Manchester United banter 7

07 Jul 2026 21:01:27
There are thousands of players worldwide playing to a high level. Who had heard of Ole or Shmeichel or Ronny Johnson before we signed them? More recently, players like Caicedo or Kroupi or Rayan come to my mind pretty easily as similarly unknowns, but quick to show they belong in our top league.



So I want the scouting staff to dig up these diamonds in the rough and watch them being polished at Utd.

07 Jul 2026 22:11:01
None of those players are diamonds in the rough. The scouting department would have known about them. In Caicedo's case, United had the chance to buy him.

Kroupi and Rayan were key figures in the French and Brazil youth setup. Scouting has changed dramatically over the last 30 years, and it's extremely rare for any top club to be unaware of potentially top-class young players.

The issue at United is that players like the three you mention are looking for consistent first-team football. Clubs like Bournemouth, Brighton, and Dortmund can sign players like this with the promise that they will play. Then, if they reach their potential, they're likely to be sold to a bigger club.



United haven't got a very good track record of signing players like that, because the expectations are higher and game time is more limited. This is why players like Bellingham decided against coming here. They'd rather be in the right environment to develop than risk their careers being a bit-part player at United.

Yoro is a prime example. A highly rated young player who has struggled with the pressure here, hasn't played well, and his career has stalled. That's the risk with promising young players. There are sure bets, and Bournemouth is a more forgiving environment than United.

07 Jul 2026 23:11:14
Danny, I would argue that Caicedo improved hugely once he had played here for two years. Kroupi and Rayan may have been known by scouts, but are nowhere near the finished article yet.

I hear your point about the pressure and pathway for younger players, but I think if Sir Alex had been in charge, Bellingham might very well have signed for us.

Yoro, too, seems to me to be suffering because of the poor team management under Amorim. He was asked to play without a proper defensive midfielder in front of him, and he was never given one strong, mature partner at centre back to build a strong relationship with. Again, bad coaching and management.

08 Jul 2026 08:15:27
I agree with both Salford and Danny. United is a goldfish bowl, and players may struggle to develop here, but over the years we have found a few. There must be a way of balancing big name signings with bringing in high potential.

Interestingly, Heaven fits that category and he looks ready for a sustained run, but I worry that we will revert to Maguire and de Ligt ahead of him.

I think Heaven should be a regular starter, but not sure Carrick has the balls to make that call.

08 Jul 2026 08:25:03
The problem Utd had was that players like Caicedo etc weren't big players who would help to bring in more revenue. The Woodward era was all about getting more from sponsorship deals. An unknown player didn't fit their profile.

08 Jul 2026 11:46:42
AJH,

Agreed.

I also wonder at what point will people start to question Carrick on how he treated Heaven last season, and if it starts again, there have to be serious questions next season.

08 Jul 2026 12:03:49
Red Man: Why would we question Carrick's treatment of Heaven when it worked for the club? Heaven is young. He is getting more opportunity than he would have had if he had stayed at Arsenal. He'll get even more next year with the extra games. Maguire only has one year left, probably.

Yoro looks a little lightweight. Who knows how many games de Ligt will play. Martinez has a rocky injury history, and maybe an excellent distributor of the ball, but is not a great CB for the EPL. Heaven will be just fine, or he'll be sold for a very handsome profit.

08 Jul 2026 12:22:41
We will continue to try and bring in players at varying degrees of readiness for the first team, as we have done over the past few years.

Heaven is one that, I think, will kick in next year, and will get plenty of games across the season, giving him time to develop and, hopefully, nail down a first team position.

I am not sure we can judge Carrick's future treatment of younger players based on the time he had last season. Above all, it was a succeed-now time to get into the Champions League, and in that sense he was successful. Now he has the job permanently, he can take a more structured view of these things across the whole season.

08 Jul 2026 12:31:15
Carrick's points-per-game was awesome. But we still know very little about him as a Manager. If we do sign a few players, he will have some selection dilemmas. It will be interesting to see how he deals with that. I want to know he has big balls.

