Summer Transfer Window 2023

[Sheaf Saint]

6 hours ago, The Kraken said:

Far too many of those from the “happy to be proved wrong” brigade who collectively soiled their pants at various stages. Some of the doom laden predictions were as funny then as they look now. 

Would be good if the mods could put some of the funnier ones into a split thread and move it to golden posts.

[Stud mark of doom]

Seems like a very good window to me - although I did think similar last year as we stood 7th in the league after demolishing Chelsea, with several new signings looking fantastic. Very glad we have a bit more experience and a bit more of a spine to the team now. 

Pity we failed to shift either of the panic buys from January - but quite a bit of dosh in the bank/reducing the debt.

8 or 9 out of 10.

I’m really enjoying the championship so far. 

[hypochondriac]

One thing is certain-I've already had more fun after a handful of games than I had the last two years combined. It feels like we are building something here. 

Edited 2 September, 2023 by hypochondriac

[Miltonaggro]

7 hours ago, trousers said:

😂

 

Looks delighted to be here, had a few cans of Tennants on the flight. 

[Crab Lungs]

I don’t ever remember seeing him play so I’ve done the usual YT watch.

OK, so… knowing that his only experience playing at this level was last season and we’d just spunked £10m+ on him I had to have a glimpse, see what all the fuss was about.

Whilst I do understand it’s only highlights and it’s mostly League One or SPFL stuff I’d encourage anyone to watch the highlights then compare them with an Onuanchu reel and then you understand why he’s cost what he’s cost. Literally no comparison. You’ll also be even more confused as to why we spent £18m on TP. 

Think of any Russell Martin vid vs the Nathan Jones training video. It’s that kind of difference.

Really looking forward to seeing him play for us.

Edited 2 September, 2023 by Crab Lungs

[Turkish]

8 hours ago, CB Fry said:

I got an awful lot of confused emojis and people falling over themselves telling me I was wrong when I said last week that Fraser was the Tella replacement.

But turns out I wasn't wrong.

And people say we aren’t ITK

[John B]

1 hour ago, saintwbu said:

Another sign of the clubs change in approach is to keep a player in Che who is out of contract in 12 months. Normally it’s been a case of getting whatever we can for whoever we can. An exciting season ahead hopefully.

You make an interesting point about Che we do not know whether any club offered the asking price I doubt any did but he may well have gone if they had.

 

It will be interesting to see what happens to Che if we get promoted

[Block41 Saint]

Fair play to the club, I was concerned after we sold Tella but we've ended the window with a really strong squad for the Championship. No excuses for not challenging for autos this year. 

[SW11_Saint]

Have to say, on balance, that is a great window, one of the better ones I can recall. We’ve lost the players we expected to, plus a few we wanted to (still a few left it would have been good to offload). 

Whether by circumstance or design, keeping players like KWP, Che, Sulemana is incredible in this division. Let’s just hope the latter two keep their heads up and give their all (am sure Che will). if Sulemana can get in a positive headspace he will be devastating in this division. 
 

Then we’ve added a good mix of quality and experience in Downes, Charles, Harwood-Bellis, Manning, Holgate, Fraser, Stewart… top top work by Wilcox. 8/10. 

 

[hypochondriac]

Anyone else excited to see how Sulemana will do in this league? If he sorts himself out he should rip it up. 

[Turkish]

3 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Anyone else excited to see how Sulemana will do in this league? If he sorts himself out he should rip it up. 

If he gets his head down he could be amazing. Let’s see how he gets reintegrated into the squad 

[hypochondriac]

Just now, Turkish said:

If he gets his head down he could be amazing. Let’s see how he gets reintegrated into the squad 

Well he's training with us so it's not like he's run off or refusing to train. 

[The Cat]

Superb window really. 

After last season's cluster it seems that SR are working well towards fixing what was broken.

Am very excited to see what this team can do once everyone is bedded in.

