Speculation The hysterical and annoying, but traditional, totally unfounded winter 2018/19 rumours thread.

[popillius]

You’re burying your head Chilwell was still getting abuse at the start of this season for no other reason than he replaced Fuchs, it only really turned around when he debuted for England

Jesus, it's almost as if you make shit up. Oh....

The only 'abuse' (he really wasn't abused, I assume you mean 'criticism') he recieved was when he couldn't defend properly for the vast majority of last season and was making exactly the same silly mistakes game after game after game last season. He'll continue to be criticised if he starts to do this again. He was garbage yesterday and it's perfectly okay to say so without upsetting the poor little massively overpaid lamb. His job is to play football at a required level, just as I expect I would be criticised if I didn't do my job correctly, he should expect the same. It doesn't mean he hasn't had and won't have huge support from the fans; he has and he will.

 

[popillius]

I thought that Chilwell did get too much criticism last season. I was in a minority that was accepting of his defensive mistakes and this was because his potential was obvious.

The issue for me is whether a young player shows both the potential to improve and the application to do so as well. When I see that, I'm very supportive and forgiving. It's those that make the same errors again and again and don't appear to improve, or even acknowledge the need to improve, that I lose patience with.

We have a young midfielder Ndidi that gets passes for multiple mistakes and poor performances because we know there is a very good player in there. I also think Maddison has had a very kind welcome considering he's already made loads of annoying mistakes and disappeared from games. In both these cases, we think there's a quality player there so we have to take that into account.

I thought that Schlupp was disrespected hugely by the fan base and was hammered for every poor performance. It's not just a young player thing either as I think that the abuse Morgan has had over the last couple of seasons as a washed up player has been way over the top. Amartey was another one that I think got over-criticised before he started to play a bit more consistently well. Meanwhile, Maguire makes multiple defensive mistakes but seems immune to criticism.

Iheanacho now seems to be the boo-boy. He doesn't help himself but when a young players confidence is shot, booing him on and off the pitch is counter-productive. If he wasn't any good, so be it. But there is a talent there that we may well lose out on. Much as we did with Kramaric for example.

Maguire has had plenty of criticism as has Maddison of late. It may not seem as heavy as that of Amartey or Schlupp because they haven't given anywhere near as much cause for criticism. Maguire makes errors but he also does countless great things, often making shot saving tackles almost every game. Maddison is frustrating but, again, has done some wonderful things whilst on the pitch. It doesn't mean we don't criticise them as much but that there is not as much to criticise. Take Ndidi for instance; he is coming in for bucket loads of criticism right now and quite rightly as he has been poor for a while and offered little.

Footballers shouldn't be immune to being criticised and I won't feel sorry for them. Iheanacho isn't a 'boo-boy', he is a footballer being paid handsomely to do a job that he is not doing and fans are frustrated with that. It may be that the system doesn't suit him, it may be that he isn't the great player you think he is, it may be that he doesn't want to be here - no one knows yet. One thing is for sure, when he does play and he continues to lose the ball every time he tries to pass more than a yard as he has of late, or he looks like a rabbit in the headlights when he has a chance of running at goal or he ambles around looking lost on the pitch instead of finding space, then I will continue to criticise him. He needs to try something different or we need to cut our losses for his sake and for ours.

Criticism and a lack of support are very different things and they really shouldn't be confused.

 

[Urban fox]

Apparently we are being linked with Bournemouth's Ryan Fraser in some reports. 4 goals and 8 assists this season. (second only to Eden Hazard). Not a bad shout but seems pretty unlikely. Must say he looked impressive against us.

 

[H T B]

Maguire has had plenty of criticism as has Maddison of late. It may not seem as heavy as that of Amartey or Schlupp because they haven't given anywhere near as much cause for criticism. Maguire makes errors but he also does countless great things, often making shot saving tackles almost every game. Maddison is frustrating but, again, has done some wonderful things whilst on the pitch. It doesn't mean we don't criticise them as much but that there is not as much to criticise. Take Ndidi for instance; he is coming in for bucket loads of criticism right now and quite rightly as he has been poor for a while and offered little.

