Summer Transfer Window 2021

[TWar]

1 minute ago, Saint Garrett said:

But Ings also had way more impact to others, he has creativity that Armstrong doesn't have.

I don't know if he did. Ings got 9 assists in the league in his entire time with us, which is like 3 a season. Adams, for example, played a fraction of the minutes, has only been with us for two full seasons and has 8. Ings was never really the creative one.

[Billy the Kidd]

45 minutes ago, TWar said:

I think it's very unfair to say Armstrong isn't "fit to lace Ings' boots". Ings has scored one more goal than Armstrong this season and that is purely because he is on penalties and Armstrong isn't with Ings having significantly easier fixtures. Ings had one great season where he was massive for us but in the two surrounding it he was fine, 12 goals and 7 goals are good hauls but I very much don't think they are beyond Armstrong for example.

Also our best player is JWP.

Finally with regards to our first 11:

McCarthy = McCarthy

Tino > KWP (or he wouldn't be starting)

Stephens < Vestergaard

Salisu > Bednarek

Perraud/KWP > Bertrand

JWP = JWP

Romeu = Romeu

Stu = Stu

Djenepo > Redmond (although both were available both seasons so not much in it really)

Armstrong < Ings

Adams = Adams

So really it comes down to if Vestergaard to Stephens and Ings to Armstrong is a bigger step down than Salisu to Bednarek, KWP to Tino, Bertrand to Perraud/KWP, and Redmond to Djenepo is a step up. Personally I think we've gotten mildly stronger. Armstrong will score similar to what Ings got last season imo and Vestergaard had a lot of weaknesses too so wasn't that much clear of Stephens. On the other hand, Livramento is excellent and probably our best player right now, Salisu has also been absolutely immense, Bertrand was dross at the end and both our LB options are much better than him, and Djenepo is mildly better than Redmond although an upgrade here would have been nice.

I agree with all this, so is the conversation really on Ralph and why he cant get a decent tune.  Three games from matchday 2-5 we were actually ok, albeit pretty toothless. 

But we are in a rut that we cant seem to get out of. I made a point somewhere in around mar/apr that we are in danger of doing a Sheff Utd, they just could get out of their rut despite having a good 1st half of their maiden season back in the EPL.

I will be utterly amazed and disappointed if this continues past 2 maybe 3 games if we are winless, if Ralph is still here.

We simply have to start getting wins.

[TWar]

1 minute ago, Billy the Kidd said:

I agree with all this, so is the conversation really on Ralph and why he cant get a decent tune.  Three games from matchday 2-5 we were actually ok, albeit pretty toothless. 

But we are in a rut that we cant seem to get out of. I made a point somewhere in around mar/apr that we are in danger of doing a Sheff Utd, they just could get out of their rut despite having a good 1st half of their maiden season back in the EPL.

I will be utterly amazed and disappointed if this continues past 2 maybe 3 games if we are winless, if Ralph is still here.

We simply have to start getting wins.

I think we have been quite unlucky to be honest and had the hardest start to the league of arguably any team. We looked very competitive against teams around us (wolves, Newcastle) and we showed we can take points off the big boys (United, City). After Chelsea we have Leeds, Burnley, Watford, Villa, Norwich. With a bit of luck we should pick up 2-3 wins out of that and maybe a draw or two. If we get less than 5 points from that run it will probably be time to panic.

[S-Clarke]

I think most sane fans could see that if we didn't replace Ings goals then we are pretty much dead with nowhere to turn. Jury is still out for me on Armstrong as it's too early to come to any conclusions, but I feel for him as he's automatically got the burden on his shoulders and has no time to adapt because no one else has stepped up. He is our top scorer with 1 goals. That shines such a poor light on everyone else in this side.

In an ideal world you'd lose Ings and replace his goals throughout a number of players, Mousa, Ely, Redmond, Adams, Armstrong etc all hitting decent figures would negate the issue - but our main problem is that those existing players are incredibly limited and cannot be counted on. That should have been obvious to all in the summer, but I feel the club have put too much trust in the existing 10's (not including Stu Armstrong in that) when they needed to be replaced in the summer. Every single one of them. Financial limitations have dictated where we are with that though.

