January 2023

[-sodapop]

I know I'm setting myself up for hurt, but imagine Kristiansen, Tete, LaFont and Souttar all over the line and a couple of returns from injury? We'd be flying - those could be enough for a top half finish even.

[moore_94]

Kristiansen?

“I’ll speak about players when they’re signed. It’s clear we want players. When they’re announced, I can discuss it.”

 

More signings?

“That’s the plan. We want to strengthen, the club are working very hard to do that. I’m concentrated on the football side. But between now and the end of the window, we hope to strengthen.”

 

Exits?

“I think for some players between now and the end of the window, there will be exits. Younger players will get loans. The challenge has been for us, for players to come in, you want to get players out. But you can only get players out if teams want the players. Hopefully we can get a few more in.”

[Ric Flair]

Braybrooke going on loan has to happen.

[Pliskin]

We need to start paying attention to Marcos Leonardo as a potential replacement for Vardy. Kids going to be next level sauce.

[TJQuik]

11 hours ago, LestaLad said:

Niko Bellic as in GTA Niko Bellic? 

That's my nickname for him

[lcfc sheff]

Hindsight and all that, but can’t help but feel signing Lookman and maybe cashing in on Barnes would’ve been a smart move. Barnes will still contribute to us but we could do with the £30m+ it could’ve made us.

[Pliskin]

7 minutes ago, lcfc sheff said:

Hindsight and all that, but can’t help but feel signing Lookman and maybe cashing in on Barnes would’ve been a smart move. Barnes will still contribute to us but we could do with the £30m+ it could’ve made us.

That would create more problems surely? As we would just be in the same position? 

[Supergray22]

14 minutes ago, lcfc sheff said:

Hindsight and all that, but can’t help but feel signing Lookman and maybe cashing in on Barnes would’ve been a smart move. Barnes will still contribute to us but we could do with the £30m+ it could’ve made us.

I said at the time signing lookman at the time would have made sense. We had a season to look at him and he did well. He offered us tenacity, flexibility and options in the front line and the right attitude. At the price many of us felt he was a no brainer. The club likely knew about financial constraints last season and that was probably why we didn’t do that business. However i cannot recollect people calling for barnes to be sold. His stock was on the rise and we were looking to improve the squad. We didn’t have any firm offers I believe. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I’m sure this lull in form is only temporary but one thing for sure letting him go on the cheap now would not make sense. We will need his potential in the fight to avoid relegation and as with lookman we know him well - a bird in the hand etc.  The fact that lookman is ripping it up at the moment is great for him and the only positive thing we can do is learn from it. 

Edited 20 January 2023 by Supergray22

[lcfc sheff]

16 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

That would create more problems surely? As we would just be in the same position? 

Would it? We could use the money made to improve the squad whilst arguably not getting any worse? 

[lcfc sheff]

11 minutes ago, Supergray22 said:

I said at the time signing lookman at the time would have made sense. We had a season to look at him and he did well. He offered us tenacity, flexibility and options in the front line and the right attitude. At the price many of us felt he was a no brainer. The club likely knew about financial constraints last season and that was probably why we didn’t do that business. However i cannot recollect people calling for barnes to be sold. His stock was on the rise and we were looking to improve the squad. We didn’t have any firm offers I believe. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I’m sure this lull in form is only temporary but one thing for sure letting him go on the cheap now would not make sense. We will need his potential in the fight to avoid relegation and as with lookman we know him well - a bird in the hand etc.  The fact that lookman is ripping it up at the moment is great for him and the only positive thing we can do is learn from it. 

Oh I wouldn’t have let him go on the cheap but just think perhaps could’ve cash in on him in the summer - but like you say maybe there was no offers as it’s never really been rumoured. Hope we can learn from it as it’s clear we haven’t been doing enough wheeling and dealing 

[hackneyfox]

Lookman had some games where he’s get the ball and just freeze. People are rewriting history and creating a player that didn’t exist.

Would we have got £30m for Barnes.

Yes at the moment I’d sooner it was Lookman rather than Barnes but us wasn’t clear cut at the time, neither player has had a storming career so far, both have long periods of underperforming.

