Dusic

Considering the lack of visibility and accountability that some owners show on a regular basis I will take the fact that Dragan seemingly invited two local journalists for an interview as a good sign. PR? Undoubtedly. But better that than a Gao type who is silent and hidden.

Apart from Andrew Watson, and Master Bates when he has read newsnow.co.uk, there is a dearth of genuine ITKs on here these days. All the proven ones (Guan, kbilly etc) no longer post here and you can see why.

Virtually all of the players you listed are teenagers or very slightly older!

Kevin Theopile-Catherine has shone at Dinamo Zagreb - could he be of use this coming season? Probably not but wanted to make use of my 3 daily posts and remembered his name from when he was at Cardiff.

https://targetscouting.com/2025/01/31/damion-downs-1-fc-koln-scout-report/#:~:text=Downs stands at an impressive,constant physical presence in duels. https://www.bundesliga.com/en/2bundesliga/news/damion-downs-who-is-cologne-s-american-youth-international-forward-23960 Definitely seems to have some decent attributes - one to monitor, especially with a seemingly affordable fee.

He wouldn't have taken the job without being comfortable with the composition of his staff. Having someone with extensive experience of the EFL and prior managerial experience too is a nice balance. Zero benefit for Saints to be forcing anyone on him so I'm sure he is fully behind it and any future appointments. Also interesting in that he was working with Rob Edwards at Luton until he was sacked and Edwards is being heavily linked with Middlesbrough and Bristol City.

And Smallbone? Guy scored the the 2nd most important goal of the season and assisted the most important. Sure he might struggle at PL level but he was good in the Championship. If you would base a judgement of Spors on Smallbone starting a football match in the Championship then I think thats more than a little OTT.

The point is to have a bigger pool of players who are able to generate value/profit. If Juan turns into a player who can be sold for £5m its £5m extra on the books, which in the PSR world is massive. If Matsuki ends up playing for us next season its saved on paying a fee for someone. If neither happens we have barely lost a penny as they were cheap to acquire. We see these days mid table sides buying young talents for £20m+ and loaning them out to develop. The idea is to find these players for less, sign them earlier and have somewhere to put them whilst their value increases or they meet WP criteria. At this stage there has only really been one year of the model - since Goztepe got promoted. Once Valenciennes make it back to Ligue 2 it will give another useful option - it all takes time to realise a benefit. Nowadays its is so hard to make profits on academy players because the ones good enough to make a PL career tend to be poached before they make a debut (Gomes, Miles, Alleyne etc) and instead the poachers like City and Chelsea are the ones that profit. This is our way of trying to compete. Whether it works or not who knows, but its too early to judge after basically one season of it in operation. @S-Clarke its good Goztepe did well as means they stay playing at a decent level which clearly benefits the above. The fact we got relegated has zero to do with anything related to Goztepe.

No different than...getting promoted again?

Whats he been like when you have seen him, can you see why clubs might be keen or is he just poor allround? Must admit I have never heard of him but it seems Monaco paid €20m for him as a teenager (probably funded by Carrilo...) so he must have something?

I'm sure @dazstevnson1953 is right across the multi million pound dealings in the world of football. Of course he is.

Dont see us having 4 CBs under 22!

Big Jhon has a while to think about this.

On Armstrong. Certainly wouldn't be getting rid to anyone in our league and not sure who else could afford fee and wages who might actually want him?

Aribo is a quality player at our level so not someone I would mind staying but equally can see why he may want to move on. Certainly wouldn't be getting rid for nothing or extremely low value though - he has good availability and seems like a good character too. The whole benefit we have as a relegated side is in theory some players who are better than the level, or at least top end quality at the level and I think Aribo is probably one of those. We will need to keep some of our better players.

Nice show of faith from Charlton in a manager who selflessly dropped two divisions to bring them back towards where they belong. From the Rhonda Valley to the Addicks Valley - good things happen to good believers.

@Fabrice29

If they finish 4th in the Championship this season there will be a major inquest!

If there is a financial upside then that will help the team be competitive. We can find players both for now and for development via Goztepe, it doesn't need to be a choice between one or the other and the two are probably being led by different components of the team Spors has compiled. Done well its a no brainer as a way for a smaller team to increase potential funds its can generate. We have been awful at selling players for a while now.

If we sign Juan on a free, loan him to Goztepe, he develops and then we sell him in future for say €3m then is that not a benefit? It relies on good recruitment of unheralded players but fairly clear to see how it can be of use. If Valenciennes can get back to Ligue 2 that would further help. As Nolan points out we have only really been able to 'use' Goztepe this year since they got promoted. I see it as something that is extremely low risk and potentially has a high upside but is reliant on good recruitment, much like success of our first team. Really don't see why it irks people, the cost of the likes of Juan, Matsuki etc is miniscule in the scheme of things. All it takes is one success story and it pays back.

Significant amount of Championship coaching experience, primarily as assistant to Chris Hughton at Birmingham, Norwich and Brighton and Rob Edwards at Luton. Briefly manager of Cardiff and had a long spell in charge of Bristol Rovers after retiring as a player.

Good move for him but doubt Rangers could afford too many of our players, fees or wages.

If Sunderland get over £30m for Jobe Bellingham then Dibling is easily worth £50m.

I think the key point is that success in U21 football doesn't necessarily prove much/anything when considering which players are capable of making the step up to first team level. What you are looking for is players who can play the same way in a first team setup as they can in their age group. I would imagine first team training is a strong indicator of this and then for example with Dlibling it was clear in his first minutes that he had the swagger, confidence and physical ability that he showed in the academy setup. For Ballard it is harder - he is obviously a good finisher but that isnt enough. Its different playing against 30yo big, physical, experienced CBs than it is playing against an 18yo who is probably being asked to take risks on the ball to develop his in possession game, knowing if he makes a mistake and his team loses there is little consequence. His loan spells havent shown much to suggest he deserves a squad place in the Championship but he clearly has something so wouldn't be writing him off just yet.