Edited 27 September, 2021 by S-Clarke

[Billy the Kidd]

47 minutes ago, TWar said:

I think we have been quite unlucky to be honest and had the hardest start to the league of arguably any team. We looked very competitive against teams around us (wolves, Newcastle) and we showed we can take points off the big boys (United, City). After Chelsea we have Leeds, Burnley, Watford, Villa, Norwich. With a bit of luck we should pick up 2-3 wins out of that and maybe a draw or two. If we get less than 5 points from that run it will probably be time to panic.

Yeah I dont disagree, although how long would you let Ralph continue to not pick up a win?

I mean, if we got to Watford without one, would you keep him in charge for Villa and Norwich? There must be a trigger point where you just have to hold hands up and say it just isnt working.

[TWar]

28 minutes ago, Billy the Kidd said:

Yeah I dont disagree, although how long would you let Ralph continue to not pick up a win?

I mean, if we got to Watford without one, would you keep him in charge for Villa and Norwich? There must be a trigger point where you just have to hold hands up and say it just isnt working.

Sometimes I think fans see sacking and replacing the manager as just a thing to do when losing. Like something has to change and this is a change (and basically the only major feasible change) therefore it's what we must do. I think Ralph is a good manager and would still be if we didn't win for another few games. If we had a better option now I'd say sack him on the spot, if we don't have a better option then I would keep him. I don't think change for the sake of change is valuable, it depends on who we can get really. Like with Chelsea, they didn't sack Lampard for ages when he was underperforming but as soon as a better option came along he was out the door. That's the right way to do it imo.

If he gets to Watford without a win and someone amazing was available then I'd get rid but I personally don't think the likes of Howe are really an improvement and I don't think him losing a few more games would change that for me.

Edited 27 September, 2021 by TWar

[ErwinK1961]

1 hour ago, TWar said:

I think we have been quite unlucky to be honest and had the hardest start to the league of arguably any team. We looked very competitive against teams around us (wolves, Newcastle) and we showed we can take points off the big boys (United, City). After Chelsea we have Leeds, Burnley, Watford, Villa, Norwich. With a bit of luck we should pick up 2-3 wins out of that and maybe a draw or two. If we get less than 5 points from that run it will probably be time to panic.

Hard for us in terms of games we don’t generally win, but in comparison to everyone else I don’t think so. 

[spyinthesky]

1 minute ago, ErwinK1961 said:

Hard for us in terms of games we don’t generally win, but in comparison to everyone else I don’t think so. 

Reasonable quote.

We do seem to be unable to score goals and that is a worry

[TWar]

6 minutes ago, ErwinK1961 said:

Hard for us in terms of games we don’t generally win, but in comparison to everyone else I don’t think so. 

https://footylabs.com/premierleague-fantasy/schedule-difficulty.html

This nifty difficulty ranker has us as second hardest after Norwich. Upside, our next 6 after Chelsea we have 5th easiest. And from now our next 10 fixtures are easiest in the league.

Edited 27 September, 2021 by TWar

[Billy the Kidd]

22 minutes ago, TWar said:

Sometimes I think fans see sacking and replacing the manager as just a thing to do when losing. Like something has to change and this is a change (and basically the only major feasible change) therefore it's what we must do. I think Ralph is a good manager and would still be if we didn't win for another few games. If we had a better option now I'd say sack him on the spot, if we don't have a better option then I would keep him. I don't think change for the sake of change is valuable, it depends on who we can get really. Like with Chelsea, they didn't sack Lampard for ages when he was underperforming but as soon as a better option came along he was out the door. That's the right way to do it imo.

If he gets to Watford without a win and someone amazing was available then I'd get rid but I personally don't think the likes of Howe are really an improvement and I don't think him losing a few more games would change that for me.

I think some fans are maybe more reactionary than others, for sure. 

My main concern is we can’t carry on not winning, playing well is a bonus just now we need three points from one game. 

Who to say we won’t go down with Ralph? As it stands on form over nearly a calendar year we will. 

