Rate Saints business in the Summer 2022 Transfer Window

[Barsiem]

Who doesn’t love a good poll.  Summary of business (taken from Sky Sports so if anything is missing blame them)

In

Armel Bella-Kotchap - VfL Bochum, £9.5m

Romeo Lavia - Man City, £12m

Joe Aribo - Rangers, £10m

Gavin Bazunu - Man City, £15m

Mateusz Lis - Altay, free

Sekou Mara - Bordeaux, undisclosed

Ainsley Maitland-Niles - Arsenal, loan

Sam Edozie - Manchester City, £10m

Juan Larios - Manchester City, £6m

Duje Caleta-Car - Marseille, £8.6m

Out

Oriol Romeu - Girona, undisclosed

Nathan Tella - Burnley, loan

Fraser Forster - Tottenham, free

Harry Lewis - Bradford, free

Ramello Mitchell - West Brom, free

Dan N'Lundulu - Cheltenham, loan

Kazeem Olaigbe - Ross County, loan

Caleb Watts - Morecambe, loan

Ethan Burnett - released

Shane Long - Reading, free

Oludare Olufunwa - released

Benni Smales-Brathwaite - released

Jayden Smith - released

Will Smallbone - Stoke, loan

Will Ferry - Cheltenham, undisclosed

Jack Stephens - Bournemouth, loan

Oriol Romeu - Girona, undisclosed

Dynel Simeu - Tranmere Rovers, loan

Yan Valery - Angers, £500k

Jan Bednarek - Aston Villa, loan

[fanimal]

Astonishing really virtually a new defence and one hell of a clear out 

[tajjuk]

9/10 for me, if we'd got Gakpo in it would have probably been 11/10. 

How can we complain though at a window that has seen us spend over £70 million, with no major sales to fund it, that has improved almost every area of the team and seen us pick up a huge amount of talented youngsters. We even got one of our most promising academy players back as an extra little bonus. 

Plus quite a few of the 'old guard' are now gone or should be gone, probably quite a lot of big wages off the books now with the likes of Redmond, Walcott etc. having their contracts running out. 

This is the window we have been waiting for, for about 4-5 years. 

Only thing we need is that attacker so I am hopeful we might go big if the chance is there in Jan (plus we need that new Salisu contract). 

Edited 2 September, 2022 by tajjuk

[Nolan]

a 9/10

and a little intrigued that Romeu's Departure and Lis' Loan move were both to City Football Group clubs,

[saints-cris]

Almost perfect. If we had got the striker we need it would be an 11. So a 9/10 for me.

I can see us getting to January and having a go for a striker.

We have got rid of the players who have gone stale, or just not good enough (Bednarak, Stephens, Valery, Long) and rid of a high earner (Forster). And we have replaced them with some seriously young and exciting talent, and what seems a real coup of a centre half in DCC.

It feels like we have a very athletic team, and we're back to really going at teams and having a real go. Very exciting and lovely to have some feel good vibes back, its been a while.

[Uncle Albert]

I’ve put a 8, if we had got a proven number 9 in then it would ten

[Rebel]

8 - we really needed that striker / goal scorer and I am a little worried about the depth at CB and CM. 

I'm not really sure we have the players to sustain 4-2-2-2 if Ralph wants to play that way.  But we seem to have shifted to a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 now anyway.  

Saying that its far better than I was expecting.  

It shows how bad the squad/players were (and overpaid) that we had to give them away for free or loan them out to move players on - and some we couldn't even do that with 

 

[Toadhall Saint]

Went for 8 mainly due to no out and out striker but I’m more than happy given the transfer windows in the last few years.

[AlexLaw76]

7 / 10 for me.

crucial areas strengthened, but lacking the big player the club wanted.

stronger than the summer that is for sure, and the best window for years

[S-Clarke]

It's been a great window really, I don't think many of us expected this level of change (not just on the playing side, but backroom as well). SR have really started to put their stamp down after many years of this club being left to flounder on scraps.