08 Jul 2026 13:08:47
Ajh,
If Rashford plays for United then you will know the answer.

Newname,
I openly questioned how Carrick treated Heaven. He came in when we were in a crisis, played superbly, then got dropped. The message was, doesn't matter how well you play, the known name will come in. It's not a good message.

08 Jul 2026 13:26:00
Yoro has been a massive disappointment and seemingly gone backwards. Generational talent? He probably needed another year in a less demanding league, but other major clubs were sniffing so we pounced.

08 Jul 2026 14:38:57
I think Yoro and Heaven both look good. They are both young and will develop. Young players will have a non-linear path to success, no need to stress.

08 Jul 2026 16:17:37
That's the million dollar question, ajh.
He came in and did extremely well. I didn't advocate him at the start, thought there might be a smell of Ole off him, but there wasn't.
He earned the right to the job when there were no obvious standouts available.
But now the tough job starts, knowing when to take players in and out, and managing those egos. It's easy when it's going well, but how will he handle it when it gets tricky.
All I'll say is that he has answered every question so far, so I'm hopeful he will do well.
@redman
If the team wins, the manner has done his job and made the right decisions, it's as simple as that. How many 19yo cbs play regularly in the EPL? Or ever have done.
You say Heaven came in and did well, so should have been retained, not a better experienced man coming in.

Pity your double standards are exposed as you preach the opposite on Carrick. Who has done well, but you don't want him to retain his position.
Relax on Heaven, he is young, doing well and doesn't need to be in the team every week. The team were winning with him not in it. If the team is winning games with the players he picks, you can't question it.
19 is too young to be playing cb weekly in this league, very few have ever done it before.
Remember how wrong you were about Garnacho. Players need to mature, particularly defenders. He has not even finished growing yet. Just because the manager doesn't pick the players you want, doesn't mean it's poor handling of the players. He knows a lot more than you do.

08 Jul 2026 16:45:07
For me, this is the big issue with young players today. They all want to play regular first team football in their teens. However, a lot of them are nowhere ready.

The likes of Bournemouth can take risks on bringing young players in and putting them in the starting 11. If they work immediately, it's fantastic; if they don't, they get a bit more time to adjust without much fanfare.



At United, any new signing is put under a media microscope and labelled a failure if they don't hit the ground running. You can see why young players would be reluctant to come here.

08 Jul 2026 17:58:06
I agree, Danny. If you ask de Ligt now, whether playing every week as a teenager has helped or hindered his career. Playing cb and training too much, at too young an age, and his body is knackered.
Agents and money are the primary driving forces in young lads making poor decisions.

{Ed001's Note - the problem is usually not too much football but not the right lifestyle/diet or fitness regime. That is more of a hindrance than playing too often, usually.}

08 Jul 2026 18:26:15
Same with Michael Owen, and Rooney to an extent, Ken. I think there are plenty of former and current players that probably wish they hadn't played as much before they were physically ready to.

But, as you said, money, agents and fame are all pushing young lads today.

08 Jul 2026 18:35:12
TW,
The point you were trying to make was not a real comparison. I know you want to tempt me into commenting on Carrick, but let's keep it simple.

I didn't say Heaven should play weekly. Huge difference between a player playing very well in a game, and should retain his place for the next game on the basis of performance, versus name and reputation coming straight back in, which is a terrible message.
The Carrick argument was doing well in a short-term, temporary role and being gifted the biggest job in world football permanently, not a temporary extension.

I think you can see that is very different.

Yes, I also said that about Garnacho, brilliant as a youth, and said young players get to that age and can take off or fall back. He got a chance and didn't take it. He fell back; still, we got £40m for him. Heaven got his chance and took it but was held back. If he plays and does well, he should keep his place. If we don't do that, it brings bad blood. You played, you know how it feels.

08 Jul 2026 21:49:16
Not to do with playing too much, it's more about being professional, lifestyle/training/recuperation/mindset/diet..... but of course all the trappings of money, fame & fortune, girls put paid to a lot of that..... that's the problem, not playing too much.

