Dusic

Tanswell on TSP said Jackon's injury wouldn't be an issue and seemed to think it was very close, loan with an option. Keane would surely wait til after we have played Everton. Obviously when it first came out about Akpom being of interest it seemed odd, but watching some of his recent goals and assists for Boro he does actually look like a good player (not just a goalscorer). Imagine he is seen as probably a more realistic option to Moffi price wise. Obviously not a signing that screams staying up ambition but wonder if anyone who is slagging him has ever seen anything of him?

Team will be interesting. Specifically, will Lavia be risked ahead of Saturday? Imagine it will be: ----------------Baz----------------- ----Lyanco----DCC----Salisu----- KWP------------------------Perraud ----JWP---Lavia or AMN-----Moi--- ---------Che------Arma---------

FFS, its pretty fucking obvious from that clip that Adams is giving Jones some encouragement after an important win (given the context) rather than slagging him off which would be utterly bizarre anyway, especially at that specific moment. Whether the players rate him or not, I'm sure they feel bad that he is getting pelters from the fans partly (at least) because of their own errors, Adams included. I find some of the chanting against Jones to be pretty classless really. Yes there are massive question marks over him, but the point is valid that he took over a team that was amomgst the very worst of the 92 league clubs in 2022. IMO he will get a chance to show what difference can be made with a few new signings and after being appointed about 5 games ago then really thats the least he deserves. If his appointment turns out to be a big error then that error is on Ankersen and the club, not on Jones himself. Its clear he is an emotional type, which isn't neccessarily a bad thing. I think, as hard as it is, fans should cut him a little slack and see what happens over the next few games. Certainly getting onto him before HT in games we are only a goal down in does nobody any favours. I see a team that is short on confidence (no suprise), makes mistakes (as we have for ages) and short on quality (as we all know). Not one that doesn't run or put any effort in. Jones clearly knows there needs to be massive improvement, lets see if he can deliver it. I think our chances at home especially will only be enhanced by being open minded that it might get better rather than booing at the first misplaced pass from a player either short on quality, confidence or both.

€30m seems very steep but then again we are totally desperate which every club knows. Good strikers are in very short supply (Weghorst supposedly going on loan to Utd proves that). Because we fucked up in the summer we will probably need to overpay in January to get what we want. Orsic should make a big difference but we still badly need a central striker and I am still suprised this hadn't been lined up for 1st Jan. I think in this position it will go deep into January.

Moffi would be ideal. 6'2 but also mobile, used to shouldering goalscoring burden and good underlying stats for the last couple of seasons. Obviously difficult to persuade targets to join given our league position though.

Strong team, sensible to rest KWP and Lavia. Assume its a back 3 with AMN at RWB but could be a back 4 with Lyanco at RB. Lets hope for a marked improvement as I don't think Jones will be sacked regardless. For those slagging off the selection, genuinely why?

What a shame he isn't joining with 5 or 6 more points on the board and a more realistic chance of staying up. From his interview video he seems like a good character too. Hopefully he has the immediate impact we did. Will be interesting to see where Jones uses him, perhaps in a front two with Adams? Surely not LWB... ------- Orsic has given an exclusive interview on leaving here: https://www.germanijak.hr/nogomet/vijesti/mislav-orsic-ekskluzivno-za-germanijak-poruke-dinamovaca-sam-citao-sa-suzama-ali-nekada-covjek-mora-donijeti-teske-odluke-i-nema/108128 Some interesting snippets, including: Southampton officially announced their interest in Mislav Oršić a few days before the New Year . They gave him a few days to think and organized a video conference. And that's where they bought it. "The owner of the club and the coach were there. They presented me with the whole story, showed me a video that really impressed me. They drew my matches and goals, showed me what I was doing well and what they expected me to continue. I was really blown away when I watched it and how studiously they prepared ," Mislav Oršić told us in an exclusive interview for Germanijak . He claims that this made his decision easier and that it was the turning point when he realized that he wanted to continue in England .

Was covered after the game the other night, there is a video of it on YT. Seems they have done a lot of these over xmas, I guess it makes sense logistically as everyone is already there, but it does make it hard to know exactly when some of the quotes you see are taken from and also high emotions from the game thats just happened. Difficult to know how to apprpach this game. Realistically given schedule, injuries and our league position we should be resting KWP, JWP and Adams but also Jones knows he so badly needs a win so will probably play them. Another reason it would have been handy to have a couple of new lads in. Surely it was feasible to have signed Orsic on Jan 1st? He could have played both of these Jan games.

If we don't have a striker in befofe the Everton game then its mismanagement of a Sport Republic level.

We have 12 points from 18 games and are sleepwalking to relegation. Someone like Michael Keane is what will be on offer in a January window and in some ways wouldn't be awful. Obviously Everton wouldn't want a loan but on a perm deal for a cheap fee he might be decent. He is 29, has something to prove but in the past has been a decent player and certainly a goal threat. He also clearly needs a move. Considering its not impossible that all of Salisu, ABK, Lyanco and DCC leave in the summer, and as a minimum two of those four will, Keane would be in theory a very good Championship CB and certainly an improvement on Lyanco for the short term.