I'd give this window overall an 8/10. The 'game changing attacker' signing would have made it a 10/10 without question, and that is still an area which worries me massively. The club clearly wanted that one attacking player who could make a difference, so I would say there is a sense of disappointment internally today as well.

But overall if the investment we have made in CM, GK and Defence can get our goals conceded totals down then maybe we can absorb what I feel will be a lack of goals in the final third.

[Dr. Kucho]

Couldn’t decide between a 8 or a 9. Went for a 9, would have been a 10 if we had signed Gakpo. Lots of news in the Dutch media regarding Gakpo, but as he’s not coming it’s irrelevant now. 
 

9,5 million for ABK is an absolute steal.

[sadoldgit]

9/10 for me. The squad needed major surgery and it has mostly happened. We needed to sort out the defence as a priority and that had happened. Lots of exciting young talent in board and some experience with AMN. It’s a shame we didn’t manage to get the striker in but we do have players who can score. Very sad to see Ori go. He has been a brilliant signing for us but the timing is probably right. 

[Colinjb]

Had we signed another striker, 9, had we also cleared out Walcott and Redmond, 10

As it stands though, a brilliant 8. Best transfer window in recent memory.

[Midfield_General]

9/10.

But for me, what has been so impressive is not just the volume of change and the quality of who we've brought in, but the incredibly low prices we seem to have been able to get them for. 

£9.5m for a player of ABK's ability? £12m for Lavia? In a world where Wesley Fofana is valued at £70m+ and Anthony Gordon is considered a £60m+ player, that is chump change. Aribo for £10m, Bazunu for £15m, the City kids - who knows how good they will ultimately turn out to be, but at those prices even if they just turn out to be solid PL players who make a regular contribution, then we've got them for an absolute steal too. 

For the first time in years our scouting and negotiation teams look to be operating right at the top of their game - with the extremely shrewd appointment of Joe Shields at the heart of that. For a club of our size and resources, with our model, nailing that side of the operation is absolutely business-critical and if we've got these signings right, which early signs suggest we have, then this could set us up positively for years to come and really give us a foundation upon which to build and kick out of mediocrity into something much more exciting and akin to the Koeman/ Pochettino years. 

It's obviously not as sexy as signing a £40m striker, and that would have been the absolute icing on the cake, but that's what's really giving me a warm fuzzy glow. It feels like we've got the foundations right at last.

The future is bright - it's red and white. COYR. 

Edited 2 September, 2022 by Midfield_General

[S-Clarke]

5 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

9/10.

But for me, what has been so impressive is not just the volume of change and the quality of we've brought in, but the incredibly low prices we seem to have been able to get them for. 

£9.5m for a player of ABK's ability? £12m for Lavia? In a world where Wesley Fofana is valued at £70m+ and Anthony Gordon is considered a £60m+ player, that is chump change. Aribo for £10m, Bazunu for £15m, the City kids - who knows how good they will ultimately turn out to be, but at those prices even if they just turn out to be solid PL players who make a regular contribution, then we've got them for an absolute steal too. 

For the first time in years our scouting and negotiation teams look to be operating right at the top of their game - with the extremely shrewd appointment of Joe Shields at the heart of that. For a club of our size and resources, with our model, nailing that side of the operation is absolutely business-critical and if we've got these signings right, which early signs suggest we have, then this could set us up positively for years to come and really give us a foundation upon which to build and kick out of mediocrity into something much more exciting and akin to the Koeman/ Pochettino years. 

It's obviously not as sexy as signing a £40m striker, and that would have been the absolute icing on the cake, but that's what's really giving me a warm fuzzy glow. It feels like we've got the foundations right at last.

The future is bright - it's red and white. COYR. 

I think those fee's are even better than that, those are the headline figures if they achieve x amount with us - but Aribo for example only cost us £6m up top. I think Lavia was more around 8m and Bazunu 10-11 with add-ons. 

