Rebel

https://offthepitch.com/a/southampton-managing-director-squad-we-have-now-enables-us-return-profitability-next-two-three this headline seems to outline our transfer strategy - buy young players and flip them

https://offthepitch.com/a/southampton-managing-director-squad-we-have-now-enables-us-return-profitability-next-two-three Can anyone read this interview with Toby Steele, the MD? If nothing else the headline gives a clear idea of the Sports Republic strategy - buy cheap young players to flip them and make money. The only problem is it seems to ignores the the need to be competitive on the pitch with a team built around a sold core of good experienced players - and at the same time allow you to develop get the best of the youngsters.

If Semmens, Crocker and Sports Direct have even thought about bringing back Bednarek or Stephens it truly proves they have no idea what they are doing. That they have no real plan or strategy. If we need a 5th centre back to allow us to play 3 at the back bring back Simeu or better yet buy a new quality centre back now to replace Salisu as he will be off in the Summer if not before. At the very least we need a goal scoring striker, an experienced defensive midfielder and a goal scoring and creative No. 10/attacking midfielder at the very least if we are to scrape survival this season. Probably 2 strikers if I’m honest. We also need to be harder on the players we have got and get rid of the deadwood hanging around the squad - show all of the players there are no free rides at Southampton. Diallo, Djnepo, Elyounoussi and Adam Armstrong should all be moved on at the very least - even if it’s on loan initially - and replaced.

It is hard to see us escaping relegation this season - but don't kid yourself it will lead to some form of renaissance or fresh start for the club - or that life will be better in the Championship. This current squad would struggle in the Championship - they just don't have the nous, mentality or experience to win games or grind out results. And that is before the best of the players are picked off by the premier league and the mercenaries jump ship. The only hope is that unlike the last time we went down under Lowe Sports Republic will have a plan to get back up. All Lowe was interested in was cutting the costs and banking the parachute payments before he sailed away. By the time he was ousted the damage was already done - and we then wasted money we didn't have on trying to strengthen a very weak team which saw us relegated again and in administration. If we go down the crown jewels will most likely be sold or stolen from us - Lavia, Tino, ABK, JWP, KWP and probably Salisu and Caleta-Car as well as Sports Republic cash in. Moi, Walcott, Caballero and AMN will be out of contract and will be released to cut costs. With a year left on their contracts and a cut in wages Salisu and Che Adams will probably jump ship. The same with Stuart Armstrong. The cut in wages for Bednarek and Stephens finally means they be willing and able to leave permanently - and I think Lyanco will leave as well for the same reason. That leaves us with a very small squad - even if we recall Simeu, Smallbone, Lis, Tella, N'Lundulu, Vokins, etc. GK - McCarthy, Bazunu, Lis FB - Larios, Perraud, Payne, Small, Vokins CB - Simeu, M - Smallbone, Aribo, Djneppo, Diallo F - Edozie, Mara, Tella, N'Lundulu, Adarma But hopefully it means we will be able to get rid of Adam Armstrong, Djnepo and Diallo as they are simply not good enough and rather than waste money on paying them use it to bring in new players. It should mean the end of Semmens - but a lot of other staff - good people for the most part will lose their jobs. If we are lucky Sports Republic will manage to persuade 1 or 2 of the better players to give us another year (Stu, ABK, Tino) and use the parachute payments and cash raised to sign the best proven Championship players and get some of the best young players on loan from the premier league. On top of that Sports Republic will have to sack and replace a manager who will have become toxic for the fanbase if he keeps going the way he has started - and find a good young manager who can build a team, an identity and a way of playing. But we will need a proper well funded plan to get us back up in 2 or 3 years - not a one hit hope or roll of the dice. To be honest I hope Sports Republic sell up to someone who actually wants to run a football club and not a player development business. And then we might actually be successful on the pitch.

