September '16 Football Thread: End of the Summer Transfer Window

[AkydefGoldberg]

It seems there was a crazy end to the window with Daniel Levy - not for the first time - at the centre of it all. Eventually he stumped up the money for Sissoko but surprising Pochettino agreed to it. Not because Sissoko is overly disruptive (seems a challenge to manage) but his disappearing act for Newcastle over the last two years, so Pochettino must feel he can coax consistent performances out of him.

Wilshere to Bournemouth suggests former didn't fancy going to Italy (despite Roma, Milan wanting him) incase his career took a further step back if he didn't get game time or settle and best to stay in the PL.

Luiz to Chelsea - never would have imagined him as a defender to work under Conte yet like Pochettino, maybe he feels he can get something out of him that previous managers haven't and instill some defensive work ethic in him alongside his existing qualities. Yet wonder whether they would have been better to leave it till next summer with Zouma to return.

From United's point of view - fantastic business done and quickly. No dithering around as was the case since 2013. Outgoings, besides the loans of young players, I expected more but difficult to shift players on big wages to clubs who want the other side to pay the chunk of the money.

[SlightlyJames]

Rangers signed Senderos after having him on trial since before the Lescott thing. Quite blatantly a last resort but supposedly he's been training well and the bar isn't set particularly high for our back four right now so he'll perform well enough I suppose.

Phillipe on new teammate Joey Barton:

[Viazon]

Arsenal have bought a striker, a defender and a midfielder. Strengthening all areas. I like it. Although I don't think we needed much strengthening in midfield. But it's always exciting to get a new player. I am a little disappointed Wilshere has gone. But I understand why. If he can get some playing time and can back to his best, I hope we will see him back here some day.

[Daz]

For the third transfer window in a row, Norwich failed to get a striker. It's getting ridiculous at this point. Jerome, Lafferty and Nelson Oliveira is not an adequate strikeforce. And now there's talk of bringing in Chamakh on a free, which doesn't fill me with confidence.

Starting to wonder why on earth we sold Gary Hooper.

[AkydefGoldberg]

Sam Allardyce's comments on Rooney yesterday...

[PorkChop]

England game yesterday was shite.

I'm bored to death of England and international football in general. Since more and more money has been pumped in to the game players don't really seem to care about international football anymore, especially England players. Over the past 15 years we've turned into a "club comes first" country as a result of the obscene amount of cash clubs are giving players. They've turned into mercenaries with no loyalty or honour, just money-grabbing machines.

England don't pay their wages, so they don't give a shit about England. They don't care about the prestige or honour of wearing the three lions and haven't done since the days of Gazza, Shearer, and Ince. They'd rather be staying at home collecting a paycheck and waiting for the next club game.

Fuck England and fuck modern football.

[AkydefGoldberg]

England don't pay their wages, so they don't give a shit about England.

Always been intrigued to ask or to know but don't they get some money for playing for England? Probably not a weekly wage but a payment when they are called up? But that's a pittance compared to the sponsorship money players make based on their England careers hence why Beckham, and now Rooney, prolong their international careers as it helps with off the pitch income generation.

[Daz]

England don't pay their wages, so they don't give a shit about England.

Always been intrigued to ask or to know but don't they get some money for playing for England? Probably not a weekly wage but a payment when they are called up? But that's a pittance compared to the sponsorship money players make based on their England careers hence why Beckham, and now Rooney, prolong their international careers as it helps with off the pitch income generation.

Unfortunately, Wayne Rooney could snap his leg in 12 places, have it amputated, get fitted for a nice blade, and after learning to walk again, come down with some sort of serious brain ailment that leaves him unable to form coherent thought (some might say that is already the case) or able to move anything but his eyelids ... and he'd still be picked for England.

[PorkChop]

I've been half-considering doing a Villa podcast lately. I currently listen to one which is pretty good, but they just tend to review matches and don't really speak about club news or do anything to encourage discussion. They just kind of put the match reviews out there, and that's that. As we're shit, many of the episodes just end up being a "let's review another disappointing performance" chat which can be quite repetitive. Although these guys are quite charismatic and their insight on Villa's performances is quite good, I feel there are plenty of things which could be discussed which they don't really talk about (proposed plans to regenerate Aston, safe standing, youth team and reserves, lots of other things).

