“An interesting one” – Ipswich Town fan pundit on potential Man Utd transfer agreement
FLW’s Ipswich Town fan pundit has spoken about the club potentially signing defender on permanent basis
The Tractor Boys have won nine of their opening 11 games of the season and are sitting pretty at the top end of the table along with leaders Leicester City
Ipswich secured promotion back to the second-tier last season in excellent style, and they have continued from where they left off last season.
Many might have thought Ipswich had the potential to do well in this campaign, but they may not have expected them to do as well as they are doing.
It looks as though they and Leicester are going to be the runaway leaders in the division this season, and the credit should go to McKenna and the players he has put together.
One of those players who has played an important role in recent weeks is defender Brandon Williams, who joined the club in the summer on a season-long loan deal from Manchester United.
How has Brandon Williams performed for Ipswich Town?
Williams’ future at Old Trafford doesn’t look great, so it wasn’t a surprise to see the defender leave the club on loan in the last transfer window.
The full-back fell way down the pecking order, so his move to Portman Road will be a chance for the player to prove what he is capable of.
McKenna used his Old Trafford connections to get the defender into the club, and now, 10 games into the loan, Williams is showing his class.
The 23-year-old has only made five starts, but two of them have come in the last two Championship games, and the defender has taken his chance.
He has performed very well in the right-back role and has even got on the scoresheet twice in the last three games.
His goal against Preston showed his class, as he ran the length of the pitch with the ball before firing into the net as the Tractor Boys eased past the Lilywhites.
He is still very early into his loan, but all the signs show that he is doing very well at the club, and McKenna will be pleased he got the deal over the line.
Do Ipswich Town fans think the club should look to sign Brandon Williams on a permanent basis?
So, with Williams seemingly getting better and better as the weeks go on, here we asked FLW’s Ipswich fan pundit Henry if he thinks the club should look to sign the player on a permanent deal in the summer.
He told FLW: “Brandon Williams on a permanent deal is an interesting one. I don’t think it’s going to be one we’re going to explore this January.
“I don’t think it necessarily works for all parties quite yet. I think talking about Brandon obviously I don’t know, but I imagine from his side he would want a successful loan spell and then want to consider his options afterwards. That’s obviously not saying he’ll never come to Ipswich on a permanent basis, but I think for him, I think he needed a good spell in the Championship.
“I think there may be some lower end Premier League clubs looking at him as a real option. I think we have brought him back on the map, which is great because he had a couple of quiet seasons.
“Obviously, his Norwich loan spell was pretty unsuccessful, as Norwich were relegated, while Manchester United as a club right now are not really where they want to be. I think he’ll work out what he wants to do, however saying that Ipswich is a pretty big coup right now, probably the best it’s been for the last 12 years, so a player whose contract does run out in the summer, he may want to get his future sorted, and he seems to be enjoying his time, why wouldn’t you want to stay
“But I think for him, for Ipswich it works, but I think for himself and his game, I think he might wait until the end of the season and consider his options then because I’m sure he’ll have plenty of takers. Either nationally, within the Premier League or many abroad, he would definitely suit that if he wanted to try something abroad, but Ipswich would say yes, I think Brandon would say no at the moment.”
Should Brandon Williams join Ipswich Town on a permanent basis?
It is likely that Williams is going to wait until the summer before deciding what he wants to do next in his career, as he would likely want to continue at Manchester United.
However, his future seems to be likely away from Old Trafford, so it will be a question of what presents itself after this season.
If he keeps playing the way he is and Ipswich keep performing and do reach the Premier League, you could say it is likely that the relationship could continue beyond this season, but there is still a lot of football to be played between now and then
“Massive boost” – Pundit reacts to big Ross Stewart update at Southampton
Ross Stewart saw speculation regarding his future go up increasingly throughout the recent summer transfer window after an impressive goal return for Sunderland despite the 2022/23 campaign being an injury hit one for the Scot
This didn’t deter Southampton in their pursuit of his services on Transfer Deadline Day though, and the striker made the long switch from the Stadium of Light to St Mary’s for an estimated £10m fee.
In last season’s Championship, Sunderland made it all the way to the play-off semi-finals, and normally a player who has only featured in 13 league games would have one of the more minimal impacts on the eventual 6th place that the Black Cats ended with. However, this was far from the case for Stewart, who managed to find the net 10 times before rupturing his achilles tendon back in January against Fulham.
