Saint Pete

Affengruber now confirmed as signed for Fulham.

Sounds like he fully expects Ramsdale to still go, can't believe we would just leave him kicking his heels til January. But feels like we are penny pinching by not finding a more adequate No 2 than Long, hope it doesn't come back to haunt us. Also pretty much confirms we are not seeking a 3rd senior striker. Madness in my opinion, both decisions leave us on the brink of disaster with just 1 injury. Very frustrating given that otherwise I would say it has been a largely positive window, but these 2 gaps are glaring and really unnecessary.

No, he wasn't the answer. But leaving ourselves with just 2 strikers and only 1 genuine target man wasn't either!

It seems totally unnecessary that we would leave ourselves so light on strikers after we had so many on the club's books. Not saying I was desperate for the likes of Archer, BBD and Downs to stay, far from it, but I can't believe we would let all of them leave plus Oyekunle and Stewart, with only Mubama, a relatively inexperienced youngster coming in to join Larin. We must be working on something surely, but we shouldn't have let all of the above leave before we had secured at least one more to come in. As it stands, I think it's very likely Larin will be burnt out by Christmas with so little backup.

What's he gonna do if Larin does his hamstring in the next game once the window is shut then?

I agree with all that, just think we may spoil it by skimping on not getting adequate cover for Larin up front. We have Mubama who so far seems to offer something a little different from Larin which is fine, but just 2 senior strikers is asking for trouble. But there are still a few hours left, hopefully we are working on something if only another loan.

Downes fit and starting, that's good.

There's still a chance he may go before the other windows across Europe are all closed, but it is oddly quiet on the rumours front.

I don't think folks are suggesting we should spunk £20m on a striker just that we are asking for trouble if we go into the season with just 2 senior specialist strikers.

Absolutely. Which is why we should hopefully be ensuring we get another body in today who can play upfront, especially if Archer leaves. Preferably one who can hold the ball up and allow Larin to rest.

Sad to see him go, but can't begrudge him this move, he has a great chance to make it in the Prem now with such a good manager showing faith in him. Good luck THB.

It wouldn't be ideal, better to get a replacement in and let him go. But that replacement needs to be fit enough to do a job, which doesn't seem the case with March.

Well, let's hope one of our 2 strikers doesn't get injured before January then! What could possibly go wrong?!

Yeah, there must be better options out there (or just keep Edozie as our backup if we genuinely can't find better).

It's good work that we look like we have found homes for all of Downs, BBD and Archer, but as Stewart has gone and we chose to loan Oyekunle out as well, I cannot believe we would seriously come out of the window with only 2 specialist senior strikers. There's the obvious risk of injury to our main man in Larin, but also even if he avoids injury, playing as a target man over a long season is hard work and he is no spring chicken. He looks great at the moment but we need him to still be sharp in the depths of winter and crucially in the run in later on, and that's where you need enough decent options to come in and give him a rest. He will not and should not be starting 46 games or near that, that's for sure. Also, tactically, we may be happy playing a lone striker right now, but we surely need to have options to switch to 2 up top if plan A not working for a while? We could do that now (with no injuries) but then our first option off bench would be a youth player. Very threadbare and not really the squad you want if serious about promotion challenge. Surely Spors must have a plan?!

Yep, he will have been pissed off that we turned down those £4m offers for him from abroad as reported yesterday. Fair play that the lad just wants to be on the pitch now.

Always sad to see one of our strongest players go but once it was clear a club of the current standing of Villa were interested, it was inevitable really. Looks a fair price for a defender so hopefully it will be done very quickly so that we can then get our replacement over the line, preferably with a little time to spare to avoid last minute hitches.

So no wins in first 3 games for the happy Hammers. Thought they were going to piss this league?

I see West Ham have just agreed a fee with Brentford to sell them Diouf their left back from last season for £35m initial fee plus £5m potential add ons. Puts the fees talked about for THB so far into perspective?

I don't think JWP is the perfect profile of midfielder that we need to replace Charles, but neither do I think that he has nothing to offer us in the Championship. He is a quality player despite the prejudices of some on here and I don't think we can be so dismissive of quality players in the position we are in. Would be glad if he rejoined us on a loan deal.

Stephens has always been prone to blunders and poor decision making and we saw both yesterday. Unfortunately, I still think he's probably the best partner for THB that we currently have at the club, that was proved for the majority of the unbeaten run last season. We can bring Wood in for him but don't personally think that will improve things as he isn't great either, will be a matter of time before he messes up too and you are all howling for Stephens to come back in again. Quality, reliable centre backs are hard to come by, we have just one at the club, which is why it is vital we do our utmost to keep him here this season.

Possibly yes. So we will need to adjust how we play when he is on as he won't hold it up as well but may offer other qualities, which was my point.

First impressions of Mubama are that he doesn't have the same physical presence and strength as a Larin or a Stewart. Of course it is very early days and I'm not writing him off to end up being a good signing by any means, but not having seen him play before, my feeling is he won't provide the focal point that we have been used to with the Larin/Stewart combo. So, perhaps we will need to adjust how we play a little when he comes on or starts. We certainly seemed to miss Larin when he went off today.

Well, classic Saints start to the season really. Just we can't afford it this season starting on -4.

I know that was our pattern last season but did Larin really need to come off? He was still influencing the game well and Mubama not really in it so far.