20 Sep 2026 17:31:45
I think as a club and as fans we need to move away from these £100 million plus signings and target players that actually suit the managers style and tactics.
Isak will score goals, like today but these players are not taking control of games.
Wirtz was signed for games like this. He looks lost.
Unfortunately I can't see it happening for him in this league.
It happens. There have been proven world class players who just cannot do it in the Prem.
He won't be the first and won't be the last.
20 Sep 2026 17:51:01
Edwards and his vision is what was really lost.
Laptop boys are not managers.
20 Sep 2026 18:00:22
Well said Molby and Duke. Recruitment has been a mess for a while, although Jacquet and Araujo look good so far.
20 Sep 2026 19:00:52
I don't recall a single negative post about signing Wirtz at the time.
20 Sep 2026 19:19:30
I suspect the disappointment of £100m+ forwards will be a topic of debate all season while we have midfield and fullbacks that cannot provide a consistent base for the forward line.
I'm happy for the points. Iraola is going to have to do his best with the tools he has until January at the earliest, more likely next summer.
{Ed666's Note - this problem has a very simple solution Camara or another central midfielder, a right winger and a proper right back. If they get this right we can challenge for the prem and the CL. It’s not rocket science to say that we’re 3 players away from a stellar squad.
20 Sep 2026 19:26:11
So we need a Time Machine so we can go back to when players cost ten shillings and a packet of fags?
20 Sep 2026 19:24:39
Agree Quo because we all thought the idiot recruitment team would bring in the players to help Wirtz succeed but obviously this never happened.
Unfortunately he doesn't seem to be able to adapt to an ever increasing physical Premier League.
Hope he does but it is not looking likely.
20 Sep 2026 19:42:24
Time Machine out!
20 Sep 2026 20:29:46
I'd agree with you, Ed. Add that balance and there's no reason why we can't challenge.
While I think Big Ron is doing a decent job at RB, it does bring into focus Kerkez's on the ball deficiency.
{Ed666's Note - I’d be inclined to play JG at right back at some stage because we’ll have to give Ronald a rest and I we need at all costs to keep JJ fit & healthy also.
20 Sep 2026 20:30:58
The thing that worries me Ed666 about your reply is that we knew coming into the season that we need to work on those positions and nothing got done.
My main worries were today:
- Wirtz, even as a defender of him, today I saw nothing
- We mainly didn't have a lot of danger down the right side.
- And that we still are lacking depth in the midfield.
So I don't feel a lot of confidence on the recruiters.
{Ed666's Note - if you & I and the whole fanbase worldwide know we’re lacking in 3 positions then Im certain the powers that be that sign players know we’re deficient. I think Hughes was so bad at his job that squad building differed as a result. Let’s hope the new man can remedy Hughes’ wrongs. To be honest it’s not a tough ask.
20 Sep 2026 22:10:28
Not only did Hughes not buy the positions we needed, he also bought players we didn't. Wirtz being the prime example, but there are others as well.
That's why we lack confidence Ed. It's not hard to know what we needed, it's difficult to know why the board allowed the likes of Hughes and Edwards to do what they did.
{Ed666's Note - We can only affect what we have now not what decisions were made previously by people who aren’t at the club anymore. We just have to right those wrongs and make sure the January window and the summer ones are near perfect as we don’t have much room for error
21 Sep 2026 00:27:38
I would argue that during the season we won the league, we didn't get much creativity from the attacking midfield position. And Wirtz was one of the best players in that position at the time. So we went out and bought Wirtz, meaning he was clearly needed.
We didn't have a proper striker who could consistently score goals, and we were relying too much on Salah to score. Isak was one of the best strikers in the EPL at the time. So we went out and bought him, meaning he was clearly needed.
It's what we did after that that is the problem. We decided to replace Trent with someone who had rarely played as a RB in a back four in Frimpong. We knew Iraola plays with a 10, but we never got a proper DM to help balance the midfield after Grav had a poor season.
And the worst of all was not properly replacing Salah, who has been one of the best players in Premier League history, despite knowing months before the transfer window opened that he would leave.