Professor

Rupert Lowe was spawn of the Devil whose only purpose in being involved with Saints was to enrich himself so that he could buy more babies to eat. How do I know? I read it on here! I do recall also that he oversaw the construction of the SMS although he warned at the time that it was only affordable as long as we stayed in the Prem. He tried to stave off relegation by employing Redknapp, who like it not, is widely regarded as an effective manager, and Lowe gave him the funds to bring in new players in that January window. In the end, one more goal scored to change a draw to a win, would have kept us up and sent down WBA instead. It was obviously Lowe's fault that we didn't score that goal so he got what he deserved.

There are two certainties that come out of this - (1) that a manager and chairman can't be forced to sell a player if they hold his contract, and (2) that no club can force a player to perform to the best of his ability if he doesn't want to play for them. Blackpool can certainly hold on the Phillips and continue to pay him his NpC level wages but they risk paying him to play in the reserves and to see his value fall.

I'd rather see us buying Matt Phillips than Ramirez because I don't think we need them both and because, as Adkins says, its a team game and is about the squad, not the individual. Phillips would fit in well, has all the skills we need, and would not cause any unrest amongst the squad that breaking the pay structure for Ramirez might well do. But my biggest fear is that we don't buy either and go into September without the extra wide threat that we need. No, sorry about that, its my second biggest fear. Failing to sign 2 CBs is my biggest.

A player being available does not mean that SFC are actively considering him. The link in the press is to QPR so apart from the fact that we are, or should be, desparate to get two CBs from somewhere, what evidence is there to take seriously?

As good as yesterday's performance was....... hang on it wasn't that GOOD because we were outplayed for much of the game and were lucky because of City's glaring misses, but it was good in parts. Adkins had clearly got a plan and the team responded well, with vigorous defending and breaking well when the opportunity came, but if the intention was to play possession football, that didn't come off when you saw how much possession City had and how much our players had to run around. But the tactics were good, given the players picked to play. Where I take issue is with the selection. Can't see the logic of having two of our best players on the bench. When they came on, they both scored, so what might they have done if they'd been on for 90 minutes? Had we then needed an impact sub, Billy Sharp would still have been available and could have done more than the pointless 5 minutes or so he got at the end. Adkins said afterwards that leaving Lambert out was a 'massive' call. Yes Nigel, and it was the wrong call as Rickie showed when he got the chance.

To stay in the Prem its essential that you win your home games. The side were so well organised at Man City that there's every reason to exepect the same 'all out' approach at home. As long as Adkins gets his selection right this time a good win should be on the cards.

Sorry chaps and chapessies but why is it clever management to leave your best goalscorer on the bench? Lambert plays for just 35 minutes and scores 1 goal, so might he not have scored more than 1 if he'd played 90 mins? Ditto Steve Davis, our most experienced player at this level, produces a brilliant counter-attack and scores but was only on the field for 25 mins. I must be missing something if keeping your best players out of the game is good tactics. It might also be why we lost. The team played incredibly well and Adkins deserves all the credit for that but lets not be blind to the fact that City had most of the possession and most of the scoring chances, maybe because we didn't have our best team on the pitch for most of the match.

Guly down the middle instead of Lambert.......Oh Noooooooooo Ward-Prowse preferred to Steven Davis...........What?????????? Rodrigeuz on the wing.....................OMG If Saints are not beaten with this line up, Adkins will deserve all the credit..................but if they are.....................

Why would any player leave Southampton, a club in the ascendency, to play for a club that is in decline? Check how many points Liverpool and Spurs have got between them after the first weekend.... We doi still need those CBs but Phillips would have it in his own hands to make the team a success by the extra quality he brings to one of the few positions where its needed.

NA knows what he wants but its not clear how involved he is in the actual transfer decisions (or non-decisions). Hearing him congratulate the cub on the ambition it has shown by being linked with a rumoured £12m signing from Serie A made him sound more like an observer than a member of the transfer team. Fact is, the club has off-loaded its two second string CBs and the only cover now is the inexperienced Jack Stephens. Even the injured Jack Cork isn't available so if one or both of our CB suffers an injury against Man City the situaltion will be dire, but created of the club's own failure to prioritise the CB position and the lack of urgency. The manager has gone public on the need for CB signings and has been let down, as it is already too late to affect the early season games. Making signings after points have been lost is not the intelligent way to proceed.

Why is so much effort put into pre-season if key positions are not filled until after the season begins? The CBx2 signings are crucial, having shipped out 2CBs. But those coming in will need time to bed in and are not even here yet.just suppose Fonte gets a red card on Sunday and Jos is injured.

I like change - but only if change is for the better. The OS is harder to navigate, harder to read and I will now make much less use of it.

If that is also the assessment of the club management it would suggest that the Prem was not being taken seriously, but if it isn't their assessment, then I'd be worried about complacency. The only hope seems to be the unexpected, that the best team we can put out performs beyond expectation, unless of course, our best team is seriously improved over the next week or so with 2 CBs and a fast RW. Anyone holding their breath?

