Summer Transfer Window 2025/26

[Farmer Saint]

4 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

you posted several comments that indicated that the club were not happy we went up and would have preferred we didn't. You can walk it back now, but you did.

Literally never said that. Find those posts and I will relent, but otherwise I'm calling bullshit.

[hypochondriac]

Just now, Farmer Saint said:

But I didn't say that.

I can't be bothered to trawl back months to the start of last year but if you had simply said that the club thought it likely that we might go down again and had made some signings with that in mind then it would have been an entirely non controversial statement that no one would have disagreed with. The fact that so many people took issue with what you said at the time is an indication that that isn't what you said. 

[Rebel]

14 hours ago, coalman said:

It was pretty heartbreaking watching Downes get overrun every game this season. None of the three managers seemed to want to set up with a midfield that might be able to control the middle of the park. We got away with playing attacking midfielders in CDM roles in the Championship (just). One of the downsides of the 5 at the back we kept insisting on which left us light everywhere else. Then our ball watching central defenders and walking football midfielders would watch the attackers breaking from midfield sprint past them and score. Over and over again. I think we'd have seen a different player with the right people beside him.

I think the problem was in the Championship Downes is capable of playing as a 6 or defensive midfielder but also  acting as a playmaker and getting forward - but in the Premier League he was really only capable of being an 8 or box-to-box midfielder.

He lacked the physicality and was overwhelmed by the quality and physicality in the premier league midfields we came up against.

We really needed a CDM to play alongside him - and should always have played 2 in central midfield. 

[CB Fry]

7 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

I know you like to think you're clever, but you're clearly not as clever as you like to think you are. I have explained all this before to you in the simplest way I possible could - go back and read it and stop trying to be the forum enforcer that you think you are 😂

Those are the players you mean though right?

Which signings were made (a lot, according to you) were made based on us going down.

You must mean those players I named, right? Because they were our main signings.

 

[Wade Garrett]

4 hours ago, hypochondriac said:

Curious to know why not. Didn't we get 60 for Lavia? It's just being realistic. 

Not really.  Arsenal are paying £59m for Zubimendi.  Fernandes is nowhere near his value.

[Farmer Saint]

2 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

I can't be bothered to trawl back months to the start of last year but if you had simply said that the club thought it likely that we might go down again and had made some signings with that in mind then it would have been an entirely non controversial statement that no one would have disagreed with. The fact that so many people took issue with what you said at the time is an indication that that isn't what you said. 

Here's a relevant part of one of my posts from last November:

"Secondly, you're thinking about this too simplisticly - yes it is a trait of yours - but even you should be able to see that we invested in players who we thought could do a job in the Premier League BUT would be unlikely to leave us next season if we went back down. The club knew that the likelihood was we'd get relegated, so why not build a strong core of players that we can use next season in the Championship - they will have played together for a season and will obviously know each others games far better. It would make us far stronger for when we come back up (not definite, but you would certainly aspire to judging by Ankersen's philosophy). They are for the most part young, and one thing we tend to know about young players is (a) they tend to be on smaller wages and (b) they tend to get better as their careers evolve. If we stayed up then great, but also if we went down we'd still be within PSR guidelines and we'd have an as strong, or stronger team than the one we got promoted with last time. Ramsdale was an exception, but we know (as does he) if we go down we will sell him and get our money back. I probably don't need to remind you that purchases are amortised over the contract years, but sales count against that year of PSR, giving us greater headroom next season when he is sold."

[Farmer Saint]

11 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Those are the players you mean though right?

Which signings were made (a lot, according to you) were made based on us going down.

You must mean those players I named, right? Because they were our main signings.

