Badger Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 13:12, Turkish said: Good luck to him good guy and can’t fault his effort just not a premier league player. Another victim of our buy cheap buy twice policy I’m afraid Expand Agree with this. Despite the limitations at Premier League level I’ve always liked him and he’s always put his heart into it. Sadly can’t be said of several we’ve signed. Would like him back next season in the Championship, but think it’s unlikely. He’s now back with a proper manager who knows how to get the best out of his players. Expect AA will want to stay at Hawthorns. 1
Farmer Saint Posted February 4 Posted February 4 Worth doing - Juric clearly doesn't rate him, we'll save on wages and he'll be able to get his confidence back. 2
goodymatt Posted February 4 Posted February 4 This decision seems short sighted to me. This is the most reliable source of Championship goals we have and how will he be motivated to fire us back up now he knows we don’t want him if he does? Feels like the end of a mixed journey with Adam. Amazing last season but proven over 2.5 seasons as not good enough for the PL. Yes, we need to aim higher to survive in the PL, but our next target will be promotion and he’s a goal machine at that level. 2
rallyboy Posted February 4 Posted February 4 Advance party for the championship getting warmed up for next season...sensible move for club and player.
Saint NL Posted February 4 Posted February 4 Chances of him coming back? I have a feeling he won't be back in the summer (based on absolutely nothing). 1
revolution saint Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 13:38, goodymatt said: This decision seems short sighted to me. This is the most reliable source of Championship goals we have and how will he be motivated to fire us back up now he knows we don’t want him if he does? Feels like the end of a mixed journey with Adam. Amazing last season but proven over 2.5 seasons as not good enough for the PL. Yes, we need to aim higher to survive in the PL, but our next target will be promotion and he’s a goal machine at that level. Expand I think he'll still be here next season so wouldn't worry about it. No premier league team is coming in for him and I doubt any championship side outside of those with parachute payments can afford him. Same goes for Archer too. In that context getting some game time and hopefully a boost to his confidence is better than sitting on the bench here. As for motivation, he's a professional footballer and shouldn't need to be motivated. He had a shocking time in the premier league last time round and it wasn't an issue back in the championship so no reason why it should be this time either. 3
EBS1980 Posted February 4 Posted February 4 Sensible move as clearly not prem level. Hopefully will have another successful season with us next year and then we can sell him to another championship club next summer.
Farmer Saint Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 13:38, goodymatt said: This decision seems short sighted to me. This is the most reliable source of Championship goals we have and how will he be motivated to fire us back up now he knows we don’t want him if he does? Feels like the end of a mixed journey with Adam. Amazing last season but proven over 2.5 seasons as not good enough for the PL. Yes, we need to aim higher to survive in the PL, but our next target will be promotion and he’s a goal machine at that level. Expand But we haven't sold him, he's playing in the Championship. There is no option to buy.
Chez Posted February 4 Posted February 4 It's a strange situation - loaning out a guy that only seems to score goals in the division you will be next season. Quite simply, he has not performed since Juric got here, so it's hardly surprising that Juric has dropped him. Having gone with Onuachu (or no striker), Armstrong's opportunties in the second half of the season were going to be limited. Him being overlooked is hardly going to foster a great relationship, so the idea that allowing him out on loan is going to `piss AA off' seems a mute point. Next season, if Juric is still here, AA is still going to be behind Onuachu, so him not wanting to come back also seems mute. if on the other hand Juric departs, the new manager can welcome him back into the fold, should he want him.
CSA96 Posted February 4 Posted February 4 (edited) Good move for all parties, I think. I'd much rather give the bench minutes to Archer over these last 14 games. Arma has had about 100 games at this level and he struggles for more than 2/3 goals each season at PL level. Gives it a good go, but not good enough and isn't about to suddenly click or take a leap I'm sure he'll have a good run of goals between now and the summer, so either he comes back here and is reintegrated (quite possibly with a new coach) or he's spent a few months in the shop window stimulating some interest and bringing in some more bidders. Club gave him a pay rise not so long ago, so he'll still be one of the best paid Championship players if he goes again at St. Mary's for us and will probably be content with that Edited February 4 by CSA96
Chez Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 13:42, Saint NL said: Chances of him coming back? I have a feeling he won't be back in the summer (based on absolutely nothing). Expand Will another championship side be able afford him in the summer? If WBA went up (or any of the other promoted sides), would they spend £15m on him know how he has fared previously at PL level?
goodymatt Posted February 4 Posted February 4 Some good counter points there. Being frozen out of the first team is probably just as likely to make him evaluate his options in the summer so perhaps this does change nothing. Sometimes though, players go on loan and just don’t want to come back and play for us. I hope we don’t have that issue with any of the potential 4 championship level starters currently out on loan, Charles and Armstrong especially.
