Dusic

We chose to play Lewis and it didnt impact the result. If you are going to moan about a keeper then its surely McCarthy, the no2 keeper doesn't challenge an out of form no1? The one who gets paid a lot more than Taylor and keeps getting injured. The one who was brought in to challenge Forster, not to act as a third choice backup that every team needs but rarely, if ever, uses. Taylor is no3 and would only play in an injury crisis, just like every other team's third choice keeper. Is that a major issue?

Stuart Taylor was clearly signed to be a backup. Every team has one, he isn't a problem and if he is a good character then thats a good thing. He is probably doing coaching badges at the same time. We have problems but Stuart Taylor is not one of them.

Confidence must be shot with a 34 year old Daryl Murphy selectes ahead of him for the two biggest Ireland games of the last year. Bordering on being unselectable for me.

It would be great if we did it. Its exactly what we did to take Adkins from S****horpe but we don't have the clout to do it to other PL sides, just like we never go after established PL players even from lesser sides.

Everything about Saints recruitment policy suggests we won't waste a lot of wages on players who have seen their best days. Rightly so IMO, although Walcott is intriguing. Leave West Ham to take Torres.

Will be a massive blow to not have Lemina for this one. He would be ideal against the quick feet of their players.

I would be suprised if he is a better player than Davis. Certainly not an instant upgrade.

Not really?????????

Tell that to the 3 Saints Managers who have ignored him and all the other PL sides who let us sign him with limited competition. Just because Long is utterly **** and Gabbi not suited to a no9 role, it doesn't suddenly make Austin the answer.

He will score in the Championship because, should we make him available, no PL sides would want him. Telling that.

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/news/15652128.Soul_searching_for_Saints_academy/?ref=rss

All considered, Austin has been a signing that hasn't worked out. Not been a consistent first choice under three Managers and unavailable for quite a long time. If on the alleged sort of money touted then definitely wise to move on. His best days are behind him I think and jury still out as to his ability as a PL player in anyrhing more than a poor QPR side. Not worth 80k a week.

Just relaying what the Gaffer said Simo. I would also add a personal belief that when used as a sub this season Austin has usually looked very much off the pace at PL level.

Pellegrino has said Austin is useful when the game is "chaotic" but I don'!t think he sees him as a viable starting option due to his poor movement. Lets be honest, away at Anfield with probably 30% of the ball he would just be a passenger.

Slightly suprising to see Adams sign a new contract for next season. Good to keep Edwards though. Very good bowler when fit.

Gardos situation is bizarre. He will obviously be released at the end of the season and it will be interesting to see if he signs for anyone or just gives it up - he looked awful in the pre season games and hasnt really played for the entire four years of his contract. Bednarek also wasting his time at the moment. Playing U23 games won't help his development. If we don't find him a loan move in January then we will have not done right by him. To have 6 'senior' CBs on the books and only 3 strikers and 3 attacking midfielders is quite odd.

Crook is a joke. A good Scouting twitter acct said we were watching a Monaco game last week so thats his source. He is an absolute shyster and its not worth reading any article with his name on it.

I think L1 is his level, possibly Championship. Good finisher and will always get goals but lacks either pace, strength or superior technique. Most good PL strikers have one or more of those attributes. Not too unlike Billy Sharp.

I've spotted a flaw, Dave.

He is the least of our problems and by a mile our best player.

Some absolute muck on this thread. Do people actually follow football? Adkins? Bilic? Emery? All equally bizarre suggestions in their own right.

Summer transfer window of 2016 has got a lot of mentions. Anyone got our full set of ins and outs of that window to hand? I wonder what percentage of the ins get in our first XI now?

Anyone expecting Reed to fire him anytime before Christmas will be disappointed!

It seems pretty clear this will be our worst PL season since we got promoted, and certainly a major drop in league position versus the last four seasons. Given the complete **** up we have made of such a kind start, many will feel that just avoiding relegation would be a decent outcome from her as we will almost certainly be in the shake up at Christmas. So, when do people think the decline began? A few possibles as follows: 1. Koeman being easily tempted away after we finished 6th. No question that he would have done a better job than Puel or Pellegrino despite the PR mudslinging in the aftermath of his departure. His departure signalled that our ambition wasn't especially strong although he had a few poor runs of form along the way. 2. Poor managerial appointments from Les Reed. For a team that had just finished 6th in the PL we simply didnt need to take such a risk as Puel represented. Does Reed place too many restrictions on Managers, meaning better ones aren't interested? He admitted his mistake by firing Puel after one season but now looks to have made an even worse call. 3. Failure to replace the goals of Mane and Pelle. Its clear our issue is in the final third and we simply didnt replace the output of these players. Both Puel and Pellegrino have a squad with few recognised goalscorers and it really hampers them. To say Austin was Pelle's replacement was odd as we already had him and neither Redmond nor Boufal look near scoring 10 PL goals, let alone matching Mane's record. That we were so poor in front of goal last season and didnt sign a sigle attacker in the window is borderline insanity. 4. Losing Paul Mitchell and bringing in Ross Wilson. Wee Ross definitely has a lower success rate but how much does he actually decide? 5. Selling the soul of the team. This season is terrible for fans getting on the back of players who already lack confidence and it definitely doesn't help. There seems no real connection between the fans and the players because so many are open about Saints just being a stepping stone club and we now have only Davis & JWP of the Pochettino era which I think had a strong bond with the fans. 6. The ludicrously awful My Way song. We have got worse with each airing of it. In truth it is probably a combination of all the above, maybe minus the song, but the biggest factor for me would be the awful replacements for Mane and Pelle's goals. Puel would have had a much fairer chance to suceed if this had been done properly and would likely still be in charge. He was majorly hamstrung with the squad he inherited and Pellegrino has been given the same pool of attackers that didn't produce for Puel. The rest of our team functions pretty well but we are so clueless in the final third and that also puts pressure on the defence as unless we keep a clean sheet we never win. I think Reed started believing the club PR a bit too much and tried to be too clever and it could backfire spectacularly for him.

Reed won't fire him. It will totally shatter the illusions he has spent yesrs building, that everything is expertly planned and controlled. We are in a relegation battle though, with a flaky squad and a Manager nobody trusts. Will be interesting.