Summer Transfer Window 2025/26

[Smirking_Saint]

34 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

Nothing was for possessions sake. We scored a lot of goals and I will be surprised if we score as many this season, even if we're more successful. The possession was designed to break down defences and it worked, a lot. We won't be doing that this season so yes, I disagree with criticism of our last team in this division but 100% agree we need more resilience and we'll need people to be creative in a more stable system.

It was an ok system, based on a tactical model that has now been found to he outdated and even Pep is having to re invent himself

It, imo had positives and negatives, it allowed us to build up immense pressure on back lines that sat deep, but was, as we saw against better sides both in the. champ and prem, relatively easy to exploit if you had quick and effective counters

The point is, we’ll have to work hard to undo the auto mechanisms coached into players to make them look for safety before opportunity 

[Midfield_General]

14 minutes ago, redkeith said:

It is hard to say based on that wether he is an 8 or a 10

I don't think he's either. Wiki says he's a right winger who can also play as a 'forward'.

55 apps and 7 goals for Alavés. 

26 years old. Turned pro at 24. Something something Jamie Vardy 

Edited yesterday at 13:55 by Midfield_General

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

5 hours ago, Saint86 said:

There is a lot of business to be done, and again its after pre season. Which means we look to be on course to repeat 23/24, i.e., an unsettled august and dropped points.

Our last Championship start was unsettled but we got off to a flyer by beating Sheff Wed, Plymouth, QPR and a.n.other in August. If memory serves right, JWP and Tella played in early games before being sold on, so like you say, there's also a lot of business to be done this season and we could even see Fernandes, Dibling et al play a couple of games for us.

[MarkSFC]

Im beginning to think we will be far better than the general feeling is but this does depend on signing 4 or 5 players!!!

 

GOALKEEPERS 

NEW 1st Choice 🙏

Bazanu and AMC as 2nd choice is "ok" for EFL

LEFT-BACKS

Wellington - looks like will be good and 1st Choice

Manning - probabaly above average in EFL (below average for PL)

Taylor - good experience, don't think we've seen his best!

RIGHT-BACKS

Bree - decent enough for this league

Sugawara - again decent enough for EPL

If theres one in tbe Academy coming up then that will help, but Stephens can play in an emergency, as can Edwards probabaly.

CENTRE-BACKS

THB - Hopefully stays as has some great qualities and will still improve in a well functioning team.

Quarshie - who knows but looks like will be first choice?

Stephens - very surprised by the contract extension, but as 3rd or 4th choice is 'ok'. More reliable in short stints of games, 3-5 maybe, rather than 15-20!! Would be happy if we sell.

Wood - I think theres actually a player there. Shouldn't be 1st Choice yet but I think will be a decent 3rd/4th choice option this season. 

Sanda - hopefully a rough diamond

Edwards - theres certainly a player in there. Still young, but as very slightly shorter than THB, Quarshie, and Wood perhaps less favoured by WS? Maybe he'll turn into a DCM?

ABK- Please go

NEW 1st Choice 🙏

MIDFIELDERS

Charles - praying we don't sell. He will be the main man in tbe middle alongside Downes.

Downes - see above. Paramount we keep him too

Smallbone - Im not a fan. One or two good games does make up for the 5 or 6 that are then average or worse. Seems to be one of tbe worst players Ive seen as coming on as a sub, as appears not to be able to get up to the speed of the game quick enough. Happy to Sell.

NEW (YOUNG) DCM 🙏 - would be very pleased to see Lesley O back!!

Matteus Fernades - obviously off

Tyler Dibling - I think he'll end up staying and being a top player for us this season

Robinson - excited by this players potential

Fraser - not bothered whether we keep or get rid

Matsuki - dont know about him, but probabaly worth keeping until Jan at least to see how he goes, before maybe sending on loan 

NEW AM has been promised 🙏

FORWARDS

Downs - looks really exciting to me, think he will be the main man up top along with Archer!

Archer - with a more wing based system, I think Archer will be an important player for us, along with Downs

Stewart - I'd like him to stay and prove the doubters wrong, he clearly has an ability to perform very well in this league

Armstrong - probabaly keep, but if we sell, I hope its to the PL not the EFL as will make almost every other team stronger I'd predict. 