Baird of the land Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 13:51, Chez said: Will another championship side be able afford him in the summer? If WBA went up (or any of the other promoted sides), would they spend £15m on him know how he has fared previously at PL level? Expand Hadn't realised he'd extended his contract to 2027. So yeah think chances are pretty good he'll be playing for us.
goodymatt Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 13:51, Chez said: Will another championship side be able afford him in the summer? If WBA went up (or any of the other promoted sides), would they spend £15m on him know how he has fared previously at PL level? Expand If Arma does fire them up, Tony Mowbray might want him. Like with Tella and Burnley I’d expect he would want to go in that unlikely scenario. I can’t look past those top 4 teams for promotion mind.
Chez Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 13:46, EBS1980 said: Sensible move as clearly not prem level. Hopefully will have another successful season with us next year and then we can sell him to another championship club next summer. Expand Who? WBA's most expensive singing last summer was aboitu £3m. Go through the Championship signings last summer and there is no money at all being spent. Burnley, Norwich, Leeds and Luton made one siging each that was close to £10m. If Leicester went down would they sign him? Ipswich, possibly?
Midfield_General Posted February 4 Posted February 4 (edited) On 04/02/2025 at 13:12, Turkish said: Good luck to him good guy and can’t fault his effort just not a premier league player. Another victim of our buy cheap buy twice policy I’m afraid Expand Yep. Clearly an excellent pro who always gives it everything but just doesn’t quite have the attributes to be a success at prem level - strength, height and composure being the main ones. He can’t complain that he hasn’t been given enough opportunities either, both as centre forward and coming in from wide across two prem seasons and various managers. He’s an excellent championship level striker. No shame at all in that. Albion should be delighted they’ve got him because he’ll bang them in for them. An astute bit of business for them, and makes sense for us too if he wasn’t going to play under Juric. Edited February 4 by Midfield_General 2
goodymatt Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 13:58, Chez said: Who? WBA's most expensive singing last summer was aboitu £3m. Go through the Championship signings last summer and there is no money at all being spent. Burnley, Norwich, Leeds and Luton made one siging each that was close to £10m. If Leicester went down would they sign him? Ipswich, possibly? Expand Ipswich have been interested before, he was very close to signing for them in summer 2023 following our relegation. I recall Martin saying he was one of those that he managed to convince to stay. 1
Badger Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 13:38, goodymatt said: This decision seems short sighted to me. This is the most reliable source of Championship goals we have and how will he be motivated to fire us back up now he knows we don’t want him if he does? Feels like the end of a mixed journey with Adam. Amazing last season but proven over 2.5 seasons as not good enough for the PL. Yes, we need to aim higher to survive in the PL, but our next target will be promotion and he’s a goal machine at that level. Expand Don't worry the SR Geniuses have still left us the mouthwatering prospect of the Sheffield Utd dream team of BBD and Archer , who may even be adequate in the Championship. Should be at a combined £25m
Chez Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 13:56, goodymatt said: If Arma does fire them up, Tony Mowbray might want him. Like with Tella and Burnley I’d expect he would want to go in that unlikely scenario. I can’t look past those top 4 teams for promotion mind. Expand Possibly, but once up, a side like WBA has a little more choice and fiancial power (not a huge amount as we found out) than they do now.
goodymatt Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 14:00, Badger said: Don't worry the SR Geniuses have still left us the mouthwatering prospect of the Sheffield Utd dream team of BBD and Archer , who may even be adequate in the Championship. Should be at a combined £25m Expand Armstrong and BBD have left on loan and Archer wanted to. Going to be some man management required this summer, I think! 1
pimpin4rizeal Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 13:48, Chez said: It's a strange situation - loaning out a guy that only seems to score goals in the division you will be next season. Quite simply, he has not performed since Juric got here, so it's hardly surprising that Juric has dropped him. Having gone with Onuachu (or no striker), Armstrong's opportunties in the second half of the season were going to be limited. Him being overlooked is hardly going to foster a great relationship, so the idea that allowing him out on loan is going to `piss AA off' seems a mute point. Next season, if Juric is still here, AA is still going to be behind Onuachu, so him not wanting to come back also seems mute. if on the other hand Juric departs, the new manager can welcome him back into the fold, should he want him. Expand Yeah but assuming dibling leaves we could field sulemana and Aa as the wide players onuachu as the cf which is absolutely awesome for the championship .. with then having depth of bbd archer and edozie as options .. no need to mess with this really and we should be keeping this intact especially as players like sully could still attract offers in the summer
