650: Kings of Anglia: Zian’s the man on transfer deadline day at Town

27:00But yeah, that hadn't really struck me. this will be the first time in a long time without a lone player in the squad.

27:07Mark Heath:I read that, Stu, in the bit you've done for tomorrow morning. She penned a bit for 6am tomorrow, which is like his thoughts on the window. I had to reread that a couple of times, the fact they don't have a lone player, which is so unusual. And for a long time, lone players were like the kind of the crux of their business, wasn't it? It felt like for a while. Just on the defensive numbers thing before we move on, we've spent a big chunk of this summer discussing whether it's going to be back three wing backs Gary O 'Neill talking about being tactically flexible the evidence so far is that it's going to be almost McKenna-esque 4-2-3-1 front footed has been that throughout pre-season and even at Manchester United at the weekend it was only back five once the goals started flowing wasn't it I don't know, it'll be interesting to see how they do in some of these tougher games going forwards.

28:02The next one, of course, is Liverpool on Friday. Dara O'Shea, if he's to be at right back again, only has the small task of facing £123 million Barcola on the left wing potentially for Liverpool. If there is a moment, and I said this is sort of a hot take, there'll come a point in the season where they might have to switch to a more pragmatic wing-back system. Have they really got the personnel to do that now? If we're talking about limited numbers and you start as a seven-man defensive unit, if you start talking about wanting to start five of them, that's a little bit thinner on numbers than you would perhaps like.

28:41So I think it's an indication, a further indication, that Gary O 'Neill is really going to go for this and be quite attack-minded in most of the games, certainly the home ones.

28:52Mark Heath:The defensive thing does worry me, I'll go on the record and say that. I'm not convinced about the Irish out-right-back for reasons previously discussed. I don't know if he's a man. Obviously, clearly, he is fat. People say, well, it's not like he's not fat. He is fat. I appreciate that. He's a good player. But he's playing out of position. He's going to be up against the best wingers in the world every week. That's quite different. So that does worry me. But anyway, let's stay positive. I want to finish with reflections on the window as a whole. But before we get to that, I've got a question about one of the exits for both of you.

29:24Mark Heath:I'll go to you, AJ, because you saw him play a fair bit in pre-season. Cameron Humphreys has gone out on loan again. We talked about whether this was time for the big departure, the big farewell. Could it be the last game he played in the Carrow Cup the other day? British Town, it's not. He's gone out on loan again. He signed another new deal as well. But he's gone out on loan to a League One side again. Now, I know there's a connection with Huddersfield. But for me, I'm thinking, right, so they clearly think that there could be a future there with Cameron Humphreys. As we've said before, a very technical player.

29:57Mark Heath:just maybe doesn't have the physicality to be a Premier League player at the moment. But if you're thinking he could still be useful to us, say, if we go down, for example, surely you want him playing the Championship this season, don't you? You don't want him back playing in League One. They want to see how he does in the Championship, no? Yeah, that's what I felt. And, you know, I looked through the teams and I'm not saying that you should have gone to a mid-table or top-half team and expect to walk in and get minutes. But you look at the two that I picked out, Lincoln and Bolton, for example, where I thought he could have gone in and had an opportunity to stake his claim in a championship team, looking to punch above their weight a little bit.

30:37Yeah, I thought that would have worked quite well. It's difficult to be able to say without knowing the ins and outs of it and what was planned. Could it have been that they thought about permanent exit? Who were the teams who'd come to the table for him? Because obviously Huddersfield have had him twice now and could it have been that they just got to the end of the window and thought, well, the only offers that we've got are from, say, Huddersfield and Wickham or someone like that. And the options are we keep him in the squad. And I know that Gary O 'Neill spoke about possibly keeping him in the squad, but I don't think that would have benefited him because he wouldn't have played.

31:13So did they get to a point where they say, well, we either keep him in the squad or we accept this loan offer from Huddersfield to have him go there for another year? There's no guarantee that there were championship clubs that had come to the table for Cam. And obviously, I would have liked to have seen him at that level, but it's better for him to go and play another full season, hopefully for a team that can go and push and maybe even get promoted from League One and build those connections there, than being with Ipswich and maybe playing minutes for the under-21s or just being in training every weekend and getting a sniff in the Carabao Cup or something like that.