Now I don’t know who will work out better than Ralph, the club are there to sort this out, and who knows EH May do better, I’d be amazed if he did any worse. 

I think the club are getting ready to act, personally, this has gone on to long. I do think s heavy loss to Chelsea or failure to win either of the next two games after and he is toast, won’t be surprised if it happened around the next international break. 

[Bob76]

2 hours ago, Billy the Kidd said:

I think some fans are maybe more reactionary than others, for sure. 

My main concern is we can’t carry on not winning, playing well is a bonus just now we need three points from one game. 

Who to say we won’t go down with Ralph? As it stands on form over nearly a calendar year we will. 

Now I don’t know who will work out better than Ralph, the club are there to sort this out, and who knows EH May do better, I’d be amazed if he did any worse. 

I think the club are getting ready to act, personally, this has gone on to long. I do think s heavy loss to Chelsea or failure to win either of the next two games after and he is toast, won’t be surprised if it happened around the next international break. 

This is more too the point, it is not reactionary after this one result. Our performances over the last year have been bad, and before that we had not exactly say the game on fire with our results apart from one period. They say that it is madness to keep doing the same thing and expect different results. I am yet to be convinced after almost three years that Ralph knows how to fix things or mould the way we play to best match the players we have.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

10 games always seemed a reasonable time to judge this season and that's still the case

[Minsk]

4 hours ago, Bob76 said:

This is more too the point, it is not reactionary after this one result. Our performances over the last year have been bad, and before that we had not exactly say the game on fire with our results apart from one period. They say that it is madness to keep doing the same thing and expect different results. I am yet to be convinced after almost three years that Ralph knows how to fix things or mould the way we play to best match the players we have.

This calendar year has certainly been atrocious. I put a large chunk of that down to our injuries and compacted fixture list during the 2nd half of last season. The previous calendar year's results would have seen us in the Champions League - top 4. All those slating Ralph now were quick enough to point out that calendar year results don't mean anything back then - strange that....

A lot of people have, quite understandably, gotten very upset following Sunday's result. No surprise to me at all that there has been a raft of posts calling for Ralph's head, slating our new signings, etc, etc. Of course, mostly the same people on all threads saying the same thing. Those posters being the ones who have slated him in the past and have been itching to for a chance to bash him once again.

Personally, I think Ralph has changed somewhat this season. Yes, he has made some debatable choices in starting line-ups, but I think he has largely been shown to have made the right choices. I predicted his starting 11 for yesterday correctly after the cup match on Tuesday. It seemed quite obvious to me. By and large, we had the better of the game. 18 shots to their 5; 6 on target to their 3; more possession; vastly more completed passes. We lost because (a) our finishing wasn't good enough (plus Sa made a couple of decent saves and (b) Stephens was out injured (I am certain he wouldn't have been out-bullied by Jiminez) whilst the usually excellent Salisu slipped on his arse when trying to cover the bullied Bednarek.

Keeping on the topic of this thread, I agree with TWar:

Full backs -  Last season we had 1 RB and 1 LB. Lose either and we were screwed. This year we have cover and competition in the FB areas. Bertrand left because he wanted to leave. He was offered a new contract, turned it down. Perraud has shown some promise thus far, but Ralph has decided to go with the more experienced KWP at LB for some matches. That's what happens when there are options in the squad. (Yes, KWP was poor at LB yesterday; but he was good there against City.) - We are better off this season.

Fwds - Whilst nobody thinks Armstrong is as good as Ings, again, Ings wanted to leave - refused to sign a new contract. However, Armstrong will likely play (or be available for) more games than him this season, and a lot more beyond. Also, as someone else mentioned above, thus far they both have the 1 goal from open play. I also think that Arma will match the 10 goals Ings scored from open play last season. Give him time. We also have Che, same as last season, but now also have Broja - who again has a lot of promise but seems a bit hot and cold/hit and miss. - More bodies/options this season, but lost a very good goal scorer (because he wanted to go).

