18 Jan 2026 22:25:10
I think Emery saying we won't be in top 5 is his way of saying it's a closed shop
With Man City Liverpool Man U Chelsea &spurs able to spend what they want and we are picking up scraps.
It is truly astounding how we are where we are especially with the poor players we have brought in and the blame for that does lie at monchi and maybe Emery's door.


We have over achieved so far and it's a reality check for how fragile our squad is.
Let's hope there are some loan/signings coming in very soon, we still have a healthy points advantage over 5th place and champions league was always the target

1.) 19 Jan 2026
19 Jan 2026 06:35:02
The blame definitely lies at Emery's door as well as Monchi.

This is a guy that's paid £72m for Pepe at Arsenal.

Unai Emery has been the best thing to happen to this club since the new owners saved us. But that doesn't mean everything he does is right and amazing and he never gets things wrong or makes mistakes.

He's been backed to the best of the clubs ability and unfortunately his recruitment has been very hit and miss, with the recent summer window we signed Guessand, Sancho and Elliott, all will have been signed off by Emery as he has full control of all football related matters. Yes they may not have been his first choice but they will have been on a short list compiled by Emerys team and approved by the man himself.

It is my only criticism of him that he has been a major contributor in our precarious PSR position as what money we've had and given him has been wasted fairly regularly

2.) 19 Jan 2026
19 Jan 2026 07:45:42
We need to be realistic re managers and transfers, so no manager can get every transfer right, and some players take time to adjust not only to a new league but also a new country. On the face of it Guessand does at the moment look like a fish out of water but even if that transfer looks poor let’s not forget Emery also signed off on Tielemans, Duran, Diaby, and Rogers so I would argue he has got more right than wrong.

3.) 19 Jan 2026
19 Jan 2026 08:34:36
If signing good players all the time was that easy we'd all be doing it.
However, when we're clearly restricted by PSR/FFP the bad signings amplify the issue. £25m and £75k per week for Guessand is looking like one of the worst signings in the past 10 years.
Monchi obviously lost his job because of the Elliott and Sancho debacle but signing Guessand cannot have been far away from the one of the reasons.
I'm keeping everything crossed that McGinn's injury isn't bad.

I said last week that we've got a run of games coming up that will make or break us. I think Unai's interview was clear frustration with what we can and cannot do in the market. He knows far more than he's saying at the moment and I'm genuinely concerned about the impact this will have, not just for the rest of this season, but into the summer and beyond. Call me negative but that interview last night was worrying.