washsaint

delldays/brett/batman........if you are a WUM, you are a truly poor WUM. If you are not a WUM you do come over as a drama queen. So we'll lose the first 4 games cos you say so. Why don't you just wait and see what happens prior to making your usual (every day, several times a day) predictions of the sky falling in. Reckon we will finish top 10.

Very good article. I agree with Wes - but we have to start signing quality players and start signing them quickly. Can't help but feel that losing so many players will make it harder to attract decent players. Even losing Schneiderlin I would fancy us to stay well clear of relegation this season but we do need new blood quickly. Feeling pretty low that we had a strong team with so many youngsters (and primarily English) that have all jumped ship at the earliest opportunity. As it stands, it would be really helpful to have the club issue some kind of statement of intent: either through a marquee signing or clearly stating what the new 'project' is. Right now, rightly or wrongly, it comes across as they have not got a clue what they are doing.

What a load of utter sh**e. Asset stripping my arse: clubs are paying top dollar for the players that want to leave. And we have spent 18 million to date with more to come. How is that asset stripping?

Why? Why sell him and for only 12 million? What on earth is going on? The others, fair enough. But this kid is something special and why on earth are we letting him go when he is on a long contract at Saints? This is making no sense whatsoever and with the wholesale decimation of the team the club really does need to start providing some answers. So we are likely to have lost Shaw, Lambert, Lallana, Lovren, Chambers and Schneiderlin. That, to put it mildly, is catastrophic.

encouraging (only a friendly though) in that another clean sheet. And we still have Morgan and Victor to come in, plus hopefully 2 new CBs and another Lb and striker and GK. Not as easy on the eye as last year though....but hopefully we will create more chances than last year - and put them away

Perhaps Koeman does not rate Cork and Fonte highly?

Warned of what? Crab Lungs never said anything of any substance whatsoever.

What a bunch of hand wringing pussies we have for 'fans'. Old Nick - your, frankly, stupid comments about Kruger opening the door to sales is getting as tiresome as 'they got way with it' bleats......ffs: what on earth do you want them to say: no-one is for sale and noone will be leaving? And then look stupid when the players force a move (e.g. lallana and Lovren). I'd hate to be in the trenches with some of you lot. Defeatist, feeling of entitlement and just pure whinging seems to be the order of the day! Any player will go for a bigger enough offer: from any club. including Man U, Liverpool or others. This is not unique to Saints, but more we had a crop of very good players that other teams now covet. I have faith that koeman will do well and we will offer more than a Plan A. certainly the plaers who have been with him for the last 3 weeks seem very impressed.

Good news that he has just signed a new 4 year contract - Koeman obviously rates him highly and Reed is impressed by koeman.

What, you mean like Chelsea did?

Saint George - you really sure about your statements re. bundesliga and MLS? MLS is scorned up here on the East Coast and people, by and large, follow the Prem. Bundesliga does not even get a mention and only Barca and Madrid from the Spanish. EPL is still by far and away the biggest soccer brand (certainly here on the East Coast) and MLS barely registers.

This summer has made it even more obvious that outside of 4 or 5 clubs the Prem looks like always being a closed shop. We have 1 decent season and the vultures descend and players heads get turned/tapped up, whatever. Realistically there is no chance any club like Saints can then hold on to these players and they will leave. As we are finding, we can have all the money in the bank we want but we then have to try and attract players when suddenly we don't seem such an attractive option and they may be hesitant to come here because some of our 'stars' are being sold/forcing a move. So now some of our new crop of youngsters might get a chance to shine. But if Reed, Targett, Chambers and McQueen do well (as an example) we all know the vultures will descend and take them off of our hands - and there is, realistically, nothing Saints can do about it except get top dollar. It is all very depressing and means that the League really is not a competitive League and that Saints (or any other similar club) will always struggle to break into the top 6 (let alone top 4) because of the disparity in resources. Really don't know what the answer is - we could offer mega wages but then we would end up down the Leeds/Portsmouth/QPR route as this is not sustainable for a club our size. It comes to something when a player like Caulker is demanding, allegedly, 80K per week!

