Rebel

I'd be happy if Saints bring Ross Stewart back- but even if they do I fully expect them to sign another younger striker - just not at £14M. Don't forget we still have Oyekunle, Brereton-Diza, Damian Downs and Archer on the books as well. But I fully expect Archer and BBD to leave permanently and Downs to go on loan to the Bundesliga 2 or the US at the very least and a younger striker signed with Oyekunle being given game time as well.

Is it just me that thinks that even if Ross Stewart signs back-on with Saints we need another centre forward? With the age and injury records of Stewart and Larin I almost think of them as one player - I am not sure either can play a full 90 mins week in week out - even more so when its Tuesday - Saturday - Tuesday - Saturday. We need a young player like Will Lankshear in addition to Larin and Stewart to give us the strength and depth upfront to last season out.

would anyone swap one of Manning or Welington for Target on a free?

I would be a bit worried about the forward / striker position unless the new striker we sign is very good and a guaranteed starter. I am not convinced Archer will score a lot of goals on our team unless we change the way we play, And at 31 Larin is bit too old to play 90 mins week in week out. That's partly why rotating him with Steward got the best out of them both. Even if we manage to keep Stewart I would still want a new No. 9 to give us real depth at centre forward - another physical presence. I am expecting us to sell and replace Archer and Edozie if I am honest.

I wonder if we will make a move for some of the players we were linked with last summer like Dejan Zukic to provide cover for AZAZ at number 10. We were supposedly looking at Lucas Cepeda on the left to replace Edozie if we sold him last summer - maybe that will happen this summer. We were also rumoured to looking at Besfort Zeneli as an alternative to Jander in midfield. Could we take another look if Jander leaves this summer. Both Zeneli and Cepeda moved in January though - and seemingly have done well at their new clubs.

I would think the only way we would sign JWP is on loan if West Ham cover half his wages for the final year of his contract. But I can see him ending up at Everton or Fulham to give them midfield depth on that deal. People forget JWP started as a AM/CM playing on the right of a midfield 3 or on the right of the 3 behind the striker in a 4-2-3-1. He was more than capable of putting in the killer through ball /pass or cross from the right- and had a good engine. Ralph then turned him into a DM/CM in the 4-2-2-2 but it only worked when he played alongside someone more physical like Romeu -but for a time he was great there. Like a lot of our players he lost his way under a succession of bad managers. But then he left because we needed the money more than anything else. I'd be OK with him coming back but I am not sure where he'd fit in our current 4-2-3-1 as a first choice.

How about that Brazilian striker from Goztepe - Juan or something like that I think it is? Apparently he's only valued at £12-15M - they got him from somewhere for a real steal. He's been banging them in. Salech from Cardiff -but he might be expensive now - and there may be issues with Peretz being Israeli as Salech has a Palestinian background I think. Should have bought him instead of Downs. Kaspar Hogh - or is he too highly rated for the Championship now? Using the Serbian connection how about Jovan Milosevic from Werder Bremen?

Kaspar Hogh anyone? Or is he heading for a higher level than the Championship now?

How about that Brazilian striker from Goztepe - Juan or something like that I think it is? Apparently he's only valued at £12-15M - they got him from somewhere for a real steal. Whilst were at it their goalkeeper Mateus Liz would make a great back-up to Peretz along with Ollie Wright. They got him cheap somewhere as well.

Salech would have been a good buy last summer when Cardiff went down instead of going for Damian Downs. Now I am not sure if the 'team dynamics' would work with him being Palestinian I think - and Peretz being Israeli. It might be a non-issue but its certainly something that should be considered. In a perfect world it wouldn't matter.

with a year left on his contract I think we are more likely to see Manning leave than Welington. I can see a club like Leeds who play wingbacks signing Manning to add some cover and depth at leftback/wingback. I'd be more than happy with Targett and Welington at left back - we would be better defensively and probably just about the same if not slightly better going forwards Saying that I'd be happy if we kept both Manning and Welington and signed no one else for that position. Targett is out of contract at Newcastle - but they have an option on another year - but I think they want rid of him. So he could be available on a free. I can see him signing on permanently at Boro. But I would l would be happy to bring him home on a free - plus it would piss Boro off 🙂

Scott Parker has new West Ham manager written all over him if they get relegated. Same with Liam Rosenoir and Burnley. If Johannes Spors is still involved I can see us going for Matthias Jaissle - whether he'd come or not is a different matter.

