Welcome Declan Rice

[augie]

Not sure where you’re coming from NFG as the vast majority on here have been singing Rice’s praises

Read through some of the comments on this thread.

Lots of negativity before he played but lots of positive comments since.
For what it’s worth I voted that I wanted us to sign him and I think he’ll be a very good player for us

I think most think he'll be a very good player for AFC, but where some of us differ is that we think that a £105m player has to be better than "very good". I dont feel that it is an anti Rice agenda at all, and I openly said that I think that it is very hard for any defensive midfielder to justify a £100m+ transfer fee purely because of the role they play. Nutflush can argue for him to play a more advanced position and that is ok too, but please do not compare him to Bergkamp cos he isnt half the player the great man was - that is no insult cos in my lifetime I doubt if I have seen 5 players in world football that were better than Bergkamp.

I think the club pissing away 65m on havertz is def making it easier to justify Rice's transfer fee too, but imo that shouldnt come into it

[nut flush gooner]

Well Tony Bloom has proven you wrong DB10, and a lot of other people in football.

You don't become a self made billionaire and structure your whole life around the application of data in different settings be it poker, gambling or football unless you do something that is on a different level to your peers. There is a very good article written by the Athletic about it, and countless pieces on social media including You tube about his history. Starlizard is a very secretive company that employs over 100 people in the heart of North London, every member of staff is sworn to keeping the methods that the company uses to turn over hundreds of millions each year. Look at the website, if you work with data there really isn't a lot to gleen.

https://theathletic.com/1678274/2020/03 ... -gambling/

Their recruitment process revolves around quantitive analysis and its only when certain metrics are met, that they decide to follow up and take a closer look at a particular player. It's no coincidence that a club of a similar stature Brentford are also punching above their weight using similar methods to Brighton. The only reason they can do this, is their owner was a former business partner of Bloom, they fell out but clearly he is clever enough to apply similar methods in Brentfords recruitment process.

Just yesterday we were linked with a move for Evan Ferguson next summer, £100m for an 18 year old. Brighton already took the piss out of Boehly and made him look like a mug over Caicedo, paying £15m more than he needed to when he thought he would get Caicedo for £80m. Last weekends West Ham game was pure comedy with Caicedo conceding a penalty. No big club has been able to replicate what Brighton does, as long as that continues, there is a very good chance they will establish themselves in the Division giving big clubs a bloody nose both on and off the pitch.

Going back to Rice, its ok I understand that the agenda has already started against him, so when you present statistical analysis its always what the eye sees over what the figures show. And on this forum I am not surprised that people always like to go against the grain, even if what the majority has seen is we have a gem in Rice that adds tons of value to the club. He was the MOM on Monday, the stand out player, I don't care what pundits say I make my own mind up. Just waiting for a derogatory nickname for Rice now, because that's how people on this forum love to push their confirmation bias.

Let the games come, I have no doubt the noises will be drowned out by the acceptance by the broader fanbase we have recruited a star.

Against my better judgement, try as I might, I couldn't stop myself responding to the bit in red.

Nut flush, when a few of us questioned the fee for Rice and said we'd well overpaid, you asked why we were worried about what we were spending and that it was irrelevant in modern day football, which was soon to become just like the NFL. Yet you now think that Boehly has been made to look a mug by overpaying for Caicedo. Don't the theories you apply to us also apply to the chavs?

Of course he has, Chelski dithered for over a month with Caicedo.

The bar was set at £100m, they could have got their man for £15m less. Bloom set the wheels in motion for a timed auction, Liverpool threw their hat into the ring at £110m, Caicedo didn't want to join them, and Chelski came back with their £115m bid.

There is absolutely no comparison with the way their deal panned out to ours. We where told that Rice would cost upwards of £100m, and we offered exactly that in the end. If you think Chelsea wernt played then more fool you, sorry. Again you need to do a bit of research about Tony Bloom before you make such comments. The guy was born with nothing, and its totally self made.
[/quote]


Mate, are you deliberately missing the point I made? Firstly, I wasn’t talking about Bloom and don’t doubt he’s a very bright guy. I also don’t care if he mugged Chelsea…in fact, I hope he did.

My point was that you were previously insistent that transfer fees were irrelevant these days, no matter what Rice cost and that it had no impact on what else could be spent. It’s gonna be like the NFL isn’t it?

Yet, it suddenly matters that the chavs paid over the top…why’s that then? Given your position on transfer fees, why would Boehly care if he spent 80, 100, or 115m?