One thing that has impressed me as well has been the physical profile of our additions. They're all big, strong, athletic lads. We went down the road a few years ago of signing players because they could 'pass the ball', but often at the expense of being strong and quick etc. But at the end of the day in this league you need power and athleticism first and foremost, we went away from that with Elyounoussi, Boufal, Vestergaard, Hoedt etc - but we seem to have a side which can hold it's own now.

Edited 2 September, 2022 by S-Clarke

[itchen]

10/10. Yes, I know we didn't get the striker we all hoped for. But I'm comparing this window to previously disappointing ones over the last few years. I wasn't expecting much and we got a hell of a lot. That's surely worth a 10.

[Le Timmier]

45 minutes ago, Colinjb said:

Had we signed another striker, 9, had we also cleared out Walcott and Redmond, 10

As it stands though, a brilliant 8. Best transfer window in recent memory.

8/10 too - for exactly those reasons

[tajjuk]

45 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

9/10.

But for me, what has been so impressive is not just the volume of change and the quality of who we've brought in, but the incredibly low prices we seem to have been able to get them for. 

£9.5m for a player of ABK's ability? £12m for Lavia? In a world where Wesley Fofana is valued at £70m+ and Anthony Gordon is considered a £60m+ player, that is chump change. Aribo for £10m, Bazunu for £15m, the City kids - who knows how good they will ultimately turn out to be, but at those prices even if they just turn out to be solid PL players who make a regular contribution, then we've got them for an absolute steal too. 

For the first time in years our scouting and negotiation teams look to be operating right at the top of their game - with the extremely shrewd appointment of Joe Shields at the heart of that. For a club of our size and resources, with our model, nailing that side of the operation is absolutely business-critical and if we've got these signings right, which early signs suggest we have, then this could set us up positively for years to come and really give us a foundation upon which to build and kick out of mediocrity into something much more exciting and akin to the Koeman/ Pochettino years. 

It's obviously not as sexy as signing a £40m striker, and that would have been the absolute icing on the cake, but that's what's really giving me a warm fuzzy glow. It feels like we've got the foundations right at last.

The future is bright - it's red and white. COYR. 

100%, some of the signings we have made this summer could potentially set up the club for years of progress. I can see the likes of Lavia or ABK going for BIG fees, that we can potentially re-invest well. Hopefully we can get back to Koeman/Poch levels and possibly emulate what Leicester have done over the last few years (but avoid the slump they got into this last 12 months). Sell one big player a year, use the money to invest in top talent. Turn ourselves into THE destination for young players in the PL, the Dortmund of the PL. 

[Chewy]

1 hour ago, Chewy said:

I’m really torn on assessing the window; for every part of the pitch and squad except one we’ve done excellent work. 
Most of the (expensive) deadwood is gone, and more will be at the end of the season; we’ve added exciting youth everywhere; we’ve strengthened the leaky defence; we’ve added pace; we’ve added height and strength; we’ve kept all of our exciting talent except for Dibling … who’s now back. 
So much to be happy with.

But two points off for me for not addressing the glaring issue everyone identified. I fully appreciate the club tried but ultimately we’ve missed big time. I’m delighted Adams is currently on form - I really like him and want him to do well - but he’s hardly prolific.

Since Broja stopped scoring mid season we’ve been woeful in front of goal, and since then until a week ago our form has been nailed-on relegation form. Literally dreadful.

The defence is better, we should create more and own games more so we can’t compare exactly, but not getting a striker is a very significant and reasonable concern to have.

The relative lack of games until January helps this season so hopefully we’re not exposed for too long, but it’s a gig enough issue for me to mark an otherwise exceptional window as 8/10.

Put this in the transfer window thread so re-posting here. 

[coalman]

9/10

The obvious criticism is we didn't get a second striker. Though not for lack of trying. Other than that maybe that we've held on to Walcott and Redmond.

I can't remember being so excited by Saints' business during a window. Across the pitch we're strong. We have a goalie who can pass, real talent at centre back, full backs who can stretch play and defend, a midfield engine room, tricky and pacy attackers and players like Adam A who are starting to shine.

