Summer Window 2026 - Rumours and Discussion

cafcnick1992 said:

Was JRS that good for us?

He was pretty great. He scored 15 goals and got 8 assists playing in a team that basically didn't function. Sometimes he was often played as a wide midfielder in a 442 amongst other random positions by Garner and then Holden came in and stuck him up front in a 352 before changing it to a 433 just to accommodate him better. He got 5 goals and 2 assists in the first half of the season under Garner when he was playing with the withered ghost of Jayden Stockley, Charlie Kirk as a striker and Charles Clayden off the bench. When Holden rejuvenated the team in the second half of the season he scored 10 and assisted 6, which is 16 goal contributions across 23 games. He was regularly our only genuinely classy player as well which makes his contributions even more impressive; CBT was a good player but beyond that we were looking to Scott Fraser, Albie Morgan, Macauley Bonne and some very young academy players to contribute something. We had a 5 game run under Holden that season where we didn't win a game and that coincided with a 6 game streak where JRS didn't contribute any goals, his longest that season.  He contributed 11 in 11 after that and our form improved a lot, though again in the games where he didn't turn up we tended to drop points. He carried an entire L1 team up to 10th on his back which is no small feat

eastterrace6168 said:

Getting bored with all this JRS stuff, how's Ronnie getting on...😉

1/3 that Ronnie would criticise JRS every game.

Leuth said:

If a player is accused of being lazy, you should probably factor their skin colour into the accusation. Charlie Kirk was talented but troubled, ineffective, finding it hard to adapt. Only right at the end was it realised that he just didn't have the drive to try harder. TC runs like a madman every moment he's on the pitch and the racist **** behind you still shouts about how he's lazy 

Charlie Kirk was given some leeway at the start because his dad had just died, not because of his colour.
It was very clear from the first game to his last with us that his heart wasn't in it.
Whether idiots shouting at TC are racist or plane stupid I have no idea but it certainly annoys me as it is so very clear he is not lazy and is very talented.

cabbles said:

If TC didn’t renew then absolutely I can see us selling him, but I don’t think he’s a stock likely to be in high demand based on his first season in the Championship.  There’s lots of potential still given his age, and he’s not played in the most talented team with the ball this season, but for me personally, the jury is still out as to whether he can cut it at this level.

With Jones as manager, he’ll be doing everything he can to get him to sign a contract, but TC may fancy seeing what his options are and letting this season play out.  You never know how players are thinking in this situation.  He was visibly a bit irked at some of the stick he got this season, but he’s had a great career here to date.

I’d like to keep him and see what he can do with better around him, but if he chooses not to renew and walk next summer then so be it, we have to have players that want to stay and be part of what we’re trying to build.  

I’m going to guess that he will sign a new deal, and hopefully we bring in the quality to elevate his game 

As a TC fan, I think that is a very fair appraisal. On one hand I would like him to stay, but on the other I would like to see him somewhere he will fit the system and be fully appreciated by the majority of fans.

Fortune 82nd Minute said:

I've come to the conclusion we are being far too modest in looking at prospective new players given there are a number of quality players currently available on a free.
 
We badly need a forward. Jamie Vardy has just been released by his Italian club.

Likewise a right sided attacker to feed him would be good. How about Mo Salah, who is currently without a club.

A left sided defender is a must. John Stones has just been released by City. Sign him.

And Liverpool can solve our left back problem. Not young Chambers but Andy Robertson. He's on a free and will be desperate to get signed up somewhere.

I expect Bernardo Silva may be out of our reach atm but it could be worth a shot.

And I really fancy a little cheeky bid for Jarrod Bowen.

Reading this back I do wonder if the sun has got to me :-)

Just seen that Robertson has signed for Tottenham.

Tottenham? Can't we even outbid that lot?

What is our scouting team upto? They need to pull their fingers out before some of my other suggestions get snapped up by smaller fish.