For what it’s worth, I’m a big fan of how Brighton run the club and what they are achieving.
[/quote]

Where did I say transfer value/fees where irrelevant? My point is/was that transfer values have exploded because there is and will be more money coming into the game. The reference to NFL and the IPL as well, is that the PL has largely not tapped the international market and that combined with the evolvement of the CL and potentially a super league means that it's not unexepected that we are seeing transfers at the level of Rice and Caicedo this summer.

Now, that is a totally separate discussion of how each transfer proceeds. Just because transfer values have exploded that doesn't mean you can be blase or wreckless about jizzing £15m on a transfer that you didn't need to. Chelsea has just done that.

[Retro Gunner]

Well Tony Bloom has proven you wrong DB10, and a lot of other people in football.

You don't become a self made billionaire and structure your whole life around the application of data in different settings be it poker, gambling or football unless you do something that is on a different level to your peers. There is a very good article written by the Athletic about it, and countless pieces on social media including You tube about his history. Starlizard is a very secretive company that employs over 100 people in the heart of North London, every member of staff is sworn to keeping the methods that the company uses to turn over hundreds of millions each year. Look at the website, if you work with data there really isn't a lot to gleen.

https://theathletic.com/1678274/2020/03 ... -gambling/

Their recruitment process revolves around quantitive analysis and its only when certain metrics are met, that they decide to follow up and take a closer look at a particular player. It's no coincidence that a club of a similar stature Brentford are also punching above their weight using similar methods to Brighton. The only reason they can do this, is their owner was a former business partner of Bloom, they fell out but clearly he is clever enough to apply similar methods in Brentfords recruitment process.

Just yesterday we were linked with a move for Evan Ferguson next summer, £100m for an 18 year old. Brighton already took the piss out of Boehly and made him look like a mug over Caicedo, paying £15m more than he needed to when he thought he would get Caicedo for £80m. Last weekends West Ham game was pure comedy with Caicedo conceding a penalty. No big club has been able to replicate what Brighton does, as long as that continues, there is a very good chance they will establish themselves in the Division giving big clubs a bloody nose both on and off the pitch.

Going back to Rice, its ok I understand that the agenda has already started against him, so when you present statistical analysis its always what the eye sees over what the figures show. And on this forum I am not surprised that people always like to go against the grain, even if what the majority has seen is we have a gem in Rice that adds tons of value to the club. He was the MOM on Monday, the stand out player, I don't care what pundits say I make my own mind up. Just waiting for a derogatory nickname for Rice now, because that's how people on this forum love to push their confirmation bias.

Let the games come, I have no doubt the noises will be drowned out by the acceptance by the broader fanbase we have recruited a star.

Against my better judgement, try as I might, I couldn't stop myself responding to the bit in red.

Nut flush, when a few of us questioned the fee for Rice and said we'd well overpaid, you asked why we were worried about what we were spending and that it was irrelevant in modern day football, which was soon to become just like the NFL. Yet you now think that Boehly has been made to look a mug by overpaying for Caicedo. Don't the theories you apply to us also apply to the chavs?

Of course he has, Chelski dithered for over a month with Caicedo.

The bar was set at £100m, they could have got their man for £15m less. Bloom set the wheels in motion for a timed auction, Liverpool threw their hat into the ring at £110m, Caicedo didn't want to join them, and Chelski came back with their £115m bid.

There is absolutely no comparison with the way their deal panned out to ours. We where told that Rice would cost upwards of £100m, and we offered exactly that in the end. If you think Chelsea wernt played then more fool you, sorry. Again you need to do a bit of research about Tony Bloom before you make such comments. The guy was born with nothing, and its totally self made.

Mate, are you deliberately missing the point I made? Firstly, I wasn’t talking about Bloom and don’t doubt he’s a very bright guy. I also don’t care if he mugged Chelsea…in fact, I hope he did.

My point was that you were previously insistent that transfer fees were irrelevant these days, no matter what Rice cost and that it had no impact on what else could be spent. It’s gonna be like the NFL isn’t it?

Yet, it suddenly matters that the chavs paid over the top…why’s that then? Given your position on transfer fees, why would Boehly care if he spent 80, 100, or 115m?

For what it’s worth, I’m a big fan of how Brighton run the club and what they are achieving.
[/quote]

Where did I say transfer value/fees where irrelevant? My point is/was that transfer values have exploded because there is and will be more money coming into the game. The reference to NFL and the IPL as well, is that the PL has largely not tapped the international market and that combined with the evolvement of the CL and potentially a super league means that it's not unexepected that we are seeing transfers at the level of Rice and Caicedo this summer.