We seem to be settling on a system that works. We can adapt during the game and have the strength in depth to change the game. We have an exciting crop of kids in the academy again.

On the departures, Stephens and Bednarek were committed but flawed. Oriol left at the right time in the right way. Valery isn't the books and can get game time elsewhere. Plus some of our promising players have loans where they can develop. In particular Tella and Olaigbe.

These are good days to be a saints fan.

[SNSUN]

8 out of 10 and one of our better windows in years. It had to be, we were one bad window away from going down. Thank you Sports Republic.

 

Biggest surprise? The sheer number of signings but very needed. Money spent without a big sale is another.

Fave transfer? Aribo, I like him and I think he’ll have a lot to offer.

Which player will do best long term? ABK has already shown he’s going to be a top, top CB for years but Lavia will run him close. I’d love it if Mara made it too.

Cleverest transfer? AMN because he’s versatile and can help us out in a number of positions.

Which position have we strengthened the best? CM is close but the signings of ABK and DCC have given us our best complement of CBs in years.

 

Ultimately even if we haven’t quite done enough in attack, we’ve strengthened our defence and midfield so tight games can be swung by the odd goal. I still think we will be in the lower half of the table but we’ve given ourselves a good platform for the future.

[sydney_saint]

If the season was starting this weekend and I hadn't seen any of the new players, I would have been giving it a 7. I think many others would have done so as well. But having seen the new players on the pitch, I would give it an 8 or 9. Which to me shows how clever the scouting has been.

What I really like about the new signings so far is that they may be young, but you can quite quickly see why we have identified them. Working in our area of the market, there will always be duds. But what I like is you can see those raw ingredients. From the pace and power of ABK, the pace and skill of Mara, the strength and composure of Lavia. Sure, some won't work out in the end, but it's clear to see why we have brought them in. It reminds me of when we had that golden period of bringing in players like Tadic, Mane, Pelle, VVD etc. With those you could clearly determine why we had brought them in and what role they had to play.

Contrast that with many of our signings from the last couple of years and with some of them you wonder if a scout even bothered to watch them. Hoedt was always going to be too slow, Carillo was a walking red flag, Elyounoussi, whilst in the team now, remains unconvincing as he's just too slow, Clasie too weak, Vestegaard jesus christ. Sure there have been some good signings from that period like Ings and KWP, but it feels like we are much more focused.  

[revolution saint]

7 for me but it's difficult to judge players when you haven't seen them play - might revise it up (or down) after a few games.

Pros are central defence and midfield.  ABK looks awesome and no problem calling that an improvement.  Not sure about Caleta-Car looks a bit like Lyanco (who I like) but whether he's much better is difficult to say without seeing him play.  Similarly Lavia looks a great buy and very happy with him.  On the face of it AMN is a good bit of business as well.

I guess the wider forward/10 positions are better but it's a bit more marginal.  Aribo looks dangerous at times and I think he carries a greater goal threat.  Edozie is another that's difficult to tell - at first glance I think he'll struggle with the physicality side of things but who knows.

Cons:  We wanted a fullback as cover and we didn't really get one.  I don't see Larios as one for the first team right now; if Perraud gets injured I suspect we'd ask Djenepo to play instead.  Could be wrong but that's how I see it.  If KWP gets injured then we're looking at JWP playing there so it's not ideal.

Striker:  Bit light on numbers here.  An injury to Che and I think we're struggling a bit.  Obviously we were looking and didn't get anyone in.  On the plus side it should give ample opportunities to Mara and A Armstrong.  Would be good if Mara takes that chance because I think he could be a decent player.

Imagine most will think 7 is a bit low but I'm working on 5 being distinctly average so 7 is a pretty good effort. 

[goodymatt]

2 minutes ago, sydney_saint said:

If the season was starting this weekend and I hadn't seen any of the new players, I would have been giving it a 7. I think many others would have done so as well. But having seen the new players on the pitch, I would give it an 8 or 9. Which to me shows how clever the scouting has been.

