Saint86

I wouldn't think their is a cat in hells chance KWP will make such a risky move this window. If he's leaving saints, it will not be to a club with a very high chance of getting relegated imo.

This is like watching a pressing side vs a Russell martin side... except where we aren't the Russell martin side (praise the lord)

Sounds like baz is back for the u21s vs Fulham then...

By seemingly negatively responding to SFCs message, can we take it that you're implying you think we've made meaningful transfer business with a 3rd of the window gone? If so, and given these are both squad players, can we also take it that you are implying you're happy with the strength of our first 11? If that isn't the case, then can I assume that you share SFCs sentiments that our business has been rather lacklustre (putting it kindly).

Not much correlation there. Leicester and wolves are on £40-45M, not allowing for inflation. Everton £45. Good chance 2 of those 3 also come down. Conversely Brentford have spent well. Its as simple as our recruitment has been utterly dreadful / we've executed our transfer strategy appallingly. Its one thing to do this whole "moneyball" style approach, but to do it whilst gutting the scouting department (Let alone then not going on to replace/improve it adequately) is just suicidal. Savings / profits on transfer fees should certainly have been offset to a degree with pumping money into the recruitment and scouting resources. And okay, none of us know really what goes on behind the scenes at those levels, but to me it has Rasmus' fingerprints all over it - he tries to take at least some of the credit for Brentford's rise, we know he has had a strong hand in recruitment at times over the past 2.5seasons, he oversaw the staff and structural changes at the club and turned us into multi club business rather than a club focussed one, and he's hired our DoF's / recruitment heads / whatever the fuck we've got now with 3 staff sharing the DoF role (allegedly). Someone else was saying on here, this is the first time saints have been relatively flush with money in a long long time (rather than relying hugely on player trading and the academy sales to simply exist/compete at the top level) - and we've absolutely wasted it 😰

I reckon we can look forward to getting nearly all of those. Agree the last one could prove a challenge. Absolute joke this year.

I think a lot of this has been said to death recently pretty much - obvious to almost the entire fanbase but not the people running the club? (possibly because it means losing their jobs?). The only think i would say about dismantling the squad this January ready for next year, is that i really do think we need to avoid setting a new record low points tally. Officially being the worst prem side of all time is going to be a fairly big monkey to shift over the summer ready for August.

Lavia was a great signing agreed - but the leg work for that deal was done months in advance (by Ralph and Semmens) and this was discussed at the time of his signing. That transfer was similar to Tino (again ralph and Semmens) and was a great bit of business. I sure as hell am not going SR credit for being the ones that signed it off though - with their track record i am more surprised they didn't 🤣. Brooks was decent enough. Not brilliant by any means though - if we'd signed him in the prem i doubt we'd have signed Fernandes for example - Suspect it would've been a similar sized fee and i know which one i'd rather have). Ramsdale is a huge upgrade on our other keepers i agree. But there were loan keepers available, we spent £25M on ramsdale when the squad was already very weak, and if we get relegated is he really likely to stay? Starting keeper for Arsenal 2 seasons ago getting loads of plaudits - is he going to drop down to the champ? If he isn't, and given the high chance of us getting relegated when we signed him, surely a loan keeper with an extra £20M spent on CDM or striker was a better use of club funds? Thats my point on it at least. (I like ramsdale, very good shot stopper, but just feel owning him was a luxury we couldn't afford with our cloth this season - if he actually stays i'll take that back, just don't think he will).

We're predominantly in this position because the squad is far too poor for the league. We've arguably looked even worse under Juric which says a lot frankly, and actually Rust did a better job in the interim than either of them. Ultimately, there is a whole load of blame to go around between everyone involved. The recruitment, the players, Martin for being far too stubborn, Sports Republic generally for horrendous mismanagement across multiple layers of the club. The one thing you can say however, is that Martin did get us promoted, which financially was an absolute must - because if you think the squad and recruitment is bad this season, it would have been even worse with another season in the champ, reduced parachute payments, and the need to make yet further sales (and replace with more bloat). What we need, is to prepare ourselves for the championship asap - as others have said, that means sorting out a serious DoF, and sorting out the recruitment and scouting. Its not going to be enough to just bounce back up, we need to build a team and playing style capable of staying up in the prem. Martin fell short on that last part and then refused to compromise and adapt for the players he had available (ultimately putting his managerial identify over what was best for the club). However, there is no point in continuing with the total mess that exists behind the scenes. SR need to get their house in order, change tact, focus on the right people with experience and ability being put in place, nailing a recruitment strategy that focuses on quality over quantity and actually trusting the academy for depth as a minimum (i.e., why was Dibling not used last season when he can skin the best defenders in the prem after a summer off?!?!?). They have wasted criminal amounts of money on fluff squad players that are not good enough - where as 2-3 quality signings would have made a world of difference - or reversing that / and in either case, finding cheaper cost effective talent (SR's whole strategy seemingly) demands quality scouting. We seemingly are unable to sign either high value or budget players at a competitive prices reliably. They've spent hundreds of millions, and the only good signings (imo) they've made have been Downes (on loan - manager's mate), THB (loan - purely a wilcox signing), and Fernandes. Edozie might still come good. Ramsdale i said at the time was £25M for a player which we could have found a good loan option instead, and then spent that money on CDM or striker.... There is enough SR fluff in the squad to fund a mid table team if we had Brighton/Brentford's recruitment. Huge levels of waste!