CBs: I was disappointed with the signing of Lyanco. Seemed like the cheap option. Might come back to bite us in the arse now that Stephens is out until December. That said, I was very much starting to like the look of a Stephens/Salisu CB pairing. Yes, they were both at fault (at least partially) for goals in the first match but I thought they were starting to gel nicely. I think part of the reason we went for the cheaper Lyanco (who may yet come good, those up at Sheffield said he did do some nice things) was to keep money back for a CM - it's just that the right one didn't come available for us. Expect we may rectify in December. - Weaker at CB overall, but think Stephens/Salisu is a better pairing than Bednarek/Vestergaard.

AMs/10s - That said, if we do have some money for Dec then I would rather we used it on an AM. Not much chance of that though: Moi is playing better than I (and many others) thought he would; Redmond actually finished his off-side goal nicely yesterday; Djenepo is looking much better defensively and can at least manage to go past a player - I just wish he had more end product; Theo will get a few goals and assists this season; I wish Ralph would give Tella a go, although I think he seen as more of an attacker now; Stuey A is our only really decent AM, and we are missing him greatly. - Again, more options/greater depth than last season, plus Djenepo has improved somewhat.

GK and CM just the same as it was last season.

Could our summer window have been better? Undoubtedly. Don't think we are really any weaker than we were last season though, Ings finishing aside. But, as I've already mentioned, HE WANTED TO LEAVE and we were never going to (be able to) buy someone of equal - proven - quality to replace him with.

 

[Sunglasses Ron]

Still far too early to judge our business over the summer in my opinion. Ifs and buts I know, but had we sneaked the win on Sunday (which could easily have happened) then I expect everyone would be reasonably content.

Let's face it, we'll battle away at Chelsea this weekend, probably lose, then have to sit through the international break just above/below the relegation line.

As many have stated, it's the next set of fixtures that are pivotal.  We could win any/all of those 4 games and be in a much healthier position come the next international break with Norwich awaiting after that.

I'll be passing my personal judgment on where we are then as I think 10 games is a reasonable run to get things right...

[once_bitterne]

12 hours ago, Minsk said:

This calendar year has certainly been atrocious. I put a large chunk of that down to our injuries and compacted fixture list during the 2nd half of last season. The previous calendar year's results would have seen us in the Champions League - top 4. All those slating Ralph now were quick enough to point out that calendar year results don't mean anything back then - strange that....

A lot of people have, quite understandably, gotten very upset following Sunday's result. No surprise to me at all that there has been a raft of posts calling for Ralph's head, slating our new signings, etc, etc. Of course, mostly the same people on all threads saying the same thing. Those posters being the ones who have slated him in the past and have been itching to for a chance to bash him once again.

Personally, I think Ralph has changed somewhat this season. Yes, he has made some debatable choices in starting line-ups, but I think he has largely been shown to have made the right choices. I predicted his starting 11 for yesterday correctly after the cup match on Tuesday. It seemed quite obvious to me. By and large, we had the better of the game. 18 shots to their 5; 6 on target to their 3; more possession; vastly more completed passes. We lost because (a) our finishing wasn't good enough (plus Sa made a couple of decent saves and (b) Stephens was out injured (I am certain he wouldn't have been out-bullied by Jiminez) whilst the usually excellent Salisu slipped on his arse when trying to cover the bullied Bednarek.

Keeping on the topic of this thread, I agree with TWar:

Full backs -  Last season we had 1 RB and 1 LB. Lose either and we were screwed. This year we have cover and competition in the FB areas. Bertrand left because he wanted to leave. He was offered a new contract, turned it down. Perraud has shown some promise thus far, but Ralph has decided to go with the more experienced KWP at LB for some matches. That's what happens when there are options in the squad. (Yes, KWP was poor at LB yesterday; but he was good there against City.) - We are better off this season.

Fwds - Whilst nobody thinks Armstrong is as good as Ings, again, Ings wanted to leave - refused to sign a new contract. However, Armstrong will likely play (or be available for) more games than him this season, and a lot more beyond. Also, as someone else mentioned above, thus far they both have the 1 goal from open play. I also think that Arma will match the 10 goals Ings scored from open play last season. Give him time. We also have Che, same as last season, but now also have Broja - who again has a lot of promise but seems a bit hot and cold/hit and miss. - More bodies/options this season, but lost a very good goal scorer (because he wanted to go).

