Saints have released Rudi Skacel and Ryan Smith following the end of the season which has left the club looking at life in League One with a points deduction.

Skacel, who signed in a protracted £1.6m deal from Hearts three years ago, has ultimately failed to live up to the hype surrounding his transfer in 2006, and his release has come about after it was revealed that his contract was renegotiated upon his return from a loan spell with Hertha Berlin which shortened his contract by a year - he had originally signed a 4-year deal.

As one of the club’s highest earners, and following a reported show of dissent when he was substituted at Sheffield Wednesday three weeks ago, this end is hardly a surprise, and I suspect there won’t be many Saints fans who will be particularly sad to see him go. That said, there will be a lot of disappointment that he never really lived up to the top billing he was given when he signed for the club.

Ryan Smith was given a short-term contract after signing on a free transfer from Millwall - while showing occasional flashes of ability, he was never able to replicate it on a regular basis, and probably shows why he had failed to make the grade at other clubs earlier in his career.

Three senior players are also out of contract at the end of June, but it is hoped that they will remain with the club in League One, albeit on much reduced wages. Jason Euell, Bradley Wright-Phillips and player of the year Kelvin Davis will all become free agents soon, but all have made encouraging noises in recent times about their desire to stay, even if it involves taking a big pay cut.

Saints have made two early moves in the January transfer window with the signing of Ryan Smith and Lee Molyneaux on permanent deals.

Smith has been on loan at St Mary’s from Millwall since September and it will probably come as a bit of a surprise to see his move become permanent after only a couple of notable performances in the first-team.

Molyneaux is a left-back and is a product of Everton’s Academy, which has produced the likes of Wayne Rooney, James Vaughan and Leon Osman in recent years. He joins on a free transfer and has signed a two and a half year contract.

His arrival will fuel the rumour mill surrounding the future of Rudi Skacel. As one of the remaining high earners, it’s likely the club would prefer to cash in on him rather than be forced into selling one or more of the younger players, although it is of course reliant on Skacel agreeing terms with another club, something he failed to do in the summer when he was on the verge of a move to Ipswich.

Molyneaux has been training with the club for a couple of weeks prior to formalising his free transfer, so Jan Poortvliet surely won’t be too worried about throwing him straight into the squad for Sunday’s game against Manchester United.

Saints have signed former Arsenal and England Under-19 international winger Ryan Smith on a 3-month loan from League One side Millwall.

Smith started his career at Highbury, making his debut at the age of 16 in the League Cup. He moved to Derby following a loan spell at Leicester City in the summer of 2006 and made his debut against Saints on the opening day of that season. He spent the second half of that season on loan at the New Den and made the move permanent in a £150,000 deal last summer.

However, his first-team chances have been fairly limited since signing permanently with the Millwall official website attributing this to “the fine form of David Martin”. He featured in Millwall’s reserves side at Staplewood, where a Jamie White hat-trick gave Saints a 3-1 win, but he obviously impressed the watching Saints management enough to warrant a further look.