Chez

Not a chance. There seemed to be very little interest last summer and he did nothing to change anyones minds. I would guess the only difference now might be that we can allow him to leave for less money as one more year has gone from his contact. I'm out on Edozie. If he has a great season I will hold my hands up and say I was wrong, but what I saw in the Boro game at SMS made me totally lose what little faith I had in him. I wonder if Tonda has his doubts about him too.

If Bree has signed a new deal as mentioned above, that allows us to really look at the right back position and consider whether we could upgrade on Roeslev. I thought he looked really average in every way. If the right replacement is available, perhaps a young prospect, I'd look to offload him and Sugawara.

I'm happy to.

We are talking about a guy with well over 400 PL appearances that played for us for 12 years. Your definition of a journeyman differs from mine. He may not have been a great PL player, done a lot since he left us or what we need now, but describing him as a journeyman? Nah, I'm not having that.

First Vestergaard and Bertrand, now possibly Martin and Bazunu...we are not going to be flavour of the month with many Leicester fans.

You've missed nothing, but Peretz hasn't be signed to compete with Ramsdale. I know he has returned from Newcastle who have not taken us up on the £20m buy option, but I wonder if they just don't want to pay that full amount and may be interested should the fee be lower. Howe talked about it being "Southampton's choice on his future" which could be construed as "if they lower the fee he could come back".

He did well that season, with Jones having him make late runs into the box and scoring crucial goals like at Everton. He isn't moving to another championship club to be 4th choice squad man. He can do that at West Ham. He'd be first choice in most Championship sides. He looked a cut above the rest in the few gams for us three season ago. Has his play dropped off since then? I can't see anyone signing him on a permanent deal, even if he was on a free this summer. Much better to let West Ham pay him and then loan him on a percentage of his wage. The only way it works is is West Ham pay him a juicy loyalty bonus which would bridge any drop in wages this season.

On relegation, you'd assume his wages would be cut in half. If they were halved again by West Ham covering 50% of his championship wage, then he'd be affordable. I know people point to him being a crab, and slowing things down, but his quality of first touch and weight of pass does the opposite IMO. I recall the horrific game against Grimsby, where we were so so slow in possession. JWP was brought on for the last ten minutes, he grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and the ball was moved about the pitch very quickly. It wasn't enough, but it stood out in my mind just the difference he made. That said, I've not watched him for a long time, so I'm not sure if he has the legs to get around and up and down the pitch. Perhaps there are better options. Bragg is tidy, and looks a similar type of player...recycle, recyle, recyle...so maybe we need to look for a slightly different type.

You're right, there is not a huge number of teams looking for a new number 1. Leeds and Chelsea need one.

he looked done after the injury but seemed to have a renaissance. The PL fame means he will likely get a decent gig abroad, which always seems to be more attractive than dropping down a division. That's what usually happens with foreign players.

Perhaps a season as third choice keeper doesn't do a young keeper any favours (not enough game time) so Wright will go out on loan again?

Did he? In Edozie's case I am not sure it was much of a tune. As my dear old man used to say when it was my turn to select the music in the car "that's not a tune, it's just noise."

Could not agree more. Massive part. I don't think there are too many players ion the championship that offer that and we had one on each wing. He shooting was poor, no doubt about it, but everything else about his game was great. It's not as though we lacked goals, so I wasn't all that bothered by it to be honest. I wonder if he was will find his feet (literally) in front of goal like Lallana seemed to? Not sure he plays with his head up enough to be a Lallana mark II, but he may add that little extra bit of composure when the goal beckons.

without opening the whole Baz discussion on here - we do have plenty of bodies. We have a crowded keeper room, so I'm slightly surprised we are signing Long until someone departs.

When he played at wing back he was bloody brilliant. Our best player in several games. I fully agree, he has a great engine. It was when we reverted back to a 4-3-3 that he lost his way a little. Not sure why. I love the fact he wants to be on the ball and is happy to dribble all day long. That was what made us a good side last season. Having two dribblers. You have to to have that type of player as they open up the space. If everyone just passes you end up running out of ideas.

I was not as excited as most when we signed him. I thought he looked a decent championship player and no more than that. Having watched him for a season, I think that assessment still stands, however, I think I may be more appreciative of what he offers than others. You don't need me to comment on his end product, but what he does have is a terrific first touch. He can take the ball with back to goal on the touchline with a guy up his arse and he almost never gives it away. It may have to go backwards, but so what? He is a terrific out ball. When Bree or whoever plays it down the line, it sticks. And that is very important. Lose it there and you can be in trouble very quickly. The other thing he does is take the ball on the move well (not Lallana well, but not far off) and usually coming inside where there is space. He tore Brum to pieces at SMS doing that all game. I know it annoys some, as it appears he is going nowhere, but that taking the ball first time and dribbling inside helps beat the press, takes the pressure off and really upset opponents with players unsure whether to go with him or let. him continue unopposed. Without him doing this our ball retention can suffer and the whole team can look like they are struggling. With him and Matsuki, I cant see us buying a right winger. The left side may be the focus.

Didn't Gordon sign for Barca a couple of weeks ago?

You can stay at saints on £60k a week and play in the Championship or earn an extra £3m to do the same job, at Newcastle, playing in the PL and the CL. It's an absolute no brainer.

A massive bonus will pale into insignificance compared to a PL wage. If players get a PL offer they are probably not going to say no. Of course, if they are under contract, they have no choice but to stay until we sell them. If they aren't, we are still an attractive option as we can pay more than most of the other championship clubs.

Maybe. I think my point is he hasn't signed for us because he loves it here, he has signed because we have financially compensated him at the rate he desires. Loving it here obviously hasn't done any harm, he ain't signing if he didn't want to be here, but if let's say Brentford had offered to double his wages on a four year deal and a starting berth in the PL, do you think he'd think twice?

From a media perspective, you'd want to put these great positive news stories out separately not all at once. It's a long summer with very little to announce. Dropping them all in a day seems silly - even if they are all done.

don't get me wrong, I think he is great, but players usually sign for us because we are their best option financially not because they like the head coach.

his £125k a week wages or whatever it is are not an easy pick up though. Personally, I couldn't recommend him high enough, but there have been a few on here suggesting we would have been better spending the money on an outfield player...perhaps those clubs might think the same? I'm surprised Newcastle have not bought him, but I guess they don't have the CL money so may need to go a little cheaper on a reserve keeper next season.

Would he? If so, why the hell wouldn't he have accepted them? Saints are great, obviously, but is he really turning down a bigger club and more money (assuming they were offering first team football)?

who is club captain currently? It kind of feels like Stephens has that role already.