17 - Alex Iwobi - the pass before the assist

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

callmebubbles wrote:So are we going to block Doucoures transfer now? Otherwise its just Davies or McNeil who are both even shittier than the Duke?

Depends how desperate we are for the money I suppose.

Just remembered he's out of contract in the summer, so we'd only get pennies anyway.

Transfer window closes on the 31st. We could keep Duke for the next two games as cover and then look to ship him on later in the window, on the assumption that Iwobi will then be back.

He'll be off then

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

callmebubbles wrote:So are we going to block Doucoures transfer now? Otherwise its just Davies or McNeil who are both even shittier than the Duke?

Depends how desperate we are for the money I suppose.

Just remembered he's out of contract in the summer, so we'd only get pennies anyway.

Transfer window closes on the 31st. We could keep Duke for the next two games as cover and then look to ship him on later in the window, on the assumption that Iwobi will then be back.

we could play 2 in the middle (Onana & Gueye) with the 3CB's (Tark, Coady, Ben) + Wing backs (Seamus & Myko)... Gordon & Gray out wide & DCL up front.

Tom as cover for CM ... bare bones in midfield but could work while Iwobi & Garner regain a level of readiness ??

...or Holgate in DM ????? .. he's not brilliant but he's done ok for us in there

Made 4 Gwladys wrote:

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

callmebubbles wrote:So are we going to block Doucoures transfer now? Otherwise its just Davies or McNeil who are both even shittier than the Duke?

Depends how desperate we are for the money I suppose.

Just remembered he's out of contract in the summer, so we'd only get pennies anyway.

Transfer window closes on the 31st. We could keep Duke for the next two games as cover and then look to ship him on later in the window, on the assumption that Iwobi will then be back.

we could play 2 in the middle (Onana & Gueye) with the 3CB's (Tark, Coady, Ben) + Wing backs (Seamus & Myko)... Gordon & Gray out wide & DCL up front.

Tom as cover for CM ... bare bones in midfield but could work while Iwobi & Garner regain a level of readiness ??

...or Holgate in DM ????? .. he's not brilliant but he's done ok for us in there

I agree, this is the way I'd go, personally. But I'd still want to keep Doucoure as cover for these next two games. The idea of Davies in a central midfield two is pretty horrible.

Or Gordon more centrally as the more attacking part of a 3-man midfield? I don't think he has been particularly effective out wide this season in the games he has played.

Armchair wrote:Or Gordon more centrally as the more attacking part of a 3-man midfield? I don't think he has been particularly effective out wide this season in the games he has played.

hmm .. yes I considered this kind of formation on a different thread... but the 5 in the back with advanced wingbacks... 3 in mid with Gueye as DM and Onana (+maybe Gordon in there as an AM or Gray) and 2 up front DCL + Gordon / Gray as shadow striker...or Maupeydick, Simms or Cannon ??

From a business point of view, this might make some sense - to get money for him now given that he's out of contract next summer and is apparently stalling over a new deal.

From a timing point of view, it's awful, unless they know they can get a replacement in by Friday. I like Iwobi, for the record, and would prefer that we kept him.

I'd keep him, but only if he signs a new contract and he's been stalling for a while by the sounds of it.

Armchair wrote:I'd keep him, but only if he signs a new contract and he's been stalling for a while by the sounds of it.

El Bobble, the Everton news Twitter guru, has tweeted today that Iwobi has told the club he won't sign a new deal and wants to move on. I expect this to happen this week.

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Armchair wrote:I'd keep him, but only if he signs a new contract and he's been stalling for a while by the sounds of it.

El Bobble, the Everton news Twitter guru, has tweeted today that Iwobi has told the club he won't sign a new deal and wants to move on. I expect this to happen this week.

Oh well, toodle-oo then. Bags of potential, but not enough end product.

Armchair wrote:

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Armchair wrote:I'd keep him, but only if he signs a new contract and he's been stalling for a while by the sounds of it.

El Bobble, the Everton news Twitter guru, has tweeted today that Iwobi has told the club he won't sign a new deal and wants to move on. I expect this to happen this week.

Oh well, toodle-oo then. Bags of potential, but not enough end product.

Works his nuts off, is brave on the ball even when he's playing badly, and offered us at least some creativity when we had precious little of it from other sources.

But yeah, the end product wasn't there often enough. I think he might soon be seen as surplus to requirements by Dyche anyway. Dyche doesn't want a playmaker type of no. 10, he wants a second striker. And out wide, he wants proper wingers who can cross a ball, not wannabe no. 10s forced to play out wide who, in Iwobi's case, aren't actually that great at crossing the ball.