Ricky Lambert says the 4-0 defeat by Udinese could be a blessing in disguise. If it helps us all get used to losing to premier quality teams maybe so. Perhaps we should hope for a heavy defeat at Man City to take forward the learning process. Just a few weeks ago, it was exciting to anticipate competing for real in The Prem based on statements from the club about long term ambition and seeing the first 3 signings adding quality to the team. But in the last month things have changed. The only addition a reserve GK, a poor record in the pre-season games, quite a reliance on newly promoted teenagers and an away draw to a championship side followed by a heavy home defeat to a Prem level side. Excitement is turning more towards a worry that we could be humiliated. Obviously, none of us know what will happen in the first 6 games, or whether there are signings of real quality to be unveiled in the next 3 weeks. If we are mid table by the end of Sept the excitement will be back, but at the moment I just can't see it.

Amongst other things, the forum is here to comment on the running of the club, so telling someone to shut up seems rather silly. Let's hope the people running the club don't take Nexstar's advice, because once the season starts, poor performances will mean lost points and it will be very hard to turn around a poor start. As for lack of signings, there's not much point of complaining AFTER the window shuts when its too late for the club to do anything about it. Complaining now can have an effect as shown by Nigel Adkins' press conference where he said he wanted to assure fans signings were on the way, so the unrest seems to be on the club radar. Unfortunately, its looking as if any signings now will not have as much effect on the early games as they would have done if made weeks ago. One way to counter that would be to raise the level of the player quality brought in - in other words spend more now than might have been necessary in early July - but the probability of that looks very low. Already it looks as if some approaches failed for financial reasons and the 3 week halt on signings is very worrying.

According to The Mirror, it is in order to force through the move to West Ham. Maybe he thinks WHU are showing more determination to build a squad that will stay in The Prem. A shame if true, because he would improve a position for Saints that needs improving. What is wacky is the untrue suggestion that fans would expect transfer negotiations to be conducted in any other way. Whether negotiations are going on privately we can't know, but what we do know is that none have been successfully concluded now for over 3 weeks and that the season starts in 8 days time.

As per what others have said, Wigan tickets are available on the website and the buyer can also buy a Man U ticket, which at this stage gives priority at the Man U game to people buying for at least one other game. For anyone new to SMS unless going behind the goals, at this time of the year the Itchen Stand can be in full sunshine so Kingsland can be better, or else take a peaked cap.

The quote from Adkins in the Echo saying signings before the window closes is halfway encouraging. It shows that he wants to give fans some assurance after 3 weeks of stalled activity but it also postpones the date by which more signings were to be expected. He must have NC's backing to say that so maybe he's had a serious talk with the chairman. In the meantime, WHU seem to be more pro-active and might even be getting in first with bids for players who could be Saints' targets. As for the amount needed to be spent, if we seriously want to compete in a league where some clubs are spending £30m+ on one player its no use being frightened off at £10m. If we are, we may as well accept that we are to be lower league Prem at best and I didn't think that was the intention, so not a team of £10m+ players but maybe one or two might be unavoidable investment if we are to compete. Even if the Academy does hit the 50% first team target that still leaves 50% of the team to be bought in.

So there are players who may be for sale if the price is right, but the question is, "Is Southampton FC in the market?" It's now three weeks since any transfer activity. It doesn't matter who is available if we are not buying. We know from his statements that Adkins was expecting to make at least two more signings before the season began but with the first match now 9 days away, its already doubtful that any new player will have time to settle in sufficiently to have any impact in the Man City game. If Jarvis is available and we miss out on him, you would have to question why the club policy of doing more than just surving in The Prem seems to be fading. The failure to make the essential signing at CB is even more worrying and I'm beginning to feel sorry for Nigel because if nothing hapens soon, it will start to look as if he's being let down, as well as the fans. Sign Jarvis over the weekend and I'll feel a bit different, although it really needs the CB signing to restore full confidence.

looks like an excellent player for a team aiming for the Championship.

It does seem to be a mystery that transfer activity has stalled. Perhaps it is due to a potential sale of the club, but whatever the reason, signings in the next week are already too late to have any real influence of the team to play Man City.

I'd have Billy Sharp start as the form player but hopefully not in a 4-4-3 against MC away. 4-4-2 please, Nigel, and get the two banks of 4 fully disciplined over the next week. I'd also leave out the 2 CBs we haven't bought yet, even if we've bought them by then. If we haven't then of course leaving them out's not a problem.....

Just a rumour but ever since the death of Marcus Leibherr the long term ownership has been open to question. If true, could it be a reason for transfer activity appearing to pause?

Remember that AFCB were a strong team on promotion to L1 in 2010 and finished in a play-off spot in 2010/11 only 4 places below Saints when we finished 2nd to Brighton. Lee Barnard would be a good addition for them and it would be great to see them in the Championship.

It is an honour for Danny and its great for Saints to have an international player in the Scotland squad as it shows quality and gives the player extra high level experience. The 'your country' phrase might be a slight overstatement as Danny was born in Cheshire, his boyhood club was Everton and he played for England u-21 while he was with Coventry. But although his north of the border ancestry is limited to a Scottish grandfather, he does have a few games on loan to Stranraer and his time with Celtic to give him some genuine connections.