Chez Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 13:58, Midfield_General said: Yep. Clearly an excellent pro who always gives it everything but just doesn’t quite have the attributes to be a success at prem level - strength, height and composure being the main ones. He can’t complain that he hasn’t been given enough opportunities either, both as centre forward and coming in from wide across two prem seasons and various managers. He’s an excellent championship level striker. No shame at all in that. Albion should be delighted they’ve got him because he’ll bang them in for them. An astute bit of business for them, and makes sense for us if he wasn’t going to play under Juric. Expand Got to agree. What a great signing for WBA - a player that scored 24 goals in the league last season - for nothing. With their budget, it's a great bit of business. 2
beatlesaint Posted February 4 Posted February 4 (edited) Armstrong is one of the prime examples in highlighting the gulf between Premier League and Championship. In the Championship you would want him in the team all day long.....in the Prem, nowhere near the starting eleven. Edited February 4 by beatlesaint 1
goodymatt Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 14:02, pimpin4rizeal said: Yeah but assuming dibling leaves we could field sulemana and Aa as the wide players onuachu as the cf which is absolutely awesome for the championship .. with then having depth of bbd archer and edozie as options .. no need to mess with this really and we should be keeping this intact especially as players like sully could still attract offers in the summer Expand We will definitely need cover for Sulemana if he was to remain with us next season. Fitness issues are a huge concern. Think he wanted out if he could the last 4 windows too. Under Juric he looks like the player we hoped for. 1
Midfield_General Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 14:02, goodymatt said: Armstrong and BBD have left on loan and Archer wanted to. Going to be some man management required this summer, I think! Expand Or just fuck them all off and start afresh, which I wouldn’t be against at all. 3
Chez Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 14:00, goodymatt said: Ipswich have been interested before, he was very close to signing for them in summer 2023 following our relegation. I recall Martin saying he was one of those that he managed to convince to stay. Expand Delap will be in demand, so they will likely be after a striker nerxt summer. Whether they will be interested now is to be seen.
goodymatt Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 14:04, beatlesaint said: Armstrong is one of the prime examples in highlighting the gulf between Premier League and Championship. In the Championship you would want him in the team all day long.....in the Prem, nowhere near the starting eleven. Expand The Dwight Gayle paradox. 2
Chez Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 14:02, goodymatt said: Armstrong and BBD have left on loan and Archer wanted to. Going to be some man management required this summer, I think! Expand and Onuachu will have one year left on his contract. I dont want to make excuses for those runinng things, but there sure will be a lot of balls to juggle. 1
Midfield_General Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 14:03, Chez said: Got to agree. What a great signing for WBA - a player that scored 24 goals in the league last season - for nothing. With their budget, it's a great bit of business. Expand Looking at the table, it’s not inconceivable that he could effectively have returned £100m in value to them by the end of the season!
Midfield_General Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 14:05, goodymatt said: The Dwight Gayle paradox. Expand Sharp’s Law 4
Chez Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 14:05, Midfield_General said: Or just fuck them all off and start afresh, which I wouldn’t be against at all. Expand By that you mean: accept any offers we receive, even if they are below our valuation, then use those `lower-than-hoped-funds' to buy someone else?
Chez Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 14:08, Midfield_General said: Looking at the table, it’s not inconceivable that he could effectively have returned £100m in value to them by the end of the season! Expand I wonder if there is a hefty promotion bonus (to SFC) in the loan deal? Probably not.
Midfield_General Posted February 4 Posted February 4 (edited) On 04/02/2025 at 14:09, Chez said: By that you mean: accept any offers we receive, even if they are below our valuation, then use those `lower-than-hoped-funds' to buy someone else? Expand No - I mean more don’t stand in their way if they want to leave, set a reasonable valuation and let them know we’ll sell them if that valuation is met but that if it isn’t then they’re expected to act professionally and buckle down as part of the squad. (Admittedly that is phrased slightly differently to how I put it first time 😛) Edited February 4 by Midfield_General 1
waylander Posted February 4 Posted February 4 He could get a another trip to Wembley for the Playoff Final
S-Clarke Posted February 4 Posted February 4 Good for him to get some game time, be interesting to see how he does. You can't get away from how much weaker we've ended the window though, losing SAA, Cornet, Armstrong and BBD as attacking options and not replaced (granted, the output from them all was pretty shit). We only have Onuachu and Archer as viable 9's. I hope we don't get any end of season attacking injury crisis!
Chez Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 14:14, Midfield_General said: No - I mean more don’t stand in their way if they want to leave, set a reasonable valuation and let them know we’ll sell them if that valuation is met but that if it isn’t then they’re expected to act professionally and buckle down as part of the squad. (Admittedly that is phrased slightly differently to how I put it first time 😛) Expand Putting to one side the players that could get Prem gigs like Ramsdale and Dibling, my concern is about the championship-level players. There are two markets in the championship: the relegated sides (who have parachute money) and the rest. The biggest transfer fees for `the rest' was £5m or less - often quite a bit less. So, unless the offer is from a relegated side, don't expect much.
