January 2023 Transfer Window

[Millbrook Saint]

1 minute ago, egg said:

Yep, and that's exactly why you don't leave it until the window is almost closed. Everton weren't desperate and loaded up with cash last week, but they are now. 

Mess. 

Not saying it's right but I guess the club wait because they want the selling club to have little choice who they sell the player to, or perhaps the player is more reluctant to commit till they know they have no other options.  Trouble is, you can come a cropper.  Though if I recall Everton were apparently in for Alcaraz just before we signed him so who knows what's happening.

Though you're right from the outside it does seem a mess

[DT]

Bet you Everton gazump us for sulemana.  They’re not stupid. And have 40 mill. Screws us and strengthens them. 

Edited 30 January, 2023 by DT

[FarehamSaintJames]

No one is shocked we didn’t buy a striker, let’s be honest. It’s bafflement more than anything, and as someone said above quite amusing now.

That’s how I’ve felt at most of the games I’ve gone to the last few years, we could 2-0 down, 4-0 down, whatever and me and my Dad have just sat their and laughed at how poor we have become to watch.

And as discussed on this forum, talk about all the problems that are plainly so obvious to all of us but not the board or manager/coaching team (Whether that be tactics, players out of position, route one football, no clinical striker, etc). 

It’s very much become a facepalm day out for us now whenever we go.

[FarehamSaintJames]

1 minute ago, DT said:

Bet you Everton gazump us for sulemana.  They’re not stupid. And have 40 mill. Screws us and strengthens them. 

But can he play Sean Dyche’s 4-4-2 British football? 🤷🏻‍♂️

Jokes aside I’d have loved us to get Sean Dyche. Massive missed opportunity.

[Saint NL]

Easiest job in the world is to be a scout for Everton or Bournemouth.

Just refresh Saints twitter, see a few names pop up. Wait for Saints offer, let's say it's £10m, then you know his true value is £15m.

Offer £13m, get your finders bonus and then go lie down until 2 days before the next transfer deadline 👍

Edited 30 January, 2023 by Saint NL

[Lee On Solent Saint]

6 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

No one is shocked we didn’t buy a striker, let’s be honest. It’s bafflement more than anything, and as someone said above quite amusing now.

That’s how I’ve felt at most of the games I’ve gone to the last few years, we could 2-0 down, 4-0 down, whatever and me and my Dad have just sat their and laughed at how poor we have become to watch.

And as discussed on this forum, talk about all the problems that are plainly so obvious to all of us but not the board or manager/coaching team (Whether that be tactics, players out of position, route one football, no clinical striker, etc). 

It’s very much become a facepalm day out for us now whenever we go.

Exactly this. I can't even be bothered to get worked up about this anymore. This club is pathetic with a small time mentality running all the way through it. We deserve relegation just for the absolute clusterfuck of a club we have become 

[hypochondriac]

9 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Exactly this. I can't even be bothered to get worked up about this anymore. This club is pathetic with a small time mentality running all the way through it. We deserve relegation just for the absolute clusterfuck of a club we have become 

Yep. I was really pissed off in the summer about not signing a striker but I half expected it this time around. You can't be disappointed if your expectations are rock bottom and nothing the fans or the manager-however dubious he may be- can do if the club don't provide him with adequate tools to work with. 

[Toussaint]

34 minutes ago, Millbrook Saint said:

not sure who this twitter account belongs to I've never heard of them before, but then I don't use Twitter, seems to me like they're just trying to rile the fans with a headline people on here use all the time.

That said I guess the perfect fit means getting a player on the cheap, so now Everton have their new money to spend we could end up with nothing as we won't get into a bidding war with them.

It doesn't sound genuine, Saints (the club) would never undermine their players by using the phrase "make do with" that's just insulting.

Edited 30 January, 2023 by Toussaint

[Toussaint]

25 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

No one is shocked we didn’t buy a striker, let’s be honest. It’s bafflement more than anything, and as someone said above quite amusing now.

That’s how I’ve felt at most of the games I’ve gone to the last few years, we could 2-0 down, 4-0 down, whatever and me and my Dad have just sat their and laughed at how poor we have become to watch.

And as discussed on this forum, talk about all the problems that are plainly so obvious to all of us but not the board or manager/coaching team (Whether that be tactics, players out of position, route one football, no clinical striker, etc). 

It’s very much become a facepalm day out for us now whenever we go.

We haven't "not bought a striker yet though" , patience grasshopper. I will join you in a rant tomorrow night if we haven't bought a striker, but, until then I shall keep my powder dry.