31:50so yeah I would have liked something a bit different but hopefully it will benefit him and then we can get to next summer and reassess it might be that he does brilliantly at Huddersfield and hopefully Ipswich are still in the Premier League and maybe there isn't that space for him and Huddersfield in the championship say yeah we'll put this amount of million to sign him permanently it just feels that they're giving themselves a bit more time to decide but it's difficult to know without knowing what was on the table for him.

32:16Mark Heath:Sure, have you got any thoughts on Humphreys team before we move on to window reflections as a whole? I just can't, not quite ready to give up on Cameron Humphries. And I've felt so sorry for him over the last few windows because it's felt like his career has not stalled, but there's been sort of missed windows of development where they've kind of had to keep him around for numbers. Kieran McKenna always talked about it. He's a great kid. He's matured beyond his years. He's technically, as we can see, a very handy player. we know he can do it at the top end of League One from the Wickham loan spell.

32:54So as you say, are you learning any... If he goes to Wickham and does really well, if he goes to Huddersfield and does really well this season, are you learning anything that much new? For him to have a future at Ipswich, it probably requires them to get relegated and there'll be a mass exodus in midfield because you've got to look at the traffic now in front of him. It's vast. maybe this is just a bit of a financial one in terms of, well, if he goes to a championship club and he struggles, that's not going to increase his transfer value. But if he goes to Huddersfield and does really well and replicates what he does at Wickham, then come next summer, we can get a few more pennies for him.

33:38But we'll see. I think everyone sort of wishes Cameron Humphreys really well. I thought that it might be his last appearance in the Leicester Cup game last week. Maybe it's not the chances of him breaking through at Ipswich. Still slim, but are still alive there for Cameron Humphries. So we'll see what happens with him.

34:01Mark Heath:OK, right. I'm going to ask you now both three questions to end this podcast, all about the window as a whole. The first one is when we recorded the pre-season big kickoff preview podcast, I asked you for your best signing so far AJ you said Julio and CISO you were very effusive with excitement about that in fact and I think you certainly look very lively and cut above thus far Stu I think you said Sasha Lukic off the top of my head since then they've only signed two more players but one of them is a World Cup winning midfielder first ever World Cup winner to play for it and the other is a£20 million striker who's just come in so are you going to change that opinion Stu?

34:47Yes

34:47Mark Heath:Who would now be the best signing of the summer then? I cannot look beyond Ezequiel Palacios It's fun to say as well isn't it? Ezequiel Yeah for fairly obvious reasons people might go split hairs about World Cup winning midfielder due to his limited minutes in that campaign. But he's got 41 caps for Argentina. He has played a fairly central role when they've won Copa Americas. He was a central part of the Bayer Leverkusen side that went invincible during a Bundesliga title-winning season. It's a pretty staggering signing, I think, from Ipswich. which you could argue it's perhaps the biggest transfer coup in the club's history.

35:40And people might go back years and say it's all relative. But certainly in modern day history and where it should have come from, for them to have landed Palacios is quite something. So if he can stay fit, and I guess that's the big question mark over him, then he could be a game changer. He could be what Granit Xhaka has been to Sunderland last season. So I can't wait to see him properly in action because, yeah, Old Trafford, not too much we can judge from that one, I don't think.

36:14Mark Heath:No, expectations are certainly high. Are you sticking or twisting, AJ? Are you sticking with your man in CISO or twisting to be obvious? Yeah. I'm not going to go to Palacios for starters. A, to be different from Stu and B, because I do just have those concerns still over. there is every chance by the way that he will be the mvp because of everything that she's outlined i do have those concerns about his injury record best signing kind of comes with caveats and i remember saying in cso the biggest thing for me was it felt like he was such a mood raiser at the time it was like a wow it's such mean business and the reason why i'm going to pivot to zian fleming aside from the obvious with the fact he's the best player in the world um is the fact that that Ipswich have just...

