The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Friday 30th August) Transfer Deadline Day

[The Subhuman]

filling the massive hole left by Georginio Rutter earlier this month.

The pitch looks in perfect order to me, I've seen no evidence of a hole, was it big enough to fill the Albert Hall?

I know Gustavo is a chunky lad, perhaps big enough to fill a hole, but don't we want him playing football instead of filling holes, we could get a council worker to do that sort of menial job... or Angus Kinear.

Last "chunky" players to play for us were Andy Robinson and Thomas Brolin, dare we risk a third?

[Jammy 07]

LUFC on Twitter (X) wishing Liam Cooper a Happy Birthday today.

Could he be resigning ???

[weasel]

Geo had as good if not better season than Cry. Gray for his potential and being Leeds royalty also had an outstanding season. Young player of the year at his level at 17 .... We lost a lot, don't underestimate what we lost

Like I said though if Gray was judged in terms of how he did just as a player then he had an average season.

Rutter needed more output from that position. 7 goals all season from that position was not a great return - if he didn't have the infectious smile, the laugh etc then how much stick would he have got?

The new signings will likely not reach the levels that Gray and Rutter could do in the future but should have better seasons than that pair had last season for us.

[Cjay]

Like I said though if Gray was judged in terms of how he did just as a player then he had an average season.

Rutter needed more output from that position. 7 goals all season from that position was not a great return - if he didn't have the infectious smile, the laugh etc then how much stick would he have got?

The new signings will likely not reach the levels that Gray and Rutter could do in the future but should have better seasons than that pair had last season for us.

Find the desire to talk down Georgie and Gray weird.

They are playing in the Premier League for a reason, Brighton have one of the best recruitment teams in football and deemed Georgie worthy of being the record signing.

They both had fantastic seasons for us last season.

Georgie created more chances, more big chances and got more assists than Pablo ever did, yes he could have scored more but he more than made up for it with his creativity in a very difficult style.

And Gray had a fantastic season played out of position, Bogle the natural right back has had a very dodgy spell defensively already.

No guarantee any of the new signings do better than what we lost.

Ramazani has potential but his actual goals and assist record isn't great.

Solomon very talented but barely kicked a ball in 12 months and been injury ravaged for 2 years.

Bogle decent offensively but already shown his vulnerability defensively (and also very injury prone)

Tanaka seems decent but he's a German 2nd division player, who knows how he does.

And the Swiss full back who knows how he adapts.

It's all very uncertain imo and not bringing I'm a proper replacement for Georgie who Farke clearly wants would be really poor given the amount they've flogged.

£140mil in £25mil spent.

[ruttermania]

I don't think anybody underestimates what we lost but the complaint last season was that we weren't bringing in any money to replace the players that were going out on loan . On the back of that many of those who are now complaining about a 90 point season were predicting that we would be lucky to make the top 6 . The 49ers held their nerve and backed DF in the transfer market and it nearly came off . Now the complaint is that we should have been buying players in advance of loan clauses being exercised when all experience shows that waiting until later in the window gives you access to a higher calibre of player . The statement that this window will be a failure unless there is a 'marquee signing' is based on an assessment that the squad is weaker because some players who had one great season have been sold is to say the least contentious . The real test of this window won't be at 11pm tonight but in May and the rest is just theatrics and hype.

[whiteinfrance]

I would be happy now if we had another CB!

[The Subhuman]

Like I said though if Gray was judged in terms of how he did just as a player then he had an average season.

Rutter needed more output from that position. 7 goals all season from that position was not a great return - if he didn't have the infectious smile, the laugh etc then how much stick would he have got?

The new signings will likely not reach the levels that Gray and Rutter could do in the future but should have better seasons than that pair had last season for us.

Disagree, he was involved with most of our goals and just because his finishing was off and he wasn't lucky enough to get the last touch before the goal scorer that shouldn't count against him... Everything last season came through Geo, even Summerville was often set on his way by Geo, ditto James..

