Aaron Ramsdale: return to Southampton confirmed

[54]

8 minutes ago, Chicken Dancer said:

Ahh shit yes. Completely forgot that that Howe is ever above criticism. Apologies. Shopping exclusively in England is the way to go  (with the exception of Ekitike who we’ve tried for 3 times now). 

No-one is obviously above criticism, but Howe's signing have basically had an 100% hit rate, so I think he's more than warranted the "I trust Howe on this one" slogan people have been saying, especially when you add in the fact he's won us a trophy and gotten the club into the Champions League (twice) and saved us from a near certain relegation.

 

From my perspective, the dude is a living club legend, and he can do what the fuck he wants in my eyes, if he wants to stick Ramsdale upfront as a Isak replacement, sure go ahead, he's more than earnt it  

[Chicken Dancer]

1 minute ago, 54 said:

No-one is obviously above criticism, but Howe's signing have basically had an 100% hit rate, so I think he's more than warranted the "I trust Howe on this one" slogan people have been saying, especially when you add in the fact he's won us a trophy and gotten the club into the Champions League (twice) and saved us from a near certain relegation.

 

From my perspective, the dude is a living club legend, and he can do what the fuck he wants in my eyes, if he wants to stick Ramsdale upfront as a Isak replacement, sure go ahead, he's more than earnt it  

I quite agree, Howe is a legend & has more than earned our trust. As I’ve said, happy to be wrong once again.

 

I just find the constant links and subsequent bids for players exclusively based in the Premier League to be very restrictive.

[Menace]

By the sounds of it this doesn't look like a year loan whilst we "look at the markets" more of a hefty loan payment with a small buy fee for next year - basically another way to make his purchase seem lower for next years books. Doesn't really make sense for Southampton to loan out their best goalkeeper with no reward really.

 

Still - obviously we should be eternally grateful. He's a keeper and god knows only 5 of those exist right?

[TheInfiniteOdyssey]

The retort to fans along the lines of “well who would you buy” is proper daft. 
 

 

[captainhaircut]

Not the biggest fan but if Eddie wants him then it’s got to a plus at this point. 
 

He’s far superior with his feet than Pope and a better shot stopper than Dubravka so it’s not the end of the world. 

[Stuy_O]

6 minutes ago, TheInfiniteOdyssey said:

The retort to fans along the lines of “well who would you buy” is proper daft. 
 

 

Agreed. A quite ridiculous argument. 

[Hanshithispantz]

Our first choice literally cannot pass a ball over a few yards, that isn't an exaggeration, he's completely incapable of doing it. Our second choice is glued to his line. Both qualities a keeper needs to play how we want to play.

 

I get Trafford would have been a lot better, but Ramsdale will hopefully let us play our high line and not be a man down when our defence is in possession. Maybe he'll not make as many saves as Pope, but we'd hopefully be stopping the need to make them saves in the first place due to the ball being wellied into touch for no reason.

 

Hopefully the extra £10-15m or so we'll save is invested well in other areas.

[TBG]

I would sign Alisson

[Elliottman]

24 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

 

It's mainly because he has a reputation because of that concentration comment he made IMO. As a player he's pretty good, I watched some videos of England training when he was in the squad a while back and he looked very sharp. 

 

He's kind of become a comedy character but it's way exaggerated. And the fact that he's also coming in alongside Pope makes me feel OK about it. Not excited but fine considering where we are. 

Yehw I’m getting the impression is more his personality than his ability people done like. Just a few videos earlier and he seems excellent with the ball at his feet, could be immense for Elanga and Gordon to get out quick. Loan fee so saves some cash this summer if we need it. I can get on board with this. 

[Coffee_Johnny]

37 minutes ago, Chicken Dancer said:

Ahh shit yes. Completely forgot that that Howe is ever above criticism. Apologies. Shopping exclusively in England is the way to go  (with the exception of Ekitike who we’ve tried for 3 times now). 

