Dusic

I think we wil lose Fernandes and Dibling but if you listen to this whole segement it seems a fairly measired and accurate summary of where we are. Will be interesting to interpret Still's view on incomings when asked post match tomorrow - he was clear last week that we need to see more stuff happen and I guess on outgoings it has this week.

Solak said we likely wouldn't use the loan market as much as we did previously so interesting to see if that plays out. I think we are in the stage where 'what we all knew deep down was likely to happen but had a vague hope it wouldn't' is happening. In the last week its has become clear that Ramsdale, Dibling and very likely Fernandes will (personally think THB too). Thats a kick in the teeth. But once those are done then there isnt anything else to fear. Our squad is big and we have a lot of competent Championship players. If we are deriding players like Aribo and Smallbone, who were pretty good last time at this level, then it shows its not too bad. What we clearly need is a couple of x-factor players in the final third. We will have a month and a decent stack of cash to be able to sign them and if we get that right then those predicted lineups will look strong again. And there is certainly time to achieve that.

Agree apart from the Robinson bit. He plays wide left, Dibling much better from right or central - the two areas we look extremely bereft of options and will certainly need reinforcements.

Very suprised that some are happy to take £35m. He is a huge talent who already showed in the PL that he has the ability against top defenders to cause them major problems. At 18, in a beyond dreadful team in his first experience of pro football. Yes he can seem a bit casual but that is just his style. One of the signs of players who will make it is whether they play the same way in pro football as they did in the youth setup - and he does. With swagger, poise, flair and deceptive power. He probably won't be worth less than £35m at any point in his career until he is in his mid 30s and will likely be worth nearly double that within 6 months. Contract situation makes it difficult for us (we have been so bad at contract management for years now) but we should and hopefully will be getting more than that - not least because we would be quoted around £20m something to sign a semi decent Championship attacking player. At around £35 he is an absolute steal and whoever buys him will make a big profit.

We don't need a striker but Richard Kone has been mentioned on here a few times. Seems to be heading to Swansea for about £4.5m.

John Percy (very reliable) saying Firest have had talks re Fernandes and that he meets all of their criteria for a new signing. He was the person who first mentioned their interest end of last season. I think its now clear he will be going as too much interest from a range of clubs and being honest he should be playing at a high level because he could be an elite player. I think its probably now looking like we will do well to keep just one of the big four - I think all will probably go because its so hard to keep players when PL clubs want them.

Good win in a difficult tie. Rangers recruitment certainly looks better than previous years. Think they will have a good season under RM.

Ipswich agreed a fee for Hayden Hackney from Boro - very good CM at this level. Meanwhile Krasnodar want to extend the contract of Spertsyan, per the source that reported him considering our offer:

Not sure why we would be interested in Dubravka particularly. The last time he played a decent chunk of games for Newcastle their fans thought he was awful and in the end they rushed Pope back to get him out the team. Be interesting to know the terms of the option, e.g does it potentially not apply if we go up, or does it give them sole control of whether they keep him or not? If the latter then we might have been better off selling him. Unpopular opinion but I think we will go with Baz at 1st choice with AMc as 2nd choice and then sign a 3rd choice, essentially the same as last time in the Champ. If we are to get a first choice then it would have to be a loan and someone clearly superior to what we have plus getting rid of either Baz or AMc otherwise wages would be ridiculous with 3 keepers who all think they should be #1

And whether they would provide the player with a work permit. The fact is hasnt been signed by someone better has nothing to do with ability. If those reports have any truth then you would hope the club and lawyers have determined a way that they could actually send that amount of cash legitimately to Russia and register him, but I can't see it myself.

Its not that much of a mystery. There is a war and heavy regulatory sanctions placed on the country his club is based in which means sensing millions to that country is not currently possible through traditional means and thats before the moral side of it or the actual reality of dealing with a Russian club is factored in. Not exactly a straightforward transfer!

How would we go about sending millions of pounds to Russia? Feels somewhat of a non-starter.

Potentially, but I am not certain that would happen. We have clearly bought Quarshie to play a decent part and have Edwards and Wood who would both also expect to start at this level. If we were to then sign someone else and relgate them to 4th/5th choice I am sure both would be pushing to leave (and fair enough). Also might still have Taylor who is a cover CB option too. So much change still to happen!

Good move for all parties IMO. Had good spells when the team was properly structured, high availability and got his head down and was largely excellent in the promotion season. Good luck to him.