[The Subhuman]

Find the desire to talk down Georgie and Gray weird.

They are playing in the Premier League for a reason, Brighton have one of the best recruitment teams in football and deemed Georgie worthy of being the record signing.

They both had fantastic seasons for us last season.

Georgie created more chances, more big chances and got more assists than Pablo ever did, yes he could have scored more but he more than made up for it with his creativity in a very difficult style.

And Gray had a fantastic season played out of position, Bogle the natural right back has had a very dodgy spell defensively already.

No guarantee any of the new signings do better than what we lost.

Ramazani has potential but his actual goals and assist record isn't great.

Solomon very talented but barely kicked a ball in 12 months and been injury ravaged for 2 years.

Bogle decent offensively but already shown his vulnerability defensively (and also very injury prone)

Tanaka seems decent but he's a German 2nd division player, who knows how he does.

And the Swiss full back who knows how he adapts.

It's all very uncertain imo and not bringing I'm a proper replacement for Georgie who Farke clearly wants would be really poor given the amount they've flogged.

£140mil in £25mil spent.

So do I

[DDB220]

I don't think anybody underestimates what we lost but the complaint last season was that we weren't bringing in any money to replace the players that were going out on loan . On the back of that many of those who are now complaining about a 90 point season were predicting that we would be lucky to make the top 6 . The 49ers held their nerve and backed DF in the transfer market and it nearly came off . Now the complaint is that we should have been buying players in advance of loan clauses being exercised when all experience shows that waiting until later in the window gives you access to a higher calibre of player . The statement that this window will be a failure unless there is a 'marquee signing' is based on an assessment that the squad is weaker because some players who had one great season have been sold is to say the least contentious . The real test of this window won't be at 11pm tonight but in May and the rest is just theatrics and hype.

I am pretty confident that if this squad of players churn out the results by the odd goal, exuding control and efficiency people will say the football is boring and with this squad we should be hammering teams.
Griping is a necessity for a lot of football fans, regardless of which club they support. All forums have a similar footprint of fans who bemoan any situation or event.
Patience and pragmatism is sporadically visible.

[Sean_Nile]

Find the desire to talk down Georgie and Gray weird.

They are playing in the Premier League for a reason, Brighton have one of the best recruitment teams in football and deemed Georgie worthy of being the record signing.

They both had fantastic seasons for us last season.

Georgie created more chances, more big chances and got more assists than Pablo ever did, yes he could have scored more but he more than made up for it with his creativity in a very difficult style.

And Gray had a fantastic season played out of position, Bogle the natural right back has had a very dodgy spell defensively already.

No guarantee any of the new signings do better than what we lost.

Ramazani has potential but his actual goals and assist record isn't great.

Solomon very talented but barely kicked a ball in 12 months and been injury ravaged for 2 years.

Bogle decent offensively but already shown his vulnerability defensively (and also very injury prone)

Tanaka seems decent but he's a German 2nd division player, who knows how he does.

And the Swiss full back who knows how he adapts.

It's all very uncertain imo and not bringing I'm a proper replacement for Georgie who Farke clearly wants would be really poor given the amount they've flogged.

£140mil in £25mil spent.

Now that was a Poisson Distribution of a post, or should I say a bell curve. Starting off negative, soaring and extolling, then falling back into negativity.

I will be looking out for more mathematical constructs in your posts from now on, instead of the usual flat line negativity.

[DDB220]

I would be happy now if we had another CB!

But that is just a bum on a seat ? We currently have two options for every defensive position when Schmidt signs. We also have Debayo who IMO should not be loaned out, but if he is with a recall option.

[Cjay]

Now that was a Poisson Distribution of a post, or should I say a bell curve. Starting off negative, soaring and extolling, then falling back into negativity.

I will be looking out for more mathematical constructs in your posts from now on, instead of the usual flat line negativity.

