A prestigious gathering of Holics at our spiritual home in Stroud Green Road was a pleasant preamble to a pleasant amble as Arsenal put a pitiful Sheffield United to the sword – or should it be Blade?
Eddie Nketiah was assassin in chief with his first hat trick for our senior side and we were able to work on our goal difference in a second half extended by ten minutes by a combination of several tedious VAR delays and a couple of physio treatments for Gabriel Martinelli – who was kicked to pieces by a thuggish right back called Bogle who might have received five or six yellow cards. When Bogle eventually got a yellow card in the second half he was immediately subbed.
It seems that you can’t score from a corner nowadays unless it’s checked to determine whether you have fouled the keeper, fouled a defender, handled the ball or perhaps even, broken wind in the penalty area. Two of our goals were checked before being allowed, a crude challenge by Trusty (once of this parish, sort of, and poorly named on this evidence) was given the all clear and the referee, Tim Robinson, was called to the monitor to award a penalty that was clearly a foul (he had given nothing) but may have been outside the area – it was clearly inside!
Arteta had rung the changes with our guesses in the preview at the starting eleven being a little bit wide of the mark. Kiwior replaced Gabriel at centre back, Smith Rowe came in for Ødegaard and Havertz was nominally a left 8 but played as a right 8. Arteta really likes inversion but they can’t touch you for it! Our front three was as expected by most and Bukayo was given the captain’s armband.
It was a bigger mystery than the Murder on the Orient Express how the Blades recently entered injury time at the Toilet Bowl ahead of a Tottnumb side that are clearly the finest team that have ever graced the Premier League. I don’t know if David Raya smokes but he could have enjoyed a crafty Castella or two this afternoon so little employed was he.
I will gloss over the first twenty five minutes of the game because the teams did! Almost nothing happened except Bogle kicked Gabi M a lot. Then after a break to administer first aid to the ailing Gabi in which the teams were able to take on water to combat the searing heat in North London this afternoon, we scored.
I can exclusively reveal what Arteta said during the break
“Thees muchachos are seriously crap. Why not try passing to Eddie in the box?”
A few moments later Declan Rice did just that. Eddie showed a silky touch and turn in the box to evade his defender and slid the ball home.
Arsenal 1 Blades 0 – Nketiah 25
The rest of the half took on the shape of games I used to play at the age of seven when we would put all the good players in one team and all the less talented in another and basically batter the life out of them. I was a nice kid. We failed to score again before the interval
Half Time: Arsenal 1 Blades 0
The second half was an example of why it can be a mistake to promote teams from the Championship into the Premier League and expect them to compete.
Paul Heckingbottom, the harassed Sheffield coach (has any Yorkshiremen ever had a more fitting name?), watched as Arsenal took the handbrake off and thrashed them.
Wes Foderingham (another piece of perfect naming) pawed at a Saka corner and the ball fell to Nketiah who lashed it home. Game over although in fairness this game was over much earlier!
Arsenal 2 Blades 0 – Nketiah 50
This was the most exciting moment of the match. Emile Smith Rowe slid a short pass to Eddie who had enough space and time to swivel and blast a shot past Foderingham’s right hand . Superb goal and a lovely celebration in the corner as Bukayo handed Eddie his first Premier League matchball.
Arsenal 3 Blades 0 – Nketiah 55
We then started the VAR shambles in earnest and the second shout saw Oliver Norwood commit a foul on the excellent Vieira who had come on in place of Smith Rowe. Bogle had gone by this time.
After an interminable delay during which the VAR pondered then the referee himself pondered, the penalty was awarded and Fabio Vieira was given the kick which he placed emphatically to the goalkeeper’s left. (I can’t be bothered to keep writing Foderingham -oops!)
Arsenal 4 Blades 0 – Vieira penalty, 86 mins
We then had a special moment – the first Arsenal goal for Tomiyasu. He hit home after substitute Elneny had flicked on a corner. His huge grin was wonderful to behold!
Arsenal 5 Blades 0 – Tomayisu 99 mins
Final score: Arsenal 5 Blades 0
If I may borrow a technique from Mike McDonald to sum up…
Positives from the game for us
– A fine Nketiah hat-trick. He worked very hard all game and has a predatory instinct which Jesús hasn’t to the same degree
– We managed to rotate very effectively. All five subs – Nelson, Tomi, Elneny, Trossard and Vieira came on to relieve key players and we still coasted through the game.