CBs: I was disappointed with the signing of Lyanco. Seemed like the cheap option. Might come back to bite us in the arse now that Stephens is out until December. That said, I was very much starting to like the look of a Stephens/Salisu CB pairing. Yes, they were both at fault (at least partially) for goals in the first match but I thought they were starting to gel nicely. I think part of the reason we went for the cheaper Lyanco (who may yet come good, those up at Sheffield said he did do some nice things) was to keep money back for a CM - it's just that the right one didn't come available for us. Expect we may rectify in December. - Weaker at CB overall, but think Stephens/Salisu is a better pairing than Bednarek/Vestergaard.

AMs/10s - That said, if we do have some money for Dec then I would rather we used it on an AM. Not much chance of that though: Moi is playing better than I (and many others) thought he would; Redmond actually finished his off-side goal nicely yesterday; Djenepo is looking much better defensively and can at least manage to go past a player - I just wish he had more end product; Theo will get a few goals and assists this season; I wish Ralph would give Tella a go, although I think he seen as more of an attacker now; Stuey A is our only really decent AM, and we are missing him greatly. - Again, more options/greater depth than last season, plus Djenepo has improved somewhat.

GK and CM just the same as it was last season.

Could our summer window have been better? Undoubtedly. Don't think we are really any weaker than we were last season though, Ings finishing aside. But, as I've already mentioned, HE WANTED TO LEAVE and we were never going to (be able to) buy someone of equal - proven - quality to replace him with.

 

Plenty of players want to leave clubs but aren't allowed to. Ask Kane.

I doubt it was Ings' lifelong dream to play for..... Aston Villa.

If we had kept him I'm sure he would have knuckled down and played to the best of his ability, safe in the knowledge that he would be receiving a massive signing bonus as a free agent with his next club.

[Alanh]

1 hour ago, once_bitterne said:

Plenty of players want to leave clubs but aren't allowed to. Ask Kane.

I doubt it was Ings' lifelong dream to play for..... Aston Villa.

If we had kept him I'm sure he would have knuckled down and played to the best of his ability, safe in the knowledge that he would be receiving a massive signing bonus as a free agent with his next club.

You're probably right about him playing to the best of his ability, but what would we have done next summer when he would have left for nothing and we didn't have any money to replace him?  A club like ours isn't going to turn down £30M for a player with one year left on their contract.

[stevy777_x]

1 hour ago, once_bitterne said:

Plenty of players want to leave clubs but aren't allowed to. Ask Kane.

I doubt it was Ings' lifelong dream to play for..... Aston Villa.

If we had kept him I'm sure he would have knuckled down and played to the best of his ability, safe in the knowledge that he would be receiving a massive signing bonus as a free agent with his next club.

Keeping Ings until the end of his contract would have been catastrophic for the club financially.

There was litteraly no other option than to let him go.

[nta786]

1 hour ago, once_bitterne said:

Plenty of players want to leave clubs but aren't allowed to. Ask Kane.

I doubt it was Ings' lifelong dream to play for..... Aston Villa.

If we had kept him I'm sure he would have knuckled down and played to the best of his ability, safe in the knowledge that he would be receiving a massive signing bonus as a free agent with his next club.

Or equally, Ings might not have tried and gone through the motions purely to avoid injury for his next move... 

[once_bitterne]

1 minute ago, stevy777_x said:

Keeping Ings until the end of his contract would have been catastrophic for the club financially.

There was litteraly no other option than to let him go.

No.  It's relegation which will be be catastrophic for the club financially.  Losing Ings makes this scenario far more likely.

[once_bitterne]

4 minutes ago, Alanh said:

You're probably right about him playing to the best of his ability, but what would we have done next summer when he would have left for nothing and we didn't have any money to replace him?  A club like ours isn't going to turn down £30M for a player with one year left on their contract.

Why would we not have any money to replace him?  if we stay up the PL gravy train stops again.

Next Summer's priority would be a new striker just as this one's was a LB (who we don't play - lols).

