[Albion] Is Southampton the model?

[Sarisbury Seagull]

Grealish come here?! Duffy for £20?! Stephens for £10m?! Can I have some of what you’ve been smoking please?! [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

Mental valuations and no way would Grealish come here, outstanding player going to a much bigger club than us this summer.

 

[Springal]

It’s always been the model which is why we had that Director of Football that had been at Southampton. Didn’t get on with Poyet and was bit of a disaster was it not?

Either way we are in much better hands with Ashworth

 

[darkwolf666]

I think there has to be an understanding that we are very much JCL and as such need to be mindful of looking to more established clubs with envious eyes.

I am sure over time our academy will reap its rewards, but like Rome, success wasn't built in a day!

 

[Hugo Rune]

I was admiring how much thought and planning you had put into your opening gambit. Then I saw that you think we should target Grealish. Whilst ambitious, it would be without doubt doomed to failure. He is going to a top half of the table club, most likely one of the big six.

Spurs seems like a realistic option for him, most of the other top six clubs have a lot of options in Grealish’s role, Newcastle might be interested in him if they get their £1bn budget.

However, I suppose my point was more along the lines of us taking the best talent from the bottom three rather than dipping into the Championship (we already own 3 of this years stars) and robbing them of their family jewels so to speak.

Perhaps the likes of Brooks from Bournemouth and Cantwell from Norwich are better targets.

 

[Acker79]

Murray: (to more of a coaching role?)
Stephens: £10m (Burnley would still love him)
Duffy: £20m (see above)
March: £10 (Championship or newly promoted club)
And controversially ..........
Dunk: £40m (Chelsea, he’d play for the team he supports and would be odds on the get in the Euro squad next year, we’ve enjoyed most of his best years but is now the time?)

I think even £10 for Stephens is a bit cheap.

And in my view we would do well to get half of your 'hoped for' prices for Duffy and Stephens. Agreed though we need to sell a few to clear the decks a bit.

£10 certainly is cheap in the current market - even for the Stephens haters.

Grealish come here?! Duffy for £20?! Stephens for £10m?! Can I have some of what you’ve been smoking please?! [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

Mental valuations and no way would Grealish come here, outstanding player going to a much bigger club than us this summer.

And yet March is valued at £10 and no one bats an eyelid...

 

[spence]

The academy is now starting to produce some real talent. Whilst we’re not talking about the level of Southampton where they’ve churned out plenty of top Premier League players including the world class Bale, it’s going to get very crowded next season with top young talent wanting a chance verses the established Albion stars (some legends in there too) who wish to remain at the club.

I can’t help but think that if Uncle Tony wants to create a financially stable club where he is not putting in tens of millions every single year, we’re going to have to start selling soon.

But rather than sell them young to the top six (or Leeds) as Southampton have done (with so many stars), perhaps we make way for these new promising buds by clearly out the established order by way of giving them a clear path to perform.

We also need new talent. We’ve tried to find the sort of attacking flair and goal scoring regularity in Locadia, Andone, Jahanbakhsh and Izquierdo. For one reason or another, these transfers resulted in about three goals for us this season. We need to invest.

To get the money we need to spend, I think the time has gone for Uncle Tony to pull his own wallet out. We should sell.

This is going to be very unpopular but I think we should shift the Hughton legends:

Murray: (to more of a coaching role?)
Stephens: £10m (Burnley would still love him)
Duffy: £20m (see above)
March: £10 (Championship or newly promoted club)
And controversially ..........
Dunk: £40m (Chelsea, he’d play for the team he supports and would be odds on the get in the Euro squad next year, we’ve enjoyed most of his best years but is now the time?)

Southampton spent £20m on Mane and sold him for £30m two years later. We need some signings like that, perhaps we could take the best from the relegated clubs rather than taking the cream from the Championship like we did last summer? I’d pursue:

Edouard - £25m
Sarr - £25m
Grealish - £40m
Mainland-Niles - £15m
Angel Gomes - Free

Our defence could look pretty lightweight but maybe the time has come to trust the youth of Webster, White, Burn, Clarke, Østigård & Băluță? Some will sink but as we’ve seen with Webster and Burn, there are some floaters.

Whatever happens this summer, we really need to look very closely at our attacking options and how we score goals. We need to buy some real talent, I just think we can fund them mostly by selling off some of our legends......sorry.

Load of drivel. Why did i read this ?

 

[Medwayseagull]

Grealish come here?! Duffy for £20?! Stephens for £10m?! Can I have some of what you’ve been smoking please?! [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

Mental valuations and no way would Grealish come here, outstanding player going to a much bigger club than us this summer.

And yet March is valued at £10 and no one bats an eyelid...