– Declan Rice was superb again. I can’t remember a better signing for a very long time.
– Raya kicked very well which is difficult with a cigar on! He didn’t have any shots to save.
Negatives
– I just don’t get Havertz. One of the most ineffectual players I can remember. He is paid more than Rice and Saka and Saliba. Words fail me!
– It rained as I went for the tube it always does nowadays!
In conclusion, a nice day and a very stress free match….unless you are Paul Heckingbottom!
“ The rest of the half took on the shape of games I used to play at the age of seven when we would put all the good players in one team and all the less talented in another and basically batter the life out of them. I was a nice kid.”
Gold.
In an attempt to prove I was more sober than most Holics I rushed out this report and it contains an error. Our penalty came when Trossard was fouled but this was not by the ref.
I don’t think this ref could have caught Leandro
This ref couldn’t have caught bubonic plague in the Middle Ages.
TTG. You did have that in the draft. I am confident that the pen that was given was a foul on Vieira. Hence I took editor’s prerogative and changed it. I will change it back and offer humble apologies in the next 45 minutes when the Sky MotD reaches that episode if I am mistaken. .
Sorry Bath
Tim Robinson was the ref . I attributed a foul to him. I think you are right it was Vieira who was fouled
If Carling did Saturdays …..
Lovely gossipy lunch with Bathgooner, TTG, CER and 21CG. Silicon Vally scarves were worn and we toasted the donor, Scruzgooner. A stroll down to the ground and we entered a few seconds after kick off (CER held us up by drinking multiple grappas). My excellent companion in the North Bank lower was Bathgooner, my son being off to a lads weekend in Leeds. Bath doesn’t jump around quite as much as much as countryman junior, but his language about referees is just as bad.
Great description of the game TTG. The Blades hung on to our coat tails for the first 25 but after the first goal it was one way traffic, with the last four all being scored right in front of us in the North Bank. A lovely comfortable win.
The grappa was indeed flowing. From memory, I only actually asked for one. As for the other two, well, never look a gift horse……
It was indeed Vieira who was fouled for the penalty that was finally awarded after long deliberations at the screens and I was rather surprised that he then took the spot kick himself but Vieira took it well, sending the keeper the wrong way.
Apart from not seeing the trip on Vieira at the edge of the box and more particularly failing to give Bogle a card after his first or second assault on Martinelli or indeed his third physical assault on Eddie (is Bogle really an egg chaser?), Robinson was far from the worst official I have seen this season. An earlier penalty shout that followed Trusty’s challenge on Nketiah, without the defender touching the ball at all, was briefly reviewed by VAR but would have been rather soft though it was clearly a tackle on the man in the box without any contact with the ball. Seen them given – generally against us!
I failed to spell Silicon Valley correctly. Sorry Scruz. Clearly the scarves were the inspiration for the victory.
I just hope that Ollie made it through the day, and night!
CER @10, I met him after the game waiting at the top of the stairs above the Bear Roundabout as I was heading to H&I tube station. He was vertical, coherent and orientated in time and place. However he was waiting to meet Esso for the second round. I fear he wouldn’t pass all key tests later.
I should add, I’ve just re-watched Eddie’s third again. What a sweet goal!
Arsenal had three starters (Saka, ESR and Eddie) and a sub (Reiss Nelson) from Hale End today. What a production line.
Way too drunk/tired to read the review yet, but yes all fine and home now CER.
Great bonus to bump into Bath indeed. Not sure if I passed all the tests (somehow I seem to have lost my powerbank somewhere in the pub or in the Eurostar lounge) but a very happy day!
So a top notch day all round, Ollie. Well played, Sir!
A most enjoyable report, TTG, fuelled, I suspect, by the pleasures of a good lunch, good company and a good win.
If Raya could have played with a cigar on, then Saliba could have done the same and taken a last, lingering puff before stubbing it out on the ground and then making his tackle, so much time and composure did he have. Like Rice, he does the basics so well and so consistently well that he makes what he does look deceptively easy.
Bravo TTG on a great report; CER on the grappas; and the football gods for making it a fine day to be a Gooner
Thanks TTG!
Fine report on a fine win. Pleased for Eddie, who I suspect might have not started this one for the majority of gooners. Mo with a fine assist at the corner somehow flicking on a la Bould was good to see too. Players like them, Kiwior, Tomi and the returning ESR are going to be so important as we challenge for the title.
