SNSUN

Blackburn just scrape a win against Wednesday - WBA now in the drop zone and their forum is very worried. Also from having a read through, they seem to think Charlie Taylor's legs have gone.

Only twice has AA ever broken 20 goals in one season at this level, once with us in our promotion season and once with Blackburn. This idea that he's consistently prolific at this level is skewed by a couple of good seasons and by the importance of his play-off goal. I think £7 million (+) for someone who sort of relies on his pace and will be 30 during the season Wolves have bought him for, is decent business but maybe that's just me. I think the issue with this is that people are concerned about the replacement scoring goals. Had we gone out and signed someone well known for scoring goals, I think AA's sale would come across as less of an issue. Larin probably isn't the long term answer but he's only here for 5 months.

Who would clubs want from a middling Championship team? THB and Ramsdale for sure. Jander and Scienza perhaps. Fellows may have admirers, Charles perhaps. Beyond that I struggle to see any of our players that wanted by other clubs. I think we definitely sell THB and Ramsdale if we don't go up, keeping everyone else remotely classed as a "jewel" and building around them would be our best bet to getting a side together for a promotion. But with people wanting Aribo, Downs, Larios, Bazunu, Fraser, BBD etc - I guess you never really know what players a team is looking for. Hell, someone could even come in and pay for Manning! 😀

Not sure it was Brentford - they signed a few players when they went up but they also had a good spine in place - plus Raya, a good keeper that has obviously gone on to bigger things, Norgaard likewise, a goalscoring powerhouse in Toney as well as Mbuemo who chipped in with a few. And they added the risky signing of Eriksen who was excellent for the latter half of that season and Wissa. Similar to when we went up in 2012, we luckily had players ready to step up in Lambert, Lallana, Cork, Schneiderlin and Fonte, and signed Boruc, JRod, Clyne and Davis who were Premier League ready. Then the bonus of bringing Luke Shaw through. Building a side ready for the Prem is the way to do it, then strengthen when you get there. I can't see any of the promotion contenders this year as ready - I guess Ipswich would be the most likely if they go up.

GK - Ramsdale/Peretz - assuming Ramsdale stays. RB - New first choice/Bree/Roeslev LB - New first choice/Welington CB - New CB/New CB/THB (if not sold), Quarshie (but Stephens and Wood will most likely still be here for our Premier League sins) CM - New first choice big shit house/Jander/Charles/Downes/Bragg AM - New First choice, possibly even 2/Scienza/Azaz/Robinson/Matsuki/Fellows Str - New front line needed completely. x3 There would be frigging huge work to do and while not all SR's recent transfer doings have been bad, I still think it would be beyond them to get it all right. At the very least we'd need both full backs strengthened, probably 2 CBs, at least one CM, probably 2 AMs/wingers and 2 if not 3 strikers. That's 10 players before we even think about anyone being sold, and that's if all 10 players are hits. Forest signed a shit load (was it 30?) the year they went up and it worked for them but they largely bought so many in the hope that at least 7 or 8 would be good signings. Sunderland brought in 18 (part funded by the sale of Jobe Bellingham but they massively spent compared to what they received) to get to where they are. To compete in the Prem you really have to spend spend spend and spend it well. Then, if you're lucky enough to stay up, you need to spend some more. I just don't think we're the club to do that. Certainly not under SR. That said, all SR will want from promotion, if there is little chance of us staying there, are the parachute payments. Every little helps and all that. But anyway even if we do finish in the play-offs somehow I don't think we'll win them, unless somehow our late season form is exceptional and Larin, Stewart or Archer somehow hit form.

Nah, he drives a McLarin.

I feel for Wolves a bit. Similar situation to a lot of us clubs. They've gone from having Diogo Jota, Neto and Cunha to signing Armstrong and trying to get Adams. As happened with us, getting big money for players and bringing in shite replacements sucks for us fans. Some clubs manage it, Bournemouth and Brighton are two, but there's only a matter of time before they, too, see their gems go before the duds start appearing.

That is a pretty damning statistic really. 22 open play goals in 4 seasons. I think we think he's better than has been because of the lack of other decent striking options in that time and because of one Championship season where most of those goals came (including, to be fair, the all important one). And yet Adams, possibly seen in less favourable light than AA by some people, got 49 in his 5 seasons with us and with more Premier League goals there too (although to be fair, he had more Prem seasons to do it in). I think one of AA's issues was his insistence that he is a striker when he seems more effective playing from wider positions. I also think he would suit the old fashioned 442 paired up top with a bigger striker, a bit like the Beattie/Ormerod partnership. A time will come again where we get a striker that can score goals. When? Who knows, hopefully in the summer with any luck, but I don't mind the sale of AA while the money was there, even if there are doubts over his replacement. I hope he does well at Wolves really but for the way we seem to want to play going forwards, I don't think he fits the system.

I always thought of him as more of a goalscoring winger anyway. He was never one to lead the line and it seems the tall striker is the path we're choosing. I hope that means we're sticking with the 4231 for the forseeable, we look much better with that shape. Must be gutting for Wolves fans that they're prepping for next season. And yet there was us, last season, signing Gronbaek that we barely ever played.

😁

They had all day to work on that. Welcome Cyle. And Good Luck, you're going to need it.

Thanks Adam for at least helping us to promotion two seasons ago and Wembley. And yet I'm not unhappy with this sale - it's the risky nature of who we have brought in to replace him. We just have to hope that Stewart, or Larin, or even Archer, can score some goals before the end of the season because we can't keep relying on Azaz or Scienza to get them all. Summer transfer business better be bloody good.

Not transfer news but this is a nice touch from Wolves. I'm going to steal my daughter's food from SMS next time I'm there and see if Sammy Saint does anything about it. 😁

That's him and Akachukwu on the same day. Loaning them out ready to use them as our strike force next season. 😁

20 minutes left of the deal sheet window and no confirmed sale of AA or incoming of Larin. Not to say both deals aren't done, but I'd like us to announce them one way or another so I can actually do some work instead of Googling other fans' Forums to see if their windows have been worse than ours.