[SaintLondon]

I have a feeling things might be a little better than we think behind closed doors. I think the general spin coming out of the normal avenues such as the athletic is exactly that.. spin. In case these deals fall through (which can happen of course) then the spin was that we were prepared for this eventuality and it’s of no bother. However the reality is that there is much activity and tbf to the board I don’t think it’s as simple as pay the money and get them in Jan 1st as we’re not that attractive a proposition right now. I’m in no way a happy clappy spokesperson for the board - I’m as effed off with them  as the next person but I can’t let myself think they’re sitting there thinking we can ‘make do’ with what we have. 

[MarkSFC]

I will be disappointed if we do not sign someone who is clearly a striker as opposed to someone like this kid from Rennes BUT what ultimately matters is whether we some how manage to score enough to get enough points to stay up. So if this player or any others and Orsic and JWP playing further forward manage to make this happen and if somehow Adams, Armstrong and Mara do score more regularly because we create more chances then all well and good. 

 

If we could somehow get Lucas Moura on loan and another forward/winger plus this Danish CM then what a window that would of been. As it stands it's not a bad one anyway just with the glaringly obvious omission!!

 

Unlike some I think SR have a clear vision and plan and are happy to invest (or at least warrant some spending) and although I was bemused by the Jones appointment and very pissed off at the start the more I see of his team and the more I hear him talk the more I like him. I am actually starting to believe he might actually "have a clue"!!

Fingers crossed for 2 or 3 good signings today and tomorrow and some good points in the next 5 games. 

Got to keep the hope burning!!!

[trousers]

57 minutes ago, woodsaint1 said:

Definitely did not see this coming 🤦🏽‍♂️😂

 

 

43 minutes ago, Millbrook Saint said:

not sure who this twitter account belongs to I've never heard of them before, but then I don't use Twitter, seems to me like they're just trying to rile the fans with a headline people on here use all the time.

It's a twitter account that aggregates and regurgitates pre-existing articles, in this case from The Athletic, so it's not them putting out their own news/gossip/opinions.

Edited 30 January, 2023 by trousers

[Nolan]

46 minutes ago, Millbrook Saint said:

not sure who this twitter account belongs to I've never heard of them before, but then I don't use Twitter, seems to me like they're just trying to rile the fans with a headline people on here use all the time.

That said I guess the perfect fit means getting a player on the cheap, so now Everton have their new money to spend we could end up with nothing as we won't get into a bidding war with them.

They're directly quoting the Athletic Article they cant be bothered to link to.

Can Southampton really hope to survive without securing a prolific No 9? - The Athletic

 

[S-Clarke]

That snippet from the Athletic will give me nightmares, it's club nonsense. I have no doubt that they're trying, but we knew we needed a striker on the First of July 2022. We're now into the last 48hrs (less) of the 2nd transfer window to fix it and we still haven't fixed it.

I refuse to believe that any credible scouts cannot find a better centre forward than Che Adams and Sekou Mara within our budget. A kid, and someone who isn't a centre forward. They can dress it up as being sensible and not spending for the sake of it, but it's as far away from being sensible as you can get - it would be the 2nd negligent transfer window in a row had and heads should roll if it's like this on Wednesday. We'd need to cost cut in the Championship anyway, so what better way to start than to remove all these seemingly inept analysts we have failing to find a striker on all of the screens they gorp over all day.

Edited 30 January, 2023 by S-Clarke

[Killers Knee]

54 minutes ago, Daft Kerplunk said:

If nothing happens, then it’s because they left it too late to do anything. Just like the summer window. Both of these stains will be on Wankerson and Semen. 

It's not that we left it too late, we simply cannot afford a striker.  The PR dept plants stories as if we might buy someone, but there is never any true intent.

[Sunglasses Ron]

I know this has been posted previously, but given our precarious position, we should surely be looking to take a proven striker on loan from one of the bigger clubs in the Premier League / Europe.  That would hopefully give us immediate impact and (wages aside) wouldn't cripple us if the likely relegation scenario plays out.

I'm hopeful that's the approach the club is taking.

[Lighthouse]

I think a few people need to stop taking the rumours they read on Twitter as being the gospel of what every club is doing, and in live time. It’s only a few weeks since we were, "obviously going to miss out on the absolutely top class Orsic, because West Ham are going to knick him whilst we’re trying to be cheapskates."

That Athletic article seems like a fairly obvious, "we won’t be held to random," message from the club to someone. Pretty sensible IMO.

[S-Clarke]

Just now, Killers Knee said:

It's not that we left it too late, we simply cannot afford a striker.  The PR dept plants stories as if we might buy someone, but there is never any true intent.

