Chez

I'n gojng Chelsea. They feel like the underdog for some reason...mostly cos Liverpool are running rings round them. I fucking hate Liverpool.

Matic, Salah and Alisson injured so far...

Sam Matterface though.

maybe too expensive for the smaller sides, but too much of a gamble for the bigger sides?

Chelsea getting murdered at the minute ...just about hanging on though. If we play five at the back, like Chelsea, it will need to mean five, as Diaz is finding so much room as James pushes up.

Yep. I don't want LFC to win the quadruple, but enjoy seeing Chelsea lose. Hate both sides. Can't win.

I wonder who has the finds to afford him. If they want £20m...who has that? Forrest are gonna get promoted.

Forrest should be home free in this game and tie. Johnson really is a talent.

Agreed. I don't see us signing Lascelles at all. Just not good enough on the ball. Burnley might consider him to replace Tarkowski, but if you want to play out from the back, he's not you man.

We are one of the less well off sides, so we are never going to be able to afford to prise away a regular for another Premiership side. It costs a fortune to buy players that Prem teams actually rate. What sides of our size (the likes of Palace, Brighton, Watford, Burnley, Norwich, Fulham, West Brom) and financial weight class have bought that kind of player? Leicester's signed Vestergaard and Bertrand. But they have been living off the CL money and the huge player sales the last couple of seasons.

Guess that depends what you classify as first team: Walcott KWP Ings Redmond (Norwich just relegated) McCarthy Romeu Shane Long Bertrand

Lascelles doesn't feel like a step up to me either. He is not quicker and is uncomfortable with the ball at his feet, which is a major problem. He might be better in the air, maybe. Lascelles has been Newcastke skipper, so obviously has leadership qualities, but I am not sure you will find many Newcastle fans thinking he can help them get to the promise land. I suspect that if we had watched him play for Saints every week, we'd be wanting to upgrade from him this summer.

We have this discussion most summers. Which do you think is more likely. Agents giving a `heads up' to a journalist, helping give his client exposure and the journalist gets a story...or, Saints feeding stories of their interest in a range of players to a journalist to help sell season tickets? Has a single fan ever bought a season ticket because he thinks the club are being active in the transfer market? Equally, has any fan not bought a season ticket because he thought the cub wasn't going to be active? My guess, is that the club keeps its transfer business very close to its chest, so as not to draw attention that effect a deal going through...and...doesn't waste its time feeding false stories to the press to make it look like it being busy.

fair point. Not sure players at his level are keen to sign one year deals. It's a tricky situation. It would be nice to loan someone even better, but easier said than done. We feel wafer thin at full back, unless you have any confidence in Valery.

this. He looked slower this season than last though. Maybe him just getting up and down the line last season didn't expose that lack of blistering pace like it has this season when he got opportunities further forward. Not sure I can see him getting `it' back next season either, sadly.

Looked good in the Championship, but not sure he has excelled at the level above. At 29 he ain't getting better and he ain't going to make us money by improving and selling - so doesn't fit the business model.

he looked poor, exposed and didn't improve them as a side. At United he looked a good prospect IMO and I thought a loan to us made a lot of sense. He marauded down the left and his ability to put in a devilish cross using his left, despite being right footed, suggested he was a talent. At Norwich it was more about poor positional play, a lack of cutting edge pace and a failure to shutdown opposing wingers. He's still young and players like Bertrand had pretty average loan spells, so he might still be worth looking at - especially on a loan basis, although the wages were hefty as I recall.

