Riyad Mahrez

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BrazilianGus said:
This is the doubt I have. The planning didn’t start the day after we won the CL, it started long before. But I don’t think you can ignore that winning the treble should be a changing factor.

We should also maintain a level of skepticism ourselves. Let’s remember last summer. Chelsea wanted Ake. Oh I remember some of the fans’ reactions. “Let him go, we can use Mbete as the replacement”. There was even a bit of “Phillips can also play CB”.
What happened was that not only Ake stayed but at nearly the last minute we needed to make a rushed signing (“unlike City”) that was an admission that the squad hadn’t been planned that well. And I think we can agree there would have no treble without signing Akanji. We could also not have made that signing and right now we would be blaming losing another Champions League on “luck” and contemplating that Arsenal won the league because their energy levels couldn’t be matched etc. It’s the fine details that count sometimes more than the bigger picture, larger planning, process etc.
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Well I look at those names and think I have nothing at all to worry about.
 
wolviedinho said:
Pep might sign another extension? Not beyond the realms of possibility. The squad last season was tweaked and led us to a treble. The same squad that many people thought looked weak.

At some point other teams will close the gap. The club only acts on the market if the right player emerges. No one is panicking. The reality is that it’s hard staying top, pep gives us that edge which allows the club to take its time. City tend to stay away from an auction and prefer under the radar signings unless it’s a Grealish release clause. We buy good players with Pep’s coaching turning some into world class.

Also FFP and the premier charges must be an issue.

Every season the fans want world class players and every season bar Haaland that’s not the player we buy. We have a method and it works. The success is unprecedented. How can you argue with this approach?
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Let’s be honest, Pep isn’t staying beyond his current contract.
Again, what I just said in another post, the squad tweak that won us the treble wasn’t the months long process of picking targets carefully, it was “fuck, we need another CB” and signing Akanji at the last minute that actually did it. Maybe I am more skeptical than the majority here about how efficient our process is. It’s a hard point to make because you say, “look at what we won!” But I do believe in certain moments we could have replaced certain players earlier and not waited as long as we did to fill in certain positions. And I understand Pep likes to work with a smaller squad, but with just an extra little more bodies (as other clubs), which the club could have pushed, we could have had more than one Champions League by now, more domestic cups, maybe avoided losing the league in 19/20, or at least made it harder for them. I am not talking about things that compromise the project, but small decisions that are ultimately influential.
I look at how we handled certain failed transfers in the recent period and wonder, were we actually arrogant in how we handled these? Did we assume the other parts involved would fold to our interests?

When you mention the charges, for me that’s actually something else that I keep thinking about. Firstly, how much of a role are they playing in us landing targets and maybe casting uncertainty? But more concretely, the very real possibility that we will be hit with a transfer ban in one, two or three years and we should be prepared for the event that happens. Are we able to act in anticipation or does that go against the process too?
 
BrazilianGus said:
Let’s be honest, Pep isn’t staying beyond his current contract.
Again, what I just said in another post, the squad tweak that won us the treble wasn’t the months long process of picking targets carefully, it was “fuck, we need another CB” and signing Akanji at the last minute that actually did it. Maybe I am more skeptical than the majority here about how efficient our process is. It’s a hard point to make because you say, “look at what we won!” But I do believe in certain moments we could have replaced certain players earlier and not waited as long as we did to fill in certain positions. And I understand Pep likes to work with a smaller squad, but with just an extra little more bodies (as other clubs), which the club could have pushed, we could have had more than one Champions League by now, more domestic cups, maybe avoided losing the league in 19/20, or at least made it harder for them. I am not talking about things that compromise the project, but small decisions that are ultimately influential.
I look at how we handled certain failed transfers in the recent period and wonder, were we actually arrogant in how we handled these? Did we assume the other parts involved would fold to our interests?

When you mention the charges, for me that’s actually something else that I keep thinking about. Firstly, how much of a role are they playing in us landing targets and maybe casting uncertainty? But more concretely, the very real possibility that we will be hit with a transfer ban in one, two or three years and we should be prepared for the event that happens. Are we able to act in anticipation or does that go against the process too?
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The club won’t accept a transfer ban. All hell would break loose legally if that is the premier leagues approach as it would suggest guilt on the clubs part. No evidence we have broken any rules. The reason I suggest it may be an issue is only due to the uncertainty it brings. Players don’t care.

Planning for the future is fundamental. The timing of sales and the buying of players probably more so. We work with a small squad, an extra body here or there won’t happen. Mistake’s do happen, that’s life.

On Pep, know one knows what he is thinking. I would imagine it would be hard to walk away from the club he has been instrumental in building.

No transfer plan is bulletproof. As I said earlier, mistakes will be made but overall the club has got more right than wrong.
 
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wolviedinho said:
The club won’t accept a transfer ban. All hell would break loose legally if that is the premier leagues approach as it suggests guilt. No evidence we have broken any rules. The reason I suggest it may be an issue is only due to the uncertainty it brings. Players don’t care.

Planning for the future is fundamental. The timing of sales and the buying of players probably more so. We work with a small squad, an extra body here won’t happen. Mistake do happen, that life.

On Pep, know one knows what he is thinking. I would image it would be hard to walk away from the club he has been instrumental in building.

No transfer plan is bulletproof. As I said earlier, mistakes will be made but overall the club has got more right than wrong.
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There will be a process with the charges. We don’t know what will happen. It’s certainly not a given that we will walk away without any punishment. In the event we do receive a transfer ban, what exactly could we do against it as you say we wouldn’t accept it? It may come as a compromise with acquittal to most charges anyway. Chelsea had a transfer ban very recently.
 
BrazilianGus said:
So basically you wouldn’t sell him because you’re afraid of who the replacement would be?

We seriously need to inject new life and hunger into the squad if we are to have the energy to go again this next season with the Euros happening at the end of it. I understand this isn’t the popular opinion to have here, as you get accused of wanting “new shiny toys” or whatever the ridiculous expression is.
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No that's not what I am saying. I am fully supportive of freshening up the squad and strengthening whilst we are stronger than other sides and also whilst we still have at least 2 years of Pep. Would go as far as saying that's essential. Just not convinced Mahrez is the one to make way just because we get offered £30m.

My point is that £30m is not a large enough sum to trigger a change in our plans unless it was always to replace him.
 
Quiet today. Looks like yesterday's Sam Lee's bullshit was just that, bullshit.
 
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