santolijador

His kids went to my school and they were similar. The youngest ended in in prison for assault or drugs or something.

Looks like he might have a shot a going back to Barça this summer, what a career trajectory and clearly a very important player on the pitch and in the dressing room when he was here

Feasibly I reckon he could play a few games for us in the Championship before a club like West Ham, Fulham or even one of the bigger teams who miss out on the midfielder glut this summer (Liverpool come to mind with their sketchy recruitment in the last couple of windows) and begin to panic toward the end of August. This might also drive the fee up. If he can guide us through a couple of those early fixtures, I'd be pleased. I'd also like to think if we do get off to a good start, RM uses him well, he might think that winning a few games this year on the way to a promotion might actually be fun and worth a year of the reported 40% salary drop etc. I guess one of the big things is whether he personally thinks that he can get into Euros reckoning by playing prem. Was Grealish ever in the England set up when Villa were in the Champ or nah?

wouldn't worry too much, 14 games in charge of Parma with a 29% win rate (also has a PL2 but I'd wager thats not a difficult task with City youth system) - hopefully he's a bust and takes Leicester to deeper depths

Worrying. For context, had a look at all the quotes from DSports (can't find the original audio, so if anyone can point me in that direction, I would be grateful), and it looks like the prem is his priority - whether that be after a year of tearing up the Championship, or heading to Brighton or similar this year... To be fair to him, he says that he 'is still playing for Southampton' and 'isn't up to date' with rumours of move and so on - he says he 'simply plays and gives his all' I also can't confirm as to the framing of the question to him, but it looks like they sepcifically asked him about playing in the premier league, which might explain this response. From another interview, he is returning from Argentina to Southampton today, so maybe things will become clearer soon in this regard. Here is the twitter thread for fellow spanish speakers:

https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/404 'mush'

Sulemana also played in Ligue 1 for the best part of a couple of years.

The best thing to come out of that article is confirmation of the fact that we are interviewing a few candidates, and seemingly trying to get things sorted asap. I know that you might expect this as a minimum, but after the year of strange decisions made by our club, I am grateful for the confirmation...

Salisu instead of bazunu surely

I wonder if we will dive into South American recruiting - it seems clubs in England are beginning to tap this resource, in the PL with Brighton and other clubs, but also in the Championship - Norwich being an example of a couple of players coming over from Brazil and Chile and making an impact (Sara and Nuñez). Celtic seem to get bang for buck recruiting in Asia as well which is an interesting reference.

Just give it to our boy Selles, cba with all the faff for another manager and Ruben would clearly be a decent Championship manager if all else fails. (Not ruling anything out tho) The guy loves and is loved by the players, clearly has a big respect for the club, and comes from a v tactical Spanish background. Can't go worse than NJ and RS oozes class compared (not just to NJ, but put him next to a Javi Gracia or an Alfred Schrueder, I'm taking Rubén) Not necessarily a rational or thought-through opinión, but an opinion nonetheless

Potentially something to do with that club leak/news about Selles telling people to start putting in effort or not play again this season. Maybe he has seen a discernible lack of effort/intention from these guys? I am, of course, not sure at all, but other than that, I can't think why they wouldn't be in the matchday squad. I guess DCC will be off in the summer whatever happens, same likely with Salisu. Maybe Selles thinks that they just don't care enough to stand up to the challenge. who knows? edit: seen that Salisu is injured.

Relaxed and confident

This is exactly my suspicion too. Thorup is out of work as well and if brought in as an assistant, on mates rates, shouldn't be too expensive, and may mould Selles into our Championship manager for next season. Is it me, or were the players looking quite chipper in the official training photos the other day under Selles?

Back to this thread we come

Well seems like it's headed this direction. At least I can look forward to how we lineup at Chelsea. Intrigue all around. Would be funny if we took 6 points off them and went down.

If we have to go for one of these former England players, I'd take a punt on Rooney. Did a decent enough job at Derby given everything they went through, and tends to play a 4-2-3-1 which suits our players. He'd be a good Championship manager, and a big enough name to hopefully convince some players to stick around.

Have reflected on this today. I'd take Marsch if he signs up and stays even if we go down. Think he's a good name for the Championship and a style of football that fits on paper. I'd still rather others, but in the Championship, I'd take him.

I'd like to think that Marsch is being reported because of previous interest and his RB past etc. It seems like the kind of story that The Athletic can put out to react to this mornings news, and because in the past his name has been in the hat it's not a blatant lie, but there isn't much in it. I'd hope that they have a look at his more recent managerial history and move in another direction. Personally, I am resigned to going down but would throw everything into getting us into a rhythm to attack the Championship next year and come up. On that alone you might convince a 'maybe' player to stick around for a year, win some games and give coming straight back up a go. Maybe one of the Argentines makes sense - don't think Poch comes back, that sounds silly, but Gallardo or Bielsa have almost a free hit at getting the best out of us at the highest level and if/when we do go down, have some momentum and identity to bounce back. The Championship has been quite bad this season, I think you could sell to a Sulemana, an Onuachu or an Alcaraz a season of winning most weeks but that is only if you have a solid and clear identity and a coach that gets the best out of you and that people want to play for. Wouldn't be suprised to see one of these Danes/Nords come in either - Thorup or Knutsen, would also be interesting and quite Saintsy. But not Marsch. Please.

Thierry Henry left the Belgium set up as a result. Anyone take him?

Amazing. Love to see that.

Charly is a baller. Good start from the new signings (excl. Bree)

Mara was attracting interest from France in January. I'd like to keep hold of him, but can see a mid to upper table Ligue 1 team going after him. Perhaps more likely is a loan.