Summer Transfer Window 2019

[stevy777_x]

Boufal to Nice for 10m euros according to l’equipe.

Should be done before the end of the week.

[qwertyell]

Boufal to Nice for 10m euros according to l’equipe.

Should be done before the end of the week.

Snap their hand off, move on.

 

Better still, get them to throw in Alain Saint-Maximin. He's got the name for it already - the most Saints you can possibly be.

 

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[Wade Garrett]

Snap their hand off, move on.

 

Better still, get them to throw in Alain Saint-Maximin. He's got the name for it already - the most Saints you can possibly be.

 

Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

 

We should sign Ian St John as well.

 

’You kill me Greavsie’.

[del boy]

Anyone ITK?

 

haha, as if

 

All we get here is regurgitated stuff from the NewsNow stream.

 

Then, to confuse the issue, someone will decide to make a name for themselves by starting a whole new thread based upon one name who might or might not be coming/going

 

We still keep looking here though, don't we? ...probably in desperation ....for a proper CB!! please!!

 

On a serious note, I'm hoping that we have a proper CB lined up and ready but need to make a sale or two to free up the money required - let's hope its soon

[SuperSAINT]

haha, as if

 

All we get here is regurgitated stuff from the NewsNow stream.

 

Then, to confuse the issue, someone will decide to make a name for themselves by starting a whole new thread based upon one name who might or might not be coming/going

 

We still keep looking here though, don't we? ...probably in desperation ....for a proper CB!! please!!

 

On a serious note, I'm hoping that we have a proper CB lined up and ready but need to make a sale or two to free up the money required - let's hope its soon

 

This is literally the transfer window thread.

 

On topic subjects are hardly the biggest issue with this place.

[DT]

haha, as if

 

All we get here is regurgitated stuff from the NewsNow stream.

 

Then, to confuse the issue, someone will decide to make a name for themselves by starting a whole new thread based upon one name who might or might not be coming/going

 

We still keep looking here though, don't we? ...probably in desperation ....for a proper CB!! please!!

 

On a serious note, I'm hoping that we have a proper CB lined up and ready but need to make a sale or two to free up the money required - let's hope its soon

 

Long season skirting relegation without that at the very least

[Charlie Wayman]

T Yet even an average academy player like Targett can raise a lot of money if they can't become a first team asset.

 

Let's never forget that SFC's main business objective is to win football matches in the PL, not to rear good young professionals just to sell them at a profit to other clubs so that the club is financially sustainable. The bottom line in this business is 17th in the PL table not the one in the P & L accounts.

[tajjuk]

Long season skirting relegation without that at the very least

 

Based on what? We were mid table form under Ralph, so with the same defence and more attacking options, there is very little logic that we would be skirting relegation all season if we didn't buy a new one.

[Saints foreva]

Based on what? We were mid table form under Ralph, so with the same defence and more attacking options, there is very little logic that we would be skirting relegation all season if we didn't buy a new one.

 

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/premier-league/formtabelle/wettbewerb/GB1?saison_id=2018&min=16&max=38

 

15th according to that.

[Cabbage_Face]

There will be movement both ways very soon.

[Pilchards]

There will be movement both ways very soon.

 

England may win the cricket World Cup again!

You heard it here first.

[ALWAYS_SFC]

Based on what? We were mid table form under Ralph, so with the same defence and more attacking options, there is very little logic that we would be skirting relegation all season if we didn't buy a new one.

 

Quite right, why that DT bloke is so negative about everything is beyond me

[Useful Idiot]

Under Ralph, we played 23 games in the league, won 30 points, scored 32 and let in 36. 1.3 Points per match.

 

That is not mid-table form, it is bottom 5.

 

Out of those games, we played a back 4 six times, won 1, drew 2, lost 3.

 

We played a back 3 17 times, won 7, drew 4, lost 6.

 

We don't have a good enough defence to play a back 4.

 

Ralph wants to play a 4-2-2-2.

 

We need a second defender who is capable of playing in a back 4 to do that alongside Yoshida.

[washsaint]

Under Ralph, we played 23 games in the league, won 30 points, scored 32 and let in 36. 1.3 Points per match.

 

That is not mid-table form, it is bottom 5.

