Crouchie's Lawyer

THB and Downes weren’t ours to lose. I get what you’re saying in that the team would no longer have them but they wouldn’t be asset stripped from us as they weren’t our assets. We lost Stuey and Adams anyway, even though we went up. I’m talking saleable assets which hurt to lose because they are so good but you get a decent wedge for them. KWP I’ll give you and potentially Arma and Bednarek too. Although we may have been able to hold onto Arma perhaps given his ropey Prem track record. Aside from the last few games where, granted he was a rock, Macca didn’t do anything all last season and the same can be said for Alcaraz who featured even less. Any money we would have pulled in from sales of all of the above, especially Alcaraz you’d have liked to have think would have been pumped back in to replace the real losses to the team at CB and in midfield. The majority of the money we would have potentially made would have come from fringe players who didn’t feature as much, if at all for us, like ABK, Alcaraz, Tall Paul and you could possibly even say Mara and Sulemana too. Sam Amo and Dibling coming into the team would have given us a decent couple of additions too without the need to sign anyone. Most of our asset stripping took place when the vultures originally circled when we went down, losing Tino, Lavia and JWP. When I look at the Leeds team, I see more individuals who shone from time to time like Summerville, Rutter and Gnonto. We just seemed to have a better sum of parts output than they did whenever we faced them which led to us getting the better of them on multiple occasions. Had we both stayed down (impossible I know) we’d have lost more players than them but they’d have gained more money from sales than us this summer I’m pretty sure.

Would it? granted we’d have lost Downes and THB but neither would have been ours at that point anyway. I guess KWP would have been picked off but I’d have thought he’d have been gone by now anyway yet he still remains here with no obvious suitors currently. Perhaps we would have been forced to settle for a much lower fee had we missed out on promotion though. Who else would we have been stripped of? Leeds have saleable assets, Summerville, Rutter, Gnonto, perhaps even James. I can’t really think of any of our squad who would have been that appealing to bigger clubs right now?

This is what I think too. I know every club has their forgettable signings but we seem to get it wrong, more than we get it right. It may be because I don't follow them and therefore don't know about all their signings but Brighton seem to have what appears to be quite a decent record at unearthing a few gems which they turn over for massive profits only to replace them with the next unknown gem which they sell for massive profits. Kind of like what we wanted to be a few years ago when buying replacements for our best players. Can't we go to what we perceive to be one of the better scouting teams and just offer them significantly higher wages to come to us as a new project? Surely scouts' wages aren't significant compared to player wages and transfer fees. If we forgo one low to medium transfer and bring in a better scouting network/team who will unearth better players at cheaper costs then it could pay huge dividends at a later stage. A better medical team would probably be a decent idea too so we don't end up signing crocs like Stewart!

Pretty fucking pointless questions today. Do they just round up the dim Saints fans who will only ask nicey nicey questions? Questions about whether we need the app, why a pint of cider has gone up by 70p, whether Russ has drilled the team to play with 10 players in case we get sent off... Where are the questions everyone wants to know about like what's happening with MOR now, is there likely to be a new striker coming in, are there any players potentially close to leaving, is there anyone potentially coming in before Newcastle and how does Lucy Pinder look naked etc?

He scored roughly 1 in 2 for Espanyol last season but for Barca (a team you'd have thought most seniors over the age of 70 could score goals for) he only managed 5 goals in 44 appearances and 6 in 24 for Leganes before Barca. Ignoring his latest season for Espanyol where he was nearly a 1 goal every 2 game player, he has typically been a 1 goal in every 4-5 matches player. I still think we should be going for Brereton-Diaz. I'd love to try and make a statement signing for Callum Wilson though if there was any chance of that but I think a) wages and b) injury record may be the issue there.

I'm in the 'No' camp for Broja. Looked a good prospect for half a season on loan with us a few years ago then seemingly lost his way with us and was fairly ineffective for the second half of the season. Could have fallen out with Ralph, could have been something else but just didn't look interested. When he went back to Chelsea at the end of that season and featured in a few games in their pre-season, looking pretty decent with a better team around him, I thought that could have been his break through season until he suffered that nasty injury. Since then, he has done relatively nothing which could be to do with the injury having taken some of his pace/power away, which was his main strength. Didn't pull up any trees on loan at Fulham and didn't stand out in the Euro's (albeit against Italy, Spain and Croatia, that perhaps was a tough ask). I'd take him as a loan for the season with an option to buy, but not as our main target. I think we need someone who we can be more confident will do the business with him as a back up. If he still has it, he will prove it and force his way into the team and go from there. If he ends up being second half of original season long loan Broja then we don't have to buy him and we haven't wasted a load of money. For me, I think our target should be Ben Brereton Diaz. Looked handy in the Championship a couple of seasons ago scoring for fun, got a move to Villareal which perhaps didn't work out as expected but someone else took a punt on him last season on loan in the Prem for the second half of the season in Sheff Utd and he did a decent job for them, scoring a decent amount of goals in a team who went on to be relegated. He has proven he can do it in the Prem and wouldn't be the most expensive striker to obtain. He is ahead of Broja, Ings or re-signing Che for me.