I think they are good signings - they have the quality and the potential we need - but we need more experienced players to go with them. The problem we have is we may well get relegated for the lack or experience before those players fulfil their potential. Maybe I didn't say it explicitly enough but I meant we need to sign those players as well - not only or instead of (but I also know you are one of those posters who just likes to find something to disagree with and have an argument). Salisu is 22 and had one full season in the La Liga before we signed him - I don't class him as experienced. Lycano - I am not sure has played regularly enough at the top level to be seasoned. KWP and Caleta-Car probably have. Perraud is on this way there but only has 1 or 2 season at the top level in France. For truly great players maybe age isn't so relevant and hopefully ABK, Tino and Lavia will fall in to that bracket. A back 2 of Salisu and ABK lacks experience - and when you add Tino at right back, Peraud and left back and Lavia in CDM I just don't think there is enough experience or gamesmanship there to see out hard games, turn losses in to draws and draws in to wins. And you are right we probably can't afford a 25 year old premiership player with a hundred games and is as a quality player - but I was talking about a top tier or competitive league experience - not just the premier league - eg Matt Grimes or Josh Brownhill in midfield - both seasoned players from the Championship. But also keeping players like Romeu until we have other players experienced enough to take his palace in the squad would have been a good idea.

I think ABK, Mara, Bazunu and Edozie were all good signings - just like Tino. I don't think ABK is a seasoned player yet though with just one season at the top level in the Bundesliga. I meant experienced players at the top level - La Liga, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Serie A for example - and I would also count the Championship as it is probably up there with those leagues in terms of competition. I am not so sure about Aribo as the Scottish Premiership and League 1 or 2 are not of a good standard (and playing for Rangers means its relatively easy) and he is still relatively young. The problem is when 2 or 3 out of your back 4 and your defensive midfielder are under 23 and relatively inexperienced - for example. Who are ABK and Salisu supposed to learn from on the pitch? Who teaches them how to manage games or see out a draw - or adapt to the other teams tactics. I think we have all complained that Saints just don't seem to have this ability lately. Ajax are probably the exception to the rule - and have been so more than once (the team of Kluivert, Litmanen, Kanu, Davids, Reizeger, De Boer, De Boer, etc stands out as the best young team ever). And Haaland is one of those freaks of nature - but Dortmund and Citeh have the structure around him that we just don't have. JWP, KWP and Caleta-Car would be the first names on my team sheet - with maybe Adams, Stu and AMN after them. Add ABK, Edozie and Lavia to that and its a much stronger team.

The first problem with buying players for the future - or to develop them and sell on alongside the players you develop from your academy - is you need to make sure you have a future. And that means staying in the premier league. Relegation means you will have to sell all those players cheaply before you are ready and the 'gems' from your academy will be taken by bigger clubs. And to stay in the premier league your team needs a core of solid premier league players - not world beaters - but good premier league players who are experienced enough to know their way around the premier league. I'm talking about players in the 24-32 age bracket who have enough games under their belt to make a difference. This core of players gives you the framework or spine of the team if you like to bring through players from the 18-24 age group and develop them without throwing them to the wolves game after game. You also need depth to your squad - and I don't just mean having 25 players - you need enough good and experienced players in the 24-32 age bracket to last the season and cope with rotation, injuries, suspensions and international breaks. At the very least a first 11 if not more than that. The problem is we don't have a core group of players that is good enough, experienced enough or big enough to provide that spine - or provided the strength in depth needed to survive in a tough league. I would probably only count Ward-Prowse, Walker-Peters, Caleta-Car and Stuart Armstrong solidly in that core group. Maybe Perraud and Maitland-Niles as well. You could argue Moi, Aribo and Adams are on the edge of it but I am not sure they are good enough. But its not enough - its not even a full first 11. Maybe add 2 or 3 great youngsters to it from the likes of Bazunu, Tino, Lavia, Salisu, Edozie and ABK and you might get away with winning some games but its not enough to go through a whole season. Letting Romeu go in the summer without replacing him in the core group was really bad idea. And not adding some quality and experience when we desperately needed it was another. I am not arguing they all have to be proven premier league players - but at least seasoned professionals from the Championship or another top tier league.

8 - we really needed that striker / goal scorer and I am a little worried about the depth at CB and CM. I'm not really sure we have the players to sustain 4-2-2-2 if Ralph wants to play that way. But we seem to have shifted to a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 now anyway. Saying that its far better than I was expecting. It shows how bad the squad/players were (and overpaid) that we had to give them away for free or loan them out to move players on - and some we couldn't even do that with

I think we were interested and I think we probably matched or made a better offer - but he's from Liverpool - and maybe an Everton fan - so I think he made the decision on where he wanted to go.

