January 2022 Burnley Transfer Window Rumours - Links - Discussion

[Backofthenet]

No play Jay with him

That's why we need a new centre forward... Remind me how many premier league goals Jay's scored since he came back.

[Newcastleclaret93]

That's why we need a new centre forward... Remind me how many premier league goals Jay's scored since he came back.

Jay wouldn’t have to score 7-8 goals this season if we had a midfield that could score.

Two top midfielders transforms the whole team

[joey13]

Save our money unless we can bag ourselves a bargain and bring in a Carroll on a free, he can't be any worse than Wood.

Try also to bring in a central midfielder or Right sided midfielder on loan.

We need to have one eye on the championship and the other on our bank balance otherwise we could be doing a Bolton or Pompey

That argument is exactly why we are in this position

[Elizabeth]

Can this nonsense about signing Andy Carroll stop immediately. We are desperate but not that desperate.

[Newcastleclaret93]

Burnley and Leeds are understood to be considering bids for Derby County’s 20 year old Irish midfielder Jason Knight, who would be available for around £8M. That’s according to the @thetimes

[RVclaret]

Burnley and Leeds are understood to be considering bids for Derby County’s 20 year old Irish midfielder Jason Knight, who would be available for around £8M. That’s according to the @thetimes

Posted further up

[warksclaret]

We need him-they don't, lets get him signed

[Andreshotboots]

Burnley and Leeds are understood to be considering bids for Derby County’s 20 year old Irish midfielder Jason Knight, who would be available for around £8M. That’s according to the @thetimes

With two further injuries today, one in midfield you'd think Leeds will act sooner rather than later..

[SGr]

Jason Knight is easy low hanging fruit. No way it would take £8m - Derby are in an existential crisis.

I’m not joking when I say I’d support a Garlick-era p*sstake “test the water” bid. They can’t afford to turn it down, very low risk for us. Get the deal done.

[Taffy on the wing]

Totally agree. West Ham also play in exactly the way you’ve described and, although they’ve been pretty rubbish today, have had a fabulous 18 months.

It was almost as if Dyche realised that’s the modern way to play and evolve in the league when he used the 451, but he’ll always revert to what he knows best when a few iffy results come around.

Don't you ever get tired of saying the same thing over and over again?
I'm tired of reading it!

[ksrclaret]

Don't you ever get tired of saying the same thing over and over again?
I'm tired of reading it!

Taffy, you obviously cannot stand this thread with your regular peculiar outbursts of "all is dross" and such like.

Does it really need to fall me to point out that, if you are indeed tired of reading things you don't agree with, what the option is?

[jojomk1]

Can this nonsense about signing Andy Carroll stop immediately. We are desperate but not that desperate.

We ARE that desperate

We can't afford to pay big money for permanent Prem experience when it looks likely we won't be playing there next season (and for the same reason, those players are not going to sign for us anyway)

Loans (or people like Carroll) are going to be our only chance to get any sort of experience in

The likes of Knight, Wallace and Swift are not the answer to our current predicament - nobody else has gone in for their signatures which must show something is missing

Rabbits out of the hat from abroad could be an answer

As for positions - cm and wr were always cited as the reason why Wood was not scoring

Now, without Wood, a striker is also a third necessity

[Long Time Lurker]

Please don't quote in full

INSTRUCTIONAL

Click quote and you will get something like this

[quot=warksclaret post_id=1725257 time=1642349838 user_id=1366]
We need him-they don't, lets get him signed
[/quot]

Just delete a huge chunk from the text between the two [/quots]

THE POST

I haven't been watching as much football as I have done in previous years, largely limiting myself to our own matches for the past year. Part of the excitement for me, when watching other teams, was considering players that might be good for us. However, that pretty much evaporated, because our recruitment under the Rigg era was a million miles away from my own outlook and ideas.

Looking back at the brief notes I made on players from when I was actively viewing far more foreign matches and picking out players ( posting some opinions on here ) most of them have moved to new clubs in recent windows. This window accounted for the movement of some I really liked.

So, I find myself in less of a position to make player recommendations than previous windows. One or two are still available of my previous lists so I will start with those.

Right Wing - Jed Wallace

Available, crying out for a move, great at making and taking chances, not so good defensively. The fact that he no longer has anyone to aim his crosses at might diminish his interest in joining us.

