Dusic

From his comment about injuries and niggles then I doubt Dibling will travel and whether there is more to it or not then who knows? Downes must be a doubt as well if he has a groin injury which is a blow as we are light in that position, especially if Matsuki is also injured. Obviously ABK won't be included and it sounds like Bednarek probably not as well. Will definitely be notable if Fernandes or Edwards aren't there but seems they should be. Will be interesting if any more pointed omissions. Aribo possibly if we are trying to force him out with just a year left. THB despite being fit enough to do some of the sessions? BBD to give his agent a kick up the arse? Taylor would have been a candidate but has been captain in the friendlies so would be a bit odd. Welington perhaps, if Taylor does stay then we don't need Welington and Manning. In the end I doub there will be many suprises and only the injured (incl THB as reckon he will be off anyway) plus ABK will be left out.

Agree to an extent but clear at the moment that Still's approach is to utilise width but only Edozie can regularly beat a man and his end product is questionable. I think we have a good squad overall but out wide in attacking areas we don't really seem to have enough and ideally need a new option that we don't yet have. Of course pre season is about fitness initially and every incoming manager says the team has been worked hard and needs to be fitter but we now have 3 games left, two against superior opposition and it will be interesting whether some preferred wide options emerge from that because clearly onus will be on them to create chances and they didnt against L1/2 level opponents today. BBD in particular seems to have struggled against poor opposition, Fraser has been played centrally, Edozie is erratic, Dibling is supposedly now injured and many think Armstrong should be moved on. Its definitely the weakest area of the squad.

Seemed dire today from those highlights. The creativity from wide areas is a big issue in this current squad, especially without Dibling. Only 2 pre season games left now. Archer finishing a plus but he isnt suited to playing out wide which is where he will end up if Downs or Stewart start.

Feels to me like a nothing move and a missed opportunity for him, aside from being back in London. West Ham will achieve nothing of note in the next 3 years, I am sure. He could have taken a new life experience, playing in Europe and massive atmospheres and maybe had a chance to win a trophy. Safe and dull.

Yes, if we let them. And players could also join in the last 2 days of the window. As things stand we have a very, very strong Championship team. Like every single window when there is a month and a half left the majority of what will happen has yet to. But right now, I don't see any urgency to be doing anything in particular. If the season started tomorrow we probably have the strongest starting XI in the league and have had about 7 months to plan how to replace players the club knows are likely to leave. We should be as prepared as we possibly can be.

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/25315396.five-things-learned-southampton-gillingham/ Interesting to note the observation from Alfie House in here that Saints were noticeably quiet vs Gillingham and that only Stephens, Manning and Stewart could really be heard. Totally get that a 3 year extension seems a bit odd (a year too much IMO) but easy for us fans to overlook something like this (Manning is much maligned too) when for a squad and manager it really matters and having the right mix of characters is very important.

Sounds like Rohl has finally left Sheff Weds. I think its probably obvious now why we and others haven't (successfully) pursued him - he really shouldn't have signed a long term contract there last summer...legal case pending by the sounds of it. Clearly he is very good, be interesting to follow his next move!

Quite an interesting piece about how Norwich (and our now Head of Talent Acquisition in the 16-19 age group Mariela Nisotaki) identified Buendia through a mixture of data and eye-test.

I get the feeling that this summer the club are fairly well prepared. Of course not everything is in their control but most situations seem clear. We probably have four players that are likely to generate a decent fee and imagine we probably need to sell at least two financially and then perhaps might be able to keep one if we are lucky. Those are obviously Ramsdale, Fernandes, Dibling, THB We then have a small set of players who we are probably building around and it would be a blow if we ended up losing them. This is the likes of Charles, Downes and Archer. The rest pretty much we could easily absorb any relatively unplanned departures and equally could find use for the players if they stay as most are of decent Championship quality/experience. We are in a position where we only need to sign replacements for a key outgoing which isn't a bad situation to be in and surely makes planning easier because we have known for probably 7 months the four players who will likely require replacing.

Its not going to happen for him at Saints is it? No minutes in the first pre season games doesn't bode well with Downs still to come in. Contract til 2026 so I imagine some kind of extension to enable us to get a fee and sell on deal next summer after another loan this season.

But we aren't over a barrel with Bednarek. He has a contract til 2027. In the Championship he was a very good CB. If he wants to leave thats fine, his agent can earn some cash and persuade a team to make a suitable offer. If not he can stay and we can loan out one or two of the CBs lower down the pecking order. Selling Bednarek or not isn't really an issue to be overly bothered about because if he stays he is good enough to be one of the best players in his position in the league.

Its still very early in the window. As happens every single time the vast majority of deals happen in August, and even that is skewed towards the end of the month. ABK is a different case but if we were to end up keeping Bednarek or Aribo its hardly the end of the world - both very good Championship players. IMO the fact we have got rid of Onuachu and somehow got our money back for Sulemana is a great start to outgoings of unwanted players this summer.

They don't play in the same position so no. If for some reason Dibling is still here he is clearly a starter.

