Chez

people saying `no', have you considered that he may have had is best season last year and might not reach the same heights, probably will never score as many goals again, perhaps even gets injured....he's overdue one... OK, so thats the glass half empty scenario, but isn't selling layers at their highest price what we need to do to thrive?

Yes, of course, a club our size can't turn down that kind of fee, but no one is spending that. I wonder how we'd spend it. It's not easy spending money well. No one knows that better than us.

and I doubt we'd sell him for that. It feels like a similar situation to Zaha. We want £70m and other teams would like to buy, but not at that price, so he goes nowhere.

None really. Forster was fist choice. Not sure he was deadwood. We seem to have added bodies that we didn't have gaps for - an extra keeper and extra CB. Its normally one in and one out. With Simeu a year older, you could argue there's another body added to the first team squad. There has to be some departures coming, doesn't there?

Leeds' negotiating position seemed pretty strong. Two years to go, only 26 (a year younger than JWP) and first choice England player. I thought the deal would £50m+ My guess is his (Philips) agent hinted that he'd walk on a free in two years time, and like all clubs, Leeds can't allow that...its financial suicide... ...so, as you say, having those extra two years on JWP contract does make a big difference because we cant be held to ransom by the player threatening to walk on a free. When he's 31 we probably aren't worried about that happening. That said, maybe £45m is all we'd get for JWP. We shall see...or maybe not.

Ah yes, I did hear the MLS mentioned before. That might be a good move. I hope he is successful. He's a proper Saint.

He's the next Shearer. OK, so that's probably not true, but he does have all the attributes to be a very fine striker for someone. As has been mentioned, he is very quick and strong, but its not all straight line stuff, he has ball skills (dribbling) and ability to beat a defender all ends up. That's rare at the top level. I think his touch is decent too. Some Saints fans criticised he link up play, but it looked OK to me. He certainly looks at home at this level - he's a premiership standard player - there is no disputing that, but can he become a `Prem great'? There were a few occasions last season when he beat a man, the angle was tight and he still went for a shot, often skewing the ball wide. Some fans weren't happy at that. The term greedy was used and a lack of vision, but IMO you need strikers that take responsibility and are a little greedy. You don't want the skewing/shanking it wide though of course, and perhaps that is where he can improve - choosing not to shoot when its really not on. I should say that he didn't do this a loads, maybe five or six times, but it was noticeable. Of course, its easy to say he can improve there, but its a lot harder to actually do it. When it comes to attitude, that is something that will be argued about on here. Some suggested he switched off in the run in last season, but I'd counter that he looked royally miffed when dropped and seemed desperate for more goals. Perhaps that was for personal gain rather than the team, but who knows. All our strikers were completely starved of service, so I don't buy into the idea that he was on the beach before others. We were shite, everyone played shite. I don't see a lack of work rate or effort, ever. To get this far you have work your socks off. It makes me laugh when people question them as people. My money would be on West Ham getting him. He took them to pieces a couple of times, so they have seen the best of him. For me, £25m is a good price.

I can see suitors for Redmond (whether or not he's interested in them is a different matter), but I do wonder who is talking Walcott off our hands -unless we are paying 75% of his wages for the last year if his contract.

If JWP left, wouldn't that money be exactly what is required to try and sign the type of player you want (to overhaul the squad) - ie not a youngster with potential, but more of an existing talent perhaps from abroad? Unless of course the money we are currently spending on youngsters with potential IS the JWP money...

isn't this forum social media?

Strange. I don't think the BBC have ever used that term before for any previous huge transfer fee.

My guess is there was no deal agreed. We probably enquired about a transfer, but Chelsea perhaps wanted to wait until the summer before doing any deals. And here we are in the summer and they are now happy to sell, but the price they want is beyond us. We must move on, unless of course no one matches that fee. We probably would go to £20m, but not £30m. All guesswork of course.

I can't see us, Palace or Everton giving him first team football yet. So, if that's what he is after, that wont happen.

scored a lot of goals last season from midfield, and that's a skill in itself, but I am not sure he has the all round game to make the jump up to the Prem. I can see a Championship side taking him, but not sure a Prem side will. If they did, he'd be loaned out I suspect.

why on earth should we spend £20m on am wanted player Liverpool obviously rate less than the £5m right back they just signed from Aberdeen?

Hmm. Not 100% convinced by what I see in that video (certainly early on) - there is lots of being on the wrong side, desperate lunges and not a huge amount of comfort on the ball. Not easy to create an exciting video of a CB though, so I will reserve judgement until I see him live.

I really don't know what a football manager actually does these days, but in addition to tactics, man management and communication must be two of the most important elements. I don't have huge insight into his man management - I wasn't impressed with how he handled the McCarthy situation after the Brighton game, nor his handling of the forwards over the course of the season, but he seems to come across as a decent communicator...

Not impressed with him at right back at all, but if it was the odd game, no worries. He's been linked with Villa a lot, but Liverpool seem to want the earth for their rejects.

You have more confidence than me in our attacking prowess, but strengthening in every position is vital.

On leaving, he was complimentary, but I didn't get the feeling he thought he'd return.

the counter view would be, he missed the start of the season, but once he started he looked absolutely terrific, but lived off absolute scraps - as all the strikers did - in the final third of the season, which is why both he and they all failed to trouble the scorers. £25m is a lot of wedge to us, so maybe there are better options? Where's your £25m going?

It will be disappointing to see him sign for another Prem side. He is the ideal forward for a team like us - one that creates fuck all, so needs a guy like him that can out muscle/pace opponents. I think he'll go from strength to strength. It was clear from the way he `said his goodbyes' that he wasn't coming back, so no surprise. We are simply not attractive enough right now. Hope we can find someone equally impressive. Boy do we need more firepower.

There was about £26m of the loan left in the bank (in the last set of accounts). There was also outstanding money owed for some players. The Prem money is paid around now I suspect, so not sure cash flow would be an issue this summer, but balancing the books is a different story.

Has Willy actually signed a contract? It currently says on page 1 that he's here until 2023, but hadn't seen that announced.

I don't recall seeing any of the cavemen dojng handstands. Need to watch it again though, been a while.