2019-20 Transfer News and Squad Discussions

[Nic]

Its not enough by a long way , sold over £20million in players and bought a lad from Carlisle and got more players in on Loan..
That is not commitment at all..

Three letters ... FFP

Tell you what, blow the whole lot on a couple of big high wage signings, finish top but get penalised by the football league and docked a huge amount of points to prevent promotion (they are making rumblings about clubs circumventing FFP, so if we slip we'll be the club to be made an example of), the big players want out because we didn't go up and the club is hampered next year and staring at fighting relegation the year after. Careful what you wish for.

Okay selling Jansson is a blow, but otherwise been fairly happy with what's gone on with the transfers. We are a selling club at moment, no getting away from it, so the clarke deal is good looking in the context of things. Bielsa is known for freezing players out who don't fit in with the system, Jansson was in the team of the year but by all counts was disruptive in the dressing room by all counts (from comments by former managers PH & TC), so getting rid could well be good for moral. We also don't want to replace one disruptive element with another, a player on loan from a PL club who gets loaned out to championship clubs but believes they are a PL player even though they don't get game time there.

[EastYorkie]

Its not enough by a long way , sold over £20million in players and bought a lad from Carlisle and got more players in on Loan..
That is not commitment at all..

Daz, unless you know the financial position of the club (which I don't) its very hard to make such a sweeping statement.

The last published accounts showed LUFC losing £4.3m. The last accounting period ended on the 30th June 2019 and it has been reported that losses have increased substantially. I believe the sales of Clarke, Jannson and others will go into this years accounts and will obviously be part of the financial forecast going forward. I understand that the loan and also commitment to buy Costa will go into this years accounts - the deal to buy Costa has been reported at £15m which basically uses up all the money from the Clarke and Jannson deals.

As Nic has said this is all to do with FFP, which says the club can lose upto £13m a year on a rolling basis. This is calculated some time in March next year I believe and will consist of the £4.3m loss we know about, whatever the loss is for last year and then the forecast for this current financial year. I can only assume this year we will make a further loss.

Whilst I'm pretty sure we won't be in breach of FFP regulations, its pretty obvious that LUFC is losing many millions each year as it is before you even start trying to buy additional high value players. Most of the players we have are pretty low value and are therefore not costing the club much but when you get into the realms of buying the Bamfords and then the Costas of this world you can only do so in a considered manner.

If the club is being run sensibly then you would want some wriggle room between what you know you are losing and the £13m a year average loss you are allowed to make, just in case they decide they want to buy that extra player or two in January. We simply do not know what the overrall financial picture is nor what the plans may be for the coming year.

If I was Radz I would be kicking myself for not getting Dan James on board last January - he might have got us promotion. Again perhaps a lesson learned and perhaps if they are in a similar position this January then they will get this kind of deal over the line.

So I think Radz is showing commitment but perhaps he needs the wriggle room rather than being 'all in' on one hand of Championship poker is the way I would look at it.

[TezzaWazzaBazza]

Its not enough by a long way , sold over £20million in players and bought a lad from Carlisle and got more players in on Loan..
That is not commitment at all..

Daz, unless you know the financial position of the club (which I don't) its very hard to make such a sweeping statement.

The last published accounts showed LUFC losing £4.3m. The last accounting period ended on the 30th June 2019 and it has been reported that losses have increased substantially. I believe the sales of Clarke, Jannson and others will go into this years accounts and will obviously be part of the financial forecast going forward. I understand that the loan and also commitment to buy Costa will go into this years accounts - the deal to buy Costa has been reported at £15m which basically uses up all the money from the Clarke and Jannson deals.

As Nic has said this is all to do with FFP, which says the club can lose upto £13m a year on a rolling basis. This is calculated some time in March next year I believe and will consist of the £4.3m loss we know about, whatever the loss is for last year and then the forecast for this current financial year. I can only assume this year we will make a further loss.

Whilst I'm pretty sure we won't be in breach of FFP regulations, its pretty obvious that LUFC is losing many millions each year as it is before you even start trying to buy additional high value players. Most of the players we have are pretty low value and are therefore not costing the club much but when you get into the realms of buying the Bamfords and then the Costas of this world you can only do so in a considered manner.

If the club is being run sensibly then you would want some wriggle room between what you know you are losing and the £13m a year average loss you are allowed to make, just in case they decide they want to buy that extra player or two in January. We simply do not know what the overrall financial picture is nor what the plans may be for the coming year.

If I was Radz I would be kicking myself for not getting Dan James on board last January - he might have got us promotion. Again perhaps a lesson learned and perhaps if they are in a similar position this January then they will get this kind of deal over the line.

So I think Radz is showing commitment but perhaps he needs the wriggle room rather than being 'all in' on one hand of Championship poker is the way I would look at it.

There's the financial position, which none of us know, and there's the footballing position, and I have to agree that we've not strengthened enough. Maybe enough young players will show themselves to be ready to be key to a promotion chasing team, but it's hardly ideal.

[PhoenixUnited]

Personally, I am not giving promotion or any ideas like that a second thought. We are essentially treading water and hoping that something will somehow happen.

The financial side of our club has been unsteady even before the Ridsdale era and it is not going to change any time soon. At the moment it is, believe it or not, probably better than it has been for ages but I really see no point in expecting us to go in for players that will cost multi-millions and then stump up tens of thousands per week in wages. We simply cannot afford it and I can't see any point in getting upset about it all.

On the playing side we are very short at the back, really not that beefy in the middle and more than a bit blunt up front. However, if we get another season where we are in the leading pack come April / May next year it will be about all that I can hope for.