[SNSUN]

So, who's going to start the January Transfer Window thread? 😃 Besides anyone leaving I don't think there are any positions we need right now - first time I can say that in years... if ever. It seems the club made a last ditch attempt for Philogene and had previously said they wanted to replace Tella so maybe an extra winger, but keeping Sulemana, if he can be re-integrated, solves that.

[manji]

I’m pleased we are playing away. Can imagine some dickwads giving Sulemana shit for wanting to leave/

[trousers]

27 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Anyone else excited to see how Sulemana will do in this league? If he sorts himself out he should rip it up. 

 

23 minutes ago, Turkish said:

If he gets his head down he could be amazing. Let’s see how he gets reintegrated into the squad 

From what Adam Blackmore was saying on the live chat thing last night, it sounds like it was 'his people' that we're doing all the agitating rather than him desperately wanting away per se, so, reading between the lines, I'm fairly confident that he'll be back onboard mentally pretty swiftly... ('Famous last words' of course!)

Edited 2 September, 2023 by trousers

[Hodgey]

Sensible, strong window that even if some players don’t perform as we’d like - clear rationale and strategy behind it. On paper the squad should be challenging for automatic promotion which was the aim. 
Still a couple of question marks / worries - I’m not sold on our right attack - if Sulimana knuckles down (does he really want to be here?) he prefers the left. Stu or Aribo could also do a job there but it does look our weakest position. The other question is around Adams, I’m hoping his response is ‘I’m going to score a hatful then have my choice of clubs when I can sign a pre contract in Jan”.

Overall though hats off to Wilcox, Mowbray and RM - excellent job 

[Harry_SFC]

7 minutes ago, trousers said:

 

From what Adam Blackmore was saying on the live chat thing last night, it sounds like it was 'his people' that we're doing all the agitating rather than him desperately wanting away per se, so, reading between the lines, I'm fairly confident that he'll be back onboard mentally pretty swiftly... ('Famous last words' of course!)

At the end of the day these players need to be performing otherwise they won't get into their national sides. I'm guessing Sulemena is due to be going to the AFCON in December? 

[Smirking_Saint]

30 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Well he's training with us so it's not like he's run off or refusing to train. 

I mean… he did at one point tbf

[hypochondriac]

1 minute ago, Smirking_Saint said:

I mean… he did at one point tbf

Maybe (I don't know) but he's not now and no hope of a transfer unless he fancies a stint in the middle east. 

[richardc]

43 minutes ago, John B said:

You make an interesting point about Che we do not know whether any club offered the asking price I doubt any did but he may well have gone if they had.

 

It will be interesting to see what happens to Che if we get promoted

I reckon we held on to Che to give time for Stewart to get fit then probably sell Che in Jan

Che could also assess in Jan whether we are likely to go up and if we are he might sign a new contract - if not move to PL

[AlexLaw76]

4 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Maybe (I don't know) but he's not now and no hope of a transfer unless he fancies a stint in the middle east. 

or Turkey?

[Southner]

15 minutes ago, richardc said:

I reckon we held on to Che to give time for Stewart to get fit then probably sell Che in Jan

Che could also assess in Jan whether we are likely to go up and if we are he might sign a new contract - if not move to PL

Will also allow him to assess how his potential PL suitors are performing, and whether they look destined for the Championship next season. 

[Lord Duckhunter]

16 minutes ago, Smirking_Saint said:

I mean… he did at one point tbf

I don’t understand why people are lumping him in with Che & KWP in the “brilliant we kept” bag. Che for all his faults has performed at various time over the years, and KWP has been very good for a long time. This Sully bloke has done fuck all except in a beer & skittles match, has been “injured “ this season and clearly doesn’t want to play for us.

Maybe he’ll knuckle down, play brilliantly to secure his African nations place, before tearing up the league. Or maybe he’ll do the bare minimum to stay fit, flatter to deceive & agitate for a move in Jan. I know which my monies on. 