 

Here is one of my responses from last year for you, but yes, those players (apart from Ramsdale who was needed to at least give us a chance - not that it helped):

Secondly, you're thinking about this too simplisticly - yes it is a trait of yours - but even you should be able to see that we invested in players who we thought could do a job in the Premier League BUT would be unlikely to leave us next season if we went back down. The club probably knew that the likelihood was we'd get relegated, so why not build a strong core of players that we can use next season in the Championship - they will have played together for a season and will obviously know each others games far better. It would make us far stronger for when we come back up (not definite, but you would certainly aspire to judging by Ankersen's philosophy). They are for the most part young, and one thing we tend to know about young players is (a) they tend to be on smaller wages and (b) they tend to get better as their careers evolve. If we stayed up then great, but also if we went down we'd still be within PSR guidelines and we'd have an as strong, or stronger team than the one we got promoted with last time. Ramsdale was an exception, but we know (as does he) if we go down we will sell him and get our money back. I probably don't need to remind you that purchases are amortised over the contract years, but sales count against that year of PSR, giving us greater headroom next season when he is sold.

Edited Wednesday at 09:07 by Farmer Saint

[CB Fry]

5 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

Here is one of my responses from last year for you, but yes, those players (apart from Ramsdale who was needed to at least give us a chance - not that it helped):

Secondly, you're thinking about this too simplisticly - yes it is a trait of yours - but even you should be able to see that we invested in players who we thought could do a job in the Premier League BUT would be unlikely to leave us next season if we went back down. The club probably knew that the likelihood was we'd get relegated, so why not build a strong core of players that we can use next season in the Championship - they will have played together for a season and will obviously know each others games far better. It would make us far stronger for when we come back up (not definite, but you would certainly aspire to judging by Ankersen's philosophy). They are for the most part young, and one thing we tend to know about young players is (a) they tend to be on smaller wages and (b) they tend to get better as their careers evolve. If we stayed up then great, but also if we went down we'd still be within PSR guidelines and we'd have an as strong, or stronger team than the one we got promoted with last time. Ramsdale was an exception, but we know (as does he) if we go down we will sell him and get our money back. I probably don't need to remind you that purchases are amortised over the contract years, but sales count against that year of PSR, giving us greater headroom next season when he is sold.

Ok, im sure whatever that is is fine for you

But please name the players that we signed that were signed "based on us going down".

You've been proved right so should be easy to name them.

[Dman]

5 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Ok, im sure whatever that is is fine for you

But please name the players that we signed that were signed "based on us going down".

You've been proved right so should be easy to name them.

The only one you could maybe argue a case for is Wood. But even then, he was a bargain, Martins mate and one we wanted the season before... 

 

[LeBizzier69]

Matty doesn't strike me as the type of player to chuck his toys out the pram, so we should be giving him as much and reach arounds as he needs to want to stay here. Build the team around him, ask him to give us a season to get back up and if we don't he can go....for the right fee.

He's the only player i'm bothered about keeping to be honest, he could absolutely tear the championship a new one with the right strike force ahead of him. And i'll miss singing his song if he goes too. As will my daughter.

[Master Bates]

38 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

you posted several comments that indicated that the club were not happy we went up and would have preferred we didn't. You can walk it back now, but you did.

That was me, I think I said it twice in about 9 months.

Edited Wednesday at 09:22 by Master Bates

[CB Fry]

2 minutes ago, Dman said:

The only one you could maybe argue a case for is Wood. But even then, he was a bargain, Martins mate and one we wanted the season before... 

 

Wood and Edwards everyone thought they were signed for that reason year ago. Wood at best was 100% back up in the Prem. So they do not justify Farmer's open top bus ride of being proved right.

[Farmer Saint]

6 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Ok, im sure whatever that is is fine for you

But please name the players that we signed that were signed "based on us going down".

You've been proved right so should be easy to name them.

- Archer (only ever played well in the Championship)

- BBD (only ever played well in the Championship)

- Edwards (only played in L1 and below)

- Wood (only played in Championship)

- Fernandes (young but forced himself into the first team and now he's going to get a move - and good for him).

Downes and THB we had to sign to stand still and provide that core strength. Ramsdale was effectively a loan as we know he's re-sellable for a similar amount.

[AlexLaw76]

That is all well and good if we retain said core of players to bounce back.

