Summer Transfer Window 2024

[chiknsmack]

Will we be able to play Russball in the Prem? (Burnley couldn't, and their manager is so much better than Martin that he's now off to Bayern.)

If we can't, will Martin be pragmatic enough to change the gameplan to a counterattacking one with less possession than the opposition? (He showed some pragmatism and willingness to change late on this season.)

If he will, can we do much better than an attacking quartet of Alcaraz, Sulemana, Arma, and (insert striker here)?

Those first two did nothing in the Championship because they're better at dribbling against disorganised defences than passing against organised ones. If the plan is to stick with Russball we can cut bait on them, but if it's not then they have their place. I believe that in the right setup (which isn't Russball) they both have the capacity to be very, VERY good players. They arguably have the highest upside of any players in the squad.

Edited May 30 by chiknsmack

[hypochondriac]

2 minutes ago, chiknsmack said:

Will we be able to play Russball in the Prem? (Burnley couldn't, and their manager is so much better than Martin that he's now off to Bayern.)

If we can't, will Martin be pragmatic enough to change the gameplan to a counterattacking one with less possession than the opposition? (He showed some pragmatism and willingness to change late on this season.)

If he will, can we do much better than an attacking quartet of Alcaraz, Sulemana, Arma, and (insert striker here)?

Those first two did nothing in the Championship because they're better at dribbling against disorganised defences than passing against organised ones. If the plan is to stick with Russball we can cut bait on them, but if it's not then they have their place. I believe that in the right setup (which isn't Russball) they both have the capacity to be very, VERY good players. They arguably have the highest upside of any players in the squad.

If they didn't play in the championship I don't see why people think Sulemana and Alcaraz are going to play I nthe prem. I don't think either suit Russball and we can't afford to have them on the wage bill and not play them. 

[chownie20]

Mara is going to offer us nothing this season.  Loan him to a champ club and see if he develops. 

Perruad and Oriol are romanticised, we need to move forward. Same with Ings. 

I'd try and reintegrate ABK unless someone offers 20m. If we play 3 CBs he'd be handy.

Like the sound of O Reilly from Celtic. Coventry have some decent players,  anyone at Burnley worth a punt. Hopefully our scouts will earn their money! Hull had some food footballers too, but feel we need more than that and above all need tk best the teams around us and pick up points thr hard way on a regular basis.

[Alain Perrin]

The most concerning area is the defense and DCM, specifically Downes. 

It took time for Saints to settle into RMs style of play, and that's crucial for the defense (mistakes there will cost us more). 

Lose too many games in the early part of the season (as we did this year) and we won't have the same opportunity to recover like we did in the Championship.

[SfcPhil]

Personally I'd sell anyone who is currently loaned out. They weren't good enough/didn't want to fight in the Championship/don't fit Martins style. I'd also sell Mara and Sulemana, both a waste of a squad place. 

Forgot we've still got Lyanco, Caleta-Car and Onuachu to return..

Should get well in excess of £50m for the above plus Alcaraz, Bella Kotchap & Perraud.

Whether the club is as cut-throat as me remains to be seen, I doubt it, but it'll be interesting to see if any are reintegrated in the squad.

If we want to stay up next season, we have to aim higher in terms of the personnel of the past. They didn't cut it then and they won't now.

[Dusic]

2 hours ago, saintant said:

He'd have far more chance of starting first team games for us.

He wouldn't have started for us this season so definitely wouldn't next. 

I wasn't overly impressed when I watched him, certainly wouldn't be near the top of the list of Championship players I would target.

Edited May 30 by Dusic

[verlaine1979]

Alcaraz is good at carrying the ball forward. We're going to need players who can do that whether RM likes it or not. Our squad is too technically limited as it stands to consistently pass our way around the press of 90% of PL teams. We're going to need to adapt to be able to play effectively on the break and turnover, even if it's just to give ourselves time to reset. As it stands, Downes was our most effective player at running the ball through the middle last year, and he's not even ours.

[Lighthouse]

1 hour ago, Saint_clark said:

I disagree that he hasn't shown progress, even though he's had a ridiculously small amount of game time to try and do anything in since his arrival. 

If we were signing a French youth international striker we'd be optimistic about how he would look in a couple of years time, i'm optimistic about him. We would get what, £10million at best for him if we sold him now? What benefit is that to us? We may as well send him on loan somewhere and see how he develops with 40+ games played. 