I saw recently under the avfc hashtag a bunch of people discussing Villa's greatest Premier League XI. Many people had Juan Pablo Angel and Benteke up front. I'd love to hear people's opinions as to why Angel gets in ahead of Dwight Yorke. Although I was quite young when Dwight Yorke was at Villa, he played with a swagger and guile which Angel only showed in flashes, if ever. Angel had one good season and then unfortunately regressed due to injuries. He's become a bit of a cult hero amongst Villa fans but I'd have Yorke ahead of him all day.

It depends how bored I get really. I'd like to start it but it's a huge commitment.

[AkydefGoldberg]

^Go for it Porky - I'm surprised there aren't a few good podcasts out on Villa. Maybe I'm assuming that from a United point of view as there are a host of websites, podcasts but if there's a space in the market for more nuanced discussion then do it.

On Angel, he came with quite alot of attention when Villa paid £9.5m but IIRC he struggled early on, then went through a purple patch before he faded and then left. I liked him if memory serves me right, always seemed to have a good attitude but on your general point, yes Yorke was excellent for Aston Villa. Amazing to think £12.6m took him away which is pennies in today's transfer fees.

[AkydefGoldberg]

So derby north and south of the border!

Celtic hit Rangers for five - didn't see the match obviously but it was 3-1 at one point then was informed it'd gone to five with facing ten men. Joey Barton - all that trash talk and end up with egg on your face. Thoughts @SlightlyJames?

For the Manchester derby - Mourinho made two big calls (playing Mkhitaryan and Lingard who had their injury concerns pre-match) and got it badly wrong. Both guys struggled and looked lethargic and contributed towards a sluggish start that City took full advantage of. I thought it could be a bleak scoreline against us but we got minor moments and it resulted in Ibrahimovic's excellent finish. First 15mins in second half was what should have been the beginning in the first as Herrera had a good influence, Fellaini played well besides the standard elbow smashes, but it seemed most of the team tried in the second half but couldn't get that fluency that they could pepper Bravo endlessly besides aerial threats. Nice Mourinho took some responsibility but ultimately, those selections cost us. Early days yet but Guardiola, when he gets his first team fully fit, could stroll away with the league once Bravo is settled and injuries ease.

[PorkChop]

One of my old housemates from uni is a QPR and Celtic fan. Surprised if he's not on suicide watch after tonight.

[AkydefGoldberg]

More so the latter if he's hearing Brendan Rodgers' comments tonight..

[PorkChop]

Villa concede a late equaliser and drop points. In other news, the sky is blue and water is wet.

[PorkChop]

Some of Di Matteo's tactics and substitutions are bizarre. Like, Tim Sherwood on acid bizarre.

[AkydefGoldberg]

I didn't think that was possible. Interesting that Villa have spent the most (net spend) and yet are struggling. Not seen anything of their season so far, what's the feeling atm @PorkChop?

[PorkChop]

I didn't think that was possible. Interesting that Villa have spent the most (net spend) and yet are struggling. Not seen anything of their season so far, what's the feeling atm @PorkChop?

We're definitely not getting promoted, I can tell you that much. It's saddening and also kind of frustrating - nobody has a divine right to go straight back up but Villa are capable of much more than the results suggest. If it wasn't for goalkeeping errors and last minute equalisers, Villa would be in second place.

Winning only once in 9 games is terrible and Di Matteo is certainly under some pressure now. £50 million spent and we're hovering over the relegation zone to League One. If things haven't improved by Christmas we're doomed.

[AkydefGoldberg]

Third defeat in a row for United in all competitions and a third consecutive poor performance.