Chez Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 14:23, S-Clarke said: Good for him to get some game time, be interesting to see how he does. You can't get away from how much weaker we've ended the window though, losing SAA, Cornet, Armstrong and BBD as attacking options and not replaced (granted, the output from them all was pretty shit). We only have Onuachu and Archer as viable 9's. I hope we don't get any end of season attacking injury crisis! Expand The best we have played this season, by miles, is at Old Trafford, with no striker. So, I guess we effectively have three options, rather than just two.
egg Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 14:23, S-Clarke said: Good for him to get some game time, be interesting to see how he does. You can't get away from how much weaker we've ended the window though, losing SAA, Cornet, Armstrong and BBD as attacking options and not replaced (granted, the output from them all was pretty shit). We only have Onuachu and Archer as viable 9's. I hope we don't get any end of season attacking injury crisis! Expand I'm not sure anyone has seen any of those 4 as the answer for the rest of the season, so I'm not sure why their departure is suddenly an issue. That said, SAA going surprised me.
ally_uk Posted February 4 Posted February 4 Isn't a Premiership capable player. If we keep him next season then get promoted then what ? Pull the plug?
CSA96 Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 15:01, ally_uk said: Isn't a Premiership capable player. If we keep him next season then get promoted then what ? Pull the plug? Expand Get promoted and flip him to a Boro/Sunderland/West Brom/Norwich/Watford type side with no more chances in the PL 2
Give it to Ron Posted February 4 Posted February 4 (edited) On 04/02/2025 at 14:34, Chez said: Putting to one side the players that could get Prem gigs like Ramsdale and Dibling, my concern is about the championship-level players. There are two markets in the championship: the relegated sides (who have parachute money) and the rest. The biggest transfer fees for `the rest' was £5m or less - often quite a bit less. So, unless the offer is from a relegated side, don't expect much. Expand Birmingham paid £15m for Stansfield to play in League One, I believe Boro just sold Latte Lath? For over that too Edited February 4 by Give it to Ron
spyinthesky Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 15:21, Give it to Ron said: Birmingham paid £15m for Stansfield to play in League One Expand There were conflicting reports about the fee ranging from £10m to £20m. However it shows that Birmingham (and Wrexham) could be in the mix for another promotion next year with wealthy backers behind them
Galway saint Posted February 4 Posted February 4 Suspect we will start the season next year without AA, archer or BBD and which would have been a fantastic championship strikeforce, yet totally inadequate for the PL.
Toadhall Saint Posted February 4 Posted February 4 Good luck to him. He just isn’t able to step up to the required level of the Prem. won’t be the first or last.
Midfield_General Posted February 4 Posted February 4 (edited) On 04/02/2025 at 14:20, waylander said: He could get a another trip to Wembley for the Playoff Final Expand Picture the scene: Leeds have choked the automatics yet again and, dispirited and under extreme pressure, find themselves having to grind their way through the play-offs, where, in the final, they face a rejuvenated, free-scoring West Brom. Goalless at Wembley with ten minutes to play, the ball is threaded through to Adam Armstrong who finds himself running clear in the inside right channel... Actually, if he was being made available, I'm surprised Leeds didn't snap him up purely to avoid that scenario - if they were sniffing around Archer then they must have been in the market for a striker. I wonder whether they're thinking they should have gone for the other one now? Edited February 4 by Midfield_General 2 1
SNSUN Posted February 4 Posted February 4 If it came down to keeping AA or Archer, I think we made the right choice. Onuachu appears to be our number one striker now unless Juric plays Dibling and Sulemana as our main two attackers, Archer as back up, there was no need for AA who has proven himself not to be good at this level. I like AA, I hope we get him back next season but this season he wasn't going to get much game time. Granted we are a couple of striker injuries away from hoping Stewart comes back from the dead or using youth, but as we're down anyway, it's not much of an issue. 3
Wade Garrett Posted February 4 Posted February 4 I suppose he'll be back next season if we can't get the fee we want and the player can't get the wages he wants. 1
OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 14:05, Midfield_General said: Or just fuck them all off and start afresh, which I wouldn’t be against at all. Expand Have to agree. Really don't want AA or BBD to ever put on a Saints shirt again and not particularly fussed about Archer either. I really don't subscribe to this argument that AA will bang in goals for us in the Championship all day long so let's have him back. I see it that he's blocking the way for a potentially more exciting player who will also bang in goals in the Championship and can make the step up to the premier league. And the likes of Rickie Lambert, Ollie Watkins etc aren't isolated cases. Frankly, I can see Archer scoring a hatful of goals next season but I'd prefer our scouts to find someone else. 1
Lord Duckhunter Posted February 4 Posted February 4 On 04/02/2025 at 16:51, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said: Have to agree. Really don't want AA or BBD to ever put on a Saints shirt again and not particularly fussed about Archer either. Expand Agreed, and we will be rid of that ridiculous “Arma” pony from the club as well. Fucking Noddy
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