18 minutes ago, big blue said:

Xhaka deal reportedly off.

New 'manager' same short comings with this ownership.

Hopefully Xabi can work miracles with his hands tied behind his back, because that is the job desciption here now.

18 minutes ago, big blue said:

Xhaka deal reportedly off.

New 'manager' same short comings with this ownership.

Hopefully Xabi can work miracles with his hands tied behind his back, because that is the job desciption here now.

Looks like it. Sky has reported that Xhaka confirmed he is staying at Sunderland...

I suppose he wants to stay at the club that is playing European football

Lacroix will be the next «deal off». Initially had some hope but the statement re Maresca and now Xhaka tells me nothing has changed. 20 million on leadership er actually need? No. 50 million on a huge unknown in Palestra? Sure, why not! Better enjoy Alonso while he’s here, wont be long before McFarlane is back in the main seat

25 minutes ago, big blue said:

Xhaka deal reportedly off.

New 'manager' same short comings with this ownership.

Hopefully Xabi can work miracles with his hands tied behind his back, because that is the job desciption here now.

I've been as critical as anyone about the owners, but what are they supposed to do when Sunderland won't sell him? We can't expect them to spend £30m+ on a 34 year old, it just isn't feasible.

3 minutes ago, timetowaste said:

I've been as critical as anyone about the owners, but what are they supposed to do when Sunderland won't sell him? We can't expect them to spend £30m+ on a 34 year old, it just isn't feasible.

You could not waste houndreds of millions on duds - just because they’re young. 30 million on Xhaka is nothing if he helps us and Xabi in a meaningful way for a couple of seasons. We spent 20 million on Washington for christ sake. 40 million on Garnacho. 60 million on Gittens. Is that feasible? Its Maignan all over again, with Lacroix.

Well, it was fun to have some hope again for a little while but the truth is - we’ll be going NOWHERE until BlueCo is gone

18 minutes ago, timetowaste said:

I've been as critical as anyone about the owners, but what are they supposed to do when Sunderland won't sell him? We can't expect them to spend £30m+ on a 34 year old, it just isn't feasible.

We offered £8m.

Is £20m-£25m that outrageous?

Its the same bullsh*t as last year with Maignan.

The club will spunk £15m on kids that will never play for us. Then walk away from players for the 1st team over what is pretty small change with how much they have spent.

Lets see how this window plays out.

So far we have sold one the best left backs in europe, and brought in a right back that has played 1 decent sesson. Just realized we have just signed a 17 year old scottish centre back too.

Nothing has changed other than Alonso's title imo. Actions speak louder than words, and im going to nedd some massive winning over.

33 minutes ago, timetowaste said:

We can't expect them to spend £30m+ on a 34 year old, it just isn't feasible.

Why not? We've spent £120m on Gittens, Delap and Garnacho.
We've also spent £30m on Kellyman and Wiley, two players who would likely never kick a ball for the first team.
Then you have £87 on Palestra and Quenda, and the list just keeps going on and on.
£30m on Xhaka is a steal by these standards.

39 minutes ago, AndyDowsleftflank said:

Lacroix will be the next «deal off». Initially had some hope but the statement re Maresca and now Xhaka tells me nothing has changed. 20 million on leadership er actually need? No. 50 million on a huge unknown in Palestra? Sure, why not! Better enjoy Alonso while he’s here, wont be long before McFarlane is back in the main seat

I can already imagine the post match press conference after his first game:
"Since I joined the club, the last 90 minutes have been the worst 90 minutes since I joined the club because many people didn't support us."

3 minutes ago, yaz said:

Why not? We've spent £120m on Gittens, Delap and Garnacho.
We've also spent £30m on Kellyman and Wiley, two players who would likely never kick a ball for the first team.
Then you have £87 on Palestra and Quenda, and the list just keeps going on and on.
£30m on Xhaka is a steal by these standards.

That's been their modus operandi since the sporting directors took over. They have an age limit and a wage limit. Probably a lot to do with resale value, hence very long contracts on relatively low base wages. They look at each potential transfer target as an asset. In that sense spending big money on the likes of Xhaka, Maignan etc does not fit their model.

