Stating the obvious but the benefit of staying up if that the next season you're not one of the 3 promoted sides that always struggle to stay up. With every year you stay up you get an advantage. And even if you go down, bouncing straight back up is advantageous versus clubs that haven't been in the prem for a while. Leeds and Burnley have a slight advantage over us for example. Basically premier league seasons add advantage.
Don't think KWP would ever consider us, he's sick of relegation battles so didn't want to resign with Southampton. Brighton seem pretty interested.
I could understand that, he’s a better player than that. We are a bigger club, in theory like. Similarly Lyon probably let Maitland-Niles go, versatile and can cover several positions. PL made. Lyon pay big wages though.
Does feel hard to imagine only winning 3/4 games in a season, like it feels impossible that we wouldn't manage more than that and yet it's becoming the norm.
This is why I've personally moved on from wanting / expecting us to sign players from other Premier League clubs. Almost all players we'd want, won't want to sign for the team favourites to finish bottom. We essentially have to sign from abroad or from the championship. And as others have said, the championship lacks value. So maybe 1 or 2 signings max from there and the rest from abroad. Now if we can get premier league experience from either of those pools then great. But I've also moved on from needing premier league experience. I just want power and pace now.
Think I'd go into some kind of orgasmic trance if we sign Singo! Come on Juan....your father-in-law loves you.....make it happen!
I guess we need one or 2 over line to encourage more. That’s why I’d get ELF announced quickly, he is a ‘known name’, he’s come from Roma. Hope for a domino effect. We all saying ‘look abroad’ and I agree that’s the value, but Saints and Leicester did that, got players that individually are good enough but not a team that was. If we are gonna break the cycle of 3 up 3 down we have to push for some that have been there and done it. Forest got players from PL clubs and now 3 years on they missed CL by a whisker. We need a bit of both. We have to believe it can be done, or it won’t.
Aye we need that statement signing so we can at least see what we are going to be targeting, that said, it's only just opened up, but I hope this is a summer where we work quick considering they have told us 'targets have long been identified' and that they had two lists etc
Aye you’d hope some early conversations with agents were started once playoffs were clear. Get a feel for interest if nothing else.
Leicester was almost all from other premier league teams and Southampton was a vast majority from England.
Really not worth that mind I’d be very surprised if he’s not benched or shipped out on loan before long
Can’t remember who Leicester signed. Hermansen Fatawu Okoli El Hamouss Skipp was English, Ayew lots of Prem experience. Saints English core came through championship with them, or were signed from Champ in the main, no?
In theory in previous years we've been leaving things late due to waiting on and seeing if players from the premier league become available. Now we're in the premier league in theory we don't have that to wait for. We should be able to confidently stride ahead immediately.