CamSaint

It seems to have escaped most people's attention that SR were present at the Everton match, so Ralph started with all of the summer signings except Lavia (injured) and Edozie. Whether that was because SR wanted to see them in action or whether Ralph wanted to put 2 fingers up at SR and say 'this is what you bought me & it isn't good enough" we'll never know. However, to me it is telling that it is the one and only time that they've all started a match.

I cannot believe that SR have not been working on a possible Ralph replacement for if/when they pull the trigger. It could easily be that they have identified someone that we've never heard of. Who knew anything about de Zerbi before Brighton brought him in?

But it wasn't overall. The golf and cricket were suspended for one day on Friday which meant no one could watch the golf or cricket on that day. The PGA tournament at Wentworth has been reduced to 54 holes, presumably making it a less challenging competition this year. Football has effectively suspended one set of matches, but because of TV this spreads over several days. Imagine the outcry if Saturday's matches had been called off as a mark of respect but Sunday & Monday's had been allowed to go ahead, both in terms of some fans being able to watch their teams and others not, and additional fixture congestion for some clubs and not others. Rugby seems to be the big exception, as you rightly say, taking a different approach.

Interesting to note that Redmond's impending departure leaves us with 24 players in the 1st team squad. This includes Willy and Tino, and with Lavia now injured we are down to 21 available for the 20 needed in a matchday squad. A couple more injuries and we will be needing to go to the B team to supplement the bench. Good for the 'pathway' for our youngsters, but may leave the bench a bit weaker.

Dan Nlundulu back from Cheltenham in January - problem solved

Dependent on them getting a replacement before their window 'slams shut' tonight?

With regards to Gapko, it would appear that he's the one that SR want, but how far do both sides go with brinkmanship? I wonder if Saints have another target lined up that they could switch their attention to at the 11th hour if Gapko falls through?

Dibling came on as a substitute for Chelsea in the 1-1 draw against the U-18s, but didn't score.

Agreed, and he was consistently making himself available and working the ball around. One of these days it will click for him. In my opinion he was very unlucky with the shot that was cleared off the line by the defender who knew absolutely nothing about it. Compare that to Che's first goal on Saturday where the ball hit the defender on the line & went in. On a different note, I thought Payne looked very good going forward but struggled a bit defensively. I went with my son & young grandson who go to the Abbey fairly regularly and we sat more or less by the halfway line on Payne's side in the first half. He committed to several challenges particularly early on where he got skinned but fortunately the side didn't get punished for it. Having said that, he has a good eye for a pass & overall it was a very positive debut. It would have been good if Ballard could have had a few more minutes. The lad oozes confidence and showed a natural striker's instinct to follow up & convert the rebound for his goal. He looks a real natural. Good performance overall. Thought SA played well, Lyanco was his usual self. Funniest moment was when Payne was substituted. He was down with cramp for a while, so most players took the opportunity for a drink. Djenepo had come on earlier into midfield. When the substitution was made, Valery went over to RB, but Djenepo wandered back into midfield leaving a huge hole at LB, with Lyanco screaming and gesticulating at the bench saying 'who's supposed to be in this hole?!" (or words to that effect). Eventually they got Djenepo's attention and he then ambled back to take up his position. There was also a lovely moment when the Saints fans sang and applauded for David Armstrong. It was a really enjoyable evening. Took me back to our League 1 days, going to grounds like Dagenham & Redbridge, Southend (where the roof leaked!) & Wycombe - happy days!

I thought that I had read somewhere that Villa had enquired about a loan for JB rather than buying him?

Maybe this will be the season that the 'magic' figure of 40 points will not be enough to guarantee safety - it has happened before.

All good points. I must admit I had not thought of the free transfer route for full back cover. And yet that's exactly what we did with the goalkeepers last year when Willy was Initially brought in for one month to cover when McCarthy & Forster were injured, and then that was further extended to the end of the season. It is therefore quite possible the club might be prepared to take a chance on doing the same in the event of KWP picking up a significant injury, rather than use up valuable funds on a backup that might barely play, especially if they see evidence that Tino is making good progress in his recovery/training. It is a shame that Saints don't have access to the magic money tree that politicians on both sides of the political divide find so useful 😊.