Presumably as its a permanent Orsic would sign a 2 or 3 yesr deal. He will obviously know there is a decent chance of relegation so perhaps would be willing to play in the Championship. Surely he would be very effective at that level.

This obsession with a formation we don't have the players for will be a substantial factor in our relegation. Ralph wasted a whole pre season on it and Jones was probably recruited because of it and wasted the WC break trying to implement it. I would imagine its Ankersen's favourite...

Tanswell just did a Q&A on IG Live. Nothing ground breaking but brief summary: Orsic - lots of stuff coming from the Dinamo end. Saints ideally want players under 27 and will only go above that for right player and right price. More clarity likely in coming days. Moffi - Player Saints definitely like, high up on list and seen as good fit and a do-able transfer Alcaraz - definitely a realistic option Lavia - thinks he stays this window Got a story out next week about recruitment at Saints, said its changed a lot.

Sounds like with Orsic if we want to sign him then we will. Worth considering that there are probably multiple players of the same position being negotiated for at any one time which potentially impacts the timeframes whilst they assess which deal to actually do and how that then has a knock on for which targets in other positions become affordable/unaffordable because of it. Also its too simplistic to just look at a fee and decide if its a good or bad offer. Usually the devil is in the detail around the terms, add ons and number of payment installments. There also must be a reason why no PL sides have moved for Orsic til now, aside from the failed West Brom and Burnley moves...I guess from a league perspective its a big step up for a 30 year old thats been used to playing in a winning team.

Positionally it would seem Orsic is very similar to Edozie, comes in onto his right foot from the left side. Wonder whether Edozie could be effective from the right, or whether they would end up sharing minutes? Vital to have good sub options and Edozie is certainly one of those if he doesn't start. Also, for balance, Ed Aarons tweeted yesterday to say Wolves want Alcaraz and that he would cost around £17m, so there are likely a few PL sides in for him. Since Brexit lots of teams have beefed up scouting in South America, lots of bargains to be had as proven by Brighton. Also....

https://www.germanijak.hr/nogomet/vijesti/orsic-nije-s-momcadi-u-rovinju-odlazi-u-klub-s-dna-premiershipa-ovaj-tjedan-na-lijecnickom/108001 Good player and importantly, good goal record for a wide player. Seems like a deal that would make sense as probably affordable to keep if we do go down. Article says he has not travelled for a training camp due to transfer talks but does say sources in England think there is a medical this week, although haven't seen any UK reports of that.

If Alcaraz is top of our shortlist for a midfieldernplayer then lets hope we actually pay the cash and get him! Re Ings, I would be all over that. Proven PL striker with no time needed to settle in. We know he works well with Adams, would be a great signing.

I don't blame Jones for this as he has pretty much just turned up, but so much feels like its lacking any clarity of thought and structure at the moment. Who is actually leading our recruitment? Presumably Ankersen but he is also the Chairman of another club, so can't have enough time to fully dedicate to it. Really hoped we would have had a few bits lined up and ready to go at the start of January but that is obviously not the case and isn't Jones' fault at all. Why does it always feel like the club doesn't realise juat what an awful position we are in? Comments about ending the window stronger than we currently are would be perfectly sensible if we were comfortably mid table. The reality is we need big reinforcement now, literally now. The end of January is too long to wait given the fixtures we have and the position we are in.

If we lose its going to be extremely difficult, not least as Forest would be 4 points ahead of us and possibly up to 7 if they were to beat Chelsea today. If that happens no way are we making up 7 points on them in the rest of the season. Equally, its going to be tough to persuade anyone decent to move to us anyway, let alone if we are a few points adrift at the bottom and have lost 4/4 under a new manager, 3 of which were reasonable to oick up points in. Its a must win. A bit like the game at Loftus Road in our first season back.

Clearly we have been the worst side in the PL up to this point. Even if we were to substantially improve, who is it realistic for us to finish above? IMO only Forest, Wolves, Bournemouth and possibly Everton or Leeds. It probably fair to say that unless we get a minimum of 3pts from the Forest & Everton games then its going to be almost impossible to stay up. The next two games are going to be huge, surely SR will have sorted some signings as a boost for the Everton game...

We know exactly what we want to do. Hopefully we have factored in this time whether the other clubs and players will enable it. Doubt we will have anyone in for Forest but beyond that surely we need to by the Everton game or its almost pointless?

Fulham aren't going to be relegated butbwe badly need something to have a bit of momentum going into the Forest game which is an absolutely massive game and pivotal for our season.

https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/coventry-city-camp-deal-wolves-leeds-united-southampton-more-early-january-blow/ Gyokores seems like a no. #januaryisatoughwindow

Do they tell him to hide in the bushes when they take pictures of the whole squad training and he isn't there?! If he was fit he would be involved, no question.

Don't get the Lavia stuff on here. He is clearly injured. We rushed him back for the Liverpool game, he limped off injured in the second half and wasn't in any of the early training pics when the players came back and in Spain was in some pictures but barely any of the videos of the actual training (same as Tino). He has only played 7 games and the decision to bring him in to start a game at Anfield before a month break for the WC looks to be an absolutely stupid one as he will probably end up missing most of this crucial run of fixtures we have.