Summer Transfer Window 2024

[Kristian Loekkegaard]

1 hour ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

Sub cover / stand in across a number of midfield roles.

Leadership qualities

Big club experience to help players and staff

Looking to develop as a coach, so will be assisting there too.

Free transfer

Useful for the squad. But I'd like to think the club are looking at a Stu replacement, and someone else to cover Downes (unless Charles is serious first team competition).

If Lallana is true to his word from around early 2012 he did himself learn a hell of a lot back in the day from - among others - David Connolly,
and hopefully
1) will pass on knowledge himself
2) play in the cup competitions when we rest midfield league starters
3) do cameos in the league when fit,    5 - 30 minutes at a time.

[skintsaint]

On 30/07/2024 at 18:42, SaintsFan86 said:

Rak-Sakyi hasn't gone on pre season tour with Crystal Palace.

Apparently its Leeds or Hull he is going to.

[6ft8saint]

7 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

I'd have argued we needed a striker if Che had stayed, but without Che we need two. BBD is a good start, he's more of a fluid attacker across the 3 I'd say - we do lack a proper number 9, I'm completely discounting Mara and Stewart as viable options.

Che was worse than Mara. Both for us and Scotland we dodged a massive bullet .

I think alot of people on here have red and white tinted glasses when it comes to certain players abilities 

[Osvaldorama]

3 minutes ago, 6ft8saint said:

Che was worse than Mara. Both for us and Scotland we dodged a massive bullet .

I think alot of people on here have red and white tinted glasses when it comes to certain players abilities 

 

Are you high? Che worse than Mara? On what planet?

[hypochondriac]

6 minutes ago, 6ft8saint said:

Che was worse than Mara. Both for us and Scotland we dodged a massive bullet .

I think alot of people on here have red and white tinted glasses when it comes to certain players abilities 

That's actually mental. He wasn't great but he was a million times better than Mara. 

[Patches O Houlihan]

I went looking for info on NUFC sniffing for transfer info.

Callum Wilson: Has missed 84 of the last 152 games Newcastle have played. "Hamstring made of wet paper". Apparently has just hit the injury list again as needs a back operation so won't be fit for our game. Now 33. Really don't see him being sensible for us.

Wee Man: Found this video from March 2022 of him discussing Newcastle v Brighton. Firstly it's a coherent interesting post match interview which lasts 6 minutes! (unheard of!). But secondly apparently he was nominated for Premier League Player of the Month Feb 2022 after ASM got injured and he was moved from right wing to left wing. For those saying Fraser isn't a PL standard player this might be an eye opener, although saying that maybe it was an odd month as there was another familiar face in the running. Ryan is still only 30 and has played 173 Premier League games. Eddie Howe turned RF's career around when he took over from Steve Bruce, but clearly there has been another fall out, and has him training with the under 21s...

 

 

[revolution saint]

24 minutes ago, 6ft8saint said:

Che was worse than Mara. Both for us and Scotland we dodged a massive bullet .

I think alot of people on here have red and white tinted glasses when it comes to certain players abilities 

Yeah, that’s bullshit. 

[Appy]

3 hours ago, Saint_clark said:

I don't see us getting rid of Alcaraz and Sulemana on loan and then bringing in another wide attacking player for a fee. Both those players can do a job when motivated.

Alcaraz maybe, I don’t see it with Sulemana at all. 

[SambaMaverick]

Time for the club to wake up and smell the coffee imo.

Feel for them that they will never get full marks for the THB and Downes deals because we had them last season, but we desperately need more quality almost all over the pitch or we will be cannon fodder

[Kristian Loekkegaard]

Status:
If everybody fit. Would this team be LOST vs N'castle away?