Now, that is a totally separate discussion of how each transfer proceeds. Just because transfer values have exploded that doesn't mean you can be blase or wreckless about jizzing £15m on a transfer that you didn't need to. Chelsea has just done that.
[/quote]


I’m sorry Nut flush, but even without looking back…which I can’t be bothered to do….your response to those of us questioning the fee paid for Rice was “Why are you worried about what he cost?”. You clearly claimed that it made no difference to what else we would be able to spend, because with the money in the game and the money coming in, the fee was irrelevant. From memory, Augie and DB challenged you on it too.

I’ve no problem with you having that opinion, even if I didn’t agree with it, but at least apply it consistently. Either we and the chavs overpaid for Rice and Caicedo or we didn’t. You can’t have it both ways.

[nut flush gooner]

Well Tony Bloom has proven you wrong DB10, and a lot of other people in football.

You don't become a self made billionaire and structure your whole life around the application of data in different settings be it poker, gambling or football unless you do something that is on a different level to your peers. There is a very good article written by the Athletic about it, and countless pieces on social media including You tube about his history. Starlizard is a very secretive company that employs over 100 people in the heart of North London, every member of staff is sworn to keeping the methods that the company uses to turn over hundreds of millions each year. Look at the website, if you work with data there really isn't a lot to gleen.

https://theathletic.com/1678274/2020/03 ... -gambling/

Their recruitment process revolves around quantitive analysis and its only when certain metrics are met, that they decide to follow up and take a closer look at a particular player. It's no coincidence that a club of a similar stature Brentford are also punching above their weight using similar methods to Brighton. The only reason they can do this, is their owner was a former business partner of Bloom, they fell out but clearly he is clever enough to apply similar methods in Brentfords recruitment process.

Just yesterday we were linked with a move for Evan Ferguson next summer, £100m for an 18 year old. Brighton already took the piss out of Boehly and made him look like a mug over Caicedo, paying £15m more than he needed to when he thought he would get Caicedo for £80m. Last weekends West Ham game was pure comedy with Caicedo conceding a penalty. No big club has been able to replicate what Brighton does, as long as that continues, there is a very good chance they will establish themselves in the Division giving big clubs a bloody nose both on and off the pitch.

Going back to Rice, its ok I understand that the agenda has already started against him, so when you present statistical analysis its always what the eye sees over what the figures show. And on this forum I am not surprised that people always like to go against the grain, even if what the majority has seen is we have a gem in Rice that adds tons of value to the club. He was the MOM on Monday, the stand out player, I don't care what pundits say I make my own mind up. Just waiting for a derogatory nickname for Rice now, because that's how people on this forum love to push their confirmation bias.

Let the games come, I have no doubt the noises will be drowned out by the acceptance by the broader fanbase we have recruited a star.

Against my better judgement, try as I might, I couldn't stop myself responding to the bit in red.

Nut flush, when a few of us questioned the fee for Rice and said we'd well overpaid, you asked why we were worried about what we were spending and that it was irrelevant in modern day football, which was soon to become just like the NFL. Yet you now think that Boehly has been made to look a mug by overpaying for Caicedo. Don't the theories you apply to us also apply to the chavs?

Of course he has, Chelski dithered for over a month with Caicedo.

The bar was set at £100m, they could have got their man for £15m less. Bloom set the wheels in motion for a timed auction, Liverpool threw their hat into the ring at £110m, Caicedo didn't want to join them, and Chelski came back with their £115m bid.

There is absolutely no comparison with the way their deal panned out to ours. We where told that Rice would cost upwards of £100m, and we offered exactly that in the end. If you think Chelsea wernt played then more fool you, sorry. Again you need to do a bit of research about Tony Bloom before you make such comments. The guy was born with nothing, and its totally self made.

Mate, are you deliberately missing the point I made? Firstly, I wasn’t talking about Bloom and don’t doubt he’s a very bright guy. I also don’t care if he mugged Chelsea…in fact, I hope he did.

My point was that you were previously insistent that transfer fees were irrelevant these days, no matter what Rice cost and that it had no impact on what else could be spent. It’s gonna be like the NFL isn’t it?

Yet, it suddenly matters that the chavs paid over the top…why’s that then? Given your position on transfer fees, why would Boehly care if he spent 80, 100, or 115m?

For what it’s worth, I’m a big fan of how Brighton run the club and what they are achieving.

Where did I say transfer value/fees where irrelevant? My point is/was that transfer values have exploded because there is and will be more money coming into the game. The reference to NFL and the IPL as well, is that the PL has largely not tapped the international market and that combined with the evolvement of the CL and potentially a super league means that it's not unexepected that we are seeing transfers at the level of Rice and Caicedo this summer.

