CSA96

Something close to this

O Jogo now reporting that Saints and Porto close to an agreement at €7.5m for Bednarek to move to Portugal

Yeah, I wasn't criticising it!

Bertrand? Yeah the stuff about the chauffeur-driven car to and from training is true, think he still lived in Surrey the whole time he played for us. Might have had an apartment for a bit but definitely didn't move his family down to Hampshire. Not sure on what he was like in terms of interactions but you could always tell (and still can) he has that 'I'm a Champions League winner from Chelsea' swagger about him with the way he is

Will Still post-Espanyol to the Daily Echo: There are players that need to go, there are players that want to go, there are players that need to come in, and players that need to come in quickly. But the good thing is that everyone's aligned on that, everyone knows that that's the case, and I think that's just shown today. I think when I got here, we spoke in the early days of when I was here, that the squad is going to change. It's too big and there are too many players and there are certain players that want to and probably need to move on, and that's fine. But I think now with two weeks to go, we've seen everyone, we've established who is who and who's going where and who's doing what. Now we need to make a decision and make a cut of who's going to be here and who's not going to be here, and keep pushing towards that. Not just because it's needed and because that's what is best for every individual, but for us as a collective as well.

Couple of interesting quotes from Will Still on the club website post-Espanyol on the note of transfers... "My reflections are that it showed exactly where we still need to improve. It shows why we still need to strengthen, as well. ... "We know he's got quality [Damion Downs], that's why he's here. We want to surround him with a bit more quality and a bit more personality. I think that's what showed today."

WS interview on the club website - BBC interview coming just after 2pm apparently Reflections on the game... My reflections are that it showed exactly where we still need to improve. It shows why we still need to strengthen, as well. But there are positives: Damion came on and got his first goal, the first bunch of players have got 90 minutes in their legs, which is what we wanted. We've again finished off a big week of work and intensity in training to get to where we want to get to. We don't need to be ready right now and we knew we weren't going to be. Like I said at the start, that just shows where and what we still need to do things. The two goals conceded... I think the first one's unlucky and then lacks a bit of communication and decision-making. The second one is ridiculous. I can't understand how that is a penalty. But you're in Spain and with a Spanish referee. Hopefully in the Championship that won't be a penalty because there's nothing there. But we can improve on the first one, 100 per cent. We should communicate. I'm not looking for excuses but when you change the back line, that's always something that you're liable to then happening. I think it was a fair reflection of where we're at. Damion Downs... It was a great finish and a great move. But we could only play him for 20 minutes, os that's what we did. We pushed him a little bit further but we know he's got quality, that's why he's here. We want to surround him with a bit more quality and a bit more personality. I think that's what showed today. The week as a whole... All defeats are annoying, especially in the manner of the goals. But it's not important right now, the main objective is to be ready when we need to be ready - and to keep working on the things that we need to work on. As a whole, the week has been really positive. We've had time with the players, we've had time on the pitch and time altogether. That's what we need to focus on. Playing at St. Mary's next weekend... Buzzing. We've got a good week back at home, preparing and getting ready for the Championship to start in the week after. Obviously, playing in front of our fans for the first time is one that we will look forward to and it will be good.

We've not used any loan slots yet, tbf. Think it's fairly possible, maybe go as far as likely, to say we'll sign a 10 and a wide player, and loan one more in before the window shuts and PL clubs decide who isn't in the fold

I find it hard to care about preseason results, and a Championship team losing to a La Liga team isn't concerning at all. But the manner of the performance does concern me a bit. Look totally devoid of ideas in the final third. A load of people who want to finish a move but nobody to knit it together, to pick the pass, to commit. On the one occasion we actually gave our new striker a decent look to work with, he buried it and scored

Has anyone actually given Damion Downs a few passes to work with?

Subs on 62 mins On: Wood, Manning, Sesay, Downs Off: Edwards, Welington, Fernandes, Archer

Exactly, I don't know why people keep expecting him to do anything other than run off the shoulder and shoot, plus a bit of sniffing out chances in the box when there's a scramble. That's his entire game He can't link the play and create for other people, it's not who he is. Speaking of which, have Saints ever had a small striker up front on their own and had success with it? I don't recall anyone making it work

Tell a lie: Quarshie and BBD replaced by Bree and Robinson

No HT changes today, first time Still has done that. Pushing up the minutes for the starters

Think there's a point in this. We've got too many people who want to finish an attacking move (Archer, Arma, BBD...) and not people who can actually create the openings, getting themselves into the final third and opening up space (Dibling, Fernandes with movement, running, passing... Downs with link up play)

That’s it for me. Until you have Downes, Dibling back available and Downs has some minutes in him, I’m not sure what else you can really do with the forward options at this point, unless you prefer to see Stewart/Robinson

Came off injured against Castellon

Is it not pretty obvious why goalkeepers and strikers are a bit different in that regard?