Berger & Carter

AKB casually getting a 10 out of 10 during the most hyped game of the season!

Got to love the captions on these things 😂

https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/ann-katrin-berger-of-nj-ny-gotham-fc-hugs-teammate-jessica-news-photo/2286305619

Yes I am. Jess has always worn two rings on that hand, but they definitely were silver!

Another anon said this:

Could this be a different ring than the one AKB normally wears? It's not the pic Jess shared, but this one is clearer for me, probably because of the download quality of insta-pics. But this is the event anon was talking about.

And someone sent me one of the pics of Jess I just posted (sorry, I looked at insta before I looked at my inbox) and said this:

But in England both Aston villa (Birmingham) and birmingham city could use top quality defenders and keepers.

Exactly, I also don't think they are leaving, but if they are, I would assume they would go to the UK.

I agree, if Gotham thought Jess was leaving, surely they would've focussed on getting a new defender or two. With their four-goalies-situation there would be no need to get a new goalkeeper to replace AKB, unless they don't think any of the other three can handle it (by which I just mean: Gotham not getting a new goalkeeper gives us zero information about AKB one way or another).

If they leave (big IF), it would be quite nice for them/Jess to end up back in Birmingham, wouldn't it? A nice full circle moment, back where it all began.

But like I said, I'm not worried about this (yet) since Sonnett is the only free agent who has been extended so far.

Yup, I agree with all of this.

That they didn't extended them first is a signal that they will leave.

Even Rose hasn't been extended yet, so I wouldn't worry too much about this. Other than McCaskill (who plays on a different position than AKB and Jess) which players that signed recently have had their contract extended? I'm genuinely asking, I can't think of any.

Where do you think AKB and Jess would go if they did leave? London City Lionesses have signed players left and right and now have a roster of 32 players (including FIVE goalkeepers, lol), so not there.

Bit scared by this

Mean cloud See Esther, Midge ( if doesen't get her XI Spot back soon), Mandy ( consindering Gotham has 3 rbs with moving jess there) leave

Also either Schupansky, Summer or Cook will be let go

You don't need that many midfielders

They need a squad place for an lb, playing Guro there with no prober Backup can't and shouldn't be the long term Plan

Gotham are probably just really smart with backloaded contracts, loans (Guro was technically loaned until this month, and new signing O'Sullivan is also on loan but will be bought later), and has multiple players that qualify for HIP. Having said that, I also have no clue how they are pulling this off. I wouldn't be too worried about the money, but about the roster.

Once Bru is fit enough to play full games again, Jess won't play full games as rb anymore (I hope!). She could 'share' that spot with Bru and Mandy until they are fit again, while mainly playing as cb in rotation with Sonnett and Tierna. We've spoken about this a lot, but Gotham simply plays SO many games that having too many cb's is a good thing this season. We've seen that already when Sonnett was out for a few games with an injury.

O'Sullivan is a defensive midfielder, so despite my complaining, I can see why they would want her. Howell and McCaskill have played more minutes than anyone else on the team, so it would be nice to have some depth there.

(players sorted by most minutes played)

Like you said, they need an lb. I really, really hope they don't keep Guro there forever, but I can't imagine that they bought her to be an lb. Especially now that Kerr is here: Guro and Kerr obviously played together at Chelsea, so Guro must've assisted on many of Kerrs goals. It would be stupid to not make use of that connection. Also, Guro is still listed as a forward on Gotham's website. So yeah, hopefully the next signing will be an lb.

They are allowed 26 players and have 28 right now. Two are on SEI (so they don't count), and one is on loan so doesn't count either. But Taryn Torres should be coming back this season, so that would make the roster 26 again. So there currently isn't an available roster spot for an lb.

According to their own website, the number of players per position is:

Goalkeepers: 4 Defenders: 6 (actually 5, because Duran is on the SEI-list) Midfielders: 9 (actually 8 because Torres in on the SEI-list) Forwards: 8 (but 2 of them get played as defenders) (on loan): 1

They currently have 9 unrestricted free agents: Goalkeepers: 2 (AKB, Shelby) Defenders: 2 (Jess, Mandy) Midfielders: 2 (Rose, Sommer) Forwards: 3 (Midge, Kitahata, Harper)

Since they aren't getting any minutes, I could imagine Shelby, Sommer, Kitahata and Harper wanting to leave. That would free up a roster spot for an lb. But maybe Gotham wants to sell someone who is not a free agent to get some money from the sale. Maybe Cook? Since she's not playing much either? I would hate to see her go, but I would hate it even more if Schupanksy left. That last game proved that the Schupansky-Esther-pipeline is unmatched.

On the topic of money, I think I read somewhere that Gotham had a lot of allocation money left which has to be used up this season (?). And the allocation money can be used for salaries beyond the salary cap (someone please correct me if I'm wrong!). That plus the HIP money and the fact that many players also make money from their national team and therefore might take a lower salary to be able to play for Gotham (the perks of living close to NYC + actually competing for trophies are big reasons), means that Gotham can afford these players.