qwertyell

Terrible. A team that thinks it's premier league in all but name against a huff and puff league one rabble, and it's only the rabble that know what they're doing. Can't press. Defensive line is too deep, because our apparent first choice centre backs are deathly slow. The centre back we signed for his pace can't make the bench. Just panicky lumping the ball away upfield like it's a live hand grenade within seconds of gaining possession. No shape. No patterns of play. No sign of that playmaker from Boro. It's so poor across the board. That Russian owner was right - we're not good enough for his players. At the moment we look like we'd be a step down for some Portsmouth players. It can't get much worse in the second half, can it? Won the transfer window and ended up worse again. What a club.

Love this point in the transfer window where people try to convince themselves that options we had at the club all along that have thus far not been the ticket are now *fine*. The manager wanted two starting wingers. If we only get one, that's us compromised until January.

I know the manager has said he's playing three at the back because we lack wingers in the squad, but I think he really just doesn't rate any of our centre backs in a two. And with some justification. Any combination of Stephens, Harwood-Bellis, and Edwards has no pace. Pairing one of them with quick but clumsy giraffes Quarshie or Wood might add a missing attribute to the unit, but at the expense of composure and security. Bedding Quarshie into the team in a three with a view to moving to a two when he settles down a bit seems to have been abandoned after a couple of chaotic outings. They're not getting any protection from an inadequate midfield either - Downes is no DM: his whole career has been based around being a Russell Martin 6 in teams that concede 60+ goals a season. Some head scratching to be done by the manager to find a workable balance between defence and attack. It's nowhere near at the moment.

Hope our business isn't done already. Squad still looks unbalanced - and we're carrying a few too many "he'll be fine for the Championship" types, based on what they did two years ago, not what they offer today. I mean, I'm sure they will be "fine" for this league - I don't think we'll get relegated - but if we want to win it, fine won't be enough.

Thierry Small called up by England u21s. Looked for all the world like your typical talent waster who never really improves on their early promise, kicks around the lower leagues for a while, and then vanishes. But since leaving us, he's put in the work and started to get back on track. Fair play to the lad. Dibling and Max Alleyne in the squad too, completing the ex-Saint trifecta.

Guardian (Jacob Steinberg) reporting £35m, £3m in add-ons, and 15% sell on clause.

That'll be the journeyman winger from Lens.

We're really going all in on the idea that Bundesliga 2 promise is better value than Championship promise. Financially, I'm sure it makes sense - there's some outrageously overpriced dross in England. But does cheaper mean better on the pitch (where it actually counts)? Good luck to him. Whoever the fuck he is.

Well that certainly got better the longer it went on. Started to look like a cohesive unit at times. Nice to have a bit of positivity going into a crucial week.

Was just about to say I liked Matsuki's energy. Turns out he's got a foot like a traction engine too.

Depends on if you think being named QPR's (finishing position: 15th) young player of the year means anything. For context, the winner for the previous two seasons was prolific striker Sinclair Armstrong for scoring 4 in 40 (23/24) and 0 in 24 (22/23). He's since joined Bristol City (3 in 38 in 24/25).

Standards, meh. Who gives a fuck? I suppose that is Saints' unofficial motto.

How do you even manage to downgrade your third choice goalkeeper? It feels like you'd have to deliberately try to worsen the squad.

Heading into the final week of another stellar transfer window needing two starting wingers, a starting 10, and probably a starting 6. And our striking options will still be garbage. Good job, everyone.

Don't know how anyone can look at our XI, subs, squad at large and expect us to be anything other than mediocre. This is not a promotion-challenging team.

Hopefully he'll wake us up before he go goes.

We signed a guy in the final year of his contract for £11m after he'd snapped his Achilles (usual recovery time of around a year). There are no bigger mugs.

I guess we're into that stage of another 10/10 transfer window where we're scrambling around for some random journeymen who have done nothing in their careers to make up the numbers. We were down at Christmas, so have had a good six months to plan this rebuild.

Because Stephens, Harwood-Bellis, Edwards and, before he left, Bednarek don't have an ounce of pace between them. Quarshie was signed to bring some physical attributes to the XI we were desperately lacking, not sit in the stands looking pretty. He's not covered himself in glory as yet (a whole two games) but is hardly alone on that front.

Take the point. We look a long way from being a good side even at this level. Ipswich aren't in much better shape to be fair. But an unbeaten start for the manager with a disjointed, unbalanced squad in flux is something to build on.

He was on strike at Ipswich anyway. Yeah, he's one of those.

Not until we've got some wide attacking options that aren't horrific. Assuming Dibling and Edozie are out the door, we've only got an 18 year old kid who can control the ball within three touches and might be able to beat a man. If anyone thinks technically limited strikers awkwardly shoehorned onto the wings are going to be the creative spark that gets our attack firing, they're dreaming.

Thought we were absolutely minging. Minutes into the legs of a few is probably the only positive. Kit looks all right, I guess.

He's a bit of a donkey, but he's our donkey. A lot to like: quick, physical, agile, strong in the air - and unlike the other German CB on the books, he seems like a real competitor who is up for the fight, geeing up the crowd, big fist bumps when his teammates do something good. The raw materials are there. On the flipside, his touch is an absolute white knuckle ride (although I suspect it might actually be better than it appears on first viewing - it's just his ungainly gait that makes it all look awkward). And his positional sense is not unlike a SatNav I bought at a car boot sale in the 90s. He's got cult hero written all over him. Some days great, some days a disaster.

Lot of brick shithouses who would kill a guy without blinking, probably. I'm basing this opinion entirely on Rocky IV.