He hasn’t had a ridiculously small amount of time, he’s had more than enough opportunities in both leagues and looked nowhere near being up to standard in either. The fact that he can’t get in the team, even with Stewart injured all season is his own fault.

I can’t believe I’m reading a sentence like, "what benefit is £10m to us," either.

[captainchris]

2 hours ago, chiknsmack said:

Will we be able to play Russball in the Prem? (Burnley couldn't, and their manager is so much better than Martin that he's now off to Bayern.)

If we can't, will Martin be pragmatic enough to change the gameplan to a counterattacking one with less possession than the opposition? (He showed some pragmatism and willingness to change late on this season.)

If he will, can we do much better than an attacking quartet of Alcaraz, Sulemana, Arma, and (insert striker here)?

Those first two did nothing in the Championship because they're better at dribbling against disorganised defences than passing against organised ones. If the plan is to stick with Russball we can cut bait on them, but if it's not then they have their place. I believe that in the right setup (which isn't Russball) they both have the capacity to be very, VERY good players. They arguably have the highest upside of any players in the squad.

Totally disagree with all that I’m afraid.

[Bad Wolf]

2 hours ago, chownie20 said:

Mara is going to offer us nothing this season.  Loan him to a champ club and see if he develops. 

Perruad and Oriol are romanticised, we need to move forward. Same with Ings. 

I'd try and reintegrate ABK unless someone offers 20m. If we play 3 CBs he'd be handy.

Like the sound of O Reilly from Celtic. Coventry have some decent players,  anyone at Burnley worth a punt. Hopefully our scouts will earn their money! Hull had some food footballers too, but feel we need more than that and above all need tk best the teams around us and pick up points thr hard way on a regular basis.

Agree with all of that

 

[woodsaint1]

3 hours ago, chiknsmack said:

Will we be able to play Russball in the Prem? (Burnley couldn't, and their manager is so much better than Martin that he's now off to Bayern.)

If we can't, will Martin be pragmatic enough to change the gameplan to a counterattacking one with less possession than the opposition? (He showed some pragmatism and willingness to change late on this season.)

If he will, can we do much better than an attacking quartet of Alcaraz, Sulemana, Arma, and (insert striker here)?

Those first two did nothing in the Championship because they're better at dribbling against disorganised defences than passing against organised ones. If the plan is to stick with Russball we can cut bait on them, but if it's not then they have their place. I believe that in the right setup (which isn't Russball) they both have the capacity to be very, VERY good players. They arguably have the highest upside of any players in the squad.

Kompany is so good that his team finished below Rob Edwards' Luton. They must be lining Edwards up for the Barca job.

[Saint_clark]

2 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

He hasn’t had a ridiculously small amount of time, he’s had more than enough opportunities in both leagues and looked nowhere near being up to standard in either. The fact that he can’t get in the team, even with Stewart injured all season is his own fault.

I can’t believe I’m reading a sentence like, "what benefit is £10m to us," either.

I've just shown you that he's had less than 14 games worth of game time for us spread over 2 full seasons and you think that's more than enough? 

I look forward to your final and definitive judgement of our new summer signings 14 games into next season. 

[chiknsmack]

5 hours ago, hypochondriac said:

If they didn't play in the championship I don't see why people think Sulemana and Alcaraz are going to play I nthe prem. I don't think either suit Russball and we can't afford to have them on the wage bill and not play them. 

Burnley had 64% possession in the Championship and won the league, then had 47.4% posession in the Prem and got relegated.

Saints had 65.5% possession in the Championship and finished 4th, and will be able to do the same in the Prem? (Man City had 65.2% possession last season, for context.)

Or maybe we won't play Russball and having some (counter)attacking-minded ball-carriers rather than tippy-tappy passers will prove useful.

 

We needed different tools for the Championship (where we were a big fish in a small pond) than we'll need in the Prem (guppy in the sea). It's not as simple as "He didn't tear up the Championship for us so he can't handle the Prem".

[kjurwi]

12 hours ago, Baird of the land said:

Yeah I don’t get the appeal of Perraud. A very average left back with not much pace.

And yet he's better than Manning 

 

Agree there are better LBs, but not currently in our team.

[kjurwi]

12 hours ago, Dusic said:

Meghoma has a higher ceiling than either Manning or Perraud.

A good pre season could see him earn a place in the first team squad IMO.

If we are likely to play with wing backs more regularly then need someone with more mobility and stamina than Perraud or Manning anyway.

