Dusic

That we signed him as a relative rookie who was 4th choice, has become a regular starter for Poland and Saints no1 CB and is still on the same contract. Not a leap to suggest that with less than two years to go Saints are trying to extend it, and seemingly would be a no brainer pay rise for JB but yet it hasn't happened...yet. Having seen what PEH (and Cedric) did running theirs down and the moves they got then perhaps his plan is similar. Who knows for now, but if it gets to Christmas without an extension then I think that above scenario is most likely to be the case.

Vestergaard keen to stay at Saints and thinks he will get a good amount of game time: https://mobil.bold.dk/fodbold/nyheder/ombejlet-vestergaard-vil-fortsaette-i-saints/ I think a lot will hinge on how long it takes for Salisu to be available and also what the plan is with Bednarek, whose contract situation is very intriguing.

All considered, its quite amazing that we received £7.5m from them last year (which has been confirmed). Surely someone will carry the can for this at Saints? Given we are a small club trying to compete in a league of high finance, these kind of mistakes are really costly. Hopefully going forwards we can tie up with a company for a longer term period, similar to what Brighton have with Amex, where there is actually a relationship between the club, organisation and city that is built on solid, long term foundations.

https://www.footmercato.net/a9020033982485964370-toulouse-a-fixe-le-prix-dibrahim-sangare No hint of Saints interest but affordable and right profile so wonder if we might be.

This is...errr....not true. It is nearly always reported by multiple sources. Salisu, KWP, Adams and Djenepo all were.

All the good posters no longer post here and you can (actually) see why.

Anyone know if we have a good talent pool in the U16 and below ages? For a while now we seem to have very few players in the England setup between U17 and U21 so hoping there are some talents emerging. Goran (Babic) is a midfielder who has been at England and Serbia training camps previously.

Some interesting players. Diamond Edwards I remember us being linked to last year, so it must have happened: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.footballinsider247.com/exclusive-southampton-agree-to-sign-attacker-for-significant-fee/amp/ Fedel Ross Lang has been part of the England age group teams. Goran Babic very highly rated, Serbian midfielder who has been in the Academy for a while. Lets hope we have the coaching talent to get the best from them. Leon Pambou was reported earlier this summer: https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2020/exclusive-southampton-sign-16-year-old-defender-leon-pambou/ Good write up on Carson, the LB from NI: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.belfastlive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/former-glentoran-youngster-can-big-18765328.amp

This has never actually been announced despite strong reports. Obviously was lined up for the U23s but presume it didn't happen for some reason in the end?

With revenues generated from the sales of Hojbjerg and Reed, plus loan fee and wages saved from Cedric (hyped at the time by the club as a great deal) and Yoshida in January, plus Lemina just now, we must surely be able to make one more good addition in central midfield.

Salisu clearly injured, but we must have known that when we signed him so no idea why the club didnt just say so to set expectations. If it were a long term one then 100% we wouldnt have signed him. Hopefully he is getting there. ------------------------------------- Celtic thread on Ntcham here: https://www.talkceltic.net/forums/threads/olivier-ntcham.145210/page-284 The overiding consensus is that he is talented but inconsistent and still not nailed on as a starter now. Some chat that he hasnt been used well and is better in their European games where its a slower pace and a bit more open rather than teams that camp behind the ball. Sounds like his off the ball game is pretty poor which doesn't strike me as a Hasenhuttl player, certainly if looking to replicate PEH's attributes. If he isnt a star man in the SPL then is he really going to make an impact at PL level? Certainly a lesser player than Hojbjerg, who became ridiculously downgraded here once it was clear he didn't want to stay.

Wonder if J-Rod2 will be in that list?! Also, seeing as the likes of Sims, Hesketh, O'Connor, Jones etc are clearly not in first team contention, I hope we can sell them, even if cheap and with sell on clause, rather than loaning. Most are OOC next summer anyway so we would get hardly anything then (probs just a training fee).

I think he was injured when he arrived. He had missed Valladolid's last few games and his medical was done in Spain according to reports...would hope as thorough as our usual ones. Work permit had surely been secured already. Will all come out soon as Ralph will be asked in the pre Palace press about his involvement.

