Summer Transfer Window 2021

[The Cat]

20 hours ago, niceandfriendly said:

Sergio Romero recent playing history:

2019/20: 17 games

2018/19: 7 games

2017/18: 10 games

2016/17: 18 games

2015/16: 13 games

2014/15: 11 games

2013/14: 9 games

2012/13: 33 games

Not loads, but quite a bit more than 21.

 

[Maya's Dad]

https://theathletic.com/2806614/2021/09/03/sam-johnstone-high-on-the-shortlist-as-southampton-begin-search-for-new-goalkeeper/

"buying a goalkeeper is viewed behind the scenes as an absolute priority"

"McCarthy, 31, will need fresh competition for the starting spot in Ralph Hasenhuttl’s team"

[Shroppie]

18 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

He can put in good performances at St Mary’s (4 years ago)...

 

That was four years ago. His career has only gone on one direction since. And four years ago was a rising star challenging FF.

[DT]

3 hours ago, Maya's Dad said:

https://theathletic.com/2806614/2021/09/03/sam-johnstone-high-on-the-shortlist-as-southampton-begin-search-for-new-goalkeeper/

"buying a goalkeeper is viewed behind the scenes as an absolute priority"

"McCarthy, 31, will need fresh competition for the starting spot in Ralph Hasenhuttl’s team"

absolute priority. just not an absolute priority enough, clearly. madness. and what of McCarthy's morale, reading all of this? Or Forster's? It's a bungled policy all round.Badly played, this one, Saints.

[stevy777_x]

4 hours ago, Maya's Dad said:

https://theathletic.com/2806614/2021/09/03/sam-johnstone-high-on-the-shortlist-as-southampton-begin-search-for-new-goalkeeper/

"buying a goalkeeper is viewed behind the scenes as an absolute priority"

"McCarthy, 31, will need fresh competition for the starting spot in Ralph Hasenhuttl’s team"

For the love of god, why Sam Johnston?

let s take a relegated goalkeeper who has only had one season in prem at 28 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️.

why the fuck do we always have to target english goalkeepers when it has always been the worse position to fill in from an england perspective.

just sign a european up and coming keeper who can actually distribute it properly.

it shouldn t be hard to find

[Saint Garrett]

Think Johnstone would be a great signing personally 

[FarehamSaintJames]

If it was that big a priority then why on earth didn’t they do it sooner? A free? A loan? An obligation to buy?

Big risk given our current goalkeeper operates like a turnstile.

[Badger]

1 hour ago, stevy777_x said:

For the love of god, why Sam Johnston?

let s take a relegated goalkeeper who has only had one season in prem at 28 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️.

why the fuck do we always have to target english goalkeepers when it has always been the worse position to fill in from an england perspective.

just sign a european up and coming keeper who can actually distribute it properly.

it shouldn t be hard to find

I’m not convinced by Johnston but don’t know a great deal about him other than he’s rated as one of the better English gk available at the moment. This isn’t such a great accolade as it used to be if you remember the days of Shilton/Clemence and then about half a dozen English keepers who might have stood a chance of international football but for them.

The one good season is a concern though. Remember the Cardiff GK when they were relegated ? Never really established himself again did he ?

There is an obvious reason that Johnston as an English gk may be attractive, consider these options:

• Johnstone , English, 28,free next summer, or knockdown fee in January ?

or for example (at random)

•Polish bloke with massive beard at Fiorentina (who was mentioned during this thread) 24 (?), at £10m

Dint think it takes too much working out as to why Johnston might be the attractive option, and if it allows £10m investment elsewhere might be the right way to go.

True that we’ve gone for English GK over recent years. At one time there was the “language” issue organising the defence, but think we’re past that line of thought now. Niemi was a damn sight better organising those in front of him than most we’ve had.

“Up and coming” GK ? As back up, fine but think it’s a position where you also need experience as a first choice starter. Preferably one that isn’t one of the current pair.

