02 Aug 2021 22:03:01
Leeds keen on moves for both Ryan Kent and Glen Kamara of Rangers as Orta looks to his favourite bucket for inspiration - the bargain bucket.
02 Aug 2021 23:42:04
Alf Your post a touch disrespectful methinks. Orta's budget is decided by Radz and Paraag. They're probably being financially prudent with the upcoming redevelopment of ER obviously not being done for free or on the cheap. Don't think there's been many second season since promotion PL clubs who can or have just flashed £30m odd on a player. I welcome this approach and the last I checked Kent will undoubtedly cost around £20m so unsure about the legitimacy of your gripe.
03 Aug 2021 12:58:30
Jebus, I agree with George!?
03 Aug 2021 13:18:39
Is Rangers as high as we are aiming now?
03 Aug 2021 15:59:15
Alf, with respect, Rangers are better than West Brom, but I’m guessing you’d not be unhappy if we signed Pereira.
Kent is actually a good player, and would become even better under Bielsa, so if we are actually in for him, I’d not be unhappy if we got him.
03 Aug 2021 18:53:12
We have a real opportunity to strengthen our first team with a few decent signings but we seem to be going for average players (In the hope that the Alchemist can improve them) or injury prone 'bargains' (such as Llorente) who will spend the majority of their time in the medical Wing. Other than that we buy loads of youth players who don't make the grade. My worry is that some of the decent players we have are ageing and a good portion of our first team are punching we above their weight due to Bielsa's management. If we don't sign some quality players, as soon as Bielsa leaves we will drop like a stone. We need quality signings, now, or we risk everything.
03 Aug 2021 18:53:57
BTW I think West Brom would beat Rangers if they played a serious game.
03 Aug 2021 20:30:40
Alf - I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree on who would win between Gers and Baggies.
Orta will be aware of the ageing issue, but Bielsa wants a small squad and won’t want the likes of Klich sitting on the bench for half the games, and it’s difficult to find quality players who are happy to come into a new club without assurance on game time, particularly if you can’t offer the immediate prospect of European football. This may explain why there seems to be a focus this summer on bringing in players who are good but not quite the finished article and with scope for further development.
03 Aug 2021 21:00:19
I think we've had that focus for the past 4 years. Sadly 98% of said players end up being shipped out again without achieving anything.
03 Aug 2021 22:50:21
98% is significantly overstating your point, and to be fair the transfer strategy hasn’t done us too badly so far, with 9th place first season back.
03 Aug 2021 23:07:07
I suspect next summer may see more quality additions, either because we’ve qualified for Europe and therefore need a deeper squad, or because we’ve failed to qualify and Orta deems a squad refresh necessary to achieve qualification the following season.
04 Aug 2021 12:30:12
Or because we've been relegated and need to try and bounce back. Last season was a freak season in many ways and I think the fact there were lots of games in a short time played to our strengths and allowing our average players to have tge edge due to greater fitness. With a decent amount of rest between games this season I predict we will struggle a lot more if we fail to strengthen the squad and improve our assets in key positions.