due to his Wolves connection), everybody at the club should be embarrassed by the £40m fee for Kilman and a (so far) astronomical fee for an absent Brazilian teenager who isn't ready for the first team.

You don't bring in a technical director with a lot of power over transfers simply to drive UP the price of bang average players.

Now that the manager's role is sorted (for a while at least) attention needs to turn to what Steidten actually brings to the table.

Wasn't the whole point of Guilherme that he's for the future and not now?

 

It's too easy to say that, though, Scorch. We spent first-team money - big money by our standards - on the kid and almost nobody has made an assessment of whether he will reach the required standard. By most accounts that are out there, he's not ready for the Premier League. He's barely kicked a ball for us, and nobody even knows if he's Championship standard just yet.

Sure, it might work - in which case, fair play to Steidten and the player (of course). But on who's advice have we spent the best part of £20m on an unknown teenager?

Personally, I think we could have done more with that money.

 

 

Is that really true though? There's plenty of rumours around that the initial fee to be shelled out is actually pretty low (5m odd) and the 20m is only relevant if he goes on to fulfill his potential. 

Hard to judge without truly knowing the breakdown of the deal from the inside.

[Jean-Luc Paul Goddard]

But on who's advice have we spent the best part of £20m on an unknown teenager?
 

Well, this is the question, isn't it? Probably part of his remit was to start bringing in young players who we might make a big transfer profit on in years to come, like Brighton did with Caicedo, another unknown teenager who cost £20m+.