January Transfer Window

[egg]

38 minutes ago, bugenhagen said:

I disagree. Manning and Wellington are poor, but let’s not make up excuses. Manning was no better or worse two seasons ago in a back four. If anything, limited fullbacks with poor positioning are less suited to play wingback.

It’s not like managers around the world are moving from a back four to a back five because they have poor fullbacks..,

I'm not sure about your last point. Whether to play a 4 or 5 is a tactical thing, but whatever system you play, the right players are needed. 

If Manning must play, he's far more suited to being in a 5. His strength (ha) is going forward, not defending. Where he's not helped is having a midfielder covering behind if he's caught up field, or the left CB coming across. 

On balance, I'd prefer us to play a 4, but I'm not convinced we have the LB to do it, or the right blend in midfield. 

Back to the point though - I'm glad Bree is coming back, and he'll improve us imo,particularly if we play a 4.

[Lord Duckhunter]

23 minutes ago, egg said:

On balance, I'd prefer us to play a 4, but I'm not convinced we have the LB to do it, or the right blend in midfield. 

That’s exactly how I feel about it. Do people think big Centre forwards are just going to challenge THB & Wood in the air & not pull onto Manning & Jelert as they hit diagonals. It’s not like KWP or Cedric where their positives outweigh that negative & it’s worth noting that even Lego played 3 centre halves in the play off final with Manning on the bench. Bree will defo help & Fellows is good enough defensively to offer some cover. But Leo isn’t a Stewart Armstrong or Frazier from 2 years ago, we need him going the other way, not doubling up on a winger who keeps skinning Manning or Wellington one on one.  

[Rebel]

Welington looks a lot better defensively than Manning so I think he would be OK in a flat back 4 with Scienza providing the attacking and width in front of him.

Its a bit ridiculous that we had 4 left backs on the books in the summer (no to mention Thierry Small and Jayden Meghoma as well not too long ago) and its still  a position we are worried about.

Saying that I would have sold Manning in the Summer and probably stuck with Welington and Taylor as the 2 left back options. 

I get the feeling Taylor wanted to leave so maybe we should have loaned him out and got Matt Targett in on loan - a left footed 6ft left back with a history of being one of the best in the championship in the that position.

I think they did the right thing in loaning out Larios with the intention of putting him in the shop window to sell  as he is just too small to play left back I think he is right footed anyway.  He's probably better suited to a wide midfield role in a less aggressive/physical league anyway.  When he did play he looked like he had good feet, positioning and passing but he just looked too small for the position in the EFl/Premier League. Unfortunately I think Jelert may be a in a similar situation.

We should sell Manning in the summer and maybe keep Welington and sign Targett on a free.  

[Turkish]

2 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

That's a story which screams 'going to Inter but agent after a few more quid' to me.

Top of Serie A Inter Milan or mid table championship Saints hmmm tough call

[Rebel]

2 hours ago, SWLondon Saint said:

Yes, but ironically Bree would also be one of the best candidates to play as one of a back 3 as most decent 3CB teams usually play with one player who can push up when in possession. Back 4 Vs 5 just depends whether you want to force your winger / wingback to defend more or attack more and all the evidence so far is they're happy to have one of the best attacking wide players in the league spending most of his time defending...

I think we should have kept Bree and played him as the RCB or RB instead of spending supposedly £6M on Roerslev and brining Jelert in on loan. But loaning Bree out for half a season made no sense we should either have kept him, sold him or at worst loaned him out for the whole season to get most of the fee we paid for him back.

Jelert looks like a great footballer but he looks a little small for the aggression and physicality of English football. Hopefully he will prove me wrong. 

We also could have played Ronnie Edwards at RB or RCB - as that was more or less the way he played at QPR - moving forwards in midfield with the ball - and to be honest at 5ft 11 he is probably too short to play centre back at the top level.

I am guessing Roerslev at 6ft was brought in to add some height at the back on the right. I hope he turns out to be good but we haven't seen that much of him yet.  He looked great at times but not so great at others when he played briefly.

I am guessing they decided Edwards wasn't good enough for either role - RCB or RB - or they needed to cut costs with Bree coming back. 

At least now we have cover at right back with Bree as both Jelert and Roerslev seem a bit injury prone.

 

[Turkish]

Ryan Frazer off down under then

[RedArmy]

9 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Ryan Frazer off down under then

Still makes me chuckle when I remember all the drips on here saying he was our best player at the start of the season. 
 