 

Out of those games, we played a back 4 six times, won 1, drew 2, lost 3.

 

We played a back 3 17 times, won 7, drew 4, lost 6.

 

We don't have a good enough defence to play a back 4.

 

Ralph wants to play a 4-2-2-2.

 

We need a second defender who is capable of playing in a back 4 to do that alongside Yoshida.

 

I think you need to go back to school and work on your maths!

 

Your bottom 5 form as you put it would, over the whole season last year, have put us on 50 points and 8th place. Hardly bottom 5.

[Useful Idiot]

I think you need to go back to school and work on your maths!

 

Your bottom 5 form as you put it would, over the whole season last year, have put us on 50 points and 8th place. Hardly bottom 5.

 

Sorry, I made a mistake with my post when I tried to write up the stats and the bottom 5 bit should be under the 4 at the back stats.

[TWar]

I think you need to go back to school and work on your maths!

 

Your bottom 5 form as you put it would, over the whole season last year, have put us on 50 points and 8th place. Hardly bottom 5.

 

Would have put us on 49.4 points, Watford finished 11th with 50 pts so would have had us 12th. The season before we would have finished 8th with 50 points, just above Everton. Either way, you are right, 1.3 points a match is somewhere in the 13th-7th region, very comfortably midtable, pushing europe, no where near relegation.

[Useful Idiot]

Would have put us on 49.4 points, Watford finished 11th with 50 pts so would have had us 12th. The season before we would have finished 8th with 50 points, just above Everton. Either way, you are right, 1.3 points a match is somewhere in the 13th-7th region, very comfortably midtable, pushing europe, no where near relegation.

 

Yeah, like I said, I had the order of the text the wrong way around in the post.

 

We managed 4 points from 6 games when playing a back 4. That is bottom 5 form. We don't have the players to play a back 4. That is the point I was trying to make.

[jayrivers]

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/premier-league/formtabelle/wettbewerb/GB1?saison_id=2018&min=16&max=38

 

15th according to that.

 

2 points from 10th

13 points above 18th

 

IF we performed the same this coming season then I would expect us to be closer to the top 10 than the bottom 3. Obviously it goes without saying an extra CB is preferable.

[Cabbage_Face]

People thinking we will be relegated = Mess

People panicking we haven't signed a CB = Mess

People = Mess

[Gordon Mockles]

Cant complain about the in's we've brought so far, definitely seem to suit the style of what Ralph wants to do. Would really like to see some others out the door though, and it doesn't appear as if any of Gallagher, Austin, Hoedt, Carillo, Forster, MacCarthy, Clasie, Boufal etc are leaving in the overly near future. Certainly no really strong links at this moment. And that doesn't even take into account the guys like Reed, Hesketh, McQueen who clearly have almost no future here.

 

Be as happy to see some of them go as I would a new signing at this point, but I think it's as hard work getting people out as it is getting them in nowadays.

 

I'm not sure how you can cheer Djnepo as he is an unknown quantity. I am pleased with Che Adams as he is familiar with English football but too many cheap, inexperienced PL imports playing outside of Britain have not succeeded well other than Gabbiadini who hit the ground running but poor managers missusing him seemed to kill his creativity and ability to find space and bring other players in. I hope Djnepo bucks the trend of European failures in the scouting department. I don't think fault lie with the scouts. They willl produce their reports and recommendations. The person at St Mary's overseeing the spending has final decision and they clearly took gambles due to budget restrictions authorised by the ownership of financial director. I applaud past ambitious signings that didn't work such as Ramirez, Boufal & Gabbiadini who had so much potential. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I think Osvaldo was a silly risk as he has previous form for being mental and aggressive. Part of the gamble is taking the risk and, at one stage, at least we strove for more and had ambition which sadly seems to have dissipated, to be replaced by making do. New owner, new set of goals or targets. Sadly, they don't seem to be on the pitch. It would be nice to know the ambitions of our owners but sadly, fan communication isn't deemed a priority.

