CSA96

Did Dewsbury-Hall have that much interest? Genuinely can't remember I know Gnonto effectively went on strike for a while to try and force a move to Everton but that was under Moshiri ownership and I don't think they could've stumped up the cash even if they'd wanted to, given how much of a mess they were in terms of PSR compliance

Erm, that doesn't make the club stupid. Tyler Dibling was 17 when he signed that contract and you're literally not allowed, under FA rules, to sign a 17yo to a contract longer than three years: https://playerstatus.thefa.com/support/solutions/articles/80001135188-process-to-contract-or-loan-a-player If Saints could've got him signed up for more years on a lower pay deal, they absolutely would have

I had the same thought too, so we can be nerds together at least. Clubs usually have to declare 'alternate' shorts up front and I guess you wouldn't swap the lighter blue away shorts in with our home kit! Home and third being interchangeable makes sense

https://twitter.com/saintsextra/status/1950814667170848937?s=46&t=f0hgNyKSvvOD5qjGLJhsXQ

£4m loan fee and 100% salary picked up, apparently

Kind of, but it speaks to a point someone made on here too where you can almost get your money back on young talent if you sign them and they don't work out, because somebody else will take a punt on realising the potential. I think we paid £10m in 2022, so we're three years down the line, he's not what the manager wants and we're getting somewhere around £7.5m back for him, with another two years left on the contract In terms of book value, amortisation and PSR (which there will be someone else on here who can explain far better than my pretty basic understanding) that isn't damaging. So when you mix these sales with the likes of Lavia, Livramento, Dibling (soon, presumably) then it does work out financially Won't catch me disagreeing with this bit!

Good return, I think

Little to no loss, he just isn't good enough. Glad to see us clearing a forward/wide player out, hopefully we can get a new pair of wingers in

They want Trafford, not Ramsdale. Now they can get Ramsdale, trial him for a year and see if they want to spend on him next summer or spend on somebody else who might be on the GK market in a year's time, but isn't right now Also they're going to be reshaping their attack if Isak/Gordon move

Nick Pope also turns 34 this season. So injury-prone goalkeeper coming off a broken collarbone vs 27yo Ramsdale

Going to Newcastle must have double appeal for Ramsdale Big club, good move etc... but also has the chance to take Pope out of the England reckoning at the same time. Pickford, Henderson and one other. And if Trafford is sat on the bench at City behind Ederson while Ramsdale is playing for Newcastle... he should make the cut for the World Cup

A direct rival losing maybe their best player (and getting some much-needed funds) and a club who have been linked to Fernandes going for a different midfielder? I'd say so, yes

Something close to this

O Jogo now reporting that Saints and Porto close to an agreement at €7.5m for Bednarek to move to Portugal

Yeah, I wasn't criticising it!

Bertrand? Yeah the stuff about the chauffeur-driven car to and from training is true, think he still lived in Surrey the whole time he played for us. Might have had an apartment for a bit but definitely didn't move his family down to Hampshire. Not sure on what he was like in terms of interactions but you could always tell (and still can) he has that 'I'm a Champions League winner from Chelsea' swagger about him with the way he is

Will Still post-Espanyol to the Daily Echo: There are players that need to go, there are players that want to go, there are players that need to come in, and players that need to come in quickly. But the good thing is that everyone's aligned on that, everyone knows that that's the case, and I think that's just shown today. I think when I got here, we spoke in the early days of when I was here, that the squad is going to change. It's too big and there are too many players and there are certain players that want to and probably need to move on, and that's fine. But I think now with two weeks to go, we've seen everyone, we've established who is who and who's going where and who's doing what. Now we need to make a decision and make a cut of who's going to be here and who's not going to be here, and keep pushing towards that. Not just because it's needed and because that's what is best for every individual, but for us as a collective as well.

Couple of interesting quotes from Will Still on the club website post-Espanyol on the note of transfers... "My reflections are that it showed exactly where we still need to improve. It shows why we still need to strengthen, as well. ... "We know he's got quality [Damion Downs], that's why he's here. We want to surround him with a bit more quality and a bit more personality. I think that's what showed today."