[Badger]

11 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

If it was that big a priority then why on earth didn’t they do it sooner? A free? A loan? An obligation to buy?

Big risk given our current goalkeeper operates like a turnstile.

Do you mean the turnstiles at the Man Utd home game ? 

[Maya's Dad]

2 hours ago, stevy777_x said:

For the love of god, why Sam Johnston?

let s take a relegated goalkeeper who has only had one season in prem at 28 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️.

why the fuck do we always have to target english goalkeepers when it has always been the worse position to fill in from an england perspective.

just sign a european up and coming keeper who can actually distribute it properly.

it shouldn t be hard to find

yeah i dont think he could be worse than mccarthy though so there's that

but more annoying is why the club does not seem to see this as a position that needs an urgent upgrade like we do

[Billy the Kidd]

54 minutes ago, Maya's Dad said:

yeah i dont think he could be worse than mccarthy though so there's that

but more annoying is why the club does not seem to see this as a position that needs an urgent upgrade like we do

Out of interest, why do you believe GK want sender as urgent?

 If you only had sufficient money for two meals a day, which one would you drop? Breakfast, lunch, or dinner?

[benjii]

Sub GK at a big club has to be the best job in the world. 80k a week to joke about with the lads and the occasional cup match. Absolute class life.

[le_tiss]

5 hours ago, Badger said:

I’m not convinced by Johnston but don’t know a great deal about him other than he’s rated as one of the better English gk available at the moment. This isn’t such a great accolade as it used to be if you remember the days of Shilton/Clemence and then about half a dozen English keepers who might have stood a chance of international football but for them.

The one good season is a concern though. Remember the Cardiff GK when they were relegated ? Never really established himself again did he ?

There is an obvious reason that Johnston as an English gk may be attractive, consider these options:

• Johnstone , English, 28,free next summer, or knockdown fee in January ?

or for example (at random)

•Polish bloke with massive beard at Fiorentina (who was mentioned during this thread) 24 (?), at £10m

Dint think it takes too much working out as to why Johnston might be the attractive option, and if it allows £10m investment elsewhere might be the right way to go.

True that we’ve gone for English GK over recent years. At one time there was the “language” issue organising the defence, but think we’re past that line of thought now. Niemi was a damn sight better organising those in front of him than most we’ve had.

“Up and coming” GK ? As back up, fine but think it’s a position where you also need experience as a first choice starter. Preferably one that isn’t one of the current pair.

 

might also be this, clubs need potential English home grown players because of Brexit, I keep hearing / reading about on football forums 🤷‍♂️

[CB Fry]

Quite fancy the England Number 7 playing tonight. Thoughts?

[whelk]

1 minute ago, CB Fry said:

Quite fancy the England Number 7 playing tonight. Thoughts?

Needs to pull her shorts up a bit more

[CB Fry]

4 hours ago, whelk said:

Needs to pull her shorts up a bit more

I'm sure Sepp Blatter had a directive about that.

Edited 4 September, 2021 by CB Fry

[Whitey Grandad]

14 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Quite fancy the England Number 7 playing tonight. Thoughts?

Harriet Pavlou

Me neither, but I would. If I could

[Streaky]

25 minutes ago, whelk said:

Needs to pull her shorts up a bit more

Should sign tom greenan. He's looked better than most lol

[FarehamSaintJames]

2 hours ago, benjii said:

Sub GK at a big club has to be the best job in the world. 80k a week to joke about with the lads and the occasional cup match. Absolute class life.

Stuart Taylor made a living from that, and even then he wasn’t really ever a sub.

[Turkish]

3 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Harriet Pavlou

Me neither, but I would. If I could

There are pills for that pal

[Lighthouse]

15 minutes ago, Turkish said:

There are pills for that pal

I believe he was referring to consent, rather than any structural issues.

[Whitey Grandad]

55 minutes ago, Turkish said:

There are pills for that pal

 

39 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

I believe he was referring to consent, rather than any structural issues.

