January Transfer Window 2026

[DanB90]

Twitter

Thank Christ. He looked finished when he was at wolves about 5 years ago.

 

[Neiler]

You’d have to get Matthew Benham then, and given that he’s a Brentford fan and the owner you’ve got no chance. As far as I can see the guys a genius. If he was the owner of Everton I have no doubt we’d win the league under him. This article is worth a read for getting an idea about how he operates https://www.si.com/soccer/2015/05/15/soccer-analytics-brentford-midtjylland-matthew-benham

That's a great read mate - thanks for posting!

Heads here would explode!

 

[maccavennie]

You’d have to get Matthew Benham then, and given that he’s a Brentford fan and the owner you’ve got no chance. As far as I can see the guys a genius. If he was the owner of Everton I have no doubt we’d win the league under him. This article is worth a read for getting an idea about how he operates https://www.si.com/soccer/2015/05/15/soccer-analytics-brentford-midtjylland-matthew-benham

Great read that.

 

[DanB90]

110 in football terms. Has been without a club since 24. Probably just a mad rumour.

tbf I'd take Peter Crouch atm

Swear he had one of those infamous dodgy passports. There’s no way he was mid-twenties when he was at Chelsea.
Fella looked about 45.

Reckon that Igor Thiago is at it as well.

 

[maccavennie]

Swear he had one of those infamous dodgy passports. There’s no way he was mid-twenties when he was at Chelsea.
Fella looked about 45.

Reckon that Igor Thiago is at it as well.

Like Mcneil, blagging he's 26 when he's nearly 46

 

[Marcus Kendall]

Twitter

Must be true, the most reliable of all sources

 

[RichCee123]

You’d have to get Matthew Benham then, and given that he’s a Brentford fan and the owner you’ve got no chance. As far as I can see the guys a genius. If he was the owner of Everton I have no doubt we’d win the league under him. This article is worth a read for getting an idea about how he operates https://www.si.com/soccer/2015/05/15/soccer-analytics-brentford-midtjylland-matthew-benham

“You’ve been lucky, you deserve to be lower” is not a phrase that he’d have had to roll out about any of our managers since the PL started, that’s for sure!

 

[DanB90]

Like Mcneil, blagging he's 26 when he's nearly 46

I think McNeil has one of those licenses that allows you to tow caravans.

 

[jceverton]

Genuinely, I hate to be that guy on this forum again, but people turn their noses up at data nerds and then ask why clubs like Brentford and Brighton can keep unearthing gems.

They have the best nerds and they are set up top to bottom so that they actually listen to those nerds

They are small clubs so they have a ceiling on how far that can take them. Liverpool over the last decade have shown what can happen when a big club do the same thing. Sadly we've missed the boat on being cutting edge on that, but the least we can do is catch up

Completely agree mate and it’s not just players that we need to look at the data on, it’s coaches and the whole running of the club. If we did that consistently and imaginatively we’d be in the running for the league etc.

 

[jceverton]

“You’ve been lucky, you deserve to be lower” is not a phrase that he’d have had to roll out about any of our managers since the PL started, that’s for sure!

Yeah can you imagine it, you’ve been lucky you’re actually under performing, I’m sacking you. Unbelievable what the guy has done for Brentford. I’ll tell you one thing he wouldn’t have done - appointed Moyes to be the Everton manager.

 

[evertondotcom]

Must be true, the most reliable of all sources

I said it was a funny rumour. Lost on you, clearly.

 

[RichCee123]

Yeah can you imagine it, you’ve been lucky you’re actually under performing, I’m sacking you. Unbelievable what the guy has done for Brentford. I’ll tell you one thing he wouldn’t have done - appointed Moyes to be the Everton manager.

You’re right, he’d have gone with Dyche’s set piece coach…

 

[Bedfordblue]

They are small clubs so they have a ceiling on how far that can take them. Liverpool over the last decade have shown what can happen when a big club do the same thing. Sadly we've missed the boat on being cutting edge on that, but the least we can do is catch up

Not so sure it’s as clear cut as that with data modelling, there’s nothing stopping a team’s data analytics finding a better algorithm to better predict good players imo.
For example the banking industry uses data modelling on trading and new predictive models are created all the time using the same data available to all, yet results / performance continue to improve, so there’s still room for improvement in football I think.

However trusting the ‘system’ and acting on it is where a club can sink or swim.
We’d likely end up having Moyes insist on scouting a player 12 times in person then miss the boat as someone else snaps them up as we’ve shown our hand while Davey Dithers.

 

[evertony]

It's not you're right Mike. But if we're going to criticise transfer policy it's helpful to point out the players we're not going for who we should be

I'm confident our recruitment team have many right backs on their wish list. I'm also confident that Moyes has vetoed some of the suggestions. I'm also fairly sure the clubs these players play for are playing a hard bargain and we're either not going to just pay over value like before for these players and are trying to run our finances more professionally than in the Moshiri era. Would you rather pay over the odds in January for an okay right back or wait for a better right back and better deal in the summer which could quite easily be the reason why we're keeping our powder dry (you also have to factor in how new our transfer committee model is at the moment)

Didn’t we try that ‘wait till the Summer and we’ll definitely get a right back’ game last year, and the year before?

 

[Tim's tourettes]

Swear he had one of those infamous dodgy passports. There’s no way he was mid-twenties when he was at Chelsea.
Fella looked about 45.

Reckon that Igor Thiago is at it as well.

Yakubu says hi.