I've always liked him, I've always been higher on Iwobi than a lot of Blues, and I think he'll have benefitted from having better players around him. But then you can say that about any player I suppose. I do wonder, if somehow we were to turn a corner in the next couple of years and achieve our goal of boring mediocrity, whether we'll look back and view him as the personification of our dark relegation battle days. That would be unfair on him (that role should fall to Keane, really) at least until whoever we replace him with is banging in goals and creating loads of assists while also working as hard as Iwobi did.

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Armchair wrote:

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Armchair wrote:I'd keep him, but only if he signs a new contract and he's been stalling for a while by the sounds of it.

El Bobble, the Everton news Twitter guru, has tweeted today that Iwobi has told the club he won't sign a new deal and wants to move on. I expect this to happen this week.

Oh well, toodle-oo then. Bags of potential, but not enough end product.

Works his nuts off, is brave on the ball even when he's playing badly, and offered us at least some creativity when we had precious little of it from other sources.

But yeah, the end product wasn't there often enough. I think he might soon be seen as surplus to requirements by Dyche anyway. Dyche doesn't want a playmaker type of no. 10, he wants a second striker. And out wide, he wants proper wingers who can cross a ball, not wannabe no. 10s forced to play out wide who, in Iwobi's case, aren't actually that great at crossing the ball.

I've always liked him, I've always been higher on Iwobi than a lot of Blues, and I think he'll have benefitted from having better players around him. But then you can say that about any player I suppose. I do wonder, if somehow we were to turn a corner in the next couple of years and achieve our goal of boring mediocrity, whether we'll look back and view him as the personification of our dark relegation battle days. That would be unfair on him (that role should fall to Keane, really) at least until whoever we replace him with is banging in goals and creating loads of assists while also working as hard as Iwobi did.

In the presser today, Dyche seemed in imply that Iwobi would go if the right offer came in.  And he was pretty honest about the reasons, agreeing that having a player in the last year of his contract made him an asset a club would look to offload these days.  He directly referred to the business side of football, which is refreshing to hear.

Also, this is a rebuild.  I doubt if there are many players Dyche or Thelwell would see as indispensable.   If we can get a couple more in, and Iwobi and Gray leave, I'd be okay with the business.  I mean, Chermiti is a head-scratcher - I didn't see the first half last night, but by all accounts he was eye-wateringly bad, and we already have a couple of non-oven ready youngsters in Dobbin and Cannon, but I'm guessing the club hopes he'll have added value in a couple of years time.  I'd sell Cannon and keep Maupay if the money is right.

So... if we can buy or loan Elvedi to play central defence or at left back, and pick up one more wide attacker or creative midfielder, I'd be comfortable with selling Iwobi and Gray.  The squad, in my opinion, would look slightly better than last season (once McNeil, Coleman, Harrison and DCL are fit), and if Beto is as good as he looked against poor old Donny, then a lot better up front.  I might even stick twenty pence on us staying up.

hairy cataract wrote:

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Armchair wrote:

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Armchair wrote:I'd keep him, but only if he signs a new contract and he's been stalling for a while by the sounds of it.

El Bobble, the Everton news Twitter guru, has tweeted today that Iwobi has told the club he won't sign a new deal and wants to move on. I expect this to happen this week.

Oh well, toodle-oo then. Bags of potential, but not enough end product.

Works his nuts off, is brave on the ball even when he's playing badly, and offered us at least some creativity when we had precious little of it from other sources.

But yeah, the end product wasn't there often enough. I think he might soon be seen as surplus to requirements by Dyche anyway. Dyche doesn't want a playmaker type of no. 10, he wants a second striker. And out wide, he wants proper wingers who can cross a ball, not wannabe no. 10s forced to play out wide who, in Iwobi's case, aren't actually that great at crossing the ball.

I've always liked him, I've always been higher on Iwobi than a lot of Blues, and I think he'll have benefitted from having better players around him. But then you can say that about any player I suppose. I do wonder, if somehow we were to turn a corner in the next couple of years and achieve our goal of boring mediocrity, whether we'll look back and view him as the personification of our dark relegation battle days. That would be unfair on him (that role should fall to Keane, really) at least until whoever we replace him with is banging in goals and creating loads of assists while also working as hard as Iwobi did.

In the presser today, Dyche seemed in imply that Iwobi would go if the right offer came in.  And he was pretty honest about the reasons, agreeing that having a player in the last year of his contract made him an asset a club would look to offload these days.  He directly referred to the business side of football, which is refreshing to hear.

Also, this is a rebuild.  I doubt if there are many players Dyche or Thelwell would see as indispensable.   If we can get a couple more in, and Iwobi and Gray leave, I'd be okay with the business.  I mean, Chermiti is a head-scratcher - I didn't see the first half last night, but by all accounts he was eye-wateringly bad, and we already have a couple of non-oven ready youngsters in Dobbin and Cannon, but I'm guessing the club hopes he'll have added value in a couple of years time.  I'd sell Cannon and keep Maupay if the money is right.