He was a solid player in the first two years of his contract with Millwall and he has consistently been one of the best players in the Championship for the past 3 years. In the 243 games he has played for them he has scored 41 goals and contributed 48 assists.

What competition do we have for him on the right wing ?

JBG has been troubled with injuries, we re-signed Aaron Lennon, Dwight isn't doing well on the right and we don't seem to want to do the obvious thing and play Cornet on the right. Being down to one striker might preclude Cornet on the right for the near future at any rate.

Looking forward we will have 10 players out of contract at the end of this season. So we can either give all of those veterans new 1-2 year contracts on substantial wages and hope their legs don't give out or replace them.

If we intend to replace them all how will we find and afford 10 replacement players ?

I'm with ClaretMov on this one. If he is available for 1-2m and we aren't interested in him then we have completely lost the plot.

Right Wing - Brian Ocampo

He didn't sign a new contract with National and left them in December as expected. He is now a free agent. Classical right footed right winger. Rapid, physical creative, doesn't mind tracking back to help out in defence and he has a fondness for fancy tricks ( which can prove costly so he needs to cut them out and stick to the basics instead )

https://www.leftbackfootball.com/home/2 ... ant-winger

https://totalfootballanalysis.com/wp-co ... tt-4-1.png


MY PICK

Both of them.

The following is a list of striker options from cheapest to most expensive.

Centre Forward - Joel Mumbongo

Recall him from loan

Centre Forward - Liam Delap ( Loan )

Recently recovered from an ankle injury and probably not match fit. Quality player and Man City could find the idea of securing PL playing experience from him appealing. He could be used as a substitute until he regained his fitness.

Centre Forward - Andy Carroll

Cheap and available sticking plaster that will no doubt appeal to a club with no money who weren't expecting to do much if any business in this transfer window and probably prepared accordingly.

Centre Forward - Mikael Uhre ( Brondby )

A tall powerful striker who is surprisingly fast and agile. Normally tall strikers are a bit slow and they can appear to be cumbersome, but not Uhre. Unlike Chris Wood, who relied on the service of others for his goals Uhre can also create for himself, picking up the ball and exploding into the box, usually from the left. Earlier in his career he tended to take shots from outside the box with mixed results, but since he moved to Brondby he has learnt to choose his shots more carefully. He is now a leathal finisher from anywhere in the box.

So we have a quick physical striker who is 6 foot 2 inches in height. He has the physicality to hold off defenders and hold up play, although this is not currently a big part of his game. He wins most of his aerial duels and he has the speed and agility to carry the ball and score, move to receive or keep up with a more agile strike partner like Cornet, instead of waiting to receive in the middle like Wood.

I did question whether he would want to move at this time, considering the birth of his first child in December. However, he has been linked with Norwich and recently communicated his desire to play in England.

England appeals to me very much. It has always been football from there that I have watched while growing up, he told TV2 earlier this month. In the interview with TV2, after Bronby's match against Sparta Prague, th striker also said that he may have played his last match for Brondy IF.

Last month, BT also announced that Brondby was also planning to sell Mikael and they would be looking to demand a price of around 15 million kroner ( about £1.25m ).

https://www-bt-dk.translate.goog/superl ... _tr_pto=sc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ep_F_IfpBg

Centre Forward - Elijah Adebayo ( Luton )

A big and physical target man who is currently tearing up the Championship. However, he lacks the explosive playing ability of Uhre and his game seems unpolished in a lot of areas. His playing style is a lot like that of Chris Wood, being reliant on good service for his goals. Given the season that he is having with Luton, 10 goals in 21 Championship matches, I suspect they would prefer to hold on to him and sell in the Summer. Now or then his price tag will carry a hefty premium. A lot of his goals this season have been tap ins, but a tap in is still a goal and the player had to put themselves in the right place at the right time to make it happen. Mastering the art of the tap in is a skill in itself, ask Sergio Aguero the king of tap ins.

However, like I said Elijah does seem very raw in a lot of respects and I'm not fully convinced that he would be worth a hefty price premium and an inflated domestic price. At a silly money price I would say he is a risk for a cash strapped club with large debts like us.

Centre Forward - One of the numerous £10m players we are being linked with

Taking the transfer fees into account, their ages and their probable wages, I don't like the look of any of them.


MY PICK

I think Uhre is our best option by far and a price tag of £1.25m or somewhere near is peanuts for a respectable replacement who has just turned 27 and could play a role for us for a good number of years.