They're not building to win. They're just London based version of Brighton, only with idiots in charge.

Edited July 3Jul 3 by abramovich

22 minutes ago, abramovich said:

That's been their modus operandi since the sporting directors took over. They have an age limit and a wage limit. Probably a lot to do with resale value, hence very long contracts on relatively low base wages. They look at each potential transfer target as an asset. In that sense spending big money on the likes of Xhaka, Maignan etc does not fit their model.

They're not building to win. They're just London based version of Brighton, only with idiots in charge.

So maybe they shouldn't be twerking their arses at them and making themselves look like muppets to the world. We all know that they are w*nkers without it being written large by the likes of f**kwits like Alex Crook.

I'll just reply to you all here as you've said similar stuff. We've absolutely spent money on sh*te, I know it, you know it and by now I think the board know it. That being said, we can't counteract spunking hundreds of millions on young players who mostly won't ever be good enough by spending a very large sum of money on a 34 year old. Sunderland have no reason to sell and they don't want to sell at any near reasonable price because he's one of their best players. Unless Xhaka kicks off and demands a move, which it doesn't look like he is, it's a dead end and for once I can't blame the board for it. But what I will look out for is who we go for next.

The result is the same though. We have to offload anywhere up to 15 players this summer, just to meet our amortisation costs, to trim the squad for our campaign and to keep us in line with the Uefa fine restrictions.

The only way to do that is to foster a harmonious relationship with the few clubs in the world that are capable of producing funds to buy players and not the Italian bullsh*t of never ending loans.

To have gone in for Xhaka with a bid of £17m - £20m probably would not have backed Sunderland into a face saving corner which has made us look dicks again. And with all due respect o him, because i think he would have been good for us, if we aren't capable of getting a deal over the line for Granit Xhaka then every single one of us knows that any and every link that is generated on these forums and on Sky is complete bullsh*t.

We are buying nobody for Alonso. Nobody comes in here unless Fernandez, Gusto, Neto are moved on because that is the only way money can be raised. I genuinely think that there isn't a single business man in this entire organization. This club is done

2 hours ago, big blue said:

Xhaka deal reportedly off.

New 'manager' same short comings with this ownership.

Hopefully Xabi can work miracles with his hands tied behind his back, because that is the job desciption here now.

3rd day on the job officially and BlueCo are doing their thing already.

Just wait until the Bergvall briefings come up.

I can feel it in my god damn bones that BlueCo have a f**king hard on for this twat.

2 hours ago, timetowaste said:

I've been as critical as anyone about the owners, but what are they supposed to do when Sunderland won't sell him? We can't expect them to spend £30m+ on a 34 year old, it just isn't feasible.

I don't think they were genuinely interested though. 8m was never going to get him because Sunderland didn't want to sell, but at the same time, you can't justify spending much more on a 34 year old midfielder like Xhaka. They would have known that and I think they put that bid in just to look like they were interested and look like they were backing Alonso. Now they can say "we tried, but they said no".

I mean the Champions League revenue dwarfs w/e fee the club spends to get Xhaka so it isn’t like there isn’t a positive trade off.

I agree with Scott. Don’t think the club were ever interested. Lacroix front has gone silent after the player agreed terms.

Just all too familiar.

While I agree that can't expect to pay massive amount on 34 year old 8m is a Toal p1ss take, these dkheads just never get it right. Why not go in at a respectable offer that, even if deemed a little low at least may keep you in the conversation with negotiations even if eventually can't agree.

we just don't seem to be a serious club any more in more or less anything that we do, they never seem to get the balance right.

25 minutes ago, Blue Ram said:

While I agree that can't expect to pay massive amount on 34 year old 8m is a Toal p1ss take, these dkheads just never get it right. Why not go in at a respectable offer that, even if deemed a little low at least may keep you in the conversation with negotiations even if eventually can't agree.

we just don't seem to be a serious club any more in more or less anything that we do, they never seem to get the balance right.

