19 May 2026 00:00:54
If we are going for a defender with a few miles on the clock, rather than Stones, a case can be made to bring in Triper, on a free, but still performing at the top level, ok, it's short term but at least he is a proper right back, and if pushed can play on the left side.
19 May 2026 07:44:23
Ah, a player who can play out of position. Moyes will love him.
19 May 2026 08:04:29
We sell our players in their prime and buy other teams' players from them when they're done!
This is everything wrong in our club. Lescott/Distin, Roony/Bent, Arteta/Lloyds Bank.
Then there's the problem of not sourcing understudies for the assets we do keep, Baines/Coleman left to get old with no one behind them. They get coaching jobs with nothing like their quality to coach.
We are a poorly run club and will never find success if we continue in this way.
I hope these new owners have better ideas than our rinse and repeat version of trying to be the football club we once were.
Stop buying old players for stop gaps until something comes along. This awful recruitment team need replacements of their own.
19 May 2026 14:52:05
All 3 players you mentioned wanted to go. Distan wasn't the worst defender we have brought in, tbh. Arteta left us no time to find a replacement on deadline day, knocking Arsenal back in the afternoon and then changing his mind in the last couple of hours. Cahill came in the same day Rooney left; he wasn't too shabby, was he?
19 May 2026 15:17:56
Yeah, fair point BP, but I'm still of the mind that we are run poorly and we will never progress until we start to admit how poor we actually are. Distan was in his 30s when we signed him, Cahill wasn't a striker, and we never signed a replacement for Arteta as there was no money to do so.
It was a January transfer window and we could have said no. Our full backs are shockingly bad, and we still can't fix it. Then we get the excuse we can't attract quality because we aren't in Europe. We are in a mess, recruitment wise. And have been for a long time now.
19 May 2026 17:51:25
Arteta screwed us over, mate, changing his mind so late in the window gave us no chance to replace him. Where that cash went is another matter! I think Distan wasn't too bad a signing, I've got no problem bringing in players who are over 30 if they have still got ability.
You're right on Cahill, mate, he may not have been a forward, but he weighed in with goals which softened the blow of losing Rooney, if only a tiny bit.
In all honesty, TA, I'd take a Marcus Bent every day of the week rather than the two forwards we have right now, mate.
We could say no, but keeping an unhappy player doesn't help any team's cause. If a player wants to leave, let them go for the best possible price. The recruitment team we have has a lot to answer for right now, they have a big summer ahead to rectify past mistakes imo. Fingers crossed they get it right next window.