I would also snap the hand off Man City if Delap is available

Other Players

I would think about offering Jamie McGrath a pre-contract. He isn't amazing, but he could do a job for us in the Championship and we have to keep that in mind. An attacking midfielder is alternative to a striker with a formation change to 4-4-1-1. I would also like to see us to enquire about Amos Pieper as right sided defensive option. Given our position it is a long shot, but it never hurts to try.

Midfield

Would be have been nice. Patrick Berger would have been ideal and a far better option than giving Stephens another lucrative contract. However, we can wait until Summer. The league that we find ourselves in will determine our spending. £8m is too much to pay out to a cash strapped Derby for McKnight and Max Bird is a better player.

If we are going to throw money around in this window on a midfielder then Aberdeen just posted losses of £5m. They claim they aren't desperate to sell, but a good offer for Lewis Ferguson might tempt them to sell. Calvin Ramsey is worth a look at as well.

[Backofthenet]

Can this nonsense about signing Andy Carroll stop immediately. We are desperate but not that desperate.

Unfortunately we are that desperate. Top scorer in Africa... Vydra and Barnes injured... No player of note wanting to come to a club at the bottom of the league.... Should I go on..

[MACCA]

Please don't quote in full

INSTRUCTIONAL

Click quote and you will get something like this

[quot=warksclaret post_id=1725257 time=1642349838 user_id=1366]
We need him-they don't, lets get him signed
[/quot]

Just delete a huge chunk from the text between the two [/quots]

THE POST

I haven't been watching as much football as I have done in previous years, largely limiting myself to our own matches for the past year. Part of the excitement for me, when watching other teams, was considering players that might be good for us. However, that pretty much evaporated, because our recruitment under the Rigg era was a million miles away from my own outlook and ideas.

Looking back at the brief notes I made on players from when I was actively viewing far more foreign matches and picking out players ( posting some opinions on here ) most of them have moved to new clubs in recent windows. This window accounted for the movement of some I really liked.

So, I find myself in less of a position to make player recommendations than previous windows. One or two are still available of my previous lists so I will start with those.

Right Wing - Jed Wallace

Available, crying out for a move, great at making and taking chances, not so good defensively. The fact that he no longer has anyone to aim his crosses at might diminish his interest in joining us.

He was a solid player in the first two years of his contract with Millwall and he has consistently been one of the best players in the Championship for the past 3 years. In the 243 games he has played for them he has scored 41 goals and contributed 48 assists.

What competition do we have for him on the right wing ?

JBG has been troubled with injuries, we re-signed Aaron Lennon, Dwight isn't doing well on the right and we don't seem to want to do the obvious thing and play Cornet on the right. Being down to one striker might preclude Cornet on the right for the near future at any rate.

Looking forward we will have 10 players out of contract at the end of this season. So we can either give all of those veterans new 1-2 year contracts on substantial wages and hope their legs don't give out or replace them.

If we intend to replace them all how will we find and afford 10 replacement players ?

I'm with ClaretMov on this one. If he is available for 1-2m and we aren't interested in him then we have completely lost the plot.

Right Wing - Brian Ocampo

He didn't sign a new contract with National and left them in December as expected. He is now a free agent. Classical right footed right winger. Rapid, physical creative, doesn't mind tracking back to help out in defence and he has a fondness for fancy tricks ( which can prove costly so he needs to cut them out and stick to the basics instead )

https://www.leftbackfootball.com/home/2 ... ant-winger

https://totalfootballanalysis.com/wp-co ... tt-4-1.png


MY PICK

Both of them.

The following is a list of striker options from cheapest to most expensive.

Centre Forward - Joel Mumbongo

Recall him from loan

Centre Forward - Liam Delap ( Loan )

Recently recovered from an ankle injury and probably not match fit. Quality player and Man City could find the idea of securing PL playing experience from him appealing. He could be used as a substitute until he regained his fitness.

Centre Forward - Andy Carroll

Cheap and available sticking plaster that will no doubt appeal to a club with no money who weren't expecting to do much if any business in this transfer window and probably prepared accordingly.

Centre Forward - Mikael Uhre ( Brondby )

A tall powerful striker who is surprisingly fast and agile. Normally tall strikers are a bit slow and they can appear to be cumbersome, but not Uhre. Unlike Chris Wood, who relied on the service of others for his goals Uhre can also create for himself, picking up the ball and exploding into the box, usually from the left. Earlier in his career he tended to take shots from outside the box with mixed results, but since he moved to Brondby he has learnt to choose his shots more carefully. He is now a leathal finisher from anywhere in the box.