They spent £15m on a 20 year old CM from Argentina and £8m on an attacking midfielder from Croatia, that's £20m there which could have been put elsewhere. And I still believe that any credible scout can find a better striker than Che Adams on that budget.

[hypochondriac]

2 minutes ago, Killers Knee said:

It's not that we left it too late, we simply cannot afford a striker.  The PR dept plants stories as if we might buy someone, but there is never any true intent.

That's clearly bollocks. If we truly had a tiny budget then forego the other three signings and put everything in a pot to get a striker better than Adams and Mara. 

[manji]

19 minutes ago, trousers said:

 

It's a twitter account that aggregates and regurgitates pre-existing articles, in this case from The Athletic, so it's not them putting out their own news/gossip/opinions.

Clickbait

[S-Clarke]

7 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

I think a few people need to stop taking the rumours they read on Twitter as being the gospel of what every club is doing, and in live time. It’s only a few weeks since we were, "obviously going to miss out on the absolutely top class Orsic, because West Ham are going to knick him whilst we’re trying to be cheapskates."

That Athletic article seems like a fairly obvious, "we won’t be held to random," message from the club to someone. Pretty sensible IMO.

Absolutley, the standard rumours we'll see over the next 24 hrs are not worth getting het up with. But....the quotes from the Athletic are worth following, they are fed by club sources so that's why people pay more attention to those.

The fact that they even feel the need to put that quote out there is quite scary imo.

[Killers Knee]

3 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

That's clearly bollocks. If we truly had a tiny budget then forego the other three signings and put everything in a pot to get a striker better than Adams and Mara. 

That's the problem, they cannot find anyone cheap enough, with sufficient potential to offer a return in the striker position.  Personally, I would go for a hired gun like Cavani (if he could be tempted $$$$).

[FarehamSaintJames]

23 minutes ago, trousers said:

 

It's a twitter account that aggregates and regurgitates pre-existing articles, in this case from The Athletic, so it's not them putting out their own news/gossip/opinions.

They’ve also been known to make up a lot of stories recently and attach a random “source” to the end, and when they were called out began blocking those that called it out. 🤣

[OldNick]

On 28/01/2023 at 23:55, chiknsmack said:

  

 

 

OldNick was talking about Brighton owner Tony Bloom, who "is an English sports bettor, poker player, entrepreneur, owner and chairman of Premier League football club Brighton & Hove Albion". Not Dragan.

Thnk you the thread at the time was about Brighton and so I assumed it was obvious I was talking about him. I appreciate you clearing that up

[FarehamSaintJames]

There will be a mass meltdown when we either don’t buy a striker, or buy a twelve year old striker “for the future” on deadline day.

For me it’s just a shame.
Roll back to the end of that 15/16 season, 6th placed finish, that was the year we should’ve tried to kick on and spend that little bit more money.

Since then it’s been low-mid table and the penny-pinching has come back to bite us now.

No longer are we an attractive to club to play for with potential, which at the start of this season I honestly thought we were. But they’ve got the balance so badly wrong this season between youth, experience and leadership throughout the club.

[OldNick]

On 28/01/2023 at 19:02, Smirking_Saint said:

Nice to see you’ve written off a guy for his profession you made up in your head

It seems I was correct Bloom indeed has made his money out of peoples misery. Put that in your pipe lol

[hypochondriac]

4 minutes ago, Killers Knee said:

That's the problem, they cannot find anyone cheap enough, with sufficient potential to offer a return in the striker position.  Personally, I would go for a hired gun like Cavani (if he could be tempted $$$$).

Then either the model is wrong or the scouting system is and should be scrapped. 

[OldNick]

11 hours ago, Saint Garrett said:

Oh, not based on info unfortunately. Not been told much at all recently. Probably cos I stick it on here! 😂

I just think we need at least 2 to stand a chance of staying up, and probably a different manager! 

Different fans might help as well lol 

[OldNick]

2 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

I think the absolute horror show we put on against Forest (and his immediate reaction) swayed a fair few!

Their minds were made up already. We are from Europes elite and so we should expect some footballing master to be our manager , it seems

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, OldNick said:

Their minds were made up already. We are from Europes elite and so we should expect some footballing master to be our manager , it seems

well, last time we were in this position we brought in someone who was above our level at the time, who brought in an almost immediate impact.. so yes, a fair shout.

[Charlie Wayman]

Two day to go? Predictable? Inevitable? Promises, promises! 

Never promise what you can't deliver.