BBD? Archer? Fernandes? Taylor? Cornet? Ramsdale? Edwards? Gronbaek?  Sugawara? Wellington?

[Farmer Saint]

5 minutes ago, Master Bates said:

That was me, I think I said it twice in about 9 months.

Thank you - he's been spinning this lie for ages.

[gio1saints]

If what @Farmer Saintis so eloquently stating is true then the logical deduction is that, far from being feckless useless fools, SR are, in fact, gaming the system and not inexpertly either.  And this season might see first flowers blooming from that. 

One might also deduce , if premise is true, that they believe navigating the hinterland between Championship and EPL can be a profitable enterprise in the medium to longer term. And they mean to reap that profit - in that relatively unheralded market, for investors. 

Furthermore, that this profitability ( or economically sustainable if you prefer)  is relatively unreliant upon Saints being anything more than just good enough to go up every now and again. 
 

it’s NOT about actually winning the league or getting into Europe or a cup - those are all once in a lifetime bonuses- it’s about making a reliably consistent profit from the business of football. 

[redkeith]

36 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

Not really.  Arsenal are paying £59m for Zubimendi.  Fernandes is nowhere near his value.

Apples and Pears really. Yes Zubimendi is a much better player than Fernandes, although Fernandes is more attacking, which adds a premium. 

Zubimendi is a £59m player because that is the release clause in his contract. On an open market he would be worth much more.  Zubimendi is a great player, who as gone under the radar as Rodri plays that role for Spain. I was lucky enough to see him 4 times that season, before he came on and announced himself in the Euros final. 

There was a simillar arguement on  SaintsMarching or some similar bad website saying that Saints would get less than they  wanted for Dibling because Delap only went for £30m, ignoring the fact that Delap also had a release clause.

Not sure what offers Saints will get for him .  I would be disappointed if they don't get him to meet with Still before they evaluate any offers. A yeat in the championship would give Saints a chance to build a team around him. 

[Dman]

34 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

- Archer (only ever played well in the Championship)

- BBD (only ever played well in the Championship)

- Edwards (only played in L1 and below)

- Wood (only played in Championship)

- Fernandes (young but forced himself into the first team and now he's going to get a move - and good for him).

Downes and THB we had to sign to stand still and provide that core strength. Ramsdale was effectively a loan as we know he's re-sellable for a similar amount.

Archer - clearly (at least) our second choice behind Delap. Come off the back of a season in the PL and signed for £15. Clearly a bad buy in hindsight, but one we obviously thought had potential. 

BBD - looked a smart purchase at the time, again off the back of half a season in the PL where he actually done alright, after some time in La Liga. At the time of purchase, not the sort of player who would have gone to a championship club. 

Edwards - young, potential, cheap. A no brainer. 

Wood - cheap, knew Martins style of play. 

Just because the transfers didn't pay off, doesn't mean they were signed because we we intent on going down.. its just bad business. 

We were probably looking for value for money after spunking £40m on TP and Sulemana only a season before.. once bitten twice shy. 

[CB Fry]

36 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

- Archer (only ever played well in the Championship)

- BBD (only ever played well in the Championship)

- Edwards (only played in L1 and below)

- Wood (only played in Championship)

- Fernandes (young but forced himself into the first team and now he's going to get a move - and good for him).

Downes and THB we had to sign to stand still and provide that core strength. Ramsdale was effectively a loan as we know he's re-sellable for a similar amount.

Fucking hell you've proved me wrong and no mistake.

Pretending we spent £15m on Fernandes who "forced himself into the first team" out of nowhere. What a load of bollocks. Obviously a front line signing.

BBD had scored goals in the previous season in the Premier League for aclub like us. So bollocks again.

Some bollocks about Ramsdale. We signed him, we did not loan him.

Edwards and Wood to pad out the list.

It's not looking great for your proven right victory lap is it?

 

[trousers]

Someone give Farmer the 'told you do' medal he craves, FFS.