So we have a quick physical striker who is 6 foot 2 inches in height. He has the physicality to hold off defenders and hold up play, although this is not currently a big part of his game. He wins most of his aerial duels and he has the speed and agility to carry the ball and score, move to receive or keep up with a more agile strike partner like Cornet, instead of waiting to receive in the middle like Wood.

I did question whether he would want to move at this time, considering the birth of his first child in December. However, he has been linked with Norwich and recently communicated his desire to play in England.

England appeals to me very much. It has always been football from there that I have watched while growing up, he told TV2 earlier this month. In the interview with TV2, after Bronby's match against Sparta Prague, th striker also said that he may have played his last match for Brondy IF.

Last month, BT also announced that Brondby was also planning to sell Mikael and they would be looking to demand a price of around 15 million kroner ( about £1.25m ).

https://www-bt-dk.translate.goog/superl ... _tr_pto=sc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ep_F_IfpBg

Centre Forward - Elijah Adebayo ( Luton )

A big and physical target man who is currently tearing up the Championship. However, he lacks the explosive playing ability of Uhre and his game seems unpolished in a lot of areas. His playing style is a lot like that of Chris Wood, being reliant on good service for his goals. Given the season that he is having with Luton, 10 goals in 21 Championship matches, I suspect they would prefer to hold on to him and sell in the Summer. Now or then his price tag will carry a hefty premium. A lot of his goals this season have been tap ins, but a tap in is still a goal and the player had to put themselves in the right place at the right time to make it happen. Mastering the art of the tap in is a skill in itself, ask Sergio Aguero the king of tap ins.

However, like I said Elijah does seem very raw in a lot of respects and I'm not fully convinced that he would be worth a hefty price premium and an inflated domestic price. At a silly money price I would say he is a risk for a cash strapped club with large debts like us.

Centre Forward - One of the numerous £10m players we are being linked with

Taking the transfer fees into account, their ages and their probable wages, I don't like the look of any of them.


MY PICK

I think Uhre is our best option by far and a price tag of £1.25m or somewhere near is peanuts for a respectable replacement who has just turned 27 and could play a role for us for a good number of years.

I would also snap the hand off Man City if Delap is available

Other Players

I would think about offering Jamie McGrath a pre-contract. He isn't amazing, but he could do a job for us in the Championship and we have to keep that in mind. An attacking midfielder is alternative to a striker with a formation change to 4-4-1-1. I would also like to see us to enquire about Amos Pieper as right sided defensive option. Given our position it is a long shot, but it never hurts to try.

Midfield

Would be have been nice. Patrick Berger would have been ideal and a far better option than giving Stephens another lucrative contract. However, we can wait until Summer. The league that we find ourselves in will determine our spending. £8m is too much to pay out to a cash strapped Derby for McKnight and Max Bird is a better player.

If we are going to throw money around in this window on a midfielder then Aberdeen just posted losses of £5m. They claim they aren't desperate to sell, but a good offer for Lewis Ferguson might tempt them to sell. Calvin Ramsey is worth a look at as well.

Not a chance City would loan us a player, completely contrasting styles, it'd hinder their players development not a dig out or coaches etc they're just being groomed to play a specific way )

[ksrclaret]

I get on this thread hoping to see rumors of transfers......NOT to read about the endless negativity inside your otherwise empty, humorless head.

This thread has never just contained rumours of transfer. It's always had discussions far and wide relating to the club, branching off from the main discussion around new players.

Now if that information took you by surprise today, it shouldn't do tomorrow. You should expect this from now on.

The last part of your post was totally unnecessary. Please modify your child-like, idiosyncratic posting style or simply don't get involved in a discussion with me. I don't want to see this thread descend into bickering.

[Long Time Lurker]

We ARE that desperate

As for positions - cm and wr were always cited as the reason why Wood was not scoring

Now, without Wood, a striker is also a third necessity

Wood stopped scoring because his supply of scoring opportunities that suited him dried up when we started playing with inverted wingers. Having to hold off defenders so Cornet could do his thing also hampered him.

A consistent double digit goal scorer didn't change, the way we decided to play this season changed. We placed an emphasis on goals from wingers and centre drifting instead of the creation of quality central chances from the wings.