[Gordon Mockles]

I can - they're not CBs

 

I agree. We leaked too many goals and threw away too many games last season due to concentration in defence and stupid mistakes. Unforgivable at this level. I hope plans are underway to recruit for this key area. No press reports suggest that but that's not to say we are not looking but I am sceptical on actions so far by the club under our current regime. It needs to be a club record signing as decent quality cannot come cheap. We have learnt spending more on less quality is not necessary cost effective (Mayuka, Forren, Carillo, Osvaldo, Ramirez, Boufal, Gabbiadini, Hoedt, Vestergaard, Elyonoussi, Taider, Juanmi (I rated him but never got a chance), Filip Djuricic, etc.) Caceres was a bizarre one. A CB of undoubted quality we never used. Hate to consider the loan fee and wages paid.

 

RH came in and performed minor miracles but for all his motivation, expertise and man management, the realisation of his monumental effort and positive effect only culminated in finishing one league position higher. ONE PLACE. So, that is a key indicator of personnel and the need for improvements. Even Ralph admits and knows this but he is much more subtle in response as he doesn't want to sully his name and reputation with his employer. The man isn't daft.

 

Our key area of fault have been defensive lapses and creating chances and finishing, a huge lack of attacking quality (an issue ignored for 3 seasons) which occurred when Reed sold Pelle and Mané and never effectively replaced them and the club have used poorer quality replacements ever since that moment (biggest effect being VVD and replacing him with Hoedt).

 

It seems we have brought in 2 attackers but seem to have ground to a halt in recruitment. Sensible money would say we are waiting until the last minute but reasoned logic would say this is down to a stringently controlled transfer budget. Centre back, as striker which we have addressed, should be top priority. No point in finally addressing our huge deficit in attacking quality after we sold all the family jewels and replaced them with inferior knock offs, to only have a make shift defence which leaks goals. Then we are solving one problem but creating another. No point scoring more goals if we are leaking them the other end. Vestergaard can be decent against inferior opposition but seems to be found out against faster, quality opponents. We need a suitable and defence leading replacement for VVD (we made enough from the sale) and until we recruit for this, our team will continue to thrown away games (often from dominating with attacking, good pressing play). A strong centre back will galvanise our first 11, as Che I think (and hope) will transform our attacking throng.

[egg]

I agree. We leaked too many goals and threw away too many games last season due to concentration in defence and stupid mistakes. Unforgivable at this level. I hope plans are underway to recruit for this key area. No press reports suggest that but that's not to say we are not looking but I am sceptical on actions so far by the club under our current regime. It needs to be a club record signing as decent quality cannot come cheap. We have learnt spending more on less quality is not necessary cost effective (Mayuka, Forren, Carillo, Osvaldo, Ramirez, Boufal, Gabbiadini, Hoedt, Vestergaard, Elyonoussi, Taider, Juanmi (I rated him but never got a chance), Filip Djuricic, etc.) Caceres was a bizarre one. A CB of undoubted quality we never used. Hate to consider the loan fee and wages paid.

 

RH came in and performed minor miracles but for all his motivation, expertise and man management, the realisation of his monumental effort and positive effect only culminated in finishing one league position higher. ONE PLACE. So, that is a key indicator of personnel and the need for improvements. Even Ralph admits and knows this but he is much more subtle in response as he doesn't want to sully his name and reputation with his employer. The man isn't daft.

 

Our key area of fault have been defensive lapses and creating chances and finishing, a huge lack of attacking quality (an issue ignored for 3 seasons) which occurred when Reed sold Pelle and Mané and never effectively replaced them and the club have used poorer quality replacements ever since that moment (biggest effect being VVD and replacing him with Hoedt).

 

It seems we have brought in 2 attackers but seem to have ground to a halt in recruitment. Sensible money would say we are waiting until the last minute but reasoned logic would say this is down to a stringently controlled transfer budget. Centre back, as striker which we have addressed, should be top priority. No point in finally addressing our huge deficit in attacking quality after we sold all the family jewels and replaced them with inferior knock offs, to only have a make shift defence which leaks goals. Then we are solving one problem but creating another. No point scoring more goals if we are leaking them the other end. Vestergaard can be decent against inferior opposition but seems to be found out against faster, quality opponents. We need a suitable and defence leading replacement for VVD (we made enough from the sale) and until we recruit for this, our team will continue to thrown away games (often from dominating with attacking, good pressing play). A strong centre back will galvanise our first 11, as Che I think (and hope) will transform our attacking throng.

