Chez

Excellent, we have been in desperate need of a body language expert on this forum to help us understand the inner thoughts of players and staff.

I thought he look sharp, held the ball up well, kept possession and brought others into play. He had absolutely no service at all (which ringed a bell) because Albania were pretty poor. Not sure what you were expecting to see him do. Dribble past 8 payers and hit in into top bins? I think the injury he had was nasty, but it doesn't seem to have effected his pace. Still looks a talent to me. If we sign a better striker than him I'll be happy. Though Scamacca looked OK too. West Ham should have given him far more opportunities IMO.

isn't Moneyball all about spotting value (perhaps characteristics that can work well in your team structure/style) that others don't, rather than just buying cheap, selling expensive?

Is he any good?

That explains our massive annual losses, we are paying U21 coaches £50k a week.

The Nigerian?

He did the square route of fuck all last season, and wasn't all that impressive on the two proceeding seasons IMO. The three seasons before that it Liverpool he hardly played either.

Can't see him dropping from Arsenal to Saints. We just aren't an attractive proposition for players from these prestige clubs.

He'll be paid a decent Premier league player wage.

We could have used his wage to pay O'Hare. Perhaps he's not good enough for the Prem, but I'd like to have seen him given a chance.

Sounds a lot of money for a player they don't want.

who invited the Under Armour designer back in the building?

better man.

maybe, but Walcott signed a first professional contract, when he didn't need to, that guaranteed us £10m quid, at a time when we really really needed it. He's a fucking Saints legend in my eyes, no matter how his return to the club turned out.

I swear to god I was going to post earlier that I wouldn't be surprised if they announced his signing tonight, as attention would be on the Euros, but then again, the window opened today, so it was bound to be announced today at some point.

Certainly something you'd need to investigate a little before spending millions. Funny there was never any issue while he was at Forrest and he seems to have been a massive success at Genoa, so why did things go smoothly there, but not at Leeds? Did he become billy big bollocks after getting his Prem move? I think it was Warnock that loaned him out while at Boro. One reason for that was that they played a flat back four, had a decent right back already at the time and Spence was more of an attacking player. He played wingback at Forrest which better suited his skillset. I wonder if we will play wing backs anyway? Might be an idea, as our CBs are not good enough to cover so much space, but equally, gaps behind wingbacks get exposed far more in the top flight.

To play in Rome or Southampton...its the eternal question. Roma want Jonathon David. Hopefully they get him and then we can grab Simon Banza. I've read on t'internet that Banza has been "offered to Roma" (how true that is, who knows) so maybe Braga are looking to cash in (mid twenty million euros mentioned, which is one kind of money)...so maybe we will be the `next best car on the lot'.

I like O'Riley too. Might cost a few bob though. O'Hare and Hamer are other options. Prefer all three to Lallana, although i guess he'd play slightly deeper these days. Prefer Sander Berge or Ben Sheaf would offer a lot more energy. Downes goes without saying, but Sara might be an alternative option Out wide, we are obviously signing Fraser, but could we consider Fabio Carvalho or Summerville perhaps? The latter might be too expensive. Fatawu is another winger option. I think Leicester only need to find €14m to sign him. Sessegnon is worth a look, maybe as winger rather than a wingback. If we are going to play wing backs then Spence is an option, as he thrived in that formation, but he looks like he is going to sign for Genoa. If ABK is going to be back in the fold I can't see us signing another CB for a season, but Greaves is certainly an option. Is Chalobah out of our league? I still think Omar Richards could be the answer at left back. We must address that position. Is Dubravka going to be available? Caoimhin Kelleher is another option. I think we may McCarthy, but we should reinvest in this position. In terms of a striker. Blow every last penny on Simon Banza. Yeah, OK, Shankland it is then.

I see that West Ham have offered the (often mentioned) Ben Johnson a five year contract. That shows considerable faith and probably puts the kibosh on us signing him should we ever have been interested.

what has all that got to do Strachan?

I suggested 18 months ago the reason he had not signed a new contract was probably because he wanted £100k a week and we simply weren't offering him a deal like that. Not sure his stock has `risen' since then or our budget has increased, so if he does re-sign, I suspect it's because no one else is interested in him at that price and he has had to reevaluate his worth.

It seems strange that Che move was not locked up ages ago. Perhaps no other Prem sides have been interested and in reality we are the only top flight side making him an offer (and the Wolves stuff is just regurgitating the previous summer link)?

we are not selling by players by the yard.

Good to hear that, but in truth he has been pretty poor for us. It looked like RM didn't trust him or want to use him at all in the back end of the season. He's young and still learning the game, but he's going to need to show some progression, much more intensity and that quality you describe in preseason otherwise he isn't going to get a look in. I hope he does, otherwise it's yet another player we will need to bring in.

They did manage to buy Jordan Beyer. Did they want to sign the others? Obviously not at the prices required. I wonder what our limit is for Downes. £15m?