It hasn't worked and it won't work, because we don't have the players to pull it off and we don't have the pace in the squad to deal with the counter attacking opportunities that are being generated by all of the intercepted balls it is throwing up.

Normally, you look at the players you have, what they are good at, what positions they excel in, what they can do and what they can't do. Then you create a framework and strategy that plays to the revealed strengths and diminishes the perceived weaknesses. The players determine the strategy.

That is what we used to do.

However, we appear to have shifted to doing things differently. It seems like our tactical staff have decided how they want us to play ( which is the same as every team plays ) and determined that the players should be made to conform to that playing ideal. Even if it requires them to do things that they aren't suited to doing or playing in positions that don't accord with their strengths.

If everyone plays the same then the team with the greatest resources and money will usually win, because they can afford to buy the players that best fit that way of playing. The only way for a small team with limited resources to play and win is to play a different game. Doing that is what has kept us in the PL for so many years. Boring physical 4-4-2 football, cross to the big target men, put out a solid defence ( supported by the midfield ) that is difficult to breakdown and play with unity and courage. It isn't pretty, but it worked and it played to our players strengths. This push up higher, pass the ball freely and rely on inverted wingers to generate goals is ******** and in my opinion a big part of why we are doing so badly this season.

We stopped playing to our strengths and we stopped doing what worked.

[Long Time Lurker]

Not a chance City would loan us a player, completely contrasting styles, it'd hinder their players development not a dig out or coaches etc they're just being groomed to play a specific way )

Aw come on MACCA I even pre-faced my post with an instructional on how to avoid a massive wall of quoted text that will annoy people.

A bit of effort please

[Conroy92]

Jason Knight is easy low hanging fruit. No way it would take £8m - Derby are in an existential crisis.

I’m not joking when I say I’d support a Garlick-era p*sstake “test the water” bid. They can’t afford to turn it down, very low risk for us. Get the deal done.

Personally I disagree regarding a really low ball bid. We offer 3m Leeds offer 5m and while we consider upping the ante, the players already agreeing terms with Leeds.
I reckon a bid around 6m would get him, its lower than the 8m they want but hopefully high enough for there to be not much messing around to get the deal done.

We all know there's probably about 17 other teams in this league offering higher wages ect, so for us, by getting our nose in front first with an accepted bid, it could be the difference between a player coming here or not.

[warksclaret]

Personally I disagree regarding a really low ball bid. We offer 3m Leeds offer 5m and while we consider upping the ante, the players already agreeing terms with Leeds.
I reckon a bid around 6m would get him, its lower than the 8m they want but hopefully high enough for there to be not much messing around to get the deal done.

We all know there's probably about 17 other teams in this league offering higher wages ect, so for us, by getting our nose in front first with an accepted bid, it could be the difference between a player coming here or not.

Should be like darts-the first bid is the marker, the second you now know where you want to be and make it happen. If you were buying a house and were allowed just two bids you would do it this way

[warksclaret]

Wood stopped scoring because his supply of scoring opportunities that suited him dried up when we started playing with inverted wingers. Having to hold off defenders so Cornet could do his thing also hampered him.

A consistent double digit goal scorer didn't change, the way we decided to play this season changed. We placed an emphasis on goals from wingers and centre drifting instead of the creation of quality central chances from the wings.

It hasn't worked and it won't work, because we don't have the players to pull it off and we don't have the pace in the squad to deal with the counter attacking opportunities that are being generated by all of the intercepted balls it is throwing up.

Normally, you look at the players you have, what they are good at, what positions they excel in, what they can do and what they can't do. Then you create a framework and strategy that plays to the revealed strengths and diminishes the perceived weaknesses. The players determine the strategy.

That is what we used to do.

However, we appear to have shifted to doing things differently. It seems like our tactical staff have decided how they want us to play ( which is the same as every team plays ) and determined that the players should be made to conform to that playing ideal. Even if it requires them to do things that they aren't suited to doing or playing in positions that don't accord with their strengths.

If everyone plays the same then the team with the greatest resources and money will usually win, because they can afford to buy the players that best fit that way of playing. The only way for a small team with limited resources to play and win is to play a different game. Doing that is what has kept us in the PL for so many years. Boring physical 4-4-2 football, cross to the big target men, put out a solid defence ( supported by the midfield ) that is difficult to breakdown and play with unity and courage. It isn't pretty, but it worked and it played to our players strengths. This push up higher, pass the ball freely and rely on inverted wingers to generate goals is ******** and in my opinion a big part of why we are doing so badly this season.