Cheers TTG. Great report. And yes a bit of rain in London, and a proper downpour when I emerged into the open at the end of my journey home.
Saliba was imperious. We have not had a CB like him since the heyday of the great TA6. We’ve had some good CBs since as well as some poor ones but nobody as dominant at the back. I reckon he had a cigar AND a glass of champagne in hand all through the match…and didn’t spill a drop.
Rice is just amazing. He too is imperious in that midfield and plays like he’s been in that team for years. I think he plays like a combination of Vieira and Petit – the best midfield duo I ever watched for covering the ground and turning defence into attack.
The boost in our general quality with the arrival of Saliba, Jesús and Zinchenko and now Rice and the maturation of Saka and Martinelli (C100 reminded me yesterday that he cost us £3m!!!) needs just one more player of the quality of Saliba and Rice in the position of centre forward or attacking midfielder to come through or be purchased next summer for us to be really strong contenders for the big prizes.
Eddie’s third goal – I did not know he had that in him! Someone on twitter posted the ball traveled further for that one than all his other goals combined!
Eddie gets top marks of course, which coming on the heels of his less than impressive appearance vs Seville was very welcome. ESR and Kiwi proved to be very capable deputies. That leaves us with Kai (or should it be Coy?). I could swear that at times he was purposefully positioning himself behind a Blade so he was not available for a pass. Hiding on the pitch, if you will. I had written elsewhere that yesterday was a test for Kai and Eddie. There is no way Havertz gets important minutes in big games. His level is Sheffield and WHam midweek.
The other two I had my eye on were Zinny and Raya, only because Tomi and Ramsdale are equally capable and less error prone. Both of the former were mistake free and any selection controversy will have to wait.
Big one next weeks vs The Mags. Hopefully Ode is back and regains form. It’s time our noisy chicken-on-a-basketball neighbours dropped points and how did we manage to be so poor vs the Chavs last week? They were dire yesterday.
I’ve just watched MOTD. Our game was basically a goals show. But I was interested to watch Pedro Neto for Wolves. He’s basically a Saka clone but not as good. He’s been put in the frame for a January buy. I can’t see any space for him in the starting eleven and surely he’d be far too expensive (and wasted) as a squad player/Saka backup. He also suffered a bad looking hammy yesterday.
We won a game we were expected to win by a bigger margin than I’d expected we’d achieve. Would be good to take on a defence as porous as that of the Blades on a weekly basis – but, hey, theirs is a defence that kept the Sp*ds at bay for most of 90 mins when they played last. Hats off to Eddie for his trick. Not a classic. Win the next one.
Excellent report, TTG.
I’ll raise my hand and admit yesterday was a very weird experience for yours truly. As per usual, Josh and I took up our seats in the gameroom, but our mood felt different. Perhaps it was because it seemed the Deluvian floods were occurring outside our windows or both his matches were, understandably, cancelled, but both of us were unusually subdued.
I grumbled through the first 40 mins or so, then Eddie scored…Josh and I looked at each other and laughed. Not really celebrated, mind you, but laughed. I had just moments previously complained about Eddie’s lack of effort in closing down a subpar Sheffield backline, and then he only goes and scores. I said, “Well, I’ll be damned”…and Josh laughed, and I laughed.
The hat trick was just the icing on the cake.
I dunno, I wanted ESR and King Kai to do more, and do it more emphatically. I wanted a bigger role for Reiss. But, I was extremely chuffed for Tomi. Vieira was fine, congratulations on the expectancy.
It was probably just me. We avoided the banana peel fixture.
Play all the kids in the cup, and let’s go smash the tractor boys. Looking forward to them lot actually playing some tougher teams as well. Keep it rolling.
MCMBD
Great stuff, TTG, with chuckles-a-plenty 😃
The nominative determination within that group of Yorkshiremen is quite extraordinary – especially considering their only scoring opportunity was missed by Willie Eckerslike !
VAR up to the usual standards – an absolute age to decide that Vieira’s clogging on the 18yard line deserved a penalty – did they even realise the line is part of the area ? Who knows. At Brentford they spent over 5 minutes drawing all the wrong lines again – or, in the words of Eric Morcombe, all the right lines but not necessarily in the right places. Ye Gods !
Good win, though it could have been 10-0 if we’d really tried for the first 45.