Since that day, the 27-year-old is yet to kick a ball in anger, even for his new employers.
When does Ross Stewart return from his injury?
When questioned about this topic last month, Russell Martin urged Southampton supporters that patience must be a virtue in Stewart’s situation, having not played for at least nine months
“It will take as long as it takes for us to get him to a place where we know he can be there and stay there, rather than trying to dip him in too quickly and then lose him.
Martin also stated in this interview with the Daily Echo that he and his staff must be cautious, despite the qualities he will eventually bring to Saints’ attacking department
“I think we have to be sensible. I’m really excited about getting him in. He is massive and a great guy. I tried to sign him before, as you know. He will be brilliant for us.”
What else has been said about Ross Stewart’s return to injury?
Southampton reporter for HampshireLive, Mark Wyatt believes that he could feature against Hull City off the bench next Saturday, as per ChronicleLive.
“Russell Martin hasn’t put a date on his return to action but Stewart has been back in training over the last few weeks. With the October international break now giving Saints a break before their next game away at Hull on October 21, fans are hoping the striker could make his debut off the bench.
What is Carlton Palmer’s verdict on the situation?
Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Palmer believes that Southampton fans have cause to optimism as Stewart’s attributes will be pivotal to their promotion chances.
“Southampton paid £10m+ for Sunderland’s Ross Stewart. The good news for supporters is that he’s nearing a return to action.
“This is a massive boost for Southampton and their promotion hopes. He leads the line very well and knows where the back of the net is.” He continued.
The pundit also stated that whilst the Scot’s return will be a timely one given their position in the table, it’s the other end of the pitch they need to address sooner.
“Southampton currently sit mid-table on 17 points but only a couple off the play-off places. The problem for them isn’t so much scoring goals but conceding them, having shipped 21 in 11 games.”
What next for Southampton?
Palmer’s last point is extremely valid, as they already have the options of Che Adams and Adam Armstrong in attack , who have scored ten goals between them already – therefore it may take Stewart a while to break into the Starting XI despite his own capabilities.
They return to action against Hull City at the MKM Stadium next weekend, with Stewart possibly in contention to be involved within a Saints matchday squad for the first time.
Sheffield Wednesday’s 6 highest paid players in order of value for money (Ranked
We have ranked the Owls who are on the highest estimated wages, based on whether they have provided value for money.
Winning just three points from a possible 33 in their opening 11 league fixtures, they risk being all but relegated early on in the season if they don’t improve their results after the international break.
With this in mind, Xisco’s successor faces a massive challenge and the off-field situation doesn’t help either, with major tension between owner Dejphon Chansiri and some of the Owls’ supporters.
However, this job is still a good opportunity because the Owls have enough quality in their squad to keep themselves afloat in the Championship, even though they have made a very poor start to the campaign.
Financially, it’s important that the Owls remain in the second tier beyond the end of this season with Wednesday able to generate more revenue in a higher division.
On the subject of finances, we take a look at the six highest-paid Owls players (based on estimates by Capology) and rank them based on whether they have provided value for money or not.
There’s little chance the Owls are paying anywhere near that sort of money to have Hendrick.
However, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he was on a high salary at Newcastle United and the Irishman is lucky to earn that, because he didn’t do well at Reading last season and hasn’t shone at Hillsborough this term.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if he had to drop down to League One at some point – because he isn’t standing out in the second tier and has been criticised quite heavily in the past 12-18 months for some of his performances.
Ihiekwe has only appeared for the Owls on four occasions in all competitions this season.
The ex-Rotherham United man has spent much of the season either on the bench or out of the matchday squad and right now, he isn’t providing value for money.
That’s a shame for the defender, who would probably be getting more game time at Rotherham if he had stayed there.
Vaulks was an excellent signing and you feel he will have an important part to play between now and the end of the season.
He is just one of a number of midfield options for the Owls though and has made just five league appearances so far.
That’s a total he will probably be disappointed with – but he can turn things around
Paterson has appeared more frequently than Vaulks and is also a very versatile player, making him a good asset to have.
He has played at this level before as well and is useful to have in both a back three and back four system.
Despite being able to appear at wing-back, he will want to get himself on the scoresheet a number of times this term.