benali-shorts

Fulthorpe and his "small staff" and "temporary offices" and "future projects in Barbados" doesn't really strike me as the kind of guy to launch a takeover of a local kebab shop, let alone a £180m football club. https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/8402353.southampton-lawyer-jonathan-fulthorpe-order-to-pay-after-employment-tribunal/

Disproportionate amount of reaction for a throwaway comment by Simon Jordan on Talksport relating to a rumour about which he didn’t claim to have any knowledge; and about which there is zero other credible substance (the usual opportunists claiming retrospective knowledge last week aside).

In the annals of our recent post 1980s history, he is our worst expenditure as first team keeper. Let’s hope we move on.

Gerrard a good name to leak to get the fan base firmly behind the other candidate

There was one moment when KWP was dispossessed in their half and Archer initially raced back to cover (aka doing his job). He got 20 yards and just gave up, leaving them 2 on 1 vs TH-B. He then jogged back to the edge of our box when the ball was safely on the other side of the pitch, before aimlessly jogging away again. He can't help being a bit shit, but he can help being lazy. Also was feebly shrugged off the ball by that man monster Maatsen so clearly doesn't bother working hard in the gym either.

You were right re Onuachu rather than BB-D. My apologies. At risk of engaging you, Archer has 18 championship goals across two seasons (18 in 42 apps) so prolific is a generous description. We know Armstrong's strengths and weaknesses. I don't think he is the shoo-in to that you do to bang in the goals next season given his experience and form this season. Spors has already stated how important physical resilience will be next season with regards to players being able to play two or three times in a week. Onuachu should be a question mark on that basis, as well as regarding his potential suitability for a high-pressing game. There are concerns over each of the three and it would be naive to assume a best-case scenario for each of them.

Two of those strikers have paltry returns in the Championship this season, having had confidence-sapping experiences in the Premier League - so on current evidence, I wouldn't be confident that they would be prolific next season. I would hope Archer would be more effective in the Championship, but we have yet to see signs of it in a Saints shirt. If we start the season with all three and no other strikers, I would be extremely concerned. If in addition Bazunu is in goal with McCarthy as back up, I would be highly dubious about our credentials for finishing in the top 2. It would also suggest that Spors' rebuild had failed to address two key areas of weakness that have been evident for the last 3+ seasons, and as such would undermine confidence in SR further still.

If we have those strikers and that keeper, I think I'm going to top myself.

Brereton subbed off at half time, and Armstrong after 60 mins as our two heroes tear up the Championship.

They strike me as a particularly thick bunch of lads, even by footballer standards.

Lest we forget Ryan Fraser too

Agree with all of that, but not sure the meat-market type venue is particularly conducive to that type of player identification / trading. It's probably quite useful to meet several clubs / agents under one roof. But mainly I'm hoping that we might identify players whose clubs don't need to pimp them out at the Ankersens late night disco. I can see Phil Parsons accidentally coming back with 450 hoovers and another right back.

A vague and ambiguous link to Jim Magilton, now Cliftonville manager. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c98166j9l0xo

It seems like a marketplace tool, and particularly useful for the selling club - it feels like quite a reactive way to sign players though. Hopefully Spors will be more proactive in identifying players, although I'm sure Rasmus will be keen to continue using (and presumably paying commissions to) a company which he and his brother own. I wonder what question we asked Transfer Room for Ryan Fraser to be the answer?

No Sam A-A in U19s?