BBD - get rid

NEW 1st Choice Winger 🙏

New (early 20s) Striker 🙏

 

In summary we need 

1st Choices

GK, CB, AM, WINGER 

Young (early 20s ish)

DCM, Striker

Very realistic I think as we clearly have money. 

[Turkish]

4 hours ago, SWLondon Saint said:

Don't know why there are so many people panicking about the squad right now when it's been obvious for ages it's a pile of 💩 that will be difficult to sort out quickly. Of course Spors as the new guy is going to come in and say he'll sort it - that's just par for the course. I don't think he or Still when he joined would ever have thought 'Oh, we'll be able to shift all these and get in new, better players in a month flat.' like everyone on here seems to expect.

Yep. We’ve got massive squad full of shit players, we’ve had a few come back from loans on top of that so it was pretty obvious before many come were going to have to shift a few. Ramsdale was obviously going to go, they’ve done well shifting Onanchu and Sullemana so early got good money, Edozie will be gone soon and the expected departures of Ramsdale and Fernandes will happens sooner rather than later

We’ve signed two and Edwards and Charles have had good seasons in the championship will be that god awful expression of like new signings. 
 

you can’t just keep adding players to an already huge squad but deals will be lined up as soon as departures are confined 

[goodymatt]

21 minutes ago, redkeith said:

Saw him play in a 1 nil win for Alaves against Villareal.  

It was a real back to the walls job by Alaves ,  They had there keeper send off just after half time, and then a central midfield sent off at the start of 20 minutes of injury time. 

It is hard to say based on that wether he is an 8 or a 10 , but one thing that stood out was his work rate. When they went down to 9 men, Alaves resorted to a bank of 4 behind a bank of 3 with Vicente doing all of the pressing on his own.   

I would be very pleased if we signed him.  

A welcome scouting report, thank you.

[Farmer Saint]

5 hours ago, hypochondriac said:

I'm still a bit worried we might lose someone like Charles or Downes which means a position I thought we were sorted in will need strengthening. 

No PL team is buying either of them though.

[derry]

When it comes to good players that are valuable to us attracting big clubs at home or overseas the big scam is a loan with an option to purchase which never materialises. That way we lose a real asset and get little in return. If they're that good load up the fee and make it plain no timewasters, put up or push off.

[Fabrice29]

15 minutes ago, Smirking_Saint said:

It was an ok system, based on a tactical model that has now been found to he outdated and even Pep is having to re invent himself

It, imo had positives and negatives, it allowed us to build up immense pressure on back lines that sat deep, but was, as we saw against better sides both in the. champ and prem, relatively easy to exploit if you had quick and effective counters

The point is, we’ll have to work hard to undo the auto mechanisms coached into players to make them look for safety before opportunity 

I don't think we played safely at all and I'm pretty sure all the fans wetting themselves with nerves everytime we played out from the back would agree we were not looking for safety first.

30 minutes ago, SWLondon Saint said:

Sure, except that the top scoring team that season weren't playing a possession style like ours and had inferior players (Ipswich) and the 2nd highest scoring team were more pragmatic about possession, playing on the counter and pressing us in our box and absolutely tonked us to the tune of 8 goals or so?

 Right, whats your point here? Yes, we finished 4th. We were the 3rd highest scorers but we still scored a hell of a lot of goals for the Championship. Think last seasons 2nd highest top scorers scored 60 something maybe? Thats circa 20 less than we did. So our tactics that season quite literally meant we scored lots of goals (and conceded them obviously). This season we won't be so open so will need some players to step up.

[goodymatt]

Don’t get the outrage at loaning Ramsdale, it provides us with a possibility of having him back should we bounce straight back. Either he does well and we get a fee next summer or he returns. The ideal situation is we go up and he returns. In the meantime we are getting his wages paid and £4m which works out as a breakeven whilst we figure out where we will be. It does pose a challenge for this season, let’s judge that when the window has closed and we know who our number 1 is.

[SW11_Saint]

2 hours ago, OldNick said:

I dont think they are the difference, I still cant forget that miss by Brooks against cardiff !!