Simple answer. They are fking sh*t and have completely annihilated our club through their own typical arrogance and ineptitude.

It's depressing if these reports about not pursuing Xhaka are true. Alonso clearly wanted to join forces with him again after a successful time together at Leverkusen.

I rate Alonso very highly, but I'm still very concerned about whether BlueCo and the SDs have the structure in place to give him the best chance of succeeding.

8 hours ago, Blue Ram said:

While I agree that can't expect to pay massive amount on 34 year old 8m is a Toal p1ss take, these dkheads just never get it right. Why not go in at a respectable offer that, even if deemed a little low at least may keep you in the conversation with negotiations even if eventually can't agree.

we just don't seem to be a serious club any more in more or less anything that we do, they never seem to get the balance right.

8m is a reasonable fee but Sunderland won't sell, it is a simple as that

21 minutes ago, Bob stark said:

8m is a reasonable fee but Sunderland won't sell, it is a simple as that

It's not as simple as that, though. In isolation you are right, paying 8m for a soon to be 34-year old player seems a decent fee, but context is everything in this case. Xhaka is a key player for Sunderland, he provides invaluable leadership and experience and is in a top shape for his age. How are they supposed to replace what he brings with measly 8m?

I agree with @Scott Harris, our directors are just doing what they always do in those situations, they feign interest and self-sabotage those type of deals by making the kind of offers they know will be rejected. Then they pat themselves on the back, make the usual "well, we've tried" comment, release a brief on how they're happy with the players they already have and announce a signing of another 17-year old. Business as usual at Blue Co.

6 minutes ago, abramovich said:

It's not as simple as that, though. In isolation you are right, paying 8m for a soon to be 34-year old player seems a decent fee, but context is everything in this case. Xhaka is a key player for Sunderland, he provides invaluable leadership and experience and is in a top shape for his age. How are they supposed to replace what he brings with measly 8m?

I agree with @Scott Harris, our directors are just doing what they always do in those situations, they feign interest and self-sabotage those type of deals by making the kind of offers they know will be rejected. Then they pat themselves on the back, make the usual "well, we've tried" comment, release a brief on how they're happy with the players they already have and announce a signing of another 17-year old. Business as usual at Blue Co.

Agree but it is simpler than this. Last time I chekced our owner is still blue co, by now all of us know how they operate.

19 hours ago, big blue said:

We offered £8m.

Is £20m-£25m that outrageous?

Its the same bullsh*t as last year with Maignan.

The club will spunk £15m on kids that will never play for us. Then walk away from players for the 1st team over what is pretty small change with how much they have spent.

Lets see how this window plays out.

So far we have sold one the best left backs in europe, and brought in a right back that has played 1 decent sesson. Just realized we have just signed a 17 year old scottish centre back too.

Nothing has changed other than Alonso's title imo. Actions speak louder than words, and im going to nedd some massive winning over.

I was shocked at how little we offered Sunderland for Xhaka, there are townhouses on my street worth far more. I suppose he wanted to stay at a club that plays European football. He's a professional with high expectations, clearly.

Edited Saturday at 12:295 days by chelsearesident
adding

13 hours ago, Jezz said:

I rate Alonso very highly, but I'm still very concerned about whether BlueCo and the SDs have the structure in place to give him the best chance of succeeding.

The thought on everyone's mind. There is no platform for any manager to succeed here.

Xhaka I am not too fussed about, but how they handle the Lacroix situation as well as them identifying and securing a top midfielder will surely set the precedent of how they'll treat Alonso moving forward.

Edited Saturday at 14:305 days by Sconnie Blue

There are far more valid reasons to criticize the board on but bargaining for a 34 year old Xhaka isn’t one of them. If the board went full in on Sunderland’s demands aka what boehly did when he first took over it would have spiked all our prices for the rest of the summer because every club would no we are desperate to buy every player Alonso wants.

Not to mention Sunderland have mentioned that he is not for sell so putting up 30mil only to get rejected makes us look like idiots and spikes all the prices of players we want. It’s up to Xhaka to force the move.