[OldNick]

10 hours ago, CB Fry said:

I reckon KWP might stay now.

the CoT spot on again, the powers of these guys is remarkable ☺️

[Southner]

8 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

I don’t understand why people are lumping him in with Che & KWP in the “brilliant we kept” bag. Che for all his faults has performed at various time over the years, and KWP has been very good for a long time. This Sully bloke has done fuck all except in a beer & skittles match, has been “injured “ this season and clearly doesn’t want to play for us.

Maybe he’ll knuckle down, play brilliantly to secure his African nations place, before tearing up the league. Or maybe he’ll do the bare minimum to stay fit, flatter to deceive & agitate for a move in Jan. I know which my monies on. 

I like to think RM and co. feel they have the tools to talk him round and get him performing. If he is adamant he's 'injured'/doesn't want to be here, ala ABK, then you'd think we'd have tried sending him out on loan to recoup some wages at least/rid him from the dressing room?

Maybe we did but it wasn't reported?

Also, it always baffles me how often players will, like you say, do the bare minimum and flatter to deceive, but still expect a move to a bigger/better team/league. Not exactly an attractive characteristic, though appreciate it happens all too often. 

Edited 2 September, 2023 by Southner

[Patches O Houlihan]

7 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

I don’t understand why people are lumping him in with Che & KWP in the “brilliant we kept” bag. Che for all his faults has performed at various time over the years, and KWP has been very good for a long time. This Sully bloke has done fuck all except in a beer & skittles match, has been “injured “ this season and clearly doesn’t want to play for us.

Maybe he’ll knuckle down, play brilliantly to secure his African nations place, before tearing up the league. Or maybe he’ll do the bare minimum to stay fit, flatter to deceive & agitate for a move in Jan. I know which my monies on. 

Watch the last 90 seconds of this and tell me you don't want to watch Sully play in the Championship

 

[saintant]

1 hour ago, SW11_Saint said:

Have to say, on balance, that is a great window, one of the better ones I can recall. We’ve lost the players we expected to, plus a few we wanted to (still a few left it would have been good to offload). 

Whether by circumstance or design, keeping players like KWP, Che, Sulemana is incredible in this division. Let’s just hope the latter two keep their heads up and give their all (am sure Che will). if Sulemana can get in a positive headspace he will be devastating in this division. 
 

Then we’ve added a good mix of quality and experience in Downes, Charles, Harwood-Bellis, Manning, Holgate, Fraser, Stewart… top top work by Wilcox. 8/10. 

 

Regards Sulemana his future is in his own hands. He will get out of football what he puts in. If he decides to sulk and avoid the hard graft then clubs he aspires to go to will continue to ignore him. Conversely, if he gives his head a massive wobble and susses out that he will be more likely to get the move he wants by being the hardest working player at the club then his future is bright. The only place he can do his talking is on the football field so his ambition right now should be to get himself in the team and prove he's got what it takes. He should be knocking down RM's door telling him he wants to be playing week in week out. Do that and, strangely enough, there will be a long queue of top clubs seeking his signature. The ball really is in his court because I think he has the talent, it's the focus, drive and commitment that's missing.

[Smirking_Saint]

15 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

I don’t understand why people are lumping him in with Che & KWP in the “brilliant we kept” bag. Che for all his faults has performed at various time over the years, and KWP has been very good for a long time. This Sully bloke has done fuck all except in a beer & skittles match, has been “injured “ this season and clearly doesn’t want to play for us.

Maybe he’ll knuckle down, play brilliantly to secure his African nations place, before tearing up the league. Or maybe he’ll do the bare minimum to stay fit, flatter to deceive & agitate for a move in Jan. I know which my monies on. 

