24 May 2021 21:01:10
My end of season debrief;

League performance: 15th. Failure. We were top for Christ's sake. Whose fault is it? Everyone is to blame. Players not performing, poor tactics from the manager at times, and not enough investment from the owners. 3/ 10

Cup performance: one semi-final, one second round exit. I would've taken that, if our performance against Leicester hadn't been the most defeatist, tamest, most pathetic performance in years. That can only lie in the hands of the players and manager for not getting up enough for an FA Cup semi final. 4/ 10

Transfer windows: Walcott (loan), Minamino (loan), Diallo, Salisu, Walker-Peters. Given the lack of funds, a fairly smart season in the windows. Smart loans, investing in youth, but still not addressing the two major problem areas of a goal scorer and a goal keeper. 6/ 10

The board: well our black box magic is gone, unesrthening hidden gems seems to be less of an ability compared to clubs who have gotten smarter and leapfrogged us - Leicester, Wolves, Brighton, Leeds. We can't be a self-run club if we can't buy several players cheap and sell high. Gao doesn't care about us and I'd like the club to be sold. 2/ 10

The management: Ralph is clearly a man with a plan. He just doesn't have a plan B, and doesn't have the squad to do what he wants. I don't want him to go, but if he doesn't get the support and backing required, it's probably best he goes. Who would replace him? Who on Earth knows. But the slide we are currently on is disturbing. 3/ 10

The team;

GKs: McCarthy 2/ 10. Forster 4/ 10. Both been poor. Really been disappointed in McCarthy this season and his time is surely up. Forster has done okay and found decent form, it was great to see him back, but he also isn't up to scratch at this level any more. Sell both and Gunn for £10m combined. Buy a GK for £10-12m and a young goalie to shadow him and gain experience for a few million. Net spend: nil

CBs: Bednarek 4/ 10. Vestergaard 5/ 10. Salisu 6/ 10. Stephens 3/ 10. Jan has been okay but form has fallen away badly in the last few months (haven't they all? ) . Jannik was a beast for three months then looked like a basketball player trying to play football towards the end. But the ability is there. Salisu looks like a good signing and I would like to see him become a starting CB next season. Stephens. Just not good enough. Sell please. Replace him with a young CB to mould. Net spend: a few million

FBs: Bertrand 2/ 10. Walker-Peters 8/ 10. Bertrand seemed to completely lose interest towards the end. A few years ago I'd have been gutted to see him leave but not now. KWP. What a signing. Keep him here for a decade. We obviously need more cover here. Sign 2/ 3. One LB, one versatile, or 2 LB and RB. Net spend will be near £20m to get one/ two quality and a squad player.

CMs: Diallo 4/ 10. Romeu 6/ 10. Ward-Prowse 6/ 10. Armstrong 7/ 10. Diallo has had a few super games but also has looked like a non-league player at times. Give him another year to properly judge him. Romeu we seemed to miss when he was injured, provides balance in the middle of the park and shields the defence well. But he is nearing 30. Ward-Prowse, apart from being very good at kicking a static ball, doesn't offer enough when the ball is in play. Needs to develop his game and add a Gerrard dimension. Armstrong, apart from maybe adding a few more goals to his game, is probably our best player (certainly my favourite) . We need more, dynamic options in here. One good player could solve that for £10-15m.

AMs: Redmond 2/ 10. Djenepo 2/ 10. Minamino 6/ 10. Walcott 5/ 10. Redmond had two good games and looked world class. So acted like he was Messi. Pleaseeeee sell. A desperate promoted team will take him for £10m in January I'm sure. I don't think Djenepo did anything this season. Who knows what his future holds. Minamino and Walcott certainly added to the side in periods. Minamino would certainly improve the side if he stayed but I don't think he will. Walcott will hopefully help the younger players in the squad, but as a bit-part player. Sell Redmond, buy an attacker. Net spend £10m.

STs: Ings 7/ 10. Adams 5/ 10. N'Lundulu 3/ 10. Tella 6/ 10. Danny does look like he may be being sucked away. Spurs could do with him. We could cash in for £40m+, BUT how poor a team are we without him? BUT what could we do with that cash. Not buy another 20+ a season striker unless we found a gem. Che, is improving, still needs time but definitely stays. N'Lundulu hasn't done much in the time he's been given, still on the fence. Tella looks super, a bit more experience and he could be a future superstar. Need a goal scorer. I can see Danny going this summer though. Net spend -£20m if we replace him with two forwards.

On the plus side. We aren't in administration. We're still in the premier league. Portsmouth are still in league one. We have several good players. We have a foundation. We just need to build upon it. Currently the sandcastle is standing but it's crumbling and the tide is coming in.

What I outlined above is a net spend of around £25m, selling 5 and buying 10. We won't buy ten. We will buy 2 centre backs. Realistically we could do this intelligently for relatively low outlay, and target top 10 next season.

I would take 17th next season sadly. But hopefully there will be positives and hope to take into August.

1.) 26 May 2021
26 May 2021 15:10:51
I can't disagree with most of what you say SaintGGsy. Ralph's idea of rotating the keepers is madness. We definitely need at least 2 full backs if not 3. We can't have JWP filling in at RB if KWP gets injured or suspended. I hope that Oriel comes back even stronger next season as the defence has looked lost without his protection in front of them. I don't see the point of keeping Redmond or Djenepo, we can't keep playing them hoping that one of them will play 1 or 2 blinders per season. Obviously hoping that Danny stays and I think that Che will come good next season. Tella could be top class given time. I think that JWP and Armstrong will be better with Oriel back giving them a bit more freedom to play forward instead of sideways. As for central defence I think that Salisu is a very good prospect but Bednarek and Vestegaard both had less than average seasons but I don't think there are going to be many affordable central defenders out there this summer to replace either of them. Stephens has had his day and hopefully a championship club will take him off our hands. I don't know if it will be possible to reintegrate Lemina back into the squad provided his attitude has improved but on the form he showed at Fulham he could do a job for us. I'm keeping my hopes for next season under wraps until I see what business we do during the summer but I think that we will struggle unless a fairly major overhaul happens.