What does it say? Won't open for me. On a separate note, I get the point people are saying about being disappointed about losing out on a player to Ipswich, however, do remember they finished above us fairly convincingly last season, beat us twice in the league and are not hamstrung by the same financial fair play issues we are, owing to the disastrous spending spree we went on before and during our final year in the prem, last time around. All that money we wasted on shite like Tall Paul and Sulemana et al that did absolutely nothing for us but knacker us financially. Plus (and correct me if I am wrong) but because we have had parachute payments paid to us last season, am I right in thinking that we don't get as much money for going back up, compared to Ipswich who didn't have parachute payments and therefore would have got the full whack? A large number of their squad would be on fairly low wages too given they went straight from L1 into the Championship then up to the Prem so their wage bill would easily be the lowest in the division now. With all that sweet sweet television money and Prem money, they will have a fair amount of financial power to splash the cash this window and would likely be able to out muscle us for fees to other clubs as well as wages on a few players they really want. The only thing we can hope as far as Ipswich are concerned is that if they are making big signings on high wages trying to out muscle the other Prem teams sniffing about (like us), it unsettles some of the 'OG' players who may be thinking "I've helped drag this club from L1 to the Prem and X, Y or Z are coming in on 2-3 times the wages I am being paid" and their team harmony is disrupted. Let's face it, player for player, we had them tagged last season but it was a combination of good management and a dogged team spirit (with a sprinkle of luck in a number of games) which got them to where they are today. Disrupting that team spirit by paying new players disproportionately higher than the rest of the squad normally doesn't go down well.

I guess he isn't costing much (or anything) so it's low risk. Our scouts must have seen something and he is young. Could end up being one of those diamonds in the rough. It's been a hot minute since we have signed a player out of nowhere who nobody really knows much about who does quite well. The Pahars, Berkovic, Lundekvam or Ostenstadt type signings who end up being great for us but came out of relatively nowhere

Not that promising? The author of that article only just stops shy of saying "he's shite, my Nan could do better". Bit of an odd one this one. I'd rather have left the pathway open to Meghoma being backup

Lis is quoted as saying he would ideally like to return to Goztepe. Obviously it's not his decision to make given he is contracted to us but I wouldn't be surprised to see him going back there again given they got promoted to their premier league last season

Few released players which could potentially DAJFU: Thiago Alacantara (Liverpool) Joel Matip (Liverpool) Jonny Evans (Manchester United) Anthony Martial (Manchester United) Raphael Varane (Manchester United) Eric Dier (Spurs) Ivan Perisic (Spurs) Ryan Sessegnon (Spurs) Japhet Tanganga (Spurs) I appreciate some of these won't be everyone's cup of tea but some will offer valuable Premier League experience playing for top clubs. Wage requirements and injury track record could be an issue for some of them I appreciate but there are a few players in there I feel still could do a job

For me, a decent goalkeeper is one of, if not the main priority. McCarthy I am comfortable with as a back up. We have end this mad Bazunu experiment. Yes, he is good with his feet but as all the stats for the last 2 seasons, in the Prem and in the Championship have shown, he is not good enough as a goalkeeper to do the fundamental thing goalkeepers are meant to do, save goals! It's akin to a bad investment. If you buy a stock at £10 hoping it will increase to £20 and you can sell it for a profit but after a bad first year it comes down to £7.50. Things look like they will be better in the second year so you keep it but it still performs bad and reduces further to £5 you have to come to a point where you cut your losses. If the third year looks like it will not be a great year, you do not persevere further and risk losing even more. Just get rid

"If we have possession of the ball, the other team cannot score" Russell Martin, 2023/24

Perfect example of why Leicester are where they are and why we will not get automatic promotion. Ball with Leicester defence, they play the ball around our high press in the same way we do with opposition strikers but once the ball was played out to their defensive midfielder he makes a scything through ball straight to their pacy attackers. In that situation we would go from our defensive midfielder back to the left back, back to centre back, back to goalkeeper, back to right back, then to defensive midfielder again before knocking it back to the left back then up to a winger then back to the left back then centre back and back to goalkeeper. Meanwhile their whole team get back into position again. I get the playing our the back but it needs to be more zippy in getting it up the pitch. It's passing just for passing sake which is frustrating as sh!t to watch.

