I presumed Luiz would go to City, but as he hasn't, yeah, I think there's a chance.
If you were a potential signing and had some doubts, that win on Saturday would really help sway your decision.
7 months ago
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Guardian says we have signed/will sign 20 y.o. NZ defender Tyler Bindon from Reading, and will probably loan him back for the rest of the season.
Never heard of him, so Googled.
First link I got was on a "players Derby could realistically sign" page, so maybe we've done it out of spite
Feast your eyes on some absolutely bog standard centre half play: www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7AThMvcVno
Doesn't look like the "absolute unit" favoured recruitment approach we've favoured in the centre of defence.
Off to Wolves.
Sounds increasingly like nothing in or out (reported by both BBC and Percy), expect possibly O'Brien to Swansea.
But that'll upset the narrative of ignoring PSR and trying to buy a European spot. Especially if we do, y'know, continue to comply with PSR and 'romp' to a European spot.
Teehee!
So, even if I acknowledge we are in a fight for European places*…it looks like Villa, City have strengthened the most. Villa possibly to shore up for ongoing Champs League activity but will be stronger. God knows what’s happening to City. Bournemouth, Newcastle and we haven’t really done anything. I lose track of Chelsea.
*mathematically still possible….
Hogwash. We're romping to third*.
*probably not really.
On the plus side we look the most effective of the teams challenging, we are very comfortable in our style of play and have now shown that even if we have a slip up we bounce straight back. Against that, we have had a very stable team line-up with very little disruption from injuries and if that were to change we could fall off quite sharply. Personally, I think Nuno is right to prioritise keeping it going than stumping up January cash, unless we are absolutely certain on a player.
I thought you were into statistics and probability. You'll have to explain to me why a team with 47 points after 24 games (only 14 games left) , 6 points clear of 5th, doesn't have a better then evens chance of being in the top 4.
The “mathematically possible” was a gag. I didn’t say it was evens.
Opta (whose modelling I don’t really understand) now have us at >70% for Europe (50 CL/20 UEL) which is high as it has been. Our next four league games are against teams who have all beaten us this season. So, it would not take much for that % to change dramatically, one way or another. 6+ points and it will go up, 2-3 points and it will go down.
The probability changing very much depends on what the other teams do, in addition to our results. Also balance that they'll only then be 10 games left rather than 14 - so the range of possibilities starts to narrow.
Yes, the gearing starts to get pretty high as the games-to-go run down - and 6 (City, Barcodes), 7 (Chelsea - though game in hand, Muff), 10 (Villa) points is a lot to make up unless we fall away badly. Of course we might do that, especially in the next 4 games, but equally 4 or 5 points from those 4 would mean that the chasers have to win all of their next 4 to really put pressure on.
City next 5: Newcastle (h), Liverpool (h), Spurs (a), Forest (a), Brighton (h)
Newcastle next 5: City (a), Forest (h), Liverpool (a), West Ham (a), Palace (h)
Chelsea next 6: West Ham (h) (tonight - the game in hand), Brighton (a), Villa (a), Saints (h), Leicester (h), Arsenal (a)
Muff next 5: Saints (a), Wolves (h), Brighton (a), Spurs (a), Brentford (h)
Villa next 5: Ipswich (h), Chelsea (h), Palace (a), Brentford (a), Liverpool (h).
Muff’s looks the easiest in theory - but then their run-in is fun; 3 of their last 4 games are Arsenal & City (a) either side of Villa (h) - at the same time as we’re playing West Ham, Leicester & Palace.
The 6 point cushion is a big deal, & if we can do even OK between now & mid-March, we’ll take sone catching - not necessarily Champs League, but Europe of some sort.
What we definitely don’t want is Spurs sneaking in to win the league Cup & thus getting a European place even with a shit league campaign!
Well this is disappointing. I was thinking that a striker/hybrid winger is very important especially if we are banking on Wood and Taiwo remaining healthy. It’s a big gamble. Although PSR is a gamble too.
Shame. Was hoping for some excitement today which didn’t include fighting with the Boss’s insane wife over crotches (it’s a ridiculous story…..)
Chicago: Trying to keep it together.
And the Dinga thing. We offered 8 wolves offered 10. He went to wolves because Red Star wanted the higher offer. Cheapskates that we are….
Lewis O'Brien's next stop on his loan tour is Swansea.