Well if someone believes £20 is excessive for Duffy that probably is about right - after all these are post pandemic valuations.

 

[whosthedaddy]

Firstly, If we have any intention of getting into the top ten then selling Lewis Dunk is a non starter for me, he's been the stability we need in our defensive line-up, without him we probably wouldn't be playing in the Premier League right now. Alongside that, anyone thinking of selling White is setting us up for not achieving our ultimate goal as set out by Bloom's vision, so please don't suggest cashing in.

If we're looking at Southampton as a benchmark to our future vision then we should also note that they were raided for their academy players and suffered a loss of momentum as a consequence

Toby Alderwield
Virgil Van Dijk
Luke Shaw
Victor Wanyama
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Adam Lallana
Theo Walcott
Gareth Bale

Just imagine what sort of team they could be now if they had held onto most of these players. It would obviously be naive to think that they could have kept them all, ambition of players, turnover of money for club purposes, agents looking to make a killing etc, etc. but I think a club should at least try to build their future with the talent that they potentially already have. Then it's a case of dealing in the transfer market and getting the positions filled where it's most needed.

In terms of the Albion this means...Midfield and Strikers.

For me the defence has been our core strength that has held firm throughout the last few years but midfield has worried me for quite some time. There is a lack of leadership, pace, and in some of our players' cases, not much vision when attacking the opposition. Bissouma is a good player but will need time, Trossard can be a magician but needs consistency, that will come. Mooy has a good head for the game and will benefit from other quality players coming in. I do though have concerns about Gross, Stephens and Propper if we're talking about the progression of our team.

Up front.
Maupay is going to be a legend, you can see his steely determination, and I love that he can be a bit spikey, he needs that as part of his makeup.
Connolly will benefit from time in a Championship side, needs to build his confidence and strength, both physically and mentally.
Murray we all know about, he needs to be part of out backroom set up like Bruno has.
We urgently need strikers of the stature of Chris Wood or Giroud, players who can deal with the physical nature up front but with the deft touch when required, this is what's required to make our team compete with the best the Premier League can throw at us.

Looking forward to another season in the top flight under Potter's leadership, let's hope we make a statement of our intentions before we start the next season.

 

[drew]

No thanks to Grealish, looks good in a shit team but would be less than average in a good one like Zaha found out.

Whilst the guy is a dickhead, I disagree with your comment. I think in a good team he would flourish as he would have less of the expectation and burden of carrying the team. I would see him going to Spurs and filling the void left by Eriksen.

 

[drew]

Firstly, If we have any intention of getting into the top ten then selling Lewis Dunk is a non starter for me, he's been the stability we need in our defensive line-up, without him we probably wouldn't be playing in the Premier League right now. Alongside that, anyone thinking of selling White is setting us up for not achieving our ultimate goal as set out by Bloom's vision, so please don't suggest cashing in.

If we're looking at Southampton as a benchmark to our future vision then we should also note that they were raided for their academy players and suffered a loss of momentum as a consequence

Toby Alderwield
Virgil Van Dijk
Luke Shaw
Victor Wanyama
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Adam Lallana
Theo Walcott
Gareth Bale

Just imagine what sort of team they could be now if they had held onto most of these players. It would obviously be naive to think that they could have kept them all, ambition of players, turnover of money for club purposes, agents looking to make a killing etc, etc. but I think a club should at least try to build their future with the talent that they potentially already have. Then it's a case of dealing in the transfer market and getting the positions filled where it's most needed.

In terms of the Albion this means...Midfield and Strikers.

For me the defence has been our core strength that has held firm throughout the last few years but midfield has worried me for quite some time. There is a lack of leadership, pace, and in some of our players' cases, not much vision when attacking the opposition. Bissouma is a good player but will need time, Trossard can be a magician but needs consistency, that will come. Mooy has a good head for the game and will benefit from other quality players coming in. I do though have concerns about Gross, Stephens and Propper if we're talking about the progression of our team.

Up front.
Maupay is going to be a legend, you can see his steely determination, and I love that he can be a bit spikey, he needs that as part of his makeup.
Connolly will benefit from time in a Championship side, needs to build his confidence and strength, both physically and mentally.
Murray we all know about, he needs to be part of out backroom set up like Bruno has.
We urgently need strikers of the stature of Chris Wood or Giroud, players who can deal with the physical nature up front but with the deft touch when required, this is what's required to make our team compete with the best the Premier League can throw at us.

Looking forward to another season in the top flight under Potter's leadership, let's hope we make a statement of our intentions before we start the next season.

Point of order. VVD was in no way an academy player for Southampton.

 

[drew]

Load of drivel. Why did i read this ?