07 Jul 2026 12:43:38
There's been no talk of Toby Collyer. He's been hit by injuries, but was once regarded by many as a high potential player. He certainly looked a decent prospect a couple of years ago, and we need a few home grown talents.

If he can get fit and up to speed, he surely can't be as ineffective as Ugarte. Apparently Hull City want to keep him, but could he be part of the club's planning? Or is he Tom Cleverley redux?

07 Jul 2026 15:33:21
He made Michael Phelan look like Bobby Moore...

07 Jul 2026 17:57:23
Even his parents don't talk about him, never mind anybody else. Newname.

08 Jul 2026 10:41:20
Why waste time on someone who has 23 senior appearances across all teams since 2024? Move on and find a replacement. Clearly not good enough, and can't stay fit.

We need to get out of the habit of letting players "get fit to see how they get on". Look where that has gotten us with Mount and De Ligt.

08 Jul 2026 11:47:37
Yes, let's ditch him now, what a loser.

07 Jul 2026 09:00:31
So we find ourselves between a rock and hard place.

After paying silly fees and exorbitant wages for years, the new management have brought some semblance of control to things. All well and good and about time, but when the likes of Spurs are throwing money around it makes it doubly difficult to rebuild the squad.

Fees are one thing, but wages are just as important in terms of the impact it has on the rest of the squad. The Athletic podcast says we were confident Fernandes wanted to come to United, but Spurs offered significantly higher wages, outside of our structure, which would have meant lots of our existing squad would have been demanding more. The salaries we paid to Sanchez, DDG, Rashford, Sancho caused all sorts of issues in setting expectations for others.

We also have a lot of debt and transfer fees due, making cash flow a problem. We need sustained qualification for the Champions' League, but to do that we need to strengthen the squad. Right now, we simply don't have the money for the rebuild we need.



I don't think Anderson wanted anyone other than City, which I get, whilst Tonali appeared to only want to move to London, and Fernandes was happy to go where the bigger salary was.

The days of us dominating the transfer market are long gone, we are saddled with debt with a stadium that needs major work or rebuilding. If Bournemouth show any signs of being willing to sell Scott, I would expect another action, same with Tchouameni so chasing the popular targets will be problematic.

We need to be investing in the type of data analysis Brighton have used so successfully and start to unearth players before they hit the big time. I know people will roll their eyes at the risk involved here but Lammens is a great example, surely we have others we should be taking a punt on?

I have no answers, I didn't particularly want Fernandes, but the club did, and we lost out to Spurs. Let that sink in, we lost out to Spurs, almost relegated last year.

Strap in, this could be a rocky window.

07 Jul 2026 12:16:06
Ajh,

Good post. The club are being financially prudent now. The current debt levels, plus the impending stadium debt, need to be managed carefully.

I do feel that the club will sign another 3 or 4 players. Spurs certainly have thrown a cat among the pigeons, startling Utd and changing their transfer plans.



There are even gaps calling Edersem the new Klebersen because he isn't a big named superstar. I think Utd will turn to players like this, with their main focus on players wanting to play for the club, not just here for a pay day.

07 Jul 2026 13:56:10
Good posts, lads.

Paying for the sins of previous administrations, but many cannot see that.

There are a lot of issues to be ironed out before we are able to structure things in a way where big signings like Anderson etc. can be made again.

Many holes to plug before we are back there.

07 Jul 2026 14:35:06
But what of Berrada's claim that the club intends to be fighting for the title by 2028? How does he expect us to do that if our debt level means we can't compete for the best players? Sure, we don't want to be committing the sins of the past again, and we may need to maintain a salary structure, but the reality is that top players cost big money. Haaland is on £500k pw. Arsenal have 5 players in the £240-£280k pw range. Salah was on £400k pw, etc.

So, if it's true that United want Tchouameni but can't afford to meet or improve a little on his current salary of reportedly £205k pw, then I really don't see how we're going to get back into the mix at the top of European football.