Not negative its totally realistic and logical

[Cjay]

So do I

Coping mechanism presumably

[andrewjohnsmith]

But that is just a bum on a seat ? We currently have two options for every defensive position when Schmidt signs. We also have Debayo who IMO should not be loaned out, but if he is with a recall option.

We should ideally have a reasonable back up for each position in the reserves. Maybe 3 or 4 players that would fill the last positions in a 25 man squad.

Sadly, most of our decent reserves have outlived reserve football and moved on to the lower leagues. That leaves just a couple in Debayo and Crew who could make a claim. So we need to hang onto them. There's a God batch of youngsters behind them but they're all a year or two away. So I reiterate. Keep Debayo and Crew as emergency back uos this season.

[weasel]

Find the desire to talk down Georgie and Gray weird.

Not talking them down - they both have tremendous potential

They are playing in the Premier League for a reason, Brighton have one of the best recruitment teams in football and deemed Georgie worthy of being the record signing.

They both had fantastic seasons for us last season.

They did not.
Archie did okay as a right back - wouldn't have said he was the best rightback in the league or the worst. At times he got caught out and looked like a midfielder playing as a full back. Going forward he got no goals or assists.
Rutter flattered to deceive. Something like 3 goals and 4 assists in his last 31 matches. Certainly not fantastic.

Georgie created more chances, more big chances and got more assists than Pablo ever did, yes he could have scored more but he more than made up for it with his creativity in a very difficult style.

Pablo was more selective when and where he passed. Anybody could create lots of chances if they continually go for the glory ball with no regard to the risk associated with losing the ball. As per usual though you are all about selective stats

And Gray had a fantastic season played out of position, Bogle the natural right back has had a very dodgy spell defensively already.

No, Gray had a decent season again nowhere near fantastic.

No guarantee any of the new signings do better than what we lost.

I agree. No guarantee with any signings and also no guarantee of a player fulfilling potential, improving or even staying at the same level as the season they just had.

Ramazani has potential but his actual goals and assist record isn't great.

Solomon very talented but barely kicked a ball in 12 months and been injury ravaged for 2 years.

Bogle decent offensively but already shown his vulnerability defensively (and also very injury prone)

Tanaka seems decent but he's a German 2nd division player, who knows how he does.

And the Swiss full back who knows how he adapts.

It's all very uncertain imo and not bringing I'm a proper replacement for Georgie who Farke clearly wants would be really poor given the amount they've flogged.

Certainly is uncertain but similarly last season we couldn't be sure any players would have fantastic seasons. Only 1 of the 3 sold had a fantastic season. Thankfully we also kept Rodon and Ampadu who both had fantastic seasons. Hopefully we also keep Gruev, Firpo, James and others who had pretty decent seasons too.

As for replacing Rutter why do you think Farke wants a like for like replacement? Perhaps he sees Aaranson, Gnonto, Solomon or someone else as a better fit than going for a like for like, high risk reasonable reward player like Rutter.

£140mil in £25mil spent.

Seems sensible and hopefully keeps the wolves, or other premier league teams, from the door in January or next summer.

[Cjay]

Archie did okay as a right back - wouldn't have said he was the best rightback in the league or the worst. At times he got caught out and looked like a midfielder playing as a full back. Going forward he got no goals or assists.
Rutter flattered to deceive. Something like 3 goals and 4 assists in his last 31 matches. Certainly not fantastic.

He was a midfielder playing full back, that was Farke choice as he decided Conor roberts now starting right back for Burnley and Djed Spence whose on the Spurs bench weren't good enough. He did a great job all things considered, and rarely looked as vulnerable defensively as Bogle has already.

Georgie had an opp and never recovered, hardly his fault Farke didn't have an alternative plan so kept using him half fit.


