Finn Azaz - Official: Signs 4 Year Deal

[Patrick Bateman]

1 hour ago, Suhari said:

Can he cook?

Good ham rolls.

13 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Id never heard of him until last week but i am going to nod along in agreement that this is a great signing

Same - looks decent, 'Boro whilst not hugely sad to see him go seem to worry about his output being replaced and that's good enough for me, we need some "output". Decent skills on show on the compilation too although we know they're always bollocks, I'll stick this one down as a good signing. 

[gio1saints]

FWIW - for the Championship this is a marquee signing signal of intent “we want automatic “ type of signing. Boro selling him to us -  from his stats - I regard as an admission from them and him that we are > than them regarding promotion prospects. Bad for them good for us. 

[hypochondriac]

Lots of Boro fans on social media quite upset which is making me happy.

[Gloucester Saint]

4 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Lots of Boro fans on social media quite upset which is making me happy.

Earlier in his career and a lower level, but the Cheltenham fans around here love him for his loan spell which crucial to them winning League 2.

[Suhari]

1 hour ago, CSA96 said:

Here's the Boro forum reacting to the news as it broke - see midway on page 4558: 

https://www.oneboro.co.uk/forum/topic/13565-the-official-summer-transfer-window-202526-season-aka-azaz-a-saint/page/4558/#comments

When did we ever have a 4,500 page thread?

Wish we were 'Boro.

Edited Wednesday at 16:59 by Suhari

[Tommy]

1 hour ago, OldNick said:

My Boro supporting friend says he;s very good but has no pace. 

Will fit right in to this squad then

[Chez]

25 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Id never heard of him until last week but i am going to nod along in agreement that this is a great signing

It seems obligatory to regard new signings as 'great', unless they are third string keepers, obviously.

Do these big championship to championship signings work out? I am mindful of Britt Assombalonga joining Boro for mega money and although he scored about 1 in 3 for them, he didn't really give them the payback they wanted. 

I guess our transfers have been varied. A couple of (raw) youngsters with lots of potential from Germany, an experienced  PL reject and now a championship 'success'. It seems very hard to sign talent at this level, even with money.

[Chez]

2 minutes ago, Suhari said:

When did we ever have a 4,500 page thread?

Wish we were 'Boro.

the original skate thread was pretty big.

[Dusic]

Would have preferred Spertsyan but was never going to happen so this seems a good deal.

Hopefully can ads a couple of wide players now and then no excuses really.

When all fit its surely 3 from 4 of Downes, Charles, Fernandes and Azaz although wouldnt suprise me if he played up front on occassion!

[Golac's Cunning Stunts]

17 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

FWIW - for the Championship this is a marquee signing signal of intent “we want automatic “ type of signing. Boro selling him to us -  from his stats - I regard as an admission from them and him that we are > than them regarding promotion prospects. Bad for them good for us. 

No it isn’t. It’s all down to finances or lack of it on their behalf

[Tamesaint]

He's an intelligent lad. Loads of A* at GCSE and A levels. He attended a top public school where its pupils are known for their academic ability. 

Do intelligent footballers make the best footballers? 

 

[Doctoroncall]

1 minute ago, Golac's Cunning Stunts said:

No it isn’t. It’s all down to finances or lack of it on their behalf

Gives them another season with Hackney, who is the valuable player to the team. Before he gets to move up to the PL unless ‘boro do it this season, which seems more competitive than ever. 

[O_Lord_Marian]

1 minute ago, Doctoroncall said:

Gives them another season with Hackney, who is the valuable player to the team. Before he gets to move up to the PL unless ‘boro do it this season, which seems more competitive than ever. 

If we sell Matty, would like to see us go after Hackney too. 

[Miltonaggro]

2 minutes ago, Tamesaint said:

He's an intelligent lad. Loads of A* at GCSE and A levels. He attended a top public school where its pupils are known for their academic ability. 

Do intelligent footballers make the best footballers? 

 

I remember that Steve Coppell was fairly handy. Finished his Economics degree from Liverpool whist starring from Man U under Docherty! 

[Midfield_General]

10 minutes ago, Tamesaint said:

He's an intelligent lad. Loads of A* at GCSE and A levels. He attended a top public school where its pupils are known for their academic ability. 

Do intelligent footballers make the best footballers? 

 

Tom Cleverley? 

Mark Bright?