Bit like Everest, because it's there! Just like climbing Everest though, once you've done it you don't have the inclination to do it again (I imagine that's the case as I haven't even reached the foothills of Everest)

 

[Eeyore]

Murray: (to more of a coaching role?) It would suit him well as he is local but I wonder if he'd like another season in the Championship
Stephens: £10m (Burnley would still love him) Won't get that at 31. The club would let him go for a low price and save on the wages
Duffy: £20m (see above) Try halving that and taking a little more off. If he can't start at a struggling EPL team he's not going to command a high fee.
March: £10m (Championship or newly promoted club) Be interesting to see his valuation. Knockaert was around £10-12m, March won't be as high.
And controversially ..........
Dunk: £40m (Chelsea, he’d play for the team he supports and would be odds on the get in the Euro squad next year, we’ve enjoyed most of his best years but is now the time?) This summer really is the last chance for that type of money.

 

[sparkie]

Murray: (to more of a coaching role?) It would suit him well as he is local but I wonder if he'd like another season in the Championship
Stephens: £10m (Burnley would still love him) Won't get that at 31. The club would let him go for a low price and save on the wages
Duffy: £20m (see above) Try halving that and taking a little more off. If he can't start at a struggling EPL team he's not going to command a high fee.
March: £10m (Championship or newly promoted club) Be interesting to see his valuation. Knockaert was around £10-12m, March won't be as high.
And controversially ..........
Dunk: £40m (Chelsea, he’d play for the team he supports and would be odds on the get in the Euro squad next year, we’ve enjoyed most of his best years but is now the time?) This summer really is the last chance for that type of money.

That is a good point about Murray.

He may fancy a season loan to Millwall or Charlton or somewhere close.

 

[Arthritic Toe]

I can't see Murray going into a coaching role. He's very much a media tart. He'll want to play as long as he can I'm sure, but then its straight into the commentary box as a pundit.

 

[Danny Wilson Said]

Spurs seems like a realistic option for him, most of the other top six clubs have a lot of options in Grealish’s role, Newcastle might be interested in him if they get their £1bn budget.

However, I suppose my point was more along the lines of us taking the best talent from the bottom three rather than dipping into the Championship (we already own 3 of this years stars) and robbing them of their family jewels so to speak.

Perhaps the likes of Brooks from Bournemouth and Cantwell from Norwich are better targets.

They'd certainly fit our model of lightweight midfielders who disappear from games for long spells.

 

[blue'n'white]

Grealish ! Come to a little club like Brighton ! No chance - we couldn't contain his ego.
Like zaha there is a good player in there but it's being held in check by his massive ego.
He will, I'm sure, be sold this summer but he won't come to us - he'd last about five minutes before Potter binned him off like he did with Andone/Locadia.

 

[Icy Gull]

Grealish ! Come to a little club like Brighton ! No chance - we couldn't contain his ego.
Like zaha there is a good player in there but it's being held in check by his massive ego.
He will, I'm sure, be sold this summer but he won't come to us - he'd last about five minutes before Potter binned him off like he did with Andone/Locadia.

Agreed, no room for such an ego in Potterball

 

[WhingForPresident]

I agree that Southampton should be what we aspire to, in terms of the players that come through their system, but you're dreaming if you think we will get £10 million for Stephens or £20 million for Duffy, let alone standing any chance of signing Grealish or Sarr. And **** selling Dunk.

 

[DJ NOBO]

I agree that Southampton should be what we aspire to, in terms of the players that come through their system, but you're dreaming if you think we will get £10 million for Stephens or £20 million for Duffy, let alone standing any chance of signing Grealish or Sarr. And **** selling Dunk.

Duffy is actually worth £20m to a more agricultural team that doesn’t expect its defenders to be ballers.
I think he will move on.
We will get aBout 8-10m, and the buying club will have a bargain.
Should Ireland qualify, don’t be surprised if Duffy is being talked of as one of the best Central defenders around After the next Euros.
I pray Palace don’t enjoy his best years. I can see it happening though.

 

[Coldeanseagull]

I don't like to answer threads like these as I can never tell if
a/ the OP has been drinking
b/ the OP is off his meds
c/ fishing
d/ all of the above

I'm sure you mean well, but who in their right frame of mind would suggest we'd go for sockboy? No dickheads rule etc, can't stop diving, can't drive(in a straight line). Only plus would be he qualifies for England, but Gareth has got him sussed out....he's really not good enough! He thinks he's better than he really is, if you want some one from villa, Trezeguet

We don't appear to be a selling club anymore, but you never know, Dunk and Duffy as a joblot to Chelsea for £60m and maybe a couple of others for loose change so they can have regular first team football. Could do with a fast, hold the ball up, 20 plus goals a season striker....shouldn't be too hard to find within our budget, right?