Hope you are right about Meghoma. 

[Long Shot]

So I have asked this before but the question is now more pressing. Who is doing our negotiating and decision making when it comes to transfer ins and outs? This is going to be the busiest summer ever in terms of player movement and I’d like to know who is overseeing it all. 

[CB Fry]

15 minutes ago, Long Shot said:

So I have asked this before but the question is now more pressing. Who is doing our negotiating and decision making when it comes to transfer ins and outs? This is going to be the busiest summer ever in terms of player movement and I’d like to know who is overseeing it all. 

We have a head of recruitment in Darren Mowbray, plus a performance director, whose name I forget plus Phil Parsons plus Russell Martin. 

I don't think there is some impossible to cover gap there.

It's not like Wilcox on his own would have done all the decision making on players in before. You'll remember we signed Downes and Manning, both having worked with Russell Martin. It's always a collective endeavour.

[lambtiss]

8 hours ago, SfcPhil said:

Personally I'd sell anyone who is currently loaned out. They weren't good enough/didn't want to fight in the Championship/don't fit Martins style. I'd also sell Mara and Sulemana, both a waste of a squad place. 

Forgot we've still got Lyanco, Caleta-Car and Onuachu to return..

Should get well in excess of £50m for the above plus Alcaraz, Bella Kotchap & Perraud.

Whether the club is as cut-throat as me remains to be seen, I doubt it, but it'll be interesting to see if any are reintegrated in the squad.

If we want to stay up next season, we have to aim higher in terms of the personnel of the past. They didn't cut it then and they won't now.

Of all of those, only ABK had the ability to cut it in the prem. Provided we get the ABK that started the season, not the player at the end of the season who seemed injury prone and disinterested. 

I also think Perraud is, worth a squad place. 

[stevy777_x]

5 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

We have a head of recruitment in Darren Mowbray, plus a performance director, whose name I forget plus Phil Parsons plus Russell Martin. 

I don't think there is some impossible to cover gap there.

It's not like Wilcox on his own would have done all the decision making on players in before. You'll remember we signed Downes and Manning, both having worked with Russell Martin. It's always a collective endeavour.

Dismissing Wilcox previous role is incredibly naive. 
you can t assume internal people can just pick up what he was doing.

[Chez]

5 minutes ago, stevy777_x said:

Dismissing Wilcox previous role is incredibly naive. 
you can t assume internal people can just pick up what he was doing.

Wilcox himself had to pick it up. For all we know he might not have been very good at it.

[hypochondriac]

4 hours ago, chiknsmack said:

Burnley had 64% possession in the Championship and won the league, then had 47.4% posession in the Prem and got relegated.

Saints had 65.5% possession in the Championship and finished 4th, and will be able to do the same in the Prem? (Man City had 65.2% possession last season, for context.)

Or maybe we won't play Russball and having some (counter)attacking-minded ball-carriers rather than tippy-tappy passers will prove useful.

 

We needed different tools for the Championship (where we were a big fish in a small pond) than we'll need in the Prem (guppy in the sea). It's not as simple as "He didn't tear up the Championship for us so he can't handle the Prem".

For good or bad we will be playing russball or a variation of it. I don't think Sulemana for example can do anything other than use pace and dribble which we clearly aren't going to do much. Alcaraz may have some success but I'm not sure he can be effective out of possession for the team. Could be wrong of course but it wouldn't surprise me if they are sold or loaned out. 

[CB Fry]

32 minutes ago, stevy777_x said:

Dismissing Wilcox previous role is incredibly naive. 
you can t assume internal people can just pick up what he was doing.

The head of recruitment can't just pick up recruitment? OK then.

[Lighthouse]

8 hours ago, Saint_clark said:

I've just shown you that he's had less than 14 games worth of game time for us spread over 2 full seasons and you think that's more than enough? 

I look forward to your final and definitive judgement of our new summer signings 14 games into next season. 

It's quite clearly a nonsense argument. 14 full games is completely different from adding up all of his appearances to make 14 games worth of time. Many of those appearances were sub appearances when he had a huge fitness advantage against the players he was up against. Then there's the fact that he's had two years of training in and around that '14 games' to try and improve his game play and he hasn't.

14 full games is quite a lot anyway. If a new signing did play every minute of the first three months of the season and contributed as little as Mara, yes I would want him dropped.