What I really like about the new signings so far is that they may be young, but you can quite quickly see why we have identified them. Working in our area of the market, there will always be duds. But what I like is you can see those raw ingredients. From the pace and power of ABK, the pace and skill of Mara, the strength and composure of Lavia. Sure, some won't work out in the end, but it's clear to see why we have brought them in. It reminds me of when we had that golden period of bringing in players like Tadic, Mane, Pelle, VVD etc. With those you could clearly determine why we had brought them in and what role they had to play.

Contrast that with many of our signings from the last couple of years and with some of them you wonder if a scout even bothered to watch them. Hoedt was always going to be too slow, Carillo was a walking red flag, Elyounoussi, whilst in the team now, remains unconvincing as he's just too slow, Clasie too weak, Vestegaard jesus christ. Sure there have been some good signings from that period like Ings and KWP, but it feels like we are much more focused.  

I think Joe Shields’ first hand experience of most of these young players significantly reduces the chance of duds and is a big reason why we’ve back them. Lavia and ABK for example just look born ready. Bazunu looks an improvement but need to see more to judge how good he really is, early signs very promising though. Edozie was being looked at by Leipzig and Leverkusen even last summer, I think he will surprise a few too. Which is needed really having missed out on Gakpo.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

1 hour ago, Midfield_General said:

9/10.

But for me, what has been so impressive is not just the volume of change and the quality of who we've brought in, but the incredibly low prices we seem to have been able to get them for. 

£9.5m for a player of ABK's ability? £12m for Lavia? In a world where Wesley Fofana is valued at £70m+ and Anthony Gordon is considered a £60m+ player, that is chump change. Aribo for £10m, Bazunu for £15m, the City kids - who knows how good they will ultimately turn out to be, but at those prices even if they just turn out to be solid PL players who make a regular contribution, then we've got them for an absolute steal too. 

For the first time in years our scouting and negotiation teams look to be operating right at the top of their game - with the extremely shrewd appointment of Joe Shields at the heart of that. For a club of our size and resources, with our model, nailing that side of the operation is absolutely business-critical and if we've got these signings right, which early signs suggest we have, then this could set us up positively for years to come and really give us a foundation upon which to build and kick out of mediocrity into something much more exciting and akin to the Koeman/ Pochettino years. 

It's obviously not as sexy as signing a £40m striker, and that would have been the absolute icing on the cake, but that's what's really giving me a warm fuzzy glow. It feels like we've got the foundations right at last.

The future is bright - it's red and white. COYR. 

It's clearly part of our strategy to find value by courting players who are running down their contracts or at clubs with financial problems. We've done really well at that this summer.

By contrast, we failed with players like Delap, Broja and Gakpo because they're all tied down to their clubs

Edited 2 September, 2022 by Ex Lion Tamer

[Barsiem]

Definite 9 for me, just the striker piece missing but the way we have strengthened the spine of the team is huge imo, should mean we concede less, and in turn get away with having a few fewer goals than we would like.  That said Che should get 8-10 a year, which is about standard as a leading goalscorer for teams outside of top 6.  Aribo could well contribute similar, and we have JWP as well so think we have enough.  If A Armstrong continues on his resurgence as well he should get at least 5.

As others have pointed out, the way the club has been transformed this summer, both in players and back room staff, is very promising indeed!  I’m the most positive I’ve been about Saints since Koeman

[Ashby Saint]

2 hours ago, Colinjb said:

Had we signed another striker, 9, had we also cleared out Walcott and Redmond, 10

As it stands though, a brilliant 8. Best transfer window in recent memory.

This for me.  8/10

[Francis1947]

Not much to add really to all the excellent posts on here regarding Saints in this transfer window.

Just to say, what a refreshing change the past couple of weeks has been. After years of underinvestment and having to sit and watch other clubs, many a similar size to us, sign players that we wish we could have gone for. The last couple of days and weeks have been a revelation.