[OldNick]

How about Pukki as a short term fix. He does know how to put the ball in the net and over the years we have alway got great forwards from Norwich. Ron Davies, Ted McDougall and Phil Bowyer. Desperate perhaps but may work

[Charlie Wayman]

10 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

There will be a mass meltdown when we either don’t buy a striker, or buy a twelve year old striker “for the future” on deadline day.

For me it’s just a shame.
Roll back to the end of that 15/16 season, 6th placed finish, that was the year we should’ve tried to kick on and spend that little bit more money.

Since then it’s been low-mid table and the penny-pinching has come back to bite us now.

No longer are we an attractive to club to play for with potential, which at the start of this season I honestly thought we were. But they’ve got the balance so badly wrong this season between youth, experience and leadership throughout the club.

We are a complete and utter shambles of a club. 

[Lighthouse]

11 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Absolutley, the standard rumours we'll see over the next 24 hrs are not worth getting het up with. But....the quotes from the Athletic are worth following, they are fed by club sources so that's why people pay more attention to those.

The fact that they even feel the need to put that quote out there is quite scary imo.

They're fed by the club because that's what they want somebody out there to believe, not because it's necessarily the truth. It's pretty obvious we need a striker, this is just a generic message that we're not desparate.

[macca155]

How many times over the years have we seen this. A player hardly any of us have heard of is mentioned. Suddenly he's the Messiah. Cue another club buying him.... we're doomed. Turns out he's as crap as nearly all the PL transfers.

Buying a decent player is incredibly hard for any club. Everton have wasted all their money recently, and it feels like they are doing it again, with this raw player from the French league.

Seems the best option is buy a decent LB and push Peraud forward. He provides a threat.  Save our money, improve the service to our forwards,  and use what we have.

Nobody is selling a 10+ Premier League goal scorer to anybody at this time of the year. Plus none of our relegation rivals have a prolific forward. They are all in the same boat. Thus West Ham's desperate gamble on Ings.

Got to try and keep some hope.

[Killers Knee]

Can Orsic play as a striker?

[S-Clarke]

Just now, Killers Knee said:

Can Orsic play as a striker?

Not really, but I'm sure that's what we'll be fed in the next 24 hrs.

[Saint Garrett]

You can only carry a striker like Adams if you're playing 2 up top like we did under Ralph, or if you have goalscoring wingers / midfielders. Similar to Firmino at Liverpool, he didn't score many at all, but Mane and Salah were banging them in every week. Before anyone jumps on that, I'm not saying we can possibly buy players like Mane and Salah but we could have certainly been in the market for other similar players. Orsic doesn't look like a goal threat so far, I know it's early, but he looked pretty ineffective on Saturday, Adam Armstrong might nick 1 or 2 between now and the end of the season.  So basically we're relying on the odd worldy (Djenepo vs City) or we're relying on JWP to stick a free kick in every week. 

So we either bring in another striker to play alongside Adams and play a 4-2-2-2/4-4-2 type system. Or we sign a goalscoring wide player or two, and hope we can keep some clean sheets and nick the odd goal. Or we bring in a replacement for Adams who can score goals. 

Whats the chances we do none of the above!?

[Saint_lambden]

Pavlidis from AZ is the one we should be after. 15 goals and 7 assists in 19 including a hat-trick at the weekend. Brilliant in the air, can clearly finish and his link-up is superb. He's only 24, too. 

 

[Highfield Saint]

39 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

There will be a mass meltdown when we either don’t buy a striker, or buy a twelve year old striker “for the future” on deadline day.

For me it’s just a shame.
Roll back to the end of that 15/16 season, 6th placed finish, that was the year we should’ve tried to kick on and spend that little bit more money.

Since then it’s been low-mid table and the penny-pinching has come back to bite us now.

No longer are we an attractive to club to play for with potential, which at the start of this season I honestly thought we were. But they’ve got the balance so badly wrong this season between youth, experience and leadership throughout the club.

FFS give it a rest mate

[hypochondriac]

There's quite a few attackers in the champion ship that may be more realistic. Someone like akpom or the guy from Hull. It's not great but at least we'd know they could do a job next year if we did go down. 

[Chewy]

11 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

You can only carry a striker like Adams if you're playing 2 up top like we did under Ralph, or if you have goalscoring wingers / midfielders. Similar to Firmino at Liverpool, he didn't score many at all, but Mane and Salah were banging them in every week. Before anyone jumps on that, I'm not saying we can possibly buy players like Mane and Salah but we could have certainly been in the market for other similar players. Orsic doesn't look like a goal threat so far, I know it's early, but he looked pretty ineffective on Saturday, Adam Armstrong might nick 1 or 2 between now and the end of the season.  So basically we're relying on the odd worldy (Djenepo vs City) or we're relying on JWP to stick a free kick in every week. 

