moore_94

Exclusive from @GLC that we are looking at Joe Rothwell at Sheff Utd Russell signed him when he was at Southampton Would obviously be "seperate" to the Souttar deal .

Not allowed, 27 next month and blocks too many youngsters unfortunately

Can't just use stats though, just watching him you can see how much of a bomb scare he is on the ball Stats wise Ayew looks like he was absolutely class for us last season - we all know how much of a donkey he actually was

Shouldn’t be too hard for him to get in ahead of Thomas If he plays well and we go up we could probably get him on loan again for the season after as well

What striker would that be though

I get the sentiment but it is quite a bit different comparing a 27 year old to players who were 31 and 32

But Okoli will be fine in League One...

41 appearances 19 starts 1,649 minutes - 18.3 90s 8 goals and 2 assists Goal contribution every 183 mins in the Championship under Russell

He won't be blocking Braybrooke or Page because they play in centre mid - Cullen doesn't He won't be blocking Alves because he is much more likely to be played out on the wing, probably becomes first choice left winger if Mavididi leaves - if anyone is blocking him it is Chaplin anyway Evans and Hutchinson will benefit a lot more from going out on loan - Evans is seemingly struggling to get properly into the squad and Hutchinson would benefit from playing every week somewhere As much as Otchere has impressed in pre-season we cannot go into a full season with just him as a striker - we were always going to sign a new one

Is that during his whole time with them or just in the last 2 seasons since they signed Vipotnik? Because it looks like he certainly played plenty previously as the main / lone striker

Which youngster is he blocking though? It won't be Page or Braybrooke even if he used as a 10, and Alves can play left wing And he is a striker - he dropped back to being a 10 after they signed Vipotnik (one of the best strikers in the league), the vast majority of his career and previously under Russell he was a striker

Which youngster?

Hard for a team to sign a striker better than Kane tbf

Assuming we get McFarlane, Adebayo, and Cullen in now, time to start working on a winger or two GK - McCarthy, Jakub, Vieites, Bausor RB - Aluko, Joseph CB - Souttar, Nelson, Okoli, Faes LB - Thomas, McFarlane, Woyo MID - Braybrooke, Page, Skipp, Hamza, Neale AM / WING - Alves, Chaplin, Mavididi, Reid ST - Cullen, Adebayo, Otchere That doesn't even include Gray, Evans, Carr, and Hutchinson either - get them out on loan somewhere they can play every week ideally Then you just work on a 1 out 1 in policy for the centre backs and if someone like Skipp leaves No need to replace Jakub/Vieites or Woyo if they go

I think Page is going to be more of an 8 than a 10 for us anyway If he isn't starting then he will definitely be on the bench Page cannot play every single minute of every single game - he will get plenty of football over the coming season, way more than a lot of 18 year olds usually get in League One

I think you are vastly underestimating how many minutes players like Page will get We have minimum 51 games this season and Page has played as both an 8 and a 10 in pre-season so far

It looks like his move to attacking mid - still played plenty as a striker as well over the past 2 seasons as well - is since they signed Vipotnik Probably quite a good sign actually that they were still looking to find a way to get him on the pitch whilst having a properly good striker upfront and not just bombing him to the bench to be a sub sometimes

I hate the thought of us getting players from them but wouldn't be surprised at someone like Joel Latibeaudiere who plays centre back from Cov Played under Russell in 22/23 at Swansea, only has 1 year left on his contract and I doubt he will be playing for them in the Prem

Played upfront way more than he has as an attacking mid

I think Transfermarkt only has him as an Attacking Mid because that has where has mostly played the last couple of seasons (whilst still also playing plenty as a striker as well) but when you look at this whole career:

But can we afford one that is proven at this level? Or do you go for the striker (Cullen is a striker) the manager has used and done well with before that probably suits how he wants his striker to play?

8 goals and 1 assist in 15 league starts - 29 appearances under Russell Martin at Swansea in 22/23

I think we are past it being a rumour / weak link now

Ballard will probably cost about triple what we end up paying for Cullen