Watford deserved all three points for taking full advantage of United's lackadaisical attitude and effort. Mourinho needs to earn his big bucks and come up with a plan to turn things round. He had time off from his Chelsea exit to draw up a transfer plan which was successfully implemented by Woodward yet it seems he hasn't thought much about the structure of the team hence the player he badly wanted is being shunted out of position (Pogba) and the elephant in the team survives public scrutiny from his mates in the media (Rooney). I guess the 'blaming the players' and the exaggeration of the refereering decisions would happen from the manager but ultimately it's a deflection tactic from himself.

Poor goals conceded today yes, but the set-up of the team isn't working at all and players' confidence seems to be dropping which is a natural consequence from the Van Gaal days that after a bad result, heads will drop. But not helped by Mourinho blaming players. Ferguson always criticised the team collectively (well, besides that time he dug out Nani for an error in a Carling Cup game in his last season IIRC) rather than any mention of individuals.

Baffled why Carrick hasn't got a single PL minute under his belt - know he wouldn't play in big or games where the opposition has intensity to their game but don't get why if he was chosen over Bastian to keep that he hasn't featured at all.

[SlightlyJames]

Celtic hit Rangers for five - didn't see the match obviously but it was 3-1 at one point then was informed it'd gone to five with facing ten men. Joey Barton - all that trash talk and end up with egg on your face. Thoughts @SlightlyJames?

Wasn't in any mood to be saying anything constructive at the time I saw this mention so I just left it well alone. Aye, we got thoroughly pumped. The team were dire, Senderos got himself sent off with one of the stupidest hand balls I've ever seen and Celtic, particularly Moussa Dembele, were more than happy to mop us up. Rangers have got severe defensive problems and when you've got guys like Joey Barton and Niko Kranjcar in midfield who don't seem to give a fuck, doing nothing to compensate or protect the defence, those weaknesses are only exasperated.

Barton in particular seems to have been a significant mistake of a signing. Seems quite clear he's had a good season in the Championship and decided he's going to come up here and stroll the SPL, but he's been rotten. Made zero impact in any game he's been in, seems to have completely underestimated the Scottish game and played up how he's supposedly a class apart, come in for far higher wages than our proven performers and done nothing to justify them.

I'd seen somewhat of a narrative when he'd first been brought in about how Barton had supposedly matured in his more recent years and become more of a level head but here we are in September and he's already been causing unrest in training, suspended for the better part of a month and still can't keep his fucking trap shut in the media. And now, supposedly, there's been allegations of him betting on games! We'll be well shot of him with any luck. Overpaid under-performing cocky prick.

Now Barton's gone (for a few weeks at least) there should be an opportunity for Rangers to find some semblance of form. Get some more energetic players back in the team like Harry Forrester and Jason Holt who put a shift in and start playing with a bit more decisiveness. I would be sceptical about putting Kranjcar back in the team, he's got a good eye for a pass but the guy seems either unfit or uninterested. Very little movement.

I would love to see a lot more of Michael O'Halloran in the team, he's found it very difficult to get game time this year and I can't understand why. Any time I see him come on he presents a goal threat but he only ever seems to get on as a sub. Been weeks since I heard any mention of Jordan Rossiter, there's been nothing said about any injuries or anything but there's been no sign of him in the team. Hopefully he's back soon, feel like he could be an important player for us.

It's been a month since Rangers won a competitive game. That's pretty dire. Despite falling down the table I definitely feel like our team has the capacity to perform well and be competitive in the league. Next few months will be telling.

[AkydefGoldberg]

I was firstly amazed Barton turned down the chance to play PL football for Burnley, whom he helped get promoted without any major disciplinary issues but he's on 20k a week at Rangers. Maybe the two year deal probably gave him that added security to go north.

He's always been shit and added to that, an extremely tough individual to manage but hey ho, he's got three weeks off to promote his book which as a good piece noted, seems to be about him trying to save everyone else having saved himself and trying to be the 'thinking footballer'. This notion of him being some sort of 'Roy Keane Mk II' is an insult to the former Manchester United skipper.

You're best shot of him but would think Warburton wasn't the driving force behind the signing - why not stick with the team that got him promoted?