System:
A flexible 3-2-5 

Keeper
Mc'Carthy
.
CBs:
THB , Janny B.,  Stephens

Wing backs
Right: KWP (if sold -> Sugawara),
Left: Charlie Taylor
(Ryan Fraser may join us before N'Castle (I hope) and be an alternative as left Wb/winger)

No. 6:
Downes
(S. Charles probably the only alternative right now)

No 8's:
1. Smallbone
2. Aribo

R.Wing:
Arma

Center->Left Forward:
BBD

Subs from:
Manning
Kamaldeen
Ross Stewart 
Amo-A
Dibling
Alcaraz
Ronnie E
Nathan W
Mara
Lallana
Lumley
 

Edited August 1 by Kristian Loekkegaard

[northam soul]

1 hour ago, Kristian Loekkegaard said:

Status:
If everybody fit. Would this team be LOST vs N'castle away?

System:
A flexible 3-2-5 

Keeper
Mc'Carthy
.
CBs:
THB , Janny B.,  Stephens

Wing backs
Right: KWP (if sold -> Sugawara),
Left: Charlie Taylor
(Ryan Fraser may join us before N'Castle (I hope) and be an alternative as left Wb/winger)

No. 6:
Downes
(S. Charles probably the only alternative right now)

No 8's:
1. Smallbone
2. Aribo

R.Wing:
Arma

Center Forward:
BBD

L. Wing;
Edozie

Subs from:
Manning
Ross Stewart 
Amo-A
Dibling
Alcaraz
Ronnie E
Nathan W
Mara
Lallana
Lumley
 

4-0 Newcastle 

[WALK DMC]

3 hours ago, Kristian Loekkegaard said:

Status:
If everybody fit. Would this team be LOST vs N'castle away?

System:
A flexible 3-2-5 

Keeper
Mc'Carthy
.
CBs:
THB , Janny B.,  Stephens

Wing backs
Right: KWP (if sold -> Sugawara),
Left: Charlie Taylor
(Ryan Fraser may join us before N'Castle (I hope) and be an alternative as left Wb/winger)

No. 6:
Downes
(S. Charles probably the only alternative right now)

No 8's:
1. Smallbone
2. Aribo

R.Wing:
Arma

Center Forward:
BBD

L. Wing;
Edozie

 

I dont think 1hat they allow 12 players in the Premiership.

[niceandfriendly]

24 minutes ago, WALK DMC said:

I dont think 1hat they allow 12 players in the Premiership.

They might in the Premier League though?

[Saint-Reece]

6 hours ago, 6ft8saint said:

Che was worse than Mara. Both for us and Scotland we dodged a massive bullet .

I think alot of people on here have red and white tinted glasses when it comes to certain players abilities 

You don’t half post some shit, which for this place, is quite impressive! 

[SouSaint]

I find it mental that we seem to be happy with our CB options considering how many goals we shipped in the Championship last season. 

Edwards/Wood are clearly squad fillers for now and don't improve the starting 11. 

[AlexLaw76]

6 hours ago, 6ft8saint said:

Che was worse than Mara. Both for us and Scotland we dodged a massive bullet .

I think alot of people on here have red and white tinted glasses when it comes to certain players abilities 

Mara is, and will always be, crap for Saints 

[Convict Colony]

Anyone know what we have lallana to do ? dont think he has appeared in 1 pre-season game has he yet ?

 

[saints-til-i-die]

Or Stewart

[Dusic]

As was the case at the start of the window, we massively need some additional quality in attacking areas.

If you exclude Lallana (who was never going to be a key player) only one of our signings has been an attacking player.

We have lost Adams, Brooks, Fraser and Stu who were all pretty key players and are currently relying upon Mara (didn't even make the bench in the playoff final), Stewart (cannot be relied upon to be available and huge jump in quality anyway), Sulemana (barely played in 2nd half of season) and Edozie (talented but no end product). Even Armstrong has massive question marks at PL level.

BBD will help but we urgently need to bring in a couple of players who are instantly better than what we have - otherwise we will have zero chance of staying up. Its clear we will not be a team that is very difficult to break down defensively so we really need to be productive in attack.