Yes, that’s why we were utterly shit 

[sadoldgit]

21 minutes ago, Rebel said:

I think we should have kept Bree and played him as the RCB or RB instead of spending supposedly £6M on Roerslev and brining Jelert in on loan. But loaning Bree out for half a season made no sense we should either have kept him, sold him or at worst loaned him out for the whole season to get most of the fee we paid for him back.

Jelert looks like a great footballer but he looks a little small for the aggression and physicality of English football. Hopefully he will prove me wrong. 

We also could have played Ronnie Edwards at RB or RCB - as that was more or less the way he played at QPR - moving forwards in midfield with the ball - and to be honest at 5ft 11 he is probably too short to play centre back at the top level.

I am guessing Roerslev at 6ft was brought in to add some height at the back on the right. I hope he turns out to be good but we haven't seen that much of him yet.  He looked great at times but not so great at others when he played briefly.

I am guessing they decided Edwards wasn't good enough for either role - RCB or RB - or they needed to cut costs with Bree coming back. 

At least now we have cover at right back with Bree as both Jelert and Roerslev seem a bit injury prone.

 

Interesting that there should be such a big difference between 5’11” and 6’ for the CH position. I’m just under 6’ and played at CH for a number of seasons. The players I marked were usually a bit taller than me but through positioning and timing I was rarely beaten in the air. If a park player can do it you would think that a professional defender could be coached to do it effectively. At least they should be coached to make it difficult for the other guy. We seem to give away a lot of free headers through poor marking. Is that because we mark zonally?

 

[VectisSaint]

27 minutes ago, Rebel said:

I think we should have kept Bree and played him as the RCB or RB instead of spending supposedly £6M on Roerslev and brining Jelert in on loan. But loaning Bree out for half a season made no sense we should either have kept him, sold him or at worst loaned him out for the whole season to get most of the fee we paid for him back.

Jelert looks like a great footballer but he looks a little small for the aggression and physicality of English football. Hopefully he will prove me wrong. 

We also could have played Ronnie Edwards at RB or RCB - as that was more or less the way he played at QPR - moving forwards in midfield with the ball - and to be honest at 5ft 11 he is probably too short to play centre back at the top level.

I am guessing Roerslev at 6ft was brought in to add some height at the back on the right. I hope he turns out to be good but we haven't seen that much of him yet.  He looked great at times but not so great at others when he played briefly.

I am guessing they decided Edwards wasn't good enough for either role - RCB or RB - or they needed to cut costs with Bree coming back. 

At least now we have cover at right back with Bree as both Jelert and Roerslev seem a bit injury prone.

 

Jelert 5'10", Bree 5'10". Don't understand why anyone wants Bree over Jelert.

[Verwood Saint]

I know who my money would be in a physical league like the Championship!

[lambtiss]

19 minutes ago, sadoldgit said:

Interesting that there should be such a big difference between 5’11” and 6’ for the CH position. I’m just under 6’ and played at CH for a number of seasons. The players I marked were usually a bit taller than me but through positioning and timing I was rarely beaten in the air. If a park player can do it you would think that a professional defender could be coached to do it effectively. At least they should be coached to make it difficult for the other guy. We seem to give away a lot of free headers through poor marking. Is that because we mark zonally?

 

Good comment SOG, I am under 6' but was always coached to compete in the air and make sure a taller player couldn't get a clean header.

How many times have we seen attackers head the ball under no challenge whatsoever.

[Midfield_General]

.

Edited Saturday at 13:18 by Midfield_General
Whoops

[Midfield_General]

1 hour ago, VectisSaint said:

Jelert 5'10", Bree 5'10". Don't understand why anyone wants Bree over Jelert.

Bree is 5 foot 8. 

If he plays ahead of Jelert then somehow we have managed to make our team of midgets even smaller. 

[Suhari]

2 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

Bree is 5 foot 8. 

If he plays ahead of Jelert then somehow we have managed to make our team of midgets even smaller. 

It's never about the size. It's about how you use it.

[Turkish]

21 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

Bree is 5 foot 8. 

If he plays ahead of Jelert then somehow we have managed to make our team of midgets even smaller. 

There is no way Jelert is 5.10 he looks tiny when he plays I’d say 5.7 at best 

[Turkish]

19 minutes ago, Suhari said:

It's never about the size. It's about how you use it.

I’m a failure in all departments then

Edited Saturday at 13:43 by Turkish

[Midfield_General]

18 minutes ago, Turkish said:

There is no way Jelert is 5.10 he looks tiny when he plays I’d say 5.7 at best 

It’s like a team of diddy men

Should dig up Ken Dodd* and see if he can get a tune out of them

(*Grandfather of Jason)

[bugenhagen]

4 hours ago, egg said:

I'm not sure about your last point. Whether to play a 4 or 5 is a tactical thing, but whatever system you play, the right players are needed. 

