Speculation The hysterical and annoying, but traditional, totally unfounded spring/summer 2019 rumours thread.

[TornadoShaunUK]

It's only a loan, he'll no doubt be back next summer

 

[Miles Away]

Will be interesting to see how he does.

I still can’t tell if he’s just not quite good enough for us or is a pub player.

 

[homer]

Complete and utter dogshit - sums up the whole Puel farce with his totally incompetent pish

 

[popillius]

Will be interesting to see how he does.

I still can’t tell if he’s just not quite good enough for us or is a pub player.

Or if he's not quite good enough to be a pub player.

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Correct answer.

 

[City Fan]

Up there amongst the worst signings ever.

 

[Funky Fox]

But quire a few of our own players reckon he's the most gifted.
Trouble is he never really showed it where it matters.

 

[Brown Nose]

But quire a few of our own players reckon he's the most gifted.
Trouble is he never really showed it where it matters.

Does anyone remember the eastern european guy that used to come onto the Filbert St pitch at half time around the MON era?

He did all sorts of tricks with the ball. Incredibly skilful but couldn't actually play football to save his life.

 

[pork pie fox]

Does anyone remember the eastern european guy that used to come onto the Filbert St pitch at half time around the MON era?

He did all sorts of tricks with the ball. Incredibly skilful but couldn't actually play football to save his life.

Yep. I remember him.

My problem with Ghezzal is the amount of time that he thinks he’s entitled to on the ball. He might be a skilful player, but the game is too fast for him here.

 

[Ike O'Noclassed]

Yep. I remember him.

My problem with Ghezzal is the amount of time that he thinks he’s entitled to on the ball. He might be a skilful player, but the game is too fast for him here.

Iirc it was a Bulgarian guy who did a double act with Birch, juggling whilst Birch delivered put downs along the lines of “he trips over his own feet” etc. Not sure it definitely was 100% gospel, but seems like a foretaste of what passes for scouting in foreign climes, even to this day.

Ghezzal didn’t have the luxury Mahrez had, a learning curve of half a season in the Championship, before trying the Prem (in which he was patchy for much of the Great Escape season). Not sure if spending eight figures on what seems like a long odds gamble makes sense, but we’re still happy to fish in these waters.

 

[Micky]

Yep. I remember him.

My problem with Ghezzal is the amount of time that he thinks he’s entitled to on the ball. He might be a skilful player, but the game is too fast for him here.

Which is why he might succeed in Italy.

 

[pork pie fox]

Which is why he might succeed in Italy.

Yeah that’s what I was thinking.

 

[Lako42]

Attitudes to players that come from overseas are so ****ing simple on here.

They are mostly either incredible or absolutely shit.

RG is a very talented footballer, that much is clear to anyone with even a simple understanding of football.

Unfortunately for him he doesn't suit the Premier league, at least not without a shed load of patience and plenty of games, which we just don't or can't have.

Like most of our signings from abroad he'll move on and do incredibly well at a new club, and most likely play European football before all of our World beaters.

I wish we could talk about players in a bit more detail and with some ****ing reason for once.

 

[pork pie fox]

Attitudes to players that come from overseas are so ****ing simple on here.

They are mostly either incredible or absolutely shit.

RG is a very talented footballer, that much is clear to anyone with even a simple understanding of football.

Unfortunately for him he doesn't suit the Premier league, at least not without a shed load of patience and plenty of games, which we just don't or can't have.

Like most of our signings from abroad he'll move on and do incredibly well at a new club, and most likely play European football before all of our World beaters.

I wish we could talk about players in a bit more detail and with some ****ing reason for once.

I don’t think that’s necessarily true, although I can see why you say it.

People took to Fuchs and Kante instantly (for example), because they took to it like ducks to water.

It’s not just about us though, is it. I saw Veron and Shevchenko play live in Italy in their prime and yet the game here was too fast for them. This is how I see Ghezzal, although obviously I’m not comparing him to them in terms of ability.

Sometimes players who are already acclimatised (Alexis Sanchez, for example) still struggle, for whatever reason, when they move clubs.

Some (Salah and De Bruyne, for example), go away and come back again as much better players. The advantage they had, compared to Veron and Shevchenko, was that they were much younger, so were able to adapt and improve.

