Saint Matty 76

Looks really strong this.

Alcaraz, Edozie and Amo-Ameyaw behind the striker sounds like a lot of fun to me. Bella-Kotchap, Fraser and Downes all on the bench.

Che not in the squad. Could've had Piroe fitting in for this inevitability but here we are. A nice £5m deal for a striker from Scotland will have to do.

We’re in a different league mate

£30m would be a very decent price for Sulemana but fucking hell put your foot down on somebody. Alcaraz is going to change his mind on sticking around seeing every bit of quality around him being let out the door.

Fully respect the confidence and belief. I'll back him in the stadium until he proves me otherwise but I'd be lying if I said it doesn't feel like a really underwhelming move on the face of things.

Because that was in 2018. He has 3 goals in 4 years.

100%. I get that we want to trust in Wilcox but if we head into tomorrow without either of them, and the only resemblance of a replacement is Ryan Fraser who hasn't kicked a ball since October 2022 and hasn't got a goal or assist since March 2022, then I'd struggle to remain too content.

Definitely a bit of a tenuous confirmation but if we really have replaced £20m+ Tella with Ryan Fraser on loan then it’ll be time to ask a few questions. Alfie House asked about Tella today but it’s embargoed for 10:30pm, so we’ll either find out then or around 2pm tomorrow I guess.

Little bit more nice news.

Yep - not really got any concerns about CB. RB is a bit of a worry if we suddenly end up with Holgate and Bree as our two options after a late move for KWP. Like you say, we could be Sulemana - Che - Tella in a weeks time or we could be Edozie - Armstrong - Fraser.

Midfield suddenly looks a lot better with the news Smallbone will be back for Sunderland, a nice area of certainty at least!

My opinion from listening to that presser is that Che is going. Sounded that way from RM's expression.

Every sale has been met with club-fed paragraphs about how it’ll enable us to reinvest back into the squad to get us back promoted, seeming a little off right now. ABK, KWP, Sulemana, Tella and Adams are all still here so there isn’t a reason to lose it just yet. But as they start slowly going over the next week and the replacements make it clear to have been Mason Holgate and Ryan Fraser on loan… deary me.

Excellent. Fraser too? That’ll be a Sulemana or Tella replacement I guess. Fucking dreadful moves.

Fingers crossed he’s either 3rd choice or seriously benefits from the drop in a league because Holgate is a truly shit signing. Just good that it’s only a loan and we’re lumbered with him for one year.

Yup. Not that there aren't other strikers in the world, but Archer and Piroe were the two "safe" options that have good records at this level and the former being very familiar with the system as well. They were probably the two signings we could make where no fans would bat an eyelid about selling Che and replacing him with them. I really hope it's a case that we're confident with Che's future so didn't feel the need to go for Piroe, rather than us not actually being capable until his future is confirmed. That's completely playing with fire going into the final week.

Fingers crossed, but he'd be mad to do anything before September 1st anyway.

Worried but can't be annoyed until we see how the next week plays out. We still have the better player but selling him now without the obvious replacement would be yet another disaster in the attacking department from SR. The issue, like mentioned above, is how easy and obvious an option Che is for a real handful of PL teams going into this final week. There's a good few he'd immediately start for and he's seemingly available pretty cheap. Palace, Everton, Fulham, Wolves...

Damn, didn’t actually see this happening.

Definitely is a worrying situation now where Piroe could want his future sorted out (Leeds) before anybody commits to signing Che (Everton, Wolves, Fulham etc...). I really have a feeling we'll end up with Duk from Aberdeen.

My biggest hope going into this season was that we'd somehow have Sulemana - Alcaraz - Tella playing behind the striker, through all the noise we've encountered these past two months, could actually be a possibility?

Obviously YouTube pinch of salt but I don't think you could find me a single clip of Bednarek looking that comfortable on the ball. Or Stephens for that matter, who for all the comical DM shouts over recent years has looked absolutely terrible receiving the ball this season.

Everything else you've written is bullshit.

He exists!