Plenty of our players are guilty of that! 

Without Matty we lack guile. Desperately need someone to fill that role and provide a creative spark. Too many of our midfielders are workers/pedestrian.

Brooks may not be the answer but he had a very good second half of the season at Bournemouth. 

[Smirking_Saint]

5 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

I don't think we played safely at all and I'm pretty sure all the fans wetting themselves with nerves everytime we played out from the back would agree we were not looking for safety first.

 Right, whats your point here? Yes, we finished 4th. We were the 3rd highest scorers but we still scored a hell of a lot of goals for the Championship. Think last seasons 2nd highest top scorers scored 60 something maybe? Thats circa 20 less than we did. So our tactics that season quite literally meant we scored lots of goals (and conceded them obviously). This season we won't be so open so will need some players to step up.

Probably a bad choice of words on my part because I agree we definitely weren’t safe… I should of said we played primarily to maintain possession first

[Saint86]

48 minutes ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

Our last Championship start was unsettled but we got off to a flyer by beating Sheff Wed, Plymouth, QPR and a.n.other in August. If memory serves right, JWP and Tella played in early games before being sold on, so like you say, there's also a lot of business to be done this season and we could even see Fernandes, Dibling et al play a couple of games for us.

Narrow wins over 3 of the weakest squads in the league (the 2 promoted sides and no pot to piss in QPR), and then a draw and crucial losses vs 3 promotion favourites in Sunderland (5-0), Leicester (4-1), and Ipswich (1-0). Plus a further defeat to boro who were expected to challenge at that stage of the season but weren't actually that good...

That is not a great start, I think its not really up for debate that it was down to the state of flux at the club at the time, and if the Ipswich and Leicester games in particular had been draws, we'd have had a 4 point swing on them both and likely got automatics - rather than having to play chase all season. We are sadly in danger of having a similarly unsettled start.

First 8 games, were W3 D1 L4, with a GD of -7, and out of the cup to Gillingham 😕. I'm just not having that as "off to a flyer". Albeit i acknowledge that wasn't just august.

Transfer wise that summer:
Tino left on 8th August.
Norwich home (12th August) - drew 4-4, a sign we were struggling imo. Tino, Lavia, JWP all don't play.
JWP left 14th August
Lavia  left 18th August
Plymouth away  (19th August) - Narrow 2-1 win vs weak side
QPR home (26th August) - Narrow 2-1 win vs weak side
Tella left 27th August
Perraud / Lyanco / ABK / Djenpo / Onuachu - 31st/1st August/September
Sunderland away (2nd September) - squad cohesion, strength, and morale depleted late into window, shit duly hits the proverbial as we get torn a new one by a depleted sunderland side full of academy grads!
 

Edited yesterday at 14:46 by Saint86

[skintsaint]

Fuck I forgot how dreadful that September was...

[goodymatt]

8 minutes ago, skintsaint said:

Fuck I forgot how dreadful that September was...

Let’s not repeat the trick, we have a derby to win!

[gio1saints]

2 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

I don't think we played safely at all and I'm pretty sure all the fans wetting themselves with nerves everytime we played out from the back would agree we were not looking for safety first.

 Right, whats your point here? Yes, we finished 4th. We were the 3rd highest scorers but we still scored a hell of a lot of goals for the Championship. Think last seasons 2nd highest top scorers scored 60 something maybe? Thats circa 20 less than we did. So our tactics that season quite literally meant we scored lots of goals (and conceded them obviously). This season we won't be so open so will need some players to step up.

@Fabrice29 you are wasting your breath attempting to give posters here evidence showing that our last Championship season, far from being a dark period in saints history show was  actually a free scoring success the line of which we rarely experience as long term supporters. 

The narrative is set in people’s minds that we were useless under RM. Because of last year. And nothing will dissuade them. Not even the gazillion goals we scored. And got promoted first time of asking. 

[SaintJackoInHurworth]

I think there are a lot of people panicking on here that may actually find that we do better than they expect. I'm not saying I don't want any incomings - we all want to see the squad being developed to become the strongest that it can be, BUT if we don't then I remain confident the squad will be competitive... unless of course all of our best players are sold and not replaced!

