VectisSaint

£22.50 actually (30 dollars). Tiss would not get all of that either.

Depends what you mean by "announced". It was announced on 18th May that Theo would sign a 2 year deal, but his contract with Everton runs until 30th June, so technically he has not signed yet.

Haven't forgotten Smallbone, who I think looked like he was becoming a decent player. But can we risk relying on him coming back soon from injury,, look what happened when we relied on McQueen (heaven forbid that Will has similar issues to Sam). Also I'm not convinced Smallbone is cover for Romeu, seems to be much more of an AM.

We've already signed Theo Walcott, so the answer to the OP is whatever position Theo plays.

Tom Leach. Anyone who thinks that we wouldn't have got the work permit issue straightened out before entering negotiations is a bit dumb. There are clear rules and points that can be totalled up, it is really quite cut and dried whether a player meets the criteria or not. If it was borderline I would imagine we would have done some investigations before proceeding too far.

See Boris is back from Cornwall then.

Agree, but I fear Lemina and Ralph do not see eye to eye. Striker is not a priority this window if Ings stays (as I believe he will). Full back(s) is top priority, sorting out GK and DM is next. I do expect us to make changes up front, but only in a one out/one in way, Long, N'Lundulu and Obafemi all potential outs

Ralph has not said this consistently. I think it was at the fans Forum he said it was a priority to provide depth in the centre of mid. He wants 2 for each position and currently we only have 3 first teamers in that area for 2 places, Oriol, JWP and Diallo. Unless he is now including Lemina or Jankowitz his plans have not been fulfilled. It is quite clear that we have a major shortage in CM as highlighted towards the end of last season, another season with injuries and we will be short again. Obviously it helped playing Armstrong there latterly, but that is not a solution, because it takes him away from his AM role, where he is better. Its great to know he can play there very effectively but until cloning becomes an option or we sign a better AM it is not a solution to the problem and I think Ralph will still be looking to bolster this area. We have starting quality but we clearly do not have depth.

As long as the £5m is guaranteed, it is the amount we have to work with, not £2.5m. Transfers are not generally transacted with cash in hand (unless your name is 'Arry). Obviously the unlikely add ons are a different matter.

Some good news then.

You clearly did not watch the last few games then. Your ill informed observation is much appreciated.

All a bit irrelevant if we continue to play 3 at the back, with wing backs.

JWP will not go to Villa, no matter what they offer, doesn't matter what Saints think. Doubt he would go anywhere, but if he did it would only be to a club that is a serious step up, i.e. so-called Big 6 or Europe, maybe Leicester. Villa does not give him much more than Saints (other than a pay rise), a move would be for an honour (trophy) or CL.

He's been on loan before to Dundee Utd in the Scot Championship.

Actually it is exactly that. Racism is despicable, and affects every colour and creed. The worst racism in this country tends to be directed towards Asians and even white Eastern Europeans (see Brexit), having a tag Black lives Matter is racist in itself (ignore the BLM organisation) and taking the knee is an American idea which sticks in the throat of many here. Support anti racism but do it in a way that is all embracing and uses some other symbol than an imported American idea.

6 league goals in the last 2 season (none last season) including in the Championship. Only ever scored double figures goals twice. Not exactly prolific. Reputation based on one good season 5 years ago.

A "dependable" defender; that would suggest the Torygraph don't know what the fuck they are talking about.

In what world do 'bidding wars' actually occur?

He played 5 times for us on the right, but he always plays left or centre for Celtic. He is right-footed so its no surprise that you would think he was a RW, but the reality is that he isn't.

Think you answered your own question there. What would have been the point of subbing Redmond at the end of the last game of the season. He was given opportunities to prove his worth in the experiments and in the final game he demonstrated conclusively how he could not cut it for Saints, even Ralph would surely have finally concluded that Redders was a waste of space.

Preferred, tried to get him to perform, but even Ralph saw eventually that it wasn't going to happen. There is no reason on earth that Ralph will not usher him out of the door, and to be fair, he could be someone who we might get a few quid for, people still see him as a good player, one of the promoted teams might think his experience his worth having (they'd be wrong but that's for them to find out). If we can't/won't shift players like Redmond then we have no hope of improving the squad for next season.

I think the problem is that people are just looking at this from one view. Of course we can't buy a load of extra players (other than a LB) but what we can do is wheel and deal and unload some of our (many) under performers and replace them with low cost alternatives in the hope that we may be able to improve the squad. We have at least 2 GKs we can offload (take your pick which ones), that surely was the point of the experiment at the end of the season. We have a RB surplus to requirements (Valery) and we have some AMs and forwards who we could get shot of (Redmond, Djenepo, Obafemi, N'Lundulu). Then of course there are the loanees, Hoedt, Moi, Lemina, Long. None of them will make us a lot of money obviously but would help to fund some replacements. We've also got some out of contracts which free up some funds, not just Bertrand, but Harry Lewis and unfortunately Sam McQueen, possibly others. Overall this could be a very busy transfer window without any significant net spend. Then again, it might not.

Really? We definitely need reinforcements in midfield, primarily to replace existing players (Redmond, Djenepo, Minamino) but also to strengthen in CM, as Ralph originally mentioned (but subsequently backtracked), we need to backup Romeu, JWP and Diallo, now possibly that could be helped by reintegrating Lemina. BUt we should definitely be looking to strengthen midfield, if not in numbers in quality.

I guess at least PvA would fit in to our defensive system well, good understanding of getting a tonking at St Mary's and contributing an own goal in the process. He is almost as old as Bertrand. Shirley you can't be serious.

Rose would be the fat bird, so hopefully we won't end up like that.