Chez

woosh.

Ethan Ampadu, Hudson Odoi and Lewis Hall for starters.

Decent post. I dare say we offered and paid him huge wages for a league 1 side, and he would have been a bench warmer at West Ham, but (effectively) dropping down two divisions is quite a decision to make and delaying any West Ham decision, so the Saints buyout could go through, possibly was a risky move. Pretty sure he was in the league 1 and PFA Championship teams of the year. Not always a great gauge as the players vote quite early and often for the successful sides and well known players, but even so, I think that reflected how good he was for those two or three years. I don't care that he wasn't good enough once in the Prem. Nor was Richardson, Chaplow, Hammond or Hooiveld, but they are legends in my book. I also was at the Wednesday game. Fucking horrible, but what came after has airbrushed that out of my mind.

last game of the season in the Championship?

not sure why any genuine Saints fans would want to bother belittling any of the players that gave us two of the best football seasons in my lifetime. Celebrate each and every one of them. Any news on Delap?

I looked it up and he saved 5 of 11 pens during the two seasons in League 1, none of 3 in the championship promotion season and two of four when back in the Prem. Rate him or not, that's pretty good going.

I suspect they are waiting for the Tielman bid from United or whoever to provide them with the funds. They already have a big debt, so perhaps need to sell before they can buy. They spent £20m on Patson Daka last summer to take over from Vardy...

Sasa kalajdzic from Stuttgart?

It might be worth checking out Shearers stats for the first few seasons. Obviously in 1987 he was only 17, but in his third season, which might comparable with Broja in terms of age and experience, he played 35 games and scored 5 goals: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Shearer James Beattie in 1998 scored 6 in 39 for us (he was 20 and in his third season), so, again, similar age and experience https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Beattie_(footballer) I was going to suggest Harry Kane too, but he has all manner of loans before something just clicked (I think he just hit one, it flew in and then from then onwards he just decided to be selfish and hit anything from anywhere and the rest is history) Saints are in the crystal ball game these days. We 'gambling' a tad on youth, so seeing potential is the name of the game and you don't need a good eye to see that Broja has great potential. Whether he, Delap and come to think of it Lavia or Mara realise that potential I don't know.

Pretty fair assessment. If Romeu can rediscover his form of the first half of last season then he starts, simple as, but if we get more of the second half fare, then we need Lavia to step in and be immediately brilliant. Tough ask. Diallo needs to work out how to play in midfield. He seems to have forgotten what to do and where to be. He was terrible as a three man midfield and pretty poor as a two man. He needs to rediscover what made us sign him in the first place. A dynamic DM that broke up play and burst out from deep to get breaks started quickly.

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/ruben-vinagre-everton-latest-breaking-24590502 Not sure what our left back status is with KWP providing cover, but when I saw Vinagre for Wolves I was massively impressed and really surprised he didn't get more games and then was allowed to leave. Big yes for me, especially if he is available as a loan, which would suit us I think?

Really tidy footballer. I wonder though what his best position is. As a wide player does he deliver enough? Could he transition to CM like JWP did perhaps. He's a little like Moi. He's one of those footballer that could play for a top side and look right at home as his first touch is quality, but if you want him to really impact a game, grab it by the scruff of the neck, I am not sure he does that. Would he improve a shit side like us? Does he make things happen? Wonder how much the fee and wages are.

Incredible? Not IMO. Some good, some bad. He has always been a below average Prem keeper in my eyes. No saying he is terrible or even bad, just not great. Each to their own of course.

Its only because we don't see him every week and don't care if he lets goals in that it goes under the radar. I've been saying this for several seasons. Schmeichel ain't top class, makes too many mistakes (lots of near post goals for the McCarthy lovers out there) and may have been one of the most overrated keepers in Premiership history IMO (behind the Spurs keeper). In recent years many Leicester fans have quite rightly not been impressed. If he had been at SMS performing as he has recently, he'd have been absolutely slated on here.

He was bloody great for us in the lower leagues. Just how many pens did he save in the promotion seasons? It seemed to be almost all of them at one point. Great servant to the club, and sticking with us instead of moving to West Ham was just one of a number of key parts to our rise back to the top table.

poppycock.

The tweet doing the round is: "Braithwaite: There are offers from Getafe and Rayo Vallecano plus two from Premier League."

Very. He looked good in the Euros IMO and if he was cheap then he would offer decent backup to Adams (but is that what we want?). I was reasonably impressed, having heard of him, but never seen him play, but not sure he offers anything different to Adams (plays with his back to goal quite well) and certainly no more of a goal threat. He was injured or on the bench pretty much all of last season. The season before, he started 11 and scored 2. Lots of sub appearances, but no additional goals. Goals don't seem to be his thing. Barca are desperate to lose people from their wage bill. I suspect agents will be placing stories left right and centre to try and drum up interest. Unless they are at the club already or a keeper, being 31 years old immediately puts him outside our scope.

Yeah, United will be gutted they only get £75m a year from Adidas and only 7% of every shirt sold.

business is business. Senior players know the score and will all have done the same - move for a shed load more money.

It would be very interesting to know who our third and fourth choices are (behind Broja and Delap), but I should imagine its another 19-24 year old striker on the continent rather than a 30 year old Prem player. We shall see.

Training is training. Its not the real thing. But its very competitive indeed. If you cant beat Dias or Laporte every now and then, then you ain't gonna get picked for City. That will ensure your levels are sky high. In terms of choice between the two, its a no brainer. All the players want to play games not train. The choice for Delap is tough. Who would want to leave the `best' side in Europe. You are that pinnacle. You don't leave the club until they don't want you (ie they don't play you). I'd of thought he'd want to stay another year.

Very interesting. City don't need the money. They obviously want THE best players in the world. They don't want to let one slip through their fingers (although a buy back option would prevent that), so losing a few bob (not sure they will) by keeping him another year ain't a factor.

makes sense, but why wasn't Foden loaned out? Did Pep ever explain that? I've attended first team training sessions and when its games and attack verses defence scenarios, its all in. Dias and Laporte will not be going easy thats for sure, thus ensuring a good hour or so of intensive match situation football against the very best players. Go out on loan and there is a obviously going to be a drop off in quality, ability, speed, intensity etc. Multiply that by 3 or four days a week, for 30 weeks...

if he scores say 15 league goals this season, perhaps due to a change on formation/tactic/position, us being better and more chances being created, my post won't age well. Is that likely or even possible? We need options and without question he is going to be one this season, so lets hope that's exactly what happens and he and Saints flourish. Fingers crossed.