But where we find ourselves at this moment, I think we have a stronger squad than when we were in the Championship before:

Positn	Current Squad	2023-24 squad
GK	(Ramsdale), Bazunu, McCarthy	Bazunu, McCarthy, Lumley
FBs	Welington, Taylor, Sugawara, Manning, Bree	KWP, Manning, Bree, Larios
CBs	THB, Stephens, Edwards, Wood, Quarshie, Bella-Kotchap	Bednarek, Stephens, THB, Wood, Holgate
CMs	Downes, Charles, Smallbone, Aribo, Sesay	Downes, Smallbone, Aribo, Charles
AMs	Fernandes, Matsuki	S.Armstrong, Rothwell, Alcaraz (half a season)
Wings	Dibling, Robinson, A. Armstrong, Edozie, Fraser, Brereton-Diaz	A.Armstrong, Edozie, Fraser, Brookes, Amo-Ameyaw
Strikers	Downs, Archer, Stewart, Ballard	Adams, Mara, (Stewart)

It is also worth pointing out that just because a player was crap under certain managers last season in the Premier League does not mean that they are going to be crap this season under a different manager in the Championship.

Also, a lot of our players are young and developing. In theory that should mean that they will get better over time. That should give us reason to be less scathing about Smallbone, Charles, Edozie, Sugawara, Welington, Wood, Dibling, Archer, Bazunu, Edwards and others, some of whom seem to be the butt of a lot of criticism at times.

 

Edited yesterday at 15:37 by SaintJackoInHurworth
Forgot Sesay

[gio1saints]

53 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

Narrow wins over 3 of the weakest squads in the league (the 2 promoted sides and no pot to piss in QPR), and then a draw and crucial losses vs 3 promotion favourites in Sunderland (5-0), Leicester (4-1), and Ipswich (1-0). Plus a further defeat to boro who were expected to challenge at that stage of the season but weren't actually that good...

That is not a great start, I think its not really up for debate that it was down to the state of flux at the club at the time, and if the Ipswich and Leicester games in particular had been draws, we'd have had a 4 point swing on them both and likely got automatics - rather than having to play chase all season. We are sadly in danger of having a similarly unsettled start.

First 8 games, were W3 D1 L4, with a GD of -7, and out of the cup to Gillingham 😕. I'm just not having that as "off to a flyer". Albeit i acknowledge that wasn't just august.

Transfer wise that summer:
Tino left on 8th August.
Norwich home (12th August) - drew 4-4, a sign we were struggling imo. Tino, Lavia, JWP all don't play.
JWP left 14th August
Lavia  left 18th August
Plymouth away  (19th August) - Narrow 2-1 win vs weak side
QPR home (26th August) - Narrow 2-1 win vs weak side
Tella left 27th August
Perraud / Lyanco / ABK / Djenpo / Onuachu - 31st/1st August/September
Sunderland away (2nd September) - squad cohesion, strength, and morale depleted late into window, shit duly hits the proverbial as we get torn a new one by a depleted sunderland side full of academy grads!
 

Nice and timely history lesson! It was a BAD start. Maybe we should be grateful this time uf it’s simply not quite as bad. People underestimate the acclimatisation that’s required in the league in the squad and in the club. 

[Saint_lambden]

10 minutes ago, SaintJackoInHurworth said:

I think there are a lot of people panicking on here that may actually find that we do better than they expect. I'm not saying I don't want any incomings - we all want to see the squad being developed to become the strongest that it can be, BUT if we don't then I remain confident the squad will be competitive... unless of course all of our best players are sold and not replaced!