Jacob Tanswell in the Athletic is basically saying we are desperate for a full back and one that can play on the left and right - and one that is young and malleable sounds like Pedersen is the only one still available of those we have looked at (Neco Williams, Brandon Williams, Marcus Pedersen and Issa Kabore) I still think we should have gone for Aaron Hickey (two footed and can play on the left or right) and maybe explains the rumours we are interested in Max Aaron’s - but I think both were/are out of our price range (same as Kabore and Williams) which probably explains the move for Ainsley Maitland-Nile’s on loan as he can cover both left and right back and play in CM as well - and on loan would be a cheaper option and lower risk I’m not sure about AMN though given he’s 24 and not done particularly well at Roma last season and wants to play CM rather than full back and supposedly has an attitude problem - but maybe he will be a short term fix to a problem I am pretty sure next summer we will sell one of KWP or Tino and then have the money (and need) to spend on a new full back

I can see us signing Joshua Zirkzee from Bayern Munich as the additional striker we need. Scored 15 goals on loan at Anderlecht last season. 6ft4, Dutch and a year left on his contract so Bayern want to sell with a buy back clause. Available for £12-15M supposedly

Maybe it’s Romeu that wants to leave Saints and head home to Spain - I am pretty sure if he had wanted to have renewed and extended his contract last season the club would have done so. Hasn’t he just had a kid - and he’s from a small town in Catalonia - Girona are more or less his home town club - maybe he wants to be closer to his family and/or end his career in Spain. I had a feeling he’d end up ay Espanyol on a free transfer next summer to be honest - but Girona makes sense given his Barcelona connections. saying that we do need his experience in the dressing room but his best days on a pitch are probably behind him now i would see Garner as more of a replacement for Diallo so perhaps it will be 2 in and 2 out in midfield I would like to see us bring in Ampadu as well - his best position is as play making holding midfielder where he plays for Wales - but he can also play at centre back and right back - and Chelsea are open to letting him leave

We should accept the offers for Diallo and get Garner or Ampadu on loan from Chelski

I think Ralph will stick with the back 3 as he doesn't seem to have the confidence in any of centre backs to play in a 2 But if that the case he has to set the team up properly in front of them to protect them - and allow our wing backs to get forward so for me I think it should be Bazunu ABK Lyanco Salisu KWP Romeu Lavia Perraud Aribo JWP Adams but that is really too defensive to play against Leeds at home so it really should be Bazunu KWP ABK Salisu Perraud Romeu JWP Lavia Aribo Stu Adams

And he would love that - but he might just be right. it’s hard to see 3 teams with worse squads than us - maybe Bournemouth and Fulham. Forest probably don’t have better players but they have much better squad depth and seem to still be strengthening Leeds have added the squad depth they were missing and if they can keep key players like Bamford fit they probably have the edge on us - and look like they will add more players Brentford lost Eriksen but have strengthened everywhere they needed to this season - and have just added Damsgaard on top of that - the have had a great transfer window Everton and Wolves will struggle this season but both are spending £30M plus on players - and will probably keep spending we are going to have to hope Forest’s gamble fails spectacularly - or that one of Everton and Wolves have an injury crisis or a collapse of some sort and it looks like we have run out of cash and are now dependent on selling players to bring others in or looking at loans but if we are going to survive this season we are going to need to add players to the relatively limited (in both ways) squad we have right now I’d quite happily see us move move on players like Diallo, Valery, Bednarek, Adam Armstrong and McCarthy if it meant we could bring new players in - maybe even Adams too as he is one of the few saleable assets we have Lirola would be a start at right back but let’s hope they bring Caleta-Car back from Marseille with him and if KWP is injured we should take another look at getting Issa Kabore on loan from Citeh it looks like Kaladzjic will be going to a bigger club than us so we should go after Joshua Zirkzee whilst he is still available and then try for someone like Nmecha as well if we have the cash or someone like Broja on loan again the same with Hudson-Odoi - he’ll probably stay in London - so we should go after Edozie from Citeh again who we were linked with before to add some depth and the fee was supposed relatively low at £5M (and hope Moi, Walcott and Redmond can give us a little bit more this season) We still need a left back from somewhere and another player in defensive midfield to provide cover as Diallo just isn’t good enough I’d be tempted to go for Ampadu on loan from Chelsea as he can also cover centre back and right back

Targett went on loan to Fulham and did very well - but we probably shouldn't have sold him to Villa. Still think we would have been better keeping him and selling Bertrand (rather than letting Ryan leave for free) in the long run With Tino having a long term injury and Perraud carrying an injury we really needed to sign a left back and a right back before the season started. Having not done so means we only have 2 fit first team full backs which is just not enough (I'm not counting Valery, Ramsey or Vokins) Plus in all likelihood we will sell KWP next summer when he only has 2 years left on his contract so we need a successor anyway. And if KWP is injured we really are in trouble. That means we will start a second game in a row with only one fit fullback. On another note I can see us selling Adams to Leeds after we play them at the weekend coz we need the cash to spend on new players as we can't sell the players we really want to and his value is only going to go down from here.