[lcfc sheff]

5 minutes ago, hackneyfox said:

Lookman had some games where he’s get the ball and just freeze. People are rewriting history and creating a player that didn’t exist.

Would we have got £30m for Barnes.

Yes at the moment I’d sooner it was Lookman rather than Barnes but us wasn’t clear cut at the time, neither player has had a storming career so far, both have long periods of underperforming.

We’d get more than £30m for Barnes I just meant it as a minimum. Lookman looks better on the left and offers more of a threat than Barnes. Can also play RW and striker.

[An Sionnach]

Barnes can't defend , period. Any LB will have problems dealing with that. 

[Flappit]

1 hour ago, Supergray22 said:

I said at the time signing lookman at the time would have made sense. We had a season to look at him and he did well. He offered us tenacity, flexibility and options in the front line and the right attitude. At the price many of us felt he was a no brainer. The club likely knew about financial constraints last season and that was probably why we didn’t do that business. However i cannot recollect people calling for barnes to be sold. His stock was on the rise and we were looking to improve the squad. We didn’t have any firm offers I believe. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I’m sure this lull in form is only temporary but one thing for sure letting him go on the cheap now would not make sense. We will need his potential in the fight to avoid relegation and as with lookman we know him well - a bird in the hand etc.  The fact that lookman is ripping it up at the moment is great for him and the only positive thing we can do is learn from it. 

There's way too much rose-tinted hindsight about Lookman. There were many match threads absolutely slating him and he was a journeyman at best in the PL. He was far from being a "no brainer" for all but a very few.

[An Sionnach]

4 minutes ago, Flappit said:

There's way too much rose-tinted hindsight about Lookman. There were many match threads absolutely slating him and he was a journeyman at best in the PL. He was far from being a "no brainer" for all but a very few.

We are not Man.City or Real Madrid , we need reliable journeymen. We are never and I mean never going to be a team of All stars.

[LeePhilpottsBaldSpot]

1 hour ago, lcfc sheff said:

Hindsight and all that, but can’t help but feel signing Lookman and maybe cashing in on Barnes would’ve been a smart move. Barnes will still contribute to us but we could do with the £30m+ it could’ve made us.

I know Barnes isn't everybody's cup of tea and he's is in a bad spell, but I think he's a decent player. 

 

Premier League

 

Year	Matches	Goals	Assists
2022-23	17	6	0
2021-22	32	6	10
2020-21	25	9	4
2019-20	36	6	8

 

He can be frustrating because when he's off form he can be really poor, and I'd argue Rodgers' tactics are too rigid and inhibiting Barnes' biggest talents - running at players and playing direct.

Edited 20 January 2023 by LeePhilpottsBaldSpot

[StriderHiryu]

1 hour ago, hackneyfox said:

Lookman had some games where he’s get the ball and just freeze. People are rewriting history and creating a player that didn’t exist.

Would we have got £30m for Barnes.

Yes at the moment I’d sooner it was Lookman rather than Barnes but us wasn’t clear cut at the time, neither player has had a storming career so far, both have long periods of underperforming.

Fair criticism. Looking at him at Atalanta he’s being used differently. They run a much higher and aggressive press and it means he’s getting and taking a lot of chances. He’s surrounded by better players and improved with them. 
 

In his time here it was clear he was a good player and definitely worth a squad position. But we couldn’t afford it. 
 

He is statistically one of the top 5 players in Serie A this season! 

[hejammy]

23 minutes ago, LeePhilpottsBaldSpot said:

I know Barnes isn't everybody's cup of tea and he's is in a bad spell, but I think he's a decent player. 

 

Premier League

 

Year	Matches	Goals	Assists
2022-23	17	6	0
2021-22	32	6	10
2020-21	25	9	4
2019-20	36	6	8

 

He can be frustrating because when he's off form he can be really poor, and I'd argue Rodgers' tactics are too rigid and inhibiting Barnes' biggest talents - running at players and playing direct.