😉

[Farmer Saint]

1 minute ago, Dman said:

Archer - clearly (at least) our second choice behind Delap. Come off the back of a season in the PL and signed for £15. Clearly a bad buy in hindsight, but one we obviously thought had potential. 

BBD - looked a smart purchase at the time, again off the back of half a season in the PL where he actually done alright, after some time in La Liga. At the time of purchase, not the sort of player who would have gone to a championship club. 

Edwards - young, potential, cheap. A no brainer. 

Wood - cheap, knew Martins style of play. 

Just because the transfers didn't pay off, doesn't mean they were signed because we we intent on going down.. its just bad business. 

We were probably looking for value for money after spunking £40m on TP and Sulemana only a season before.. once bitten twice shy. 

BBD utterly failed at Villarreal, he wasn't going to any other PL team apart from promoted teams, and that is with one eye to a relegation to a division in which he has previously done well.

Yep, Delap, another young Championship striker and a bit of an unknown. Potential to get better and grow with the club irrespective of the division. Sounds like the same kind of player.

This isn't hindsight by the way, I was saying this last year, hence why all the animosity towards me from the usual suspects.

[Farmer Saint]

2 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Fucking hell you've proved me wrong and no mistake.

Pretending we spent £15m on Fernandes who "forced himself into the first team" out of nowhere. What a load of bollocks. Obviously a front line signing.

BBD had scored goals in the previous season in the Premier League for aclub like us. So bollocks again.

Some bollocks about Ramsdale. We signed him, we did not loan him.

Edwards and Wood to pad out the list.

It's not looking great for your proven right victory lap is it?

 

You asked, I answered. I think we just disagree on the above then? There's no victory lap here, what I said was going to happen, has happened.

You can keep arguing, spinning lies of what I supposedly said without any evidence, it really doesn't matter to me. You do you.

[Farmer Saint]

6 minutes ago, trousers said:

Someone give Farmer the 'told you do' medal he craves, FFS.

😉

An apology would be fine.

Edited Wednesday at 10:16 by Farmer Saint

[Dman]

7 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

BBD utterly failed at Villarreal, he wasn't going to any other PL team apart from promoted teams, and that is with one eye to a relegation to a division in which he has previously done well.

Yep, Delap, another young Championship striker and a bit of an unknown. Potential to get better and grow with the club irrespective of the division. Sounds like the same kind of player.

This isn't hindsight by the way, I was saying this last year, hence why all the animosity towards me from the usual suspects.

Did we have 1 eye on relegation when we signed, Tino, Lavia etc. despite being a established lower mid-table PL side? Or do you think that it could possibly be our business model to sign, what they see as, "value for money". Some work, like Tino, Lavia, Fernandes some don't like Bazunu, Archer, BBD. 

Im not really sure what your point you're trying to make. 

After wasting big money the last time round, the club were never going to go out and spunk big sums on a couple of players. 

[CB Fry]

12 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

You asked, I answered. I think we just disagree on the above then? There's no victory lap here, what I said was going to happen, has happened.

You can keep arguing, spinning lies of what I supposedly said without any evidence, it really doesn't matter to me. You do you.

You have comprehensively failed to prove your point, so well done.

Matty Fernandes who we signed because we only want him to play in the championship has forced himself into the Prem first team and ruined our plans. What a load of shit.

Edited Wednesday at 10:28 by CB Fry

[Farmer Saint]

2 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

You have comprehensively failed to prove your point, so well done.

Matty Fernandes who we signed because we only want him to play in the championship has forced himself into the Prem first team and ruined our plans. What a load of shit.

Again, I point you back to my previous post - perhaps you should read it:

"They are for the most part young, and one thing we tend to know about young players is (a) they tend to be on smaller wages and (b) they tend to get better as their careers evolve. If we stayed up then great, but also if we went down we'd still be within PSR guidelines and we'd have an as strong, or stronger team than the one we got promoted with last time."

[hypochondriac]

1 hour ago, Wade Garrett said:

Not really.  Arsenal are paying £59m for Zubimendi.  Fernandes is nowhere near his value.