He’s a very good player thats why, above Championship level to be honest and I actually think he is a better player than Tella but we’ll see

His commitment does have to be questioned, he wanted out from the end of last year and even refused to train at one point, so realistically any gametime we get out of him at this point can only be counted as a bonus

[gio1saints]

12 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

Watch the last 90 seconds of this and tell me you don't want to watch Sully play in the Championship

 

Exactly. Makes defender look stationary. He looks fit to me. IF he is fit then he must be ready to play off the bench today. Would love him to come on last 15 or 20 and show what he’s all about on live TV. 

[saintant]

Fantastic transfer window both in terms of new players and ones we kept. It is great that RM now has plenty of options all over the field so suddenly he has loads of different choices. His job now is to fine tune the starting eleven from a very strong squad of players. Excited to see how we evolve over the next few weeks and months - we've needed the big reset in terms of management, coaches, DoF and players. A big shout out to JW who has clearly worked tirelessly in his efforts to get the club on track to where he and everyone else wants it to be. So far he looks to have been the acquisition who will prove to be the biggest game changer for Southampton FC.

[JRM]

1 hour ago, Block41 Saint said:

Fair play to the club, I was concerned after we sold Tella but we've ended the window with a really strong squad for the Championship. No excuses for not challenging for autos this year. 

Completely agree, got some good strength in depth that will be needed when midweek fixtures kick in. 

Have to say I think Leicester look good (is it 6 wins in a row for them at the moment) and Leeds have done some good business also holding onto Gnoto , always a couple of surprise teams in the championship so hard to predict but we should have enough for top 6. 

[OldNick]

10 hours ago, a1ex2001 said:

It’s fuckin pathetic we should stop wasting our money on these media studies grads and just announce players with a nice picture of them

holding a scarf in the ground like the good old days.

or the next day, just a paragraph on the back of the Echo with some grainy picture, 'Saints have just bought Gerry O'Brian from Clydebank for £25,000' none of the fanfares

[saintant]

3 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

Exactly. Makes defender look stationary. He looks fit to me. IF he is fit then he must be ready to play off the bench today. Would love him to come on last 15 or 20 and show what he’s all about on live TV. 

Couldn't get past KWP though 🙂

[Tamesaint]

6 minutes ago, OldNick said:

or the next day, just a paragraph on the back of the Echo with some grainy picture, 'Saints have just bought Gerry O'Brian from Clydebank for £25,000' none of the fanfares

I'm sure that Duckie agrees.😁

Edited 2 September, 2023 by Tamesaint

[whelk]

34 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

I don’t understand why people are lumping him in with Che & KWP in the “brilliant we kept” bag. Che for all his faults has performed at various time over the years, and KWP has been very good for a long time. This Sully bloke has done fuck all except in a beer & skittles match, has been “injured “ this season and clearly doesn’t want to play for us.

Maybe he’ll knuckle down, play brilliantly to secure his African nations place, before tearing up the league. Or maybe he’ll do the bare minimum to stay fit, flatter to deceive & agitate for a move in Jan. I know which my monies on. 

Is it all foreigners you don’t like?

[Baird of the land]

2 hours ago, Crab Lungs said:

I don’t ever remember seeing him play so I’ve done the usual YT watch.

OK, so… knowing that his only experience playing at this level was last season and we’d just spunked £10m+ on him I had to have a glimpse, see what all the fuss was about.

Whilst I do understand it’s only highlights and it’s mostly League One or SPFL stuff I’d encourage anyone to watch the highlights then compare them with an Onuanchu reel and then you understand why he’s cost what he’s cost. Literally no comparison. You’ll also be even more confused as to why we spent £18m on TP. 

Think of any Russell Martin vid vs the Nathan Jones training video. It’s that kind of difference.

Really looking forward to seeing him play for us.

One thing from the highlights reel is that he is no Le Tiss/Lambert from the spot.