We are hoping to finish above the likes of Forest, Brentford, Wolves, Bournemouth etc but the substitute attackers for these teams would be amongst our best players as it stands! Plus we play two of these before the window shuts.

Added some defensive depth this summer - although havent actually improved the team, but absolutely critical this happens in attack.

 

Edited August 1 by Dusic

[ErwinK1961]

7 hours ago, 6ft8saint said:

Che was worse than Mara. Both for us and Scotland we dodged a massive bullet .

I think alot of people on here have red and white tinted glasses when it comes to certain players abilities 

Can only assume the lack of oxygen at your altitude has effected your brain.

[Toadhall Saint]

7 hours ago, Osvaldorama said:

 

Are you high? Che worse than Mara? On what planet?

About 6’8”

[FarehamSaintJames]

Spoken by someone that has clearly never watched a Saints match. 
Mara will be shipped out on loan. He’ll go down as one of those players we paid a lot for without any real talent, ability or effort. 😂

[egg]

Just now, FarehamSaintJames said:

Spoken by someone that has clearly never watched a Saints match. 
Mara will be shipped out on loan. He’ll go down as one of those players we paid a lot for without any real talent, ability or effort. 😂

He won't go anywhere unless we sign an upgrade. We can't rely on Diaz, supported by AA. Stewart is a write off. 

[FarehamSaintJames]

If Onuachu and Mara aren’t sold they’ll be shipped out on loan. I don’t see RM having them in his plans so I’m the sure the club would rather get them off the wage bill.

[gammon cheeks]

3 minutes ago, egg said:

He won't go anywhere unless we sign an upgrade. We can't rely on Diaz, supported by AA. Stewart is a write off. 

Ricky lambert coming out of retirement would be a upgrade on Mara to be honest 

[Kristian Loekkegaard]

3 hours ago, WALK DMC said:

I dont think 1hat they allow 12 players in the Premiership.

Sorry,
I over-thought it 👍 - eager to point out a flexible 3-5-2 / 4-4-3 formation 

I'll take Edozie out and go with a 3-5-2 formation as a starting formation away from home

[Kristian Loekkegaard]

3 hours ago, niceandfriendly said:

They might in the Premier League though?

Sorry,
I over-thought it 👍 - eager to point out a flexible 3-5-2 / 4-4-3 formation 😎

I think I'll take Edozie out and go with a 3-5-2 formation as a starting formation away from home

[Bad Wolf]

8 hours ago, 6ft8saint said:

Che was worse than Mara. Both for us and Scotland we dodged a massive bullet .

I think alot of people on here have red and white tinted glasses when it comes to certain players abilities 

Really?!

I didn't rate Adams at any time during his Saints career. Didn't like his work ethic or ability but Mara is 10 times worse! As bad as Adams was, Mara is like a Poundland version of him. 

[The Kraken]

17 hours ago, Tommy Mulgrew said:

 

So did I!  But I would not be any good this season.  🙂

 

I fought you was dead.

[OldNick]

11 hours ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

 

I think you guys and the club are living in the days of wayback like it’s still 2013 where we could take celtics best players for 12m etc.

ceitic have recieved 25m each for tierney and jota and oriley is rated higher then both  and their best prospect since VVD so why do you think they are gonna accept our stupid bids that are nowhere near his value ??

There was a chance of getting this deal done as Atalanta were also trying to seriously underpay and we have the Martin connection 

would you rather we lose out on our top target whilst we mess about trying to rip off Celtic.? If we rate him that highly pay the going rate instead of having to buy bargain basement replacements 

No I'm living in my world where if you cant afford it you cant have it. Just as this player has done well i Scotland it doesn't mean he will do well in the PL. How many of the upper PL clubs are after him? Or is he such a secret we've been incredibly brilliant in finding him? He has a worth and Rodgers is always going to say its not enough, christ do you think hes going to say whoa Saints have offered too much, its negotiation. IMO if he has a choice he will choose Atalanta for lifestyle is the package is similar

[Dman]

23 hours ago, skintsaint said:

I see Aberdeen are asking for more than 6m for Miovski. Not sure any interest from us but name been banded around here a bit.

