chiknsmack

The club had the right to activate a one-year extension but (in their complacency) didn't. It's complicated by the deadline for the club to do so being dictated by when they played their last game, and the club not knowing the second playoff semi was the last game until a few days later. So I'm not going to be too mad at the club for failing to activate the extension when they were (possibly) thinking that we could get promoted and then not want Stewart around for the Prem. (Even though I think he's good enough for the Prem.) I'm also not going to be mad at Stewart. It's not his fault the club didn't lock him down and, having failed to lock him down, it's not incumbent upon him to sign a one year deal with the club with the already-agreed conditions. Maybe he resigns with us for a year and gets a pay rise or a signing on bonus he otherwise wouldn't have. Maybe we give him a two year deal instead. Maybe Hearts give him a pay cut but the security of a three year deal. Maybe he scores ten goals at the World Cup and replaces Lewandowski at Barcelona. He might end up back here. I think there's a good chance he ends up back here. I'd love for him to end up back here. The fact that - as of right now - he won't be here next year isn't something to get upset at him or the club about.

Matsuki isn't a winger; he's MUCH better centrally as competition for Azaz. We'd be better with Scienzas on both sides of the pitch and on last seasons performances Fellows ain't it. So trying to find another Scienza as a Fellows replacement is a good idea. I don't think this guy in particular is a second Scienza, but I'm glad the club is looking to improve on Fellows. This view might be a bit harsh on Fellows who definitely has ability, but his production last season just wasn't good enough.

Coventry had three very good strikers last season in Wright, Thomas-Asante, and Simms. They probably go with those three as good enough for the Prem, but if they bring in another then one of the three might be available. Two of them are going into the last year of their contracts, and the one most likely to be available is the youngest, cheapest, and most efficient last season on minutes per goal, Ellis Simms. Might be too expensive though. Looking at other tall strikers going into the last year of their contracts... Andrej Ilic is a Serb who registered five goals and ten assists in the Bundesliga last year. He scored seven in sixteen the year before when on loan from Lille. Forest and Coventry are rumoured to be in for him. If he forces Wood, Awoniyi, or Simms out, those dominoes falling might lead for an option for us. Kevin Rodriguez is in the Brighton system at Union SG in Belgium. That Brighton scouting setup can find a South American or three, and after a knee injury ended his first season there and his second season was shit he went alright (eight in 21) last season. Jesus Ramirez scored 18 in 33 in the Portuguese top flight as sometime captain of bottom-half side Nacional. If you’re not afraid of the German second division after Damion Downs, Isac Lidberg has a couple of good season at that level under his belt. Though you do have to query why he hasn't been picked up by a top flight side. A couple of younger strikers who outperformed his 17 in 30 last season are Mateusz Zukowski and Noel Futkeu. All three have German top flight suitors; Frankfurt have activated their buyback clause on Futkeu and are rumoured to be interested in Zukowski, while Monchengladbach are apparently interested in all three. Looking at the cheap option of free agents, Jonas Wind is leaving Wolfsburg. He’s a Danish international, and he’d be a proper Ross Stewart replacement on the basis of his multiple muscle injuries last season. (Seriously though, if he’s fit...) One for the future is 22yo, 1.97m Serbian Marko Milovanovic. He’s on the books of Spanish club Almeira who are currently in the La Liga 2 promotion playoffs, but had his first season of decent minutes in men’s football (he’s 22) in Portugal last season. Nine in 31 is decent, but more decent when he only played 1500 minutes. The year before he made some bench appearances in La Liga 2 and only played 60 minutes plus in the three Copa Del Rey games, which included a goal and assist vs Sevilla.

They have a stack of CBs, though the best of them is a 19yo being targeted by Champions League and Premier League clubs. If he goes, there's your Sugawara money. Their captain is also a CB, 28yo, came through the Bayern academy setup and is going to the World Cup with Austria. If THB is going (I'm not convinced he is), THB and Sugawara out, Marco Friedl and ~£15m in.

I wasn't making any argument on the merits of Ballard today. I was just pointing out that he is more a poor man's Armstrong than a poor man's Downs, and that he'd been let go because of what he'd shown before last season. I even mentioned that I wouldn't be upset to see him back here on the back of what he did last season. I also wasn't arguing the merits of undersized strikers, just pointing out that SR have primarily signed strikers over 6'1" and ditched shorter strikers like the poor prospect (as he was at the time) Ballard and the proven Armstrong, so it's unlikely he'll return.

And BBD.

No, it's a very clear message that we plan to win promotion next season.

More a poor man's Adam Armstrong. Part of the reason he was free to go was we already had an undersized, "too good for the championship but not good enough for the Prem" striker, so why would we also need an undersized striker whose good start to a League 1 loan was followed by a major knee injury and a second L1 loan where he scored 3 in 35? As Larin and Stewart have proven (and was the arguably the case with Onuachu in the Prem too) we are better with a big targetman type striker than a relative midget like Armstrong or Archer (or Ballard). I'm glad to see him having some success and am happy for him, and wouldn't be upset if he came back here. But recent recruiting shows that SR want big good strikers (Stewart, Larin, Onuachu), sometimes buy big shit strikers (BBD, Downs), and don't want small good strikers (Armstrong, Ballard).

Could be methanol poisoning. The Home Office has a list of countries to watch out for it, which includes Nigeria. And reading through the Twitter thread there are people saying that Nigerian alcohol is dodgy. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c33p7vvyp2zo

I think we'll have to stick with the other teams in the EFL naughty corner. Swindon Town, Shrewsbury Town, Leicester, Wednesday, West Brom. Maybe a trip to Turkey to play Goztepe, and while we're there we can play Adana Demirspor who just got relegated to the third tier on -57 points.

Chorley and Garner were both at Swindon Town together a few years ago. (The same Swindon Town that got kicked out of the EFL Trophy for cheating this season. Coincidence? )

It's not true. The article linked to says that "Southampton's board agreed on certain aspects of the side that needed to improve as they returned to the Premier League, with their displays defensively one key area that was addressed."

Abdul Abdulmalik trialled with us a few years ago before leaving Millwall. Only an obscure point of interest (unless our Spygate punishment is demotion to the National League, in which case sign him up) but going off the highlights of one game he's too good for that level.

Interesting comment at 21:28 (when in France): "I'm following a coach that's been there for seven years... but who'd built the squad in a 3-4-3. And 3-4-3 isn't a system I particularly like, it's not what I'd go to if I really had the choice." Fodder for the "Rasmus made him do it" folks.

Immense today. I thought we might be able to keep him even if we don't go up, but not after that on the big stage.