Dusic

I wouldn't be against Minamino either. Certainly more of a goalscorer than any of our #10s. Scored 10 in 800 odd minutes last season and is a known quantity. Could do far worse and sure he will do pretty well wherever he does end up.

Far from being the best player but something to admire about his character and the way he has turned it around for himself when he could have tossed it in at Saints and given up. We clearly need reinforcing in that position but I think Ralph probably likes the fact that you know what you are getting with Elyounoussi, he follows tactical instructions and is quite comfortable playing inside. Certainly more reliable than Walcott, Djenepo and Tella, and with Armstrong's injury prone nature not a bad guy to have in the squad on probably average wages. We aren't going to get rid of everyone.

New contract talks: https://www.tv2.no/sport/14849877/

Funny thinking back to those days that we would sign L1 journeymen and think they would immediately step up to PL level. I guess some like Ormerod and to a lesser extent Evans kind of did. Would never happen now.

Ultimately just not good enough? Or constricted by ill fitting kit?

Very much so. For all the talk of Bale, Jones and Chris Bart-Williams this is exactly the type of signing we look to make. Could probably replace Long and Walcott with one player given how little they featured.

A couple of names to watch out for that would surely suit in the eyes of the SWF traditionalists: Former Brighton manager and current Dagenham assistant Steve Gritt. A left-field one but easy to see what Kevin Steele, defensive coach of the University of Miami would bring.

Regarding Mateusz Lis - it seems Ankersen has had his eye on the relegation battle in Turkey this season so will surely have seen a fair bit of him.

I think you have simultaneously missed and proven my point re Tadic. He clearly had leadership qualities at Saints as I outlined but because of the type of player he is they didnt come across to some fans who only see leaders as being people who smash into opposition players. Its not like he had a personality transplant as part of his move to Ajax that made him captain material for them but someone who possessed zero leadership traits at Saints. Unless you have any evidence to the contrary?

Director of football affairs Marc Overmars added: "It is no secret that Dusan plays a very important role for the team. Both on and off the pitch, he is a real leader. So, it’s fantastic that we can keep him at Ajax even longer. Dusan’s fitness is excellent and he will be of great value to Ajax in the coming years." ------- I'm sure you know better 😆😆😆

If you are clueless then perhaps. Loads of players at the time he said he trained with the most intensity and always wanted to win, demanding the same of his teammates. Physically really looked after himself so nearly always available. Always wanted and took the ball under pressure and demanded high standards of others. To me that is a leader. Ajax clearly agree.

Funny that when we had a player like Dusan Tadic who was very much a leader and model pro he would get slated for moaning at others instead of instilling backbone.

http://sportwitness.co.uk/southampton-make-concrete-proposal-signing-saints-willing-get-serious-player-keen-pl-move/ There is a screenshot here of the article in question...the link isn't made up.

Vince is ill. I've watched all the games so far and whats stands out to me is: - Batting wise we should open with Vince. He can hit the gaps and in the PP you don't need to try and hit the leather off the ball. Donald has really struggled and in the Essex game we went 8 balls in the PP without scoring a run. McDermott can hit boundaries but needs someone with him who has the class to rotate the strike, which Vince does. - No 4/5 is a massive issue. Weatherley and Dawson ok in a low scoring game but if they come in during the PP they aren't aggressive enough. - Whiteley and especially Fuller have been ok at 6/7 but have always been left with far too much to do. - Ellis isnt a no 8, the tail is too long. Bowling: - Horrific. Especially Crane - what has happened to him? You can't succeed in T20 without two good spinners and whilst Dawson is consistent Crane has been genuinely awful - and adds nothing with the bat. - Not enough wicket taking seamers. Overall the only way we have a chance is if McDermott and Vince get us off to an absolute flier or if Whiteley/Fuller come in with 130 on the board with 5 overs to go. With the best teams they are flexible but most games have the same batting order and bowling sequence. We are a shambles. Might as well pick Tom Prest every game from here.