So... if we can buy or loan Elvedi to play central defence or at left back, and pick up one more wide attacker or creative midfielder, I'd be comfortable with selling Iwobi and Gray.  The squad, in my opinion, would look slightly better than last season (once McNeil, Coleman, Harrison and DCL are fit), and if Beto is as good as he looked against poor old Donny, then a lot better up front.  I might even stick twenty pence on us staying up.

It is a big day. The feeling I get is that the grown-ups are currently in charge (well, Thelwell) and that if we can't get anything over the line today, it won't be for want of trying. It feels like Thelwell has done as good a job as we could expect given the financial circumstances.

I'm of the same opinion. A versatile CB is a must, and then a forward to replace Iwobi, assuming Iwobi goes today. In a way they've already replaced Gray with Harrison.

A word on Chermiti - he didn't look great, but there are circumstances to be factored in. His only service was long punts from defenders for 45 minutes, because we didn't even try to play any football in the first half. He made his first start during what was the most inept half of football I've seen us play for some time. He was obviously keen to please and so tried too hard sometimes when in possession. It was a hospital pass of a first start he was given. He's a project, admittedly a weird project for us in a summer when money was obviously tight, but there is definitely some ability to work with. Just don't expect much from him this season. If he were to come on as sub a couple of times and knock in a couple of tap-ins, that would be lovely. I don't expect much more than that this season.

Anyone judging Chermiti on 45 minutes in a disjointed side in the league cup needs booting up the arse for a solid month. Our fans are some of the worst for this. It’s exacerbated by our situation but still, most of our best players were written off at some point by large parts of our fanbase.

Iwobi definitely going, confirmed. £22m plus add-ons, apparently. Decent business for us, that. I was expecting us to get knocked down to about £15m

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:Iwobi definitely going, confirmed. £22m plus add-ons, apparently. Decent business for us, that. I was expecting us to get knocked down to about £15m

Agreed, that's a good deal for us.

Armchair wrote:

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:Iwobi definitely going, confirmed. £22m plus add-ons, apparently. Decent business for us, that. I was expecting us to get knocked down to about £15m

Agreed, that's a good deal for us.

It actually might be £22m including add-ons. Different stories from different sources. Still a decent deal, and it's an outstanding deal if this makes Gnonto possible today.

Selling academy players for hard cash, signing big strong centre forwards who know where the goal is, getting over £20m for Iwobi in his last year of contract, fuck me, has someone kidnapped Bullshit Bill and hidden him in a cellar while the big boys get on with business?

hairy cataract wrote:Selling academy players for hard cash, signing big strong centre forwards who know where the goal is, getting over £20m for Iwobi in his last year of contract, fuck me, has someone kidnapped Bullshit Bill and hidden him in a cellar while the big boys get on with business?

We have one regular transfer deadline day hurdle yet to negotiate - the old "we tried our best to get a couple of deals over the line but we just couldn't get them done" thing. We absolutely need an Iwobi replacement and, although it's worryingly silent on the CB front, we still need a CB.

My eldest, who is usually more of an optimist than me, swears blind that we're talking shite about a new CB because we can't change the fact that Dyche still rates Keane, despite the plentiful evidence that he's shite.

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

hairy cataract wrote:Selling academy players for hard cash, signing big strong centre forwards who know where the goal is, getting over £20m for Iwobi in his last year of contract, fuck me, has someone kidnapped Bullshit Bill and hidden him in a cellar while the big boys get on with business?

We have one regular transfer deadline day hurdle yet to negotiate - the old "we tried our best to get a couple of deals over the line but we just couldn't get them done" thing. We absolutely need an Iwobi replacement and, although it's worryingly silent on the CB front, we still need a CB.

My eldest, who is usually more of an optimist than me, swears blind that we're talking shite about a new CB because we can't change the fact that Dyche still rates Keane, despite the plentiful evidence that he's shite.

We really could do with a CB.

I doubt we'll replace Iwobi, but can't argue with the deal. I like him, but it's a good deal considering our situation.

My lingering hop is that Dele Alli reemerges as a top player again. We maybe can't afford to pay the next installment. He's maybe not a Dyche type player for a Dyche system. I'm maybe clutching at straws, but fuck, we need some faint sign of hope to at least get through to Christmas deluding ourselves.

Palhinha move from Fulham to Bayern is off, so does that mean we don't have a deal for Iwobi? Fuck, that would have been a handy £22m.

sad to see him go, but we couldn't afford to loose him for free in our financial state & if he wouldn't sign a contract...well bye then !