UpweySaint

I don’t agree. It’s a gamble. If things came together and they stayed up Delap’s goals would have likely been vital. Had they stayed up I presume the release clause wouldn’t have kicked in or been set higher. They’re probably down overall in financial terms but we’re not talking mega bucks comparative to the potential upside of the deal. I would have taken the deal in a heartbeat - we ended up with BBD and Archer instead - both likely to be out of the club and possibly at a loss.

Maybe though the counter is they got a top quality striker for a year without losing out. If they stayed up he would have been a massive part of it and I think the clause only kicked in because they went down. I would have loved him here and I think we would have looked miles better with him up top.

Christ if we only signed players I had heard of it would really narrow our scouting range! I agree that data can be used poorly and quantifiable data used in isolation is flawed but surely ‘good scouting’ includes the use of data?

What makes you think this is a data driven signing? I personally don’t get the anti data view but either way surely this signing is a bit more old school as the player has come from the same club as our new chief scout? I would assume he has watched this lads development in person.

Hard pass. Some things are more important than money. Ultimately we have no say and little impact on the club ownership but I would rather not see us used as a vehicle for sports washing.

I think there is a fair argument that he may not be at the standard we need but I thinking making out he shouldn’t be playing professionally as a goalkeeper is hyperbole. He’s represented Ireland (and had some good games), he was player of the season for Pompey in League 1 - he had a few decent games for and is still very young in goalkeeper terms. Ramsdale is infinitely better but with confidence and a solid defence I don’t personally think he’s as terrible as being suggested. I would prefer the Stoke keeper who had a blinder against us for Rotherham (his name escapes me but he was a Scandi chap) but if we start the season with Bazunu in goal I don’t think it’s a crisis.

I think it’s certainly possible he stays next season. The £100mil is clearly posture but I expect our valuation of Tyler is a fair wedge. He’s not the finished article by any means so it would be a brave team to commit the type of fee we would be comfortable selling with on what is mostly potential at this stage. I don’t know what our figure is - and there are always all sorts of add-ons and contingencies- but I would be surprised if we settled for much less than a fee rising to upper 30s to 40s. Throw in PSR wrangles and the domestic for Tyler isn’t massive. With Champions League qualification I could possibly see Spurs putting a very structured deal together but otherwise I am struggling to see who else would be willing to part with enough of their budget to force our hand. I don’t know enough about the financial situation of the Bundesliga but several clubs have been linked - I guess that is a possibility but again I think at the price we (hopefully) hold out for Tyler is a big gamble. Quite possibly one worth taking but a gamble nonetheless… A good season as a regular starter in the championship and a new deal with a big wage jump and a reasonable release clause might suit all parties.

I bloody would! 😅 He would be a hard sell to the fans and need one hell of a start to build credit.

I don’t think that was the point. Martin got us promoted at first time of asking - opinions vary on how much credit he should take for that. Swansea, irrespective of what we did, got worse after he left which suggests he was doing a reasonable job with them. There are lots of factors that could impact things beyond the manager but it’s fair to conclude a manager leaving and a club getting worse suggests they were having a positive impact. I don’t think the OP was making a direct comparison between us and Swansea - as you allude to it’s a bit apples and oranges. I do find some of the strength of feelings towards Martin bizarre. I fall in the pro Martin camp but felt that letting him go was the right decision in the circumstances. Fwiw I think the club structure around him and the recruitment didn’t help - a little more quality and a proper DOF to offer more challenge might have helped - we had some okay performance early season but kept being undone by repeating silly mistakes which was the major frustration. He had a couple of grumbles at the fans in press conferences but didn’t do anything horrendous. He was stubborn and naive but it feels that his personality has rubbed some up the wrong way more than anything else. It will be interesting to see how he does at Leicester - assuming he gets the job.

Probably a question for another space but does anyone know where Birmingham stand with having headroom to spend? Wrexham have massive revenues from rapid commercial growth but Birmingham don’t and spent big last season. It will be interesting to see how both do but the step up from league one to championship is a steep one and Birmingham were dross when they went down…

The proof will be in the pudding and all that if the new hires are any good but it is good to see Spors cracking on and making a lot of change behind the scenes - our recruitment has been our Achilles heal for years so hopefully change is a positive.

Well that’s a short statement. No frills. I wonder if he pissed off the chairman? He’s not pulled up any trees but kept them up. I don’t fancy him back here at this stage but I wonder if the job he’s done at Reading is enough evidence of a coach with potential.

Sam is a shout, I hadn’t really thought about him but he was decent at Championship level . I don’t see Fraser as an option - did we give him a one year deal or two? I am assuming AA, Sulemana and Tyler will be off but could be wrong. I would be surprised if Robinson was ready to be a starter. I quite like Sargeant - he is a good presser as well as other attributes which may suit us if we go back to that sort of style (seems likely based on what Spors has said). It’s hard to know what the make up of our squad will be after departures but I think both Sergeant and Sainz could do a job for us. If we bring in money and shift a lot out I wouldn’t be disappointed to see us signing either/both for the right price.