But where we find ourselves at this moment, I think we have a stronger squad than when we were in the Championship before:

Positn	Current Squad	2023-24 squad
GK	(Ramsdale), Bazunu, McCarthy	Bazunu, McCarthy, Lumley
FBs	Welington, Taylor, Sugawara, Manning, Bree	KWP, Manning, Bree, Larios
CBs	THB, Stephens, Edwards, Wood, Quarshie, Bella-Kotchap	Bednarek, Stephens, THB, Wood, Holgate
CMs	Downes, Smallbone, Aribo, Charles	Downes, Charles, Smallbone, Aribo
AMs	Fernandes, Matsuki	S.Armstrong, Rothwell, Alcaraz (half a season)
Wings	Dibling, Robinson, A. Armstrong, Edozie, Fraser, Brereton-Diaz	A.Armstrong, Edozie, Fraser, Brookes, Amo-Ameyaw
Strikers	Downs, Archer, Stewart, Ballard	Adams, Mara, (Stewart)

It is also worth pointing out that just because a player was crap under certain managers last season in the Premier League does not mean that they are going to be crap this season under a different manager in the Championship.

Also, a lot of our players are young and developing. In theory that should mean that they will get better over time. That should give us reason to be less scathing about Smallbone, Charles, Edozie, Sugawara, Welington, Wood, Dibling, Archer, Bazunu, Edwards and others, some of whom seem to be the butt of a lot of criticism at times.

 

I'd be adding Sesay in to the CM box - he's impressed a lot in his first few weeks. Too soon to be starting but I think we'll see him on the bench a lot, especially if (when) Aribo goes. 

Does bring him the glaring gaps in the number 10 role as well as quality/pace in wide areas. 

[Charlie Wayman]

2 hours ago, Smirking_Saint said:

It was an ok system, based on a tactical model that has now been found to he outdated and even Pep is having to re invent himself

It, imo had positives and negatives, it allowed us to build up immense pressure on back lines that sat deep, but was, as we saw against better sides both in the. champ and prem, relatively easy to exploit if you had quick and effective counters

The point is, we’ll have to work hard to undo the auto mechanisms coached into players to make them look for safety before opportunity 

Not if a lot of them have been moved on.

[Saint86]

1 hour ago, SaintJackoInHurworth said:

I think there are a lot of people panicking on here that may actually find that we do better than they expect. I'm not saying I don't want any incomings - we all want to see the squad being developed to become the strongest that it can be, BUT if we don't then I remain confident the squad will be competitive... unless of course all of our best players are sold and not replaced!

But where we find ourselves at this moment, I think we have a stronger squad than when we were in the Championship before:

Positn	Current Squad	2023-24 squad
GK	Bazunu, McCarthy,(Ramsdale),	Bazunu, McCarthy, Lumley
FBs	Welington, Taylor, Sugawara, Manning, Bree	KWP, Manning, Bree, Larios
CBs	THB, Stephens, Edwards, Wood, Quarshie, Sanda Bella-Kotchap	Bednarek, Stephens, THB, Wood, Holgate
CMs	Downes, Charles, Sesay Smallbone, Aribo,	Downes, Smallbone, Aribo, Charles
AMs	Matsuki, Fernandes	S.Armstrong, Rothwell, Alcaraz (half a season)
Wings	Robinson, A. Armstrong, Fraser, Brereton-Diaz, Edozie, Dibling,	A.Armstrong, Edozie, Fraser, Brookes, Amo-Ameyaw
Strikers	Downs, Archer, Stewart, Ballard	Adams, Mara, (Stewart)

Good table - its a nice way to look at it.

I think we're looking at something similar to the above re departures. Blue being ones that i think may depart (THB/Smallbone/Taylor), struck out are ones i think its very likely we will lose (Ramsdale, ABK, Aribo, fernandes, edozie, dibling, and i don't ballard has much time left with saints).

Attack / wings probably decent enough, although we lack natural wingers and will be relying on AA and BBD to do that role. CM lacks both cover and creativity for me - we do at least know we are trying to get one more creative central mid in (that would still leave us without cover).

I added back in Sanda in defence as i think he looks good from what i've seen.

[Farmer Saint]

1 hour ago, SaintJackoInHurworth said:

I think there are a lot of people panicking on here that may actually find that we do better than they expect. I'm not saying I don't want any incomings - we all want to see the squad being developed to become the strongest that it can be, BUT if we don't then I remain confident the squad will be competitive... unless of course all of our best players are sold and not replaced!