I've said it many times since SR have been here.... Maybe the quickest way out of this shit is via league 1. They simply are not fit to be owners of a football club, and honestly, the stories I've heard from behind the scenes imply they've completely ripped the academy, coaching, and scouting departments to shreds during their brief time with us - to me, that puts us basically back at league 1 minus 10 points re club structure... We're talking a complete rebuild undertaken by people who actually know what they're doing, and have a plan in place to get the club running like a competitive and well oiled machine again. Do I think SR are capable of that? Not a chance in hell. So what's going to happen? I see a few possible scenarios... 1.) we bounce around like a yoyo club for a few years - too good to stay down, too poor to stay up - before their dismal running of the club and horrific recruitment and academy setup means we miss promotion and become a permanent championship club with a total mess of a backroom setup and no real momentum or prospects, essentially just bleeding fans and falling further and further behind other clubs. And let's be honest here, the only clubs that will stay up are those that have things right on and off the pitch. 2.) things are as bad as they sound, we go down, we don't come back up, and we swiftly fall to league 1 over a couple of depressing years. In either case, I feel we are trapped though, because ultimately - What will it take for SR to sell up? As long as the "group" is making money, there isn't going to be a need for them to sell saints. Which would mean the damage they're continuing to do will become truly long lasting for the club - and end to the academy supply chain and legacy, poor recruitment, worsening facilities and stadium, and fan apathy/loss. Ita a grim future I see ahead in eithecase, one without much hope of us ever getting back to the poch / koeman levels.

Ditto my 6 year old.

But rasmus was the mastermind behind Brentford's rise... 😭

I'd hate to accuse you of bias in defence of sports republic, but I do feel it necessary to point out that mara has been ommitted from this list 😂🤣. That's another circa £12M spunked down the drain. Edozie as well is another attacking player they signed.

Half that actually.

The sports republic way.

We are the centerpiece of multi club model. SR won't be leaving saints until they're totally out of business or have sold up the other clubs already.

Cafeful, you'll set the usual suspects off again - there is absolutely no way his ability at this level could have been predicted before hand 😂😂

Started drinking early did we?

Could be fitness, or could just be that Palace were too physical and fast for him/us and he was isolated. The switch to more clever attacking players was the right one, but happened too late and we lack the quality required.

This game sadly is a mismatch. We're being the big fat Sam treatment in front of a hostile crowd and moaning players, All paired with an atrociously weak ref.

Mateta is a big issue. He is too much for bednarek playing the way we are. Big les on in midfield with Downes would be a change I would like to see. We're getting cut apart on the break and everytime we clear to midfield palace are just picking it up and running back at us.

Assist goals?

That is absolutely disgusting. He has his hand out straight pushing ramsdale over ffs.

Yeah I agree. For me, the people knocking him are being ridiculously harsh. He was an absolute nuisance the whole game - winning flick ons, battling for the ball, bringing others into play, and holding up long balls to get us up the pitch. West ham are one of the most physically strong sides in the league (particularly defensively), and they really struggled with him. People also forget he has barely played all season, is it seriously realistic for him to come in and starting pinging the ball in the back of the net as if he's a striker in a good vein of form? A lot to like from TP. Would hope we keep him and play him regularly now. There were a few instances yesterday where a bit more fluidity in the style of play would have seen runners in behind or flick ons coming off for us.

I know we didn't get the win (or a draw), and I know that that is bitterly dissapointing and not good enough for what we need - but let me put that all to one side. That was simply a much better performance. We were comfortably the better team overall, more shots on target, more clear cut chances, higher possession... We've conceded a fecking crazy gang goal after about 6-7 headers and a sloppy corner from Suga. West ham have had 2 shots on target all game. There are a lot of positives to take from that game and how effective we were. But it was a bit like a preaseason friendly re the players learning the tactics and rust to shake off (onuachu). Onwards and upwards I say.