Now, that is a totally separate discussion of how each transfer proceeds. Just because transfer values have exploded that doesn't mean you can be blase or wreckless about jizzing £15m on a transfer that you didn't need to. Chelsea has just done that.
[/quote]


I’m sorry Nut flush, but even without looking back…which I can’t be bothered to do….your response to those of us questioning the fee paid for Rice was “Why are you worried about what he cost?”. You clearly claimed that it made no difference to what else we would be able to spend, because with the money in the game and the money coming in, the fee was irrelevant. From memory, Augie and DB challenged you on it too.

I’ve no problem with you having that opinion, even if I didn’t agree with it, but at least apply it consistently. Either we and the chavs overpaid for Rice and Caicedo or we didn’t. You can’t have it both ways.
[/quote]

Again you are quoting and misrepresenting what I said originally, and you seem unable to fathom the difference between more money coming into the game-enhancing our ability to make big transfers and that of Chelsea who paid more than they needed to for Caicedo. It's a clear distinction between one point and the other.

[OneBardGooner]

Well Tony Bloom has proven you wrong DB10, and a lot of other people in football.

You don't become a self made billionaire and structure your whole life around the application of data in different settings be it poker, gambling or football unless you do something that is on a different level to your peers. There is a very good article written by the Athletic about it, and countless pieces on social media including You tube about his history. Starlizard is a very secretive company that employs over 100 people in the heart of North London, every member of staff is sworn to keeping the methods that the company uses to turn over hundreds of millions each year. Look at the website, if you work with data there really isn't a lot to gleen.

https://theathletic.com/1678274/2020/03 ... -gambling/

Their recruitment process revolves around quantitive analysis and its only when certain metrics are met, that they decide to follow up and take a closer look at a particular player. It's no coincidence that a club of a similar stature Brentford are also punching above their weight using similar methods to Brighton. The only reason they can do this, is their owner was a former business partner of Bloom, they fell out but clearly he is clever enough to apply similar methods in Brentfords recruitment process.

Just yesterday we were linked with a move for Evan Ferguson next summer, £100m for an 18 year old. Brighton already took the piss out of Boehly and made him look like a mug over Caicedo, paying £15m more than he needed to when he thought he would get Caicedo for £80m. Last weekends West Ham game was pure comedy with Caicedo conceding a penalty. No big club has been able to replicate what Brighton does, as long as that continues, there is a very good chance they will establish themselves in the Division giving big clubs a bloody nose both on and off the pitch.

Going back to Rice, its ok I understand that the agenda has already started against him, so when you present statistical analysis its always what the eye sees over what the figures show. And on this forum I am not surprised that people always like to go against the grain, even if what the majority has seen is we have a gem in Rice that adds tons of value to the club. He was the MOM on Monday, the stand out player, I don't care what pundits say I make my own mind up. Just waiting for a derogatory nickname for Rice now, because that's how people on this forum love to push their confirmation bias.

Let the games come, I have no doubt the noises will be drowned out by the acceptance by the broader fanbase we have recruited a star.

Against my better judgement, try as I might, I couldn't stop myself responding to the bit in red.

Nut flush, when a few of us questioned the fee for Rice and said we'd well overpaid, you asked why we were worried about what we were spending and that it was irrelevant in modern day football, which was soon to become just like the NFL. Yet you now think that Boehly has been made to look a mug by overpaying for Caicedo. Don't the theories you apply to us also apply to the chavs?

Of course he has, Chelski dithered for over a month with Caicedo.

The bar was set at £100m, they could have got their man for £15m less. Bloom set the wheels in motion for a timed auction, Liverpool threw their hat into the ring at £110m, Caicedo didn't want to join them, and Chelski came back with their £115m bid.

There is absolutely no comparison with the way their deal panned out to ours. We where told that Rice would cost upwards of £100m, and we offered exactly that in the end. If you think Chelsea wernt played then more fool you, sorry. Again you need to do a bit of research about Tony Bloom before you make such comments. The guy was born with nothing, and its totally self made.

Mate, are you deliberately missing the point I made? Firstly, I wasn’t talking about Bloom and don’t doubt he’s a very bright guy. I also don’t care if he mugged Chelsea…in fact, I hope he did.

My point was that you were previously insistent that transfer fees were irrelevant these days, no matter what Rice cost and that it had no impact on what else could be spent. It’s gonna be like the NFL isn’t it?