Anyone could move to Celtic and end up playing European football, so I don’t think that’s a sign that a player has necessarily done something.

I’m not saying that Ghezzal is shit, or that he doesn’t have ability. Some of the absolute wank that I’ve seen over the years for City makes him look like a world beater and you can see from the positions he takes up that he’s a got a decent footballing brain on him (I actually preferred it when we played him as a “10”, rather than out wide), but he takes too much time on the ball and hasn’t seemed to improve on that in the limited chances he’s had. If we were a newly promoted team, like we were when Mahrez was first getting used to the Premier League, maybe he’d get more opportunities, but we’re not in that position anymore, so if he can’t adapt quickly, he’s not going to get the chances he needs to adapt.

Harsh? Maybe, but that’s how I see it.

 

[Brown Nose]

Attitudes to players that come from overseas are so ****ing simple on here.

They are mostly either incredible or absolutely shit.

RG is a very talented footballer, that much is clear to anyone with even a simple understanding of football.

Unfortunately for him he doesn't suit the Premier league, at least not without a shed load of patience and plenty of games, which we just don't or can't have.

Like most of our signings from abroad he'll move on and do incredibly well at a new club, and most likely play European football before all of our World beaters.

I wish we could talk about players in a bit more detail and with some ****ing reason for once.

I'd agree with someone like Kramaric who we really under appreciated. It wasn't the fans fault that he never got a chance here though, it was Vardys.

Mostly we judge a player based on evidence. We were patient with Slimani for longer than he deserved. Likewise several others. Iborra for example was pretty awful here but nobody had a go at him. Some players we've signed from abroad are just useless.

One problem with your argument regarding RG is that he was absolutely terrible at Monaco and they couldn't believe their luck selling him onto us at a profit. We've overpaid and/or been stitched up lots of times.

I see quite a lot of examples of players coming here, making a fortune from us, not doing well and pissing off at the first opportunity. There isn't much nuance there.

 

[alex]

Agree with a lot of that with the exception of Iborra who at times (Swansea away especially) was extremely good.

 

[tedfoxxx]

Agree with a lot of that with the exception of Iborra who at times (Swansea away especially) was extremely good and an absolute ****ing dish to boot.

Come on now.

 

[Zorro]

Does anyone remember the eastern european guy that used to come onto the Filbert St pitch at half time around the MON era?

He did all sorts of tricks with the ball. Incredibly skilful but couldn't actually play football to save his life.

I seem to remember wee Davie Gibson doing similar things back in the day, but he also played good football.

 

[foxybru]

So did Frankie Wortho and Bob Lee iirc

 

[popillius]

Attitudes to players that come from overseas are so ****ing simple on here.

They are mostly either incredible or absolutely shit.

RG is a very talented footballer, that much is clear to anyone with even a simple understanding of football.

Unfortunately for him he doesn't suit the Premier league, at least not without a shed load of patience and plenty of games, which we just don't or can't have.

Like most of our signings from abroad he'll move on and do incredibly well at a new club, and most likely play European football before all of our World beaters.

I wish we could talk about players in a bit more detail and with some ****ing reason for once.

Who are all these players that leave and do fabulously well elsewhere? Of late, Kramaric has done okay but not set the world alight, Slimani has been worse than dreadful for both clubs he has been shipped out to and will more than likely continue to be, Iborra has done the square root of nothing notable, Silva was okay at Monaco but nothing to scream about, Musa has ended up plying his trade in the arse end of nowhere in a league of dross. Ghezzal was pretty shit from day one and all the evidence is there to show it. He was also dog's arse at Monaco who couldn't believe their luck that some idiot in a Puel shaped suit paid a stupid sum of cash for him. Diabate went out on load and was as shite there as he has been for us.

It's nothing to do with a linear view that you think fans may have at all. It's to do with what we see on the pitch and there is nothing positive you can say about any of the signing above perhaps except Kramaric who was desperately unlucky here. I don't remember fans getting on his back at all. Indeed, most fans were Blaming the club and its management for not giving the lad a chance.

It's nothing to do with whether they are foreign players or not. It's to do with attitude, aptitude and plain old talent.

 

[SilverFox]

Well I hate the media. It seems to be a slew of where Maddison is going because we are such a small shitheap club.