UpweySaint

Let’s go? *shit no, that’s AO …

Apart from the majority of last season where we got promoted and went 26 games unbeaten playing a 4-3-3? I don’t see the formation as the issue. We need to improve for sure but I actually think 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 suits us well.

Fair point, Edwards looks marginally better for me than Woods so far and I think he looks to have more about him longer term so I can see an argument for Edwards over Woods. ABK is a different story for different reasons. Clearly a talent but unlikely to reach it here, it’s a shame for all involved summer moves broke down. I genuinely thought him and Salisu had the potential for a really top class CB pairing but our relegation season and/or general scepticism has pushed me into the ‘no dickheads’ all blacks style thinking. Our team in the relegation season were really hard to like. I know Russ splits the crowd but for the most part I think most of us actually liked the team and the evidence of a team spirit last season. I think that will still be very important this season as it will be a slog for sure even if we do enough to stay up!

It seems clear Martin has an issue with ABK - plenty of rumours about attitude and application. If you feel the pressure is on I can understand wanting to keep a risk averse approach. Rightly or wrongly ABK feels like a risk. He has a high ceiling and more pedigree than most, if not all, of our other options but there is a value in team unity and spirit particularly when we know we are likely to have a very though season ahead of us.

Possibly a good deal for us too, if he does well you could see him moving to saints at a future point.

It’s conjecture but without a good offer on the table it’s hard to know. It’s deadline day and the choice seems to be see out his Brentford contract (they may limit his game time if they need to build a future without him) or move to Saudi. If he had multiple offers and still opted for Saudi I think it would be fair to judge the choice. Do agree that it seems a shame this is the move he is making at 29. I think in a pre PSR world somebody like Newcastle or Arsenal could have made a bid.

He has spent a lot of his career in the EFL so while he isn’t exactly skint he won’t have and the opportunity to earn the sort of money many premier league/international players have - hard to blame him taking a big wage if there aren’t comparable offers from big European teams. This move probably sets him and his family up for life - I expect many in his shoes would do the same.

I could be wrong but one factor could be about fair market value. At the moment these players are low value but if they play well and the market values goes up the other SR club would need to sell to us at a ‘fair’ value. While it is essentially moving money between accounts it would count against our PSR at a future point. This is pure speculation and conjecture based on a rudimentary assumption of how PSR etc is applied to multi club models.

This is such a weird attitude. Why do we deserve the best? What makes us more worthy than fans of Sheffield Wednesday or Tiverton Town? Ticket money doesn’t sustain the club. We run at a loss covered by our owners. Yes we want our club custodians to be ambitious and it’s right we should question when they make poor decisions but some fans seem to forget the days in the not too distant past where we almost didn’t have a club to support. We have spent good money in this window and we are clearly trying to be ambitious with our recruitment even if we haven’t got all the business done we would like. If the price was right we may have got O’Riley and Ramsdale. If we shift Alcarez, Sulemana and ABK we may also have a bit more to play with at the end of the window. What else do you expect from the club/ownership? What is it you feel is ‘deserved’?

He has almost run them out of business in doing so. He’s thrown money at it (his or Usamov’s hard to say …) but made a series of reckless decisions without the first inkling of a coherent plan until Thelwell came in as DOF.

Come on you know the point being made. It’s not a direct parallel clearly but two examples of where we’ve invested decent money on players who have looked good in lesser leagues for clubs who also have the odd run out in Europe. One developed into arguably one of the world’s best players and the other underwhelmed massively despite his ‘work against the ball’. All transfers are inevitably risks but this is exacerbated when a player has not played in the premier league or a ‘top’ league as you’re gambling on the player translating ability at a consistently higher level. Fwiw I think MOR may do well and ultimately look good value but Brighton have the scope to risk him not doing so - in our current position we don’t at £30mil especially when there are more glaring squad issues to resolve.

I don’t think they’re spending madly. Fees are on the high side but wages are likely realistic and with relegation wage drops. Much like us it’s hard to argue with the logic behind most of their signings- some fees feel a tad inflated. Either these players thrive and establish themselves as premier league players or they have a team very well equipped to bounce back.

