VectisSaint

Chung showed more than just one superb goal last season. His movement, awareness and link up play are superb. On top of that he is one of the most likeable players out there. His enthusiasm is infectious.

Give me another 4 weeks like Adkins has and I'll habe a better idea.

So no news there then. That was blindingly obvious. Can't these intrrviewrs find out anything of interest these days?

Which "us" would that be then Charlie? The Gooners or Saints?

Yesterday it was on the Beeb football gossip column which is taken from the newspapers of the day. I don't recall which rag was the source, but it seems the story still has legs, at least the agent is hoping.

Its only gone quiet today, was being talked about again yesterday, with his agent saying he expects the deal to go through now that the 3rd party issues have been resolved.

I really am struggling to understand this comment, how could anyone possibly struggle to separate Pele and Maradona? You would have to be a complete dumbass to mix the two up, even avoiding the very obvious difference that you might notice if you see a picture of them. Maradona is a dumpy, drug-taking, ****wit, cheating bastard, whereas Pele is the one with erectile disfunction apparently, but who nevertheless remains the greatest footballer ever seen in the 20th century (including Le Tiss) and one of the nicest blokes to ever grace a football field.

But at least they have now corrected the typo, previously he was a Cameron defender, I was concerned we were looking to sign Nick Clegg.

Actually two very good examples, Jos will be in the first team, no doubts there (barring injury), it is Fonte that is debatable. As for Chung, he will be in the match day squad as soon as he is fit, and I fully expect him to be in the 1st XI before long.

"He looked confident and competent enough in a match treated with stunning indifference by the Southampton fans." Surprises me sometimes that 5000 pay to go to a friendly match, especially when it is live on free-to-air TV.

I really don't understand this type of comment. Why does getting a striker/midfield or whatever Theo actually is have any bearing on getting new CB(s) in? As far as I know its not an either/or situation. How many more times does it have to be repeated that Adkins has said he is still planning on bringing in more defenders?

Not just Adkins, interview with kids Saintsplayer said the same. But people on here don't listen, or have no patience. Its stii July Ffs.

Yes, the sooner Chung is fit the better.

Davis, Lee & Cork - thats 3 of them. Everyone, including Adkins knows we need at least 1 more CB and we are chasing a LB, I suspect we will still sign another front man. Not sure how much was NA getting it wrong and how much was us being 3 weeks away from season start (and Ajax being 1 away). We were poor for 20 minutes, but after that we outplayed them until they scored against the run of play and we had much the better chances, give it another 3 weeks, we will be OK, this is a very long pre-season - 7 weeks in all.

Partnership with Clyne looked promising as well, they seem to have a good understanding already. Guly works hard to cover for Clyne when he gets forward. Things were not so good when Richardson came on. Guly looked class today probably because he had more of a free role, the rotation in midfield was excellent at times. There were times last season when Guly was clearly asked to do a specific job by NA and those were often the times when he looked poor, he relishes the opportunity that a bit more freedom gives him. Adkins could have a tough job this season picking his midfield. Hope Morgan's injury is not too bad, he did look to be struggling at times.

Would like to know how far off playing Chung is. He was training in France, but maybe not ball work.

Shame he's gone, but clearly the writing was on the wall, not likely to be 1st or 2nd choice, as we are still chasing LB. He is a better defender than Fox in my opinion, I think Fox may be No 2 this season once we get new man in. Always liked Harding, reminded me a lot of Nick Holmes. Good luck Dan.

So does anyone know much about Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik? According to the Sun we are monitoring the Cameron [sic] defender.

Oh noes, Dalek's prediction is not going to be good. We're doomed. Your prediction was not good last year, and your prediction will not be good this year, so what. Anyone who seriously thinks that NC is aiming for a y-yo strategy is seriously out of touch with reality. Bit like people who advocate the return of Hoddle.

No. Not concerned with who we are linked with, since most of that is speculation & rumour anyway. Quite content with the actual signings so far, clearly there is more to come. The time to be concerned is when the PL kicks off (still more than 3 weeks away) and even then the transfer window has another 2 weeks after that. We will sign at least 1 CB and probably another GK, and maybe another MF. I don't want stars (aka mercenaries) coming in, but good quality honest players are what is needed. The team from last year would have been good enough for bottom half PL, unless we are trying to qualify for CL this season then the increase in quality does not have to be massive, people overestimate the difference between top 6 Championship and bottom half PL, it really is not much of a gulf.

I think he uses sign language :-)

I know this is meant in a light-hearted way, but how would you propose that Barny stays and helps out in the cup competitions? That would mean playing 1 or perhaps 2 competitive matches this side of Christmas (3rd Round of FA Cup is in January). Paying someone on good money to do nothing for 4 months is a nonsense. He doesn't need to play in the development/u21 squad, everyone knows what Barney is capable of, and in the end it is clear that NA does not consider him to be in his plans. Harsh but fair. Saints will be looking to sell him, or if that doesn't work loan him out with an option to buy.

That might be true, but Steve Davis is not a bellowing Northern Irishman. He is quite softly spoken (I refer you to SaintsPlayer if you have not heard him).

A loan with an option to buy. If Sharpe were not that much better then NA would acquire someone else, not replace him with Barnard, it actually wouldn't surprise me if we see another new striker yet, although I'm chuffed with what we have, is Hooper definitely a no-go now? In any case Sharpe is miles ahead of Barnard.

I think some are still not quite grasping the squad situation or the fact that he did not go to training camp in France. He won't be named in the 25-man squad, so he won't be able to play, except in cup matches or development squad games. He is also not 5th choice, Guly would be ahead of him as well, so at least 6th choice. He was left behind for a reason and will be shipped out one way or the other by September. I seriously doubt we will see him in a Saints shirt again, unless its in the dev/u21 squad. Forgot that De Ridder and Lens can also play striker, so guess that would put him 8th.