Dusic

If he was intending to shortly he could easily have said "I am talking with the club, would like to stay and lets see what happens" or along those lines. From what was said it seemed clear there had been talks and he has told the club his position and when/in what circumstances he would sign a new deal.

The Hojbjerg answer to me sounded like he has told Saints he would consider signing a new deal if certsin things were to happen, probably that it looks like we are improving and may actually have a chance of being the club that he thought we were when he signed. Which from his perspective is very logical, and smart. Otherwise, run down your contract and become a very attractive proposition for other clubs.

'Undisclosed third party' has had a shocking summer IMO.

For an Academy role. Nothing to do with Rohl.

Please align all future opinions and comments with @Sinsandouts (Tip: don't mention replica kits, muggy bubbles, Sky or that you like the PL).

Need Hojbjerg and Bednarek to sign one ones. Hojbjerg especially is quite a pressing need. Noticed when Redmond signed that RH made a comment along the lines of it maybe helping others to commit as well, which I took to be PEH.

Good summary. I didn't go to the game but you aren't alone in being someone who did and feeling Stephens was our best CB on the day... Also agree re Rohl. It must make a difference, and however small, its a negative one.

Just for balance: Many did know who he was, and he and Ralph clearly worked well, as had been at Leipzig together. Rohl knows RH and how he thinks much better than Watson, Davis and Fleming do. He also provided RH with a sounding board and someone he could probably be totally honest with, possibly about the other coaches. Rohl has gone to Bayern, in an analysis role. Ralph mentioned countless times how important the video analysis is to him. Fair to suggest he might be good at it. I would suggest none of Davis, Fleming or Watson would be hired by a bigger team than Saints, and two of those are very much novice coaches. Not saying its a huge issue, but to pretend there would be no impact just because you didnt know who he was, is possibly a little naïve.

Burnley are one of the hardest teams to press because they are happy to be direct and you have little opportunity to actually press. Whilst clearly Liverpool are miles better rhan Burnley, they will play in a style that allows us to press and really the majority of PL sides do, apart from Burnley and probably at times Watford, who also have big, physical strikers to look for. Yesterday was a horror show, but our pressing game will match up better against most other opponents than it does Burnley.

Is there an argument that a back four is the way to go as it means only needing to select two out of our pool of mediocre CBs? Or, because they aren't individually very good does the safety in numbers help, despite meaning an extra one is on the pitch? A back four would also mean we could pick Romeu, Hojbjerg and JWP in the same team, and crucially, wouldn't have JWP as one of two central midfielders - which has worked in his entire career. Big decisions for Ralph as the five defenders has been his preferred approach, but why pick one more CB than we need to?

Very clear this will be another difficult season, with a lot of players who are unproven at this level. Whilst this is just a start, with our fixtures to November looking very tough, its hard to see anything other than being in the bottom 6 for at least the first third of the season. A lot resting on Danso.

Could only be due to some kind of illness/fitness issue presumably?

That was the same game he randomly kicked Lossl in the head. Just when he had built up a bit of form. He was banned for 3 games but missed many more injured. Poor signing.

Interesting that yesterday Brighton announced a big 12 year extension to their deal with Amex, worth over £100m apparently. Somewhat puts into context our deal with what is effectively a company that doesn't exist, into the shade. Its also not just about money. I know Amex, as well as employing a few thousand in Brighton & Sussex, also do a lot in the local area, and are a key partner with Albion In the Community, the Brighton equivalent of the Saints Foundation. Surely more will come out about LD and I would expect it to be a topic at next weeks fans forum. A simple "How does our sponsor generate the money to pay us for the sponsorship?" would be an interesting start.

In theory, our best for a while I think, although it largely depends on how Danso turns out which is a bit of an unknown quantity. Assuming he is good enough to start, I think we are probably only a little light in central midfield. Attack as been freshened up nicely with Adams, Djenepo and the return of Boufal. Outs wise, great to get rid of Austin who has been a poor signing. If we can lose Carrillo permanently and Elyounoussi/Hoedt on loan by the end of August then I would give it an 8/10.

Peach saying season long loan with exclusive option to buy, which sounds like a great deal for us. Not sure he comes into the starting XI straight away, but definitely seems to have different attributes to our other CBs and is high potential.

Fantastic news about Redmond, and well deserved. Protects the value of an asset that must now be worth about £50m in todays market. I would be very suprised if Reed went out on loan. Without him and Lemina, our midfield numbers look very light, Hojbjerg, Romeu and JWP (who has never really suited that position) plus Smallbone and Slattery. Getting Austin out on a perm would be good, as presumably not paying any of his wages then. Just seen the Notweigan Journo whose articles were quoted here yesterday saying Mboro have made an offer for Moi (presume loan). By the end of the Aug window our wage bill will be quite reduced.

Hard to be overly pleased at this unless it allows us to sign someone, which doesnt look at all likely. The club have said we need to reduce the wage bill to be able to sign more players. Looks like they will achieve one but not the other, which does not help the first team win more games.

Saints to local/favoured media tomorrow am: Tweet something like: "A quiet day is expected at St Mary's where the focus is on reducing the wage bill and squad size. If some signifcant sales were to occur Ralph Hasenhuttl may look to bolster his defence." ---------------------- We won't sign anyone. Austin will stay and sit out his last year. Use the rest of the European window to try and sell Carrillo, Lemina, Hoedt and Elyounoussi and if not loan them out. Then the key objective has to be to extend the contracts of Hojbjerg and Redmond or we will have to sell them in January or next summer when they would just have one year left. It will be good to just get on with the season, with a good Manager and better attacking options than last year, but overall a poor window as we haven't resolved our biggest weakness. I would put us in the 13th to 16th range. Extremely difficult to finish higher with the quality of our central defenders and lack of good options in defensive midfield.

If we are going to sign anyone then I would imagine a firm link will emerge today as there are extremely few deals that suddenly emerge in the media and are confirmed within one day. Still don't see us signing anyone, which is clearly not what the club, nor Ralph envisaged. 5/10 window with big flaws in the squad still remaining and an excellent Manager not backed with the change that was needed. Without Adams, who looks like a good signing, it would be 2/10.

https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2019/another-day-of-wolves-lille-talks-for-boubakary-soumare/ Wolves after another central midfielder apparently...

The coub have made clear through the Echo numerous times that Adams and Djenepo were the two top targets. Multiple club pushed pieces said we were now moving on to a CB. Ultumately IMO if we were to sign a decent CB then its an 8/10 window. Without one its 4 or 5/10 - it was such an obvious and crucial need.

Hasenhuttl, our best Manager for a few years, will have signed just two players across two transfer windows and none in defence or midfield. What a disappointment this summer has been in terms of refreshing a stale squad that has narrowly avoided relegation twice.

Oh yeah, the guy they want £30m for. Sure our bid will be made once we loan Lemina out for £1.5m.

What is the point of loaning him without a guarenteed purchase? A year ago he would have been in most people's list of our top 3 or 5 players and now we are about to loan him to a PL rival seemingly without a guarenteed purchase. We look very light in that position unless Reed becomes a viable option and I bet we won't replace Lemina. JWP better more advanced and we know Romeu will get suspensions. Seems a poor deal unless it allows us to make a move.