UpweySaint

Give me strength. We’ve lost one game. One. The season has barely started and the transfer window isn’t over yet. Are Ipswich doomed too? Honestly so much OTT nonsense this weekend. Enjoy the bank holiday, relax - we’ll go again next weekend.

Fair enough. This feels like hyperbole to me. I think it’s far too soon to be writing off Spors, Quarshie or Downs. If you believe the press we are in for Azzaz and/or Rudoni who are top level championship players with proven pedigree. Spertysan has been linked with big clubs and seems to have a lot about him. The squad needs surgery and I don’t know how realistic it is to expect everything to be sorted after one window for Spors/Still.

One week to save his job? Do you seriously stand by that? He’s made two signings and they’ve barely got settled. Surely the sensible time to review is at the end of the season?

I could be way off but with the players on the pitch I’m thinking its a 5 at the back out of possession and 4 in with Fraser going up to right wing allowing Robinson to get up along Armstrong. I agree with others worries about Armstrong as the out ball but I guess it depends how the game plays out.

He might well be. You could well be right - the Brentford fans seemed to like him.

Seems like a sensible bit of business. Not the most exciting signing we’ll ever make but it feels like a small upgrade in a problem position for us. Very much under the radar too. Welcome aboard Mads.

You’re right! Let’s sell Dibling to Everton for whatever they throw our way so we can crack on and sign players. That or sack the board, bin off still and get big Dunc in as manager.

I don’t see it as either or. There is nothing that stops us working on plan B and C while keeping the offer in the table. We have a few weeks yet so still have time before we need to push for a final decision. Ideally we would have all our business done before the season starts but that’s tough to do for plenty of reasons. If Spertysan gets over the line at the end of the window I will be genuinely excited to see what he can offer.

Fair enough, no disagreement with your point. It sounds like we had genuine interest in Rudoni who probably fits the TBH and Downes model of proven at the top end of the championship you are referring to. I wonder if we’ll go back for him if we have any big money in for Dibling and/Fernandes. The jury is very much out on the window so far but I do like that the signings we have made at least make sense on the surface. We needed pace and height in the back line - we’ve got it albeit in a very raw player. We needed the same up top and Downs fits the brief and has some reasonable pedigree - easy to say it but I think if he can get an early goal for confidence we’ll see a lot more from him. If not it could take a while for him to bed in and Stewart may get the nod (if fit!!)

Damned if they do, damned if they don’t sometimes. Without throwing in stupid names the likes of Gakpo, O’Reilly and Ramos are probably the top end of the type of players we could have attracted at the time. While we need to be realistic about who we can get over the line and contingency plan I think the bigger mistake would be to not target them at all. Spertysan may end up not coming off but based on his pedigree and the clubs who have been previously linked he would seem like a massive coup for us. If nobody better swoops in we may get a player who could add sorely needed creativity and make the step up if/when we go back up - something may of us are calling for with our signings.

Fair play, good for them. I can’t remember how long ago it was but I remember an Oxford fan popping up in the forum asking for fans to support their proposal.

Have a word with yourself. It’s not for you to dictate who can post where. This is also, like it or not, a transfer for a Southampton player on the thread specifically for that. I think you should take a moment and consider if you owe Christophe an apology. He posts on here in good faith and doesn’t deserve the hostility you have shown which feels wholly uncalled for.

He took being crucified by the fans too literally apparently.

It looks like Lennon Miller, a player we’ve been linked with a few times, is making a move to Italy according to the BBC article. I think he could have been a good addition for us but putting us aside it’s good to see him joining the niche Scottish contingent in Italy. It will be interesting to see how he gets on out there. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cvgppn28zxzo

Good point. Hard to know how much is him and how much is Amorim but it’s certainly enough to be a possible red flag for other clubs considering signing him. Napoli were linked heavily - Conte comes across as one of those my way or the high way types.

Quite possible but Utd are literally bombing him out whereas we seem content to keep Dibling for another season if we don’t get a deal we are comfortable with. I would also guess Dibling’s contract demands might be lower than Garnacho so teams may be more willing to put more into an upfront transfer fee.