If Manning must play, he's far more suited to being in a 5. His strength (ha) is going forward, not defending. Where he's not helped is having a midfielder covering behind if he's caught up field, or the left CB coming across. 

On balance, I'd prefer us to play a 4, but I'm not convinced we have the LB to do it, or the right blend in midfield. 

Back to the point though - I'm glad Bree is coming back, and he'll improve us imo,particularly if we play a 4.

I appreciate your answer, and I am not trying to change your mind 🙂 we just disagree on a very specific thing. You think Manning is better suited to a back 5, I think he is better suited to a back 4.

[Baird of the land]

So will jelert’s loan be cancelled if we are bringing bree back?

[saintant]

45 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

It’s like a team of diddy men

Should dig up Ken Dodd* and see if he can get a tune out of them

(*Grandfather of Jason)

Being saying this for months - we don't have the physicality to compete in the Championship. Eckert has already said one of the reasons he plays with 3 centre backs is because we don't have the tall forwards and midfielders to help defend corners and free kicks. Spors said he was aware and would sort it - to date he hasn't.

[Toadhall Saint]

22 hours ago, bugenhagen said:

I appreciate your answer, and I am not trying to change your mind 🙂 we just disagree on a very specific thing. You think Manning is better suited to a back 5, I think he is better suited to a back 4.

I think he is suited back in the changing room and nowhere near the first team.

[Gloucester Saint]

5 minutes ago, Toadhall Saint said:

I think he is suited back in the changing room and nowhere near the first team.

Best suited at Russell Martin’s house on matchdays or wherever Russell Martin turns up next.

[Saint NL]

 

Bacardi Breezer 😂

[VectisSaint]

On 17/01/2026 at 13:21, Midfield_General said:

Bree is 5 foot 8. 

If he plays ahead of Jelert then somehow we have managed to make our team of midgets even smaller. 

He isn't, he is 5'10", it even says this in the bit that you quoted. TransferMarket actually has him at 1.82m, which is actually 5'11". According to TM, Bree is 4cm taller than Jelert, but other sources say both are the same.

I find it hard to imagine that Bree will come back enthused to play for us again, having had a very successful time at Charlton and being out of contract in the Summer. 

Edited yesterday at 14:13 by VectisSaint

[swedish dave]

On 17/01/2026 at 13:15, VectisSaint said:

Jelert 5'10", Bree 5'10". Don't understand why anyone wants Bree over Jelert.

Jelert may be "one for the future", but Bree has a record of playing at this level with various clubs.

I don't think Bree ever played a bad game for us, but no-one is faultless all the time.

We may get a chance to see, if he gets game time this week.

Edited yesterday at 15:07 by swedish dave

[BarberSaint]

On 17/01/2026 at 09:45, egg said:

I'm not sure about your last point. Whether to play a 4 or 5 is a tactical thing, but whatever system you play, the right players are needed. 

If Manning must play, he's far more suited to being in a 5. His strength (ha) is going forward, not defending. Where he's not helped is having a midfielder covering behind if he's caught up field, or the left CB coming across. 

On balance, I'd prefer us to play a 4, but I'm not convinced we have the LB to do it, or the right blend in midfield. 

Back to the point though - I'm glad Bree is coming back, and he'll improve us imo,particularly if we play a 4.

All he ever does is pass backwards and he hasn't a clue. .He was in on a free so cancel his contract because we've lost nothing in that regard and pay him off.  It would be better all round.

[wild-saint]

On 17/01/2026 at 13:43, Turkish said:

I’m a failure in all departments then

thats what your husband says

[Badger]

55 minutes ago, swedish dave said:

Jelert may be "one for the future", but Bree has a record of playing at this level with various clubs.

I don't think Bree ever played a bad game for us, but no-one is faultless all the time.

We may get a chance to see, if he gets game time this week.

Bree unfortunately is forever tarnished by being signed by Nathan Jones from his former club. 
 

I don’t think he’s been worse than some of the other options we’ve used at RB. 

[Turkish]

2 minutes ago, wild-saint said:

thats what your husband says

He’s identifying as my wife today you bigot 

[stknowle]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

He’s identifying as my wife today you bigot 

Er, surely you mean THEY are identifying as your wife.

[Baz Fl]

Can we please check the paperwork and find evidence that it was Ballard on loan and eligible for recall and not Bree? 🙏🙏🙏

[SaintsRoyalty]

Now being linked to a child at Wigan. We are going to need a bigger crèche at this rate.

