CampionSaint

Absolutely. We have good cover in most positions but to have only 2 strikers in Che and AA would be suicidal. Mara is not ready and 46 games is a long season. I for one am really pleased that Stewart is signing. The bigger problem would have been losing Che and Stewart not being ready for a month leading just AA.

Most comments I've heard are late September.

It looks like Ross Stewart is coming in for £8m plus up to £4m add ons so I presume he is lined up to replace Che. He won't be fit for a month though ! https://therealefl.co.uk/2023/08/31/sunderland-accept-bid-for-star/ Sadly it seems to be a financial decision. They probably think that he won't sign a new contract so will go for free at the end of the season and also if RM doesn't feel he's committed then that's another factor though it's a puzzle he's been offered vice captain if that's the case. In the loan proposal they could get £3m ish fee plus lose his £52k a week salary for a year (£2.6m) then be either able to keep him or sell him for £15m plus at the end of the season if he agrees to sign a 3 year deal. I think that's the major sticking point as to whether Che still won't want to sign a 3 year deal !

All quotes from the Northern press seem to have his contract up at the end of the season hence Sunders lands quandary.

It's only a cup game so you probably wouldn't expect him to play 3 tines in 8 days.

Not sure it's completely the case in the prem. Brighton for instance have sold a load of players without spending masses and still done well. Conversely Chelsea have doent madly and done no better. Man U still struggle to get a good team together despite massive spending. Brentford, Fulham and Wolves have done well without going mad. Agree the likes of Man City and Newcastle have spent a lot but there acquisitions have by and large been successful.

I think he would work well with Downes. After Saturday I would think Charles will continue at CB for the time being.

I think we'll only lose ABK. No one has shown serious interest in KWP all window, there seems to be a £30m price tag on Sully which I suspect no one will meet and Everton have moved on from Che and Palace haven't shown serious intent all window.

Interestingly he probably played for Scotland in 2017 with RM. He'll also know Stuart Armstrong well.

I think it's because having Adams, Armstrong & Piroe is too much for a Championship side with Mara & Ballard waiting in the wings plus trying to offload Big Paul. It's a good sign that Adams seems to be staying like I mentioned a few days ago. He's still worth more to us than others and there's now no obvious replacement which RM indicated there had to be.

https://www.goodisonnews.com/2023/08/20/everton-interested-in-signing-mama-balde-after-che-adams-bid-is-rejected/ This is more consistent with what seems to be actually happening 🙂

If they were that close to buying Adams he wouldn't have been playing yesterday and become an injury risk prior to a move. Don't believe all you read 🙂

I would still be really surprised if Adams or Tella leave in this window. I think they are worth far more to us than any of the buying clubs would be willing to pay and we are pricing them high as a result. Everton look like they are moving on to another target, Burnley have also moved on from Tella and Leverkusen won't pay what we're after for Tella. I also can't see us selling either without a replacement at least at their level. I also can't see that there is a suitable replacement for either available to just slot into our system. After Downes comes in by Wednesday I would have expected someone like a Harwood-Bellis / Vyner and maybe MacAtee / Hayden to come in plus No.2 GK. Big Paul, Sully, McC, ABK, Aribo, Djenepo to move on. Though ABK only if we can replace.

I think we set ourselves up for trouble yesterday before we started. Our defence isn't the greatest as we know but to have 5 attacking predominantly attacking players in AA, Tella, Edozie, Alcaraz & Armstrong was asking for it defensively. In midfield only Smallbone is competent defensively. They needed Charles instead of Stu imo. It's been difficult enough when JWP & Lavia have protected the back 4 so going with just Smallbone as good as he's been this season was naive at best. Really surprised at Martin as I think he's made a really good start overall but that was a big mistake and it was no surprise we conceded so many. Hopefully lesson learnt !

I understood he'd only just started training so wasn't fit to start.

He's definitely good at shot stopping and his distribution is excellent, and at 20 has room for improvement and is rated about the best in Europe for his age. His weakness is apparently on crosses and may need to do a bit of work at commanding the box but overall a good buy I think. I suspect the deal will be structured in such a way that we'll only pay the full amount with add-ons if he proves a success.

Agree with this outfield but would still have Forster over McCarthy.

I would still be in favour of playing KWP at RB and have Tino instead of Theo further forward on the right. He played more in midfield for Chelsea even though it was at academy level and he has shown the ability to be really creative in the last third.