36:58I've covered this club now. This is my, what, fourth season, is it? Ipswich cannot sign strikers. They signed De Lapp, which kind of felt like they fell into it a little bit, let's be honest, because he wasn't meant to be the starting number nine. And I've seen the Brogia deal. We've seen Abraham. We've seen Town being linked to a number of strikers that haven't come off. And it has been an issue, let's be honest. It has. And they've now gone and got someone for a really good fee who's just bagged 11 goals in the Premier League. unless he's going to achieve all those add-ons, it's not even going to crack 20 mil.

37:31So given all of that, yeah, I'll go Zian Fleming.

37:35Mark Heath:Okay, predictable. This is going to be a theme, I think. Keep an eye on this lad's ratings, by the way, friends, because Zian might be getting a few high marks. Anyway, next question, boys, and it is around the window as a whole because it's been an extraordinary window. I remember not too long ago, people were saying, well, they haven't signed anyone, it's really worrying. and of course now we're sitting here with a record-breaking summer of spending 180 plus million the most ever spent by newly promoted side five players from this summer's world cup three of whom scored at the world cup uh quality and experience size physicality all the boxes have been ticked you would say um so i'll have to start with you steward because clearly you've covered more of the transfer windows than aj has that's just a simple question Is this, in your opinion, and I appreciate you went around at the turn of the century and that kind of stuff when that's in the Premier League, the best transfer window that TAM have ever had, to your knowledge?

38:37Well, in my 15 seasons of covering the club, I don't think anything gets close. it's all relative of course you can go back to the January transfer window in League One with Luongo Clark, Broadhead and Hurst kind of turbocharging that promotion and everything else that follows is because of that but what they've done this summer is just all the stuff that you've just outlined about World Cup players and goal scorers and the fees involved would have just been pie in the sky unthinkable um laugh out loud stuff just a few years ago um so yeah i think in answer to your question it has to be um time will tell proof will be in the pudding of course but they've given themselves a real chance this year and that's all you can ask um you know you talk about any concerns about this window i guess the slight one in the back of the mind is what happens if it all goes wrong what if they don't stay up could they be left in a bit of a sneaky situation in terms of you know players on loop to long-term deals and could that you know could they get themselves in a bit of mud all that way um mark ashton insisted to me earlier this summer that relegation reduction clauses were still non-negotiable.

40:10They missed out on players last time they got promoted to the Prem because players wouldn't agree to it. And he tells me that that is the case this time around. So I take him at his word on that and that they're sort of protected and they haven't been reckless with what they've been doing. But it's, yeah, it's a remarkable window. You said earlier about sort of the best signing of the one. I had Lukic at the top earlier. I think I'd probably edge in CISO just above him now because I wasn't quite sure. Now I've seen him in action back. I think Ipswich have got a leveled up in CISO, a more well-rounded team player in CISO from the players I've seen.

40:51So I think I'd go Palacios in CISO as my top two. And just quickly, you mentioned Armando Brogier in there. I'm slightly worried that I've got a kind of transfer scoop striking curse over my head at the moment. If you remember, I've had two quote tweets from Fabrizio Romano, he of the millions of Twitter followers for scoops. One was Broya, and that fell through because he failed the medical. And the other one is for Tammy Abraham, who decided he didn't want to come after all. So journalistic integrity is still intact because they were facts, they were true stories, but I am slightly worried. When I call these things first, they don't seem to come off.

41:38You say that, Stu, but you were the man who called Ali Alhamadie to Upswich Town first, and he did sign. Yeah, and he's gone on to become a town legend.

41:50Mark Heath:And he's still there. Let's hope you don't make it a hat-trick in January. in terms of that coming to pass. Give us a score then, Stu, for the window out of 10.

42:08I toyed with like 8.5. We can't be messing about with 0.5s, can we? That's not real. So I'll round it up to a 9. I'll round it up to a 9.