Was Lavia? If I had to guess I'd say we'd get 40 for him. 

Edited Wednesday at 10:37 by hypochondriac

[Forester]

Meanwhile to move on from the row, I for one am still of the opinion that this window is primarily about retention, but perhaps move say eight on and bring three or four in to reduce squad size.  I have already factored in loans returning.

Rambo (wages), ABK (desire), KWP and Lumley (contract), Dibbling (money, assuming someone is daft enough to offer £50 million), Kamaldeen (desire), Tall Paul and Larios (fitness).

Unlike many on here I will be perfectly happy to retain all others as the championship is a different beast, and I include the usual targets of boo boys like BBD, Stephens, Armstrong and Smallbone.

Assuming my exit list is broadly accurate, and given we have already signed a centre back, I am still looking for a physical defensive midfielder and another winger.

In my opinion this would be more than enough, if well coached, to make top six and allows further spend in January for a final push dependent on where injuries threaten.  

[hypochondriac]

1 hour ago, Farmer Saint said:

- Archer (only ever played well in the Championship)

- BBD (only ever played well in the Championship)

- Edwards (only played in L1 and below)

- Wood (only played in Championship)

- Fernandes (young but forced himself into the first team and now he's going to get a move - and good for him).

Downes and THB we had to sign to stand still and provide that core strength. Ramsdale was effectively a loan as we know he's re-sellable for a similar amount.

Which players will have played together for a season and be unlikely to leave us? Wood was backup and hardly played, Edwards didn't play, BBD played a handful of times and then left. Only Archer is a possible from your list and even then he had performed well in the prem with a reasonable goals to minutes played ratio in a relegated team and was never settled in our team. So one player possibly meets your criteria of young player unlikely to leave who has played together with his other team mates. 

By all accounts, we only signed BBD because Delap turned us down and there's not a chance we were signing him for the championship this year. 

Edited Wednesday at 10:43 by hypochondriac

[hypochondriac]

Caus

35 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

BBD utterly failed at Villarreal, he wasn't going to any other PL team apart from promoted teams, and that is with one eye to a relegation to a division in which he has previously done well.

Yep, Delap, another young Championship striker and a bit of an unknown. Potential to get better and grow with the club irrespective of the division. Sounds like the same kind of player.

This isn't hindsight by the way, I was saying this last year, hence why all the animosity towards me from the usual suspects.

Absolutely insane that you thought there was a chance we would sign Delap and then he'd stay if we got relegated. 

[Farmer Saint]

12 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Caus

Absolutely insane that you thought there was a chance we would sign Delap and then he'd stay if we got relegated. 

Surely it depends how he did, doesn't it? If he did a BBD and flopped (who CB Fry thinks is a PL player) then he probably would, wouldn't he. He had a great season though, and fair play to the lad, but let's not make him out to be a world beater when we were looking to sign him - many people on this forum were massively underwhelmed that we were even considering him.

Edited Wednesday at 10:59 by Farmer Saint

[hypochondriac]

17 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

Surely it depends how he did, doesn't it? If he did a BBD and flopped (who CB Fry thinks is a PL player) then he probably would, wouldn't he. He had a great season though, and fair play to the lad, but let's not make him out to be a world beater when we were looking to sign him - many people on this forum were massively underwhelmed that we were even considering him.

I don't remember people being underwhelmed. There was every indication that he was going to be a success. You could literally say about any player we sign that we would be stuck with them in the league below if they are crap, the point is we clearly were looking to make some signings to attempt to stay up rather than simply looking to sign players for the following season in the championship after having played together for a season. We know this primarily because most of the players next season will either have not been played much at all last year or will be sold so we won't benefit from them.

Edwards and wood may well have been signed for the squad and to possibly utilise them this season but both barely played last year. Beyond that there's arguments that all other players had a reasonable track record of performance in the prem albeit some with relegated teams. 

