Chez

I'd like to see him sold and someone decent brought in.

Its only a pre season game, but getting stuffed at home does give indications of where we are at and what we have. It's a long season, plenty of time for the side to come together, but unless Hoj comes good we still have a huge gaping hole in the most important area of the pitch for another season. The club needs to stop simply seeing gaps in a 25 man squad and start seeing where players are not up to the very high standards we have set in recent years.

there are stats and there are stats, but that's quite damning and not unsurprising to me. Without VVD we have looked incredibly vulnerable in the air, not helped by losing the likes of Wanyama, Morgan and Pelle. Our side is far too small IMO.

on the transfer fee, but what about wages?

Are they? Only difference I see between the two clubs (apart from the obvious) seems to be that one has a player willing to get on with things until a move comes to pass, whilst the other has a player sulking in an attempt to force a move.

Everton were probably worthy winners, but were fortunate with their goal and a tad lucky not to concede.

not sure how many of those `chances' were guilt edge though. Lots of half chances and shots, but how many `seriously, he should have scored that chance'? I don't blame the midfield for that. I'd put our problems down to a lack of quality throughout. Defensively we were only good enough when our midfield provided the right kind of protection. They did this, but it prevented us from getting bodies into the box to help score goals. When we pushed men forward, we left big gaps. Getting the balance between attack and defence is critical, but without the quality of player in the middle it is very very difficult to do both. I don't think we had that quality of player and as a result they couldn't do both tasks. A lack of quality also led to the ball being given away a lot, lots of energy used trying to get it back and not enough energy used making runs and stretching teams the other way. We also didn't have individuals that could unlock doors fully. Lots of decent passing, but very little Cryuff turn before finding an unmarked man arriving late into the box. We also didn't have individual that could get us out of jail defensively when hit on the break. The number of times we used to be caught out from our own corners but Morgan would race back and extinguish an attack. Without him we got hurt on the break a lot. What does that matter in this conversation, well, conceding goals and going behind just makes scoring even harder as teams sit back and close off the space leaving us with half chances. A lack of quality could be seen by the number of poor first touches, passes not perfectly placed or weighted, headers not won...the list goes on. Lots and lots of small things that add up to us not dominating and not creating guilt edge chances - just shooting opportunities. Maybe I have over complicated things...but I have seen a gradual erosion of quality in recent years that was covered up by the brilliance of Mane. Take that out and we became largely average, not terrible, not without good points, but overall average. The solution - better players!

I agree. Business first, Trophies second, but I guess in this day and age and with the amount of money involved that is essential. Regarding buying old heads, I am not sure you can get away with it as much as you could. I still think Jimmy Case was one of our best signings, but wonder if he would have had enough in his legs to be effective at the same age in the current game? Putting to one side that hes a total ****, would you have taken John Terry for example? Returning to the ownership, I still think the most important aspect is leadership. I was not a Nik Nak fan, but whatever he said and did always made me believe that even though we were not the biggest club, we saw ourselves becoming one and we would be doing everything in our power to be one. If that meant giving players big contracts to ensure they didn't get their heads turned, he would do that. Whether that would have worked when Lallana got the chance to go to Liverpool I don't know, but the current leadership has to reignite that feeling that the group really are going places together and to leave now would be tantamount to treason...

I'm not one that calls for ex players to come back and coach etc, but with his experience at all levels and in different departments, Adkins doesn't half strike as someone suitable for a role on our football board, should there ever be a space available. Maybe Les wouldn't fancy it, but he comes across as very pragmatic and is certainly a very good ambassador for Saints. I couldn't stand his press conferences, but remove him from that pre and post match spotlight and he speaks a fair bit of sense.

Currently addicted to Slowdive's fantastic come back album entitled Slowdive. How do they come up with these titles? Anyho, it's absolutely ****ing brilliant.