I like this look of this lad. At 6m (or there abouts), it feels like a bit of a no brainer / low risk gamble. 

He can't be anyworse than Mara. 

[Dman]

21 hours ago, SaintsFan86 said:

Celtic want €29Million for Matt O'Riley.

Atalanta are putting together a €25Million bid.

At this price, we'd have been better off pushing for Emile smith-rowe

[miserableoldgit]

2 minutes ago, Dman said:

I like this look of this lad. At 6m (or there abouts), it feels like a bit of a no brainer / low risk gamble. 

He can't be anyworse than Mara. 

Yes he can......after all Che Adams was/is worse than Mara...........apparently.....

[Dman]

4 minutes ago, miserableoldgit said:

Yes he can......after all Che Adams was/is worse than Mara...........apparently.....

they're both shite. Move on. 

[Rebel]

So far this summer transfer window we have added some squad depth in certain areas but to me our current first 11 is weaker than the team that finished last season.

And I think last nights game against Oxford United proved we don't really have a second 11 - or even enough depth to give some of the squad players 45 mins.

Our first team from last season probably would have won the game last night and if we had played the current first 11 for the entire game last night I'd like to think they also would  have won - bit I am not totally sure they would have.

I am pretty sure Sulemana will end up going down in Saints history alongside Carillo as one of our biggest - if not the biggest - waste of money.  Both he and Mara probably need to be sent back to France on loan as soon as they are fit in the hope we can sell them next summer with the smallest loss possible.

Edozie just has no end product and probably needs a season in the Championship somewhere as a guaranteed starter to see if he can develop this part of his games.  Charles probably also needs a season in the Championship as a guaranteed starter to get the experience he needs.  But in both cases we don't have the strength in depth to let them go on loan.

We still desperately need to sign a striker/centre forward - but we have for 3 season or more now.  

Armstrong is no centre forward and is better on the right of a front 3 as a wide forward but will maybe work in a front 2 as a second striker with Bereton-Diaz - who seems to be better as a wide forward on the left.

We also need a good goalkeeper. When you look at the stats Bazunu just isn't good enough - unless he improves dramatically when he returns from injury which seems unlikely.  And we know that McCarthy is very limited and not good with the ball at his feet.  And I am still not sure why  we signed Lis. And Lumley was probably OK as a back-up in the Championship but that's probably about it.  I was really hoping we'd let McCarthy go and bring in a new first choice keeper. 

I think with our Covid losses, the terrible transfers in the season we went down, relegation itself and FFP we just don't have the money to bring in the players we need to stay up this season.  I just can't see us buying players for £25M or more. Part of me thinks the club have one eye on a promotion campaign next season as a result of this.

Maybe if they are clever in what's left of the transfer window we'll have chance of survival this season.

 

Edited August 1 by Rebel

[TheAlehouseBrawlers]

What did someone see when buying Mara? Once at the checkout they must have ignored the ‘unexpected item in the bagging area’ and then foolishly chose not to check to receipt.

He must be a wizard on the training ground.

[goodymatt]

9 minutes ago, TheAlehouseBrawlers said:

What did someone see when buying Mara? Once at the checkout they must have ignored the ‘unexpected item in the bagging area’ and then foolishly chose not to check to receipt.

He must be a wizard on the training ground.

Signed off the back of being top goalscorer in the Toulon tournament. Think he scored 5 goals and looked to be an exciting young talent. Think football Manager had him down as a potential wonder kid, MLG can confirm.

Not worked out at all though, has it. He’s not going to make it at Saints and we are going to end up taking a loss. 

[revolution saint]

Just now, goodymatt said:

Signed off the back of being top goalscorer in the Toulon tournament. Think he scored 5 goals and looked to be an exciting young talent. Think football Manager had him down as a potential wonder kid, MLG can confirm.

