George Earthy

[Brogue]

George Earthy
West Ham
Age 21
Attacking Midfielder Right
Permanent signing.

[blythspartan]

All I know about him from my brother-in-law who is a West Ham season ticket holder is he’s talented, but he’s had a lot of hamstring injuries.

[Esteban]

Anyone else read his name as Google Earth?!

Assume he's being brought in as a first team player? Never heard of him, but a right sided attacking midfielder has got to be towards the bottom of priority list. Also blocks the pathway to the first team for Osho. Can't comment on the player, but this signing seems a luxury one, when we've got other areas we should be prioritising.

[Brogue]

after a bit more digging hes actually a number 10

[WestYorksRoyal]

Gone through the full range in 30 minutes.

1. Never heard of him.
2. Young, Championship experience, Bristol City young player of the season 24/25. Brilliant singing. Well done all involved.
3. Dodgy 25/26 loan and a few injury issues. Why do we always sign players with fitness problems? Sack the board.
4. Bristol City fans saying it's a good signing for us so they're probably right.

I would say on balance he sounds encouraging. If 25/26 had gone as well for him as 24/25, he wouldn't be dropping to L1.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Anyone else read his name as Google Earth?!

Assume he's being brought in as a first team player? Never heard of him, but a right sided attacking midfielder has got to be towards the bottom of priority list. Also blocks the pathway to the first team for Osho. Can't comment on the player, but this signing seems a luxury one, when we've got other areas we should be prioritising.

Agree this position is probably 4th priority after LB, CB and ST. So not where our need is greatest.

[traff]

I would imagine he is dirt cheap. If he digs in I reckon he could cover a lot of ground and at the right level to progress until he has the world at his feet.

[Stranded]

Anyone else read his name as Google Earth?!

Assume he's being brought in as a first team player? Never heard of him, but a right sided attacking midfielder has got to be towards the bottom of priority list. Also blocks the pathway to the first team for Osho. Can't comment on the player, but this signing seems a luxury one, when we've got other areas we should be prioritising.

Agree this position is probably 4th priority after LB, CB and ST. So not where our need is greatest.

We need a number 10 type player and it is possible that deals for the above are moving as well, this one appears to just be the first to move to completion. Hopefully.

[Stranded]

One thing worth pointing out, is that Brizzle took him on loan twice, so they must have been pretty impressed first time round and it is only likely the injuries he had last year that has stopped him moving there permanently.

[South Coast Royal]

We seem to have a link lately with players who have been at Bristol City.
Is one of Leam/Joe's mates there?

[WestYorksRoyal]

Anyone else read his name as Google Earth?!

Assume he's being brought in as a first team player? Never heard of him, but a right sided attacking midfielder has got to be towards the bottom of priority list. Also blocks the pathway to the first team for Osho. Can't comment on the player, but this signing seems a luxury one, when we've got other areas we should be prioritising.

Agree this position is probably 4th priority after LB, CB and ST. So not where our need is greatest.

We need a number 10 type player and it is possible that deals for the above are moving as well, this one appears to just be the first to move to completion. Hopefully.

And if he's a 10 who can also do a job out wide it improves options generally.

I would expect we are trying for those other positions too. If we got them all, it would mean 8 incomings. At the start of the summer they said 5 or 6, but that was before the retirements of Williams and Ritchie.

[Brogue]

One thing worth pointing out, is that Brizzle took him on loan twice, so they must have been pretty impressed first time round and it is only likely the injuries he had last year that has stopped him moving there permanently.

And loaned stokes out. So.. Earth > Stokes ?

[Brogue]

Agree this position is probably 4th priority after LB, CB and ST. So not where our need is greatest.

We need a number 10 type player and it is possible that deals for the above are moving as well, this one appears to just be the first to move to completion. Hopefully.

And if he's a 10 who can also do a job out wide it improves options generally.

I would expect we are trying for those other positions too. If we got them all, it would mean 8 incomings. At the start of the summer they said 5 or 6, but that was before the retirements of Williams and Ritchie.

+ departure of WiFi

[WestYorksRoyal]

Back to general comms and expectations management, I'm all for signing high potential 21 year olds who we can develop, but this is not a "promotion now" signing in the same way that something like Archie Collins to Huddersfield is. We're setting ourselves up to have a really great team in 18 months - 2 years or so, so can everyone at the club stop making unrealistic noises about promotion this season.

[yuomi]

Back to general comms and expectations management, I'm all for signing high potential 21 year olds who we can develop, but this is not a "promotion now" signing in the same way that something like Archie Collins to Huddersfield is. We're setting ourselves up to have a really great team in 18 months - 2 years or so, so can everyone at the club stop making unrealistic noises about promotion this season.

He's played 51 times in the last two seasons for a team in the level above us. If the expectation for a signing like that isn't that it would bring immediate improvement then i'm not sure what is...

[Sutekh]

He’s also got a better strike rate than Jacob Brown

Hope the move doesn’t fall flat

[Hound]

LR specifically highlighted needing another ‘number 10’ so assume this is it rather than as a winger

Looks potentially a good signing, decent experience

[Stranded]

Back to general comms and expectations management, I'm all for signing high potential 21 year olds who we can develop, but this is not a "promotion now" signing in the same way that something like Archie Collins to Huddersfield is. We're setting ourselves up to have a really great team in 18 months - 2 years or so, so can everyone at the club stop making unrealistic noises about promotion this season.

I mean I do get what you are saying and I would have been happy with Collins, but is he really more of a promotion now signing - yes, he has much more experience but never played above his current level, whilst Earthy has over 50 apps and made a positive impact in the division we aspire to play in.

[Webster750]

I think the bubble has ever so slightly burst for Premier League/Championship clubs when it comes to loaning out their younger players. Lower-division sides simply can’t afford to pay significant loan fees and wages to develop another club’s assets, with minimal long-term upside for themselves.

Feels like we’ll increasingly see Savage-esque deals instead. Relatively cheap permanent transfers, but with hefty sell-on clauses attached. The buying club gets an asset it can actually develop and benefit from, while the selling club retains a significant chunk of the upside if the player kicks on.

[Stranded]

One can only hope, that if this does come off, this shows the type of deals that the club have been working on i.e. perm deals for younger players with lots of potential upsides but that PL or Champ clubs are only likely to let go right at the end of the window when it is clear they will not be using them themselves.

Not ideal in many ways in terms of pre-season prep but could - and could is doing a lot of heavy lifting at this point - see is in a decent position come the start of September.