I agree. I understand that not having transfer funds perhaps limits who we can bring in, but it shouts "we don't think we can do better", "we don't trust our scouting to improve us" - I am oversimplifying things, I know. If a player has had `three/four/five' years with us, and no bigger club has bought them in that time, is that an indication that they ain't all that, and thus rather than giving them a new contact, we should be cutting them lose rather than offer a new contract? By allowing them to leave, we open a slot for the next guy, who, rather than be just OK, could be the next big thing - and thus could make us money, not just cost us money? If the business model is based on us buying cheap, selling high, where does a player that doesn't ever sell/provide a return on investment fit in? Or will there always be a need for `our level players' that just aren't good enough to attract offers from richer clubs? I guess there aren't lots of buyers out there. And only the absolute very best ever get bought mid contract. Making money out of players is thus getting harder and harder. If thats the case though, should we not be picking up more out of contract players? I am still annoyed we didn't sign Omar Richards on a free last summer, all be it Bayern Munich is a different weight class.

Interesting to see what Championship (and lower) players have been bought by Prem sides (without them having been tested in the Prem before) and their relative success to date. Note that these are just those that are there (and some have a lot of football to play). I guess others will have been acquired and failed - hence no longer at the clubs, so this list shows the current `successes'. Liverpool - Gomez Spurs - Sessegnon West Ham - Bowen, Benrahma, Fredericks Leicester - Maddison, James Justin Newcastle - Lascelles, Darlow Villa - Matty Cash, Watkins, Ezri Konsa Brighton - Maupay, Adam Webster Palace - Olise, Eze Saints - Adams, Stephens Everton - Calvert-Lewin Burnley - Pope, Connor Roberts, Brownhill, Charlie Taylor Norwich - Max Aarons

He announced that he "may" retire when his contract ends in 2.5 years time. Two and a half years is a long time in football. The contracts of the vast majority of the squad will have ended by then.

Seeing as The Athletic were spot on about McCarthy, I think its safe to assume Stephens signed a new contract back in 2020 https://theathletic.com/news/exclusive-jack-stephens-agrees-new-long-term-southampton-contract/bo8LfBeiblPj/

It was interesting to see how Villa went about it last night. They flew out the blocks, with a `full court press' that paid dividend and they could have been two nil up after just a few minutes. Reminded me of them blowing us away. They got their goal, but Liverpool seem to find all manner of ways to score and immediately were back in the game. Villa had done little wrong, but nevertheless conceded. After that, they continued to press pretty hard and created a few chances as a result. As the half went on, they faded as an attacking force, Liverpool took charge and they were hanging on a bit. I think that fast attacking press worked pretty well though. It reminded me of us when at our best. Once Liverpool got control of the midfield the game was out of their hands a bit. In the second half, Villa were less on the front foot, but did offer a real cutting edge on the break and Ings had chances. Not sure Villa did a lot wrong to concede. Liverpool just pick men out well with crosses and when they do, the attackers tend to be very clinical. Sit deep and they still find a man in the box. Not sure I saw a way for us to get a result, but if you allow Liverpool to dominate, they will eventually score. I think you have to be brave and press with confidence (think that counts us out) in the first half and hope for mistakes and an early goal. The trouble with that, is we have bene trying it for months without any success.

I didn't see a player having a bad game, I saw a player ill-equipped to play at this level. His touch was simply woeful, like a league 2 player. Every single ball was mis-'controlled. It was embarrassing. It was like Djenepo, but worse. If he needs ten yards of space every time he gets the ball, he ain't going to cut the mustard. Like him of loathe him, Puel was right. You have to keep the ball at this level. Give it away and you are immediately under pressure. Give it away in midfield areas with players running beyond you, and you are dead. Maybe I saw the worst of him. His fitness levels are shocking. He wasn't up and down the line all game, yet he pulled up lame with cramp, again. Has he an underlying health issue?

Lots of people complained about the number of loans Chelsea had out, but they have it right. Get young players playing mens football. Simeu apart, for us it seems to be just to get them out of the building. I guess we expected both Tella and Smallbone to contribute, so didn't want to loan them out, but they haven't and should have farmed out in January.

I assume you didn't go to the Palace game, as Tella was absolutely fucking terrible and as per usual failed to last even 70 minutes before getting cramp - and not because he ran 12km. Very harsh I know, but I've completely lost faith in him as a player at the moment, having had high hopes or him in the summer.