It would need more than pills and consent, but an old man can dream…

[Maya's Dad]

10 hours ago, Billy the Kidd said:

Out of interest, why do you believe GK want sender as urgent?

 If you only had sufficient money for two meals a day, which one would you drop? Breakfast, lunch, or dinner?

i would have a very good breakfast so that even if i do not have lunch, my dinner will be enough

[Billy the Kidd]

4 hours ago, Maya's Dad said:

i would have a very good breakfast so that even if i do not have lunch, my dinner will be enough

Yeah I’d likely do the same, but maybe some can’t afford a breakfast as good and wholesome as others…

[qwertyell]

20 hours ago, stevy777_x said:

why the fuck do we always have to target english goalkeepers when it has always been the worse position to fill in from an england perspective

English football hasn't produced a top class keeper since David Seaman - and he came through in the 1980s.

It's kind of bizarre given all the resources, coaches and facilities in this country that we can only churn out a myriad of mediocrity between the sticks, when we have some of the most sought after talent in the world in every other position.

How bad must our coaching be? I know former goalkeeper coach turned professional clipboard holder Dave Watson had an influence through the England age groups for a while there, but surely he can't be totally blamed for the entire system.

Of all the countries for us to be targeting a keeper from, I'd say England would be one of the worst in terms of value for money. 

[GGalpin]

On 04/09/2021 at 11:37, Saint Garrett said:

Think Johnstone would be a great signing personally 

And me. Watched a lot of him during his two loans at Villa. Came in Jan 2017 after six months being in the u23s at Utd and struggled to begin with, made a few mistakes and had a few fans getting on his back. But as he went on really settled and showed just how good he was, a really reliable keeper. I expect Villa would have kept him had they gone up in the playoff final in 2018. Certainly think it's a different case to David Marshall at Cardiff. If we get him in Jan or next summer I'd be delighted.

[Turkish]

4 minutes ago, GGalpin said:

And me. Watched a lot of him during his two loans at Villa. Came in Jan 2017 after six months being in the u23s at Utd and struggled to begin with, made a few mistakes and had a few fans getting on his back. But as he went on really settled and showed just how good he was, a really reliable keeper. I expect Villa would have kept him had they gone up in the playoff final in 2018. Certainly think it's a different case to David Marshall at Cardiff. If we get him in Jan or next summer I'd be delighted.

Free transfer next summer. I reckon there is a good chance he might arrive in January if Forster finds another club by then. We get Forster off the wage bill, West Brom get a fee for Johnstone. Everyone’s a winner

[GGalpin]

24 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Free transfer next summer. I reckon there is a good chance he might arrive in January if Forster finds another club by then. We get Forster off the wage bill, West Brom get a fee for Johnstone. Everyone’s a winner

Wonder if he might hang on for the summer- West Brom don't have to sort a replacement out in Jan and he'll help them get back into the Premier League, and he can have a higher wage as a free agent. Possibility of West Ham coming in at that point to replace Fabianski if Areola doesn't work out then.

[Turkish]

29 minutes ago, GGalpin said:

Wonder if he might hang on for the summer- West Brom don't have to sort a replacement out in Jan and he'll help them get back into the Premier League, and he can have a higher wage as a free agent. Possibility of West Ham coming in at that point to replace Fabianski if Areola doesn't work out then.

Maybe. He’s meant to be on £28k a week at the moment. If he won’t sign a new deal WBA will probably want to try and get a fee for him though. £5m fee and £40k a week in Jan should be enough to keep player and selling club thinking they’ve got a good deal and a good deal for us too. Reckon still end up with a young keeper 

Edited 5 September, 2021 by Turkish

[the saint in winchester]

Bernt Leno (Arsenal) also available next summer on contract expiry. I'd probably prefer Sam Johnstone too, but there may be options available.

[Billy the Kidd]

I’d be surprised if we offloaded FF at all in Jan, let alone the lion share of his wages.

i did wonder if we do try a 6 month loan to WBA in Jan with them paying something like 1/3rd of his wages.