Success costs money. It's all very well trying to rely on Brighton-style recruitment, but that's only going to get us so far. Brighton are not a club that has the wherewithal to win the EPL and/or the Champions League. And, let's say Tchouameni is a genuine target, even at £250k he'd be £100k less than Casemiro.

What we can afford, what we're willing to pay, who we're interested in signing, etc., is all quite possibly a load of clickbait based on nothing more than innuendo and rumour, but whatever the reality, there's one overriding fact at work. If you want to beat the best, you have to have even better, and that will require acquiring some top players at whatever the market price is.

07 Jul 2026 15:18:54
Good post, newname. The point people forget is the cash inflow of the CL as well. With names like Santos, we are not getting CL next season, and that further adds to the cash challenge and further delays the much needed rebuild.

We cannot simply rely on the second-grade players to reach where we hope to be. It's a one-time push that is really needed now. Any delay just pushes us down the line with everyone around us improving.

07 Jul 2026 15:53:20
It looks like we are shopping at the cheaper end of the market, both in terms of fees and player salaries.

This does not align with "We will win the league by 2028".

It is also frustrating that the club use media cronies to put messages out that Anderson is our number one target. Tchouameni is a priority, etc. Apparently they need him to ask to leave and to take a pay cut because 215k per week is too much.

They are trying to kid the fans that they are still competing at the top table, when they know they are not.

Bruno is underpaid versus his output. Mainoo was underpaid for his level too. We are going to try to be Wenger's Arsenal when they were trying to pay off the Emirates debt. So at least tell that to the fans and we can reset expectations.

Maybe we will be more successful with Heaven and Yoro. We tried pretty much everything else!

07 Jul 2026 17:05:59
Why on earth would Tchouameni want to leave arguably the biggest team in the world and take less money?

07 Jul 2026 17:50:18
Tchoumeni is just a smokescreen in my opinion.

07 Jul 2026 21:36:40
They are never going to try and go for Tchoumeni. In the same way, they were never really going to try for Anderson. We've seen this for years, leaking big names to the press to try and show fans they are trying.

Other clubs seem to get the name leaked and sign the player fairly quickly after that. For whatever reason, United like to drag things out for months and end up signing the player at an inflated price.

They either don't want to spend the money or, more likely, can't spend the money.

If they are waiting for top tier players to go and ask their current clubs to move to United to force a better deal, they'll be waiting a long time.

Sadly, those days are long gone.

My guess would be the midfield for next season will be Mainoo, Ederson and Berge from Fulham. Hardly inspiring, or, more worryingly, capable of being competitive in the league and Europe.

They've had months to plan for this midfield rebuild, I have no idea why they are dragging their feet now.

They also need to try and get Bruno to commit to staying. If he goes, the team really is in trouble.

All my opinion, of course. For all I know, they could go and spend £200m tomorrow.

08 Jul 2026 08:17:20
If we have 250M to spend, then we can only hope there is a strategy. It does seem the salary structure is being stuck to right now.

08 Jul 2026 10:37:43
Who says we have £250m to spend? I've seen that a few times but I highly doubt it. £150m max I'd say.

07 Jul 2026 08:20:52
Tchoumeni is this summer's De Jong… lots of press, lots of rumours, but he’ll stay where he is. Apparently we have told his agents that we want him, but he’ll have to take less than he does at Madrid. Can’t see that happening.

07 Jul 2026 08:46:52
A new deal for Tchouameni then.

07 Jul 2026 07:42:38
Hopefully Bruno gets some rest now, he didn't look anywhere near the player he was for us all season. We will need him fresh and rested come the start of the season. Only Mainoo, Lammens, Martinez and Massouri left there now, I think.

07 Jul 2026 08:15:17
Plus Rashy, like it or not.

07 Jul 2026 11:10:39
Mainoo and Lammens have not played a game. Mazz is hardly a world-beater and wants to retire anyway. Martinez, hopefully, is sold, so hardly any bother to us.