Could be a major problem for the club if it is affecting travel for crucial transfer discussions.......

Interestingly, in the list of PL transfers posted by @le_tiss earlier in this thread, 7 other clubs as well as Saints have yet to spend more than £20M on a single player so far this window: Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton, Palace, Fulham, Leicester and Newcastle. Of course this will no doubt change by the time the window 'slams shut', but it does show that we're not the only ones who have been shopping at the lower end of the market with just a couple of weeks to go.

If we do go for an 'experienced' CB, it is essential that he has the qualities that we need, not just games under his belt, and your assessment seems very sound. After all, Bednarek has played in 132 PL matches, yet lacks most of the qualities you highlight! Assuming Arsenal were willing to sell, I wonder what he would be valued at, and whether his salary would be beyond us?

Watkins has scored 25 PL goals for Villa in 73 matches, so roughly 1 in 3 - around 12 goals in a full season. Of course he is ex-Brentford and a classic example of the model Saints are working to: Brentford bought him for £6.5M in 2017 (when he was 21) and sold him to Villa in 2020 for £30.4M. In his 3 seasons with Brentford he scored 49 goals in 143 appearances in all competitions. So he has had a similar goal return in the PL as he had in the championship. So PL-proven, he could probably do a good job for Saints but would the club splash the cash for him?

I was trying to work out where he might go. Forest have Henderson, Fulham have just got Leno & Bournemouth have just signed Netto on a free (presumably as back-up). The only place I thought he might get a chance of first team football is Leicester, but surely they wouldn't come knocking again, would they.........? Other than that, I guess it would be bench warming for a club who would pay more than we are but I have no idea who that might be.

And yet he didn't even get onto the pitch yesterday in our final pre-season match, when we were chasing the game.....

Saints not allowed to stream the game live as today is the start of the EFL season. https://www.southamptonfc.com/news/2022-07-29/preview-southampton-vs-villarreal-pre-season-friendly-30-july-2022.

Caballero played 90 minutes for the B team last Saturday.

Anyone know how long it takes to get 'international clearance'? In other words, any chance he could be included in the squad for tomorrow's match?

To my mind, the key question is: 'How long are Saints prepared to wait?' Five and a half weeks until the transfer window 'slams shut' and in that time we play 5 PL matches. Given that Ralph has said been open about the need another striker, you'd like to think we'd want the 'Delap-type' striker to be involved in as many of those matches as possible. With at least 3 of those games against the big boys, the new striker might not necessarily make a difference to the outcome of those games, but training and playing in as many of them as possible would be invaluable to the team. We clearly have pushed hard for Delap, but if City really are adamant that Delap will only be allowed out on loan, and with Burnley keen on him, that could be a deal that is finalised quickly and we move on. Or are Saints prepared to take him on loan and potentially end up in the same position at the end of the season as we were with Broja? If we are, then surely that deal could be struck quickly. However, if the Delap deal doesn't go our way would the club be prepared to wait as long as it takes in the hope they can get Broja back? The club has moved pretty swiftly so far this window, and I am sure that they have other strikers 'on the list'. I just wonder how long it will be before they make a move for someone else.

This guy is so well connected that this is very likely to be true, which would suggest we're not looking to buy an 'experienced' striker. If we were to land Delap, I wonder if there would be any attempt to loan out AA and loan in an experienced striker? My thought would be to loan Pukki from Norwich, with AA going the other way. Pukki has done well in his two PL seasons and, at 32, would probably relish the chance at not waiting another year to see if Norwich go up again. Meanwhile Norwich get a Championship-proven striker and AA gets the chance to regain confidence & the scoring habit. Not that much risk to Saints in terms of either loan, and if Mara and/or Delap develop well this year, we would start next season with 2 more established strikers who are ours, plus a returning AA with hopefully more confidence. Of course, this is a complete flight of fancy on my behalf!

If that's the case, that presumably makes it more difficult to tempt Colwill here, even if we offload Stephens, as that would suggest Colwill would only be first choice in a 3atb formation. Would that be enough for him?

Hopefully the formalities will be completed in time for him to be involved in the final 2 pre-season matches next week.