Edited Wednesday at 17:22 by Midfield_General

[SuperSAINT]

Never too worried about lack of pace in a creative as long as you put pace around them.

[Saint_Ash]

[Tamesaint]

6 minutes ago, Miltonaggro said:

I remember that Steve Coppell was fairly handy. Finished his Economics degree from Liverpool whist starring from Man U under Docherty! 

I went to Liverpool University just after he finished his degree. He was often still seen at the university. 

The story was his departmental football team got to the final of the university departmental cup. Fellow students wanted him to play for the department in the final but TD told him that he would be finished in football if he dared to play. In the end he compromised and played in goal. They won. 

[trousers]

This signing reminds me of the days where we were buying 'best of breed' players in the lower leagues... The liked of Fonte, Lambert and Hammond. Exactly how it should be when we've got more financial muscle than most teams in the league 👍🏻

Edited Wednesday at 17:37 by trousers

[Suhari]

35 minutes ago, Chez said:

the original skate thread was pretty big.

True.

That was epic.

[trousers]

39 minutes ago, Chez said:

the original skate thread was pretty big.

 

3 minutes ago, Suhari said:

True.

That was epic.

A thread that probably accounts for around 70% of my 56k posts...  😂

Edited Wednesday at 17:41 by trousers

[saintant]

1 hour ago, hypochondriac said:

A good signing. A bit slow apparently so makes those wingers even more important but great stats for this league so should give us lots of assists and goals which is what it's all about.

His style of play and what he brings to the table in terms of creativity, playing between the lines, knitting things together and his goals return do not require pace in the way that wingers need it so I don't see that as that being an issue. I see a very intelligent footballer who will make a huge difference to our midfield. Great signing so hats off to Spors and the recruitment team.

[saintant]

43 minutes ago, Chez said:

It seems obligatory to regard new signings as 'great', unless they are third string keepers, obviously.

Do these big championship to championship signings work out? I am mindful of Britt Assombalonga joining Boro for mega money and although he scored about 1 in 3 for them, he didn't really give them the payback they wanted. 

I guess our transfers have been varied. A couple of (raw) youngsters with lots of potential from Germany, an experienced  PL reject and now a championship 'success'. It seems very hard to sign talent at this level, even with money.

We just have.

[redkeith]

2 hours ago, OldNick said:

My Boro supporting friend says he;s very good but has no pace. 

Neither did David Armstrong.  If he is half as good as Armstrong was he will be great

[pimpin4rizeal]

Not sure  about him being one of the best players in the league tbh boro fans seemed to think he was a bit divisive but reasonably pleased as long as we don’t go and sell Matty now .

wondering how he’s going to fit into the system actually ? As we haven’t really been playing with a proper 10 . There’s the option of going 352 which kinda worked well in the cup but that’ system would mean jay-rob getting dropped  I am slightly more concerned about losing fernandes now as someone pointed about before can’t really get fernandes Charles azaz and downes all playing 

[Convict Colony]

this dude is giving me Adamn Wharton vibes when palace picked him up from blackburn.

Unhearlded and slightly underwhelming by posters but turns out to be a gem

[SW11_Saint]

https://fmttmboro.com/index.php?threads/azaz-deal-agreed.72274/

[Saint_lambden]

Already scored against Pompey in his career when at Plymouth (who have a bit of a rivalry with the blue lot so he should fit in with any chant that includes hating them). 
 

Home game for Boro v them last season he got an assist, had 7 key passes (passes leading to a shot), 4 shots and 2 on target in 70 minutes on the pitch. 
 

A nice introduction to playing them in a few weeks’ time. 

[Colinjb]

3 minutes ago, SW11_Saint said:

https://fmttmboro.com/index.php?threads/azaz-deal-agreed.72274/

Sounds like we should be checking out Hayden Hackney too.

[iansums]

14 minutes ago, trousers said:

 

A thread that probably accounts for around 70% of my 56k posts...  😂

Our pride and joy that thread

[Toadhall Saint]

5 minutes ago, Colinjb said:

Sounds like we should be checking out Hayden Hackney too.

And the 2 new guys. Looks like they have a very good recruitment team.

[Toadhall Saint]

2 minutes ago, iansums said:

Our pride and joy that thread

 

[AlexLaw76]

He should do well with us.

we like to make the pitch big, and with the ball in their half, there should be spaces, runners for him to exploit

we are clearly no longer a tight triangle type of side, so the “get the ball forward” way should align with him

[Saint Scott]

#PlaneWatch

https://www.flightradar24.com/NJE7AG/3bef72a2

[benjii]

51 minutes ago, Tamesaint said:

He's an intelligent lad. Loads of A* at GCSE and A levels. He attended a top public school where its pupils are known for their academic ability. 