[Saint Fan CaM]

10 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

It's quite clearly a nonsense argument. 14 full games is completely different from adding up all of his appearances to make 14 games worth of time. Many of those appearances were sub appearances when he had a huge fitness advantage against the players he was up against. Then there's the fact that he's had two years of training in and around that '14 games' to try and improve his game play and he hasn't.

14 full games is quite a lot anyway. If a new signing did play every minute of the first three months of the season and contributed as little as Mara, yes I would want him dropped.

Agree with this analysis - it’s very difficult to argue that Mara has anything like what a decent striker needs to operate at Championship level let alone at Prem level when his contribution will be wiped out by much better defenders.

[hypochondriac]

29 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

It's quite clearly a nonsense argument. 14 full games is completely different from adding up all of his appearances to make 14 games worth of time. Many of those appearances were sub appearances when he had a huge fitness advantage against the players he was up against. Then there's the fact that he's had two years of training in and around that '14 games' to try and improve his game play and he hasn't.

14 full games is quite a lot anyway. If a new signing did play every minute of the first three months of the season and contributed as little as Mara, yes I would want him dropped.

I have to agree. In fact he's so poor that if he is in the squad next year I believe he will be blocking someone else with more promise from having a place. If we have to keep him then he absolutely needs to go on loan. 

[SaintsFan86]

We have been linked to Santiago Gimenez. Don't get excited, this isn't happening.

[Daft Kerplunk]

3 hours ago, stevy777_x said:

Dismissing Wilcox previous role is incredibly naive. 
you can t assume internal people can just pick up what he was doing.

Potentially making things easier by cutting out a layer of management…

[notnowcato]

1 minute ago, Daft Kerplunk said:

Potentially making things easier by cutting out a layer of management…

Easier does not necessarily equal better

[Baird of the land]

12 hours ago, SfcPhil said:

Personally I'd sell anyone who is currently loaned out. They weren't good enough/didn't want to fight in the Championship/don't fit Martins style. I'd also sell Mara and Sulemana, both a waste of a squad place. 

Forgot we've still got Lyanco, Caleta-Car and Onuachu to return..

Should get well in excess of £50m for the above plus Alcaraz, Bella Kotchap & Perraud.

Whether the club is as cut-throat as me remains to be seen, I doubt it, but it'll be interesting to see if any are reintegrated in the squad.

If we want to stay up next season, we have to aim higher in terms of the personnel of the past. They didn't cut it then and they won't now.

We''re not going to get £50M for those. Most if they leave would likely end up being loans.

[Bad Wolf]

Have we had our biannual link to The Ox yet?

[SaintsFan86]

Broja being linked again. 🙂

[CSA96]

14 minutes ago, SaintsFan86 said:

Broja being linked again. 🙂

No no no.

[East Kent Saint]

14 minutes ago, SaintsFan86 said:

Broja being linked again. 🙂

Monaco leading the pack apparently

[Danbert]

Bild says we want Bittencourt

https://www.southamptonfc.news/transfers/southampton-make-lucrative-offer-to-sign-bundesliga-man-ahead-of-premier-league-return/

[Lighthouse]

17 hours ago, hypochondriac said:

That may well be the case and I agree we need an upgrade on Aribo at least but then who is playing the dm role in the event that Downes is unavailable? Surely we need a mixture of new starters and players to strengthen the squad. 

Supposing we have the three that finished the season, Charles and a new bloke (in theory a replacement for Stu) I’d say that’s a reasonable number of midfield options, given how much investment is needed in areas like striker, full back and keeper. Romeu I’m not sure adds anything to that, Charles I’d wager is much more mobile these days if nothing else. If anything I’d hope for some versatile in the AMN mould, but obviously much, much better.

[ally_uk]

4 hours ago, Long Shot said:

So I have asked this before but the question is now more pressing. Who is doing our negotiating and decision making when it comes to transfer ins and outs? This is going to be the busiest summer ever in terms of player movement and I’d like to know who is overseeing it all. 

Probably Wilcox before he left drew up plans and targets..... 

[egg]

8 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

Supposing we have the three that finished the season, Charles and a new bloke (in theory a replacement for Stu) I’d say that’s a reasonable number of midfield options, given how much investment is needed in areas like striker, full back and keeper. Romeu I’m not sure adds anything to that, Charles I’d wager is much more mobile these days if nothing else. If anything I’d hope for some versatile in the AMN mould, but obviously much, much better.

We can't go into a PL season relying on Charles imo. If we get Downes, we need 2 who can play deep, and 3 if we don't. Aribo can't play that role in the PL.

