Smirking_Saint

Id love to gk back in for Sangare, we were apparently in for him before we settled on Diallo, but there were issues with a work permit… sensational talent and plays with the athleticism and technical ability combined that our midfield needs, unfortunately Id imagine he’s out of our reach now

Good player but he really really has struggled with injuries managing under 20 games in his last 4 years Im not sure in our state its worth the risk and I woukd imagine he’d still want a top wage

Winks would be a very dissapointing signing made even worse if the fee is anywhere near or above 10m

So what to we reckon ? Shill them Smallbone and then hope that enables us the opportunity to jump ahead of them for Garner ?

Im not ‘continually complaining’ not at all, if anything I tend to be one of the more optimistic of fans, but this is a forum within which we discuss the club’s limitations and areas of concern On our day we are a capable outfit, we have shown that with significant purple patches throughout the last 2-3 years, unfortunately though this is interwoven with periods of dross, now, this of course is down to a multitude of factors, tactics, player ability and mentality Ill support Stephens every time he wears the shirt, Im not the sort to ever boo, but Im not going to just pretend he isn’t the limited player that he is because I bleed red and white, I want the best for this club, and continuing on with starters of his ability is costing us whether we like it or not Do we have significant budgets ? No In some ways I would, in others I wouldn’t want the care free spending that City etc have, its of course exciting but I do think it leads to a breakdown in identity… however because of our low budget we need to make good decisions in the transfer market, and we simply have wasted what we have, in the main Im not sitting here bashing the club, or the players, or even Ralph, we’ve punched above our weight at times but we’ve also significantly under achieved too, and in order to reduce that inconsistency is to bring in better than what we have, thats football unfortunately and Im not going to apologise for discussing that

I didn’t understand that at all 😂 You even see him look over his shoulder, at the guy he has been defending against for 55 minutes… so he knows he is there Awful defending

When you put it like that then yes, it is good business, but ultimately him playing over 100 games for us, majority (if not all I can’t remember) in the prem shows where our level is and why we have never kicked on He seems a nice guy, is committed, shows plenty of passion… but he is very limited and if we rely on him for too long then we leak goals

Im happy to stick with awful if you like ? With the odd visit to average on days he plays above his ability ? My issue with Stephens overall is he is very much a reactive defender, he shows little to no defensive awareness really. He is reasonably good in the tackle, but lacks the ability to mark effectively or see any danger before it arrives, so yes, sometimes he gets away with it (average) but generally he does not (awful)

What the f**k is that 😂 That could be up there as the worst kit ive ever seen

So he is correct then ?

You’d be hard pressed to be worse tbf Stephens is about as average a prem CB you can get… awful

I don’t think we need experience, but I do think we need one or two around the place that are natural leaders, I just don’t see any at all in our squad But as per Drinkwater, he absolutely isn’t anywhere close to having any conceivable quality we need

I agree

I wonder hiw things will work with Chelsea in theur current predicament ? Surely the sanctions mean that they are unable to recieve any fees ? And probably unlikely to want to do significant business before they are able to appoint a new owner

The problem is neither of JWP or his ‘partner’ are necessarily there to provide assists, any goal inclusions they make is a bonus, we effectively set up to move into a sort of 3142 in attack with our primary attacking outlet being a pressing trap Of course Id expect more assists from both our ‘No.10’s’ or FBs but ultimately I quite happy with the double pivot Romeu was excellent early to mid season, but fell off later on which I think caused a fair amount f our issues both defensively and attacking because we didn’t have a significant base to build on Is OR good enough still ? Probably, but is he fit enough ? Im not sure

No but he was installed to, and we have heard plenty of hyperbole around how integral he was at delivering his masterplan to ensure the entire club is pulling as one towards Ralph’s signature style So not for the first time you’ve ignored the ball and instead attempted to take out the man for nothing more than to extend your position as Saints no.1 pedant

This ^ Ive had to let people go and did that face to face (with a HR rep) I couldn’t imagine doing it any other way Thankfully Ive never been laid off, but I can’t imagine that it would be anything other than a conversation with my seniors UNLESS it was something like misconduct This isn’t P&O ferries, these guys have been an intimate part of the club for a long time and no doubt have strong relationships around the place, I admit that perhaps the owners wouldn’t need to be there, its probably over stepping boundaries but a video call with no Ralph or potentially a director seems a bit off

But these are effectively senior management, this isn’t middle or lower employees You would imagine atleast Ralph was there ? In all fairness I might have over reacted when I first looked at it and read it as if Semmens/Crocker wasn’t there

Salisu is a very good defender and Id say Bednarek is generally better than he gets portrayed on here, but both suffered behind what eventually became a double pivot that wasn’t effective from February onwards and tactics that left us too open, too often

If this is true then Id say its very poor form, especially from a club that slways ‘sells’ itself as a friendly family club

But is that a significant stumbling block ? I don’t know ? I would imagine they aren’t on big wages, so is it just sentiment ? If it was me Id want my own trusted staff I think

I think theres a tidy player in there, on the ball he is technically gifted but realistically he looks as if he needs to play as an 8 as part of a midfield 3 because he doesn’t have sufficient attributes to defend or attack as part of any double midfield pairing and I just don’t think we’re the team to accommodate him

What is Smallbones correct position ?

Fucking hell… if we’re really making do with Tom Lawrence, Ryan Fredericks and some unknown relegated turkish keeper then we are monumentally in the shit But you know… no holds barred and all that…

I mean… if true.. I have to wonder who it was the kept Davis et al around ? Was it Semmens/Crocker insisting that they remain part of the staff ? Was Ralph just happier to have a set of coaches under him that he could keep at arms length ? Its all a bit odd really and Id have to question why a head coach wouldn’t want an experienced set of trusted coaches around him ?