verlaine1979

Last summer there was some analysis going round of young European CBs that showed Saliba was up there with the likes of Upamecano (I think it showed Salisu being elite in the tackle but less so in the air).

Goku looked a good prospect for Belgium, but I see that he was already out of our price range by the time he was 18. Likewise Damsgaard for Denmark, though he would've been more affordable when he made his first move abroad. Hopefully our scouting system is getting an update from its wait-six-years-and-then-sign-Elyounoussi strategy. Maybe pick up a couple of these gems on their first transfer, as we're clearly too broke to buy either of them from Rennes or Sampdoria now.

You might be right, but I feel much the same way watching England as I do when watching Saints. Because there's no one occupying the central attacking spaces, nearly every move defaults to trying to get the ball wide. Not to disparage the importance of wing play, but if it's the only attacking move you ever make you can't be surprised when defenses find you easy to play against.

No need to talk in code. You can just say they should've taken JWP...

England need someone to connect the defensive midfield and the attack. I thought that was going to be Mount, but on the basis of the first two games, Mount, Foden and Sterling all seem to want to drift wide, leaving an enormous gap where the central attacking midfielder should be in this formation.

Is Sancho injured? He's been one of the most creative players in Europe for two seasons, but hasn't had a minute yet.

Would you buy ten Steven Davises though?

For owners prepared to turn debt into equity, FFP means almost nothing for clubs that aren't playing regularly in Europe.

Players who score a lot of free kicks are always noticed (and usually overrated) by the fans of other clubs because they're statistically so rare. If you did a word association with JWP and non-Saints fans, I bet 99 out of 100 would say 'free kicks'.

The fact remains that an asset bought for c.£20m became an asset sold for c.£300m. No one is getting a 10x return on buying Saints now, let alone a 15x return.

Have there been any indications that Gao is prepared to lose money on this deal? DaGrosa's comments would suggest the price wasn't as low as he was expecting it to be, which could be a problem. It's hard to see the club being worth as much as it was when Gao bought us considering covid impact, the $80m debt and the fact that we still had an asset like VVD on the books at the time. Those last two alone are equal to half the purchase price of the club.

When he left Sweden at 17 his choices were apparently Dortmund or Real Madrid. I'd say he's been out of our league since before he was old enough to vote.

Austria look surprisingly decent. Couple of great deliveries for their first two goals.

It's a bootlicker's anthem - they have the right idea.

What about those of us who don't give two sh*ts about the queen?

Isn't beating a man one of the things that *creates* overloads?

Sadly was closer to £15m I think - BBC pegs it at £13.5. Clearly the club thought he'd be a cash cow in a couple of years, but lost faith in him after the 9-0. Bearing in mind how awful McC has been, they probably should've stuck with Gunn.

Yup - it just so happened that 3bn was also the net worth of the other Liebherr siblings who *hadn't* handed back their shares and were still involved in the company. Based on how hard she fought to be allowed to sell to Gao, I'm pretty sure that Saints was the most valuable asset KL inherited. As you say, multi-billion dollar companies don't get wound up just because the owner dies. As for Gao, no idea where that 3bn figure has come from. At the time he first appeared on the scene people were suggesting he was worth 1bn, which would've been about 20% of the market cap of Lander, which isn't unreasonable for the founder of a listed company. Since then the company value has absolutely cratered, so I've no idea why anyone would imagine his wealth to have tripled.

You might be right, but it's not something Saints could do unilaterally. If all the other clubs that recruit in our catchment continue bringing in kids from 8 up, then all we'd do is miss out on anyone who shows exceptional early promise, while still having to compete on an equal footing for anyone who develops later.

Would definitely add more to the squad than Minamino.

If recruitment is good, as it has been in the past, then all of those players are replaceable for less than we'll get for them. If recruitment at the club is still bad, then we're screwed in the pretty near-term anyway, as Ings and Vest will be gone in a year and you can't stake premier league survival on JWP alone. I guess it's gamble on recruitment now with a little money in the bank, or gamble on recruitment in a year with no money in the bank. Either way, if the scouting is sh*t we're done for.

You could look at the absolute collapse in value of Lander. Early references to his wealth were derived from the value of that company, which is now worth only about 20% of its peak value. On that basis, £200m is probably a generous estimate of his total net worth now, unless the Chengdu authorities gave him a very soft landing when they took over control of Lander in 2019.

With Gunn I suspect they were investing £15 to get a definite £30-40m in a year or two. He was incredibly highly-rated, had name recognition from his dad and had come off the back of a decent season on loan. To be honest, based on how poorly the other two did this year, I suspect we'd probably have been slightly better off with Gunn, as he can at least pass the ball out accurately and quickly, which is essential to how we were trying to play all season.

Can't see anyone paying £150m for Kane at 28. He'll still be worth something at 32 I'm sure, but not enough. With rare, Messi-shaped exceptions, big money like that will probably only be spent on players who are going to be under 30 by the end of their initial contract.

Need to upgrade Bednarek. He's too uncomfortable on the ball. We're trying to play out from the back, and his slow decision-making and generally poor passing put us under pressure far too often. Added to that, he's declined as a defender this season, so not sure what we'd be preserving by keeping him as a first choice.