Brilliant, Stuey likely to be out for the remainder of the season now to top it off

13 games left and correct me if I am wrong but we still have both Leeds and Ipswich left to play so it's by no means over yet. All those saying "oh well, playoffs it is" are defeatists. Keep the faith. Support the boys. Martin may have made an error tonight with his team selection, these things happen. Top of the table Leicester lost the other day. Nobody is infallible. Hull came with a clear game plan and it worked for them. They are a very good side in this division and will likely make the playoffs. Draw a line under tonight and move on to the next one. 2 point in the grand scheme of things is not the end of the world. Had anyone offered us 4th position with 13 games left and only 2 points off 2nd at the start of the season or even in September, I think most of us would have snapped that up

Dean Hammond, great servant to us but fuck me, if he says Sowfammton one more time, Imma stick a brick through my TV

What is Che gets injured? Do you want to rely upon Mara who hasn't shown that he is able to do the job? What happens if Che pushes for a move in January? Do we want to be scrambling around in the January market which has served us so well in the past (Carillo / Tall Paul)? What happens if Che's form takes a dip? He hasn't been consistently clinical with us the whole time he has been here. He has started this season well but if it is true he really wanted to leave and was perhaps playing his socks off to get his move, he could go off the boil if he is still with us tomorrow. Stewart is an absolute must signing in my opinion. Gives us another option and could end up being better than Che which will boost our chances of promotion this season. With Ballard out on loan, having just Che, Tall Paul (unless he goes) and Mara as the main options upfront will not get us promoted unless Che is on fire the whole season. Fr me, Adams just isn't that main striker we can rely on. I'd rather see him played as one of the wide 3 upfront

Haha this is epic! I actually just checked his page and it is still up there 😂

Forgot you can edit wiki! Why didn't we collectively think of this at the start of summer and edit Mara and Tall Paul's Wiki to have them scoring a tonne of goals for us last year? Perhaps tricked a few other teams into thinking they were half decent.

Nah, they’re off. Tella and Che have both been in previous game squad this season. My take on it is that moves are imminent and they don’t want to risk injury by their involvement

Given we signed Che from Birmingham, it may not be too far fetched he may be holding out for a move to Wolves to move back up to the midlands? I think the most catastrophic scenario is if we are holding out to sell Che before we replace him and we get a bigger offer on deadline day. This will leave us with very little, if any chance of getting a replacement lined up in time for the season (or at least until January but we all know what January signings are like)! Arma has shown promise so far this season but I don't see him as the main up top guy. He seems to play better out on the side, utilising his pace more. Mara hasn't shown any sign of the potential we signed him for and after his performance against Gillingham, I don't want to see him used as anything more than a back up for the time being. I'd go so far as to say I would ship him out on loan or try and sell him and have Ballard as the back up. Onouachu hasn't really been given much of a chance but the chances he has been given show exactly why this is. Slow and poor control on the ball just does not fit out system. Really shows the gulf in class between the English leagues and Belgium leagues. Hopefully we can come to some kind of arrangement with Genk to send him back but what a piss poor knee jerk signing that was. Ballard, as alluded to above, I would like to see in and around the squad but we do not know if he is capable of stepping up from the younger teams into the big boy team and cutting the mustard at this level. Squad player yes, but unless he has some kind of Harry Kane Tottenham breakthrough season when given a chance and smashes them in for fun then I see this season as being one where he gets used to being in the squad and having the odd cameo here and there. In my opinion, we need another striker, regardless of what happens with Che, arguably two if Che does go. If we sign one now and Che subsequently leaves and we are unable to bring in another one at that point, at least we have the one to replace Che already through the door but we simply cannot gamble on not having the goals we need from a main striker this season. If we haven't enquired about Piroe then the board are putting their head on the chopping block if they are trying to be smart and sign ANother who may be just as good, may be better or judging by some of our gambles over the last few years, could be dramatically worse. If we have approach Piroe and been told to do one over our handling of the RM situation (or an expensive 'Saints' tax added on top of the £12m) then fair enough. If the player has stated he does not wish to join us then fair enough but I hope it is not us resting on our laurels. To me, the risk of us being left with a choice of Arma, Mara, Onouachu and Ballard going into the first half of the season as we have sold Che at the last minute and can't find a replacement is a hell of a lot more problematic than the risk of having to cover one more player's wages for 12 more months should we end up with both Che and Piroe. SR can't try and play smart all the time, sometimes they have to play it safe. Piroe is the safe option here.

Please can we keep the history chat away from this thread? If you nerds want to give each other a historic reach around then please do it in DM. I come here to read about transfers. If I wanted to go over shit I learnt, and subsequently forgot about at school, I’d pick up a history book

Damn, there was me thinking “who is this Atlanta Primus we have signed and why have I not heard anything about him” only to find out it’s a girl, for the Saints women’s team! Got my hopes up then!

https://twitter.com/FutSheriff/status/1691933746826457538?s=20