 

https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/southampton-plotting-move-for-wigan-athletic-harrison-bettoni/

[Mboto Gorge]

53 minutes ago, SaintsRoyalty said:

Now being linked to a child at Wigan. We are going to need a bigger crèche at this rate.

 

https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/southampton-plotting-move-for-wigan-athletic-harrison-bettoni/

Sport Republic in their absolute element here, hungry for the potential resale value, He needs to be under 5ft 10 To really tick all their boxes , I’m sure he is, looks tiny so that’s a full house 

[bangkoksaint]

Just been sent this. I don’t and never have pretended to be ITK, however my source knows his football and has connections:

 

Ex Shots striker Lorent Tolaj on his way to Saints? Currently at Plymouth a the leading scorer in L2, having joined them for 1.1m in the summer transfer window from Port Vale. He is quality mate, hope you do get him

[AlexLaw76]

1 minute ago, bangkoksaint said:

Just been sent this. I don’t and never have pretended to be ITK, however my source knows his football and has connections:

 

Ex Shots striker Lorent Tolaj on his way to Saints? Currently at Plymouth a the leading scorer in L2, having joined them for 1.1m in the summer transfer window from Port Vale. He is quality mate, hope you do get him

He has played for 2 teams this season...you can't for 3, right?

[bangkoksaint]

1 minute ago, AlexLaw76 said:

He has played for 2 teams this season...you can't for 3, right?

IDK Alex, you maybe correct

[qwertyell]

1 minute ago, AlexLaw76 said:

He has played for 2 teams this season...you can't for 3, right?

Only if the leagues are out of sequence, I believe. For example, the MLS new season doesn't start until February. He could theoretically join them. 

But three European teams in a season? Nope.

[bangkoksaint]

TBF maybe getting ready for L1 next season?!

[Badger]

1 hour ago, qwertyell said:

Only if the leagues are out of sequence, I believe. For example, the MLS new season doesn't start until February. He could theoretically join them. 

But three European teams in a season? Nope.

Anyone told Sports Republic ? 
 

New Rasmus motto : if it hasn’t been fucked up, then fuck it up. 

[Sir Ralph]

Where is our new no 9?

[Oisin]

16 hours ago, BarberSaint said:

All he ever does is pass backwards and he hasn't a clue. .He was in on a free so cancel his contract because we've lost nothing in that regard and pay him off.  It would be better all round.

Sorry, but from what I’ve seen of our right back options I’d be picking Bree. In a back 4. I’m no fan and I’d let him go this summer but he can at least defend which is more than Jelert can do, and Roerslev has been p1ss poor.  And of course, Fellows is a winger, not a full back.

Our options are really poor but he’s the pick of the bunch in my view.

[tdmickey3]

8 hours ago, Sir Ralph said:

Where is our new no 9?

Stop it!

Stewart is back FFS

[Barton Saint]

Well at least as we know Bree can thump the ball even if he is a bit tardy…

[leesaint88]

I don't think we'll be signing anyone, even though we're crying out for someone at the back who can take a bit of control. This window will be more to do with getting rid of the players the board don't want, I wouldn't be surprised if they let those around the first team like Downes or THB go if a decent bid comes in. 

Edited 9 hours ago by leesaint88

[SaintLondon]

It's all a bit miserable isn't it. 

[Gloucester Saint]

1 minute ago, SaintLondon said:

It's all a bit miserable isn't it. 

Going to get quite a bit worse I suspect.

[ally_uk]

Yousuf Salech or Piroe 

Get it done 

[coalman]

14 hours ago, SaintsRoyalty said:

Now being linked to a child at Wigan. We are going to need a bigger crèche at this rate.

 

https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/southampton-plotting-move-for-wigan-athletic-harrison-bettoni/

Who wouldn't want to join the famous Saints youth pathway. Where your coaches change every few weeks and eventually you might get a loan / free transfer to a L1 / L2 side.

[disconnect]

18 hours ago, swedish dave said:

Jelert may be "one for the future", but Bree has a record of playing at this level with various clubs.

I don't think Bree ever played a bad game for us, but no-one is faultless all the time.

We may get a chance to see, if he gets game time this week.

Dont think Jelert is one for the future - already played at a much higher level than us. Don't know why he hasn't played more, would say he's one of our better players.

[SaintLondon]

1 hour ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Going to get quite a bit worse I suspect.

Is this just on the basis that we'll probably lose against Sheff Utd and Portsmouth this week or that you know something hellish that is going to happen imminently?