So, congratulations to our scouting network and the coaching team in picking and selecting the young gems that we have signed. Also a big thankyou to Sports Republic in having the courage and the confidence in our club to invest a rather substantial sum of money in our future.

Add to that is the amount we have actually paid for these exciting young guys in comparison to the quoted fees that other clubs have paid. All look a bargain.

Now we wait for Ralph and his coaching team to bed these young guys in and I look forward to this season.  

Add in to the signings, we have done ok in letting some go who just never looked right in the Premiership. Valery for one and maybe Jack Stephens. Can I add about Stephens that I dont think he was quite good enough. Dont think he deserved some of the more brutal criticism he got here and to my mind and when I watched him , he did have a bit about him when the going got a bit tough. In a Saints side in the last 2 seasons, in games when we often looked too easy to be bullied and physically overwhelmed, Jack was one of the very few in the side.....in my opinion....who tried to stand up to it. So, I wish him well at Bournemouth.

Of course, the other bloke who never took a backward step for us when times were tough was Oriel Romeo. He has been a wonderful player for us....strong in the tackle,commited,brave and skilled.....and often took the yellow card punishment , when all else had failed ! So, thankyou Oriel for your brilliant service to our club and I wish you well back in your beloved Spain. Not only was he a fine player but I believe a good man too....which is even more important I think.

One final thought. We seemed to have tried very hard to sign a CF. However, in the set up we have here with so many very good young players now available...someone on a past post said quite correctly I think, that we can now concentrate on winning games 1-0. 😇 It only takes one chance to be put away

When the match ended on Tuesday against Chelsea , I did notice that Ralph came out onto the pitch, as he does to shake hands and congratulate his team and for a few short seconds, he had a word with Broja.

And maybe, the old optimist in me, thought....is he saying....try us again....on loan, or maybe a permanent signing. But this time....you have to show willing in every match you are selected and not be seen to not to be bothered as he undoubtedly did in those last 4 / 5 matches of last seasson. I wonder what happened there ? Did he start believing his own hype ? It's a shame as I think he could be a great talent and I hope he doesnt waste it. 

So it's a great time I believe to be a Saints fan . Heres to 3 points at Wolves 

 

[Baird of the land]

I've given it a cautious 8. Think it could go up to a 9 if the kids are good or down to a 7 if neither are first team ready.

It's certainly better than previous windows regardless and sport's republic investment is a big positive.

[Badger]

Firstly, for initiative and ambition I'd say 10/10 for Ankersen, and SR , the Gakpo approach was very bold and ambitious.

For the actual recruitment though they have plugged some much needed gaps, shifted some of the deadwood which we wanted. But I'd say a cautious 7/10 depending on how the players develop. 

The lack of a striker is a disappointment, and  annoying that we probably parked this for what was (in hindsight) probably an over ambitious attempt to reel in Gakpo. 

Edited 2 September, 2022 by Badger

[Fan The Flames]

I miss the Net Spend Cup bantz.

[Saint_clark]

13 hours ago, Nolan said:

a 9/10

and a little intrigued that Romeu's Departure and Lis' Loan move were both to City Football Group clubs,

Part of this could be UEFAs planned changes to rules around loans - clubs won't be able to hoard players and loan them all out to the same clubs anymore, so if our group of clubs works in conjunction with City's that could be a way around loaning more players to like minded coaching set ups.

[saint in Den Haag]

I gave it an 8, but that’s a very solid 8 and if we see AMN having an immediate impact on the 1st team and Edioze getting minutes as a sub then it should be a 9.

like many I really did have my hopes on a back page stealing ST signing. But I trust the new owners that were actively looking  but the market was tough and prices inflated  this summer for a ST. I would rather we stick to our principles than go scatter gun and just sign someone for the sake of it. 

my renewed optimism is also with the change in formation to a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1  and part of me wanders if this was always the eventual plan to migrate away from 4-2-2-2. The 3 CB experiment was a short term plaster cause of lack of natural FB’s but importantly Ralph learnt and moved on after 1 and a half games.. The recruitment focus on players willing to drive forwards who are significantly taller and athletic is so suited to the new fm. Having a natural mobile ball winner in Lavia allows Ralph’s 6’s to drive forwards as attacking threat. I was so pleased to see Diallo do this for our 2nd goal against Chelsea (to the point that even after watching it 4 times I was still not convinced it was him - he looked stronger and bigger). Plus Bella-K has license to drive forward. Then if the middle is congested they have our FB’s to spread the ball out to. 