We stopped playing to our strengths and we stopped doing what worked.

LTL-SD & IW have had a lot of time since we played West Ham when hopefully they have given our precarious position a lot of constructive analysis. Lets hope they can re-dicsover the art of winning ugly again and are able to implement it successfully v Watford

[joey13]

I get on this thread hoping to see rumors of transfers......NOT to read about the endless negativity inside your otherwise empty, humorless head.

The internet is a big place , I’m sure there are plenty of other avenues where you can abuse people .

[Shaggy]

Wood stopped scoring because his supply of scoring opportunities that suited him dried up when we started playing with inverted wingers. Having to hold off defenders so Cornet could do his thing also hampered him.

A consistent double digit goal scorer didn't change, the way we decided to play this season changed. We placed an emphasis on goals from wingers and centre drifting instead of the creation of quality central chances from the wings.

It hasn't worked and it won't work, because we don't have the players to pull it off and we don't have the pace in the squad to deal with the counter attacking opportunities that are being generated by all of the intercepted balls it is throwing up.

Normally, you look at the players you have, what they are good at, what positions they excel in, what they can do and what they can't do. Then you create a framework and strategy that plays to the revealed strengths and diminishes the perceived weaknesses. The players determine the strategy.

That is what we used to do.

However, we appear to have shifted to doing things differently. It seems like our tactical staff have decided how they want us to play ( which is the same as every team plays ) and determined that the players should be made to conform to that playing ideal. Even if it requires them to do things that they aren't suited to doing or playing in positions that don't accord with their strengths.

If everyone plays the same then the team with the greatest resources and money will usually win, because they can afford to buy the players that best fit that way of playing. The only way for a small team with limited resources to play and win is to play a different game. Doing that is what has kept us in the PL for so many years. Boring physical 4-4-2 football, cross to the big target men, put out a solid defence ( supported by the midfield ) that is difficult to breakdown and play with unity and courage. It isn't pretty, but it worked and it played to our players strengths. This push up higher, pass the ball freely and rely on inverted wingers to generate goals is ******** and in my opinion a big part of why we are doing so badly this season.

We stopped playing to our strengths and we stopped doing what worked.

Hi LTL

I like reading your analysis and the way you put them across.

I’m going to disagree with you on this one though. Our style of play hasn’t changed a dot during Dyche’s tenure as manager. We set up the same way and try to do exactly the same things.

Dyche has always used wingers who cut in. This isn’t to create anything it’s more of a bodies in the middle and allows time and space for the full backs to go outside and dig in a deep cross.

If the phase of play breaks down we have bodies in the middle to try and knick it back, if that doesn’t work then the team retreats and pulls narrow giving the opposition the flanks to play into. The 2 centre mids drop back into the defence allowing time for the full backs to get back into position. By this point the opposition are generally out wide near our box and have the chance to fire in a cross but our extra bodies in the box and generally with us being adept in the air we can deal with it.

That’s a 10p tour of Dyches system. The main creative force is a deep cross from the full backs to be knocked down in the middle or we pick up a second phase ball in the middle.

Our problems have been in the post for at least a couple of years now. Our team has lost a yard of pace due to age and it’s hard for them to keep the shape all the time as the collective fitness isn’t there anymore either.

We’ve no one who can look after the ball and give us a breather and technically we are so inferior to every other team with the ball.

We are an aged, shopworn side with a manager who doesn’t have any other ideas than his 4-4-2 double 6 tactic.

[warksclaret]

Is there anywhere where we are ahead of the game, or even keeping up-tactics, formation, selection process of new players, bedding them in,experimenting with new players not in the team, study the opposition prior to a game with a game plan, flexible to change tactics/formation during a game when we are losing, or even trying to keep a lead, dropping players not on form. Makes you think doesn't it

[NewClaret]

From twitter:

Seko Fofana’s agent Antony Mendez: “My answer is simple. Seko is under contract with Lens until 2024, there are requests from other clubs, If Seko has to go to a French club or a big European club, it will happen naturally, it's the logical step.”

Not sure we qualify as a “big European club” so imagine that’s us out of the picture.

[Elizabeth]

Unfortunately we are that desperate. Top scorer in Africa... Vydra and Barnes injured... No player of note wanting to come to a club at the bottom of the league.... Should I go on..