Bath@19: Well said. Full marks, too, to Arteta for turning the gangling foal that was Saliba into the thoroughbred he has become. The doubters, of which there were many, let us not forget, have fallen silent. Something similar could be said for Martinelli. Arteta resisted calls to play him until he thought he was ready. Now Gabi is rightly a first-name-on-the-teamsheet player.
Regarding another of our Gabis, is Gabriel carrying some sort of injury or illness that requires his playing time to be managed? Unlike Ødegaard, there was nothing in his Sevilla performance to suggest he could benefit from a break, and he’s not played that many minutes, as he didn’t start the early games. Or does Arteta have some secret master rotation plan, or is he just prepping Kiwior as an insurance plan in the event of a Saliba-like absence reoccurring?
@21 yeah, I wouldn’t buy Neto either C100, can’t swear to it but I think his injury record isn’t good. The best outcome for me would be Eddie to make the new CF conversation unnecessary over the next month and we buy no one in January. If we buy a CF then Eddie may be leaving, if we buy a winger then the same for Nelson.
Trev@24: To your final sentence, we failed to score early against the team that has conceded more goals in the first 15 minutes of games than any other in the league. In fact, we have failed to score in the first 15 minutes in every league game this season, a record matched only by yesterday’s visitors and the Red Mancs. Last season’s fast starts have been replaced by establishing control, perhaps.
Some very interesting comments and good points . Our start wasn’t slow it was glacial . Saliba had 133 touches ( a centre back in a 90 minute game that we won 5-0 ) . Most of those were in the first twenty minutes when basically he stood there with the ball at his feet. But Bath is right he is truly elite .
Four of our five top points scorers in Fantasy League were defenders when they scarcely had an attack . Go figure !
Neto is an injury waiting to happen. Well in fact it did already . He missed huge parts of the previous two seasons . We really need another top midfielder if we unload Partey .Or we could clone Declan Rice .
Cloning Declan Rice is an excellent idea TTG, I hope the Technical Team will get on it right away. Of course we couldn’t call him Declan Rice as people might get suspicious – something similar and easy to remember would be David Price 😉
Ned @27 – yes, I think you can see in our team selections and tempo that Arteta is trying to establish control and cut out the early goals we were conceding. That’s all well and good but it was so slow yesterday I did wonder if we would be able to speed up when we needed to. In the end we won 5-0 and our back four spent 50% of the match literally walking with the ball. It was a bit frustrating but it’s a long season with a lot of games to play (just to specialise in the bleeding obvious)
OsakaMatt @29 – the ladies team have already been at it and are already featuring Saffron and Jasmine 😳
I respect the opinions but I think the criticism of the first 25 minutes is way overdone. We were getting a grip, working out the Blades deep block and gradually finding away though it. Once we did that we scored five. Glacial? You were watching a different game to me. Now the first half against Chelsea, that was glacial. A rotated team as well yesterday. Compare this to Spurs late late show against the Blades. Stop mithering. Be happy!
Two interesting games to come this week. League cup against West Ham at the London stadium. Now I want to win this but am happy to play a squad team with some finishers on the bench. West Ham lost to Everton yesterday and Moyes has form making 11 changes for games like this. Newcastle have Manchester United the same night. Then we’re off to SJP on Saturday against a slightly misfiring Newcastle, a must win game.
I’ll be at both games, with a Saturday night stay in Newcastle. We have an AirBnB in Gateshead and are looking forward to a curry and a couple of beers after the game. Lots of football ahead of the next damned interlull!
The new GHF Predictathon Leaderboard for Match Week 10 has been posted. What a difference a grappa makes!
Head over to the GHF Contests tab to see the latest
C100
I accept that there was a tactical rationale in our early approach but when your defenders dominate possession it does not make easy watching. The first twenty minutes were like watching paint dry . Saliba had 133 touches . Your centre back averaging one and a half touches a minute in a game against one of the worst sides to play in the division for years.
Sheffield United are a really poor team who lost 8-0 at home recently and they barely knocked the skin of a rice pudding all game . The end justifies the means but that was profoundly boring .
Arsenal have found themselves down in the first few minutes of games over the last few months against very average sides. I’d suggest this is not because we bombed forward recklessly but because we had no momentum
The Chelsea game was entirely different because they dominated play and we had to deal with their split strikers and the pace of their game. We didn’t have enough possession to be glacial . The key to modern football is not just having the ball but doing something substantive with it
TTG. My friend. You are a miserable so and so. Unlike CER you clearly didn’t drink enough at lunch!