[danjosaint]

2 hours ago, Farmer Saint said:

- Archer (only ever played well in the Championship)

- BBD (only ever played well in the Championship)

- Edwards (only played in L1 and below)

- Wood (only played in Championship)

- Fernandes (young but forced himself into the first team and now he's going to get a move - and good for him).

Downes and THB we had to sign to stand still and provide that core strength. Ramsdale was effectively a loan as we know he's re-sellable for a similar amount.

Did Edwards not play in championship for Peterborough for 1 season 

[CB Fry]

58 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

Surely it depends how he did, doesn't it? If he did a BBD and flopped (who CB Fry thinks is a PL player) then he probably would, wouldn't he. He had a great season though, and fair play to the lad, but let's not make him out to be a world beater when we were looking to sign him - many people on this forum were massively underwhelmed that we were even considering him.

I said he scored goals in the Prem for a club much like us in the season immediately before we signed him. Which is true, he did, and that was a huge reason we signed him.

We did not sign him because we knew we'd get relegated, we signed him with a hope he could repeat what he did in half a season at SUFC in a full season for us.

The thing you are saying you have been proved correct about doesn't stand up to the slightlest interrogation. Dry your eyes and move on.

[CB Fry]

53 minutes ago, danjosaint said:

Did Edwards not play in championship for Peterborough for 1 season 

34 apps in the Championship when he must have been 19 or so. Pretty decent.

[Saint86]

16 hours ago, CB Fry said:

Even a year ago it felt like Ronnie Edwards was signed for the exact situation we find ourselves in now.

Yes - and tbf that point was said a lot on here as well.

I was listening to the Second Tier podcast from a couple of weeks ago. They were raving about Ipswich, and saying how their business last summer was specifically geared to replace their league 1 players with a championship dream team for this season - on the basis that they would get relegated and need to go again.

In some ways (and i don't think its by design), our business has worked out like that - Edozie, Charles, Edwards, THB, Downes all look to be quality players for this season coming. We still have Armstrong who was the best attacker in the champ last time out (and who can certainly play high energy pressing football - Hassenhuttle signed him at the end of the day). And tbh, i personally think players like Bree and Manning and smallbone are good enough to be the weaker starting 11 / squad players in our side (and we will blatantly strengthen in general vs all of the above as starting 11... If we somehow keep Ramsdale and one of dibling/fernandes i think we'll be sorted for automatics personally.

Edited Wednesday at 13:22 by Saint86

[Saint86]

12 hours ago, chivvy said:

Has he potential for CDM cover for Charles ? Will Still likes adaptable players. The Height for centre back will always trouble me until I see him play.

Charles was one of the best CMs in the league last season. We aren't putting a very competent and promising CB in CDM to replace him.

[Saint86]

4 hours ago, CB Fry said:

Be brilliant to see all of those players stepping out to play for us in the Championship next season won't it. All of them. Because they definitely will won't they? Because Farmer said that's why we bought them. 

If this was true, Saints' wouldn't have sacked Martin - the key figure in implementing that strategy and signing the players 😅

Edited Wednesday at 13:13 by Saint86

[Chez]

3 hours ago, Farmer Saint said:

Here is one of my responses from last year for you, but yes, those players (apart from Ramsdale who was needed to at least give us a chance - not that it helped):

Secondly, you're thinking about this too simplisticly - yes it is a trait of yours - but even you should be able to see that we invested in players who we thought could do a job in the Premier League BUT would be unlikely to leave us next season if we went back down. The club probably knew that the likelihood was we'd get relegated, so why not build a strong core of players that we can use next season in the Championship - they will have played together for a season and will obviously know each others games far better. It would make us far stronger for when we come back up (not definite, but you would certainly aspire to judging by Ankersen's philosophy). They are for the most part young, and one thing we tend to know about young players is (a) they tend to be on smaller wages and (b) they tend to get better as their careers evolve. If we stayed up then great, but also if we went down we'd still be within PSR guidelines and we'd have an as strong, or stronger team than the one we got promoted with last time. Ramsdale was an exception, but we know (as does he) if we go down we will sell him and get our money back. I probably don't need to remind you that purchases are amortised over the contract years, but sales count against that year of PSR, giving us greater headroom next season when he is sold.