Not worked out at all though, has it. He’s not going to make it at Saints and we are going to end up taking a loss. 

Yeah, don’t blame the club for signing him and can see why they did. He even looked decent in his first few games but for whatever reason it’s not happened and can’t see it ever working out now.

[Convict Colony]

I currently feel again our left hand side is our weakest for defence and attack, we really need something there to play incisive passes, crosses, defending, tracking back etc.

I am not seeing it with Edozie/Sulemana/Taaylor and manning etc, we will be to easy to defend against if its the Suga/KWP show down the right with Armstrong etc

[ally_uk]

Mara is dogshit shouldn't be anywhere near this team. Lazy attitude and looks disinterested..

Manning, Bree. Shouldn't be in a Premier league team. 

Sulemana has no end product basically Djenepo MK 2.0

Alex McCarthy is not a premier league capable goal keeper. The man has 3 good games in the championship so now we roll out the red carpet... 

Bazunu might be good at distributing the ball. But forgive me if I'm wrong isn't the point of a goal keeper to keep the flaming ball out of the net. 

Centre back options im going to say we need more experience someone like Matip for example would of been a ambitious but good signing. 

Defensive Midfield we will need cover for Downes.

Midfield and wing options seem a bit piss poor.... let's be honest we need to upgrade. 

Striker are Armstrong and Brereton Diaz going to get us the goals to ensure Premiership safety ? Let's not be daft here we need more firepower! 

Wtf is going on with Ross Stewart? Are we really expecting the man to hit the ground running in the prem ? He can't even manage a half of football In pre season..... 

Gentleman much work is needed! 

Let's be realistic without sufficient more investment across the whole team prepare for the Championship next season...... 

I can see us getting a few batterings this season it isn't going to be pretty.... 

[saintwbu]

Anyone know if we lost last night? Presume we must have as everyone is now shit again 😂

[S-Clarke]

23 minutes ago, Rebel said:

So far this summer transfer window we have added some squad depth in certain areas but to me our current first 11 is weaker than the team that finished last season.

 

I keep seeing this, but I don't see it. We're on par with last season's 11, maybe a tiny notch up with the BBD signing.

Play off final -

McCarthy, KWP, Bednarek, THB, Stephens, Aribo, Downes, Smallbone, Armstrong, no Fraser so we can field BBD in his position, no Brooks but Charly is back.

So we can easily field as strong a team as we had in the playoff final for sure, no issues with that at all. But obviously we now need to see some better quality in the ST position, GK and Aribos/Smallbones positions.

[austsaint]

19 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

I keep seeing this, but I don't see it. We're on par with last season's 11, maybe a tiny notch up with the BBD signing.

Play off final -

McCarthy, KWP, Bednarek, THB, Stephens, Aribo, Downes, Smallbone, Armstrong, no Fraser so we can field BBD in his position, no Brooks but Charly is back.

So we can easily field as strong a team as we had in the playoff final for sure, no issues with that at all. But obviously we now need to see some better quality in the ST position, GK and Aribos/Smallbones positions.

Arguable that the starting 11 in two weeks will be a tiny notch up on the play-off final team.  Sugawara may turn out to be a very good player for Saints, but at this stage he can't be ranked the equal of KWP.     Fraser, from memory, played an hour or so in a left wing-back role and did very well - remains to be seen whether Taylor slots straight in as effectively.  I'll give you BBD as a step up, and I suppose its possible there will be new signings in the next week who may be ready on August 17, but at this stage it's hard to say we'll be a stronger team in two weeks - and we probably need to be.

[Suhari]

58 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

I keep seeing this, but I don't see it. We're on par with last season's 11, maybe a tiny notch up with the BBD signing.

Play off final -

McCarthy, KWP, Bednarek, THB, Stephens, Aribo, Downes, Smallbone, Armstrong, no Fraser so we can field BBD in his position, no Brooks but Charly is back.

