hypochondriac

It's the only realistic chance you have. Maybe you can get lucky with a couple of younger players. Say we kept for example Dibling, Downes, Fernandes and THB (unlikely but let's imagine). Under a Still system and with a bit more experience they might be good enough for the prem. You'd then look to sign a starting gk, rb, CB, lb, cm, lm and striker. Maybe 150-200 million and cross your fingers that another prem team implodes and that you beat the two teams who come up with you so you finish 17th. It's unlikely but that's the only chance you have under this system.

Precisely. All this stuff about having to sign players who can only play in the division higher is a load of nonsense. You wouldn't possibly be able to afford that so you need a mix. Maybe 4 first team players who could be good prem players and the rest get binned or maybe squad players at best. 7 or 8 prem starters needed once you get promotion.

I think Tyler Dibling is on the autistic spectrum and struggles with change. He probably needs to be handled in a very specific way.

TBF he was one of the best I was his position last season in the Championship. I'd say THB and Downes were the top championship performers last time out and it's undeniable they were superb. We need players of at least that quality.

This feels inevitable to me and a position where we can afford to lose a few.

Wonder where sarmiento will end up this summer? Does he fancy a third promotion in three years?

Indeed. Huge difference to last year where the likes of Stephens, Smallbone, Onuachu etc were all getting regular ganetime. Scandalous really.

There is a worry that Ramsdale, THB and Fernandes leaves, Dibling stays and everyone is excited as our big hope and then he's really crap and his heads gone. Not saying that will happen but it's certainly a higher risk than someone like Fernandes.

That's life really and hopefully next time we are much more hard nosed about binning off those who aren't going to cut it. Reminder that Dean Hammond was our captain but that didn't matter when we got to the prem.

I doubt any saints fan expects him to stay. He might do though which would be a very welcome surprise. I just hope we have the top quality headline signing to replace him if he does go. We've had long enough to prepare.

I wouldn't worry about it. Almost certainly the club will know if he is likely to go or not. If he wants to go there's not an awful lot we can do. We just need to replace with top championship quality.

On loan I do 100%. Someone mentioned the winger Leeds had last year as a possibility. Lets not forget the likes of THB who didn't work out in the prem but was great the season before. Of course we want some players we think can do a good job in the prem but realistically we aren't going to be able to afford that for every position in the squad- hence Rothwell, Brooks etc last time.

Good suggestion that's the kind of info I like to see on here. Maybe if we sell Edozie we will go for him.

I'm fine with unearthing a few hidden gems. I must be honest and say that I don't feel like we have made moves yet that show we mean business this year. An awful lot is going to hinge on how many of Downes, THB, Dibling, Fernandes and Ramsdale we keep. Hypothetically if we kept most of them I can live with the window being quite quiet and maybe just bringing in a few players with some potential.

Do Leeds or Burnley have any players not good enough for the prem worth pinching? Might be a good place to start.

We need experience AND a squad refresh given the events of last season and because we want to change our style of play.

In light of this new Afghanistan debacle-largely caused by the truly despicable tories it must be said- good to see we have a government ushering in a transparency revolution.

Agreed. I'd be inclined to give him a chance and see what he can do. In a lower pressure environment it is generally a bit more difficult to be really poor from full back and he does have a decent cross so may be able to contribute well to a will still team.

I was hoping for 12 at least to really remove them as a threat.

That's a bit less than I thought. Will they appeal and get less?

I'd love to see Dibling doing really well with us this season, not just because it's good for us but it would ultimately be good for him too. I can't see a team paying what we'd like for him because he's just too much of a risk and I reckon he could get lost.

Very hard to draw implications from friendly games but I'd much rather win them than be scrabbling for positives.

There's a thread on one of the forums here called something like small things that irritate you and it's packed full of little annoyances like that. I assume you think that every person on there has serious issues too? Like I said, it's not going to change my life either way but given the choice I'd rather things like that didn't happen.

Yes I suppose I could do that but I've been using it for years and am a creature of habit so it was an unnecessary thing to change. Like I said though that's a very minor personal irritation but there's a few there so I can see why people get a bit annoyed about the pushing of certain agendas.

If only it were that easy. I would suggest that the fact the likes of Aribo bednarek and ABK are still here is not a good sign and rather suggests that they have rather less interest that we perhaps thought they might. Maybe we will see some loan outs.