Transfer Rumours Summer Transfer window

My experience of recent Sunderland is we’ll **** ourselves until late in the windows then think we’re going to the win the league afterwards.

 

Would anyone take Adam Webster from Brighton? Surely well down the pecking order at CB there now and wouldn’t cost too much, not much more than Mepham I’d imagine. Loads of PL experience. Obviously alongside a statement CB signing still, only worry is he’d want to play.

 

Can see it coming! Most of us think we need at least 6 or 7 players and,if we haven't signed them all by the return to training,serious panic will set in!

 

Interesting that the profile of some of the top Centre midfielders is changing and probably in our favour, look at the 2 at PSG in Vitinha and Neves both small with great passing and energy, I'm hoping that this is what Chris Rigg moulds into with Le Fee because they also have that bite

Whilst finding a powerhouse CM would be great, how many are they actually in world football right now, always a trade off between physicality and technique

 

Rigg learning from Le Fee is a scary thought. We've got two class players there.

 

Nothing major gonna happen while club world cup is going on and they having a look at their own players

 

It is easy to write off some of our current players and some of the developing talent underneath. We do not know how they will adapt to the rigours of prem football or the physicality of that league.
I am happy for every pundit to keep telling anybody who will listen how much of a struggle it is going to be, I think we as a club are quite used to our underdog status.
I remember when we got promoted from league 1 and all the conversations about who was good enough for championship football.
O'Nien at that time was written off by lage sections of our fan base. I seem to remember DN getting stick along with Patto.
It is now rinse and repeat time.
The prem is hard and there is no denying that, some players will thrive and some may struggle. Some may surprise us and some may fall by the wayside. Youth players may step up and some players may become hero's.
We could be fantastic and surprise everybody or we may live up to the expectation and have a very tough season, but the thing ro remember is as a club we are all on this journey and this is another step in the right direction.
Rant Owa !!!

 

Had exactly this thought the other day. I think 'busy' is the physical characteristic we're likely to need from our midfield next season rather than brick **** house. I'd say Neil, Le Fee and Rigg already have that. We would need to up our physicality to survive at set pieces, though.

 

Yeah wouldnt fancy us up against Arsenal on corners at the minute

 

Perfectly put.

It can be a bit demoralising as a supporter to be told you need 10 new players minimum. Or you need to buy £15m pound players. None of our existing talent has been premier league tested. I suspect quite a few will flourish.

I keep banging this drum. Football is a team game. You need a team. Teams take time to build. Character, desire, commitment are all things you need to be part of a team. We have arguably the most effective team in the last 30 odd years. It is miraculous what has happened in our academy and in our recruitment. I shudder at the thought of bringing in a load of new players on bigger money than those who have been part of this team.

First and foremost, lets reward the existing team with serious contracts and tell them they will be the core of our side next year. They have earned that. Patto, Hume, Ballard, Cirkin, Neil, Rigg, Mundle, Mayenda. Give them all proper deals, they are our future. Then we can sprinkle 4 or 5 players in and around them.

Football has long since lost any soul. Maybe we can show there is more to the modern game than signing so called oven ready players. I am, and always will be, much happier to see Rigg in our colours than anyone we might buy from the continent.

 

I'd prefer us to spend 20 million on a new keeper and I'd be happy with Patto as No 2.
I really rate him but if he had moments in the championship how many more will he have in the PL

 

I'd rather give Patto the shirt and a good no. 2

 

You say this, but I believe we had the second best defence in the championship last season when defending corners. Believe we only conceded 4 goals which was only beaten by Burnley's 3.

 

Your probably right mate with the money available. I just wonder if he can really step up, I hope he does . The end of the season he was great, so was the start just a bit in the middle he was a bit off it.
Problem is you never know till they make the step up. He could take to it perfectly like he did when he came back on loan into L1 then the championship.
If we are sticking with him then the no2 has to be much better quality to push him

 

Patto leaving? Or just speculating

 

Patto is a big game player and there’s 30 odd big games next season. He gets the number 1 every day of the week. Think back to the 2 biggest games of the past years Wycombe and Sheff utd, who made the crucial saves to keep us in the game in both matches.

I’d go out and get a young high potential cup goal keeper to push Patto and give him a break if the worst happens. My pick is the young lad at AZ. And stick Moore around the place as an experienced English 3rd option.

 

I'd be surprised if spending £20m on a keeper gains us as many points over Patto as it would spent elsewhere. Mind I'm still scarred by Keano going out and getting Craig Gordon. Good keeper as he was, we'd have been better off spending that money on better outfielders. We could improve in every position, of course, but the task for Speakman is to push the majority of our money into the spots where improvement would be greatest - and would also have the greatest return. Dunno if any of the data lot that SAFC work with have any sort of VORP stats, but I don't think we'd be marking Patto out as the place to make the big leap. My guess is that the most undervalued positions these days are likely to be centre halves and wingers in terms of outright cost. Thankfully they are two of our priorities, so hopefully that helps us. Just a shame that the other position of need is probably the most overvalued these days (true controlling DM)

 

Is probably just nerves. Having Big Dan's slab head back there will certainly help. We'll miss Jobe there though

 

Patto will be going nowhere

 

It's about balance. Completely agree with this. I don't buy into the idea that we have a "first 11" and that anyone not in the preferred first team is therefore discarded. I want those players you list to be rewarded with long term deals and be part of the 15-16 players we have that play regularly. They should all have at least 25 PL appearances each next season, if not much more.

But along with that there is still space for 4-6 of the "£15m players" to flesh out a premier league ready squad. Then it's all fair game during pre-season in terms of our existing players and the new ones to perform in training and the first few matches to see who becomes the regular starters.

I then also think we will use our position as a premier league club to further bring in the "next" Mayenda's and Mundle's and Rigg's. More succession planning in accessing players we might not have been able to as a championship club.