What maybe some don't realise though that yes this is his biggest talent - BUT...Other teams know this and he's almost classed as a "one trick pony" so is becoming increasingly predictable. Maybe he has been told to develop his playing style to have some more tools in the armour but he is simply not capable of doing that. Growing up he probably only used that one trick to get past defenders and it worked every time almost. In the premier league you face the very best defenders in the world and you cannot just rely on one trick to be a great player. Unfortunately he's found out and unless he develops some brain cells and gets a new trick or two - it will be the same old.  

[LeePhilpottsBaldSpot]

2 minutes ago, hejammy said:

What maybe some don't realise though that yes this is his biggest talent - BUT...Other teams know this and he's almost classed as a "one trick pony" so is becoming increasingly predictable. Maybe he has been told to develop his playing style to have some more tools in the armour but he is simply not capable of doing that. Growing up he probably only used that one trick to get past defenders and it worked every time almost. In the premier league you face the very best defenders in the world and you cannot just rely on one trick to be a great player. Unfortunately he's found out and unless he develops some brain cells and gets a new trick or two - it will be the same old.  

Fair point, but the growing narrative is that he's an absolute no hoper - despite him scoring 4 goals in 5 games before the Christmas break. Doesn't quite tally with the idea that teams have figured him out.

 

You're right that he should develop a broader game, but I still think when we play to his strengths, he's already a decent player. 

[hackneyfox]

1 hour ago, lcfc sheff said:

We’d get more than £30m for Barnes I just meant it as a minimum. Lookman looks better on the left and offers more of a threat than Barnes. Can also play RW and striker.

He was nothing like a RW, at best he was better than our options but never good enough to play that role.

[LCCFox96]

I mean simply put, our squad was significantly better with Lookman in it, than not. Being unable to make his loan move permanent, coupled with Schmeichel and Fofana's exits meant we finished the summer window weaker than when we started it. It's a shame, as think we'd got him playing to a level where it was plausible he'd have kicked on like he has done this season. Flashes of brilliance and there was lots to like about his all round game. I wish we'd been able to keep him.

 

In a ideal world last summer, we'd have had something like Barnes / Lookman as LW options and a new starting RW / Albrighton on the right side with Perez being moved on to help fund the additions and Maddison operating between the starting wingers. Alas, it's all a moot point now.

[Supergray22]

3 hours ago, Flappit said:

There's way too much rose-tinted hindsight about Lookman. There were many match threads absolutely slating him and he was a journeyman at best in the PL. He was far from being a "no brainer" for all but a very few.

There are many different views on every topic on here. Many of which most people would not agree with. I don’t care about views that I feel are completely wrong. He didn’t do bad here at all and had some very good moments. He did go through a few games where he looked a bit lost and did look better on the left than right wing but he also had something different and contributed greatly to a few wins. He hasn’t settled as many younger players often do but he is not a journeyman at the end of his career. Far from it. 

[Flappit]

1 hour ago, Supergray22 said:

There are many different views on every topic on here. Many of which most people would not agree with. I don’t care about views that I feel are completely wrong. He didn’t do bad here at all and had some very good moments. He did go through a few games where he looked a bit lost and did look better on the left than right wing but he also had something different and contributed greatly to a few wins. He hasn’t settled as many younger players often do but he is not a journeyman at the end of his career. Far from it. 

So you don't pay attention to other views unless they agree with yours. Got it. 

[Buzzell]

On 19/01/2023 at 14:50, -sodapop said:

I know I'm setting myself up for hurt, but imagine Kristiansen, Tete, LaFont and Souttar all over the line and a couple of returns from injury? We'd be flying - those could be enough for a top half finish even.

Don’t do it to yourself man.

[cruzFOX]

It’s not one or the other folks. Lookman was a great impact sub. Yes when he started games he wasn’t as brilliant but damn he showed he had enough to be in our squad period. We all saw how much better barnes was with competition. All we needed was another winger on the other side to balance it out. I’ve always liked lookman. I was mad when we didn’t buy him for a paltry 15 mill. We had first dibs and now Atalanta are laughing all the way. They will sell him for a profit too if and when they choose to. On this I’m with Rogers who was probably peeved to see him leave at a time when we really needed him. Just look at us now. I’m the grand scheme of things we would hardly have broken the bank to sign lookman. Flippin do it in installments as embarrassing as that would be. Anyway water under the bridge now. Rant over sorry