Manning has a year left on his contract so I expect he will go. Smallbone is out of contract but I think we have an option on another year - but I think Millwall will make his mov permanent for a small fee. Stewart is out of contract but we have an option on another year - so hopefully he will stay. Azaz is supposedly on 50K a week - so I think we will need to move him on - and he wants to play in the Premier League.

Tonda has to go - for one thing I expect he will get a suspension from football for at least a year - along with anyone else that was directly involved in the spying/cheating or new about it. For another I think the relationship between the players and Tonda is probably broken beyound repair - although most of them will leave. But more importantly I think the trust or support of the fans in Tonda has completely gone.

The big players who are in demand will probably be gone before next season - Scienza, Charles, Jander, THB, Azaz. And it is very unlikely Peretz joins us permanently as he will have much better offers from better clubs than us after his second half of the season performance. Probably the same with Larin. I can't see Jelert joining us permanently either based on game time. Bree is out of contract and will have better offers from elsewhere - which I expect he will take and who can blame him. Romeu, McCarthy, Jones and Long are all out of contract. Manning has a year left on his contract and I am guessing he will push to leave - probably a premier league club for a small fee. Same with Edozie - he has a year left - but he will end up at a Championship club. Stewart has a year left on his contract if we take up the option for an additional year - but given his injury record and age I think he will probably end up staying. Welington is also wanted elsewhere - so I can see him pushing to leave as well. I can see Downes also pushing to leave for somewhere like Everton or Ipswich or even a relegated West Ham. Same with Fellows - he might even get his premier league move on the cheap. Archer will probably be off to another championship club as well. I doubt any of the players out on loan that have done well will come back - Smallbone, Sugawara, BBD. I do worry we will end up with Bazunu and Downs back though. But I hope not. If we start the season with Bazunu in goal we are in trouble. So that leaves us with the bare bones of a team along the lines of: Bazunu Roerslev Stephens Wood ??????? Quarshie Bragg ????? (Williams) Matsuki ??????? Robinson Stewart (Downs/Oyekunle) Not to mention a new DoF, Manager, coaching team and analyst team.

Position, style of play, technical ability, physicality are all factors alongside age. Not too mention the players injury record and level of football the team is playing at. Small fast wingers that rely on explosive pace can be past their best by their mid twenties for example. Whereas a deep lying midfielder who relies on technique and reading of the game can be just as good in his mid/late 30s if not better than his early 20s. Similarly a robust physical centre back is probably at his peak in his late 20's early 30s. If the question is should we give Stewart a new 2 year contract on reduced money at the end of this season rather than take up the existing option of a 1 year extension on the current deal - the answer is probably yes if we stay in the Championship. That's based on his injury record and the assumption he won't be our first choice centre forward. If by some chance we go up I am not so sure - maybe its the one year extension in that case.

I think we should be more worried about who will be ready for a promotion push in the Championship next season and which players will actually stay. I don't think Ramsdale or THB will be here for the start of next season for one thing. And I am pretty sure Bazunu, Larios, Sugawara, Archer and Edozie will be gone too. McCarthy and Long will be out of contract, as well as Stewart, Larin, Taylor, Aribo, Romeu, Smallbone and Bree (who I can't see staying given we pushed him out on loan at the start of the season). Jelert and Peretz loans will come to and end - but will we be able to afford the options to buy at £8M a player I think it is. It wouldn't surprise me if Downes and Manning left as well - but even if we can persuade them and players like Jander, Fellows, Scienza, Azaz and Charles to stay SR will have a massive rebuild on their hands. For a start we will need a new goalkeeper plus cover and 2 if not 3 new strikers.

I think you are right about the club trying to reduce the wage bill - the sale of Edwards and Armstrong and the loaning out of Aribo and Archer and exit of Fraser all point to it, along with the likely exits of Larios, Edozie and Kayi Sanda. With McCarthy, Long, Stewart, Aribo, Taylor, Smallbone and Bree out of contract and ABK either sold or the same and the likely exits of THB, Ramsdale, Downs, Sugawara and Brereton-Diaz the wage bill is going to go down quite a bit in the summer. It suggests they have given up on promotion this season and are trying to raise money to spend in the summer for a promotion challenge next season - or they are just cutting costs and preparing for what will be a long stay in the championship. Or possibly cutting costs in preparation for selling the club. To be honest I hope that is the case.

