Dusic

Could see most of the squad in todays video/pics. The main ones, Intls aside that I couldn't spot (from a quick look) were Ramsdale, Dibling, Aribo and ABK. Bazunu looked to be training which is good whether we sell or keep and THB seemed to be wearing trainers (bad injury, will interested clubs want to see him playing before moving for him?)

Spot on - a lot of baseless dross written on here at this time of year as you have just demonstrated. We have revamped our entire recruitment setup so for now need to trust that they know what they are doing rather than moan because some of the players that they want, that they know in a lot of detail, are players most of us have never seen play.

I am slightly concerned that in the end he won't just agree a new deal with Koln seeing as they have been promoted and he played a decent part for them in their promotion season. On the face of it, with a young, high potential player you would usually expect that to happen but would assume that Spors et al are obviously close to it and it must be a realistic deal or we surely wouldn't be pursuing it for so long.

Can we add grit for the full house?

No more than before I wouldn't have thought as Joe Shields is already there and besides pretty much every u18 who is genuinely high potential gets taken by one of the big club academies already. Very hard to keep a hyped player all the way through to a pro deal now.

What Jay Robinson is - a good prospect who might be around the squad if he does well in pre season. What Jay Robinson isn't - a replacement for a guy who scored over 20 goals and assisted over 10 more the last time out in the Championship.

Guessing the above was MLG thinking Kuryu Matsuki (pictured today at Solent Uni with Yuki Sugawara) was Rento Takaoka, and then backtracking with drivel about FM researchers?

Callum Mcfarlane leaving his job as U21 Head Coach to join Chelsea as U18 assistant, reuniting with Joe Shields. Has done a top job at Saints but just shows how hard it is to compete with big clubs at youth level as on the face of it he has accepted a more junior role but in a powerhouse academy with huge investment. (Can this thread be renamed to Saints Academy?)

Edozie is a different type of player to Sulemana, not especially quick but lovely balance and very fluid running with the ball. Felt he was playing really well in the Championship until he got his ankle smashed at Norwich (I think) and didnt really come back the same. Still think there is potentially a very decent player there and undoubtedly excellent one vs one. Hope he comes back focused and has a good pre season, could be a key player in the area of the pitch we look lightest.

This is largely ludicrous. He was a supporting coach for a spell at the end of a carnage season. Zero of that should be placed on him. As for performances, it depends what your expectations were. I recall that most of the time he was on the pitch, especially near the start of the season he was pretty good. His pass to Dibling was probably the best moment of the season. But its pretty inconsequential now. In our Lg Cup game at Goodison he played the first 45mins and as there wasnt much of a crowd you could clearly hear him directing the play on the pitch - in a way that is fairly unusual I thought at the time. Pretty sure he will have a positive impact and most importantly sure that Will Still wants him as part of his team - his experience is different to the other coaches.

Pretty much everyone in football, whether fellow players or managers he has played under absolute rave about him and his influence and leadership. Thats from people like Rickie Lambert, Jose Fonte, Danny Welbeck, James Milner, Andrew Robertson, Steven Gerrard, Levi Colwill, Matty Fernandes, Tyler Dibling, Mauricio Pochettino, Jurgen Klopp, Graham Potter, Roberto de Zerbi. Thats enough for me to think he is certainly worth having around versus being bothered about a Daily Echo advert over 10 years ago.

Another tenuous link to Sturm Graz Scottish RB Max Johnston via Football Insider but this interview with him today indicates he prefers to stay in Europe: https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/napoli-interested-max-johnston-on-sturm-graz-future-champions-league-test-amp-scotland/view/news/455924

Key thing is a relatively kind start until the chaos of the transfer window goes away. Otherwise bring it on.

Retired as a player...set to be confirmed as part of the coaching setup? Despite some opinions based on how he left it is clear that a.) He knows ball and has worked under some top managers and b.) Players respect him and his experience

Good SR scouting to sign him for Goztepe on loan with an option in the first place and then make a big profit. Definitely some value to be had in South America so good we are starting to utilise it with Alcaraz, Juan, Welington etc. Low risk and potentially high reward.