42:22Mark Heath:Yeah. I think I'll be with you there. How about you, AJ? 9 out of 10 is that sort of area that you're in. I know you like your half marks. Have I ever given a half mark? Ever? Stu was the one who did the half marks. I think you gave the away shirt 9.5, did you not? Okay, fair enough. Yeah, good point. Which is actually funny because in my head I was thinking, essentially they were two bits off in my head, like the absolute finished Wow Water Squad picture, which would have been a right back in my mind and maybe another right winger getting a little bit greedy there, saying one to take them to a 9.5 and one then to complete the picture is a 10 out of 10.

43:01Didn't quite get those, which I don't think can be criticised too harshly given the picture of the window. So 9 out of 10 for me.

43:09Mark Heath:2-9 out of 10. Right, final question before we take our lead. What about you, Mark? 9-9, are we making it? I think you can look lower than a 9. It's just staggering what they've done. If you'd have said even at the start of the summer this is what they'd do, I don't think anyone would have believed you as even the most optimistic person I don't think would have believed you so to sit here looking at all the stats all the money they've spent, the club record signings the experience, all that kind of stuff everything they've done with the exception maybe of not getting a defender today you'd say it ticked all the boxes from what we've said they need so I'd certainly go nine.

43:49It may or may not come off but you can't accuse the club of not doing what they've promised to do and that was be ambitious, give it a real good go, spread the net further, address the issues from the Premier League last time of more experience, more athleticism, more physicality. As you say, I think all of those boxes have been ticked.

44:16So, yeah, I think we can only say sort of well done for the business done that you can always find little areas that you could improve upon. AJ just mentioned a couple there. And, you know, you get spoiled, though, don't you? It's amazing as these sort of transfers are rolling in and we're getting a bit blase about the fees. It was Palacios signs. What next? Who else? We need this. We've got problems with that. I think it's important to take a step back, look at that squad as a whole, look at the way they've started as well, and remind ourselves that these are exciting times.

44:51Mark Heath:I can't believe he didn't even spend£200 million. Pathetic, no ambition. Right, final question. I'm going to start with you, AJ. Again, when we go back to the pre-season preview poll and predictions, we'd give our predicted final position for town. We weren't, you know, kind of now solid in the knowledge of what they were going to do in the final few weeks of transfer window. The deadline is done. The window's closed. They've got who they've got. you said 17th in that show i'm gonna now give you the chance to either stick or twist yeah exactly you can go lower mate if you're feeling a little bit you know 20th at the moment yeah no i'm going to stick on that i i think there's a risk of getting carried away especially when you know someone of the incredible caliber of a zian fleming comes in on top of every ball we can't have a city show yeah and you know you go on and they talk about Palacios and Nc and Batou but you still and we're going to do this every time you look through at the teams that have established themselves at this level and we're still going to look through all the squads and go bloody hell look at some of these players look at some of these squads you've got to finish above all we're talking about Palace being someone that could talk about something that could catch look at the signing they've been making today.

46:14You look at Sunderland chasing Fafana in one of the weirdest transfer sagas I think I've seen. All of these teams, they need to get someone down there. They need to finish above Hull and Coventry, obviously. They still need to find someone else and there are not going to be that many teams who I think are going to be kind of dragged into it. So I will take 17. They will find a team to finish above on top of the other two and Ipswich will survive in the Premier League.

46:39Mark Heath:Okay, so it's a bigger question for you because clearly you and I awkwardly predicted them to get relegated in the 18th spot. Not only do we now know what they did or have done in the final few weeks of transfer window, I think we both said striker and midfielder, get them in, you know, you might think differently. We also know, of course, the fact that Hull City, who is everyone's pick to finish bottom, have started the season two from two. They're already sitting pretty on six points. So, are you going to stick or twist? it's still a case of picking three teams to finish above i'm not i'm not getting carried away i'm encouraged excited by what we've seen so far on the business it's made but as you say hull hull have started really well um i don't know what their number of signings is up to now they've made a few more today haven't they um there's doing like another four at the moment that's ridiculous.