[Saint Garrett]

On 05/09/2021 at 07:55, qwertyell said:

English football hasn't produced a top class keeper since David Seaman - and he came through in the 1980s.

 

Joe Hart was pretty good....just because his career has petered out a bit over recent years, shouldn't take away just how good he was a few seasons ago.

[Turkish]

12 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Joe Hart was pretty good....just because his career has petered out a bit over recent years, shouldn't take away just how good he was a few seasons ago.

We've had quite a few like that. Looked really promising in their early years then careers faded away into nothing. Paul Robinson, Richard Wright, Chris Kirkland, Ben Foster were all at one time tipped to be Englands number one for a long time, all got big moved and ended up never achieving their potential. 

[HarvSFC]

I was looking for the standard highlights reel for Johnstone, and found that there's a divide between the West Brom fans regarding him. Many say he's a good reflex save goalkeeper, but is quiet and doesn't command his box enough. We know all about that...

 

[OldNick]

On 03/09/2021 at 17:28, DT said:

Shilton was good but he's probably a bit old now. Still better than McCarthy though...

Lol, I remember Gerry Gurr. He played football with us at the Sports Centre when we were kids, another time Fred Kemp and a little Scottish winger who I cant recall hi name did as well. God we were so made up. It was down by the tennis courts whrer we used the fence for a goal

[WALK DMC]

32 minutes ago, OldNick said:

Lol, I remember Gerry Gurr. He played football with us at the Sports Centre when we were kids, another time Fred Kemp and a little Scottish winger who I cant recall hi name did as well. God we were so made up. It was down by the tennis courts whrer we used the fence for a goal

Was the Scottish winger, Gerry O'Brien ?  He was about around then ..... 

[Fitzhugh Fella]

3 hours ago, OldNick said:

Lol, I remember Gerry Gurr. He played football with us at the Sports Centre when we were kids, another time Fred Kemp and a little Scottish winger who I cant recall hi name did as well. God we were so made up. It was down by the tennis courts whrer we used the fence for a goal

https://www.saintsplayers.co.uk/player/gerry-obrien/
 

good lad Gerry. Was in the same darts team. Liked a pint too. 

[OldNick]

3 hours ago, WALK DMC said:

Was the Scottish winger, Gerry O'Brien ?  He was about around then ..... 

That's the one, he was a bit reticent to join in. Fred was delighted to kick around a ball with some starry eyed kids, I would have been about 9-10 at that time

[once_bitterne]

This amazing transfer window the half-fullists were raving about seems to have been the loss of one of the top 5 strikers in the country, our startng LB and our best CB and replacing with...

A LB we blew most of our budget on but now aren't playing
A young RB when we already had a VERY good RB
Another Championship level striker 
A CB nowhere near playing at PL level
and some kids from the Academies of Chelsea and Everton
 

[Lighthouse]

6 minutes ago, once_bitterne said:

This amazing transfer window the half-fullists were raving about seems to have been the loss of one of the top 5 strikers in the country, our startng LB and our best CB and replacing with...

A LB we blew most of our budget on but now aren't playing
A young RB when we already had a VERY good RB
Another Championship level striker 
A CB nowhere near playing at PL level
and some kids from the Academies of Chelsea and Everton
 

Would you swap everything back, if offered it?

[once_bitterne]

1 minute ago, Lighthouse said:

Would you swap everything back, if offered it?

Of course.  What sane fan wouldn't?  For Ings alone.  Yesterday showed that a match between two poor teams can always be won by a quality striker.

We're weaker at CB, LB and striker than last year and still have no CM cover.

Livermento has done well at RB but that was just about the only position we didn't need to worry about!

[Saint_lambden]

4 minutes ago, once_bitterne said:

Of course.  What sane fan wouldn't?  For Ings alone.  Yesterday showed that a match between two poor teams can always be won by a quality striker.

We're weaker at CB, LB and striker than last year and still have no CM cover.