C100
That we can agree on. But then very few people match CER’s consumption at lunch 😃
It’s his Italian blood.
@31 Thanks Trev, didn’t know the long and the short of it until you told me!
Ajax are bottom of the Eredivisie and Lyon are bottom of Ligue 1. How the mighty are fallen.
There was a horrific attack on the Lyon team bus going to their game in Marseilles. Lyon’s manager, Fabio Grosso, was badly injured, hit in the face by shattered glass and a beer bottle. No place for such behaviour in football, or anywhere else for that matter.
I wear it as a badge of honour that my Saturday lunchtime grappa performance should be so impugned by veteran long-lunchers of the class of C100 and TTG
Cheers TTG! Saturday was a fine day out.
C100 – looking for a decent curry in Geordie land – get yourself down here! Not too far away if you’re staying in Gateshead.
https://www.visitsouthtyneside.co.uk/article/8503/Ocean-Road#:~:text=Ocean%20Road%20is%20often%20referred,more%20unique%20and%20experimental%20options.
United critic Gold ridge made a salient point in his rant about the VAR official Michael Oliver
“United were terrible today but Michael Oliver was the ref who gave the City offside goal against Fulham. He was the ref who didn’t send Kovacic off (against Arsenal). And he was the VAR for that pen today. Just saying”
I don’t usually countenance accusations of bias from other teams but those were three horrendous decisions . The Akanji offside v Fulham was diabolical , the Kovacic decision profoundly flawed and that was a very soft penalty indeed yesterday . And he is reckoned our best official . I’m not alleging corruption among refs but I think they get cowed by the likes of Guardiola and Klopp. Exactly the same happened when Fergie was at United . Having Mike Riley as ref was worth umpteen points a season for United . Now Citeh get that advantage
Grappa revelation
On my 40 th birthday I went to the Italian restaurant I used regularly with two mates who were also forty around the same time . The proprietor ( who I had made a.very rich man over the years ) gave us all 7 different flavoured grappas after lunch .
Those were the days when lunch was lunch not a watercress sandwich and a Diet Coke .
So to accusations that my friend CER is a drunkard I would say these things are relative
I was released from intensive care in time for my41st birthday
Esso @42. Thanks for the recommendation! South Shields maybe too far for Saturday night, I’m looking for somewhere close to St James Park, but I’ll certainly bear it in mind the next time I have a little longer in the North East.
*gets ball rolling again*
Today is Bob Wilson’s 82nd birthday. To see Bob’s interview with us, together with Pat Rice, see the 70/71 double tab above.
Happy birthday to Bob Wilson. 82 years young today!
Legend! Happy Birthday to him. But can the 50 be saved here without gloves?
Just dropped by the bar. Is it someone’s birthday?
Deary me, I seem to have inadvertently stolen the half ton, ah well nothing for it but to raise the bat and acknowledge the ripple
And Happy Birthday to Bob as well 🎉🥂
A good time had by all on Saturday it seems. I am in the UK just now and had hoped to sneak along for a surprise hello. Sadly, I am not in control of my schedule and family stuff intervened. Anyway, off to France tomorrow (Eurostar willing and some of Ollie’s previous posts have got me a bit worried on that score) for a trip to Deauville and large amounts of calvados. Not that I can manage large amounts of calvados anymore.
Well in for the half-ton, Matt, and safe trip to Normandy. Hopefully your Eurostar will run smoothly!
Cheers Ollie!
I sent Bob birthday greetings on behalf of us all at Goonerholics Forever . I hope Megs continues to do well
Regards,
Peter
I attempted to lift my message to him but it cut off hence my partial message above! Anyway I hope he is in rude form. I did ask him about what he felt about the goalkeeping situation but I won’t go public on that one
finally got a chance to comment on this.
great quick report, same game as i saw. eddie impressive as hell. but not as impressive as that pic with the svg scarves and aa bobble hat. wish i could have been there, but i know that gathering won us the game 🙂
Well in for the half-ton, OM. Enjoy the calvados.
TTG@56:👍
Happy birthday to one of the best.
Catching up with C100@32 and others@earlier: Patient rather than glacial would be the aptest description of our first half hour against the Blades, when they were most energetic and disciplined. Once we had scored, we took them apart at our leisure.
Interesting article in the Athletic (££)
https://theathletic.com/4981221/2023/10/29/premier-league-fans-wrong-end/
Ned at 59. My point precisely.