I’m not sure it’s about us wanting to be seen to be clever. Based on resources alone and our recent record of poor decisions we can’t compete on an even playing field with many of our rivals. Inevitability we need to try to find value and at times take risks. Biljow’s injury record is clearly a concern but we are potentially getting a keeper with international pedigree, at a good age and for what may be (based on rumblings) a good price. I also like that he has a bit of shithousery about him - we have often been accused of being soft and not playing the dark arts as well as other teams - with Biljow, BBD and Stephens I think we will see a bit more on that as part of the culture of our team which to my mind is no bad thing.

I rate Broja but happy to be wrong. The point i’m making is they’ve signed several players we have been linked with over a few windows so we can actually see how they fare in a relegation threatened side. Much like is Brighton sign MOR we can see how he gets on in the prem.

Ipswich have picked up several players we’ve been linked with so while not a direct parallel it will give us a chance to compare on a here’s what you could have won bullseye style arrangement!

I would take JWP back in a heartbeat. I think he would excel under Martin if we can’t get MOR and he would certainly add character and experience to the group. The goal threat from free kicks also can’t be ignored. We know we won’t score loads so they could be a real difference maker. Loan with an option would suit us well and keep readies for a permanent keeper. I get the idea of loaning one but I think it doesn’t hurt to be ruthless. Get a potential no1 in - him and Macca can compete until Baz is back then he has genuine competition/somebody good to learn from orrrr could feasibly go on loan - he’s young enough that a year on loan after a long term injury isn’t the worst thing in the world.

Fair point. Likely the step up in class will see us punished more often when we do have lapses. Newcastle were ruthless with what was pretty much their only presentable (and presented) chance. Small margins.

I think you have to take the rough with the smooth. It has risks which are exacerbated by crap decision making from a goalkeeper who doesn’t excel with the ball at his feet. It also has positives - we scored a lot of goals last season by drawing the opposition onto us. See Arma’s play off winner as a good example. There are absolutely times when the short pass isn’t on and we need to be confident to play longer balls - variation helps keep other teams honest too - but Martin’s tactical approach is focused on bravery on the ball so don’t expect us to suddenly shift away from this. the frustration for me is the goal was easily avoidable and there were plenty of passing options (short or long) and you can’t really legislate for passing straight to one of only two oppo players anywhere near.

I would like one to give us the chance to mix up our build up play but arguably they wouldn’t be the best fit for our system. Presuming we play on the break a bit more this season a yard of pace may not hurt. Off the ball movement is massive for any forward in our set up. If (giant, whopping, huge IF) Stewart gets fits he offers a bit of a combination of physicality while not exactly being slow.

This is probably a fair summary. He has done fairly well for the England u21s which hints at potential. From what I’ve seen he is a decent finisher with a bit of pace. Not exactly a hulking centre forward but can hold off a defender.

Ornstein has us in for Cameron Archer - if it’s a buy or loan to buy I would be happy.

So that averages out at £4.75mil per transfer … skewed by the freebies but comparatively it helps illustrate a little the challenge we face.

Tino was a big one for me. He was highly rated at Chelsea and we could all see why from his early games - I was telling people we might have the next Gareth Bale! 😅 I was gutted to see him leave us so soon and think if he can stay fit he will be England’s right back within a few years (or could play further forward). Honourable mentions for Gabbiadini, Osvaldo and Ramirez. Caceres was an odd one too but felt like a coup - a fair bit of pedigree but his spell with us feels like a weird anomaly in his career and it never really happened.

Do you honestly believe that would have worked? What reason would O’Riley or his agent have had to jump into agreeing a move just because we agreed a fee with Celtic? Equally if you are Celtic and you know there are (potentially) several clubs interested some of whom are going to sell assets and have more money why wouldn’t you hold out and try to drive up bids? If we don’t get him it’s a shame but I don’t see it as a stick to beat the club with if he ultimately ends up elsewhere.

I can see the parallels but IMO Broja looked to have a higher ceiling and is in a position we are desperately short. Our current CB options are decent and could form an okay lower mid table prem defence without ABK. Personally if the price was sensible or we could agree a loan with options/contingency based on performances I would want us to take the punt on him. Is there a price at which you would feel Broja is worth a gamble or are you just not convinced?