VectisSaint

He was u21 in Junuary, which I think is the "cut-off". Contract is up next summer, so perhaps we are looking to move him on. Hasn't appeared an any squads so far, 1st or u21, maybe he is injured.

Bit of an odd one, successful loans in L2 and L1 in last 2 seasons, he was highly rated in both, you would think a step up to Championship would be a logical step, but he hasn't been seen or heard of either with the first team or u21s. What happened to Thierry Small as well?

JWP will be relieved, Maguire transfer off.

I keep expecting Man City to come in and gazump both Chelsea and Liverpool, we could accept a lower sum from them. It does beg the question why did they put a 40m buy-back clause in when they sold him to us that can be invalidated if we sell him before the buy-back comes into effect (next Summer). There is something a bit odd about the buy-back agreement which I don't understand, unless of course City just don't want him any longer. Anyway, this now needs to be sorted pronto, so that we can get replacements in because we currently look very weak in CM without all of last season's players in that area, which was already a weak area in terms of strength in depth if not starters.

No problem with him leaving, would have been shocked if he stayed, but just feel he could have done better than West Ham who have the potential to be a bit of a basket case this season.

When the Saints was originally a funeral march, I assume they do still ramp it up a gear after the first few bars.

Point for fastest lap I believe 😂

Not sure you can say Tella has been very poor since Burnley, he did "score" a cracker last week against Wednesday, which unfortunately for him brushed some part of Armstrong's upper anatomy before going in.

Don't ignore Perraud for free kicks (if he is playing).

Doubt he will move to the area, don't think that is an issue (it is one of my ancestral homes on my Dad's side, I know it pretty well). I thought also his wife had said they weren't moving. Pretty sure JWP is not pushing for a move but think a better option will come along, especially now he knows he will be playing in front of Maguire, a real step down on Stephens 😉

It won't, players/coaches will learn to adapt to the rules, and the refs will also drop in there zealous approach. The whole point is to change behaviour of the players, and except for a few who will not be favoured by their coaches it will work.

It is sad when they leave, but I really feel he is making a huge mistake going to West Ham, it feels to me that they are going to be a shambles this season, he could do so much better even without joining a big 6/7 team. To me the obvious fit was Brighton, I think he may well live to regret going there.

We almost came a cropper with the last kick of the match. I do wonder what would have happened if the ref had not blown when he did.

I still think Brighton would be a better fit.

Might get a bit confusing Everton playing for Everton.

I am furious that the Express quote Simon Weston's "faux par". Is there no Editorial credibility any more. As for Gammon Chops...

Will be happy if we avoid defeat, a draw away is a decent way to start.

Nephew. 17 appearances in League One (for the Gas).

Didn't he pick up an injury in the last game of the season, think he is recovering from that. I would like to see Perraud stay, think he would do well for us in the Champ.

How about 45m plus loan him back to us for one season. Would be happy with that 😎

In 79 you must be joking (Trev wasn't eligible of course). A year older than me, sad day.

I see they released Shane Long, could we do with a non-scoring striker with lots of experience?

Did I imagine Diallo going?

I really don't think there was much in the way of contract issues. From what I understand the offer from Girona came 'out of the blue', a speculative, half hearted approach. Speculation then would be that Ralph was asked if he had any objections and said no, and things moved swiftly on. I suspect Oriol was delighted to hear someone in his home area was keen to see him back and it was good for his family so he happily moved, clearly the impression from Ralph was that he was not fussed about keeping him. So I will forever blame Ralph, whether that is justified or not.

He wasn't off the pace, he was recovering from injury. He never had that much pace anyway, though he could turn it on if needed (I don't remember who it was against, but that run back and tackle to save a certain goal was one of the best bits of defending ever). What he provided was a rock Infront of the back 4, and organisational skills and good short passing. We needed Lavia to add to what we had, not replace, and could have freed up JWP to get forward more, where he is better. He was a massive loss last season, in my opinion the biggest single reason for our abject failure. I'm very pleased for him that he has got the recognition he deserves but boy do I wish we had never let him go (without adequate replacement).