But where we find ourselves at this moment, I think we have a stronger squad than when we were in the Championship before:

Positn	Current Squad	2023-24 squad
GK	(Ramsdale), Bazunu, McCarthy	Bazunu, McCarthy, Lumley
FBs	Welington, Taylor, Sugawara, Manning, Bree	KWP, Manning, Bree, Larios
CBs	THB, Stephens, Edwards, Wood, Quarshie, Bella-Kotchap	Bednarek, Stephens, THB, Wood, Holgate
CMs	Downes, Charles, Smallbone, Aribo, Sesay	Downes, Smallbone, Aribo, Charles
AMs	Fernandes, Matsuki	S.Armstrong, Rothwell, Alcaraz (half a season)
Wings	Dibling, Robinson, A. Armstrong, Edozie, Fraser, Brereton-Diaz	A.Armstrong, Edozie, Fraser, Brookes, Amo-Ameyaw
Strikers	Downs, Archer, Stewart, Ballard	Adams, Mara, (Stewart)

It is also worth pointing out that just because a player was crap under certain managers last season in the Premier League does not mean that they are going to be crap this season under a different manager in the Championship.

Also, a lot of our players are young and developing. In theory that should mean that they will get better over time. That should give us reason to be less scathing about Smallbone, Charles, Edozie, Sugawara, Welington, Wood, Dibling, Archer, Bazunu, Edwards and others, some of whom seem to be the butt of a lot of criticism at times.

 

Good job, and I agree 💪 

[Suhari]

2 hours ago, skintsaint said:

Fuck I forgot how dreadful that September was...

I'm glad someone woke me up when it ended.

[trousers]

2 hours ago, SaintJackoInHurworth said:

I think there are a lot of people panicking on here that may actually find that we do better than they expect. I'm not saying I don't want any incomings - we all want to see the squad being developed to become the strongest that it can be, BUT if we don't then I remain confident the squad will be competitive... unless of course all of our best players are sold and not replaced!

But where we find ourselves at this moment, I think we have a stronger squad than when we were in the Championship before:

Positn	Current Squad	2023-24 squad
GK	(Ramsdale), Bazunu, McCarthy	Bazunu, McCarthy, Lumley
FBs	Welington, Taylor, Sugawara, Manning, Bree	KWP, Manning, Bree, Larios
CBs	THB, Stephens, Edwards, Wood, Quarshie, Bella-Kotchap	Bednarek, Stephens, THB, Wood, Holgate
CMs	Downes, Charles, Smallbone, Aribo, Sesay	Downes, Smallbone, Aribo, Charles
AMs	Fernandes, Matsuki	S.Armstrong, Rothwell, Alcaraz (half a season)
Wings	Dibling, Robinson, A. Armstrong, Edozie, Fraser, Brereton-Diaz	A.Armstrong, Edozie, Fraser, Brookes, Amo-Ameyaw
Strikers	Downs, Archer, Stewart, Ballard	Adams, Mara, (Stewart)

It is also worth pointing out that just because a player was crap under certain managers last season in the Premier League does not mean that they are going to be crap this season under a different manager in the Championship.

Also, a lot of our players are young and developing. In theory that should mean that they will get better over time. That should give us reason to be less scathing about Smallbone, Charles, Edozie, Sugawara, Welington, Wood, Dibling, Archer, Bazunu, Edwards and others, some of whom seem to be the butt of a lot of criticism at times.

 

As long we end the transfer window with one of the best two squads in the division then I'll be happy. That's it. I don't ask for much

[Matthew Le God]

Sonnie joins Kelvin's Eastleigh 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 17:34 by Matthew Le God

[SaintNewForest]

Surprised at that one. Sonnie was very open beforehand about not linking up with his dad because he didn't want any favours 🤣

[verlaine1979]

3 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

I’m not ‘missing the point’ but thanks for putting me straight.

The fundamental problem is that we're poor. Nothing else to it really.

[davefizzy14]

Good luck to Sonnie Davis who is linking up with his dad (Super Kelv)

[benjii]

2 hours ago, SaintJackoInHurworth said:

I think there are a lot of people panicking on here that may actually find that we do better than they expect. I'm not saying I don't want any incomings - we all want to see the squad being developed to become the strongest that it can be, BUT if we don't then I remain confident the squad will be competitive... unless of course all of our best players are sold and not replaced!