07 Jul 2026 11:30:21
Mr Happy in da house.

07 Jul 2026 06:49:13
For a club that supposedly aspires to win leagues, having finished 3rd, we seem to be looking for bargains. The first preseason game is next week, no doubt tour not long after. We have a glaring hole for a midfield, yet only Ederson, who hasn’t even actually signed yet, may be coming in.

Now we have supposedly considered Chelsea reserve Andrey Santos for midfield.

Whether people like this or not, the club seem to look at top players, get plenty of press coverage to make fans dream, then have no intention of buying because the price is too much. The link to a Chelsea reserve has got to be a joke, right? Ok if he was the third choice, but why would he come to be third choice at Utd, unless he was fifth at Chelsea.

Yes, long way to go in the window, but the club have a lot to prove, their ambition for a start.

There was a time they seemed to like to be linked to players for clicks maybe, Woodward flying home for “urgent transfer business” then doing nothing.

Let’s remember when we finished second under Jose and everyone said the club didn’t spend because the owners thought they had got what they wanted, thought they would stay up there, make money without spending too much. Look where we are, finished third, appointed the ex player who, unlike Jose wouldn’t demand too much and now are baulking at spending big. That may be the pattern we are seeing again.

Yes, the window is open for weeks, but at this point we are not seeing a decisive club. If they want quality they are going to have to pay for it.

07 Jul 2026 09:02:10
Red Man, I don't think we have the money, nor do we want to go back to where we were previously, massively overpaying on salaries.

07 Jul 2026 09:28:29
Santos would be a very astute signing at the right price, Chelsea fans love him. He played in 43 games last season, more than United actually played. Pretty impressive for a 'reserve' that you've decided he is to fit the narrative of that post.

07 Jul 2026 11:13:09
Sjr is just as bad as the Glazers in a different way, he is a penny pincher. Just look at the mess he made of Nice. In fact, most of the sporting teams he has been involved with are not exactly doing great.

07 Jul 2026 11:19:47
GDS,

Like Mason Mount? That sort of astute signing. Chelsea fans loved him too.

We watch City get Anderson, Arsenal get Rice, even Spurs get two in, but hey, the answer is Santos for us. Astute? Not seen enough, but is that really, truly the level we are operating at now? Not the stand out players, but a nice bargain.



Sounds like we are starting to accept no value, not over paying commentary.

Dividends could be good again.

07 Jul 2026 11:21:53
GDS2, did you actually watch Santos play? Or just giving out the count of games to prove a point? Chelsea were hopeless last season, and perhaps Santos playing those 43 games could be a reason.

Fans giving in to this crap now. Ajh saying we should be like Brighton. Good lord.

07 Jul 2026 11:33:32
Selective quote UA, I said more like Brighton in terms of unearthing talent, as opposed to simply buying it.

07 Jul 2026 12:15:52
Red Man, there are a 100 different holes to be filled before we can start picking and choosing targets like Arsenal or City. Look at their history of buying, and then look at ours.

The club is in a position where we are correcting past failures, and, unfortunately, that is going to take time.



They are setting new precedents, and are unwilling to make the same mistakes as their predecessors.

Look at last year's window, 5/5 good signings? We managed to get them for good fees and good wage structures. I would call that very astute.

You just love a moan.

07 Jul 2026 13:13:44
Angel

My eyes are open.

Is the club looking upwards to unseat City and Arsenal or down to how we might stay in touch with spending too much?

If your eyes are open, you can see which one. A change in direction is needed.

07 Jul 2026 13:58:09
Of course they are looking upwards. But, in order to move there, there are an awful lot of old mistakes that need re-correcting.

New training facilities, a new stadium in the works, good signings made last season.

But, you want a change in direction? Which way is that then?

07 Jul 2026 14:39:20
I'm also frustrated, but we can't spend what we don't have.

07 Jul 2026 15:21:09
Where is the 250m that we were told we had? Plus the cash from sales. Ederson's purchase, if it happens, is essentially offset by the sale of Hojlund, so we still should have the 250m. If it were Qatar we would be buying the lot.

07 Jul 2026 17:40:46
Angel

When Jose finished second, they said they were looking upwards, then had a ridiculous window. Until proven otherwise, this looks the same.