There doesn’t seem to be much of substance in the press linking us to either but the Norwich DOF has done a fairly standard “we sell at good prices” comment on Sainz and Sergeant who I know a few on here have mentioned as potential targets. Sainz had the spitting incident which is a bit of a black mark but he has impressed at Norwich and has really good numbers. I’ve not seen loads of him but I’ve been impressed by what I have seen and I like the idea of us buying players who we know can excel in the championship with scope to kick on if we are promoted back up. No idea what Norwich would consider a ‘good’ price but may be one worth keeping an eye on.

To be fair Still has a pretty good record of progressing clubs to go along with the hype.

God it’s depressing that near on every year fans with a laptop and a spare half hour are able to mock up kits that look much more appealing than what we end up with. I’m sure there is a reason to do with big suppliers, standard templates, prominence of logo etc but we don’t half get served some dross. That being said good on the pitch memories always elevate the affection towards kits. Give me the Mr Blobby inspired kit if the trade off is romping to the championship title playing like peak Brazil!

Fair. It’s all a bit chicken and egg. A good manager/coach should be able to improve individuals and make them better than the sum of their parts through tactical instruction. However, starting from an unbalanced squad that lacks quality would handicap even the best manager. While a squad full of individual quality and leadership negates the necessity for a better manager. It sounds like the new manager and recruitment will ultimately come under Spors remit so he has a lot on his plate and is arguably now the most important member of staff at the club.

In fairness this thread is literally about who we want as a new manager. I think we can all agree the squad is in a poor state and needs work ahead of next season - I expect there is some variance on how much change is needed but I anticipate it would be hard going to find a Saints fan who is content with the squad.

I would be happy with Rohl who has done a good job at Wednesday and is well thought of in the game. Wednesdays fans suggest he has them really well organised (true from the little I have seen of them this year) and punching above their weight. The past links to the club are a bonus as is a working relationship with Spors. Pissing off that prat Chansiri would be a nice fringe benefit! Cooper has a good record and his work with England youth sides hopefully suggests an ability to nurture young talent. We have several England youth internationals which would suggest a promising crop of young talent. I’m a sucker for it but love seeing us bring our academy lads in to the fold. He has a very impressive promotion on his CV with Forest and is a tactical pragmatist. Probably something of a unity candidate. Lampard I don’t mind. The Guardian football weekly podcast speculated he does his best when surrounded by good coaches and I have no issue with that. Koeman was a bit more hands off on the training pitches yet we were good under him - notwithstanding the quality we had at the time. Though I think he would do well to see things through at Coventry - if he can get them up in a year or two he will have rebuilt a reputation that was tarnished by Everton. Rosenior I rate. Hull were mad to sack him. Hull took us apart a bit when we played we played them and he is doing a great job with Strasbourg. Given some of Spors’ comments I expect we will have a young side again which Rosenior has shown he can do well with. I think his possession based style may not fit with Spors vision though. Personally I’m less bothered about which style we play as long as we have results. I know Martin was divisive but some of our football last season was good to watch. I loved us under Poch though so if this is what Spors has in mind I am all on board. I don’t want to see Robins, O’Neill or Gerrard who also seem to be reasonably high up with some of the bookies. Robins did well with Coventry but I think he is limited. The Wolves squad meltdown under O’Neill worried me - the pompey links are also not helpful. Gerrard - he’s shit. If the Rusk/Lallana dream team pull off miracles I’m not opposed to them being given the gig but would prefer we go for established managers unless they inspire a turnaround of epic proportions… I try to keep an open mind to foreign coaches I am less familiar after the Poch experience. Seeing Bournemouth under Iraola also demonstrates that the right coach can be truly transformative. Though of course for every Poch or Iraola there is a Pelligrino or a De Boer! There has been a lot of speculation around the likes of Knutsen and Hjulmand in the past - I haven’t seen enough of either to give an informed opinion.

The palace goal was a good finish and his height causes problems but he remains a technically limited footballer. If we set up to play to his strengths he could be important next season. My gut feeling is this won’t happen - I can’t say I’m too fussed though. Either we plan with him or plan without him, so long as there is a workable plan. Either way I’m pleased to see him get a few goals this season. He seems to have a good attitude and he was becoming a bit of a punch line despite impressive numbers in admittedly lesser leagues.

Tyler has been inconsistent but has looked head and shoulders above most of the senior pros around him in our squad despite this being his first season in men’s football, playing in a terrible team shorn of leadership, he’s been shifted away from arguably his best position given his current physicality and played under three (okay a stretch to include Rusk) managers in the season. What do people expect from him? He’s a quality player and is great to watch. If he goes and we see a good fee that’s often just the way of things but I would love to see him in a settled side with a sensible coach next season tearing up championship defences and find it bizarre so many want to wave him off.

Players downed tools at the end of Martin’s reign but for a while before that we were often competitive but being undone by stupid mistakes. I think Martin had to go but Juric has added the square root of fuck all and we would have been better off giving Rusk the gig. Juric makes such bizarre decisions and doesn’t seem to learn.

Bizarre. Ramsdale has put in plenty of MOTM performances - it’s not his fault they’ve made f*ck all difference.

But his profile tag line says ITK! Why would he put that in there if he wasn’t a legitimate source of news? May be pure bullshit or may be repeated from elsewhere- who knows. Either way a sensible signing if this is legit.

Really happy with this one if we can get it over the line. He has a bit about him and could do a job now and next season.