So we can easily field as strong a team as we had in the playoff final for sure, no issues with that at all. But obviously we now need to see some better quality in the ST position, GK and Aribos/Smallbones positions.

It does highlight the magnitude of the challenge facing us, particularly with the financial constraints.

Massive task to stay up this season.

[charliemiller]

Last night was terrible , we just played the ball across the midfield and Oxford nullified us !!!! in the premiership the press will be ten times more efficient and we will just lose the ball .

We need urgently

A focal point Striker no9 like Pelle , as a budget option i would even consider Antonio from west ham for a season .

Mccarthy is NOT good enough please please SR Upgrade him.

We need a number 10 playmaker to stop us just playing backwards and forwards with no incisive passes .

If that is Oreilly and he cost 25 million do it SR

[Saint Fan CaM]

If the 1st team stays as is we can expect the type of bad performances and results from last season, but amplified in goals against and frequency. Last night I watched several attempts from Arma and Charly to run between defenders and no-one took a chance to thread a ball through, preferring instead to re-cycle the ball backwards or sideways. Then we had Manning attempting to be some kind of Declan Rice, but with no spacial awareness of what’s around him or more importantly what’s in front of him.  He’s just too Poundland to have the skills to operate in that position or any position in the Prem. McCarthy is a disaster waiting to happen, which means a defence lacking belief.

Many of the players in possession don’t look around them or get a call from a team mate to turn and pass the ball in the opposite direction to that which they received the ball…that is they only seem to pass for the sake of passing in the direction they are initially facing. Consequently the ball gets passed backwards or sideways ad infinitum. The lack of creativity is frighteningly poor, with Alcarez being the one bright spark. Sulemana and Edozie have no end product…Tyler is a little the same, but at his age/experience he can be cut some slack. Mara is just a waste of a shirt.

With all the talk of spending millions on the next best attacking forward, I do wonder why the club don’t push to offer a better deal to KWP and put him in front of Suga. He can terrorise defences with his mazy runs and can shoot very effectively coming in from the right. Might actually save a few £’s.

In summary, huge amount of work to do and the new season is just around the corner.

[HarvSFC]

9 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Many of the players in possession don’t look around them or get a call from a team mate to turn and pass the ball in the opposite direction to that which they received the ball…that is they only seem to pass for the sake of passing in the direction they are initially facing. Consequently the ball gets passed backwards or sideways ad infinitum. The lack of creativity is frighteningly poor, with Alcarez being the one bright spark. Sulemana and Edozie have no end product…Tyler is a little the same, but at his age/experience he can be cut some slack. Mara is just a waste of a shirt.

That's the biggest drawback with Smallbone in that he can't play on the turn and in the Premier League he becomes a lot more predictable and easy to defend against for the opposition.

[SambaMaverick]

15 minutes ago, charliemiller said:

Last night was terrible , we just played the ball across the midfield and Oxford nullified us !!!! in the premiership the press will be ten times more efficient and we will just lose the ball .

We need urgently

A focal point Striker no9 like Pelle , as a budget option i would even consider Antonio from west ham for a season .

Mccarthy is NOT good enough please please SR Upgrade him.

We need a number 10 playmaker to stop us just playing backwards and forwards with no incisive passes .

If that is Oreilly and he cost 25 million do it SR

As would I

[Saint Fan CaM]

1 minute ago, HarvSFC said:

That's the biggest drawback with Smallbone in that he can't play on the turn and in the Premier League he becomes a lot more predictable and easy to defend against for the opposition.

I think he’s getting better at it - possibly learning from Downes - but neither have the front facing killer pass in them.

[revolution saint]

3 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

I think he’s getting better at it - possibly learning from Downes - but neither have the front facing killer pass in them.

What, like the pass Smallbone made for Armstrong to score in the play off final?  Front facing killer pass like that?

Edited August 1 by revolution saint