Dusic

Might as well offer Clasie a free tranafer if he foregoes his wages and then can negotiate something with AZ. He seems desperate to stay in Holland so probably workable. Signing hasnt worked out, but doubt the fee was overly big and his wages probably not our highest either. He probably wishes he had never left Feyenoord. Feel a bit sorry for him.

Sorey but this is a load of ****. Bertrand had been good enough to make an appearance in a Champions League final when he signed for us. He joined us as a player who hadnt had a consistent run of games in the PL but straight away looked a competent player as a replacement for Luke Shaw. Whenever Targett plays in the PL he looks a weak link whose lack of pace is exposed by the opposition. He never takes anyone on but looks to cross early, and thats his best attribute. We always improve when Bertrand is fit again and he always plays ahead of Targett because he is much better. If Targett wasn't a Saints Academy graduate he wouldn't be on our list of left backs to replace Bertrand. In simple terms: he isn't good enough to be a regular PL LB. And he never will be.

No way we can play that system with our current CBs and central midfielders. We would get ripped apart.

Is Sims actually good? Seems to me he makes an impact from the bench once every year and then is quite poor in subsequent appearances. The facts show Bowen scored over 20 goals last season whilst Sims struggled to get a start for Reading.

Why would he be?

Good value at that price and Saints still seem to be most comfortable operating in the 12m - 15m bracket.

From the Manager himself (in the BILD interview), if we do everything right we can finish 10th. I think that is about right, would be very tough to get higher. Shows how brilliant finishing 6th, 7th and even 8th a few years ago really was. Will be hard to ever do that again given how much finance is dictating things.

It wasn't worse than Austin away at Fulham though. He should never have played for us again after that. Absolutely disgraceful lack of effort.

West Ham £29m bid accepted for Maxi Gomez. Valencia also in for him. Historically they have been a shambles, but eventually spending these kind of amounts will make it very hard for a club like Saints to compete with them.

https://www.footballinsider247.com/sources-pl-big-hitters-ambush-celtic-with-seriously-big-offer/ Might Saints be the reason for Turnbull's move to Celtic hitting problems? £3m for a young talent seems a bargain and low risk... Good info on him: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48096622

He is rapid and strong and definitely worth giving a chance to see how good he is. Notable that whilst he missed chances he had excellent chances in almost all the appearances he made. Almost as if his movement is good... I remember thinking at that time that Long had played a lot of minutes without even a sight of a goalscoring chance. Surely thats not a coincidence?

Brighton in for Trossard at Genk. €20m.

Shaw is 6'1. I remember his league debut away at WBA they hit every goalkick out to his side thinking they could bully him and he dealt with it easily. Shaw was physically a beast at 18, the same as most teenagers that break into PL football. Its half the battle, and its why Targett will never be good enough in the PL - he doesn't have the physical capability needed to be a good PL fullback.

Surely Barnes just needs to leave. He is 22 and only pro experience is a failed loan at Yeovil. Also Redmond is essentially considered a striker now.

Hopefully start as in one game rather than a tough run to start. Its usually hard to recover once you are down at the bottom.

http://bit.ly/2WAKXOL Bit of a concern. To think we may have offers over £10m for Matt Targett and then decide not to sell him but to sell Bertrand instead is quite baffling. The simple facts: 1. Targett is a poor PL player who has looked average as a LWB and consistently struggled as a LB due to weaknesses that cannot be improved. 2. Bertrand is a good PL player, solid defensively with quality going forward. Sell Bertrand and we instantly make the first team weaker.

James Justin would be ideal as can play RB and LB but sounds like he is Leicester bound. If only Targett had a right foot he woulf have got so many more appearances in the last couple of years.

I read it that the work permit decision is expected today rather than the announcement necessarily.

Also don't think Bednarek and Vestergaard together in a two works well as both have a major lack of pace.

Ultimately there is a reason why its Saints, Burnley and Palace after him and not the likes of Everton, Leicester etc. He has good physical attributes though and that can add a lot. I don't see Adams as a guarenteed starter. He isn't going to be displacing Redmond (if considered a forward) or Ings as an immediate first choice. Having some good subs will make a big difference for us this season I think.

All of Ings penalties for us have been well taken so see no reason he wouldn't be first choice when on the pitch. JWP an excellent taker as well but good for strikers to get the confidence of scoring.

My cousin is a Blues fan and thinks he is decent but not brilliant. Best attribute is strength backing into defenders and turning them with his pace. Thinks he would be a decent signing for a lower PL side, which is what we are I guess.

We did invest quite a lot, mostly because we were able to make huge profit on a special group of academy talents. And we were certainly in the pack just beneath the top six and definitely aren't anymore. We have slipped back and the level of finance needed to get to 7th/8th is much greater than when we were in that position as the others have increased their spending to the point that teams like Wolves and WHam are spending £30+ on players.

I was meaning success to the fans - but take your point. Whilst Gao clearly isn't going to splash the cash, playing the minimum level to sustain PL football is a very dangerous ploy as we have seen. Surely for him (and therefore us) relegation would be absolutely disasterous. For him both financially and in terms of taking away the core reasons he wished to invest in the first place. I think the PL is splitting into 5 segments: 1. The Powerhouse teams, currently Man City and Liverpool 2. The rest of the top 6. 3. The ambitious mid table clubs whonare willing to invest heavily with the (unlikely/impossible) aim to break into the top 6. 4. The lower midtable sides looking to avoid trouble each year and milk the cash 5. The newly promoted teams, whose sole aim is to stay up. We used to be in segment 3 and now are firmly in segment 4. Personally don't think we can go higher without ownership that will invest mote than just transfer profits.

Given some of Gao first comments since investing in Saints, and our recent seasons of struggle, it got me thinking - what is success for a team like ours in the modern PL? Clear to me (and it was at the time) that Europe and finishes of 6th and 7th were likely to be the heyday of supporting Saints as a fan in my 30s. It was a perfect storm of exceptional Academy graduates that raised what were then huge amounts of cash, very clever Scouting and successive Managers in Poch and Koeman who did unbelievable jobs. Now, with no additional ownership investment forthcoming then really success would be to remain a PL club and aim to have little involvement in the relegation scrap each year, whilst hoping for the odd Cup run. I don't think its realistic to expect any more. Again this summer it looks like we will stick to signing players in the £12-20m range and that dictates that you sign potential (which is our model) but with a fair amount of risk. Given the recent amounts invested by ownership of clubs like Everton, West Ham, Leicester, Wolves etc, often on proven players, I don't think we will have much chance of matching their achievements over a five year period so we are probably competing with the likes of Watford, Palace, Bournemouth, Brighton, Burnley etc who are also looking to punch above their weight each year and stay out of trouble. Is that fair, or do others expect more despite a general lack of spending?