Andy Carroll’s body hasn’t been able to withstand the rigours of PL football for a number of years . I know some people are willing to have him until the end of the season but be prepared for him to be on the treatment table instead of the field

[beddie]

If Knight was offered exactly the same terms along with his selling club from both us and Leeds who’s he going to choose?

[Backofthenet]

Andy Carroll’s body hasn’t been able to withstand the rigours of PL football for a number of years . I know some people are willing to have him until the end of the season but be prepared for him to be on the treatment table instead of the field

He's fully fit, and ready to go. Hopefully any contract would take into account his injury record. I don't expect him to start many games, and if Tuesdays game is off, and we have others lined up, then maybe don't sign him, but Tuesday is a MUST WIN game, and at present we have one fit, non scoring Premier league striker, so yes, I'd take him in a heartbeat, expecting him only to perhaps start 2 games... Tuesday and Sunday.

[tiger76]

Andy Carroll’s body hasn’t been able to withstand the rigours of PL football for a number of years . I know some people are willing to have him until the end of the season but be prepared for him to be on the treatment table instead of the field

Why is Andy Carroll's name continually rearing it's ugly head on this thread, NO!, NO! AND NO! again from me, he's past it at this level.

Christ I thought we were finally moving away from becoming a retirement home for footballers, not bringing more pensioners into the fold.

Is it any wonder we've got the "hoof ball" tag when this is who we are getting linked with. Especially in the wake up the Crouch signing, and others before and after it.

[Newcastleclaret93]

Apparently Benteke is not interested in coming to Burnley

[ClaretAndJew]

Apparently Benteke is not interested in coming to Burnley

Who would be at this juncture in the season, given our perilous position?

[tiger76]

Apparently Benteke is not interested in coming to Burnley

Well that does shock me. Hope we've got other options on the table then. But given our limited pool of scouting I somehow have my doubts.

[DCWat]

Apparently Benteke is not interested in coming to Burnley

Much the same as my view of him coming to Burnley.

[taio]

Apparently Benteke is not interested in coming to Burnley

No surprise - his salary will probably be six figures

[RVclaret]

Apparently Benteke is not interested in coming to Burnley

Article says he’s ‘reluctant’ to join, not that he’s not interested. But anyway I hope not as it’s a big chunk of the Wood money on a striker who rarely scores and is 32 this year.

[Nonayforever]

Apparently Benteke is not interested in coming to Burnley

Thank goodness.
That move would only be kicking the can down the road.

[warksclaret]

This could only be Burnley-today Benteke, two weeks ago Aaron Ramsey FFS

[Newcastleclaret93]

No surprise - his salary will probably be six figures

Interestingly palace fans think this deal is going to happen as he would get a pay rise at Burnley? I can only assume he got a massive wage drop when he signed his new deal?

[Nonayforever]

This could only be Burnley-today Benteke, two weeks ago Aaron Ramsey FFS

Whoever the board gets, and whatever they spend, it should be for the next few seasons, not a quick expensive fix.

[Papabendi]

Neither Benteke or Origi are realistic targets. We need young lower league players busting a gut to make the step up, or experienced European players wanting a shop window

[SMClaret]

Wood stopped scoring because his supply of scoring opportunities that suited him dried up when we started playing with inverted wingers. Having to hold off defenders so Cornet could do his thing also hampered him.

A consistent double digit goal scorer didn't change, the way we decided to play this season changed. We placed an emphasis on goals from wingers and centre drifting instead of the creation of quality central chances from the wings.

It hasn't worked and it won't work, because we don't have the players to pull it off and we don't have the pace in the squad to deal with the counter attacking opportunities that are being generated by all of the intercepted balls it is throwing up.

Normally, you look at the players you have, what they are good at, what positions they excel in, what they can do and what they can't do. Then you create a framework and strategy that plays to the revealed strengths and diminishes the perceived weaknesses. The players determine the strategy.

That is what we used to do.

However, we appear to have shifted to doing things differently. It seems like our tactical staff have decided how they want us to play ( which is the same as every team plays ) and determined that the players should be made to conform to that playing ideal. Even if it requires them to do things that they aren't suited to doing or playing in positions that don't accord with their strengths.