I do feel Ralph wants more goals from the 2 wide 10 positions - and another bit of praise for A. Armstrong. This new position has  given him a lifeline and at the moment it is his to loose. He has shown at Leeds that he can receive out wide and create an opportunity, then at Chelsea he drifted in to a natural ST position and found space. The videos I have seen of Edioze show a very confident player willing to dribble and attack. Also he seems he favours his left but the right looks good too. So i would not be surprised to see him on the right of our 10’s challenging Moi. 

Final credit to Che - it’s now obvious that bids came in for him, whether we seriously considered any, who knows, but your agent would have been telling you what wage Everton were willing to pay. But I think this new formation was a catalyst for him too. This 1 up top is his position now. There is no Ings, and he can be the main guy. In that role you don’t have to score but be an outlet to the attacking threat elsewhere and to date he has done that brilliantly.

last word on those that left or did not quite make it out. Romeu deserves the praise and in the Ralph’s pre-match briefing it’s clear he wanted this move and we would never not allow him the chance. In the same video I get a feeling Ralph and Jan B did fall out. It might have been as simple as Jan being P’d off he was no longer 1st choice but we don’t need that tension in the squad. 

The behind the scenes video of transfer deadline day  is worth watching. Walcott might be a weekly wage we want to free up but I genuinely feel his influence could be needed around the young squad. I do think he cares deeply for the club and will help where he can. Willy C also comes across as a good character to have around. I think Long might have added that previously so we need some light hearted elder statesmen in the dressing room. 

Edited 3 September, 2022 by saint in Den Haag

[MAY-Z]

Voted 8 but would’ve gone 8.5 if that was an option

 

as everyone has said above clearly the club wanted an extra attacker, which were the 3 biggest bids we know about.

 

And clearly a few more outs were wanted by the club, permanent for Bednarek, Stephens would’ve been ideal.

[davefizzy14]

It's a 9 out of 10 for me The recruitment this summer has been top class with adding strength and power to the spine of the team. The growing influence of Joe Shields has been a key ingredient in our recruitment strategy. ABK looks absolutely top draw, Lavia is top class, Bazunu is an upgrade in goal, Aribo is quality and Mara has already shown huge promise. So looking forward to seeing what AMN, Caleta-Car, Larios and Edozie can bring to the team. Exciting times

[John B]

I have no idea why everybody thinks it was a great window when we have A Armstrong and Adams as our principal scorers

 

I do not dispute that the players we have brought are not great but without a top goal scorer I still think we are going to struggle

[S-Clarke]

3 minutes ago, John B said:

I have no idea why everybody thinks it was a great window when we have A Armstrong and Adams as our principal scorers

 

I do not dispute that the players we have brought are not great but without a top goal scorer I still think we are going to struggle

Let's see how Mara and Edioze integrate into the team. I'd certainly have liked to have seen more of a 'seasoned' pro attacker brought in though, not necessarily an out and out striker but someone with genuine ability who can open teams up. Maybe Edioze can be this years Broja, albeit in a slightly different position. Our attack does make me very nervous though.

[Lord Duckhunter]

How on earth can you judge the transfer window only hours after it’s closed. It’s a pony thread with pony replies. 8 out of 10, 9 out of 10, nobody can make any judgements yet, people who claim they can, are bluffing. 

[trousers]

4 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

How on earth can you judge the transfer window only hours after it’s closed. It’s a pony thread with pony replies. 8 out of 10, 9 out of 10, nobody can make any judgements yet, people who claim they can, are bluffing. 