Yet, it suddenly matters that the chavs paid over the top…why’s that then? Given your position on transfer fees, why would Boehly care if he spent 80, 100, or 115m?

For what it’s worth, I’m a big fan of how Brighton run the club and what they are achieving.

Where did I say transfer value/fees where irrelevant? My point is/was that transfer values have exploded because there is and will be more money coming into the game. The reference to NFL and the IPL as well, is that the PL has largely not tapped the international market and that combined with the evolvement of the CL and potentially a super league means that it's not unexepected that we are seeing transfers at the level of Rice and Caicedo this summer.

Now, that is a totally separate discussion of how each transfer proceeds. Just because transfer values have exploded that doesn't mean you can be blase or wreckless about jizzing £15m on a transfer that you didn't need to. Chelsea has just done that.

I’m sorry Nut flush, but even without looking back…which I can’t be bothered to do….your response to those of us questioning the fee paid for Rice was “Why are you worried about what he cost?”. You clearly claimed that it made no difference to what else we would be able to spend, because with the money in the game and the money coming in, the fee was irrelevant. From memory, Augie and DB challenged you on it too.

I’ve no problem with you having that opinion, even if I didn’t agree with it, but at least apply it consistently. Either we and the chavs overpaid for Rice and Caicedo or we didn’t. You can’t have it both ways.
[/quote]

Again you are quoting and misrepresenting what I said originally, and you seem unable to fathom the difference between more money coming into the game-enhancing our ability to make big transfers and that of Chelsea who paid more than they needed to for Caicedo. It's a clear distinction between one point and the other.
[/quote]

God I Love a Quote Tower!!!


Keep It Going Lads!

[Retro Gunner]

Why are you bothered if we have overpaid? I don't think that can be disputed, but by the same token so have a lot of other clubs on new signings. I mean £72m for Hojlund is ridiculous.

I have said this before and I will say it again, football commercially is about to explode, especially the PL. For many years NFL and the IPL has generated more revenues than the PL, which by an large has not tapped into the global market for our football.


Why does it matter? Kroenke as billionaires go is stinking rich, much more wealthy than Boehly who needs hedge funds to help with his spending.



To be fair to everyone else on here, I didn't keep the quote tower going, but above are two quotes from posts you made in response to me and to Augie.

So, we overpay for Rice and it doesn't matter.

Chelsea overpay for Caicedo and they've been mugged by Brighton.

You seem to base it on Brighton forcing the original 80m offer up to 115m by entertaining a bid from Liverpool. I think we offered about 80m for Rice and were no doubt played by West Ham who supposedly had an offer from City (something like 90-100m I think). It's how transfer negotiations work and especially when we seem to be buying someone.

Your argument lacks consistency and as usual, you see the world through red and white spectacles.

Anyway, I'm done with this debate and that should cheer everyone up.

[Retro Gunner]

God I Love a Quote Tower!!!


Keep It Going Lads!







Naughty OBG. Stop it.

[OneBardGooner]

God I Love a Quote Tower!!!


Keep It Going Lads!







Naughty OBG. Stop it.

Why?

Regardless of what I or in fact anyone says or does, all this To-ing and Fro-ing is going to go on until DB has to step in and say "FFS Shut Up and Get a Room."


Till then




btw: Did I mention I Love a Quote Tower.

[DB10GOONER]

God I Love a Quote Tower!!!


Keep It Going Lads!







Naughty OBG. Stop it.

Why?

Regardless of what I or in fact anyone says or does, all this To-ing and Fro-ing is going to go on until DB has to step in and say "FFS Shut Up and Get a Room."


Till then




btw: Did I mention I Love a Quote Tower.

FFS Shut up and get a room - oh, hang on....

[OneBardGooner]

[SteveO 35]

What a man, what a signing. Best transfer of the whole window. Proper leader, physically strong and unlike the Swiss c.unt who made way for him...free from brain farts. The timing of his tackling was immense today - did he actually concede a foul at all.

Going to be a top player for us for years

[OneBardGooner]

RICE RICE BABY !

[augie]

Outstanding today and a real driving force for the team

[OneBardGooner]

Declan Rice was MOTM Today.

[Retro Gunner]

What a man, what a signing. Best transfer of the whole window. Proper leader, physically strong and unlike the Swiss c.unt who made way for him...free from brain farts. The timing of his tackling was immense today - did he actually concede a foul at all.

Going to be a top player for us for years

Very good performance and if he carries on like that, I'm sure that Augie, DB, me and a few others on here will overlook what he cost.

Mind you, regarding the bit in green, he sadly hasn't replaced the Swiss c.unt, the German dud has done that.