I haven't seen it posted yet so here's the BBC clip of Martin talking about the transfer strategy this summer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0jly7dz
Yeah, Brooks had to have an operation on his shoulder, so he's very much a no-go for anyone this summer. Can't help but feel for him a tad.
Not sure Brooks is worth £15m-£20m anyway. Was decent for us last season but no where near that level. It was be a gamble the he discovers his preillness form.
From I got from it, was Saints won't pay over £20M for a player, because that is in a higher wage bracket. He then states that everyone else will want a payrise! How about these premodonnas learn and appreciate why said player deserves the money he gets paid? Are we gambling on our Premier league status on hurt feelings, or we are just skint?
Bad injury record and apparently mentally different after - scared of re-injury. Large contract and only one year left. And doesn’t fit the system the manager wants to play… https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/why...iverpool-make-first-approach/view/news/441079
Makes me wonder what happens at somewhere like Bournemouth when they bring in a player for over 40m on the wages said player would want. Or Ipswich where I would assume they might have some big differences in their squad. But that logic presumably rules out Ramsdale. Not that I thought we were ever in for him anyway. Wages were always too high and the links always too public. And then there’s the part about him losing his place due to not being able to play out with his feet well enough
So just been catching up on the GK situation. I saw lots speculating on Ramsdale…. Does anyone know the latest situation regarding Sam Johnstone? Good chance he goes somewhere before Friday
Russell Martin on the transfer strategy at Saints... There's a wage structure here and if you then go and spend a certain amount of money on one player, that player will then expect the wages to be higher than the rest, so we're not going to do that. We're assessing priority and levels of importance for each position that we need, how different they are to the group that we already possess and what we already have in the building and also the character of the player. I think we have done good business, on the whole. Not just for now but for the short and long-term future of the club. Whereas I think 18 months or two years ago, especially in the January window [in 2023] it was very much all about spending money for the here and now because you need to stay in the Premier League. We haven't done that this time. It's agreed by all of us that we aren't just going to go all-in for one season only and then put the club back in a situation down the line where the financial situation isn't very good for the club. We've made signings for now and signings that are going to be really good for the club over a longer period of time. That's in my opinion. Not everyone will agree with that strategy, but the club have gone with us [as a coaching team] to try and bring some stability over a period of time, to bring a way of doing things and we've added players that can do that and some players that can help us here and now. And we believe that they can. Some will take a bit longer than others, so I think it's just a case of being really aligned. The owners have been great, they've invested really well in two players that were so important to us last season and we can't ever lose sight of that. Mateus Fernandes is another top talent who had clubs all over Europe watching him and looking at buying him. Cam Archer's the same. He's the England U21 striker and he was not a small investment for this football club. I think that by the end of the window I will be really happy with the business that we have done. Would we love to go and spend £30m on one or two players? Of course. But I knew at the start that we would not be doing that this season, so I can't be frustrated about that when I knew that was the situation that we'd be in. I'm sure at some point, the ownership group and Dragan will love to go and do that one or two players. But then it creates an imbalance with the rest of the squad, because you go and do that and then everyone else looks at that and goes 'Oh, okay then'. I don't lose any sleep over that and I'm not stressed about it because I have real clarity on what we're doing. The problems come when there is miscommunication or a lack of clarity, or you start to say one thing and do another. But that just hasn't happened with me. I've been fairly relaxed. It's a lot of work and I can't wait for it to end. I love seeing the guys but I'd love to stop having Zoom calls every two days and chatting about a hundred different things. Once it ends, hopefully we'll look back and be happy with it and it will take us through to January. Then it'll be the same. We'll look and assess what we need, what we want, where we're at and we'll see where it takes us. on Kyle Walker-Peters... I think he's going to be here. The interest that was there and the deals that might have happened have gone unless someone decides really late doors that they want Kyle. But he's been great. As I said, I think when the window shuts we have offered him new contracts and maybe that'll be another discussion for then. But if not, then he needs to play in the same way he always has done and in the same way that Stu Armstrong and Che Adams did last year when they were in the last year of their contracts and they were fantastic for us. I think everyone's really relaxed about it because he's played really well in the first two games. It's a bonus having Kyle here because I think we'd all resigned ourselves to him leaving the building.
I hate to be wrong, but I can see McCarthy being our number one, after Saints sign a project gk for peanuts! What RM said is really worrying me. This under £20M policy is going to see us crash out of the league.
Skint may be going too far but we still have a lot of players and I'd guess quite a few of them are a problem because they're getting paid more than they're worth (ABK, Onuachu, I've probably missed some others). But yeah, it's classic yo-yo club talk.
So we are essentially building a squad for the future when the squad isn’t good enough for the league they’re in now. I’m sure this was the thinking last PL season with players like Lavia, the problem is if these players do well and we go down then they will leave and we are back to square one with a bloated squad of players who couldn’t do it at PL level for whatever reason. Talent/attitude/general atmosphere of the club. I get the not wanting to upset squad harmony or whatever he’s getting at about the wage thing, but ultimately that will lead you to having a lesser squad in the most money driven league in the world. Basically sounds like we are Norwich where we are just happy to yo-yo
I think this is very measured. Yes, we mostlikely go down, but better than the madness in other windows. It seems there is a long tern plan (which may involve relegation) but building a strong foundation. I am okay with this ( having lived through the 2005 and what followed) and the chaos of 2023