Keep up Lord D. Forum sage @AlexLaw76 already knows it's not a 9 or 8. Let's have some respect for those wiser than you or I.

Edited 3 September, 2022 by trousers

[Holmes_and_Watson]

I went with a 7. Just about. That's purely down to everyone having identified the need for a striker as a priority.  The club continued to ackowledge this throughout, but in the end we are hoping that it's Mara who will be making the difference. He'll certainly be getting minutes to prove himself, so I hope it works. Ralph is a bit more defensive minded this season, so chances will be fewer. We're going to have to hope that we've enough clinical finishers to make those chances count.

The lack of a more experiences striker dragged the score down. Everywhere else got a refresh. I'm a bit wary of pushing players out the door due, less to skill and experience, than an attempt to lower the wage bill; with that impacting contract negotiations. But it looks as though there were other factors going on as well (Bednerak supposedly having his mind more on a world cup game than on the club that pays his wages etc.)

I did like Forster. While not having that physical presence, Bazunu is a lot more agile. So far he's done just fine. Salisu and Bella Kotchap look like a super pairing. We kept KWP and JWP so have held onto our best. Lavia looks excellent, although I do think we're going to miss the eperience, attitude and skill of Romeu in the squad.

Ralph has a deeper squad to select from, and we've already seen him being able to come back from going behind. I've a concern that due to the way he's set it up, we're going to be going behind a fair bit, and may not quite be clinical enough to pull ourselves back. Adams has already got some goals though, so here's hoping.

 

[qwertyell]

A starting striker was priority number one and we failed - the most important player in the team, and we're stuck with Adams and Armstrong, who the manager has historically not rated at all. 

Letting Romeu go when we knew Lavia was injured isn't the smartest thing we've ever done either. No-one else in the senior squad can fill the physical, ball winning role in the centre of the park. How can they have not noted that Diallo and Ward-Prowse as a pair are lightweight and defensively hopeless? They've failed to work as a partnership literally every time. Who thought today would be different?

Lots of promising incomings, but some glaring gaps in key positions remain - and to have ignored them this long is pretty negligent. 

 

[farawaysaint]

I voted 7 because I was happy with the window and apparently I am the lowest voter 😂 I am definitely  a miserable sod.

Edited 3 September, 2022 by farawaysaint

[whelk]

24 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

How on earth can you judge the transfer window only hours after it’s closed. It’s a pony thread with pony replies. 8 out of 10, 9 out of 10, nobody can make any judgements yet, people who claim they can, are bluffing. 

Jesus wept

[Killers Knee]

8.  We have all known we needed to replace the departing Ings, to fail at that, given the amount of time for scouting, head-turning, tapping-up, and other covert dirty tricks is abysmal.  I do hope our scouts, agents, and lawyers have already started the process of bringing in a target for January, and are not waiting for January to start the process.  Put the player, agent, and club under NDA, and pull out of the deal if there is a leak.

[Toussaint]

My 8 may have been a bit optimistic. But then good old Ralphie boy has had long enough to drain the life out of them now, so who knows?

[AlexLaw76]

The sale of Romeu looks even more bizarre. Up there with Djenepo’s new contract. 
 

[CB Fry]

Club said we needed a striker, Ralph said "yes" we were getting one when asked before the window closed. 

We did not get a striker.

Edited 17 September, 2022 by CB Fry

[danjosaint]

And a striker wouldve done what, we just dont create anyrhing due to our awful slow clueless build up

[CB Fry]

26 minutes ago, danjosaint said:

And a striker wouldve done what, we just dont create anyrhing due to our awful slow clueless build up

You might be to young to remember we had a player called Danny Ings once who scored  lot of goals in a shit team. 

So that's what a striker could have done.

[Toussaint]

3 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

You might be to young to remember we had a player called Danny Ings once who scored  lot of goals in a shit team. 

So that's what a striker could have done.

 Broja could also create his own opportunities.

Edited 17 September, 2022 by Toussaint
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