[Lighthouse]

2 minutes ago, egg said:

We can't go into a PL season relying on Charles imo. If we get Downes, we need 2 who can play deep, and 3 if we don't. Aribo can't play that role in the PL.

We aren’t going to get three players who can all play the deep lying role, who are all better than Charles. You’re talking about spending £60m on one position to do that and like I said, I don’t think Romeu is any better than Charles these days anyway.

[egg]

Just now, Lighthouse said:

We aren’t going to get three players who can all play the deep lying role, who are all better than Charles. You’re talking about spending £60m on one position to do that and like I said, I don’t think Romeu is any better than Charles these days anyway.

One plus Charles isn't enough for me. Two as a minimum. It's such a crucial role, and if you take the main man out, another is needed. There's a young lad at Chelsea coming back from injury who'd be ideal on loan. 

[saint lard]

46 minutes ago, SaintsFan86 said:

Broja being linked again. 🙂

Oh god no. What with him,Ings and lallana all in the frame to return it’ll be like someone’s invented a flux capacitor,refurbished De Lorean and we are just reaching 88MPH….and heading straight into the Championship.

[DT]

3 minutes ago, saint lard said:

Oh god no. What with him,Ings and lallana all in the frame to return it’ll be like someone’s invented a flux capacitor,refurbished De Lorean and we are just reaching 88MPH….and heading straight into the Championship.

Quite. Hate this idea of all these lags saying it's safe to return to their comfy home. Not the answer. Can do better. They will not be 'hungry' - although guess too late to stop the moisturiser boy returning. Broja not good enough - maybe it's all lazy journalism/agent talk

[Dman]

9 minutes ago, egg said:

One plus Charles isn't enough for me. Two as a minimum. It's such a crucial role, and if you take the main man out, another is needed. There's a young lad at Chelsea coming back from injury who'd be ideal on loan. 

Can you imagine how good Lavia would have been in our system (esepcially in the championship). 

I think he'll get plenty of game time under Enzo though. 

[SaintsFan86]

25 minutes ago, saint lard said:

Oh god no. What with him,Ings and lallana all in the frame to return it’ll be like someone’s invented a flux capacitor,refurbished De Lorean and we are just reaching 88MPH….and heading straight into the Championship.

Fwiw I don't want Lallana or Ings back... Both passed it and offer nothing IMO.

I disagree about Broja, He's young and raw and he'll have a excellent coach working with him in Russ. Won't be any worse than Adams, But Broja has alot more potential.. and has all the tools to succeed.

[Barsiem]

If Lavia is available for loan better teams than us will want him.  A Brighton or a West Ham (which may help us get Downes anyway).  Very unlikely he'd end up back here for another relegation battle

[egg]

22 minutes ago, Dman said:

Can you imagine how good Lavia would have been in our system (esepcially in the championship). 

I think he'll get plenty of game time under Enzo though. 

He's Downes ++ and would have been brilliant.

I think you're right though. 

[egg]

4 minutes ago, SaintsFan86 said:

Fwiw I don't want Lallana or Ings back... Both passed it and offer nothing IMO.

I disagree about Broja, He's young and raw and he'll have a excellent coach working with him in Russ. Won't be any worse than Adams, But Broja has alot more potential.. and has all the tools to succeed.

I'm with you on Broja. The talent he had hasn't gone anywhere, and he could be brilliant for us. 

[SaintsFan86]

2 minutes ago, egg said:

I'm with you on Broja. The talent he had hasn't gone anywhere, and he could be brilliant for us. 

Just needs that one opportunity, Everyone was quick to right off Fraser the second he came down here.

Worth pointing out Russ has improved alot of players this season., I have confidence he could do the same for Broja.

[Chez]

1 hour ago, Bad Wolf said:

Have we had our biannual link to The Ox yet?

see page 5

[beatlesaint]

19 minutes ago, egg said:

I'm with you on Broja. The talent he had hasn't gone anywhere, and he could be brilliant for us. 

Didnt his form drop off towards the end of his loan spell cos he got pissed off by Ralph......or did i imagine that ?

[Chez]

2 hours ago, SaintsFan86 said:

We have been linked to Santiago Gimenez. Don't get excited, this isn't happening.

I'd like to get excited, but yeah, a 23 year old who scored 26 goals for Feyenord lat season and played and will play in the CL ain't joining relegation candidates Saints. Pity.