The change of direction, one where we show real ambition to win the title, is needed. We haven’t done that since the Glazers arrived. It became obvious we were in decline when SAF was no longer there to deliver. Once the Glazers arrived, we stopped; the Rooney-type transfers disappeared. No value.

It looked like they questioned why we need to spend big when we finished top four. Now it’s not overspending, the modern no value. Finish third, let’s not overspend.

We have had a hole in our centre midfield for years, yet seem to be looking for a bargain, whilst competitors and even Spurs have better players. If competitors have better players, what do you think the result will be?

Maybe they will surprise us but so far it has been so uninspiring.

07 Jul 2026 16:43:46
Who told you we had 250m to spend

08 Jul 2026 00:15:02
Red man, you hark back to a time where ed Woodward was in charge. This is very different now.

Give me a time where we had 5/5 signings?

And yeah sorry, spurs have been brilliant in years. Jesus

08 Jul 2026 06:33:33
Angel

Is it different so far this window? Yes, maybe we will sort it out, but surely even you with your red specs can see the similarities between the Jose window and this one? The no value message has just changed to will not overpay.

08 Jul 2026 07:57:37
Red Man,

Absolutely no way I can conclude that from a couple of weeks into the window where we have already basically signed a CM. Let's see how the next few weeks play out. I have not seen any similarities at all between those at the table then and now.

Berrada, Wilcox and co had a fantastic window last summer, so they get a lot of grace starting off in this one, particularly given that there is a World Cup currently going on.

08 Jul 2026 07:58:02
Where have you heard the no value from?

08 Jul 2026 19:27:15
Angel
SAF repeatedly said variations of "there is no value in the market" (or similar phrasing) regarding player transfers.

United have explicitly stated they will not overpay in the transfer market this summer.

Berrada has been clear on this. In early June 2026, he emphasized that the club must "stick to their plan" and remain disciplined, saying they know what they can invest and won't deviate by overpaying.

07 Jul 2026 03:55:14
Questionable FIFA decisions

1. The last 2 games of Ronaldo's 3 game ban suspended allowing him to play in the first 2 World Cup games.

2. Balogan's one game ban suspended for the game v Belgium.

3. Inter Miami - invited to play in the World Club Championship when they were not MLS champions.

4. A FIFA Peace Prize to the war maker.

All terrible precedent setting decisions that reveals the total corruption at the top. One law for the rich, and one for the poor.



Remember the 1999 UEFA Cup final when we had both Scholes and Keane suspended (although Keane was injured too). We won. Not so Portugal and the US. Bad karma.

Why wouldn't any team sue FIFA to get players reinstated now? What's the point of having VAR and then a review by the referee if decisions are going to be overruled and the rules bent subsequently for what looks like financial or political reasons?

07 Jul 2026 06:41:03
Same old FIFA. Reminds me of when South Korea were co-hosts and FIFA did everything they could to get them to the final.

07 Jul 2026 09:57:14
It's shameful, but Infantino knows he will get re-elected by Africa and Asia, so he does what he wants. So many major sports are run by rank amateurs, with little consequence for how they perform.

Europe and South America are the football superpowers, but Blatter and Infantino realised that you can bypass them to get elected.

The fawning to the USA has been nauseating, hydration breaks, the half-time show we will be enduring, overturning the red card, just awful.

07 Jul 2026 11:55:13
Football is slowly moving away from being a competitive sport to sports entertainment. There appears to be a real drive to make money, and they wrap this around "growing the game". Infantino and Blatter both came from football administration backgrounds, and not within the competitive game.

The sad thing is, the game would have continued to grow organically, whilst maintaining its competitive credibility, but this now seems to have been lost.

07 Jul 2026 12:16:36
An incredibly corrupt institution.

08 Jul 2026 18:13:20
AJH, I'm not sure that's true anymore. I get the impression he's burning good will with Africa, and possibly Asia too, albeit to a lesser extent. Whether that will be enough, time will tell, but I think his position may be less secure than he thinks.

