Dman

The only club we should be selling Lavia to is City, or at least giving them first dibs. Don't bite the hand that feeds you. In order to keep this relationship we have with them sweet, you do not go and sell a player who they have a buy back clause for to a main rival. I have to say, although he's clearly going to the very top - I think a move to a top PL club right now will be detrimental to his career. He needs to be playing games.

A consistent starter in the PL could fizzle out into nothing…. What is JWP then, other than a consistent starter in the PL. Lavia is already a better player and will go on to be a much better player than JWP.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/trainer/verfuegbaretrainer/statistik 20 pages of managers, currently unemployed, sat there just waiting to reject us. Russell Martin was the only man foolish enough to take on the poison chalice. The only ONE.

Puel… ironically, he probably would have been a pretty decent option for us if we were looking to move towards a possession based approach.

Utter nonsense. There are loads of managers out there who we could (maybe should have) gone for who’d have been viable. By your very logic, Leicester and Leeds are going to be absolutely fucked when they drop then.

There’s a whole thread dedicated to suggestions for our new manager. Some better, some not, some realistic, others not so much.. Other than that, great point well made 👍

Maybe i'm biased and I'm not for a minute saying they aren't a bigger club, but I don't see the value (for him) in moving. I can't see him going anywhere other than a west ham or Aston Villa. What's the best he'll achieve there - possibly a season or 2 in the europa league? He's paid more than well enough here, he's not starting for England wherever he goes, he's not winning anything major (at best a FA cup maybe..?). I'm not suggesting he rots in the championship, but if he stuck around for 1 more season and we do go up, is he going to be in a much better position if he moves on? I'm not so sure.

Flog him cheap, even give them away for nothing if we're struggling to find a buyer. Insert clauses that future proof any unexpected development. None are making it here.

Agreed - Shift them on, add in a buy back clause of some kind (especially with Small - probably the most likely to make it i'd say). Arguably, getting a good number of the players we don't want out is more important than who we bring in.

Just to put the Myth to bed about JWP not being selected for England because he plays for us, the current squad contains; 3 x Crystal Palace 1 x Everton 1 x Leicester 1 x Brighton 1 x Aston Villa Southgate picks his side based on how they’ve previously performed for England and how they’d suit his system (Maguire being the example there). Even if he moves on and has a storming season, at best, all he can hope for is being in the squad for the euros… he’s not starting.

Absolute helmet, I’ll never forget when he spent months slagging off the board (Rasmus, to be specific) but then was using his tongue like a sheet of Andrex when he met him at the fans forum. Has the sort of face you’d enjoy giving a dig. You’d have to wear a glove though as you’d walk away covered in puss.

On the subject of strikers who've played in Scotland.. How about Martins ex team mate, Alfredo Morelos. Just been released by Rangers.

Just had a look at Nathan Wood - Seems like a decent prospect for that level as well. CB who likes to play out (Stephens aside, do we have any of these?). 20, so ticks that box and only has a year left on his contract. Another one who could be a sensible buy. Those 3 / 4 with some added quality from either players we currently have or have funds to buy, would be the basis of a really solid championship side. Also helps the core already knows the system / passes patterns the manager wants to install.

If we're getting a Manager, coaching staff, and 2-3 of their best players (proven at this level in that system) in positions where we need to strengthen anyway, then £15m feels like a bit of a bargain, to be honest. to put it into perspective , that's roughly the same we paid for AA 2 years ago

Not sure I agree with that. Jones failed massively when given a chance to step up to a bigger club (Stoke) and his success was off the back of an aggressive underdog mentality at Luton. We're just not that kind of side. Martin has been a relative success in both of his previous roles, all be it without setting the world a light in either. It feels like he's on the way up / ready to have a go at making that step up His style should suit us (a soft family club) better than Jones, in theory. In a way I'm kinda glad they're not just looking at results and appointing on that basis. For example Mark Robins has done amazingly this year, but I think if he moved on he'd be back to being a below bang average journey man manager - He's at the right club at the right time.. Similar to Nigel Adkins for us. And thank god we're appointing someone on a style of play rather than because the spreadsheet says their current team are one of the best in Europe at defending corners, or something stupid, like we did for Jones.

