Saint86

Pretty much agree hypo, but also harsh to exclude downes imho! Said it on a couple of threads now, but our spine basically is: Peretz, THB, Downes, Jander, Azaz, and Larin. Manning is a very good player in this team on the proviso that that core is playing - I say this because he is a great attacking outlet but can be a bit of a liability at times defensively. JWP has been dismissed by some (as he isn't the physical monster that they would like), but what he does offer us is call control and know-how in the middle, and a good engine, as well as cover for azaz. He is a very solid addition and means we should pretty much always have 3 of JWP, azaz, Jander, or downes playing in every game. That is an incredibly good central midfield 3 in my view (beat in the division whichever 3 are playing?) And even with injuries or late game subs, we should always see 2 of them. Worth also noting that JWP also brings fitness and stamina - he will consistently be available to play, which in a 46game congested championship season is worth an extra squad player imho. You then also have scienza who is pretty much allowed to just play - and again, provided that core spine is there, we are solid and he has the freedom to stretch the opposition, cause problems, and free up space for the likes of azaz and Larin. Around that we have the likes of Bree (very solid), Dobbin and fellows (both good champ players), and Mubama (who is a less physical version of larin). It's a very good side for the champ imho - one that at full strength, should be scaring every other side and leaving them needing to change to adapt to us. Props to Eckert and spors for creating it.

Thanking you kindly GS!

Down in Cornwall so haven't been able to follow this very well....but bloody superb result and cannot wait to watch the highlights!

Personally, I would say that's 3 of the best central midfielders in the division - and we will only play 2 of them at any time. Plus we have azaz in front of them (potentially rotating with JWP).

You'll be able to add scienza soon, maybe by the end of the season the rate his is thinning 😆

Probably a degree of, "if I'm playing in the championship, then I'm doing it at saints" to the whole thing. Clearly been rumbling for a while given the early noises made by Blackmore at the start of the summer.

Would assume this is what Eckert was referring to re giving Romeo more game time or going on loan.

Yes, its the sub £1M that saints have given them this window that's going to make the difference. Not the other £200M 😄

Is Franny getting upset because 8year old JWP didn't go out and work really hard on his paper round, spend that money on a season ticket for saints, and say, "no no, I'm off to Southampton by myself" when his Pompey supporting season ticket holding family took him to krap nottarf? To each his own I guess. Although I do then feel it's a tad harsh to call him a c*** for choosing not to embrace child labour and travelling alone on public transport to saints every weekend, or to imply he doesn't care about the club after giving 20years+ of his life to it 😅

We need to cover the £15M loss in parachute payments from last season (regardless of servicing any other debt / losses). Charles for circa £22M into the club (rest to city) and £6M for fernandes will offset the Dobbin £11M, Peretz and Larin fees (circa £8M). Debates can be had on where the AA monies sit within this. But ultimately, some of that THB money will likely be squirreled away to cover our drop in parachute payments and servicing the existing debt. I'd be pleasantly pleased if we reinvest 2/3 of it. Fail to get promoted next season and we drop another circa £40M in revenue.

Agreed, almost feels like we're going to have fans wanting him to fail just at this point. Bit mad.

Well, he's score a corner in his time away with west ham, so as far as i'm aware he now holds the premier league set piece record - he just didn't get credited with it because it wasn't a free kick 😄

I don't disagree (although that is largely down to him being stuck with Nuno at forest and Wham. I was just providing some context to the initial point / comparison being made about JWP being utilised effectively in a more advanced role - I.e., if he is used as rotation for azaz. And In truth he does offer us a lot of flexibility over where he plays - right mid, right back, cm, CDM playmaker, and cover for azaz 🤷

(At least in the league) 😅

7 goals + 7 assists (aka goal involvements for ducky) in 37 prem games. 4assists in 10 Europa league games (0.38goal involvements per game). Azaz managed 11G 8A in 43 games last season - playing in a more advanced role in a better side in a worse league (0.44 goal involvements per game). Obviously after that JWP had the misfortune to be stalked by Nuno and ultimatley exiled to an awful relegation destined Burnley. He's a very good player to have as an option in the championship. Probably wants to enjoy the final years of his career and I can't think of many better places for that to happen than at saints - especially if it's a promotion season.

Yeah, exactly. He got 5 goal involvements in his opening 4 premier league games at west ham. And 11 goal involvements in his opening 21 games... He was generally playing as an AM or more attacking CM during that time. Regardless, hes a good passer of the ball and would do well with the increased space of the championship and the movement of our attacking players.

Wouldn't be surprised if JWP was used throughout the midfield - both in the bragg/Charles Role, but also as rotation for azaz.

We were missing 6 of our 7 best players... That is hardly the "A-team" (THB, Jander, Azaz, Larin, Manning, Downes) - People should be pissed off because we rotated so much and because the squad is not good enough currently. We also had Akachugwu making his first senior start, and Wellington's first minutes of the season. We'd have struggled to go with a significantly weaker starting 11 given the available players (who we aren't trying to ship out).

Equally, there was essentially no chance of premier league football before he came in 🙃

Its exactly like at times last season under Tonda where (at times) he does unfortunately show us how green he is as a manager tbh. I mentioned on the transfer window, but we field a side with none of its spine and then expected it to play well. No larin, no azaz, no jander, no downes, no THB... That is walking into a cock up with his eyes wide open (like at times last season before the run started). Its very frustrating and disappointing as ultimately the west ham side was there for the taking if we had gone just a little bit stronger. I'm willing to forgive it this time, but needs to learn from it and not do it again. Should have started2 of Downes, larin, and azaz and taken them off at 55min etc. and made sure we had enough core players on to drive the team an maintain control and standards. He does also need help with the squad - The jander injury and Charles sale has left us horribly exposed. Ditto THB being unavailable. Thats 2 of our best 4/5 players and 3 very good players for the champ, whilst at the same time we've been nursing Larin and Azaz's fitness coming back after the summer.

Good post. I think (with a good season) I can see about 70 goals with the current players being feasible. Last season, Peretz was averaging circa 1 goal against per game... So really that should be enough. However this year the defence has been atrocious (Jander being missed a lot imho). I will be very surprised if we do all the business the clubs wants to do tbh. There are just too many players they want out the door. Suspect we'll get 1 maybe 2 in, which will likely be a CB and CM. On Dobbin Vs Stewart, and the 4M Vs 9M. I think that's slightly unfair as in reality we can expect to break even or make a profit on Dobbin. So realistically it's £4M on Stewart Vs likely comparable wages on Dobbin - and only one of those 2 players wanted to be here and wasn't a walking sick note. A better point is how exactly the club think dobbin is a back up for azaz (he is a different player being asked to do Azaz's role - which he then can't do as well as azaz), and did we have £9M to prioritise on that this summer - looks unlikely.

Maybe not papering over the cracks... But talk about spine... Tonight we had no larin, no azaz, no downes, no Jander, and no THB... That is our spine. Also no manning.

Wellington was the root cause of that error in fairness. Just dreadful for it.

He put it on a plate for Mubama to tap in 😅

Huge complacency and no intensity.