Livermento has done well at RB but that was just about the only position we didn't need to worry about!

Well it was, considering Valery was the only cover. 

[once_bitterne]

3 minutes ago, Saint_lambden said:

Well it was, considering Valery was the only cover. 

Who was still on the bench yesterday.

No issue with the Livermento buy, it was for not a huge sum but I wouldn't be starting him in front of KWP.  The other Summer transfers all seem to be doing nothing to contribute to us staying up this season.

[Lighthouse]

12 minutes ago, once_bitterne said:

Of course.  What sane fan wouldn't?  For Ings alone.  Yesterday showed that a match between two poor teams can always be won by a quality striker.

We're weaker at CB, LB and striker than last year and still have no CM cover.

Livermento has done well at RB but that was just about the only position we didn't need to worry about!

I wouldn’t. I’m surprised people are looking back at the second half of last season with rose tinted glasses quite so soon. A quality striker could have won the game yesterday but for medium sized chunks of last season, Ings was not that player and managed a somewhat okay 12 league goals.

We aren’t weaker at LB, I’d say we have two better options, and you won’t find too many Leicester fans impressed by Vestergaard so far. At CM were talking about a fourth choice player of Jankewitz calibre, so hardly a massive loss to the squad.

We did need to worry at RB, cover at fullback was an absolute necessity this summer. When KWP picks up a knock, I’ll sleep soundly knowing we don’t have to play Stephens at RB.

[TWar]

22 minutes ago, once_bitterne said:

This amazing transfer window the half-fullists were raving about seems to have been the loss of one of the top 5 strikers in the country, our startng LB and our best CB and replacing with...

A LB we blew most of our budget on but now aren't playing
A young RB when we already had a VERY good RB
Another Championship level striker 
A CB nowhere near playing at PL level
and some kids from the Academies of Chelsea and Everton
 

Firstly, Ings was not one of the top 5 strikers in the country as he couldn't stay fit. Secondly Salisu is our best CB.

Perraud wasn't "most of our budget" he was £11m, we spent about £40m, he was about a quarter of our budget and we needed LB depth, plus he has started twice.

Not sure how you can complain about signing a player good enough to displace our "VERY good RB" for £5m. If we'd spent like £20m it would be more questionable.

Armstrong isn't a championship quality striker... he is young and new to the league and hasn't had great service. He will be fine.

Lyanco, agreed, poor signing

And the kids are good back up.

So most of what you say I disagree with to be honest.

[Verbal Kint]

19 minutes ago, TWar said:

Firstly, Ings was not one of the top 5 strikers in the country as he couldn't stay fit. Secondly Salisu is our best CB.

Perraud wasn't "most of our budget" he was £11m, we spent about £40m, he was about a quarter of our budget and we needed LB depth, plus he has started twice.

Not sure how you can complain about signing a player good enough to displace our "VERY good RB" for £5m. If we'd spent like £20m it would be more questionable.

Armstrong isn't a championship quality striker... he is young and new to the league and hasn't had great service. He will be fine.

Lyanco, agreed, poor signing

And the kids are good back up.

So most of what you say I disagree with to be honest.

You have massively underestimated the loss of Ings to this team. He was capable of scoring goals out of nothing, in games where we were struggling or behind in and he single handedly got us out of it. It was always going to be very difficult to replace his ability (Armstrong isn't fit to lace his boots), which means we needed to significantly upgrade in other areas to make up for it. We haven't done enough. 

We still have Bednarek as a starting CB and the likes of Redmond and Djenepo starting as no.10s.

The quality of the first 11 is lower than last season as we lost our best player, and the squad, whilst bigger, is only bigger because it is full of shit players that are nowhere near good enough for this league.

You need quality to win games in this league and I don't see any left

[TWar]

15 minutes ago, Verbal Kint said:

You have massively underestimated the loss of Ings to this team. He was capable of scoring goals out of nothing, in games where we were struggling or behind in and he single handedly got us out of it. It was always going to be very difficult to replace his ability (Armstrong isn't fit to lace his boots), which means we needed to significantly upgrade in other areas to make up for it. We haven't done enough. 