Do intelligent footballers make the best footballers? 

 

Counterpoint: Irish.

[SWLondon Saint]

16 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

this dude is giving me Adamn Wharton vibes when palace picked him up from blackburn.

Unhearlded and slightly underwhelming by posters but turns out to be a gem

Mm, not really. Wharton was 19 when he moved and cost £18m plus add-ons, so much more the 'brilliant youngster with potential' type. Azaz is much more the finished product, which has its pros and cons.

[TheAlehouseBrawlers]

17 minutes ago, redkeith said:

Neither did David Armstrong.  If he is half as good as Armstrong was he will be great

Yep, David Armstrong, great player for us and Boro - poignant to note that it was 3 years ago last Friday that he passed away.

If we get a return from Azaz to a similar level then we've done well.

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, trousers said:

It sounds like his forte is putting the ball on a plate for strikers.... so I guess we'll soon discover if our strikers' profligatory has been down to poor service or their lack of clinicality....

All we need now are some strikers on the pitch for him to deliver to. 

[Patches O Houlihan]

16 minutes ago, Colinjb said:

Sounds like we should be checking out Hayden Hackney too.

West Ham interested amongst other PL. May be their fall back if we keep Matty

[Osvaldorama]

Decent. Finally a signing that doesn’t make me go “wtf”. 
 

Excited to see what he can do 

[Golac's Cunning Stunts]

Anyone know if this can get done in time for him to be included in Saturdays squad?

[Saint NL]

6 minutes ago, Golac's Cunning Stunts said:

Anyone know if this can get done in time for him to be included in Saturdays squad?

The Fabrizio tweet said medical will be done within 24hours, so you'd assume he will be signed by the midday Friday deadline.

[Saint Scott]

14 minutes ago, Golac's Cunning Stunts said:

Anyone know if this can get done in time for him to be included in Saturdays squad?

Adam Blackmore thinks it will be announced tomorrow.

[Convict Colony]

35 minutes ago, SWLondon Saint said:

Mm, not really. Wharton was 19 when he moved and cost £18m plus add-ons, so much more the 'brilliant youngster with potential' type. Azaz is much more the finished product, which has its pros and cons.

you miss the point, no one was talking about wharton much before the signing and seemed low key buy, secondly palace spent 18m as u say in the premier league so not a lot of cash, i think this is more akin to what trousers was saying, good young players who can improve and potentially step up to the next level but premier league clubs wont take the risk.

[pimpin4rizeal]

How do u guys see us setting up with azaz then ? 
it’s difficult to go away from the 3 up top without sacrificing Robinson ?

[maysie]

Just now, pimpin4rizeal said:

How do u guys see us setting up with azaz then ? 
it’s difficult to go away from the 3 up top without sacrificing Robinson ?

4-2-3-1. Azaz as the central in the 3 then Robinson and probably new winger/ Fraser.

[S-Clarke]

37 minutes ago, Saint NL said:

The Fabrizio tweet said medical will be done within 24hours, so you'd assume he will be signed by the midday Friday deadline.

He also said he was a striker, so he may not know too much about this one!

[VectisSaint]

2 hours ago, Tamesaint said:

He's an intelligent lad. Loads of A* at GCSE and A levels. He attended a top public school where its pupils are known for their academic ability. 

Do intelligent footballers make the best footballers? 

 

Iain Dowie and Stuart Armstrong were well qualified Saints. Steve Heighway of Liverpool was successful.

[pimpin4rizeal]

21 minutes ago, maysie said:

4-2-3-1. Azaz as the central in the 3 then Robinson and probably new winger/ Fraser.

Yeah probably the best way as long as still is ready to move away from the back 3 

I gotta  say though archer looked great in the cup in a 2 having someone to play off don’t think being a lone  striker suits him at all.  he’s probably our best striker  having azaz behind him could also work and be the type of service he would thrive on 

Edited Wednesday at 19:29 by pimpin4rizeal

[SNSUN]

Hope nobody at SR is dyslexic or we could end up with Femi Azeez. 😝

Good stats though, and Boro fans sound disappointed to be losing him which is always a good sign.