So we either bring in another striker to play alongside Adams and play a 4-2-2-2/4-4-2 type system. Or we sign a goalscoring wide player or two, and hope we can keep some clean sheets and nick the odd goal. Or we bring in a replacement for Adams who can score goals. 

Whats the chances we do none of the above!?

Which is why I’m confused we’ve added Orsic out wide and are linked with more wide players, especially given Jones’ preference for a back 3 and our strengthening of the midfield.

Back 3 implies 3 5 2 or 3 4 3; JWP, Alcaraz and Latvia would imply 3 5 2 … but looking for wingers and not strikers suggests otherwise.

Hopefully it means 4 3 3 but I doubt it.

And quite frankly, either way if we don’t have anyone who can find the net at all neither tactic will make a lot of difference.

It’s one thing feeling disappointed and let down by the board not sorting this weeks ago, but the whole thing just feels massively confused. Bree and Alcaraz might be excellent but pretty much the only position we were ok in was right back and Alcaraz only makes sense with a midfield 3; we’re light in DMs, not AMs.

Oh well, b*gger all I can do except moan and look confused 

[Convict Colony]

Best way to deal with the transfer window is forget about it and then check in at the end of the day to see if we have signed anyone.  

[badgerx16]

Just now, Convict Colony said:

Best way to deal with the transfer window is forget about it and then check in at the end of the day just to confirm that we have not signed anyone.  

 

[Ball boy]

19 minutes ago, Saint_lambden said:

Pavlidis from AZ is the one we should be after. 15 goals and 7 assists in 19 including a hat-trick at the weekend. Brilliant in the air, can clearly finish and his link-up is superb. He's only 24, too. 

 

He does look good!

[skintsaint]

14 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

There's quite a few attackers in the champion ship that may be more realistic. Someone like akpom or the guy from Hull. It's not great but at least we'd know they could do a job next year if we did go down. 

AA and CA both scored plenty down there. Should be ok for next season if they stay.

[wild-saint]

Id like to say I'm unsurprised by the lack of a new forward coming in to the club but to be honest its so crystal clear that without someone to replace Adams then we have virtually no chance of staying up. 

The owner of a business who has invested a fortune to buy the club and then finance to the tune of 100m in transfers not to want to protect that investment by ignoring the glaringly obvious hole in the squad,  i just cant believe we wont have a new forward by the end of the window.  it would be utter madness. 

Im racking my brain for a possible reason why they would do this and cant come up with anything logical. For that reason I still think we will get someone in. 

 

[Saint Fan CaM]

45 minutes ago, Killers Knee said:

Can Orsic play?

Fixed it for you.🤪🤣

[hypochondriac]

3 minutes ago, wild-saint said:

Id like to say I'm unsurprised by the lack of a new forward coming in to the club but to be honest its so crystal clear that without someone to replace Adams then we have virtually no chance of staying up. 

The owner of a business who has invested a fortune to buy the club and then finance to the tune of 100m in transfers not to want to protect that investment by ignoring the glaringly obvious hole in the squad,  i just cant believe we wont have a new forward by the end of the window.  it would be utter madness. 

Im racking my brain for a possible reason why they would do this and cant come up with anything logical. For that reason I still think we will get someone in. 

 

I think there's a chance that their thinking is that they can't attract someone of the quality they want given our position and that maybe they think we need a bit of a reset in the championship and that's a preferable option to spending 30 million now to maybe improve our chances of survival. What they want is a load of youngsters with time and opportunity to improve that they can then flog for a profit to buy the next batch. Realistically they aren't going to be able to achieve that goal in the prem without first spending a load of money on more established players. 

[Saint Fan CaM]

8 minutes ago, wild-saint said:

Id like to say I'm unsurprised by the lack of a new forward coming in to the club but to be honest its so crystal clear that without someone to replace Adams then we have virtually no chance of staying up. 

The owner of a business who has invested a fortune to buy the club and then finance to the tune of 100m in transfers not to want to protect that investment by ignoring the glaringly obvious hole in the squad,  i just cant believe we wont have a new forward by the end of the window.  it would be utter madness. 

Im racking my brain for a possible reason why they would do this and cant come up with anything logical. For that reason I still think we will get someone in. 

 

You’re absolutely spot on…the loss on investment by going down would be huge, including the value lost in a summer panic  fire sale. Trouble is it’s all been left too late - sacking Ralph and getting a decent striker. We’re staring down the barrel and the trigger is primed.