[Alanh]

9 minutes ago, once_bitterne said:

Why would we not have any money to replace him?  if we stay up the PL gravy train stops again.

Next Summer's priority would be a new striker just as this one's was a LB (who we don't play - lols).

Most of the EPL money goes on wages so that's not going to fund a new striker.  The cost of our new left back and striker were covered by selling Ings.  Assuming we kept INgs this season, who do you think we could sell next summer who would both cover their replacement and also a new striker?

[CB Fry]

1 hour ago, once_bitterne said:

No.  It's relegation which will be be catastrophic for the club financially.  Losing Ings makes this scenario far more likely.

We were never, ever, ever going to let Ings run his contract down.

Whether he went to Spurs for £20m on deadline day or to Villa as he did, he was going.

It's about manageable financial risk - the fact is there are plenty of football clubs that have not been relegated without Danny Ings in the team so not unreasonable to think we can plan to mitigate that through replacements, re-investing.

But letting Ings just run his contract down and leave for no return is a significant financial risk with really only one mitigation: sell him.

So dont bother with the "well, the cost relegation is much higher than Ings staying blah blah blah" stuff. So what. He was always always always going.

Edited 28 September, 2021 by CB Fry

[Saint86]

10 hours ago, once_bitterne said:

No.  It's relegation which will be be catastrophic for the club financially.  Losing Ings makes this scenario far more likely.

Losing Ings for free (plus wages) would have simply delayed relegation another year at most.

In addition, its very plausible that he could have stayed, picked up injuries, and still seen saints relegated regardless (in which case a fit striker is infinitely better).

I think you're also forgetting he managed 12goals last season, and our bad form corresponded with his injuries and poor form following that - would you risk that again this year? Knowing that we would still have to replace him in the summer and with no monies from his sale? I'd suggest that that way lies ruin, and the club did the only think it could do - which was to bite villa's hand off for the offered £30m.

 

 

[OldNick]

18 hours ago, Saint86 said:

Losing Ings for free (plus wages) would have simply delayed relegation another year at most.

In addition, its very plausible that he could have stayed, picked up injuries, and still seen saints relegated regardless (in which case a fit striker is infinitely better).

I think you're also forgetting he managed 12goals last season, and our bad form corresponded with his injuries and poor form following that - would you risk that again this year? Knowing that we would still have to replace him in the summer and with no monies from his sale? I'd suggest that that way lies ruin, and the club did the only think it could do - which was to bite villa's hand off for the offered £30m.

 

 

Add to that his 4-5m a year contract, probably with add ons would tie up 20m( may have been 4 year contract so 20M)on a player who is injury plagued until he was 33 or so.

I understand why we miss his loss but we did the correct commercial thing at the time. whether we spent it on the right replacement time will tell. May have been prudent to have sold JWP for the 35m and got Abraham and another midfielder

[AlexLaw76]

38 minutes ago, OldNick said:

Add to that his 4-5m a year contract, probably with add ons would tie up 20m( may have been 4 year contract so 20M)on a player who is injury plagued until he was 33 or so.

I understand why we miss his loss but we did the correct commercial thing at the time. whether we spent it on the right replacement time will tell. May have been prudent to have sold JWP for the 35m and got Abraham and another midfielder

Injury plagued? is he out already?

[Lighthouse]

On 28/09/2021 at 12:01, once_bitterne said:

Why would we not have any money to replace him?  if we stay up the PL gravy train stops again.

Next Summer's priority would be a new striker just as this one's was a LB (who we don't play - lols).

Yeah but we do though, don’t we.

[once_bitterne]

15 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

Yeah but we do though, don’t we.

Do what? Not play him at LB.  That's what KWP is being forced to do in the PL.

[once_bitterne]

17 hours ago, OldNick said:

Add to that his 4-5m a year contract, probably with add ons would tie up 20m( may have been 4 year contract so 20M)on a player who is injury plagued until he was 33 or so.