 

Given Ramsdale has been starting games for about 5/6 years now, I’m sure most of us have seen plenty of him. He’s shit, happy to be proven wrong as I have been before, but I’d sooner he just didn’t see any minutes.
 

If he’s being brought in as a backup then fair enough, but I still don’t think he’s an upgrade on the current back up and resources could be best used in other areas.

Bruno, Tonali, Botman, Trippier (ish), plus many failed attempts. It might be the 100% shopping in England point is lazy and patently not true rather than Howe being above criticism. 

[wyn davies]

Not that I want Ramsdale, but could this be used as a backup door to flog Pope, though I appreciate Dubs would be the primary one to go.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Just now, wyn davies said:

Not that I want Ramsdale, but could this be used as a backup door to flog Pope, though I appreciate Dubs would be the primary one to go.

 

Flog Pope when? Not this summer. 

[The College Dropout]

17 minutes ago, TheInfiniteOdyssey said:

The retort to fans along the lines of “well who would you buy” is proper daft. 
 

 

Exactly - I had never seen/noticed Botman, Bruno or Tonali before we were linked. 

 

That Chevalier moved for 40m to PSG - never noticed him.

[Shearergol]

You'd never seen Tonali? Genuinely?

[Chicken Dancer]

2 minutes ago, Coffee_Johnny said:

Bruno, Tonali, Botman, Trippier (ish), plus many failed attempts. It might be the 100% shopping in England point is lazy and patently not true rather than Howe being above criticism. 

To be fair you’re sort of proving my point that I didn’t quite articulate as well as I’d have like.  We’ve almost 100% strike rate on signings since the takeover - abroad or otherwise - the only slight blemishes being Ashby and Targett but it’s been class. 
 

The likes of Bruno, Tonali & Botman were gambles for sure, but cheaper gambles. I know that sounds ridiculous when figures like £50m are being branded about, but if them 3 had played in England when we signed them you can easily add another £20m to each player + the additional wages. 
 

I totally get why, as they’d be proven over here etc, but there’s so much better value to be had abroad as most clubs can attest too. We really need to start looking for the next Bruno/Tonali and turning them into £80/90m players. I’m not sure why we changed so much over the last 12 months or so.

[McCormick]

Yet when Sunderland sign absolute neebodies the same people make fun? The players we targeted (not you, Ramsdale) have all been high quality; landing them has been the issue. We’ve tried to be ambitious but it just hasn’t paid off.

[The College Dropout]

2 minutes ago, Shearergol said:

You'd never seen Tonali? Genuinely?

If I did, he didn't stand out. I don't watch Serie A, and Milan haven't had a good run in the CL in forever and not played in a major international tournament to my knowledge either.

 

I've seen Sesko but not enough to have a massive opinion on him - beyond he missed a bunch of chances against Real.

 

For foreign signings I look at comps, data I can find and general sentiment among fans and reports. It's usually pretty accurate about skillset (strengths and weaknesses), what's harder to gauge is how it translates to the PL. 

[SteV]

3 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

and Milan haven't had a good run in the CL in forever

They got to the semi final (against Inter, so was quite a big deal…) the season before we signed him.

[Coffee_Johnny]

6 minutes ago, Chicken Dancer said:

To be fair you’re sort of proving my point that I didn’t quite articulate as well as I’d have like.  We’ve almost 100% strike rate on signings since the takeover - abroad or otherwise - the only slight blemishes being Ashby and Targett but it’s been class. 
 

The likes of Bruno, Tonali & Botman were gambles for sure, but cheaper gambles. I know that sounds ridiculous when figures like £50m are being branded about, but if them 3 had played in England when we signed them you can easily add another £20m to each player + the additional wages. 
 

I totally get why, as they’d be proven over here etc, but there’s so much better value to be had abroad as most clubs can attest too. We really need to start looking for the next Bruno/Tonali and turning them into £80/90m players. I’m not sure why we changed so much over the last 12 months or so.