We are still, by far, the best team in the land! WAL!

[isrodger]

Its not enough by a long way , sold over £20million in players and bought a lad from Carlisle and got more players in on Loan..
That is not commitment at all..

Three letters ... FFP

Tell you what, blow the whole lot on a couple of big high wage signings, finish top but get penalised by the football league and docked a huge amount of points to prevent promotion (they are making rumblings about clubs circumventing FFP, so if we slip we'll be the club to be made an example of), the big players want out because we didn't go up and the club is hampered next year and staring at fighting relegation the year after. Careful what you wish for.

Okay selling Jansson is a blow, but otherwise been fairly happy with what's gone on with the transfers. We are a selling club at moment, no getting away from it, so the clarke deal is good looking in the context of things. Bielsa is known for freezing players out who don't fit in with the system, Jansson was in the team of the year but by all counts was disruptive in the dressing room by all counts (from comments by former managers PH & TC), so getting rid could well be good for moral. We also don't want to replace one disruptive element with another, a player on loan from a PL club who gets loaned out to championship clubs but believes they are a PL player even though they don't get game time there.

If we are in danger of being anywhere close to breaching FFP given the increase in revenue last season then the clubs being seriously financially mismanaged or Radz is taking more out in expenses than even Bates would dream to snaffle!

[isrodger]

Personally, I am not giving promotion or any ideas like that a second thought. We are essentially treading water and hoping that something will somehow happen.

The financial side of our club has been unsteady even before the Ridsdale era and it is not going to change any time soon. At the moment it is, believe it or not, probably better than it has been for ages but I really see no point in expecting us to go in for players that will cost multi-millions and then stump up tens of thousands per week in wages. We simply cannot afford it and I can't see any point in getting upset about it all.

On the playing side we are very short at the back, really not that beefy in the middle and more than a bit blunt up front. However, if we get another season where we are in the leading pack come April / May next year it will be about all that I can hope for.

We are still, by far, the best team in the land! WAL!

Having been fortunate enough to have seen us in action pre season in Australia the most frustrating thing is we still haven’t addressed the glaringly obvious issues we needed to address last summer. We still need a commanding Bartley esq centre back to play alongside Jansson and we need a goal scoring centre forward. Sadly we now also now need to replace Jansson... much as I love berardi, he’s no centre back.

Bielsa has delivered fantastic playing style, but we are far too elaborate and we sadly lack physicality, and a cutting edge. I honestly think we will concede 15 plus goals from corners and fail to score one this season.

A positive note from saturday night was Bogusz and Stevens, who look like they may emerge this season...... probably just in time for Radz to cash in next summer. Bogusz is an interesting #10 quite tall and languid, whilst Steven looks strong and direct, a nice alternative to Clarke.

As an aside, I bumped into the players & Bielsa around circle quay sunday evening ... both Phillips and Roofe haven’t a Scooby wether they are staying or not!

[Leonickroberts]

As an aside, I bumped into the players & Bielsa around circle quay sunday evening ... both Phillips and Roofe haven’t a Scooby wether they are staying or not!

Can you expand on this ISR? What did you ask them and what were their responses?

[isrodger]

As an aside, I bumped into the players & Bielsa around circle quay sunday evening ... both Phillips and Roofe haven’t a Scooby wether they are staying or not!

Can you expand on this ISR? What did you ask them and what were their responses?

All the players were round the harbour.... a bit tired and not as jovial as sometimes you see the groups of footballers. A number of groups:- Pablo, Kiko and berardi; Phillips, Roofe & Bamford; a younger group and the Bielsa and 2 coach’s. Apart from the kids all were polite enough to afford my little lad photos.

As regards Philips and Roofe. I said specifically to Phillips “give us one season son”, you’ll be a hero if we get promoted and the club moves on. Players in circumstances like this are often a little reserved (I could be a drunk who reacts bad to a wrong comment) bottom line is he said he had no assurances he was staying, and ultimately things could be taken out of his hands. My little lad used to play with his cousin so convo moved on.

I then had a bit of banter with Bamford saying “you just need one to go in off your arse, then they will all come” Or words to that effect. Roofe pissed himself then it’s blab blah blah about him hitting the woodwork. Him and Bamford seemed to have a good rapport (which is slightly telling as they compete for the same position) and whilst Roofe was on a bar stool at a poser table I didn’t see a leg brace. Asked Roofe if he was staying he said he didn’t know.... it was out of his hands.

Spoke to them about bielsa etc.., Philips just said well “he’s been good for me” ... little else.

Finally on way back saw bielsa and asked for a photo... observation polite & humble etc but didn’t speak a word of English. Couldn’t resist told his coaches “we need a big centre half”

Despite rumours to the contrary, it’s also clear the players liked Pontus & he wasn’t a bad apple ..a bit arrogant possibly, however ultimately the decision to get rid was Bielsas

Great turnout for both (games 4000 plus from the UK I would estimate with a similar number from Aussie. Would hope a similar tour is arranged next season, however I understand we had greater connections down under when this tour was arranged.

[ilkley62]

Thanks for the post ISR

[blackbox2342]

Leeds United are reportedly interested in a move for Burnley centre-back Ben Gibson.

Leeds sold central defender Pontus Jansson to Brentford earlier this month but no replacement has yet arrived at Elland Road.

It appears that could be about to change as, according to The Northern Echo, Leeds are one of a number of sides interested in signing Gibson.

The report suggests that Burnley are open to letting the 26-year-old leave this summer after just one season at the club.