Chez

Very good post. I keep reading that our squad has been strengthened, but using your theory, we are likely to get maybe one or two into the first team (let's say one, plus Aribo), which means we haven't strengthened it greatly, especially with Forster and Broja departing. Time will tell.

and when scrutinised, his defending was all that great IMO. Ball watching is not a positive attribute. it's worth mentioning Simeu was also signed last summer and he was good enough to get a loan at League 2 Carlise.

of the sides that stayed up, we finished third bottom. Not hard to understand why many see us as potential fall guys. I'm nervous about how many of the signings will play from the off. We needed to bolster the first eleven. Aribo is one, but will there be any others that make the starting eleven?

lets hope they are not looking at the same strikers as we are.

why shouldn't Forest have bene promoted given their squad? What was wrong with their squad? What's problematic for them is that they had lots of loans and many went back. However, they have bought well, so the momentum they had last season, which saw them slaughter teams like Leicester (did we slaughter any Prem sides by the way?) may still be carried over. Our issue is the horrific form over the last 14 games. Will we be able to get out of that funk? I certainly hope so, but you would be sticking your head in the sand if you ignored it completely. In my opinion we are rivals. We are a bottom 10 side, bottom 6 last season and who knows this. I'm a pessimist. I know that. But we came 15th last season. You cant get away from that. Forest cold go down and be 3 places below us. We are rivals.

3rd kit looks alright, I suppose. The stripes under the arms are interesting, but feel a little bit out of place with this unusual dark green with the print. I struggle to see a connection between the print and the propellor blades. Its a stretch, but whatever. I like the coloured hoops on the socks. I don't think I have ever seen three kits so completely separate from each other. Not sure that matters. Variety is the spice... Still dislike the home kit. It's not the abundance of white, which I don't mind at all, its just that stacked badges look shite...and the black lines are ugly...its poorly designed, probably due to compromise required to meet a request from a clueless exec at Saints.

come on now, enough is enough.

As was pointed out to me yesterday, he has three years left on is contract, so we are in the driving seat so to speak. Next summer is the one when a new contract/player sale decision really will need to be made to avoid him leaving for buttons (which is financial suicide for a club of our size). At some point though, we are going to have to accept that a player we rate highly will be sold to balance the books.

If he wont sign a new contract, like Ings wouldn't, then I am happy the club sells now. It makes total financial sense, unless we think he will score 20 goals this year and his value goes through the roof. I recall lots saying we would be relegated if we sell Ings. We weren't relegated and that £35m enabled us to buy Armstrong, Livramento, Perraud and loan Broja. Players come and go. All that matters is who replaces the guy that departs. The next guy might be Ings mark II. Equally he might be Armstrong mark II.

You think they will be top half and us bottom? We came 15th last year, a point ahead of 16th and two ahead of 17th. 18th is relegation. Where do you think Forest will come?

We certainly don't need another Tella. I was hoping for a Henri Kamara type, pace and skill to create and score his own chances. I am guessing from the photos that he's not a powerhouse forward? I'm really looking forward to seeing him, Livia and B-K in the first team quickly proving we have signed talent for now as well as the future.

Everton have money to spend then after all.

Not seen Mara yet, but does he offer similar attributes?

I thought we'd be stuck with Djenepo, Theo etc. all summer and then possibly loan them at the end of the window, if we were lucky. If they are not good enough for us, but on significant Prem wages, they are not attractive signings to others.

even Barca's money tree has its limits.

Hope you are right. Broja ain't coming here, so I hope whoever does is better than him. Whoever it is, they will need to be good, because in general we created little last season and Aribo can only do so much to change that.

Mikel John Obi round 2.

Would be a shit domino rally (from Saints point of view) if United get Sesko and Chelsea move for Sasa Kalajdzic.

Is it Ronaldo?

Tuchel's last comment about Broja was that he wont be sold, but whether he stays at Chelsea or gos out on loa again is still to be decided.

That sure is a big price. I can see why we bought B-K from abroad.

...case in point. Where's the post about Che going missing and doing fuck all in the last half of the season? He did very little, but Che gets the pass. My eyes saw it differently, but that's what the games all about. I'd happily swap Che for Broja. It's moot of course.

You are preaching to choir when it comes to Scamacca. Would have been the perfect striker for us. Alas, West Ham are far more attractive than Saints right now. Would be interested to know the miles run by all our forwards, and number of sprints (ad their distance) etc. I don't think Che works harder than Broja but I might be wrong. I don't see Che running the channel, playing on the shoulder, busting a gut to charge the keeper down. He hold the ball up well. That takes effort, but is it workrate? I've read so many times about Broja going missing during the run in, but what about Che? Did he create lots or score lots? Didn't he go missing? Who didn't go missing in the run in? The whole team was woeful, but I don't see "Stuart Armstrong went missing" or "JWP...:only Broja gets that description. Would you swap Che for Broja?

I seem to recall many Saints fans on here calling for Broja to start ASAP (after those early cameos) because it was obvious he was better than what we had...and they were right. Sounds like Ralphs `motivational' words worked...and he seems to have taken the same line with Mara. Hopefully he gets a tune out of him too.

Ah right. I didn't know that. I didn't watch that game. He played all 120 minutes of that game, with the manager taking Tella and Redmond off. If the manager is not happy with the performance and work rate you'd think substituting you would make more sense than telling the press afterwards that you need to work harder. Did he have an issue with Broja's work rate thereafter?