Salisu thing is annoying and probably impacts on being able to move Vestergaard on as well. Otherwise centre mid is the only glaring area we are one short. Good to get the attackers in the goals again, hopefully no injuries during the Intls.

Ths wording is a bit vague though. It suggests the opt out is for the initial matches as a block rather than on a match by match basis. Would be silly if fans got tickets in the ballot (and given others will therefore miss out) and may not be able to go due to other commitments/stupid KO times for those of us travelling etc and then not have an option to feed them back in so someone else can take the seat. These type of situations dont matter when capacity is full but would be frustrating if its very limited. Hope its covered as you suggest.

Do people think ST holders would be able to opt out of the ballot or choose to put their ticket back in should they be successful but don't want to go/aren't able to go to that particular game? Seeing as demand will surely be higher than supply you would imagine that would be the case but its not clear from the info released so far.

Who knows? We have seen all the first team aside from Salisu, so clearly something not right with him. Good that everyone else seems fit at this stage though, lets hope it is that way in two weeks time. I doubt Salisu was being lined up to start the first game, but certainly not ideal if he cannot play a part in pre season - presumably one of the reasons we signed him early on was to be able to integrate him well. Shame not to hear anything from the club, even if via Blackmore etc.

Who knows? We have seen all the first team aside from Salisu, so clearly something not right with him. Good that everyone else seems fit at this stage though, lets hope it is that way in two weeks time. I doubt Salisu was being lined up to start the first game, but certainly not ideal if he cannot play a part in pre season - presumably one of the reasons we signed him early on was to be able to integrate him well. Shame not to hear anything from the club, even if via Blackmore etc.

Who knows? We have seen all the first team aside from Salisu, so clearly something not right with him. Good that everyone else seems fit at this stage though, lets hope it is that way in two weeks time. I doubt Salisu was being lined up to start the first game, but certainly not ideal if he cannot play a part in pre season - presumably one of the reasons we signed him early on was to be able to integrate him well. Shame not to hear anything from the club, even if via Blackmore etc.

Shame not a perm. With one year left next summer Fulham or anyone else will just end up loaning him again. They will at least pay all his wages but if a loan would rather have sent him abroad.

Ntcham seems like more of an attacking midfielder when I have seen him play. Totally different to McKennie whose main attributes are defensive ones. Not sure they are similar profile at all apart from the lazy comparisons. Unless they have bulked up Smallbone in a month, or Jankewitz is ready to potentially start 15-20 games then we 100% need a new signing (unless Reed were to suprisingly stay). We were so lucky with injuries and suspensions last season, the availability of JWP, PEH and Romeu was not normal. Also Romeu has had spells where he just needs taking out of the team and certainly needs viable competition.

Well we pretty much know we can sell Reed for £8m, which is a decent chunk of the fee and realistically we are going to end up loaning Lemina, Carillo, Hoedt etc so I don't think it makes a huge difference. If we really want McKennie and rate him then aged 21 he will increase his value anyhow as an investment and there must be a commercial upside to signing a marketable US national team player. If we really can't afford to replace PEH even after selling him then its a pretty poor state of affairs.

Most PL teams seem to have now played at least one friendly and some more. Wonder when our first one will be? I'm not buying Sheldon's COVID excuse for the lack of pics, interviews and video - all the other teams social media channels have it. There are loads of players yet to be sighted in the limited pics released. We started really well post lockdown, so have total faith in the planning of a pre season, but it is odd, especially at a time they are trying to get people excited enough about the season to review a ST. Surely if Salisu is just training on his own it doesn't take much to just arrange him to have one photo taken. FWIW he still doesn't follow any of his new team mates on social media and isnt followed by anyone apart from the official account, which is unusual unless he hasnt met any of the players yet, two weeks into pre season.

Genuine question - is it obvious that LD was a way of Gao putting extra money in? He hasnt shown any inclination to do so during this ownership. One thing is clear to me, LD was a big fuck up. It didnt look right from the start, and Semmens - otherwise logical and clear - gave very evasive answers when asked about them in the fans forums afterwards. For Semmens to basically say to Adam Blackmore that they were at a loss of how to even contact LD, is quite amazing really, if not a suprise.