[revolution saint]

1 hour ago, Hodgey said:

Sensible, strong window that even if some players don’t perform as we’d like - clear rationale and strategy behind it. On paper the squad should be challenging for automatic promotion which was the aim. 
Still a couple of question marks / worries - I’m not sold on our right attack - if Sulimana knuckles down (does he really want to be here?) he prefers the left. Stu or Aribo could also do a job there but it does look our weakest position. The other question is around Adams, I’m hoping his response is ‘I’m going to score a hatful then have my choice of clubs when I can sign a pre contract in Jan”.

Overall though hats off to Wilcox, Mowbray and RM - excellent job 

Yeah, I tend to agree on the right hand side of the attack.  In terms of squad harmony though it could be a good thing.  We've got Sam AA and Aribo who would put that position down as their preferred position but then you've also got Fraser, Sulemana, S Armstrong, A Armstrong, Edozie that could also play there.  Even Will Smallbone did when he first broke into the team.  It's going to be hard to keep everyone happy so having a position that doesn't have a nailed on first choice pick will allow Martin to give players a chance to play even if it's not their position of choice.

Fuck knows what we're going to do with Tall Paul, Djenepo and Bree - I don't see how they get in the squad let alone the team.

[Saint_clark]

4 minutes ago, revolution saint said:

Yeah, I tend to agree on the right hand side of the attack.  In terms of squad harmony though it could be a good thing.  We've got Sam AA and Aribo who would put that position down as their preferred position but then you've also got Fraser, Sulemana, S Armstrong, A Armstrong, Edozie that could also play there.  Even Will Smallbone did when he first broke into the team.  It's going to be hard to keep everyone happy so having a position that doesn't have a nailed on first choice pick will allow Martin to give players a chance to play even if it's not their position of choice.

Fuck knows what we're going to do with Tall Paul, Djenepo and Bree - I don't see how they get in the squad let alone the team.

Bree is our backup right back so he'll be involved this season without a doubt.

[revolution saint]

Just now, Saint_clark said:

Bree is our backup right back so he'll be involved this season without a doubt.

I reckon Holgate will probably cover that position more often than not.

[Baird of the land]

17 minutes ago, revolution saint said:

I reckon Holgate will probably cover that position more often than not.

Isn't Larios also an option for that side or am i misrembering

[Bad Wolf]

3 minutes ago, Baird of the land said:

Isn't Larios also an option for that side or am i misrembering

Yes, I believe he can play both sides.

[revolution saint]

2 minutes ago, Baird of the land said:

Isn't Larios also an option for that side or am i misrembering

Yeah, he can apparently play on the right too and that's kind of my point.  Players like Bree are at best looking at the subs bench but even then it's going to be unlikely they even make that.

[Master Bates]

What a night that was, bedding in the wash.

[Barsiem]

Interestingly article from the Echo showing every player we were linked with over the summer and what happened to them.

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/23744134.every-player-linked-southampton-actual-transfer/

*Patiently awaits a smart arse to point out a player they've missed*

[Master Bates]

The Pen is looking forward to any hands in January. If he's still alive with ink.

[OldNick]

Now the window has slammed shut I just have to thank the CoT for their hard work finding all those snippets to keep us informed. They deserve a decent rest, especially it must have been mad at HQ last night as they had told us about all the comings and goings there were going to be happening late on.

Must be exhausted, I know I was as I was trawling through all their clues to the many incomings and outgoings on the night.

I look forward to part 2 in January.

Seriously though, it has been fun playing their game and lightened up some dull days, thanks lads

[miserableoldgit]

12 hours ago, SotonianWill said:

 

some are taking this window worse than others

A Tweet that may be worth holding on to for future reference...

[miserableoldgit]

Can anyone point me in the direction of the Tweet that Saints put out, having a dig at Football Insider?

[Sheaf Saint]

32 minutes ago, revolution saint said:

Yeah, he can apparently play on the right too and that's kind of my point.  Players like Bree are at best looking at the subs bench but even then it's going to be unlikely they even make that.

He's on it today.