47:35They've really gone a bit crazy today. They've certainly upgraded from most people's kind of thought that there'll be relegation fodder, guaranteed. But then I think there'll be others that I thought were going to be reasonably solid that might get dragged into a little bit. I don't know how it's finished at Everton. There were some mad late goings on there today. I know they've got Grealish back. but the vibe around them isn't great at the moment. Crystal Palace, likewise, has been a bit of a mass exodus of some big players there. So there might be one or two that get dragged into it. Go on then.

48:18After speaking so positively about this window, I'll go, hiya, hiya, we're going to upgrade it. I'm going to put them just above the dotted line on 17th.

48:30Mark Heath:that's what we wanted that's the way to end the show I think I'm going to go 20th unfortunately but I'm not I'm not no I do genuinely feel like um they've done what I or what we talked about needing to do in that gap between uh the start of the season and and the closing of the transfer window they've done everything they could possibly do to give themselves the best possible shot and I think you'd say in the first couple of games there's evidence that they've I mean And Man Utd, again, I don't want to go too much over the top with the Man Utd game. We'll go back talking about it. But first half, not only were they hanging with Man Utd, there was a bit of swagger about them as well, wasn't there?

49:06Mark Heath:I was thinking, yeah, not only are these boys competitive, they might actually be decent at this level. They might be more than just surviving. So I think there's enough to make me optimistic, particularly now with Fleming through the door and Palacio set to make his full debut, hopefully on Friday, that maybe edges me just above that dotted line as well, Stu. I do think it's going to be tight, but they can't do more than what they've done in terms of giving themselves a shot. So I will upgrade as well. I'll say 17th. So we're all sitting on 17th. They're going to do it, boys. We need them to do it as well, don't we?

49:45Mark Heath:They really need to do it, given what they've done in terms of spending money. They really, really do. So fingers crossed, as I say, that they could do no more, really, in terms of ticking all the boxes we've spoken about. Boys, it's quarter past 12 now. I'm sure we all want to go to bed. I'll probably have a little whiskey. I'll reveal before I go to bed, as I usually do on a deadline day. Anything else to mention, though, friends, before we take our leave? No, I don't think so. I think this looks like a squad that's going to score goals, and I think it's going to give it a go. I think there'll be days a bit like Sunday where they end up well beaten and we're questioning that side of things.

50:28But I think there'll be days like Sunderland where they can win games at Portman Road and get us off our feet. And the issue last time was kind of turning draws into those fine margin games, just tipping them into the three points and just sort of checking off those wins fairly consistently over the season. and early signs on paper and from the eye test is that I think they can pick up a healthy number of wins along the way. Whether it will be enough, we'll have to wait and see. But I said it once, I'll say it again. What a time to be an Ipswich Town fan follower at this moment in time. This is kind of unthinkable territory from not long ago.

51:16Mark Heath:Completely unthinkable, Stu. surreal dream territory AJ anything else you want to share before we take our leave you know how we have the Japanese journalists who followed Dyson Mider around it's going to be me now with Zion Fleming it's actually not going to be Ipswich Town coverage it's just going to be Zion Fleming coverage you're going to rock up on Friday with a little Stroopwaple for him aren't you oh yeah big time here you go Zion hanging out with the Dutch boys got a few now haven't we Thank you, old Sherpen. Azor Matasiwa. Poor Cain Van Ooverland's feeling a bit left out at the moment.

51:52Mark Heath:A little Dutch gang for AJ to get involved with. Right, friends, we're going to take our leave. I hope you've enjoyed this biannual KOA After Dark deadline day show. As I say, it's just coming up to quarter past 12. It's now Tuesday, Wednesday indeed, isn't it? September the 2nd. Ipswich Town have spent more than£180 million this window. They've set records. They've brought in five players who played at the World Cup, three of whom have scored. They've levelled up every section of the side. Five years, friends, five years after Paul Cook's Demolition Man summer. We've just had the Construction Man summer at Ipswich Town.

52:37Mark Heath:Is it going to be enough? Is it going to be enough? Well, we're going to find out. And that starts on Friday with Liverpool at home. We'll be back later on this week to build up to that. Have a great start to your week, middle of your week. Hope you enjoyed Deadline Day. And we'll be back later on this week to talk to you again.

53:11Thank you.

53:42Thank you.

54:22so

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