Saint86

I looked into it and think it can be watched on now tv

He is basically a copy of Larin - two reasonably powerful forwards with excellent movement (especially for the championship) and natural finishers. Slots straight into Tonda's approach of rotating players in like-for-like roles and making sure the team is very well coached around that. The championship is just as much an endurance race as much as it is about star players and quality - and on that basis he looks to be a good addition. What it does mean however is that we are missing a proper target man striker (i.e., the ross stewart role), but equally we have players like Dobbin who can play alongside Larin/Mubama if we do need to go to a 2 up top and use their pace to exploit spaces their movement creates. It will be interesting to see how we manage against sides that park the bus - there were certainly times last year where being able to bring on both Stewart and Larin and get balls in the box was critical in getting decisive goals.

Can that be watched on Now TV?

Based on the press conference (and concerns over minutes), it sounds like we'll see a very rotated side for this one. Mubama over Larin. Wellington over Manning. Dobbin over Azaz. Suspect Quarshie may get some minutes over Wood (if not starting then second half sub). Fancy Romeo and Bragg to get starts as well. And ofc, Long in goal over Peretz. Don't get me wrong, we have a good squad and the way Eckert sets his team up and coaches the players we at least know that they'll know their jobs and play together well, but i fear west ham may go with a very strong side to try and recover some momentum. Personally i would want the win in this - builds are confidence up ahead of Millwall, and potentially upsets the start of West Ham's season just a little bit more.

Its a weird one for him. Hasn't worked out at Saints for whatever reasons, and he's spent most summers looking like he'll be going out the door and so not fully in the managers' plans... Equally, the club probably see him as someone who won't be signing another contract at Saints so don't want to waste time on him now / want to maximise transfer return. Its a shame, as I suspect things would have been different if (at some point) a decision had been made to fully use him and have him as a regular starter - There is little difference between a fully fit and playing Edozie and Fellows in my eyes... Perhaps we'll see that this season if he doesn't get moved out - suspect he's more of an asset than any compensation we'll get for letting him go.

Probably because they're good players with a higher ceiling than the championship... rather that than poorer shit players that prem sides have no interest in.

I don't disagree - I suspect that in January the club had no interest in the sale and that this time around it can surely only mean that a deal is very close. I guess it could also be the case that the club need this sale and have plans in case, and so don't want to risk anything.

Jander scored 2 league goals last season. Its a bit of a misnomer including him from a goal-scoring standpoint 😆. But i do agree - a loss of quality around the pitch is what will concern me, and especially if we lost Jander in CM (although i think that he'll be the last one we consider selling). THB is very good at attacking set pieces (ironically given i think he's poor at defensive ones - and he isn't the most physical), but i suspect we can get another good CB (for the champ) who can also score a few headers etc. I also don't think people should dismiss Larin, his movement is absolutely superb - with players like scienza, azaz, fellows etc feeding him in this side, he is going to fill his boots this year. We've got him from the start of the season, embedded in the side, and fully fit from the get go - he's going to be far better than last year. There is a case to be made for having to share the goals around the side because we didn't have a reliable CF last season (i.e., stewart and larin had fitness issues).

Tonda praised THB's professionalism, said he loves the club and wanted to play, but wasn't in the right headspace, and that it was the right decision to go with the boys out there today. Or something along those lines.... So basically the opposite of Watkins (or VVD if you prefer a saints reference).

Was on one of the post match interviews post stoke, can't remember if it was Tonda or Blackmore and tessem. Don't get me wrong, I think it's extremely unlikely that he'll turn down that move... But if he genuinely does care a lot about the club... And villa are this much of a mess, then it could happen (with Bowen levels of dedication). You would assume he's long gone.

If the reports on THB are actually true (i.e., cares a lot about the club and in 2 minds over the move), I wonder if this sort of performance will make him stick at saints... I mean, this 11 is relegation level and incredibly disjointed:

This really should be at least 6-0. I don't recall many worse opening games of the season, let alone for a "big team" / Europa League winner...

Harwood bellis' transfer fee is going up by the goal 😆🤣 We should absolutely be adding £5-10M after this.

Its a complete joke that we let him go, one of the worst decisions i've seen from the club towards academy players recently - and I am fully aware we can't keep all of them, but we seem to not try with the potential superstars (Gomes, Miles, JJ, Dibling etc), and then let someone like Ballard (still a very talented and promising young lad that actually wanted to stay and should have had his chance) slip away as well... Who exactly are we intending to keep ffs. And it also sets a poor precendent for the next ones coming through - no need for loyalty lads - first big offer and you'll be off, saints are just here to get you in the window. Personally, it should be utterly unacceptable at saints to disrespect the academy the way SR have done in recent years, signing shit after shit to clog the first team and letting all these nippers go, when in seasons gone by they'd have been bedded into the team. It might be looking temporarily better now under Eckert and Spors... but even now we're losing gems from the younger age groups and still have a bloated squad blocking opportunities for players like Romeo. Needs to be a hard change in stance that every matchday squad includes a certain number of academy players.

Do we know how much we're getting for him at least? Really hope its towards £30M total (i.e., with add ons).

Fucks sake, sometimes is genuinely painful being a saints fan.

Well said MLG.

I would say this summer has gone pretty much as expected given his quotes tbh. That will change if the signings are poor though.

Circa £1M-1.25M (assuming 20-25% of profit)... Which would be paid in installments and subject to any sell on clauses. So we'd pocket nearly all of it at least, although i doubt we'll be free to reinvest more than 75%.

JWP also isn't carrying any baggage related to injuires. He's remained largely very fit and untroubled - so you would think he can go on for a fair while. If ever we were going to bring a player back to end his career at saints, JWP would seem the best option.

Isn't it just fiddling the sale so that they pay less sell on for Marmoush?

As much as a tie up with Valve / Steam could be good for the commercials - i sadly doubt there is anything other than coincidence in it for Saints.

As would Fernandes, KWP, Bednarek, and even AA in January. I actually think freshening up the squad isn't a bad thing in general - sides need that to change things up to move forward (or it gets too stale and comfortable). I wonder if Brentford fans were panicking every day of the transfer window whilst they player trading their way to consistent playoff finishes and building a new stadium in the 2nd tier? 🙄. We have an owner who is publicly committed to the club this summer, and a DoF who has credit in the bank... And at the start of the summer pretty much everyone would have acknowledged at least 2 bigger names being sold and replaced - So far we've only lost Charles and the signs suggest he will be replaced... The window hasn't slammed shut just yet!

Spors isn't Rasmus... But equally, significant harm has already been done.