06 Jul 2026 16:22:41
A big shout out to Jordan Henderson who was booked and injured in a game he didn't play in. Top effort.

06 Jul 2026 19:16:29
Tbf I quite like Henderson's energy.

06 Jul 2026 20:25:46
It's these intangible qualities that all tournament winning teams are built off, tbf.

06 Jul 2026 22:15:28
The stuff of folklore and legend.

07 Jul 2026 00:22:28
MOTM.

07 Jul 2026 08:14:19
That was the best game he's had for yonks.

06 Jul 2026 10:55:10
Casemiro's comments about Mainoo, not sure where the narrative that he isn't focused has come from.

"Kobbie is the present and the future," said the Brazil international. "I think that he is one of the best no.8s and can be that for the next 12 years.

"He is a player I really like. He always wants the ball. It is true that football can’t change your mentality but
Kobbie demonstrated that he hasn’t changed his focus once."

"He has to continue focusing
like he is now and continue playing the important role he is now.

But what a player he is, he is a great player."

"He has demonstrated this, in the Euros final with England, he has
demonstrated it in finals, he scored in the FA Cup [in the 2024 final win over Manchester City]."

"Kobbie is the present and the future."

06 Jul 2026 12:29:22
"I've told him, 'You play good. Yeah, it's top, it's top.' And I try every day like this with Kobe. Kobbie is an unbelievable player. But he needs to train, train, train. He needs fear, like 'I play, I don't play.

I need to push the training, push the training.'

This is the bit about working hard, it's not really a huge deal in the context of the whole conversation.

06 Jul 2026 12:30:11
What would Casemiro know.

06 Jul 2026 15:26:02
Jsu's 1st language is obviously not English that's very apparent so you really have to take anything that he says with a huge pinch of salt. He doesn't make sense most of the time. He might be stupid as well but we don't know that for sure so indulge him and throw him a bone now and then.

06 Jul 2026 18:10:39
Kobbie, who finished the season, was running hard everywhere. He was getting to the pitch and sprinting back at double speed to cover Casemiro when he was out wide, filling holes in our defense. In the past he was not doing that. I'm not saying he was a lazy player, but I feel like he coasted through some games, using his skill and positioning to save him from some of the lung-busting runs.

If we can get a more intelligent Robbie, who learns when to get around the pitch like a man possessed, and when to sit and protect, then we will have an even better player.



He also sometimes plays the safe option with the ball rather than the more challenging ball to cut open the opponent. He can break lines by driving forward with the ball, but he is doing that less these days. Is this part of coaches' instruction? Who knows.

I think he will continue to develop, and I expect him to take on a more influential role this year. If he plays the whole season like he ended the last one, I will be more than happy.

06 Jul 2026 10:46:04
Reading an interesting article on our debt and interest so we owe around 1.2 Billion on loans and player purchases outstanding. Our revenue was around 700 million, but are paying 60 million on interest alone. We generate more revenue than all other teams in Premier, but cannot use that to our advantage because of the interest payments.

You would really have to wonder where the money is coming from to build the new stadium. There is no appetite to reduce loans so interest will only go in one direction.

06 Jul 2026 13:00:09
I really don't wonder about it at all. Potential methods of funding new stadiums is way beyond my pay grade. Real Madrid are using theirs to generate all sorts of additional revenues, keeping them at the very top of the income list.

City, Arsenal and Liverpool all generated more revenue than us, although next year we should be back up to the same level.

Net interest payments haven't been as high as £60m, but might get there in the future. The new fixed loan is bigger and at a higher rate, but the increase will be used in the short term to lower short term borrowing and correspondingly costs.



But, to your point, £50m in interest payments annually is equivalent to the cost of an extra two £75m players on £200k a week. Definite disadvantage compared to debt free clubs. We would be in an even worse debt situation if Ineos hadn't put some cash into the club. However, both Ratcliffe and the Glazers tend to work of high leverage strategies. If they're not personally guaranteeing anything, then if it all goes tits up, the creditors get stiffed (but they do lose the value of their stock).