 

Are you suggesting that cash from the VVD remains available for this record breaking CB signing? Do you not think that we need to shed players before we can recruit?

[Toadhall Saint]

Cb please

[del boy]

Cb please

x2 please

[Lighthouse]

x2 please

 

Not happening. We will be lucky to get one and that is probably reliant on shifting one or two that we have already.

[TWar]

Not happening. We will be lucky to get one and that is probably reliant on shifting one or two that we have already.

Doubt this. We will definitely get one. If we shift Hoedt and Yosh we will probably get two but the second will be more a young up and coming back up.

 

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[Lighthouse]

Doubt this. We will definitely get one. If we shift Hoedt and Yosh we will probably get two but the second will be more a young up and coming back up.

 

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I will be astonished if we sign two centre halves, even if two do leave. We have five already and need to reduce the wage bill.

[DT]

People thinking we will be relegated = Mess

People panicking we haven't signed a CB = Mess

People = Mess

 

Adams scuffed finish etc mess

[saint lard]

Two centre back names ...Martin Hinteregger and Marin Pongračić...just rumours as usual.

 

 

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[CB Fry]

Are you suggesting that cash from the VVD remains available for this record breaking CB signing? Do you not think that we need to shed players before we can recruit?

Haven't all of our club record signings been utter sh it?

[VectisSaint]

I will be astonished if we sign two centre halves, even if two do leave. We have five already and need to reduce the wage bill.

 

Six really, looks like Christopher Klarer is in the reckoning. Really won't be surprised if we don't sign a new CB. Would much prefer we strengthen midfield further.

[Micky]

Haven't all of our club record signings been utter sh it?

Rory Delap, shyte....! Wind yer neck in young man...!

 

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[Convict Colony]

Two centre back names ...Martin Hinteregger and Marin Pongračić...just rumours as usual.

 

 

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fortunately I've seen all the games they played last season and can confirm they are carthorses who turn like an oil tanker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm kidding although Marin plays for salzburg and is 21 so maybe

[davefizzy14]

Two centre back names ...Martin Hinteregger and Marin Pongračić...just rumours as usual.

 

 

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What are these two centre backs like?

[Kingsland Red]

According to Sky we were one of the clubs attending a transfers ‘speed dating’

event at Stamford Bridge today !

[Cabbage_Face]

According to Sky we were one of the clubs attending a transfers ‘speed dating’

event at Stamford Bridge today !

 

We snagged a right beauty as well.

 

 

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[qwertyell]

What are these two centre backs like?

Never seen Pongracic, but from memory Hinteregger is a bit of a left sided Bednarek - not particularly quick, but gutsy and physical, decent on the ball.

 

I think I read something recently about him playing silly buggers with his club trying to force a move to someone else (not us).

 

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[SuperSAINT]

According to Sky we were one of the clubs attending a transfers ‘speed dating’

event at Stamford Bridge today !

 

We probably had 500 Charlie Austin flyers printed.

[woodsaint]

Two centre back names ...Martin Hinteregger and Marin Pongračić...just rumours as usual.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Pongracic was a youth player at Ingolstadt when Ralph was manager so would know all about him

[Gordon Mockles]

Are you suggesting that cash from the VVD remains available for this record breaking CB signing? Do you not think that we need to shed players before we can recruit?

 

No. We should’ve addressed it earlier but the money has probably gone from that now due to Les Reed’s alleged mismanagement although I’m not sure where it all went when you considered the wage bill not also take into account television revenue. A lot of fans on here apologise for the club too much.

 

I do believe we are looking at centre backs and understand that there is a chain of signings which will dictate events. As is often the case. One very large fee for a British defender effecting all the others. We shall see but I hope we have a back up in mind because we really must address this key area.