But where we find ourselves at this moment, I think we have a stronger squad than when we were in the Championship before:

Positn	Current Squad	2023-24 squad
GK	(Ramsdale), Bazunu, McCarthy	Bazunu, McCarthy, Lumley
FBs	Welington, Taylor, Sugawara, Manning, Bree	KWP, Manning, Bree, Larios
CBs	THB, Stephens, Edwards, Wood, Quarshie, Bella-Kotchap	Bednarek, Stephens, THB, Wood, Holgate
CMs	Downes, Charles, Smallbone, Aribo, Sesay	Downes, Smallbone, Aribo, Charles
AMs	Fernandes, Matsuki	S.Armstrong, Rothwell, Alcaraz (half a season)
Wings	Dibling, Robinson, A. Armstrong, Edozie, Fraser, Brereton-Diaz	A.Armstrong, Edozie, Fraser, Brookes, Amo-Ameyaw
Strikers	Downs, Archer, Stewart, Ballard	Adams, Mara, (Stewart)

It is also worth pointing out that just because a player was crap under certain managers last season in the Premier League does not mean that they are going to be crap this season under a different manager in the Championship.

Also, a lot of our players are young and developing. In theory that should mean that they will get better over time. That should give us reason to be less scathing about Smallbone, Charles, Edozie, Sugawara, Welington, Wood, Dibling, Archer, Bazunu, Edwards and others, some of whom seem to be the butt of a lot of criticism at times.

 

You forgot Cornet and Groenback. 

[coalman]

8 minutes ago, benjii said:

You forgot Cornet and Groenback. 

In his defence both were eminently forgettable.

[Midfield_General]

4 hours ago, Farmer Saint said:

No PL team is buying either of them though.

In the same way no PL teams were interested in Ramsdale? 🤔 

[SuperSAINT]

 

[gallaghert366@yahoo.com]

4 hours ago, MarkSFC said:

Im beginning to think we will be far better than the general feeling is but this does depend on signing 4 or 5 players!!!

 

GOALKEEPERS 

NEW 1st Choice 🙏

Bazanu and AMC as 2nd choice is "ok" for EFL

LEFT-BACKS

Wellington - looks like will be good and 1st Choice

Manning - probabaly above average in EFL (below average for PL)

Taylor - good experience, don't think we've seen his best!

RIGHT-BACKS

Bree - decent enough for this league

Sugawara - again decent enough for EPL

If theres one in tbe Academy coming up then that will help, but Stephens can play in an emergency, as can Edwards probabaly.

CENTRE-BACKS

THB - Hopefully stays as has some great qualities and will still improve in a well functioning team.

Quarshie - who knows but looks like will be first choice?

Stephens - very surprised by the contract extension, but as 3rd or 4th choice is 'ok'. More reliable in short stints of games, 3-5 maybe, rather than 15-20!! Would be happy if we sell.

Wood - I think theres actually a player there. Shouldn't be 1st Choice yet but I think will be a decent 3rd/4th choice option this season. 

Sanda - hopefully a rough diamond

Edwards - theres certainly a player in there. Still young, but as very slightly shorter than THB, Quarshie, and Wood perhaps less favoured by WS? Maybe he'll turn into a DCM?

ABK- Please go

NEW 1st Choice 🙏

MIDFIELDERS

Charles - praying we don't sell. He will be the main man in tbe middle alongside Downes.

Downes - see above. Paramount we keep him too

Smallbone - Im not a fan. One or two good games does make up for the 5 or 6 that are then average or worse. Seems to be one of tbe worst players Ive seen as coming on as a sub, as appears not to be able to get up to the speed of the game quick enough. Happy to Sell.

NEW (YOUNG) DCM 🙏 - would be very pleased to see Lesley O back!!

Matteus Fernades - obviously off

Tyler Dibling - I think he'll end up staying and being a top player for us this season

Robinson - excited by this players potential

Fraser - not bothered whether we keep or get rid

Matsuki - dont know about him, but probabaly worth keeping until Jan at least to see how he goes, before maybe sending on loan 

NEW AM has been promised 🙏

FORWARDS

Downs - looks really exciting to me, think he will be the main man up top along with Archer!

