SNSUN

On paper this is our strongest (fit) side and a no brainer. If Sulemana IS here and is Ok to play then yes you could include him instead of AA or Charly but AA is undropable right now and I'd really like to see Charly get up to speed. Also while this is my team too it is a tad harsh on Edozie who I think has done little wrong so far.

Still back him but he needs to prove this was a blip with a win against Leicester. The starting line up needs to be as strong as it can be: Baz, KWP, Bed, THD, Man, Charles, Downes, Charly, Fraser, AA, Adams currently IMO. He has two weeks to sort it. No excuses. Leicester also lost so they are beatable.

I dropped off around 4pm (working earlies) and just saw the other results. Yes we got spanked but other results really went our way today. We haven't lost much ground. Martin needs to sort this out before it does indeed cost us.

Well done Sunderland but DAMN, we need to sort this out.

Can we re-open the transfer window? What's that you say? January? Oh shi.... 😆

That's enough football for the week. See y'all in two weeks when we next play against... ah... Leicester live on Sky. Lovely.

I won't write him off after one performance but this was a bloody bad debut.

Sunderland could get their revenge for the 8-0 if we keep being shit.

Holgate is shit isn't he.

I can only thank God I'm at work and missed the last 10 minutes of that half. WTF. SAINTSY.

2-2 half time. You heard it here (probably incorrectly) first. 😋 Is it me or does Bazunu look too casual when the ball comes to him?

Come on Saints! One little goal and the balance changes.

You can take the players out of Southampton but you can't take Southampton out of the players. Next goal is now vital. Come on Mar...... oh.

Deflection off Downes.

Well fuck me, I tuned in late and now wish I hadn't

Would be Saintsy and comes from years of supporting a club that does that sort of thing to us fans. Maybe Saints version: 2023-4 is different... Maybe...

I have it as Downes as the DM pivot, then Stu and Will ahead in CM, then AA and Edozie wide of Mara. S 4-1-2-2-1 or the reverse Christmas tree. Rotated is a fairer word! We have a big squad, everyone will need some rotation at some point.

Decent line up - good to show Mara we're keeping faith in him, Martin must have liked what he saw last week. AA playing wider is also a good thing. Welcome back Smallbone. Definitely excited for the season now.

A positive way to look at it is we actively didn't block anyone from moving this window if our valuation was met (Ok bar Che on the last day but we did give him a lot of chances to move previously) - each player had a price and it was up to other teams to meet that price. We didn't block Sulemana from leaving, it's not like we said "you're not going anywhere" in an effort to keep him, it's simply that there obviously wasn't enough interest in him at what we valued him at. Hopefully he plays and plays well and he can go in January with good feelings.

Final position - Toughy, both Leicester and Leeds have strong squads (Leeds have a strong looking attack, Leicester have a strong looking defence) but I think we are the strongest 3 teams in the league by a fair way. 3 way fight for 2 places? I'll go with 2nd. (I think our squad is possibly the most balanced of the 3) Saints top goal scorer - Adam Armstrong. Penalty taker, probably first choice all season, has started strongly, is a Martin favourite. Che may be gone in January and Stewart won't be fully fit for a while. A nod to Charly who may get a few. Player of the season - Charly. He was happy to stay, I think he plays out of his skin this season. Breakthrough/surprise player of the season - I would say Edozie but with Sulemana staying and Fraser knocking on the door I think he has a fight for his spot. I'll go with Bazunu, who surprises us by becoming a very good Championship keeper. 🤞 Top 6 in the championship in order - Leicester, Saints, Leeds, Norwich, Hull, West Brom. 3x promoted clubs - Leicester, Saints, Leeds. Championship dark horse - Hull (have made good signings this summer)

So, who's going to start the January Transfer Window thread? 😃 Besides anyone leaving I don't think there are any positions we need right now - first time I can say that in years... if ever. It seems the club made a last ditch attempt for Philogene and had previously said they wanted to replace Tella so maybe an extra winger, but keeping Sulemana, if he can be re-integrated, solves that.

Welcome Ross - no need to rush him back just yet as we held on to Che and still have AA, Sekou and TP if needed. Even if he's not back until October/November time we should have enough up top now to cover it. I try to follow football through the leagues when I can but oddly the career of Stewart is one that has passed me by so I can only go on what others have said - but the Sunderland fans on their forum seem to have loved him and are annoyed he's left so that's a good sign!

Ins: Downes, Holgate, Harwood-Bellis, Fraser, Stewart, Manning, Charles - all great signings that are effectively first choice or close to it, some if not most are Premier League quality. Awe, McNamara and Abu are for the future. Only the Lumley signing can be perhaps questioned but he's just a back up. Harwood-Bellis in particular though comes as the biggest surprise. Not sure why Prem clubs weren't in for him. For £20 million I REALLY hope we get promoted this season. Outs: JWP, Tino, Lavia, ABK - really these are the only big losses, you could perhaps include Salisu in this but we got good money for all and, really, I'll only miss JWP. We potentially get ABK back next season anyway if we go up, not that some would want him. Moi, Diallo, DCC, Orsic and the others I don't think we'll miss, and we got their wages off the books. The only loan out I'm a little surprised by is Ballard's but a season in League One may be good for him and we ended up (for now) keeping more strikers than I was expecting. Big players we have kept - KWP, Sulemana, Adams, Alcaraz, Stu Armstrong (who had his suitors and I think is good for this level as a squad player) and potentially you could add Bednarek to this list as a Polish international. KWP in particularly is a favourite of mine and I'm really pleased he stays. There are questions over Sulemana and Adams morale levels - personally I don't think Adams kicks up a stink and walks back into the side but I think Sulemana may take some persuading. That said he is under contract and who wouldn't want to play for a table topping team! Play well and he'll get his move in January, as could Adams if Stewart is back and firing by then. Players we could have got rid of but didn't - McCarthy, Bree (although as back up he's fine), Djenepo (mind you I quite like him, he never kicks up a fuss, that we know of, despite clearly being out of favour but I think he could be decent at this level given the chance), Aribo, Onuachu and Mara (though for strength in depth purposes I would keep him over Onuachu). Some of these we tried to offload but couldn't but I think we still need to trim the squad slightly over time. Other players - I was pleased Smallbone signed the new contract. For cohesion and to show youngsters there is a pathway into the first team, plus he is a good passer of the ball and seems down to earth. We have also kept Doyle (so far) and not loaned him out so he's obviously in our thoughts. Things I'm pleased about - That we haven't relied on AA and and unfit Stewart to be our strike force this season. Good news was the decision to keep Mara and try to mold him. Great news was the decision to pull the plug on Adams. I don't even care about the contract situation, he's great to have while Stewart is getting back to fitness. I'm also pleased with the strength in depth and the versatility of the squad. Things I'm wary about - Baz. He's improved, yes, but I'm still very much "jury's out" on him. But he's first choice so I'm behind him. Getting Sulemana to be happy to play again? Well that's up to Martin. Keeping everyone happy with such a big squad? Again Martin. He has a job on his hands! Did we need to sign anyone else? Umm... no! We've pretty much covered every position with enough (on paper) quality to go up. The best transfer window since Koeman days? Very possibly - my only issue is having too many players we perhaps should have got rid of and the uncertainty over whether Sulemana will integrate back in. I voted 7 earlier but on reflection, after writing this, I'm upgrading it to an 8.

KLP, despite adding to our double-barrelled name quota, would be a decent signing for this level based on his Hull days.

KWP THB ABK M Would be a decent back 4 at Prem level. Saudi window shutting in a few weeks is going to worry everyone though.