 

This my last post of the day so I won’t be able to respond further today. Not sure if direct messages work. Everyone seems to have swallow the echo propaganda but there is no evidence to suggest that we are unable to sign a centre back and we don’t have the wage bill. If we can offload Austin, that will free up a decent wedge & a certain amount become available post Gabbiadini & Davis also freed up a certain amount in wages and if you realise over the last 2 1/2 seasons, we shed more as well as loans. I imagine it’s convenient for the club to get you to believe this but the club have proven to be disingenuous by a series of transfer sagas & broken promises and transfer rumours which so clearly emanate from PR agencies or agent baiting. It’s almost insultingly transparent.

 

We shall see. I will give the club a hard time but that emanates from them deceiving fans in recent seasons. All alleged of course. Trust has to be rebuilt and having an owner and businessman that can’t even address the fans does not win favour with me or compatriots. It’s a simple matter of respect.

 

I would like to think when we ship out Austin, we will get a replacement as we are only one injury away from a crisis. A competitive Premier League team needs strength & depth. Mixed with the youth as we wisely seem to manage but only a small number can make the step up and we need to learn from our past disastrous decisions under the chairman we don’t like to mention and Poortvliet. The youth need to be added gradually and Ralph is the man to bring them through but we can’t rely on them too heavily because you need that mixture of established quality to make up a competitive squad. Established quality rub off on the youth & give them incentive and inspiration. Anyway, I’m not sure why people keep mentioning the wage bill because a good portion of our squad players are ex academy who have progressed to the first team whom will be on low wages. We have culled a lot of players. We are not exceeding FFP limits. There is no doubt whatsoever the club and the echo would’ve cited this instantly had we been anywhere near the limit. They use every media outlet available to lower fan expectation & use every excuse going to deviate from the lack of signings.

 

Let’s hope United succeed in signing Harry Maguire soon then the other chain of defensive transfers may start the ball rolling before it cascades down to us.

[Badger]

 

Let’s hope United succeed in signing Harry Maguire soon then the other chain of defensive transfers may start the ball rolling before it cascades down to us.

 

Maguire going to Man Utd will only raise the going rate for CB's, Dunk for £40m for example.

[Dark Munster]

Haven't all of our club record signings been utter sh it?

In a nutshell, yes. Which is why it's imperative that we never make another record signing.

[SKD]

What we’re missing at the back is a leader, something we’ve not had since Fonte/VvD and it shows.

 

For that reason, I’d go for Cahill relatively low risk if he’ll sign a 2 year deal and will give us a chance to plug a gap and find a proper replacement.

 

I do like the look of the lad from Chelsea (who was on loan at derby last year), but I don’t think he’s what we need right now.

[wild-saint]

Maguire going to Man Utd will only raise the going rate for CB's, Dunk for £40m for example.

 

They may ask for £40 mil but No one would be stupid enough to pay that other than maybe West Ham.

[Shroppie]

Doubt this. We will definitely get one. If we shift Hoedt and Yosh we will probably get two but the second will be more a young up and coming back up.

 

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Where do you get the idea were trying to shift Yoshida? He's our current #2 CB. And we won't get even one unless Hoedt and/or Stephens goes.

 

It's nothing like as critical as the bed-wetters are saying. Bednarek could work with Yoshida or Vestergaard if he develops. But if not, all it does is stifle Ralph's plans (if true) to go to 4222, and takes away one attacking player in the team.

 

With a back five, the need for two DMs isn't as great so we'd probably go with something like

 

Gunn

Valery Vestergaard Yoshida Bednarek Bertrand

Hojbjerg JWP

Redmond Djenepo

Adams/Ings

 

as opposed to

 

Gunn

Valery Yoshida Bednarek Bertrand

Hojbjerg Romeu

Redmond JWP/Djenepo

Ings Adams

 

Not really that different, and our record with that back five was good. It's just a question of how much RH wants to switch.

 

As I've posted before, the main problem is that, even after sales, we won't be spending more than about £20m on a new CB, and at today's inflated prices that's unlikely to be much better than what we've got.

 

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[del boy]

It's nothing like as critical as the bed-wetters are saying

You're right ....its much more important, but I'm sure Ralph knows that

[egg]

No. We should’ve addressed it earlier but the money has probably gone from that now due to Les Reed’s alleged mismanagement although I’m not sure where it all went when you considered the wage bill not also take into account television revenue. A lot of fans on here apologise for the club too much.