I thought Kayi Sanda was off to Rennes - or was that just a rumour. The question is will we get anywhere near the fee we overpaid Valenciennes for him to help out another Sport Republic club? Aribo won't go anywhere until his contract is up - no one else will pay him anywhere near what he's on at the moment on top of a fee - he doesn't seem to want to go loan as he's not seemingly bothered about playing - and he wants the massive signing on fee you get from signing on a free transfer. I can see us selling THB and cashing in if someone offers us far more than he's actually worth.

So just like every other city and town with a football league club they talk about football in the pubs and clubs and at work. Is the reason they think they are so special because not many of them have ever been anywhere else? I don't know where they get these myths from - that they are a special club with special support. They are no different to anyone else or any other place. The reality is they are probably closer to being one of the smaller clubs in the football league by support than one of the bigger clubs. And just like any stadium or ground the support can be great or terrible depending on who you are playing, how you are playing and everything else going on around the club. At least we don't seem to have these delusions about who or what we are.

Play a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 and we may have a chance of winning by playing to our strengths. Play 3-4-2-1 to hide our weaknesses and we will lose. With Bree, Welington and Jelert fit and able to play there is really no excuse for not going to 4 at the back and using Scienza and Fellows as wingers. Put Stewart up front and either play Adarma or Archer alongside him or Azaz behind him.

The data might have told you Damion Downs as going to be a great signing - but watching him once would have told you a completely different story. The big issue is data from the Bundesliga 2 or similar leagues doesn't necessarily translate to a faster, more physical and competitive league like the Championship. But also signing players with great potential is pointless if your coaching set up is abysmal or pretty much non-existent as it is at Saints. Who do we we really have on our coaching staff that is going to make players better or help them fulfil their potential? With our set up we really need to be signing ready made and finished product for the Championship. It makes you wish RedBull had bought us instead of Sport Republic - at least RedBull would have been competent owners and RedBull Southampton would have been a competitive premier league team.

I think we should have kept Bree and played him as the RCB or RB instead of spending supposedly £6M on Roerslev and brining Jelert in on loan. But loaning Bree out for half a season made no sense we should either have kept him, sold him or at worst loaned him out for the whole season to get most of the fee we paid for him back. Jelert looks like a great footballer but he looks a little small for the aggression and physicality of English football. Hopefully he will prove me wrong. We also could have played Ronnie Edwards at RB or RCB - as that was more or less the way he played at QPR - moving forwards in midfield with the ball - and to be honest at 5ft 11 he is probably too short to play centre back at the top level. I am guessing Roerslev at 6ft was brought in to add some height at the back on the right. I hope he turns out to be good but we haven't seen that much of him yet. He looked great at times but not so great at others when he played briefly. I am guessing they decided Edwards wasn't good enough for either role - RCB or RB - or they needed to cut costs with Bree coming back. At least now we have cover at right back with Bree as both Jelert and Roerslev seem a bit injury prone.

Welington looks a lot better defensively than Manning so I think he would be OK in a flat back 4 with Scienza providing the attacking and width in front of him. Its a bit ridiculous that we had 4 left backs on the books in the summer (no to mention Thierry Small and Jayden Meghoma as well not too long ago) and its still a position we are worried about. Saying that I would have sold Manning in the Summer and probably stuck with Welington and Taylor as the 2 left back options. I get the feeling Taylor wanted to leave so maybe we should have loaned him out and got Matt Targett in on loan - a left footed 6ft left back with a history of being one of the best in the championship in the that position. I think they did the right thing in loaning out Larios with the intention of putting him in the shop window to sell as he is just too small to play left back I think he is right footed anyway. He's probably better suited to a wide midfield role in a less aggressive/physical league anyway. When he did play he looked like he had good feet, positioning and passing but he just looked too small for the position in the EFl/Premier League. Unfortunately I think Jelert may be a in a similar situation. We should sell Manning in the summer and maybe keep Welington and sign Targett on a free.

the Leeds fans I have talked to say he is not the most physical or fastest of strikers despite his height - he's more of a second striker. So he might not be what we need most which is a centre forward. It sounds like he's more a taller version of what we have already got in Armstrong.