I understand why we miss his loss but we did the correct commercial thing at the time. whether we spent it on the right replacement time will tell. May have been prudent to have sold JWP for the 35m and got Abraham and another midfielder

And there you have it.  Semmens and his crew, with their sole long term objective of remaining on the PL gravy train have won the battle when even fans start talking about doing well 'commercially' rather than on the pitch.

[Lighthouse]

1 hour ago, once_bitterne said:

Do what? Not play him at LB.  That's what KWP is being forced to do in the PL.

Yes we do. He played 90 minutes against West Ham, 79 against United and 83 against Everton. Plus a token appearance at City.

[stevy777_x]

2 hours ago, once_bitterne said:

And there you have it.  Semmens and his crew, with their sole long term objective of remaining on the PL gravy train have won the battle when even fans start talking about doing well 'commercially' rather than on the pitch.

Because its the harsh reality of football today, wake up and smell the coffee

[TWar]

4 hours ago, once_bitterne said:

And there you have it.  Semmens and his crew, with their sole long term objective of remaining on the PL gravy train have won the battle when even fans start talking about doing well 'commercially' rather than on the pitch.

Their objective could be to win the quadruple, wouldn't make it doable. With our squad and our funding the goal is to stay afloat and buy young in the hope one blows up and we make a tonne of money, but we can't do that if we aren't in the league and we can't do anything better without funding. You have to be realistic.

[TWar]

21 hours ago, OldNick said:

Add to that his 4-5m a year contract, probably with add ons would tie up 20m( may have been 4 year contract so 20M)on a player who is injury plagued until he was 33 or so.

I understand why we miss his loss but we did the correct commercial thing at the time. whether we spent it on the right replacement time will tell. May have been prudent to have sold JWP for the 35m and got Abraham and another midfielder

Tammy went for £40mish to a team playing in the CL. Don't think that was an option tbh. JWP is well above our level in my opinion, we should hold onto him as in our current position no one else his level is signing any time soon.

[OldNick]

6 hours ago, once_bitterne said:

And there you have it.  Semmens and his crew, with their sole long term objective of remaining on the PL gravy train have won the battle when even fans start talking about doing well 'commercially' rather than on the pitch.

Well you could live in the airy fairy world and think that the club is only there for the fan or be realistic. Do you think that SFC is a non profit making organisation?

The boards responsibility is to the owners and employees first to make sure there is a business to keep them in profit/work. Then comes the customer (fan),I like most are lambs to the slaughter as we are captive customers due to our loyalty to Southampton Football Club (me as I was born there and have a sense of civic pride).

If the club was called Marks and Spencer football club or McDonalds football club I would have left this bane of my life yours ago, but as its apparently representing our city by name I put up with all the rubbish that has been thrown at me for over 50 years of watching.

It is a commercial businesx there to make money , if possible not just to get 11 men on the pitch to provide entertainment

[OldNick]

2 hours ago, TWar said:

Tammy went for £40mish to a team playing in the CL. Don't think that was an option tbh. JWP is well above our level in my opinion, we should hold onto him as in our current position no one else his level is signing any time soon.

I get that, at one stage there was talk of him costing £35-30m. Of course having a CL club would have always stopped him coming to us. I personally think we need an athletic tall forward, or even player in our team lol. We just seem to have a team of nearly strong players, nearly quick players and nearly skilful players.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

3 hours ago, OldNick said:

Well you could live in the airy fairy world and think that the club is only there for the fan or be realistic. Do you think that SFC is a non profit making organisation?

The boards responsibility is to the owners and employees first to make sure there is a business to keep them in profit/work. Then comes the customer (fan),I like most are lambs to the slaughter as we are captive customers due to our loyalty to Southampton Football Club (me as I was born there and have a sense of civic pride).

If the club was called Marks and Spencer football club or McDonalds football club I would have left this bane of my life yours ago, but as its apparently representing our city by name I put up with all the rubbish that has been thrown at me for over 50 years of watching.

It is a commercial businesx there to make money , if possible not just to get 11 men on the pitch to provide entertainment

Even a charity can't afford to spend more than it earns

[once_bitterne]

On 30/09/2021 at 15:59, OldNick said:

 Do you think that SFC is a non profit making organisation?

 

Judging from recent year's accounts, yes.