Are you saying we chose to sign worse players than were available to us because we were worried that those `better' players might depart this summer?

[danjosaint]

1 hour ago, CB Fry said:

34 apps in the Championship when he must have been 19 or so. Pretty decent.

But apparently he only played L1 and below 

[malcolm waldron]

2 hours ago, Farmer Saint said:

Surely it depends how he did, doesn't it? If he did a BBD and flopped (who CB Fry thinks is a PL player) then he probably would, wouldn't he. He had a great season though, and fair play to the lad, but let's not make him out to be a world beater when we were looking to sign him - many people on this forum were massively underwhelmed that we were even considering him.

I forget about this phase of the summer every year.  I come on here to get some good news (I hope) about transfer deals and possible deals, only to find it's been taken over by people trying to prove points about being right 12 months ago.....

[Holmes_and_Watson]

1 hour ago, Saint86 said:

If this was true, Saints' wouldn't have sacked Martin - the key figure in implementing that strategy and signing the players 😅

This would help explain why he, and the likes of Downes were so disappointed.

Martin said something along the lines of thinking he would get longer. Partly because, in his mind, they weren't far away. But also because they knew it would be a struggle, and were looking to build.

It was the nature and frequency of the defeats that did for him. If we're giving it a plucky relegation scrap, he might still be here. There's an element of SR not sticking to their plan of backing Martin across additional seasons.

Very difficult to look at the results and think of any other outcome. But SR jumping around between systems shows a lack of conviction, even as they praise the "project"

[BarberSaint]

Does anyone think we can convince the skates to take back their ex-player of the year, Bazinga?

[Matthew Le God]

1 minute ago, BarberSaint said:

Does anyone think we can convince the skates to take back their ex-player of the year, Bazinga?

They couldn't get close to affording his transfer fee let alone his wages.

[Master Bates]

5 hours ago, Farmer Saint said:

Thank you - he's been spinning this lie for ages.

Don't wish for anyone to get got at for something I've said.

[Master Bates]

....

Edited Wednesday at 14:57 by Master Bates
I'm special

[beatlesaint]

One of the few good things about SR is that they haven’t rolled over for the big boys, or anyone, when it comes to letting players go. 
If a club meets the valuation then fair enough, said player will go, but if they fall well short last time out it was met with a firm no.

I don’t expect that to change.

[Master Bates]

5 hours ago, gio1saints said:

One might also deduce , if premise is true, that they believe navigating the hinterland between Championship and EPL can be a profitable enterprise in the medium to longer term. And they mean to reap that profit - in that relatively unheralded market, for investors. 

 

Imo I wouldnt agree.

I'm pretty sure Dragan wants glory, cups and titles, we just weren't ready to go up. 

[BarberSaint]

Couple of quotes about Edwards:

 

Takes me back to Glenn Roeder when he glides out of defence with the ball. Absolute class

 

When I watch him I always wonder what Southampton was thinking.
I mean I have seen a lot of Southampton PL matches and Edwards should in the starting 11 for them, not on loan to us

 

Ronnie has done so well, he’s a class act and I could see him carving out a great premier league career

 

If he considers joining permanently and he continues to
Do well until end of season then perhaps I will change my mind. But for me he is decent but no where near a best loan player

 

Edwards has been good but not a patch on Walker, Taarabt and Routledge. They were different gravy.

 

Completely agree on Edwards. He’s been a vital addition. His versatility to play centre mid against Leeds was very important to getting something from that game.

 

For the record, they pretty much universally agree that Kyle Walker was their best loanee signing.

[skintsaint]

32 minutes ago, BarberSaint said:

For the record, they pretty much universally agree that Kyle Walker was their best loanee signing.

Well he did push on a bit after and made a bit of a top flight career!

Not a bad '2nd place to'.