We want the best possible price for our assets and want value for our expenditures. I dont see an issue with that. It’s up to other clubs to bid as they see fit and accept/decline offers as they see fit.

I get what you’re saying but a prediction is not solely based on the squad ‘as is’ but on assumptions about what business were likely to do. Assuming Edozie, Dibling, Aribo and Fernandes all go we need at least one (preferably two) wingers, an AM and a centre mid - I would hope we have a reasonable budget to get quality additions. I think momentum could be an issue for us whatever happens so I think we may struggle to set a good pace which will hinder us. We could end up in second but my gut feeling is we’ll be close but may fall just short and end up with another play off place. Genuine interest, where do you see us finishing? Welcome to make a ‘as is’ prediction and one for ‘if we do decent transfer business’ if you like.

To be fair you could say the same about almost any club in the league. I do take the point but I guess a lot of people making predictions are either assuming we’ll recruit or think the squad we have comparative to league rivals is strong even if we end up losing Dibling and Fernandes. Still seems to be well thought of by others too which doesn’t hurt. It could also be the easy answer - three down most likely to go back up but Leicester may get a points deduction so it’s Ipswich and us. Fwiw I think we’re short quality on a couple of key positions but I’m hopeful the club will get deals across the line by the end of the window. It’s guesswork but I think we’re likely to end up with a squad that should be challenging for automatic promotion.

Weren’t we rumoured to have bid for Fellows before? I can’t recall how far back that was. I can’t see WBA selling cheap but he could be a really smart signing - his assist record last season was really impressive!

I’m very much in the wait and see camp but I can understand why others aren’t. I expect you are right to an extent that it is cultural however this is exacerbated by SR lacking credit with many. There is the old thing about trust being hard earned and easily lost - at the moment I think much of the fan base have little trust or faith which is sort of fair enough. Call it scar tissue or whatever but SR have got a lot wrong and last season was an embarrassment so I get some of it - the occasional “everyone and everything is shit” poster winds me up though! For me, I give Solak some benefit of the doubt. Getting Spors in early and rebuilding the scouting team is a huge plus in his favour. Making changes at board level another tick. Mostly getting good fees on sales gets more credit - holding out for a good fee for Dibling for example. The two signings so far seem to make sense and feel like good business. Getting our business done early is generally best but unfortunately not many clubs have that luxury. Quality over quantity would be ideal. Even with a few more out I don’t think we need too many in but some genuine quality in the creative midfield positions feels a must.

I knew I was forgetting some! El Kanous and Ndidi have both been linked with moves. Curious if either or both are still with them at the end of the window. Isn’t Ndidi meant to have a reasonably low release clause? Presume El Kanous will have a relegation clause too … Faes I struggle with. I can’t decide if he seems worse than he is because he stands out so much on the pitch- if he drops a b*lock it’s hard for him to go under the radar. Much like David Luiz. The only way I see us keeping Dibling is if nobody thinks the gamble on his potential matches the fee we insist on.

To be fair I’m not sure who Leicester have who really stood out last season? Fatuwu was brilliant before his injury and their keeper looks good, who else would be wanted by bigger clubs? It’s odd because they probably have a better squad than us but I can’t see too many who bigger clubs would see much value in.

my initial reaction was this was ridiculous but if Chelsea are looking to move him on and there isn’t interest from bigger and better maybe a loan with a fee and option if we go up? He potentially gets week in week out football and either gets us back up or puts himself in the window for a bigger club.

His value would likely be less were it not for his age but isn’t that sort of the point? Yamal aside how many players are the finished article at sucha. Young age?! Dibling had some moments that were fantastic to watch at the start of the season. I disagree it’s easy to look like a world beater when your teammates are crap - it’s harder. Us being crap doesn’t change him unsettling top class international defenders despite playing in a poor team bereft of confidence. I really don’t get why some posters seem to want to run the kid down. Is it to make it easier if/when he goes? I bloody loved watching him early last season and I’m excited to see if he can fulfil his undoubted potential- hopefully with us for at least a while longer. He was inconsistent for sure but what else could have been expected given the context?