Dusic

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?

Nothing overly negative here, just a confirmation of what we knew i.e he isn't investing anything further. The LD Sports deal does appear shady, will be interesting to see how that develops. The real question is, why did KL make out like Gao could take us forward when he obviously can't? Gao makes out like self sustainability is new, but its what KL put in place. What does he add?

Most likely scenario: a subsidised loan for a year til his contract runs out. IMO one of our worst signings in recent years vs the expectation when he arrived. He has been a waste of time.

The Sun (I know) says we have agreed a 13.5m deal for David Okereke, a 21 yo forward from Spezia in Serie B. From YT he looks a powerful, quick player with good finishing ability with both feet. Take with a pinch of salt, but the article said agreed rather than at offer stage. He has been linked to Frankfurt, Palace and West Ham.

Hopefully materialises but surely any PL team would be mad to take Austin?

Djenepo seems an exciting player. Imagine he will miss the start of the PL season due to ACON involvment but important to get him signed before the tournament.

This is probably accurate, we will almost certainly know whats needed to get him. Whether we actually get him is another question of course.

Think Tadanari Lee was the last one. It can go alongside double signings, swap deals and 'unveiling' signings at a kit launch as things that people mention which never happen.