Rousseau

We conceded 32 goals from an xGA of 30. (They conceded 30 from an xGA of 33.) Quite a difference.

I think Cortes will score fewer goals, but assist much more than Sima. We need g+a from our whole front three and #10 to increase next season.

Yes, we definitely do, but my point is I'd rather we signed players that were both. We should not be wasting any money.

I thought we were discussing covering Tavernier's loss. In any case, I would expect Cortes to better Tavernier's output.

You chose 'starter' over 'project'. The latter implies youth. I suggested both in one, e.g. Cortes.

Cortes go brrr? Or, Cortes will make up for the loss of Tavernier's output.

You'd rather have an old fogey starting than a young prospect that's also a starter? Weird. It's a difficult task, but it's not impossible - Cortes, for example, is a starter with a high ceiling.

Genius.

I'd like to see McCausland hit double figures in goals and assists.

I think a full season from Cortes will cover the loss of Tavernier's output. Tavernier scored 5 non-penalty goals in 38 league games last season (0.13 p90) . Cortes scored 1 in 6 (0.16 p90). You'd expect him to better that, though. Tavernier's assists p90 was 0.24, while Cortes was 0.28. It's the 'extra' assists from a defender that worries me most, but most fullbacks should be able to contribute nowadays. (Yilmaz does have an xA p90 of 0.21.) And that's comparing a well-established player with a youngster just getting used to the league. I know this post won't go down well...

I think we'll get two players from Tavernier's fee and wages.

You're looking too much into it. I merely wanted a way of visualising the age profile of our targets compared to minutes played.

Value, according to Transfermarkt.

I'm conflicted by the Traore rumours. £3-4m for a 29-year-old is on the high side, for me. He hasn't actually played a lot of minutes in his career, either. He has played about 4,000 minutes more than Diomande (44 matches?), yet is 7 years older. I do think that's mainly due to a poor spell in France, where he played very little over three years. But then again, he does have a track record of winning titles. He won three league titles with TP Mazembe - one of the best sides in Africa - along with a CAF Champions League. And he won titles at Sheriff and Ferencvaros, and gained some UEFA Champions League experience. His last few seasons have been good: 89 G+A in 134 appearances. If only he was a few years younger...

The Scotsman running a story saying that we've got a windfall from Glen Kamara's move to Rennes coming and that we could use it to move for Tommy Conway after we had made a breakthrough in our pursuit.

The use of the JOKER let me down: 7 points is mid-table. I was good with the Correct Scores, though.

der Berliner and @WorthingBear91 were the big movers with JOKER-applied Correct Scores. @lenny3k, @Gonzo79, @Franc Ergs, @Ted McMinnime and @Yorkie Bear end with 2 points each for a JOKER-applied Correct Result. @CammyF and @Whosthedado are "relegated", alongside @BEARGER who couldn't fulfil his fixtures because of 115 PSR charges.

The Winner of the Gersnet EURO 2024 Prediction League: @der Berliner

Atalanta! That was the team I was struggling to recall! Their revenue is significantly higher (£120m?), but that's the type of smart spending we need. Like I said, I'm hopeful with Koppen. If we can use our capital more efficiently, we'll do well. I'm not saying we've not made mistakes or that there are no issues, but you're spinning everything negatively. Fair enough; I'm not going to challenge you on it, as it's an opinion. Edit: Actually, Atalanta made a huge loss of £67m! The wage bill is still an interesting comparison.

I know, but we can't do much about it. That's why I don't see the point in getting worked up about it.

That's fairly obvious.

I think you go too far, but that's your prerogative.