Archer - with a more wing based system, I think Archer will be an important player for us, along with Downs

Stewart - I'd like him to stay and prove the doubters wrong, he clearly has an ability to perform very well in this league

Armstrong - probabaly keep, but if we sell, I hope its to the PL not the EFL as will make almost every other team stronger I'd predict. 

BBD - get rid

NEW 1st Choice Winger 🙏

New (early 20s) Striker 🙏

 

In summary we need 

1st Choices

GK, CB, AM, WINGER 

Young (early 20s ish)

DCM, Striker

Very realistic I think as we clearly have money. 

What mind altering substances are you ingesting

[Harry_SFC]

2 minutes ago, SuperSAINT said:

 

If they can get it to £35-£40m I'd take that. Two years left and clearly not signing a new deal. 

[Saint_lambden]

6 minutes ago, SuperSAINT said:

 

£40m will do it. 

[SuperSAINT]

 

[SuperSAINT]

1 minute ago, Saint_lambden said:

£40m will do it. 

Wonder if anyone other than Everton fancies stumping up anywhere near that much 

[Convict Colony]

3 minutes ago, SuperSAINT said:

 

Would take 35m all day everyday

[sfc4prem]

Just now, Convict Colony said:

Would take 35m all day everyday

Agreed. 35 a decent return. Sure he'll do well in the long run.

[hypochondriac]

35 with addons I'd probably take. Unfortunately does mean we are quite close to the scenario where the big four may all be off this summer. Ramsdale and Dibling possibly going, Fernandes definitely off and just THB to go. 

[Saint Scott]

Everton 😂

You couldn't hack it in London Tyler, let alone Liverpool...

 

[Wade Garrett]

2 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

Would take 35m all day everyday

Shame if he goes.  I think a season in the Championship could have been good for him.

If we get £40m, we’ll probably buy 8 £5m players with the money.  

[Convict Colony]

Just now, Wade Garrett said:

Shame if he goes.  I think a season in the Championship could have been good for him.

If we get £40m, we’ll probably buy 8 £5m players with the money.  

8 quarshie's !!! Sign me up

[SuperSAINT]

1 minute ago, Convict Colony said:

8 quarshie's !!! Sign me up

Spors’ gang of recruitment Avengers better have some gems lined up at this rate.

[Harry_SFC]

13 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

Would take 35m all day everyday

People will moan but that's £35m of pure profit. Very good for PSR. At the end of the day the longer he stays the less leverage we have. Assuming he wants to leave, we can't afford to keep him this season then sell him next summer. We'd probably only get peanuts for him, especially if we don't go up.

Edited yesterday at 19:09 by Harry_SFC

[Farmer Saint]

1 hour ago, benjii said:

You forgot Cornet and Groenback. 

They weren't with us in 2023-2024.

[Farmer Saint]

26 minutes ago, SuperSAINT said:

 

Only Everton (hmmm, maybe Chelsea) would be stupid enough to spend £35m on a player who suffers like he does...

[Convict Colony]

3 minutes ago, Harry_SFC said:

People will moan but that's £35m of pure profit. Very good for PSR. At the end of the day the longer he stays the less leverage we have. Assuming he wants to leave, we can't afford to keep him this season then sell him next summer. We'd probably only get peanuts for him, especially if we don't go up.

Similar price as mane which shows how crazy inflation is 

[SWLondon Saint]

If he's not going to sign a new contract, then I think 35-40 is probably about as good as it gets. Still be a bit surprised anyone in the PL is willing to stump up that much tbh, I don't think he's a sure thing partly because he needs game time and probably careful management. He can't be relied on to be a game-changer every week at PL level yet, and that's generally what you expect at that price.

[ErwinK1961]

Does feel a shame when an academy product goes before we see the best of them, but £35m+ would probably be a good deal.

Not signing a new contract, not convinced his heart was in it after Martin left. Will be interesting to see if he fulfils his potential or if he drifts off into obscurity.