I am still convinced that if Ralph didn't have 2 years left of £6/7 million a year contract we would have sacked him. I am also pretty convinced Ralph is a one trick pony manager - he can only play and coach 4-2-2-2 high pressing football -which can succeed brilliantly at times but can also fail spectacularly at times. If it doesn't work he has no idea. Look at how we dealt with the direct teams like Burnley in the past - he had no idea what to do. Also look at how we played 3 at the back on Saturday compared to Spurs or Brighton over the weekend. It was kind of a 3 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 1 - 1 with one defensive midfielder, 3 box-to-box midfielders, 2 wingbacks , 1 AM and 1 CF (not too mention playing Djneppo on the left as a wing back when he is right footed, Adarma as lone striker despite his stature, Valery as a centreback and Romeu as a box-to-box midfielder when he doesn't have the engine for it) if you are going to play 3 at the back for defensive solidity you need to play 2 holding midfielders in front of them to cover the gaps and then you can allow your wingbacks to get forward and provide width and play 1-2 or 2-1 up front playing 3 AM up front at the end of the game and no striker just added insult to injury Brighton played 3-3-3-1 or 3-2-2-2-1 - whichever way it was they provided more cover and protection for the back 3 than we did was Ralph being too clever for his own good or was he just being clueless? I am not sure which to be honest he is not helped by the fact we don't have enough players who are really good enough for the premier league and the squad is short in key areas (CB/FB/AM/CF) - but the real question is does he get the best out of the players / team we have? I am not sure he does

I would guess that we are looking to sell Che Adams as he is one of the few players we have that is actually saleable - and that we are willing to sell. And with 2 years left on his contract now is the time to sell him if we are going to - which means we might get £20-25M for him. But we should only be selling him if we have a very good replacement lined up (and maybe we won't sell him until we've actually brought a replacement in) The fact that he is on his way out is the only acceptable reason not to have played him on Saturday - or play him this coming Saturday. What worries me though is it was clear to every one of us that what we needed most in the transfer window was an experienced commanding centre back, cover at full back (left and right) and a proven striker with pace and power that can score goals - and as yet we haven't signed any of those. Still the transfer window is still open so I guess we have to have faith they will bring them in before it closes. What scared me most on Saturday is we started the game with 3 players we know just aren't good enough for the Premier League - Adam Armstrong, Djneppo and Valery and then brought on another in Diallo. All of them should have been moved on this summer - whether sold or on loan to see out their contracts (Djneppo/Valery) or try and regain some of their value (Diallo/Adam Armstrong). And I guess we are also having problems in shifting those players we want to get rid of - Redmond and Walcott - or who want to leave (Bednarek). Lets hope as the transfer windows gets nearer to closing we see some interest in these players. I'd possibly add Elyounoussi and Lyanco to the list of players we need to move on and replace. So far the transfer window has been better than I expected with us bringing in Aribo, Lavia, Bazunu, ABK and Mara and it has given me hope that there is more to come. But unfortunately although better than I was expecting other than Aribo they are not the proven or experienced players we really need. They are the add-ons/the nice to have's - not the essential signings we really need.

The only possible reason not to start with Adams today is surely because he is off - no other reason is acceptable. He’s our best striker of the 3 by some way right now. But if we are selling him we better have an incredible replacement - or 2 - lined up! Ralph seems scared of losing which means we play defensively with players out of position and we end up losing because the defence can’t handle the constant pressure and collapse Does he get the best out of the players we have? or the make the team greater than the sum of its parts? the simple answer to both those questions is no And why does he keep playing players our of position? it just doesn’t work for us if it wasn’t for the 2 years left on his £7M a year contract I am pretty sure the new owners would have sacked him by now It should have been 4-3-2-1 today with the players in their right positions Bazunu KWP ABK Salisu Perraud JWP Romeu Lavia Aribo Stu Adams A strong midfield to protect the defence - and allow the full backs to get forward when attacking - a striker who can hold the ball and bring others in to play - and our 2 best AMs in their best positions