Would imagine wherever he goes in the PL he wouldn't be a starting XI player therefore a buyer wouldnt be overly fussed not to have him ready til September. If he plays a couple for us to show he is fully fit then its a low risk buy for someone at £20m or thereabouts which is nothing these days.

Edwards is the interesting one for me. Highly rated but is be actually going to play regularly for us this season? Certainly if THB stays he will be probably 4th choice at best, possibly 5th. If he doesn't get regular minutes this season then he never will at Saints. I could see him being sold as think he will want to be starting and after his spell at QPR we could certainly turn a profit on him. I think most likely is THB proves his fitness in Aug and gets a late-ish move, which then opens up opportunities for Edwards. IMO we will end up with Stephens, Wood, Quarshie and then either of THB or Edwards, with Kayi-Sanda loaned out. With the likes of Bree, Taylor, Charles able to play there in an emergency we don't need more than 4 senior CBs IMO.

Good thing is that its pretty clear, especially if Still prefers a 4-2-3-1 shape, where we need reinforcements the most - and that is right across the '3' - especially given Fernandes, Dibling and potentially Edozie are likely to be leaving. Real lack of threat and creativity in those positions whereas pretty much everywhere else (aside from maybe GK when Ramsdale goes) we are well stocked I think. Certainly in a situation where we need quality, maybe just 2 or 3 more additions, rather than quantity signings wise.

Personally prefer Manning to Taylor as a LB. Taylor better defensively but offers absolutely nothing going forward. Hopefully Welington will be first choice.

Dibling as well you would imagine and potentially Fernandes. He (MF) would have to be slightly mad to turn down PL options for a season in the Championship - he doesn't need that development.

Obviously will be no Edwards, Fernandes, Bednarek tomorrow and probably not those who joined back later or were injured (Ramsdale, Smallbone, Aribo, THB) but otherwise might be some signs of what Still is thinking. Would be great for Stewart to get a couple of goals and good minutes for Bazunu as assume he will start the season in goal.

Every window there are always curveballs too.... Charlea only has 2years left on his deal. Were we to get a decent (PL) offer for him I wouldn't be overly suprised if he isn't here in September. Edwards is another interesting one. Imagine after his loan at QPR he will want to be starting games - where will be he on the pecking order at Saints? Hard to tell, but Stephens will be a starter, we just bought Quarshie, Wood is there too and slim chance THB is around too. Thats before thinking of Kayi Sanda (who I imagine will go on loan). Edwards will be back later in pre season which makes it harder for him, would also not be overly suprised if he went too.

In the video linked above Alfie House said of the 11 league games we lost in the Championship only 3 were games where JS started, e.g we actually fared better when he played. He started 20 games. I'm not sure he is really as bad as some think. Agreed he isn't a starting XI PL player but thats not where we are playing. In the Championship he is a good player IMO, was very good throughout the playoffs where we didnt concede a goal and I can't really see any other viable shouts for a captain. As Alfie said, you can also imagine that for games like Pompey he does really understand what it means and would get that message across to the new and inexperienced players...

Elanga cash available too... They were linked with Fernandes previously by a decent source if I call (maybe John Percy) and are being bumped up to Europa League. Unfortunately the idea of being able to keep someone of his ability (and the likes of Ramsdale and Dibling) is just so unlikely. At least this summer we should be able to bring in a sizeable amount of cash on top of what has alrwady been generated so hopefully could get a couple more good signings on top of Quarshie and Downs to add to the base of pretty solid players we have for this level. Even with expected departures we will have a very strong Championship squad come September.

Plus from our perspective you have to consider the cost of signing players if we do go back up. If we sell Ramsdale, THB, Fernandes and Dibling, which is fairly likely then you are probably looking at needing a net spend of minimum £150m to have a chance of staying up in the PL given a standard PL player is pretty much £20m minimum these days. If we don't have financial pressure to sell all of them then would be great if we could keep at least one or loan them out if they are adamant they want PL football. Would be such a shame to scout a gem like Fernandea only to sell him to Leeds a year later and then have to spend £25m next summer to sign someone not as good!

Whether we like it or not he is obviously seen as a leader within the club and by the squad of players. He definitely channels it in the wrong way at times but he does have that bit of aggression that sometimes we have lacked and I believe that he is genuine in that he does care. Forget the PL because we aren't there and if were to get there he would be a squad player at best which I am sure he knows. For now he is the captain, and assuming THB and Bednarek go then he is probably worth a starting XI place. If you want someone to genuinely be a leader then I can see the sense in avoiding a situation where that person has less than 12mths on their contract and potentially gets distracted. Also lets be honest, if not JS as captain then who? Downs who had a hissy fit when he couldnt leave to a rival in January? Adam Armstrong who most want gone? Ryan Manning who most on here think isn't good enough? All considered its probably a year more than most would feel neccessary but hardly the madness it has been made out to be.

I don't remember Adam Armstrong doing that too many times from the right wing as part of a season where he scored over 20 goals.