S-Clarke

It didn't look good to be fair, he was thumping the turf repeatedly when it happened. Looks like he knew it was a bad one.

He was just what I remembered him to be at Bournemouth, quick, direct, nippy - an absolute pain in the backside to defend against. He impacted the game as soon as he came on. I've never been quite sure why fans have been so down on him.

I'm pleased to hear we're looking to replace Tella, it's probably an unexpected fee which we can use to strengthen in that area. It's going to be a pretty manic few days I think, and I'm sure this place will be an emotional rollercoaster.

I thought it was our worst performance of the season overall, but we still won and that has to be seen as a pretty big positive. Against Wednesday and Plymouth we controlled the game for large periods, but we struggled today and it was a very bitty game. It didn't help us that Alcaraz was simply horrific, his worst game for us today - he was a liability out there today. I thought the midfield, with Charles moved back, got a bit overrun with Downes and Stu in there due to their lack of physicality. Downes is exactly what I thought he was, an absolute JWP clone in the sense of style and position. Edozie was a real threat, as he has been most games this season - although he was better from the left in my opinion. S-A-A was pretty poor, couldn't get into the game - I think he's better off as a sub for the time being, he has more impact that way. Adam Armstrongs tenacity at this level cannot be underestimated. Technically he's pretty poor running with the ball, which is why I don't believe he'll ever make it at the top level, but at this level it's a real threat and teams struggle to defend against it. His tenacity to win the ball back in stoppage time was a highlight for me. We're almost certainly still a work in progress, lots still to change - but to be winning when we're a work in progress is a massive plus, as I can only see us getting better over the season - and by our standards, this is a blockbuster start.

I think that was shelved - so the deadline is the deadline for everything, just like the PL.

Not sure we have the space for another. Edozie, Amo-Ameyaw, Fraser, Moussa, Sullemana - not sure how we add another to that.

The replacement is done to be honest, fairly sure of that.

That's probably the most disappointing and unexpected transfer, after Tino. A year in this league and it felt like we'd get the benefit of that, but seemingly not. I think he's wanted out for a while to be honest, scored some goals for us this year but I've felt he's played within himself up until now. I fully expect Fraser is his replacement, so all we can do is get behind it - nothing we can do about it now, might as well try and make the most this season (we still have a good side fwiw). If we are no where near in January, then yeah, we have fucked it.

If ever a promotion totally halted a clubs progress, it's this one.

Still no Lavia in the Chelsea team - was he injured when he went there?

Probably much easier said than done tbh.

Have you not considered it's more about numbers/squad size, rather than finance? We'd have Adams, Mara, Ballard, Onuachu and Armstrong who can play there - and then we sign Piroe who also wants to play first choice. We almost certainly needed one to go before we can add another, just basic squad management.

Sounds like Genk are playing silly buggers with everyone - Leeds considering withdrawing Paintsil offer Leeds United considering withdrawing their offer for Genk forward Joseph Paintsil. The Championship side feel they have made a good and fair offer, but believe Genk have "moved the goalposts" on their valuation. Genk wanted to do a swap deal with Southampton involving their striker Paul Onuachu but could not come to an agreement.

I guess that's why they're loans, a free gamble as such. If it works out, great, if it doesn't, cheerio and we've not lost out financially. That's how I'll look at it anyway. I personally think Fraser is desperate to prove people wrong. Both of these guys have clean slates in my eyes, judging them solely on how they perform for us at this level and not what went on before.

Sounds like he's in contention for tomorrow as well - another good attacking option.

As I said, he fell away after he started to get noise in his final year at Bournemouth. Lost some crucial years because of how he was affected by that noise in my eyes. He needs to get his head back down and start playing again, because if we can get the pre-2019/2018 Fraser then we're laughing.

Jeez, catching up on this thread today I expected to see St Mary's burnt to the ground and everyone sold - doesn't seem to be the case though. One thing we got wrong last year was a lack of experience, just loads of kids who hadn't played senior football. At our level the only way we are going to sign players with top level experience is to take a punt on someone who has fallen down the pecking order as a PL club - let's not forget, we're no longer a PL club. Fraser seemed to fall away when he got a bit carried away by all the noise, he was linked with quite a few decent clubs at one point. He was a nightmare to play against from what I remember - and that was in the PL. Holgate is another guy with genuine top level experience, I find it hard to judge anyone at Everton over the last few years as I'm sure even Messi would have looked shit there - so it's not a fair environment to judge a player, comes here with a clean slate in my eyes and someone who performed well at WBA and England U21's as a younger player - and I see that there is noise that Woods is happening, getting both is the best of both worlds really - some experience, and then a highly rated younger player. So, I'm not seeing where the negativity is coming from. If what people are panicking about happens, then fair enough, but what's the point in fretting about it and dreaming up scenarios that might not even happen. The only genuine news I can see are all about incomings.

He doesn't need to be a fan of Southampton to realise that his best chance of investment return is for us to be a Top Flight team. If he wants to lose money by the bucket load, he can stay in this league. It's in his business interests for this club to be at the highest level for 1) marketing opportunities, 2) sponsorship opportunities and 3) better access to young talent in order to get those sell-on-fee's. None of that happens in the Championship.

Really warped logic to be honest. Good businessmen know that the fortune comes from being in the PL - the model of buy the best young talent and sell for a profit only really works in the PL. If we hang around in the Championship for too long then their investment is up in smoke and they'll be losing money every week with no talent to recoup on, as good young players won't want to join an also-ran in the Championship.

As long as he's adequately replaced then so be it, but if he's not then major questions will have to be asked - as they'd have dropped a striker bollock on the 2nd deadline day in a row.

Makes me wonder why they are even bothering to waste Udinese's time, they want £40m for Beto. Probably just club propaganda to appease their toxic fanbase.

You looked a decent side in my eyes, a real threat on the break with pace. You'll cause more teams problems this year no doubts. You were night and day when compared to Sheffield Wednesday for example.

So a week to go - only 3 or 4 working days if you don't count the weekend or bank holiday. Still lots to be decided in my eyes. Outs - Lyanco? Moussa? Adams? ABK? Aribo? Sulemana? Onouachu? McCarthy? KWP? Tella? In's - RB - If KWP is sold. CB - if one of the CB's is sold CM - Need one of those whatever Attacker - If 2 of Moussa/Sulemana/Tella are sold, we need 2 additional attackers. ST - If Adams and Onouachu leave. As a squad, I think if we keep what is here today and add an additional CM then we're pretty much covered. That doesn't sound too daunting. But....if we get late bids for some of the questionable ones above then we better have our ducks lined up, as we will need replacements sharpish.

£10m for Aribo, for real? £2m tops I'd have thought, but a loan is the most realistic option. No way we make a profit on him if we sell him, almost certainly a loss.

Someone needs to put them down and start again, they're in a right old mess. Apparently they were only offering £5m up front of Che, the remaining 8-10m was spread over a few years (that shows how utterly skint they are). They wanted Gnonto as well, but as Leeds wanted actual money, they couldn't get him.