Dusic

Graham Hiley reporting that 26yo Dutch CB Ruud Knol is of interest. Contract up at Vitesse Arnhem so would be a freebie. Joining up at Staplewood for a trial next week. Not sure we need another CB but no harm looking I guess.

We have already replaced KWP and clearly will need to balance the books a bit. Added to the fact it seems unlikely he will sign a new deal then the worst outcome for the club is that he stays and runs his contract down. There were reports of Brighton interest and their RB depth is poor so imagine thats a viable option.

Camara and O'Riley seem different skillsets to me. Camara no real history of goalscoring whereas thats what O'Riley should bring in theory. Alcaraz will likely go IMO, Martin not overly positive about him in Adam Blackmore interview and if he couldn't get in our Championship team he won't get in the PL side.

On BBD - Sheff Utd mate said this: "He played wider for us - mainly from the left. Really like him as a bloke and he did score goals BUT he is just so big and clumsy at times." This worth a read too...definitely seems a wide left forward rather than a central striker: https://www.villarrealusa.com/2023/8/7/23822643/blackburn-rovers-villarreal-ben-brereton-diaz Re the above on Smallbone...was one of our best players last season, crucial in our system, athletically and technically good and has end product. Of course he will start the season in the XI...he deserves to and think he will have a good season.

Getting those two would help but still wouldn't be enough. O'Riley in a debut PL season would do very well to score 5 or 6 from central midfield, whilst BBD is still unproven at PL level. Added to Mara and Armstrong who couldn't score at PL level then we definitely need another striker too. Our wide options have basically zero history of providing regular G/A output and are weaker than we were in May. Look at the wide/forward options of Brentford, Notts Forest and Everton and they are miles better than what we have. To stay up we will likely need to finish above at least one them. Loads to do.

Seeing as we look likely to keep conceding a relatively high amount of goals we really, really need to start adding PL quality in attack to give ourselves a fighting chance of staying up. Currently our starting wide players didnt do much in the Championship and have only two viable strikers, one who is better from wide and the other being Mara who clearly isn't good enough.

Anyone else moving to the viewpoint that selling KWP sooner rather than later would be helpful? He will clearly be our biggest cash generator, won't sign a new deal, isn't playing friendlies so obvious he is going and we have already got our replacement. Would have preferred him going to West Ham rather than somewhere like Brighton where it would feel more of a blow.

And extend his contract before letting him out (actually regardless).

The reality is that pro mens football at a good level is brutally difficult and very few 18 year olds play regularly. SAA looks sure to have a good career ahead of him but its tricky to know what is best for him now. In the little interview he did today he spoke of being trusted by manager and teammates and thats probably about right. In the Eastleigh game he was electric but a sloppy pass on the edge of our box gifted them their best chance of the game from open play and in the PL it would have resulted in a goal against. Its those kind of actions that sway a manager into going for more reliable options.

I'm glad Mowbray and Parsons have got Les Reed's sharp edge ruler and protractor out from the black box and are properly lining up the O'Riley mega bid. I believe the bid itself has already been 'prepared' so once it has been fully aligned then we should be in business with that one.

Definitely no sign of Ross Stewart in the Spain trip content today, whilst Larios is there. Likewise no ABK but Tall Paul is there. Edwards travelled but didn't seem to be in the training video- hopefully just a knock for him. No Lallana and haven't seen anything of Stephens either. Edit, this covers it:

Do you actually know this or is it baseless speculation and cliché? We made good money last summer and spent little. Have already sold a couple this summer plus likely KWP for at least £15m. I'm sure we can spend a decent bit more on a couple of perms plus a cheapy move for Fraser.

Imagine the club and RM especially know the score with O'Riley because as you say that kind of offer is surely not beyond us. Sounds like Celtic want a good bit more but as ever it depends on the player and they usually end up where they want to go.

Clearly his lack of apps is a big concern but not sure quite why there is so much furore about a friendly vs Eastleigh in the 2nd full week of pre season. What RM said in the Echo is he hasnt played much football for ages and clearly training has only just started again. They want him to have a block of four weeks of training and get him through that before a game scenario because he hasnt played games for ages aside from cameos. The specific decision to do that seems pretty logicial rather than chuck him into a totally meaningless game way too early. I have very low expectations especially due to the huge jump in level but will judge at end of Aug rather than now.

Availability is such an underrated attribute for a footballer and another reason why Adam Armstrong was so valuable last season. Adams another who is very good in this aspect. I'm pretty worried about the forward postions because Mara is clearly not PL level, Arma better from wide and Stewart simply can't be relied upon to be able to play. We absolutely need two additions and good ones cost. If we don't get it right it will have a huge impact on our ability to stay up in what will be a very strong PL season. We will need to finish above at least one established PL side and the three teams people generally accept might be catchable have forwards of the quality of Toney, Mbeumo, Wissa, MGW, Wood, Awonyi, CHO, Semenyo, Solanke etc - most a level above what we have and probably they will all add too.

Alongside SAA, Dibling was also excellent and looks very confident and strong. I think there is definitely a first team squad role for these two this season. Good performance throughout and good attitude to keep the tempo high too. Only downside the injuries to Lallana and Edwards who looked tidy in his brief spell. Hopefully nothing serious. Will be very interesting to see who travels to Spain as pointless to take anyone who is very likely to leave (KWP, ABK etc).

Does anyone know how many players we are allowed to loan to Goztepe at any one time? Already seems to be Matsuki and then from Jan the two Brazilians. Presume there is a max number, and also presume they would ideally want Lis back too.

Fair enough. He joined Saints aged 21 and is now 28. With a year left I am sure the club will be trying to get him to sign an extension but he may wish to try something else which is pretty understandable. Hope he stays as is by far our most experienced CB and really improved under RM but if he goes then I think he needs replacing with a CB of similar stature.

For the right kind of fee, e.g under £25m then yes, potentially. Its the hardest position to recruit for and there aren't a lot of options. We are not going to be signing a proven PL player in their prime so these are the types, alongside players like Broja, that I am sure the club will be looking at.

John Halls close to joining from Stoke. Versatile 23yo defender. Doing medical now.

Perhaps but not how I see it. O'Riley (who I doubt we will have a chance to sign anyway) scored and assisted plenty last season whilst I think Camera got 1 goal and 3 or 4 assists in 30 odd games so not likely to come into the PL and do anything like being enough of an attacking force to increase our survival hopes. Re LB, wouldnt be suprising to see Manning leave on loan back to the Championship at some point in August assuming Wellington comes here with Taylor starting. Manning doesn't have the athleticism to play wing back and will be killed 1 v 1 in the PL. Would be plenty that would take him, I'm sure. I think the same about Bree too - clearly not PL level and another awful signing from Jan '23.

Perhaps Lamine Camara from Metz who we are supposedly in for would fit the bill? Seems quite versatile across the various midfield roles.

Our current attacking options are miles off creating/scoring enough goals to have a chance of staying up. Serious work needed now in this area.

Both are meh but made awful by the sponsor logo. But after one game nobody cares what a kit looks like anyway.

Also we don't really have many (any) right sided wide players aside from Arma as all ours seem to prefer playing from the left. Rak-Sakyi is definitely a left footed winger who likes playing from the right. That said, its Nixon who seems to be from the Crook school of transfer reporting (unless its about Blackburn or Burnley for some reason).