VectisSaint

If that is correct Clyne qualifies as u21 as well, as he was born in April 91. I previously had him down as an over 21 player. So that probably means only 21 players need to be named, and that assumes that we will name players such as Steve, Chaplow and Butterfield one or more of whom may still be considered surplus. So plenty of scope for free agent additions. BTW the squad can also be changed at the next transfer window (January).

Think you can add to it if you don't name 25, obviously only free agents can be added. Most clubs in the past have named less than 25, I would imagine with Billy & Deano going we have a space or two. By my reckoning we have max 23 players who we could name, leaves room for 2 free agents. So expect Owen & Heskey (please no) to fill the gaps.

Well, I guess you had to find something :-) Really like the fella, but looked a little short of class against Wigan. I feel the PL is a step too far for him, in any case Sharp and O'Driscoll work well together. We may see him back, I wish him well and thank him for his contribution but clearly he saw the writing on the wall.

OK, so at least we have some backup now. May not be the greatest signing but the lad is welcome for what he is. Only having 2 GKs would have been madness since Adkins hung up his gloves many years ago now.

Yes, have been for weeks. It is madness to only have 2 senior keepers available. Even that does not address the issue of whether Kelvin is good enough (which he isn't in my opinion). Unless that plan is for Adkins to don the gloves in an emergency we should have signed a 3rd keeper, especially if one of the options is recalling Tommy Fourpast (which I don't think is possible until next transfer window). Emergency loans are always an option even in the PL, and specifically for a keeper, but why are we relying on that option? There are keepers out there who are out of contract (Basso for instance) who would not cost the earth and would provide good cover and also help out on the training ground in the even of a problem).

Don Cortese is planning to p-p-pick up a penguin

That would have been Paolo

You forgot Spiderman and possibly Fox (though I hope we get a new LB)

Oh Mayuka He used to be a young boy but he's older now I've already got my coat...

I see Di Canio likened Swindon to us last night. Wel lhe likened them to Barcelona anyway, same thing.

The list of out of contract players on that article is so tempting, a who is who of washed up has beens relying on their names. BBC would have done more of a service listing some of the lesser names. That said, Basso was always decent at Bristol City, maybe a cheap 2nd option as backup for KD at least until next window. It would be great to sign a striked like Heskey, the thought of his prolific goal-scoring ability is mouth-watering LOL

Hopefully our recruitment department can at least get the names of the players correct. You are also probably mistaken if you think we are looking for a CB or CBs to replace what we already have, our problem in this area is as much about options as quality per se. Our only real option at the moment if Jos or Jose was injured (or suspended) seems to be Seaborns, because NA didn't even consider Stephens for last night let alone the PL.

Seems to me that we have several transfers in place, once the shirt numbers were announced this became quite obvious. This week seems to be about finalising deals that have been nearing completion for some time. Mayuka take the #24, Ramirez #10, #3 & #15 (LB & CB) hopefully to be announced soon to placate the folks screaming for defenders (and justifiably so to a large extent). Personally I hope there is still another GK to come. Must admit this bloke does look the dogs ******** on YouTube, his pace looks awesome.

I've heard we are bringing in Kevin Keegan as defensive coach.

I never get this, as far as I can tell Cortese is Italian. Seems a lot of people think he is Swiss. Perhaps he is, can't find anything definitive either way.

Oh dear, thank goodness school starts again soon.

Perhaps the bus was not available, already booked to bring Ramirez to SMS from Gatwick

1-0 Saints, "Japanese striker Tadanari Lee converts Billy Sharp's 53rd-minute cross" according to Beeb.

Seems that way, unless he is injured, although frankly not surprised. He does not seem to be as good as we all hoped when he signed. Wouldn't surprise me to see him involved in a p-ex deal this week.

Most footballers just want to play, so I bet Billy is not hacked off. He has hardly played since the start of the season, despite having a good pre-season, so needs to get amongst the goals to remind NA of what he can do. The more interesting point about this line up is that it shows up our serious shortage at the moment in 2 specific positions, GK and CB. KD (assuming its K and not S) has to be on the bench because we have no real alternative, and Frazer has to play at CB ahead of Stephens despite the fact that he played CB on the pre-season tour and got good reviews when he did, it seems like NA is not willing to risk our 4th choice CB and would prefer to play Frazer out of position.

Yes it is 75% in last 2 years, of internationals that he has been available for. Olympics are not full internationals by the way (they are U23 matches) and so would not count, but would probably be taken into consideration if there was a borderline case. I really don't think a work permit is something to worry about, and I'm convinced that this would have been considered already. There is no way in the world that NC would be so naive as to pay this sort of money and then think, oh feck I forgot about a work permit.

You are confusing £ with Euros in some cases (not all). So its quite a bit less than £37m, perhaps £30m is more like it. Not all cash up front (though perhaps more than originally budgeted for) and most, though not all, with potential to increase in value.

This. He also set up the best chance in the 1st half, was it Lallana's pile driver (sorry I guess I could check on the highlights)? He made the move of the match driving diagonally across midfield and then providing a great pass, but no-one notices the set up 3 passes before the final touch. He is not the greatest player in the world, but the abuse he takes at the ground and especially from a few on here is just unacceptable.

Far from it in fact, the eyes often lie, as proved by this remark. Everyone was poor, but Guly was one of the least poor players on Saturday. His poorer moments came when we changed formation from the 4-3-3 to 4-4-2, when Guly dropped back into MF, his best moments were when he was playing as part of an attacking 3 (you may want to call what he and JRod were playing as MF, but it was a very different MF role than the one that he was asked to do after Sharp came on). I was actually quite pleased on Saturday, we sat a little way away from where we sat all last season, 2 blocks, and it was very pleasant not to hear anyone around me mouthing off about Guly, the bigots that used to sit just in front of us were thankfully nowhere to be seen or heard. I was only disappointed a bit later when we were in the shop getting my daughter a new shirt (with Guly printed on the back) to heara bigoted bloke in front spouting off about being happy to have anything printed on the back of a shirt as long as it was not "any Guly crap". Quite an old guy, probably my age, late 50s or so, wish we didn't have these type of ignorant ****ssupporting my team, but sadly I guess they are entitled to their misguided opinion.

You are confusing work permits and international clearance, they are very different. One is a sporting regulation (by FIFA) one is a UK (or EC) law. He will need both before he can play, international clearance is not an issue, it would be granted, work permit could be if he doesn't automatically meet the very precise criteria, but we would almost certainly still sign him anyway (I'm sure we would not have got this far if there was any question of not getting a work permit). It might go to appeal, but even in very dodgy cases, such as Marian Pahars, the appeal is usually successful.