Not sure why you feel its so strange. 25years old for a GK is different to 25 for an outfield player as they tend to peak later. Also, how do you know that he isnt considered to have high potential? I'm sure you have watched zero matches he has played in, whereas Saints scouts if we sign him would clearly have seen a lot of him. We have one senior keeper under contract at the moment. It seems highly likely we will sign a younger keeper to compete with McCarthy, probably Bazunu or Dragowski. Then its also likely Caballero will stay on as third choice. Ralph has been positive about his personality which is crucial for a 3rd GK and also he is clearly capable unlike Lewis (which made it so odd keeping him so long as they clearly didnt fancy him playing a single minute of first team football). Signing Lis on a free is low risk, we can loan him out and then see how he develops with a view to him coming back to the club once Caballero and McCarthy have moved on. If he isn't good enough for us then they can keep loaning him out and will have lost next to nothing. Brighton as an example have signed quite a few players and loaned them straight out. Recently Caicedo has had a big impact since he came back, MacAllister before him. This season they have also done exactly this with Sima, Kozlowski & Mitoma. If Saints haven't done this type of thing before that does not mean they can't and won't start doing it. In many ways its quite sensible.

Ben Mee set to leave Burnley as his contract is expiring. Would be 33 in Sept but good player and strong leader. Would be all over it if he were 30 but considering he is recovering from a fractured leg too I doubt Saints would be in for him.

Why not? He clearly won't be the only GK we sign.

Know nothing of him but the article this is taken from says he was wanted by some of the top sides in Turkey after doing well last season. Also says its likely he will go out on loan next season, probably to France which makes sense as zero point signing him as a 3rd choice who will never play. Seeing as we own one senior keeper and there are even doubts over him, then signing a 25yo GK on a free transfer and low wages with a view to loaning him out to see how he develops seems pretty low risk and sensible to me. He may eventually come back as no2 keeper once McCarthy goes. Seems highly likely we will have McCarthy and Bazunu competing for no1 with Caballero as no3 and then his guy out on loan.

I think its just a fair reflection of the fact the league is strong. Of course the three promoted teams will start as favourites and as unknown quantities but aside from those the only teams we finished above last season are Everton whose squad massively underperformed and Leeds who have already bought a player for £30m this summer. Personally I find it extremely unlikely that the following will be relegated: West Ham, Wolves, Leicester, Newcastle, Villa That leaves: Brighton, Palace and Brentford who all had good seasons and will be confident with further additions that they won't be involved at the bottom. Summary: its entirely fair and IMO we are probably 5th favourites for the drop behind the promoted sides and possibly Brentford. We really need all the promoted teams to struggle because its hard to see any of the others getting less than 35 points. Having Burnley and Huddersfield in there next season would have been much better!

No way we are going to be spending what Burnley want for Pope. May as well have just kept Forster if we went down that route.

If we could get rid of Walcott, Djenepo and Elyounoussi that would surely give room for some good additions in the #10 role. But with a year left he isnt going to take a pay cut and a subsidised loan isnt really worth it for us.

Lots of people are saying we need "experience" but if you look at our best and most commonly selected team from last season you could make a good argument against that being an issue: Our best XI by age: 34 19, 23, 26, 25 30, 27, 30, 27 20, 25 Only Livramento is very inexperienced and he was one of our best players. Many are in the prime of their careers. The only area you could really point to is at CB. But Bednarek has over 100 PL games for Saints, 39 caps for Poland and has played in two Intl tournaments. Salisu has 70 games at La Liga or PL level under his belt. They aren't novices! Quality, and specifically depth of it is what we need. Not experience.

Garner will be much more difficult to sign now as Forest will clearly want him back. Agree O'Brien looked good. Leeds have nearly signed him a couple of times and are supposed to be back in for him. Colwill recovered well from the unfortunate OG. Kept the (over?) hyped Johnson to a non entity in the game. Worrall a typical Championship defender who got done every time in a wide position.

Personally haven't been impressed by Forest in the Bmth game, two playoff legs and this final. They have a couple of players above the level of the rest but they aren't packed with loads of quality. Clearly their defence has got them promoted but that will be tested much more next season - Huddersfield looked woeful going forward and Sheff Utd had midfielders up front due to injuries. Not a vintage year for the Championship.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/18717354/southamptom-morgan-gibbs-white-transfer-wolves/ Good player. Imagine will stay at Wolves.