If everyone plays the same then the team with the greatest resources and money will usually win, because they can afford to buy the players that best fit that way of playing. The only way for a small team with limited resources to play and win is to play a different game. Doing that is what has kept us in the PL for so many years. Boring physical 4-4-2 football, cross to the big target men, put out a solid defence ( supported by the midfield ) that is difficult to breakdown and play with unity and courage. It isn't pretty, but it worked and it played to our players strengths. This push up higher, pass the ball freely and rely on inverted wingers to generate goals is ******** and in my opinion a big part of why we are doing so badly this season.

We stopped playing to our strengths and we stopped doing what worked.

I agree with this in its entirety. Well said.

[tiger76]

Whoever the board gets, and whatever they spend, it should be for the next few seasons, not a quick expensive fix.

Totally agree we've got to start thinking long term, and that includes the manager.

And if we can pick up 4/5 younger players in this window for peanuts, then bleeding well do so, and don't waste even more dosh on guys desperate for one last big contract who also have no sell-on value, that's mainly why we find ourselves in the present state we're in.

Learn the lessons from our past mistakes and don't repeat them whatever we do.

[minnieclaret]

We stopped playing to our strengths and we stopped doing what worked.

Strangely we stopped doing what worked when ALK took over and it appeared to me we went slightly more expansive, whether that was Alan having a word in SDs ear we’ll never know. It didn’t work and I feel we have been unable to get back to what did work.

[Papabendi]

Hi LTL

I like reading your analysis and the way you put them across.

I’m going to disagree with you on this one though. Our style of play hasn’t changed a dot during Dyche’s tenure as manager. We set up the same way and try to do exactly the same things.

Dyche has always used wingers who cut in. This isn’t to create anything it’s more of a bodies in the middle and allows time and space for the full backs to go outside and dig in a deep cross.

If the phase of play breaks down we have bodies in the middle to try and knick it back, if that doesn’t work then the team retreats and pulls narrow giving the opposition the flanks to play into. The 2 centre mids drop back into the defence allowing time for the full backs to get back into position. By this point the opposition are generally out wide near our box and have the chance to fire in a cross but our extra bodies in the box and generally with us being adept in the air we can deal with it.

That’s a 10p tour of Dyches system. The main creative force is a deep cross from the full backs to be knocked down in the middle or we pick up a second phase ball in the middle.

Our problems have been in the post for at least a couple of years now. Our team has lost a yard of pace due to age and it’s hard for them to keep the shape all the time as the collective fitness isn’t there anymore either.

We’ve no one who can look after the ball and give us a breather and technically we are so inferior to every other team with the ball.

We are an aged, shopworn side with a manager who doesn’t have any other ideas than his 4-4-2 double 6 tactic.

Dyche has said himself we have changed our style / approach this season to be more expansive.

[taio]

Interestingly palace fans think this deal is going to happen as he would get a pay rise at Burnley? I can only assume he got a massive wage drop when he signed his new deal?

Sounds like they are talking rubbish.

[SGr]

Personally I disagree regarding a really low ball bid. We offer 3m Leeds offer 5m and while we consider upping the ante, the players already agreeing terms with Leeds.
I reckon a bid around 6m would get him, its lower than the 8m they want but hopefully high enough for there to be not much messing around to get the deal done.

We all know there's probably about 17 other teams in this league offering higher wages ect, so for us, by getting our nose in front first with an accepted bid, it could be the difference between a player coming here or not.

Interesting point, you may be right

[taio]

Totally agree we've got to start thinking long term, and that includes the manager.

And if we can pick up 4/5 younger players in this window for peanuts, then bleeding well do so, and don't waste even more dosh on guys desperate for one last big contract who also have no sell-on value, that's mainly why we find ourselves in the present state we're in.

Learn the lessons from our past mistakes and don't repeat them whatever we do.

Do you really expect us to sign four or five players? You might be right but I just can't see it. I really can't.

[Newcastleclaret93]

Do you really expect us to sign four or five players? You might be right but I just can't see it. I really can't.

I would say three as an absolute minimum is required this window

[RVclaret]

Do you really expect us to sign four or five players? You might be right but I just can't see it. I really can't.

I think we need a minimum 3 first teamers. Striker, central midfielder and either 10 / winger. Surely the funds received from Wood + what we were prepared to stretch to anyway allow for this. Someone like Neil could be a 'cheaper' 4th.

[taio]

I would say three as an absolute minimum is required this window

2 or 3 I reckon. Not 4 or 5.