qwertyell

Good, get it done. Then we can finally draw a line under it and get on with the season without all the uncertainty hanging over our heads. Albeit, we chose this path, knowing full well that we were going to face further sanctions and disruption, rather than cleaning house and moving on in the summer. We've got no excuses for not having rock solid contingency plans in place, regardless of the outcome.

The guy we signed to be his back up/competition isn't fit for purpose. Same reason Larin stayed on so long.

I suppose this patchy start to the season has somewhat dispelled the idea that Tonda is the special one who has cracked football management and we'll be bereft of hope when he gets banned/canned and needs to be replaced. Someone else could easily come in and match our current output.

Premeditaed. On three seperate occasions. That'll be the kicker - it wasn't a one off rule break.

It's not some great conspiracy. The FA disciplinary process moves slowly for everyone. We're not a special case. You can go through their August judgements here https://www.thefa.com/news/2026/sep/10/fa-charges---august-2026-100926 and see that 4-5 months from incident to resolution is pretty common.

Shame about his morale. Cheer up, mate. - you're on £40k a week.

I'd argue that we don't have the luxury of making plans for next season and we should be mining every possible resource to acheive this season's goals. To that end, Robinson offers us more value being a usable option in our squad, than being out on loan in someone else's squad.

Why the fuck is this guy starting games in Serie A, but not considered worth having around a Championship club in place of, say, a bloke who is desperate to leave (and is shite)? Can't make it make sense. Robinson is also an option in the 10, and I'm pretty sure he played as a striker on occasion for the youths.

Can't play as a lone striker. Not technical enough to play as a 10. Can't beat a man on the wings. We sold Adam Armstrong and bought a lesser version at greater expense.

It'd be nice if they could keep a clean sheet or run around for more than an hour.

No Jander still. Edozie apparently not banished to the shadow realm. Abbott looks small for a centre back.

Perhaps we were a little cautious with our spending with one eye on January, and the prospect of having to bring in a few new players that suit a possibly different manager's style.

And let's not pretend that the club weren't pushing to sign two international centre backs after Schlotterbeck joined, who were patently intended to replace Harwood-Bellis.

Given that we tried to sign at least two international centre backs to replace Harwood-Bellis, we obviously recognised the importance of replacing a key starting player with comparable quality. But all we ended up doing is loaning in a kid to cover fourth choice Quarshie's loan. Seems pretty clear the club didn't meet their own expectations there.

To be fair, whenever we've had a transfer window that has the muppets out in force claiming we've absolutely smashed it, we've turned out to be rubbish. So perhaps after a pretty mediocre one we'll confound expectations. Perhaps. Replacing Stewart with Mubama on loan is a downgrade. Replacing Charles with Prowse on the cheap is not like for like at all and certainly doesn't feel like progress - albeit Prowse will certainly bring something to the side. And selling our best defender and ostensibly promoting Wood as his replacement, and bringing a kid in on loan to make up the numbers, is a backwards step. Light at goalkeeper and striker - and I don't think our wingers are very good and needed upgrading regardless of people leaving. Shut down Scienza, and you shut down our entire threat out wide. Feels like we're weaker than last season. Only marginally, but it might make all the difference. Hopefully our contingency planning for Tonda's incoming ban is better than our planning to replace Stewart and Harwood-Bellis.

The most expensive defender on our books will be Kayi Sanda. Makes you think.

Do you think a guy that was starting premier league games last season, on huge wages, would be joining the bottom team in the championship to be "fine" as a back up player? He'll expect to be a starter. Which would suggest to me that Jander's gone. And he would be a limp replacement for Jander.

Don't think much of a speculated return of Ward-Prowse. He can't replace Charles' physicality - so that would leave us weaker, shorn of attributes we don't have in the middle of the park. He's as slow and immobile in transition as Bragg, so that's not really addressing anything either. And he's not as good as Jander or Downes in their respective roles. For the wages he demands, he wouldn't be joining a championship club to be a bench player. So what does he bring to the first XI - and is it good enough to compensate for the shortcomings that are baked in? Not for me.

The only people not thinking it work in Saints' recruitment.

Not sure what we've got with Dobbin, but he's not a number 10. That's a role for technical players, and his touch is poor and his passing not much better. I thought he was meant to be fast as well? Not much supporting evidence of that so far. Also too easily knocked off the ball. Yeah... not great.

Need 1xGK (if/when both Ramsdale and Bazunu go), 2xCB (once Harwood-Bellis goes), 1xCM (x2 if Jander's off), and probably another wide attacker - Fellows has been disappointing, and Scienza may or may not be phoning it in. A lot to do in a little time.

Is that one shot on target in the first half across our first three games? Out of my seat.

Could also have been in the PL right now if we hadn't needed to wait until January to rectify the squad's glaring shortcomings.

Aside from signing two right backs that were worse than the right back already on our books (and loaning him out), a centre back who never plays, a striker who isn't fit for purpose, giving Stephens a three year contract extension, and not bothering signing a keeper until January after masterfully judging Bazunu as "fine for this level". Hope you're right. We can't afford any more missteps.