Dusic

Brooks would be a top signing, ideally suited our style and something to prove. Wouldn't be letting Mara go without a replacement though!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/southampton/9376900.stm Mad to think this signing was made 13 years ago and propelled us to promotion from league one. Hit the bar and got an assist in a debut win away at Exeter - demonstrating the pace, power and intelligent movment that would later see him snapped up by Port Vale. Who says the best players are unavailable in Jan?!

Was always going to be this type of selection, similar to the last round. Volume of games in Feb is already high, and next round is midweek so even if we get through today I think he would go with similar again. Great for Dibling and Meghoma. If they don't start these kind of games they never will, and then would be pushing to leave...

Benson seems like a low risk move on loan. Only started 14 Champ games for Burnley last season, with 19 apps off the bench but still managed 11 goals. Doubt we would want him long term but even if he came in and won us a couple of games off the bench it would be worth it.

Managerial merry-go-round will be in full swing this summer. Imagine De Zerbi will be one likely to be targetted and sure RM to Brighton links will crop up...

Fraser has played almost exclusively from the left, ditto Edozie and Sulemana. SAA is a kid who is learning but probably not ready to be expected to have a genuine impact yet. AA might be needed to play centrally were Adams to get injured or leave and we have lots of games. Rak-Sakyi plays off the right, scored 15 for Charlton last season and won their POTS and is highly rated at Palace with PL apps this season and nearly joined Leicester in the summer on loan but then Zaha left. We obviously want a right sided player as all our genuine wide players play off the left and he would be a good option IMO.

This is the sensible view that is more likely to result in promotion. Even read further up someone suggesting it would be great if Leicester feel the pressure of Leeds too...personally would rather Leicester feel absolutely zero pressure from Leeds as that means we are more likely to be well clear of them too.

Of Doyle's 'batch' the ones that are good enough to potentially play PL football have either already left (Doyle, JJM) or signed pro (Dibling - after also leaving, Ballard, SAA, Meghoma). I don't think there is anyone else considered top prospect until you get to Gomes and Miles, both of whom it will surely be hard to keep. Assuming you are referring to Meghoma and SAA, I get the point but at the end of the day we signed them because they are good...and good costs money. I would much rather we were active in trying to get the likes of SAA than not bothering incase it offends someone who may not make it anyway. I would be shocked if we were not willing to offer Doyle or Dibling a similar wage to what SAA or Meghoma are on.

Brooks captaining AFCB tonight so seems highly unlikely they loan him out days later. I reckon it will be Benson or nobody for us - and literally no point bringing in a wide right attacker unless they are good enough to start games so wouldn't be overly bothered if it is nobody.

To be fair they seem to have a far greater success with outbound loans than we do, so I am sure that will be in the plan for him. Aside from Tella I can barely think of a loan move that has gone well for one of our academy players and that is a big issue as the gap between first team and PL2 is so big.

Was clear he had something lined up as hadn't signed a new contract. Just shows how hard it is to keep good talents, especially when you are either struggling in the PL or trying to get promoted - there is never a right time to play them! JJM, Dibling (I know he came back) and Doyle all deciding to leave before making a league start.

I think the accurate version would be: Lots of fans were very skeptical about his appointment which, when added to our league position, put significant pressure on him to show something quickly. He had 6 weeks of training before his first few games and it was immediately obvious he hadn't been able to bring about any change during this time and if anything we were worse at the time of the season where our fixtures were favourable, tossing in a genuinely terrible performance in probably the biggest game of the season. Aside from results he quickly alienated fans with some of his comments which further reinforced the now growing view that he was not capable of doing the job needed.

The only term that counts is this season and its far, far, far more likely we get auto promoted in 2nd place than ahead of Leicester. Therefore Ipswich gaining a point and maintaining belief etc makes our goal of auto promotion a tiny bit harder to achieve.

Don't see Leicester dropping enough points to allow us to overtake them, so a win for them would have been a better result IMO although a draw not too bad. As great as it would be to win the league the goal is to get promoted and our best chance to do that is by finishing 2nd behind Leicester. Ipswich are not flashy but are very solid and appear to have a good mentality - would be far more comfortable if we were a few points ahead of them!

No.

Would certain rather keep Adams who we already know is a goalscorer at this level rather than have £5m to replace him with (in all liklihood) someone who has never played football in England before and would be under pressure to adapt very quickly due to the number of games we have in Feb. Adams is one of the best strikers in the league and we already have him so might as well keep if we can.

He also tagged Saints in the post. Bit odd but he doesnt seem the type to cause trouble and he recently did an interview where he said as much.

Pretty sure he is also on his initial deal from when he signed and back then he wouldnt have been on crazy PL money and likely far less than what Alex McCarthy gets now. Seeing as he provides good value for it, I can't see that is an issue, certainly not this season.

FWIW that Frazer Fletcher used to write on Football Insider and pretty much nothing he said was ever accurate. One thing for sure, losing KWP would be a monumental blow and he would need replacing. He is certainly one of the best players in this league.

Also in the case of all of our loanees, its not unrealistic to sign them permanently, and I think that makes a difference. Pretty much all of them (Downes maybe a little unknown) would snap your hand off if they could sign permanently and play for us next season in the PL, so they maybe throw themselves fully into it more than some loanees do when its clearly just a short term move.

I'm sure it wasn't the number one priority, RM himself has said that wide right is. But we are allowed to sign more than one player this window and Holgate going elsewhere would hardly be a suprise! Edit - no more posts but re Hypo below, Dyche doesnt give a shit where Holgate is as long as its not back at Everton. If he can find a club who can pay what Everton want then he will be recalled and sent out to somewhere else. No point doing that until his new destination is agreed but personally would be very suprised if he is still here in Feb, even more so after this signing.

Keep your money because the scenario above is ludicrous.

Some weird reactions on here to what seems a sensible low risk move to add a multi functional midfielder who is experienced at this level and who has played above it, with the bonus of having played with a couple of our players and being available for the FA Cup where we will rotate for as long as we are in it. We have Aribo away, Stu Armstrong with a history of injuries, Downes with recurring illness and a packed Feb and March schedule where we will obviously make changes game to game. For me the only intrigue this adds is with Holgate (due to us clearly being in the market for a 6th loan of a wide right player). His days are surely numbered here and which means Charles may also be needed at CB on the odd occassion. For the conspiracy theorists - there is no point in Stu Armstrong wanting out now when he is out of contract in the summer and will also know our status to be able to make an informed decision. Alcaraz recently signed a new contract and in Friday's press conference Russell Martin seemed very comfortable re any outgoings. This just seems a sensible, low riak option to take when we are obviously constrained due to FFP and the big money wasted last Jan.

The way he has pretty much involved and energised every fit member of the squad is excellent management.

We are obviously a better team when he plays and equally obviously, would be weaker when/if he leaves. We would do very well to replace with someone nearly as good as him.