Saint86

Just watching Wrexham's pens Vs hull.... Let's not play Wrexham in any penalty shoot outs this season 😅

Silly booking by downes.

I don't think this is guaranteed this year. Surely all newer signings (i.e., SR era just have 40-50% relegation wage reduction clauses in their contracts. Last time in the champ this was rumoured to not be the case, plus we were in a pretty dire place with PSR. So, given wages are the bulk of our expenditure, sensible wage clauses should be a significant saving straight off the bat. We've offloaded kwp, sulemana, onuachu, and ramsdale's wages already. Aribo will also go. And we know edozie is nearing the exit. That's a decent transfer fee income as well as a lot of wages being saved. We're also surely in a reasonable spot on the PSR balances - turned a profit in the champ, and last season we had the TV monies for a fairly modest squad wage. We must be reaching a point where PSR isn't a serious concern for the season, and/or where either SR could accommodate a reasonable overspend, or where we are just looking to sell further players to release funds for strengthening?

But who is to say what the terms are off that contract - which is the point i was making above. We've clearly not offered him a contract that he's happy to accept. As Ally says above - we could boost his wage and give him promotion/relegation releases etc. There is always a deal to be done there without trapping him, and similarly, he's only 19 - even a 1-2year extension on an improved wage and with suitable release clauses would work. What is currently evident is that if the club don't reintegrate him then its the club who are in effect pushing him out - i.e., they're the ones making him train seperatley and trying to prevent any risk of an injury to him (not him refusing to play/train). Hard to look at it as anything other than the club protecting a playable asset which they are banking on selling. Which is not really the narrative that's been circulated until now.

Starting to look more and more like the club are also pushing this quite hard at this point.... Everton have loaned Grealish (so he's a lot less likely to be going there), spurs have moved for Savinho, United have already bought 3 very expensive attacking players... and yet the club still won't let him train with the first team, and it does seem a bit odd to have excluded him from being photographed in the new kit if the club have any interest/expectation of him staying. Do we even know that the club have tried to offer him a new (and reasonable contract) at this point? We've had people who know him/his family on here, pretty much all of which have said he's a quiet and good lad, that wouldn't kick off, wouldn't refuse to play, and who loves the club... So it is starting to feel a bit like the club are leaving him in the firing line to take flack from the fans when they're at least as invested in the sale - bit of an Archie Gray situation developing maybe?

At a certain point it really does start to look like saints have simply decided that dibling is the one that will be sold...

Just goes to show how big the gap is from the prem. I agree with you, and yet you would expect all 3 sides to be there or there abouts at the end of the season with minimal trouble.

Have they paid us for Shea's loan yet? Any money we give to wednesday is ultimately money chansiri pockets when he sells (at a loss regardless), same guy that publically went after saints and declared war on us. I've got nothing but sympathy for Wednesday fans - but they are going down, will be sold (they are too big a club to fail), and will likely wind up in administration at some point along the way - my sympathy doesn't stretch so far as to helping their sleezeball owner hang on any longer or getting any more money than needs be. We also aren't a charity, and don't need to be doing any more mara deals.

Agent Charles reporting for duty more like 🤣 🥷

Agreed. A lot to like there. £8M seems a lot given the state Wednesday are in, should be able to get it done cheaper than that - or at least you'd like to think so.

He is absolute class. Always amusing the number of fans that doubted him going into the season. Reckon he's got a very strong chance of being our player of the season. Him and Downes in midfield is already a premier league pairing (and he'll get better still), a complete cheat code for this level. Just watched the highlights on ITV4. Charles' pass for Manning for the 2nd goal is just pure quality.

I think for his first game in English football, that wasn't a bad debut. That was proper old school rough house / long ball physical football. I wouldn't begrudge any young foreign player coming up against it in their first game and putting in that kind of performance. Edwards had an absolute mare vs Moore - and he's already had a couple of years experience at Champ and League 1 level. Saying that, i suspect that was a bit of an awakening for Will Still as well - he should clearly have taken Edwards off of Moore marking duties given how much he was struggling and being bossed around.

Think this is one of those where the people saying offside don't know the rule.

Is this quite a cathartic result? Stephens gets the winner. Great save by bazunu at 1-0. And they come back from a goal down late on to win.

Superb by manning, and all credit to Stephens for following that up at the back post.

Manning has dug us out of a whole here. What a free kick.

What a save bazunu. Down to his left, won't fit the narrative on here at all 😂🤣

Really poor from the home fans again, does have to be said. When the new CB is trying to rile up the home fans first game of the season, you know it's bad.

We should be winning frankly. But has the feeling of one of those games where its not going to happen. Edwards having a tough experience Vs Moore, he simply can't handle him. Why oh why we haven't put quarshie against their big man I don't know?!?! Stephens apparently offering no leadership at the back - he's been about enough to know how to handle this level of football FFS. Wellington, jayrob, Downes, Charles, Fraser have all played well. Baz done well so far for me, unlucky with the pen as well. Suga and Armstrong alright. Let down by our inability to defend Vs Moore.

Pretty solid lineup imho 🤛

I do fear that we'll have a bid accepted... And then the European and prem teams will come calling. He would be an absurd player for the champ.

Now this would be acceptable. Dare I say an upgrade...

Brum's last game of the season is skates away... So we all know that's a 3 point banker if they need it to be.

Neither is better than what we have - which wasn't good enough to stay in the prem (or frankly even compete). Ergo, we're selling better players to buy worse ones, just to in all likelihood need to replace them next summer (if we get promoted).

Thought the same - the only other possibility i can see is that the club have decided that they want this specific sale for PSR reasons / to raise funds - i.e. its pure profit, and it may be key to keeping Fernandes etc., If that is the case then the club is showing what is a weak and very risky hand to a degree (by excluding him), because presumably other clubs know how close the deal is and would see if we're behaving unusually with him. I.e., Everton will know exactly how far away a deal is, and they will see that we're not involving him in the first team and that we're keeping him ready for a sale - which is a very weak negotiating tactic if it is the case. There could also be a case of forcing/encouraging a sale from the club's side - tying in with what Barcelona Saint said above about him loving the club.