Don’t think we have changed. We’ve probably just got a bit more cash to flash at the moment. We’re evidently looking (and bidding) and have quietly signed multiple young prospects from overseas in the last 12 months  (e.g. Seung-Soo Park, Kyle Fitzgerald, Vahktang Salia, Miodrag Pivas etc.). It just isn’t easy finding cheap(er) options for the first team. There is no much data available now everybody is aware of who to watch. 

[KingArthur]

26 minutes ago, TBG said:

I would sign Alisson

I would also happily go on a date with Ana de Armas.

[Whitley mag]

It’s undeniable that all our targets appear to be PL based , or have previously been monitored for years Sesko and Ekitike.

 

People are entitled to draw their own conclusions as to why that is. My take is that the first window after the takeover had large input from Nickson and Howe. I don’t think it was a coincidence that Ashworth was on the scene when we signed Isak and Tonali either.

 

All indications are that Howe wants PL ready players and likes to know what they eat for breakfast. Can’t complain with the latter as it shows he’s meticulous, however I think this summer it’s highlighted how this inflexible approach is problematic.

 

In this data driven world of football analysis our approach this summer looks fit for Beamish. Mitchell highlighted our recruitment wasn’t fit for purpose and despite possibly being a cunt, I think he’s fucking spot on.

 

[Doctor Zaius]

1 minute ago, Whitley mag said:

It’s undeniable that all our targets appear to be PL based , or have previously been monitored for years Sesko and Ekitike.

 

People are entitled to draw their own conclusions as to why that is. My take is that the first window after the takeover had large input from Nickson and Howe. I don’t think it was a coincidence that Ashworth was on the scene when we signed Isak and Tonali either.

 

All indications are that Howe wants PL ready players and likes to know what they eat for breakfast. Can’t complain with the latter as it shows he’s meticulous, however I think this summer it’s highlighted how this inflexible approach is problematic.

 

In this data driven world of football analysis our approach this summer looks fit for Beamish. Mitchell highlighted our recruitment wasn’t fit for purpose and despite possibly being a cunt, I think he’s fucking spot on.

 

 

100% this. 

[Hanshithispantz]

4 minutes ago, Whitley mag said:

It’s undeniable that all our targets appear to be PL based , or have previously been monitored for years Sesko and Ekitike.

 

People are entitled to draw their own conclusions as to why that is. My take is that the first window after the takeover had large input from Nickson and Howe. I don’t think it was a coincidence that Ashworth was on the scene when we signed Isak and Tonali either.

 

All indications are that Howe wants PL ready players and likes to know what they eat for breakfast. Can’t complain with the latter as it shows he’s meticulous, however I think this summer it’s highlighted how this inflexible approach is problematic.

 

In this data driven world of football analysis our approach this summer looks fit for Beamish. Mitchell highlighted our recruitment wasn’t fit for purpose and despite possibly being a cunt, I think he’s fucking spot on.

 

He wasn't spot on though, our recruitment, with the shackles of PSR, rapidly shot us into the Champions League.

 

This window has been brutal, but part of that is down to having a sporting director piss off our only striker and then fuck off at the start of it.

 

 

[McCormick]

Here we go again with the “not fit for purpose” nonsense. Seriously? Which of our actual signings do you think that applies to?

 

We’re in a mess because the guy bailed in the middle of a crucial window, leaving a gaping void. That’s not just poor timing, it’s a total dereliction of responsibility. Of course it’s not looking great now; we have a head coach, his nephew and some Barry Manilow impersonator filling in as a stopgap.

[TRon]

11 minutes ago, Hanshithispantz said:

He wasn't spot on though, our recruitment, with the shackles of PSR, rapidly shot us into the Champions League.

 

This window has been brutal, but part of that is down to having a sporting director piss off our only striker and then fuck off at the start of it.

 

 

 

 

That's part of it. The other part is that we are bidding for players against cartel clubs where we have very little chance of success. Like I said yesterday, it's like taking a knife to a gunfight. Whoever is in charge of recruitment will have his work cut out there as we are finding. 

 

Still, if we can get Sesko and/or Wissa, we might still come out of this looking ok.