Yes he does....but you have asked why De Vrijs would want to come here. Well why is Vlaar at Villa using your logic? Surely he is too good for them and should be playing for a Champions League side having been a World Cup semi finalist?

Using your logic why would Vlaar want to play for Villa? Unlikely to happen but if him and Keoman have a great relationship, who knows?

Except there was on PLan B, c, D or E last year. Do you seriously not think that teams might well now cope better this season with the 'pressing game' now they know what to expect?

Saint Robbie......yet again you surpass yourself with your absolute idiocy! Why don't you just go and support Man City/Man U/Chelsea if you just want success without having to earn it? Firesale - what a prat! 25 million Lallana, 30+ million for Shaw. How is that a fire sale? How the hell do you know that our targets are mediocre eh? You on the committee deciding targets? Was Pelle mediocre? Was Tadic mediocre. You are beyond hope....... If the owner is to blame why don't you put your own money in? You could obviously do a better job than Koeman, the Board or anyone else for that matter. This might only be a forum but my god, we have a large number of morons that purport to "support" Saints.

Only kidding (mainly). Good couple of run outs for the squad and getting the new signings some playing time. Very encouraged by how it looks (albeit based on short highlights) Reed and McQueen are shaping up for the season ahead. 3 or 4 more high quality signings (assuming we lose Lovren) and we will be well positioned to battle for that 6th - 8th spot this year methinks. Looking forward to the next friendlies and see how the style of play changes from the Pochettino era.

See some folks over on UI are claiming that we have signed Caulker for 8.9 million. Anyone know if there is any truth in this? Seems, IMO, obvious Lovren is off as he was not even in squad tonight (and good riddance to the piece of c**p) and Caulker could be a good signing if true. Young, highly thought of and with prem experience.

dull days - your attempts at WUM'ery are pathetic. Either that or you really are as dense as much as you come across as.

Supposedly we are in for caulker....

what a pathetic bunch of squinnying little girls we have as a fanbase (on here at least). Why don't you all just wait and see what happens before throwing the baby out with the bathwater. We have made 2, what look like, quality signings and there will be more on the way. We have players like Taggert, McQueen and Reed looking to step up to the plate. Maybe Cork and FOnte have not been offered new contracts yet because RK is not sure they are his type of player? I will reserve judgement on our Board until after the season has started. Obviously if we have no new players in there will be a problem but you are smoking crack if you really think that will be the case.

Really very impressed with pelle interview (and Tadic) and both look like strong additions. If we can keep MS and bring in a GK, LB, CB and another striker I think we will be looking very strong for the new season and, arguably, stronger than when we started last season. Add in a sprinkle of youngsters to make their mark this season - Reed, McQueen and others? - and it could be a good ride. Tadic and Pelle for less than the Lallana fee without even touching the Shaw fee yet! RK seems like a very big step up on MP: seems very forthright, honest and committed. Looks like he won't stand for any nonsense and his 'name' has already got us Tadic and Pelle: how sweet if we could get Blind too? Really looking forward to kick off of the new season now!

Really very impressed with his interview....English is great and obviously huge respect between him and RK. Very much looking forward to seeing him play and, have to say, with the exception of Shaw right now it feels we have a great chance of improving on Lallana and Lambert with our first 2 signings.

Some of the papers are claiming Liverpool will meet 25 million valuation.....if so, bite their bloody arms off!!! Good riddance to a guy who is the epitome of the premier league greed culture.

I wouldn't class myself as a 'bedwetter' but am getting increasingly concerned that we have not made any signings yet. We are going to need 6-7 new players to replace departees and improve squad depth but we have made none yet. Other clubs like West ham, Liverpool, Man U, Hull, Swansea are getting deals done early doors and I truly hope we are not left behind. I'm sure the club have signings lined up (or at least hope so) but would truly love 3-4 signings over the next week or so to settle things down. Hopefully RK can persuade Morgan to give us one more season and, if we don't hit targets this season, allow him to leave with our blessing next summer. Lovren can p**s off after we helped resurrect his career. Here's hoping for some good news over the next week or so.....we are due some for sure. Academy alone will not be enough to bolster the squad but maybe the likes of Reed, Stephens and McQueen will be like new signings for us.