Saint86

I was thinking the same thing yesterday evening funnily enough.... so i guess we either beat Ipswich and the dream is real... Or the fact that all their fans think they'll lose and we think we'll win and get promoted means "same old same old" will set in... and we'll lose (As you say) 😄

Ipswich fans all predicting they'll lose....

He was more of an inside forward? i.e., Playing on the right channel and running towards goal to attack the box/goal directly? as opposed to hugging the touchline and being focussed on taking on the opposition LB and getting in behind / to the byline for crosses back across goal etc. Don't get me wrong, i think he can do that job again and be useful, but i suspect if we play him like that under Still we'll do it with 5 at the back and the two wing backs providing width (more like a 5-2-2-1) than we will a 4-2-3-1 (which was what Saintant was discussing) with Armstrong as an out and out winger - we just don't have the wingers atm, and we aren't really being linked to them (with the exception of that brief rumour about Fellows). Personally, i would much prefer us to be playing as a 4-2-3-1 with out and out wingers. Our strongest area of the team is central midfield (downes, charles, fernandes). And it would allow us to field a solid enough back 4 with lots of depth. Based on transfer strategy though, we seem to be ditching wide attackers, stockpiling CBs and stockpiling central attacking players / inside forwards - that suggests to me that the main tactic is likely to be 5 at the back - or that we'll see it a lot this season anyway.

We only have 2 wingers in the squad pretty much (JayRob and Fraser), BBD and Amrstrong are not proper wingers, Edozie and Sulemana are being pushed out / sold, and Dibling is as well by the looks of things. We've not been linked with any out and out wingers (even Spertsyan and Rudoni are predominantly central players). Obviously things could change, but we don't look to be prioritising wingers. We look like we're targeting attacking versatility with the names linked (i.e. players that can play wing but prefer CAM), but i don't know if i'd expect to see us routinely lining up with proper wide men as it stands - which is odd to me as i was expecting Still to play with wingers when he joined.

Then they'll just fiddle a swap deal down the line or something and we'll get stitched up...

Incorrect.

😂 Also, surely the mighty blue few weren't leaving when their team was only a goal behind 🫣

Think there is genuinely something in this. Bazunu and Stephen's are currently off the menu... Our fanbase needs someone to have a go at - so up steps downs 😫

His movement, hold down play, and passing / lay offs are the bits that impressed me before we signed him. He's best with attacking players around him for support.

As requested 😅. A good old embarrassing cup upset is a delightful way tor revisit this thread after last season 😆

Just use my eyes rather than adopting the logic of some of our more toxic fans of blaming young players.

The Wrexham chance he was fouled 🫠

Just watched a highlight clip of the Wrexham winner. Downs is clearly/blatantly pushed over with an arm in his back for manning's cross. Doesn't get picked up on / complained about because we score anyway, but don't be too hard on the lad. Also, by Phill "cry me a river" Parkinson's logic, that is a penalty and a straight red for the Wrexham player? Right?!

Portsmouth lolololol 😂

Watched the pens on Sky, fair play to Bromley. Morale must be suffering at Ipswich coming off of last season. If we can somehow get a win out of them it may start a mini crisis at the start of the season.

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.