Had a chance to do a bit of research and digest the news over the weekend. Personally, I don't think my opinion has changed and I think it'll be a disaster of an appointment. We essentially has 2 years to get out of this league before the Parachute Payments run out and I'm not sure Martin is the man to do that. I like the fact that we have identified a philosophy and are trying to gain an identity and to be honest, I have no real issue with a possession based approach. Coached well with the right players it can be really affective. Look at Brighton as an example of just that. I do however have real concerns around if we have the players to achieve that style. Currently, we're really poor defensively. We make far too many mistakes on the ball and just switch off without it. From what I can gather, Swansea have similar issues. To gain promotion from this league you need to grind out results 1-0 just as much as you need to win 4-0. I don't think Martin will improve us defensively to grind out those 1-0 wins. My biggest concern is that we have a squad mentally void of all confidence with a losers mindset. To play like this, you can't have anyone who hides from the ball - we currently have a squad of about 30 who hide. Aside from the players, we also have a fanbase who have been scared from 5 years of shite. St Mary's is toxic and there are too many "get it fucking forward" idiots who'll be moaning and groaning, causing tension when we take a short goal kick or pass it to a player who's under pressure. I feel like we needed a bigger name to galvanise the place and command respect from the get go. Time will only tell if Martin can do that. This one feels like a bit of a Puel rather than Koeman appointment.

No chance of either - If Cov don't go up, a PL club will snap the pair of them up. Harmer looks a fantastic player. Gyokeres remind me a bit of Broja in his style.

Is this his 'stats' from the Championship or PL though? I think all would agree that at PL level he's not and will never be good enough. Also, pretty harsh judging a poachers ability on stats from a team who create the square root of fuck all. FWIW - I think if we can keep him and Adams with a bit of creativity behind them, we'd be more than fine next season.

Agreed - I don't see him going anywhere other than a West Ham / Villa type (maybe Brighton). He's a bulk standard top 10 player at best. Up until this season, we were his level, he was our level. I can't see him ending his career with a ton of medals wherever he goes. it'll be sad from a sentimental point of view and he is one of the limited ones who care, but I wouldn't be too arsed if he goes. Free kicks aside (who everyone has now cottoned onto the fact its better to let us shoot then give away a free kick), he's not a match winner and doesn't dictate games. Do we miss him when he's not there? Of course, that's because anyone coming in to fill his spot is fucking useless. could we replace him or more so what he offers (again free kicks aside).. imo easily. We will of course miss his free kick ability. That would get you 10 goals in the championship.

Has come out and said the speculation of him leaving is not true and that he wants to stay next season... So do you see a way back for him? Personally, I think given he has proven his ability to score goals at this level, we'd be mad to shift him on without taking a look at the very least. Clearly, he's void of confidence and imo 'found his level' in the championship. But could he be our Billy Sharpe / Teemu Puki? Martin seems to like his strikers to play between the CB's, run in behind and stretch the play. He started last season with Obafemi as his number 9 (well up until January), who has a similar profile to AA - all be it maybe a little less physically imposing. Perhaps AA will suit this new style more so than the shite we're dishing up at the minute - which I think 90% of strikers in the world would struggle with. Given we need such reform across the whole of the pitch, is this possibly an area where we can save some £..?

XG, I think he means..

Tino is soo good. Doesn’t look like he’s been away. Going to rip the championship up.

Or just stop posting all together because 99% of it is fucking nonsense.

Manning has just been released. We probably need a LB as well, to be honest. That being said, when was the last time we got a new manager who brought a full back with him, who cost us peanuts.. 👀

Interesting point about wide men and lack of 1v1 players. Based on that, sounds like players like Djenepo / sulemana would be really important. Also found it interesting that Piroe is pretty naff in front of goal, not a No9 and is better in the 10… we’ve plenty of them, so think we should avoid.