19 minutes ago, Wrex said:

Gareth Ainsworth was sold for £2 million. Seen as no mention was made of a club record fee, it is safe to assume Dipepa went for less than that.

That’s a good call.  Maybe it’s all in the “add ons”?

13 minutes ago, Wrex said:

Gareth Ainsworth was sold for £2 million. Seen as no mention was made of a club record fee, it is safe to assume Dipepa went for less than that.

Not necessarily - if Southampton insisted on the fee being undisclosed, or it best suited Vale if looking for a replacement, then it could be any amount? DM described it as "...the offer was fantastic for the club and Baylee...", so it's only safe to assume it wasn't 2 pints of lager and a packet of crisps?

Southampton have not been afraid to splash the cash this window, and their Academy has a long history of developing players...so I think it's possibly the best move for Baylee, and I wish him well! 

13 minutes ago, Guitar Ray said:

That’s a good call.  Maybe it’s all in the “add ons”?

It would be nice to think it's a £1.5 millionish figure with many more millions to come in add one. But who knows. We might have a load of add ons and he might not fulfill them.

Hopefully he does well. Southampton are a good choice to advance his career at this stage.

11 hours ago, Bobnewtonian said:

Hi Tony you be made that clear… but to whom is your post addressed? All of us 😂

to whom it may concern...☺️

40 minutes ago, LancyTony said:

Not necessarily - if Southampton insisted on the fee being undisclosed, or it best suited Vale if looking for a replacement, then it could be any amount? DM described it as "...the offer was fantastic for the club and Baylee...", so it's only safe to assume it wasn't 2 pints of lager and a packet of crisps?

Southampton have not been afraid to splash the cash this window, and their Academy has a long history of developing players...so I think it's possibly the best move for Baylee, and I wish him well! 

Southampton have not been shy to say how much the transfer of players are either.

12 hours ago, SuperHuman said:

The striker (and midfield) loan signings seem bizarre. 

We currently play with one striker. We have Stockley, Paton and Tolaj already. If neither of those three work we then have Dipepa. 

If all four don’t work we can then look at the situation in January.

Its as if these players have been offered to us late one and we’ve just said yeah go on then.

 

Ruari certainly needs a strike partner - today proved that, and Stockley would seem to be the obvious choice, Tolaj did some good work. George Byers came to us with a massive reputation, so it's fair to say he will be an asset, once his fitness level is up to scratch. Sam and Kyle did ok, as did Tom Sang when he came on...didn't expect such a crunching tackle from him!!! The worst distribution came from the back - too many times Ripley gave possession away. That needs to be addressed.

Having a strong squad of midfielders will do us well for when the inevitable injuries and suspensions start to take hold, plus we have a good chance to progress well in the "Good money, if you want it "Trophy, so plenty of chance for squad rotation, and easing players back into match fitness. Early days - I thought some of our midfield passing was very good, today...crisp, fast and accurate...but with a tendency to play a loos ball to give it away. Some extra sharpness won't hurt and that will come in time, and with increasing understanding of the squad. Not too disappointed by today/  

42 minutes ago, Brian Johnson said:

Southampton have not been shy to say how much the transfer of players are either.

Might feel different with a 17 year old? That's up to them, anyway!

12 hours ago, MBE said:

So the opposition have no clue, advantage us.

I really don’t understand the reaction to last night on here. We’ve essentially made a few squad moves in preparation for loans out and saved money on a high wage earner.

The lads bought in yesterday will not be starters but perhaps DM provided an indication we will be two up top moving forward with either a back 4 or 3.

I keep reading at FB positions we are well short but I don’t think that’s an issue with enough players who can cover LB or RB.

You could argue a Left sided player who could play WB for Hart but with Grant close to fitness and John showed he’s more than capable of doing a job on that side as well. I think we are OK.

The squad needed major surgery so the Rudge approach was not practical. 

Our last promotion proved it’s possible to have a complete squad rebuild and be successful. 

 

Agree with this post - especially "...the Rudge approach was not practical..." - the Rudge approach would have been way too slow for many on here.

11 hours ago, TJHValiant said:

Bailey going at this stage is rather sad. However inevitable and I just hope it was for good money. My main concern is this “undisclosed fee” thing which usually means it is a nominal fee that the club don’t want to boast about, usually below 500k. 
 

If it was a good fee…well I’m sure you’d hear about it. Certainly if it broke our sale record you would…

It’s seven figures. 

Just now, Jacko51 said:

It’s seven figures. 

Is it less or more than £1.5million ?

3 minutes ago, Jacko51 said:

It’s seven figures. 

10000.01 

9 minutes ago, Brian Johnson said:

Is it less or more than £1.5million ?

Yes it is!

Edited August 31, 20241 yr by Jacko51

33 minutes ago, Jacko51 said:

It’s seven figures. 

Seven figures? Doulton ,Spode or Beswick?

6 minutes ago, Aguar61 said:

Seven figures? Doulton ,Spode or Beswick?

Spode is only 5. 

16 minutes ago, philpvfc said:

Spode is only 5. 

?They're letters...not numbers!