Barsiem

I know it won't last, but Vince is currently averaging 175 in the T20 this year!! Opening the batting and after 5 innings that is pretty incredible. I think we need to drop Crane. He seems to have gone backwards in the last couple of years. Compared to Dawson it's night and day. He might be another one who could benefit from a change of scenery ala Briggs as he's stagnating here

Do we have a thread for players we tried really hard to sign but didn't?? If so then whoops this post should be in that thread. We tried very hard to sign Quincy Promes about 5 or so years back... Looks like we dodged a very big bullet by failing to land him https://twitter.com/DeadlineDayLive/status/1663591111665893377

Yeah you're probably right. They still have Kante as well so not exactly short in that position

I could certainly forsee them buying him and loaning him to West Ham, who will need a Rice replacement. I still think Chelsea is his most likely destination though, and given Pochs record of bringing on youngsters that'd be a good move for him IMO

It also illustrates the discrepancies between the haves and the haves nots in this league. By rights Chelsea should be bottom of the league with about 4 points given how they've been run this season, but an awful year for a club like that still means they are comfortably safe in the league and can afford to keep all of their talent. We've had not nearly as awful a year (although still awful) and are bottom and relegated...

Nowhere near thankfully... More like a 4/5-0

TBF it was also a very impressive display by Somerset. Great bowling and fielding by them. Craig overton alone took 3 wickets and a further 4 catches! Batting got easier, so it was a bad toss to lose. Let's hope it's a blip rather than the tone for the campaign

I hope we do sue. If Everton got a points deduction it'd be the difference between finishing 19th or 20th this year

My predictions (which are always wrong but hey ho): Lavia c£50m + young player in exchange to bring total transfer value closer to £60m - will be to Chelsea or Man City as they have lots of great youngsters JWP - £25-30m to Villa, West Ham or at a push Newcastle (unlikely though) ABK - c£20m to mid table prem team or back to Germany Tella - I think he'll stay but if he goes it won't be for less than £20m. We have no reason to sell unless he forces a move so Burnley will need to pay over the odds Salisu - £10-15m. Not sure where though.... Maybe France? KWP - £20m to West ham or Villa Moi - free transfer We could possibly lose Adams or Stuart Armstrong as well, but I'm expecting them to stay. Don't think we'll sell Alcaraz unless we get a stupid offer

I don't think RH would have kept us up, though I think we would have put up more of a fight than we have. I don't think he was enjoying the job for some time, and I think he was waiting to be pushed tbh for the payoff he was due, which we should have done in the summer. Let's not forget that RHs record as manager for the whole of 2022 was absolutely abysmal. We needed a new manager at the helm, but got two appointments hopelessly wrong.

I'm sure early days Ralph wouldn't have tolerated it, but he was pretty much broken by the end of his time here imo... As was the club

The article itself infers this was indeed happening under Ralph, and that neither Jones nor Selles sorted it out when they took charge

Weatherly back in the team then. Fair enough call I suppose. Prest's time will come

Good start this morning in tricky conditions. Another failure for Organ though... Think he needs taking at the team to rebuild some confidence and put Holland back at the top of the order. I'm still really annoyed at the Surrey loss... We're looking good this year but throw away a draw against the strongest team of the year

I didn't post my opinion thinking I'd have to justify it 😂 If you read about his record so far he's overachieved at each club, and he reminds me of Potter a bit in that regard, whom we all would love here now. Generally though I prefer to appoint up and coming managers rather than those that have been around the block a few times, albeit that's obviously not worked out great this season!!

Thoughts on Will Still (if he hasn't been discussed already)? Relatively inexperienced but a great record so far. I'd be keen to see him here

I agree. Generally teams for obvious reasons don't advertise where they are staying, and I think they have a right to some privacy. As you say there are periods on match day when players will and should be available for autographs & photos. Still, the players have made themselves an easy target with this

I think he'll come good eventually, but this season shows that you cannot chuck young keepers into the PL unless they have a very good defence in front of them. We had the same issue with Gunn, who for me looked far worse than Bazunu. He dropped down to the Championship, and has now recovered enough to be an international GK with Scotland.

Suarez for Liverpool springs to mind. Schneiderlain for us I'd say as well

This article sheds some light as to why Bazunu has stayed number one this season I think. Particularly this point "The Athletic report that McCarthy’s 2021 deal – due to expire next summer – meant only captain James Ward-Prowse was earning more than the former Reading man. They add his wages are expected to be reduced next season owing to a clause in his existing deal, as McCarthy has not reached the threshold for games played" https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/23475362.mccarthys-southampton-deal-reportedly-made-second-highest-earner/ Whoever thought McCarthy was ever deserving of being the 2nd highest player at the club should be shot...

I think we can be fairly confident Alcaraz will be with us next season regardless. He only signed in Jan & whilst showing talent, he won't be at a level that would convince clubs to pay overinflated prices for him, which I think will be necessary in order for us to sell. Selles subbing him at HT on Friday was the final nail in the coffin for me with him. We need to get someone else in during the summer

That would be open to abuse, but maybe if both teams had to agree to the substitution ( so teams couldn't substitute their no 11 for a top order batter) it might be doable. Only time I know it happens is when players are released from England duty during a county game. Didn't it happen to Hants a few years ago whereby a player scored a century against us and then was replaced by someone else for the rest of the game?

Even if we staynup he's going to leave I'm sure. I reckon it'll be a minimum of £60m we sell him for, quite possibly pushing £80m if we get a bidding war.

So any predictions as to how much we get for this kid in the summer? He's far too good for us

Organ dropped 3 times apparently!! And he still only made 30odd. Vince dropped as well (that was a sitter), so fair to say northants are helping us out atm. Still gubbins and Vince both have 50s so we're looking good