We still have Bednarek as a starting CB and the likes of Redmond and Djenepo starting as no.10s.

The quality of the first 11 is lower than last season as we lost our best player, and the squad, whilst bigger, is only bigger because it is full of shit players that are nowhere near good enough for this league.

You need quality to win games in this league and I don't see any left

I think it's very unfair to say Armstrong isn't "fit to lace Ings' boots". Ings has scored one more goal than Armstrong this season and that is purely because he is on penalties and Armstrong isn't with Ings having significantly easier fixtures. Ings had one great season where he was massive for us but in the two surrounding it he was fine, 12 goals and 7 goals are good hauls but I very much don't think they are beyond Armstrong for example.

Also our best player is JWP.

Finally with regards to our first 11:

McCarthy = McCarthy

Tino > KWP (or he wouldn't be starting)

Stephens < Vestergaard

Salisu > Bednarek

Perraud/KWP > Bertrand

JWP = JWP

Romeu = Romeu

Stu = Stu

Djenepo > Redmond (although both were available both seasons so not much in it really)

Armstrong < Ings

Adams = Adams

So really it comes down to if Vestergaard to Stephens and Ings to Armstrong is a bigger step down than Salisu to Bednarek, KWP to Tino, Bertrand to Perraud/KWP, and Redmond to Djenepo is a step up. Personally I think we've gotten mildly stronger. Armstrong will score similar to what Ings got last season imo and Vestergaard had a lot of weaknesses too so wasn't that much clear of Stephens. On the other hand, Livramento is excellent and probably our best player right now, Salisu has also been absolutely immense, Bertrand was dross at the end and both our LB options are much better than him, and Djenepo is mildly better than Redmond although an upgrade here would have been nice.

Edited 27 September, 2021 by TWar

[Saint Garrett]

8 minutes ago, TWar said:

So really it comes down to if Vestergaard to Stephens and Ings to Armstrong is a bigger step down than Salisu to Bednarek, KWP to Tino, Bertrand to Perraud/KWP, and Redmond to Djenepo is a step up. Personally I think we've gotten mildly stronger. Armstrong will score similar to what Ings got last season imo and Vestergaard had a lot of weaknesses too so wasn't that much clear of Stephens. On the other hand, Livramento is excellent and probably our best player right now, Salisu has also been absolutely immense, Bertrand was dross at the end and both our LB options are much better than him, and Djenepo is mildly better than Redmond although an upgrade here would have been nice.

Armstrong is a huge step down from Ings, the only benefit of having Armstrong over Ings, is that Armstrong will probably be available for most games.  But comparing talent, Armstrong is nowhere near. And like what's been mentioned previously, Ings dug us out of many holes because he was incredibly clinical.  Armstrong seems to need about 50 shots to score 1 goal. 

[TWar]

Just now, Saint Garrett said:

Armstrong is a huge step down from Ings, the only benefit of having Armstrong over Ings, is that Armstrong will probably be available for most games.  But comparing talent, Armstrong is nowhere near. And like what's been mentioned previously, Ings dug us out of many holes because he was incredibly clinical.  Armstrong seems to need about 50 shots to score 1 goal. 

This is a massive benefit though. It's no good being talented if you spend 9 games out injured and a further 5-10 looking well off the pace because you haven't recovered properly. Ings scored 12 goals last season, 10 non-penalty (which is a better comparison as JWP is on pens this year). I think there is every chance Armstrong manages that.

[Saint Garrett]

10 minutes ago, TWar said:

This is a massive benefit though. It's no good being talented if you spend 9 games out injured and a further 5-10 looking well off the pace because you haven't recovered properly. Ings scored 12 goals last season, 10 non-penalty (which is a better comparison as JWP is on pens this year). I think there is every chance Armstrong manages that.

But Ings also had way more impact to others, he has creativity that Armstrong doesn't have.