I would think a factor is that they knew Bednarek was going and also that THB likely will too. They also knew we were going to bring in Quarshie (21) to go alongside Edwards (22) and Wood (23) and potentially may have Kayi-Sanda (18) as part of the squad too. Unpopular as it clearly is on here, Stephens is a player with a lot more experience (frequently requested on here), who last time in this league captained a promotion winning side (experience of promotion frequently requested here), including playing very well in the pressured situation of the playoffs (undeniably good experience to have). He has been at Saints for nearly 15 years and obviously those closer see the value that he brings, as Ryan Manning clearly articulated recently. I think its absolutely clear that the contract is probably a year too long but I'm also sure the wages are affordable. I am also certain that he is nowhere near as bad as the hysteria on here suggests. Last time in the Championship he played pretty well in various roles (remember him being solid at LB away to West Brom in an unfamiliar role) and as we saw with Bednarek who pretty much bossed every striker he faced in the Championship it is a much lower level than the PL which is where most of this judgement is Stephens comes from. Personally think fans need to just let this go now, especially once the games start because getting on his back won't help anyone, not least our new manager!

Interesting in Adam Blackmore's interview with Still post match today that WS mentioned the need to now condense down the squad for this first month of the season. To me a nod to the fact that foe the 2nd month it will likely look quite different, e.g once the likes of Ramsdale, Fernandes, Dibling etc have moved on. Will be interesting to see if much movement before Wrexham but August will surely be busy, as it is for most clubs to be fair. August is about setting a foundation, trying to keep pace with those near the top and avoiding an awful start (possible with fairly tough looking fixture) and then the settled phase pretty much begins in September post transfer window.

Striker isnt the issue. Creativity is.

I don't think we will see much (any) of Dibling. If we play 4-2-3-1 primarily as seems to be the plan then the '3' needs a lot of work between now and end of Sept. Not really any other majorly glaring areas so at least full focus can be on this.

Everton won't be paying anything over £30m so hopefully others seriously interested too. Unfortunately imagine we will struggle to get what once seemed feasible due to his contract status and drop off in the 2nd half of the season.

Pointless loaning him out as his contract is up next summer. Its still very early stages of the window, almost everything happens in the last two weeks of August and I have no doubt that will be the same here. ABK has shown that when fully fit and focused he is a good player - enough to be selected for a Germany tournament squad. Im sure a club over there will take him on the right deal.

At the end of the day the goal was promotion and we got promoted. That will be the same goal for Will Still this season. There are clearly various ways of going about it. We clearly conceded a lot of goals but also scored a lot - 30 more than Sunderland who finished 4th this season (and 11pts more). From pre season so far I think we will perhaps be harder to beat but more turgid and certainly will score fewer goals. There is a lot of revisionism about that season in the Championship. There were a number of games we scored 3, 4, 5 goals in and absolute battered teams scoring some great goals for example. I can't believe that people found that boring, nor the various games where we scored late winners. Lets see how we do this season, I enjoyed a lot of that promotion season and the feeling of really targetting something - hopefully this season ends in the same result. As for this thread, it mostly gets bumped by people slagging RM off, and I suspect a lot hoping Rangers lost in the CL game. Once people stop doing that then I suppose it will fade away...

Well Still said about him and Downes that they couldnt train for the next 10 days because of their knocks so that pretty much rules them out of the remaining friendlies and therefore would assume the Wrexham game at least. I imagine something will happen with him in August anyway as we need to raise some cash and he isnt going to be extending his contract.

Dibling is the frustrating one because we either need the cash we may get for him, or him fit and firing and showing why PL sides should be lining up for him. In his pre season apps he has shown end product in an area we are badly lacking yet now is supposedly injured and probably unlikely to be of any use either to us or anyone else until September. Doubt PL sides will be firming anything up til end of Aug as he isnt going to be a key player for the type of clubs who could afford him anyway and they know due to his contract that we probably want to sell.

Per Still post match, he likes Fernandes in one of the two deeper positions where he can "see the game". Besides, he is too good to still be here in September. Clear that #10 type role needs a very good player brought in to play it because they need to be creative and a goal threat and we just don't have anyone of that profile.

Good start for him in a big game and clearly has already coached the team to play his possession style - which of course is not for everyone but is why they will have selected him. Think it will really suit him up there and he will do a good job. Their recruitment seems a bit more ambitious with the new funds.