Pablo was more selective when and where he passed. Anybody could create lots of chances if they continually go for the glory ball with no regard to the risk associated with losing the ball. As per usual though you are all about selective stats

Rose tinted glasses here, Pablo had a very poor pass % for the same reason as Georgie, creative players have to play harder passes. Georgie still created more big chances as well. He had a great season in a far worse coached side than Pablo.

As for replacing Rutter why do you think Farke wants a like for like replacement?

Because he said so?

"Our wingers can fulfil this role but are not classical No 10. Apart from Brenden, we don't have a classic No 10. Perhaps in the last 48 hours we have to have a look at it"

Because he talked about the need to replace Georgie all summer? Because otherwise its square pegs?

[weasel]

Archie did okay as a right back - wouldn't have said he was the best rightback in the league or the worst. At times he got caught out and looked like a midfielder playing as a full back. Going forward he got no goals or assists.
Rutter flattered to deceive. Something like 3 goals and 4 assists in his last 31 matches. Certainly not fantastic.

He was a midfielder playing full back, that was Farke choice as he decided Conor roberts now starting right back for Burnley and Djed Spence whose on the Spurs bench weren't good enough. He did a great job all things considered, and rarely looked as vulnerable defensively as Bogle has already.

ALL THINGS CONSIDERED - that does not mean he did a great job period, as our American friends would say. Bogle may look vulnerable at times because he gets further forward, same with Firpo. Gray did brilliantly considering he wasn't a right back - but judged against other right backs he only did okay. The patient died but all things conisdered the bus driver did brilliantly considering he wasn't a brain surgeon. Is Bogle better in that position - probably a case of yes and no. Better at some things and worse at some things. I recall Gray being skinned quite a few times.



Georgie had an opp and never recovered, hardly his fault Farke didn't have an alternative plan so kept using him half fit.

3 goals and 4 assists in 31 matches - it is convenient to blame it on the injury but he had plenty of games where he wasn't injured. It is hardly like he came onto the pitch in a wheelchair and then got up and ran about when his carer wasn't looking.


Pablo was more selective when and where he passed. Anybody could create lots of chances if they continually go for the glory ball with no regard to the risk associated with losing the ball. As per usual though you are all about selective stats

Rose tinted glasses here, Pablo had a very poor pass % for the same reason as Georgie, creative players have to play harder passes. Georgie still created more big chances as well. He had a great season in a far worse coached side than Pablo.

You see what you want to see with your Rutter rose tinted glasses

As for replacing Rutter why do you think Farke wants a like for like replacement?

Because he said so?

"Our wingers can fulfil this role but are not classical No 10. Apart from Brenden, we don't have a classic No 10. Perhaps in the last 48 hours we have to have a look at it"

Rutter was not a classic No.10 either so that statement doesn't say he wants a direct replacement for Rutter

Because he talked about the need to replace Georgie all summer? Because otherwise its square pegs?

Rutter was also a square peg hence being played at 9 until Bamford got his goal in the cup v Peterborough and then started a run of matches as the 9 instead.

[Cjay]

"Apart from Brenden we don't have a classic number 10, perhaps something we need to look at".

What about that suggests he feels we have what we need?

[Phild]

The money we received for Gray and Rutter was absurd based on their perfiornancez.
Gray very average
Rutter either a 9 out if 10 or a 4 out of 10. ( weren’t many wanting him benched in the latter stages)
Both have been bought for their potential which may or may not work out
Premier league sides can afford to take that gamble which is exactly what it is

[ruttermania]

At Centre Back after Wober the next option is Ampadu with Gruev dropping into his position. Seems like a perfectly adequate solution if the necessity arises . Rutter clearly wasn't a classic No.10 by any means and his risk taking and his finishing could be frustrating at times but when he was on form it was a joy to watch. The unique combination of magician and grizzled veteran that was Pablo during the Bielsa era might very well have dragged us over the line for promotion but those guys aren't readily available . Pablo fitted into a lineage that included Bobby Collins and Gordon Strachan and we " shall not see their like again ".