 

I do believe we are looking at centre backs and understand that there is a chain of signings which will dictate events. As is often the case. One very large fee for a British defender effecting all the others. We shall see but I hope we have a back up in mind because we really must address this key area.

 

This my last post of the day so I won’t be able to respond further today. Not sure if direct messages work. Everyone seems to have swallow the echo propaganda but there is no evidence to suggest that we are unable to sign a centre back and we don’t have the wage bill. If we can offload Austin, that will free up a decent wedge & a certain amount become available post Gabbiadini & Davis also freed up a certain amount in wages and if you realise over the last 2 1/2 seasons, we shed more as well as loans. I imagine it’s convenient for the club to get you to believe this but the club have proven to be disingenuous by a series of transfer sagas & broken promises and transfer rumours which so clearly emanate from PR agencies or agent baiting. It’s almost insultingly transparent.

 

We shall see. I will give the club a hard time but that emanates from them deceiving fans in recent seasons. All alleged of course. Trust has to be rebuilt and having an owner and businessman that can’t even address the fans does not win favour with me or compatriots. It’s a simple matter of respect.

 

I would like to think when we ship out Austin, we will get a replacement as we are only one injury away from a crisis. A competitive Premier League team needs strength & depth. Mixed with the youth as we wisely seem to manage but only a small number can make the step up and we need to learn from our past disastrous decisions under the chairman we don’t like to mention and Poortvliet. The youth need to be added gradually and Ralph is the man to bring them through but we can’t rely on them too heavily because you need that mixture of established quality to make up a competitive squad. Established quality rub off on the youth & give them incentive and inspiration. Anyway, I’m not sure why people keep mentioning the wage bill because a good portion of our squad players are ex academy who have progressed to the first team whom will be on low wages. We have culled a lot of players. We are not exceeding FFP limits. There is no doubt whatsoever the club and the echo would’ve cited this instantly had we been anywhere near the limit. They use every media outlet available to lower fan expectation & use every excuse going to deviate from the lack of signings.

 

Let’s hope United succeed in signing Harry Maguire soon then the other chain of defensive transfers may start the ball rolling before it cascades down to us.

 

You do not address that our 1st team squad has almost 40 players. We took 26 or so to Austria, left 12 behind, plus McQueen recovering still. Your post suggests that all we need to do is move Austin on and we can top up the squad - that's unrealistic and not going to happen. Our squad is massively inflated with mediocre players on lucrative contracts. Shedding Austin from the squad is a drop in the ocean, we have masses of deadwood to move on before we can spend big again. Moving them on won't be easy though and many fans fail to overlook that a player under contract has to agree to leave, and that another club has to want them. The harsh reality is that it will cost the club to get players out of the door, whether that be by subsidising wages, paying up (in part or full) contracts, paying agents to help us get rid, etc.

 

Our squad is in a mess. There's no "deception" in that. Rather it's a reality that many fans choose to ignore the facts and keep spouting that we need another CB, yet another keeper, one more midfielder, etc. It's going to take take years to sort out the mess that the squad is in and our fans need to be patient and realistic with their expectations.

[Highfield Saint]

Yeah, like I said, I had the order of the text the wrong way around in the post.

 

We managed 4 points from 6 games when playing a back 4. That is bottom 5 form. We don't have the players to play a back 4. That is the point I was trying to make.

 

So if we play a back 3 we average 1.47 its per game - 56 over a season.

 

Perhaps play the system to suit the players we have?

[Minsk]

Where do you get the idea were trying to shift Yoshida? He's our current #2 CB. And we won't get even one unless Hoedt and/or Stephens goes.

 

It's nothing like as critical as the bed-wetters are saying. Bednarek could work with Yoshida or Vestergaard if he develops. But if not, all it does is stifle Ralph's plans (if true) to go to 4222, and takes away one attacking player in the team.

 

With a back five, the need for two DMs isn't as great so we'd probably go with something like

 

Gunn

Valery Vestergaard Yoshida Bednarek Bertrand

Hojbjerg JWP

Redmond Djenepo

Adams/Ings

 

as opposed to

 

Gunn

Valery Yoshida Bednarek Bertrand

Hojbjerg Romeu

Redmond JWP/Djenepo

Ings Adams

 

Not really that different, and our record with that back five was good. It's just a question of how much RH wants to switch.

