Chez

That sounds promising. Celtic normally hoover up all the 'local' talent, so when they don't want them, it make me nervous.

I wonder if PSR was not about, whether they would have still sold the two wingers - the money was decent and the players will no doubt have wanted the moves.

We keep getting linked to these young Scottish players but nothing ever seems to come of it.

The big clubs have been cherry picking the best players for I don't know how long. They have everything sewn up. Bit of shame Forrest don't get one more season where they add to what they have and see if they can really break into the big time. The window of opportunity seems to be almost non existent for "smaller' clubs. Maybe they can emulate us and sign some new talent that sees them do even better - far from easy though. The good news for them is that they tied down their entire back four to decent contracts. Aina was bloody brilliant last year, but I guess at 28 he's a year or so too old for the biggest clubs to want to invest £50m in him?

he's the fella that scored from the half way line against Man City on TV.

I know the market has changed, but right now, today, I think those figures might be a tad on the high side. I have no doubt the clib will be requesting those sums, but I wonder if the clubs offering monies will feel the same. Perhaps Fernandes £35m plus add ons, Dibling £38 plus add ons, Ramsdale may or may not have a relegation clause, but not sure we are getting more than £25m, THB is tricky as he hasn't impressed me as much as others, but I'm guessing clubs will offer £25 plus add ons.

Anthony Patterson no recent links Daniel Peretz reportedly going on loan to Genoa Yahia Fofana - Ajax and West Ham interested Aleksandar Vulic no recent links Max Johnston no recent links Joe Mendes Samsunspor chairman says they have agreed terms. Juma Bah is joining Nice on loan. Matt Targett no recent links Bobby Clark no recent links Lewis O’Brien is in talks with Wrexham Besfort Zeneli linked with Koln Lucas Cepeda close to River Plate move Luis Guilherme linked to Shakhtar Donetsk Adnane Abid probably joining Standard Liege Jesrun Rak-Saki most recentlylinked to a Rangers loan Richard Kone no recent links William Boving signing for Mainz

Our price is going to scare teams off. We need to be careful of setting it too high though, if he doesn't sign a new contract he could walk at some point for buttons.

they want Madueke, but won't pay the £60m Chelsea want, so they'll pretend to look elsewhere.

Sure, he will no doubt have told Still he wants to be in the PL, but will be professional until a move happens, but he can't do anything unless a buyer comes in with a suitable bid either. It's not an unusual situation. We will just have to continue on, try and keep a few options in the air and then be very responsive should we get appropriate offers for our stars. I have to say I find it a little strange that Benarek is reported to have a "low buy out clause" and is "in demand" yet here we are 10th July and not a single rumour about a move. One of those two things can't be true...unless of course Jan doesn't fancy going to the clubs interested in him.

Not a lot we can do until someone makes an actual suitable bid for Ramsdale. Until then, we just have to continue as though he will be here for the season, obviously touching base with any potential replacements and their clubs. If he has a release clause, then we can't even say no to a late bid.

yeah, thinking about it, they have sold Bellingham and Watson, so that gives them plenty of wriggle room. I still think Villa might be a good option if Martinez departs.

Not English, but Sara did well last season after moving to Galatasaray from Norwich and has been linked to Inter and Villa. Not sure we had the finds available or could have competed with Galatasaray, but he was a player we needed last season to play alongside Downes.

Sunderland have spent about £80m so far this window (according to transfmarkt). PSR will limit what they can spend, so another £25m on Ramsdale might be beyond them.

I recall the league game at home to WBA and I was really impressed by his off the balls runs. Although not always found, and sometimes found but not able to bring the ball under control, he seemed to be constantly making runs behind and between the full back and center back. It was really noticeable, as it gave us an option in terms of a longer ball, which was badly needed to prevent us being boxed in. Although I wasn't keen on him getting a new deal - I was hopful we could upgrader - having signed, I thought that movement might be pretty useful in the Prem, and I certainly couldn't see how BBD playing out there on the left offered anything better. Our current options out wide look pretty limited to me.

...and 10 hours of it too. The Guantanamo mix.

Franny was a poor player too. We should have let him go years before we did. Part of the reason we struggled for many years was having players of his ability. Chris Fucking Perry. One of the shittest signings we have made imo. Small centre back that was central to our struggles. You have basically made my point for me. Two players with lots of experience, but outweighed by their weaknesses on the pitch.

He was really shite in the 2022/23 relegation season and he wasn't all that last year. He looks like he has lost a yard of pace and he had zero impact going forward in games. He looked bloody good in the Championship, but maybe that equates to him only being good enough for the Turkish league now?

Wood has played almost 100 games, Edwards 140, THB 160 plus 27 England u21 caps. Bednarek has 290 games and 69 Poland caps, Charlie Taylor has 300 games... Just how many games/seasons does a player need before he is considered a senior player that knows what he is doing? These guys are not novices. They don't need Stephens to hold their hand. Stephens might be older and played have more games, but so fucking what? All that matters is how good a player is, not how old or many times they have played. Chelsea get the right striker and keeper this summer and they challenge for the title, with or without a 30 year old centre back offering advice. Other facets? Dressing room influence. What the fuck does that even mean or matter? The only facet that matters is how good a footballer he is and Will Still should be deciding that on what he sees in training and in matches. Besides, who remains at the club that is actually qualified to decide if he has the facets that make him worthy of a three year deal, the goalkeeping coach?

How has Will Still come to the conclusion that he's worthy of a three year deal? He's not even seen him play yet.

Would it not have been more sensible to wait until the end of next season and offer a contract based on his performance and the league we are in?

You misunderstood the phrase, which is about having both water carriers and creative types. It has nothing to do with having a blend of youth and experience, which is what the discussion was about. Besides, he's a CB. Not sure any CBs can be described as violinists, so we could have any CB in the side and that would give us a roadsweeper.

'Violinists and roadsweepers' refers to the need for both flair players and worker types, nothing to do with having young and old players. You have a point though. Stephens is a committed Saint and deserves better than having fools like me questioning his value. It's done now and lets hope he is lifting the Championship trophy next spring,

We pay managers a shit load to look after young players. We also have a load of coaches to educate and motivate.

It's very similar. Very baffling. I sometimes think management overplays the need ofr old heads, experience, dressing room voices etc. IMO management sometimes needs to take a step back and just see what fans see - performances on the pitch, or lack of them - as ultimately that is what really matters. If Still had done that, he'd of found a player not up to the task, which is to get us promoted and keep us up. I thought the new management might have the advantage of not having a long relationship with players and thus be able to judge them on performances alone. Looks like that is not the case and they have gone for some sort of "safe" route of giving an older player they can "trust" a long contract. Why on earth not see what he can do in pre season or even this season and then make a decision next summer. If he chooses to leave, so what?