Saint Fan CaM

Can’t wait. Let’s get the 0-9 out of the way early doors. 😉

I don’t view the loan deal as a great win for the club (how does that help us get a decent replacement?) and I certainly don’t relish the idea of the worst GK in English football being our no.1 this season. At the moment, with much of the deadwood still here and losing our best players, it’s easy to imagine another very underwhelming season ahead of us, even if we are in the Championship.

Agreed. And if most of them are still starting it’s far from being a lottery win right?

So you still don’t know. 🙄🤔

Where’s this gap coming from? Please set that out with reliable quotes from the club.

Great post. And may I add - what is the point of selling at even £50m+ if you can’t sign equal or better talent to replace him? If that’s not a definite then squad quality will be reduced and absolutely nothing gained except of course a healthier bank balance - fools gold if you miss out on promotion.

This is the stance that I find difficult to reconcile with. The squad last season was diabolically poor…arguably worse than teams in the top 6-8 of the Championship and would in my mind certainly struggle to compete at the top this coming season. Weakening the squad further will see the club fall well below the standard needed for the play-offs in my estimation, so significant strengthening was required to put us in with a chance of promotion.

You’re making some good obvious points of course. Proof of the pudding is in the eating. Assuming Rambo and Fernandes go, the overall quality of the squad is diminished substantially in my view. IF the four players you’ve mentioned are replaced with better players then yes, I too will feel more optimistic. However, we must remember that even if that scenario plays out, those players would not have had the benefit of a full pre-season and so may not be starters immediately. Also I’m not convinced there will be a lot of takers for the players mentioned and we’ll be stuck with them until their contracts run down (e.g. ABK).

Blimey, she’s been with you nearly as long as Stephens has been with Saints! Congratulations BTW.

My fears for the overall weakening of the squad are starting to come true - Fernandes leaving will seal it. Time left to bring in replacement talent I guess, but we’re talking SR levels of incompetence and previous form in panic buys. We’ve still got a lot of dross in the squad and other than perhaps Quarshie not a lot to feel optimistic about in terms of new signings. The prospect of Bazunu, Stephens and Manning starting against Wrexham leaves me feeling cold.

Bye Jan and good luck - thanks for your service, but it’s hardly been a joy to behold mostly. Please take Stephens with you so we can exorcise the last few years of decline.

Spertsyan is exactly the type of player the team is crying out for. The chances of signing him seem very, very slim, but if it happens then credit to Spors/Still - would be probably one of the best signings in the last 4 years. This also presumes Fernandes is retained so that overall squad quality is improved.

Anyone who thinks getting rid of our best players (e.g. Rambo and Fernandes) rather than losing the worst players (e.g. Stephens, Manning etc) is a delusional fool with half a brain. There, I said it and I fucking stand by it. #drunk

Not sure if that makes it better or worse to be honest! Actually it makes no difference - Captain Calamity managed to get himself on the team sheet again today even after that conversation, which clearly was not…“sorry Jack but you’re just too shit to be anything other than a sub”!

You’d think right? But that recent shot of Still, Spors, Stephens and the Asst Manager huddled in deep conversation after training tends to suggest to me that Stephens has the ear of the important people at the club and somehow will be a first pick on the team sheet regardless of the sanity of it.

It was posted a little tongue in cheek to be fair and I was largely reflecting on others reports as I didn’t watch the game myself, but the warning signs are undoubtedly there. I really don’t see anything at the moment that resembles a team pushing promotion or at least not the autos.

If Bazunu or McCarthy start ahead of Rambo - season over. If Manning starts ahead of Welington - season over. If Edward’s is started at RB ahead of Bree or Sugawara - season over. If Stephens is started over Any of our other CB’s - season over. If Spors doesn’t get a quality, starting attacking CM in - season over. If Still continues to play the same front 3 (AA/Archer/BBD/Fraser) over starting Downs - season over. I’ve maintained for some time that the majority of the shite from last season needed to be cleared out or we’d be looking at a mid-table finish. Looks like lessons have not been learned…maybe. Perhaps Still is now realising he’s going to have a very mediocre season if he isn’t very judicious in his team selections, including dropping his club Captain. The concern also is that we’re lower than mid-table come October-November and the club feel pressured to sack Still which will set us back even further.

That guys got hidden layers in his game.

Matchday 15

With his heart condition a factor, he’ll need his agent to revise his salary demands otherwise he’ll go next year for free, but be lucky to get a job outside of the lower leagues. His reputation as they say will precede him.

I remember watching our last Championship season opening match at Highbury (a SW supporting friend had a spare ticket in the home stand) and saying to my mate that I couldn’t understand why the SW manager was not getting his team to press us harder…we were bossing the ball (of course). Then as the season wore on it became obvious that more and more oppo managers were figuring out how to combat RM’s possession biased system - the risks increased and our weaknesses were exposed. That’s the problem with RM - he puts his players in proverbial straight-jackets.

Buying talent prior to sales is possible, but only for those clubs that have a large budget and are an attractive pull to top players (promise of trophies etc) - risk is minimal. We have neither of those attributes sadly, even when in the PL, although it becomes marginally easier. That’s not to say a clear-out is not required or indeed possible - after last seasons debacle it’s imperative.

Nobody is saying he’s a bad Manager. He gives the best cuddles. Football style however is as boring as [insert expletive of choice here].

That lad looks class and just what we need. Way out of SR’s budget I suspect and he looks like he’d be more likely to get into a PL side.

Fantastic. Next stop Goztepe.