revolution saint

Not sure if it's just his way but he doesn't come across as absolutely buzzing for the new season.

He'll knuckle down in the same way Schneiderlin did. Only question for me is whether the manager would rather sell and spend the money on strengthening the team, or keep him. Either way I'm quite happy and if he stays then I think he'll be excellent for us. My guess is this is all part of the usual tiresome pantomime and he'll go eventually.

Indeed. If you're writing a "Hollywood" script for this then Wrexham lose tomorrow so that they can build themselves back up against all the odds. It's the classic multi million dollar underdog story.

Yeah, I was joking. Big test of resolve for Coventry and I'd imagine both player and club would have been hoping that if a bid comes in then it would be from a premier league club. Will be interesting to see how this one pans out.

Rudoni was left out of the last pre-season game "injured". He'll obviously kick off and have a major sulk if denied his dream move to us and we've all seen how this goes. Ultimately Coventry will be forced to sell and probably for a lot less than they originally wanted. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if they end up having to take BBD as part payment and be grateful for it.

You're probably right due to the cost both would incur however Spertsyan played mostly on the left of that three last season.

Rudoni certainly fits the bill in terms of the physical profile we want and if you look at Coventry last season it was pretty much crosses into the box all the way with Rudoni often arriving late into the box. Get the impression that's a similar style to what Still wants to implement too. Looks like a lot of his assists were from corners which will be handy with Quarshie, Downs and Stewart in the squad.

Another one we probably looked at before deciding on Downs. I guess that's a relatively inexpensive punt for a premier league club but still feels a bit over priced - only really played in League 2 in France since January.

For the sake of argument would Fellows actually cost that much (15-20M)? I'm not sure he would. Jack Clarke went for 15M rising to 20M but that was after Ipswich had got promoted, Szmodics went for 9M rising to 11M although he's older so that'll drop his transfer value. Transfers between championship clubs don't tend to be that high and if Fellows goes to another championship club then I think you'd probably be looking around 10-12M tops. There's not going to be a massive pool of clubs that could afford that anyway - Ipswich could but don't need him, Birmingham possibly? Same would apply to Rudoni and Hamer if premier league clubs don't think they're worth a gamble. All predicated on West Brom either wanting/needing to sell and the player happy to move to another championship club.

This is true. My gran (92) had a personal invite from Romeu to meet up with him at Staplewood. Apparently he intends to meet with all nonagenarians from Hampshire by the end of August.

The formation is going to be a good insight into what sort of approach Still takes. Everything we've read so far is that he's predominantly pragmatic and given that we don't have many genuine wingers then, if he wants width, he'd be better off with wingbacks. I reckon Stewart will start over Downs though.

He's still contracted to Barcelona until 2026.

Yeah, he's predominantly left footed but can cross with his right and given we're supposedly looking for wingers on both sides then I can see him being a valid option. Wouldn't rule it out at any rate.

TBF there's been links with Fellows in the past and I think there was one earlier this summer. Can't remember where it came from though. Everton were supposed to be interested in him but maybe if they get Dibling then that leaves him one less option in the premier league.

Oh yeah, could be a number of reasons why he could be interested. Just thought it unlikely given the reasons for leaving in the first place but circumstances change and people change their minds too. Has anyone else been as good at being a proper hard bastard for us in the last 20 or 30 years? I'm struggling to think of many that come close.

Yeah, this is the bit that makes it seem unlikely. Think he'd just had a kid when he left us so I can't see him wanting to relocate a young family away from Spain for what would probably only be a year, or two at best. From a football perspective I wouldn't have any problem with it though. He'd be decent cover for Charles and Downes and probably a good bloke to have around the place in terms of setting good examples.

Dunno, would imagine that he would be more interested in playing the most amount of minutes at the highest level possible than anything else. Stoke might have given him more assurances over game time over us, or, as you say, we were never really interested.

I can imagine we may have looked at him earlier but decided to go with Downs instead. Can't see it happening now.

Rumours seem quite sparse for a club clearly trying to strengthen/replace in attacking midfield and out wide but there's been a few: William Boving looks a good left wing option Carlos Vicente on the right looks like a very good, hard working winger. Eduard Spertsyan might be a bit optimistic but fits the bill for the AM/No. 10 role Lennon Miller can play anywhere in midfield but looks like he can take his pick of clubs. Besfort Zeneli still hasn't gone anywhere. Guilherme is a decent loan shout. Jamie Donley (loan) Alysson Edward from Gremio for your annual South American "one for the future" link Always Rak-Sakyi too although I don't think he's as good as Edozie let alone better.

I only ever watch on YouTube but Benjamin Bloom wasn't too bad last time we were in the Championship, particularly when he had Sam Parkin with him. Ipswich fan but seems quite balanced and fair.

Yeah, the ginger hipster one is particularly annoying.

As is spelling, apparently.

I'm going to be optimistic and can't wait for quite a few links to players coming up. Spors and Still should have been planning for ages on the possibilities of Ramsdale, THB, Dibling and Fernandes leaving so we should have a shortlist of several players in each position ready to go. I bloody love incoming player links - best part of the summer (well, from a football perspective anyway).

I'd imagine if there's a deal involving other players to be done with West Ham then Luis Guilherme would be more likely. There was some noise earlier in the window about us being interested, probably a loan. He's a right winger and physically fits the profile Spors has identified.

Maybe Walker Peters could persuade Ward-Prowse to move down here?