I am not so sure about Broja - I don’t think we can afford to buy him at £30M nor should we as he’s overpriced at that level. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see him come back here on loan. I think he looked bad towards the end of last season as we more or less played him up front on his own without much support and reverted to the long ball game - meaning he had to chase scraps against 2 centre backs. if we do sell Adams for £20M and replace him with a better striker I am not going to complain. He’s probably at the peak of his resale value right now so now is the time to sell him if you are going to do it. We’ve kept too many players past their sell buy date when they aren’t really good enough - Moi, Redmond, Djneppo, Diallo - and then been unable to sell them or have to give them away. The last 3 should have gone on loan last season to get some value back so we could sell them this season. Part of me thinks we should loan out or sell Adam Armstrong this season so we don’t make the same mistake again. Maybe if we bring Broja and someone else in permanently we will we were linked to Kaspar Dolberg at one point as Nice supposedly want to sell him - maybe that’s the mystery striker we have made an offer for. we don’t just need a striker though - we need a creative no 10 to play on the left and a full back.

Romeu is definitely not a No. 10 - I think we are all agreed on that. But I don't think he is a goal scoring box-to-box midfielder No.8 either. He doesn't have the pace or the engine to get up and down the pitch. His best position is as a deep lying defensive of holding midfielder No.6 protecting the defence. His best seasons for Saints were as the deep lying midfielder at the base of a midfield 3. He should be competing with Romeo Lavia for the No.6 position unless we are going to play them alongside each other with 2 No 6s. JWP and Diallo are the box-to-box No.8's surely. Maybe the issue is Romeu is past his best as the DM/No.6 and Diallo isn't good enough for the No.6 or No.8 positions - and we need to replace both of them.

Small has already gone on loan to Port Vale and I think the other 4 will probably follow him and go out on loan as well. I am not sure Ralph and the other coaches think any of them are ready to play at fullback in the premier league unfortunately

a good read here - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-11045531/Southampton-reaping-benefits-hiring-Joe-Shields-head-senior-recruitment.html I do like the strategy of bringing in young players with real potential and developing them. Lets hope Shields also has a great effect on our academy recruitment as well. For one thing its the only way the team is going to get better in the long run. By bringing in the best young players developing them, selling them at a hefty profit and investing the money back in to the squad. Although I worry that most of the profit will be go out of the club. But we do need a solid spine of frame to the team of hardened professionals and good players at their peak to build around - and allow the good young players to develop. A team full of 18-20 year olds getting beaten every work will get relegated for one thing - and is probably not the most conducive environment for getting the best out of the young players. You probably need at least half of your starting 11 to be at this level if not more if its really going to work.

It’s simple really 😁 1) bring Broja back on loan with an option to buy 2) bring Delap in on loan 3) buy Sasa Kalajdzic 4) sell Che Adams to Leeds or Everton 5) loan Adam Armstrong to Middlesbrough with an obligation to buy and let’s not forget we still need a No 10 to play on the left - as well as cover at left back and right back in all honesty this transfer window has already been a lot better than I was expecting it to be - but we still have a lot to do if we are going to be truly competitive in the premier league - rather than avoiding relegation by not being as bad as 3 other teams

My preferred option would have been to have signed a second left-back by now - so we could play 4-2-2-2 (as we don’t seem to think Small or Vokins are up to it) Josh Doig for £3-4M would have been worth a go surely? or failing that a full back that can play on the left or the right - Aaron Hickey would have been ideal for £14M or at least another right back to provide cover for Tino whilst he’s injured and allowed KWP to play on the left when needed (we don’t seem to think Ramsey or Valery are up to it either) Kabore on loan would have been good to provide cover for Tino if we are going to play 3 at the back I’d prefer we play 3-4-1-2 or 3-4-2-1 but with a left footed player on the left of the midfield 4 with the ability to give you some natural width and either one No 10 and two strikers or 2 AMs and one centre forward I hate 5 at the back - it always seems to me you are just playing to lose by not scoring - and on the back foot all the time in the long run we need a second left back to provide cover for Perraud anyway as KWP will leave us at some point (probably next summer) for this reason I’d like to see us buy a left back and a right back so we have a succession plan (or someone like Hickey)