Is he any good The9? Would you be comfortable with him displacing Forster and playing the entire season as our first choice? Reserve keep has been a blind spot since we allowed Boruc to leave.

but we aren't at the top of the football pyramid, so we are effectively a stepping stone to a player aiming to reach the top of the pyramid. Anyone thinking otherwise has their head in the sand. Or, are you saying that when we recruit, we shouldn't be saying to the player that `if he does well for us for a few years and then get an offer from Man U we wont stand in their way'? Are we giving that line to players now? Does that help us get better players? Did we manage to sign Wanyama and VVD because we said exactly that? If we hadnt said it would they have gone elsewhere to a club that did? I notice that Rogers revealed that he had said exactly that to Moussa Dembélé. Come here, play well for two seasons and then the floor is yours son. How you retain talent is very difficult. Perhaps things have gone too far and players now don't think a side will stick together, so they will always jump at a move. Perhaps only a new owner and management team that make the players believe that things have now changed and that the club really is looking to keep a team together (like Spurs are trying) and will pay what it takes to do so. However, can that even be done without taking on greater debt.

Are we the best of the rest though?

Gulp. Now you that's the way to turn a title contender into a league winner.

is that just the transfer fee or the wage packet as well...blimey...

very good point. I'm not suggesting that is all sat in the bank, but it could well be. You'd hope that after five years or so in the top flight we would have got our cash flow sorted to enable us to make signings without having to get bridging loans

he'd be the best centre back there, immediately. Cahill is pretty average (when you are looking at the very top CL level, as Chelsea no doubt are) and Luiz is no better than when he first got there, he just looks better when he has two CBs to cover any mistakes and poor positioning. although when compared to what we would be left with: Stephens --- Yoshida --- Bednarek its looks formidable, as you first said.

that pundit has a point, although Toby does seem to get injured a fair bit, which might put them off paying the mega bucks they would need to get him.

They certainly do. When does the prem money get paid into the bank account? That seemed to be the problem in terms of cash flow in the past causing Nik Nak to get a loan

blimey that's small. So they must be dividing the away end. Shame. No way of selling the initial batch of tickets quick, see the demand and then buy the next allocation...who am I kidding.

we've just gone through a golden period in our history. I don't see that we need to push on, I see us needing to desperately try and replicate some of that again. We need to find real youth talent again and again and again. We need to acquire the best player in the Dutch or Scottish league and find that international class defender stuck in Athletico's reserves. More scouting, more watching games, more work behind the scenes to find talent. We need a little more power, steel and single minded ruthlessness (not cloggers, just win at all costs type) in combination with real skill merchants in the final third. We have become a little second best in places and slightly devoid of real top notch ball playing. Maybe we need to cut our losses on one or two players that have not set the world on fire, and fill that squad with more talent. At the moment we only seem to buy when a gap opens up in the squad. It's not simple or cheap to move players on that you don't want, but that's how we can make progression. Upgrading rather than settling for what we have and what has come through. If Targett doesn't become one of the best left backs in the next couple of years, move him on. Let's not keep him because its cheaper, lets look to upgrade. It's all about finding and nurturing the right players. The talent is everything not the spend. Yes we will need to fork out, but £150m a season is a fair amount to play with. None of this requires a sugar daddy, it just requires great scouting and a burning desire from our management and staff to find and sign up the right players. They key therefore for me is can the current owner and her management team continue to drive this. It starts from the top. there must be a desire.

you mean its clear we need an owner willing to saddle us with greater debt...to get us to 7th place ion a regular basis?

will it be built in the harbour underwater? If yes, then its a fully blown stadium, otherwise its just a training ground...

I really struggle to understand why Man City, Man United and Chelsea are not smashing our door down in an attempt to sign him. I guess they must have all asked tentatively if he was for sale and what kind of figure we might want and the reply of `no' and or `£75m' was enough to put them off.

Is Man City's spending based on Prem money, sponsorship and commercial income? I don't know, but I agree that owners shouldn't need to be expected to spend their money propping up a club when the income they get from TV etc is so huge.