C100@61: Indeed. I am in your camp on this one.
Bob Wilson acknowledged our greeting but very sadly Megs his wife has deteriorated and is now bedbound with her brain tumour . Thoughts go out to them both and if you’re so inclined prayers too. He is heartbroken but I still got a nice heart emoji this morning when I passed on our collective good wishes
Our thoughts and best wishes go out to them both, TTG.
https://x.com/tikitakaconnor/status/1719305332432785824?s=61&t=cVFjCyGkt4y-Ne45LtfqkQ
Arteta has confirmed that Ødegaard is carrying an injury, but to his hip rather than his lower leg, as we had surmised. For a player for whom half turns are such a part of his game, it would explain his recent quietness. Reading between the lines (if that is possible with Arteta), I doubt he will start against West Ham.
Partey’s muscle injury sounds serious and perhaps undiagnosable.
Congrats to Aaron Ramsdale for coming eighth in the Ballon d’Or voting for the Yashn (goalkeeping) award. It must be tough to be thought of as one of the top ten keepers in Europe but can’t get a game for your club. Maybe we shall see him against West Ham. Emi Martinez, formerly of this parish, won the Yashin away..
Cheers, TTG. And what Ned said at 64.
Today’s Standard talks of a direct transfer battle between Chelsea and ourselves for the signature of Ivan Toney in January .They speculate that the fee will be around £80 m.
Chelsea currently have 12 points from 10 games and are apparently facing the prospect of a points deduction for offences related to signing Willian and Eto’o . That would make any sort of European qualification highly unlikely so you woukd think that the decision is a no-brainer for Toney .But then reading on his new agent is Jonathan Barnett who ‘masterminded ‘ the transfer of Cashley Hole from Arsenal to Chelsea .
That makes a decision based on money far more likely even if it is detrimental to To Ed’s interest .
After our expenditure in the summer can we afford £80 m in January without violating FFP anyway ?
Toney not To Ed
TTG. Believe nothing you read in the Standard (or the Mail, or any of the tabloids). Remember the golden rule, only give a transfer rumour credence if it comes from Ornstein or Romano.
Happy to let the Chelsea win that battle.
I inadvertently wrote ‘the’ Chelsea as
I was distracted and didn’t write the
Chavs 🙁
There is of course only one ‘the’ in
London and it isn’t a classless rabble
from a bus stop.
I wouldn’t spend £80m on Toney and I suspect nor would the Arsenal. He’s a £30m striker at best.
The Standard as a London paper has decent links and Sami Mokbel at the Mail is very close to the club . Sam Dean at the Telegraph is a specific Arsenal correspondent and Gary Jacob at the Times ( while I think he is a Spud ) gets some good exclusives .
I think Arsenal use Ornstein as almost a quasi-announcer . Romano is remarkably networked .
Toney will sell for at least £60 m but there must be real doubt that his style would fit into the way we play and his gambling problems must deter buyers . There are a few young strikers on the continent like Boniface at Leverkusen , Gonçalo Ramos at Benfica and Openda at RB Leipzig who may be the next big thing but Toney is PL proven .
Matt, there is one ‘the’ that applies to Chelsea – they are ‘the’ third best team in West London 👍🏻
TTG, do you mean the Gonçalo Ramos who signed for QSG this summer? 😉
Apologies, just checked and he is on loan. I’ve clearly not paid enough attention to the movements there…
Team news including Arteta doing his beet to put the doubt into Moyes as to whether to expect Rice to be in the team:
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11670/12997246/a-beautiful-moment-arsenal-boss-mikel-arteta-expects-warm-west-ham-welcome-for-declan-rice
beet = best
Especially if you like borscht for your soup course.
Ollie,
That’s the one but I thought that he was still theoretically available as he was on loan. He looked good in the World Cup
Toney is way overpriced at £80 million. Fair market value would be about 3/8ths of that, by my back-of-the-envelope calculation, given he has less than two years left on his contract.
I had forgotten (OK, never knew) that Toney had been at Newcastle for three years. mostly out on loan in the Championship and League One but played 41 minutes in four sub appearances for the first team before being sold to Peterboro, whence to Brentford, with the Geordies getting a 30% sell-on fee from the £5 million the Bees paid.
Still doesn’t make him worth £80 million.
@78 thanks for link bt8. Good to see Jesus
nearly ready to return. No need to play Declan
I think but TP5 being out is a blow.
@75 👌 Trev
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>