 

As I've posted before, the main problem is that, even after sales, we won't be spending more than about £20m on a new CB, and at today's inflated prices that's unlikely to be much better than what we've got.

 

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Good post.

 

Whilst our squad is bloated, and there are obviously players in it we don't want, overall it isn't too bad.

 

As for the CB issue: Every time Ralph set us up in a 4-2-2-2 last season I cringed. We clearly didn't have the players for it, which is why virtually every time he was forced to change the formation. That said, on almost all of those occasions Yoshida was out injured; as was Vestergard for some - leaving us with a CB pairing of Bednarek and Stephens. Personally, I think Yoshida is our number 1 CB. He is certainly the most experienced and the quickest of them all. So, against the weaker teams, I wouldn't be too worried if we started with CB pairing of Yoshida plus Bednarek or Vestergard (depending on availability and opposition.) Again IMHO, I feel that against the stronger teams we should employ a back 3/5. That said, it has been mentioned quite a bit that Ralph IS looking to bring a new CB in; I just don't think that will happen until Hoedt is sold (or loaned).

 

Looking a bit further up the field, at midfield, I think we will see one ore come in if/when Lemina moves on. As others have pointed out, at present Romeo is our only holding CM - and he isn't really mobile enough to play the full-on Ralph game. In Ralph's 4-2-2-2 he doesn't want the defensive most 2 to just sit in front of the defense. He wants them to be mobile, getting up and down the pitch, as well being able to pick out those long range passes. Quite rightly, people are worried about JWP/Hoj being those 2 (with only 2 CBs behind them) - especially against teams with a strong midfield. I think Lemina, JWP and Hoj are all suited to the box-to-box role (yes, even JWP who I think has vastly improved, especially in strength/tackling, under Ralph) but can all be a bit reckless/ill disciplined in a defensive regard. So I can see a more defense minded signing coming in if/when Lemina goes. (I won't be unhappy if Lemina stays, as I think he would get his head down and work hard to earn that 'upward' move in January).

 

So, all in all, yes we can obviously be made better by transfer dealings but it certainly isn't all doom and gloom if we do start the season as we are - which we won't.

[Minsk]

You do not address that our 1st team squad has almost 40 players. We took 26 or so to Austria, left 12 behind, plus McQueen recovering still. Your post suggests that all we need to do is move Austin on and we can top up the squad - that's unrealistic and not going to happen. Our squad is massively inflated with mediocre players on lucrative contracts. Shedding Austin from the squad is a drop in the ocean, we have masses of deadwood to move on before we can spend big again. Moving them on won't be easy though and many fans fail to overlook that a player under contract has to agree to leave, and that another club has to want them. The harsh reality is that it will cost the club to get players out of the door, whether that be by subsidising wages, paying up (in part or full) contracts, paying agents to help us get rid, etc.

 

Our squad is in a mess. There's no "deception" in that. Rather it's a reality that many fans choose to ignore the facts and keep spouting that we need another CB, yet another keeper, one more midfielder, etc. It's going to take take years to sort out the mess that the squad is in and our fans need to be patient and realistic with their expectations.

 

Nothing like over-egging a situation (pun intended).

 

6 of the 26 who went to Austria can not be described as 'first team squad' members (except in dire circumstances of multiple injuries/suspensions to players in one position.) Another, Valery, is certainly a first team player but firmly in the U23 category. Two others, Hoedt and Cedric, have been told they can leave should they find a suitable destination (although I will be okay with the later staying.)

 

Of those left behind I would only class Armstrong as a 'first team squad player' whom the club wish to retain; with possibly Slattery added to that but, again, he is easily classed as an U23 player. And one of those left behind, Gallagher, has already been sold.

 

I think everyone is fully well aware that the club needs to, and wants to, off-load at least Austin, Carrillo, Hoedt, Boufal and Reed. It is clear they are also happy for Lemina to go. I dare say they would let Hesketh, and a few others, go as well. Not to mention they have said they will allow either McCarthy or Forster to go. That doesn't mean we need to sell all of them in order to bring anyone else in; just one or two (depending on who, and for how much.)