Footballers shouldn't be immune to being criticised and I won't feel sorry for them. Iheanacho isn't a 'boo-boy', he is a footballer being paid handsomely to do a job that he is not doing and fans are frustrated with that. It may be that the system doesn't suit him, it may be that he isn't the great player you think he is, it may be that he doesn't want to be here - no one knows yet. One thing is for sure, when he does play and he continues to lose the ball every time he tries to pass more than a yard as he has of late, or he looks like a rabbit in the headlights when he has a chance of running at goal or he ambles around looking lost on the pitch instead of finding space, then I will continue to criticise him. He needs to try something different or we need to cut our losses for his sake and for ours.

Criticism and a lack of support are very different things and they really shouldn't be confused.

Just because they get paid "loads of money" doesn't make them robots and immune to feelings.
We are talking of young men!

 

[Mike - True Blue Tinter]

Can we swap James and King in the list of 25 players now, as James's place has been wasted for the first half of the season so far, if Puel is not going to buy any more players in January?

 

[City Fan]

Just because they get paid "loads of money" doesn't make them robots and immune to feelings.
We are talking of young men!

Pay me £110k a week and anyone can call me a **** as much as they want.

 

[tedfoxxx]

I take full responsibility for this futile tangent.

I’ll just type ‘Gerrimin’ next time.

 

[tedfoxxx]

Can we swap James and King in the list of 25 players now, as James's place has been wasted for the first half of the season so far, if Puel is not going to buy any more players in January?

Yes we can.

 

[TornadoShaunUK]

Not sure if this is a rumour or confirmed but apparently we are among a number of Premier League clubs charging exorbitant fees for children to become matchday mascots. http://www.sportbible.com/football/...AHn0vY4jEecF1TNbDiKQh7IOcpTg2J4dJG2NPvv_TeG7Y

 

[Skitzo]

Wolves apparently agreed an £18m fee for Talky Abraham, feel we’re missing a trick not getting him in

 

[lazzer]

Shit they've bought the wrong one

 

[City Fan]

Wolves apparently agreed an £18m fee for Talky Abraham, feel we’re missing a trick not getting him in

I agree.

Whilst he hasn’t yet shown himself to be anything more than a really good Championship striker, he’s only 21 so plenty of time to prove himself in the Premier League. Would be worth a gamble at that price.

 

[Skitzo]

Wolves apparently agreed an £18m fee for Talky Abraham, feel we’re missing a trick not getting him in

I ****ing hate autocorrect at times, Tammy Abraham, sky just said reports of a fee being agreed are premature, really think this guy will make it and hope we make a move for him

 

[SJN-Fox]

John Percy Retweeted
Matt Law‏Verified account @Matt_Law_DT 226 minutes ago
Chelsea have NOT accepted a bid from Wolves for Tammy Abraham. Together with the player they will assess whether or not he stays at Villa for the remainder of the season or goes elsewhere. No decision taken yet.

28 replies282 retweets540 likes

 

[Blue Maniac]

Wolves apparently agreed an £18m fee for Talky Abraham, feel we’re missing a trick not getting him in

This is what I’m calling him from now on.

 

[Mike - True Blue Tinter]

Not sure if this is a rumour or confirmed but apparently we are among a number of Premier League clubs charging exorbitant fees for children to become matchday mascots. http://www.sportbible.com/football/...AHn0vY4jEecF1TNbDiKQh7IOcpTg2J4dJG2NPvv_TeG7Y

I think this came up a few years ago when the owners introduced the charging for some of the mascot places, but I cannot remember how many. That was also in the days when you get a free birthday announcement at half-time as well, but I do not suppose that is the case anymore.

I would hope/like to think, that any such mascot money raised goes into academy/youth/grassroots/community projects.

 

[Skitzo]

I think this came up a few years ago when the owners introduced the charging for some of the mascot places, but I cannot remember how many. That was also in the days when you get a free birthday announcement at half-time as well, but I do not suppose that is the case anymore.

I would hope/like to think, that any such mascot money raised goes into academy/youth/grassroots/community projects.

with our owners I would be almost certain that the money is going to the Vichai foundation

 

[TornadoShaunUK]

Stringer has chimed in on the subject on twitter and suggests it's been taken a bit out of context. He thinks they do offer an option to buy a place but there are free places up for grabs too.

 

[Micky]

Tammy Abraham - not good enough and never will be. Move on...

Also, looks like Iborra is going back to Spain...

A slight shame as I think he is a tecnically gifted but yet another player who cannot adapt to the pace of the English game.

 

[Blaarev]

Stringer has chimed in on the subject on twitter and suggests it's been taken a bit out of context. He thinks they do offer an option to buy a place but there are free places up for grabs too.