SNSUN

Monaco are targeting out-of-favour Chelsea midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko, 25, and Southampton's Gabon international midfielder Mario Lemina, 25, before the end of the European transfer deadline. (L'Equipe, via Talksport)

He'll get game time this season, loaning him out would weaken the squad, even though it's unlikely he'll be a first team starter on a regular basis. Needs to play against Fulham really.

From your other First Win thread... ...I still think we will beat Brighton. I will however rethink them as relegation fodder if they keep up their form from the first two games.

He’s had two very good stints with Championship clubs and was one of two recognisable defensive midfielders we had in the squad. He absolutely would have got game time with us this season as we’re light in midfield as it is. If we hadn’t signed Danso, who can also operate as a defensive midfielder, I’d have been questioning this more than I have. I guess this is make or break season with a Fulham side I think will win the League. I bet we lose Cedric before September, and this loan would look even more puzzling as Reed played RWB for Norwich. On the plus side it must mean Ralph has faith in Slattery, who has become 3rd choice central midfielder. (If you consider JWP and Armstrong more as attacking midfielders.)

Beat them there in the cup last January. Was there with my Fulham mate. Bednarek played right back and didn't make a bad fist of it. It's winnable but I'd say they are stronger now than they were then ironically...

Kill them with pace. 4-2-2-2 counter attacking. Gunn Valery Yoshida Danso Bertrand Hojbjerg Romeu Djenepo Redmond Long Adams I've gone for a Liverpool win in this one but in a close high-scoring game.

Pompey in the Carabao! In the league? Brighton, despite their early season victory.

It's a long term task (whether he gets the time to do it remains to be seen) but they do have some good players there IMO. Obviously a very young, raw team backed up with a bit of experience, even though Hazard has gone I think they'll do OK. Defensively they are strong, or they will be with Rudiger at the back and Kante in defensive midfield although neither started today. They're OK in midfield too - up front is where they might struggle. Abraham was good in the Championship but is effectively like Adams in making the step up. Giroud isn't getting any younger either. Batshuayi is the one I think will end up being their number 1 striker this season. They won't be top 4 though, but I bet they'll still make top 6. When I get FM2020 I'd be interested in managing them for a little challenge and I'm no fan of Chelsea! Surely a team like: Kepa, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger, Emerson, Kante, Jorginho, Hudson Odoi/Barkley/Loftus-Cheek, Willian, Pedro, Batshuayi is better than any outside the top 6? The problem with Lampard is he might trust in his young players TOO much. For instance today he might have been better playing an experience a side as he could have put out and then introduced his youngsters gradually against "lesser" teams. I've been over to Redcafe forum - United fans are excited about their new look defence. Let's see how it copes against our new pacier attack in 3 games time.

There's been a few spankings this weekend - this is when, if the window were still open, there'd be a few panic signings by teams next week! (Well except Chelsea obvs.)

We have to hope this guy is better than what we've got! I hope he can be introduced soon enough. When's the first cup game?

Sounded awful. Need to ditch the 3 at the back. I'd rather have two crap defenders playing than 3, although we have Danso to come in and we can only hope he's decent. Ings will have his uses on occasion but Hasenhuttl wants to play with pace and he doesn't have much. My favourite formation in the last few years was the 4-2-3-1 we used to play under Pochettino and I think it suits our personnel. We could field a team like: Gunn, Valery, Danso, Yoshida, Bertrand, Romeu, Hojbjerg, JWP, Boufal, Redmond, Adams. Pace and creativity. It can only get better, right? Liverpool next, then Brighton who won enthusiastically today, then United. (Deep breath...)

What a start to the season... Thiiiiiiings can only get better..... Have to hope before the European window goes that we can keep the likes of Boufal and Cedric as we may well need them this season. I hope Danso can improve the defence.

37 and a 1/3 games to go...

bugger

The speed and directness of Djenepo, Boufal, Redmond, Obafemi, Adams, Long and even Bertrand, Valery and Cedric should make a few teams crap their pants this season. It's just about finding the right balance. Our bench is decent today, let's use it.

Patience people. As long as we keep creating the chances we should be able to put one away. And we have Djenepo, Boufal and Obafemi on the bench if need be... Pope though always has a stormer against us. What is it with Burnley's goalkeepers having stormers!!! Definitely need Adams to scuff one in.

A Saints goal and we're in the Champions League places...

Jarrod Bowen already scores for Hull...

Good tip thanks.

Sky Sports News on Sky Go, SaintsWeb and BBC live updates are all I have today at work. Need an MLT background cheer to know we've scored before it's announced!

Have put a fiver in non-equal quantities on Adams and Valery to score at any time. I definitely think today’s game has draw written all over it, which is not a bad result to kick off the season with. That said IF we can win, it takes the pressure off the big fixtures we have coming...

It’ll happen. At least we’ll have been successful for it to happen. The key is not choosing dross to replace him with. Best not to think about it until necessary! I think we’ll be more clinical this year with Adams up top, and the extra pace will be telling.

Just saw Chris Kamara passing through my station (South Ealing today) heading for Sky. The season has truly BEGUN!!!

The key thing for Palace was keeping Zaha. Even if he did want to leave, he hasn't and he now needs to knuckle down and play well, and I expect him to as he's always seemed very loyal to Palace before. He can win games on his own. Additionally they signed Camarasa who had a good season with Cardiff last season, and while Cahill is probably largely past it on the pitch, he will be good experience in the dressing room and should still put in some good performances. They did need a striker and a right back and they didn't address those (aside from re-signing Ayew who doesn't score many) so they could have done better. I look at other teams lower in the division and judge them more by the players they were able to hold on to more than those they signed. For that reason Bournemouth keeping Fraser, Brooks, Ake and Wilson did a remarkable job, and made some decent young signings too. Norwich surprised me by not signing anyone! That's a brilliant show of faith to the squad that got them promoted. Looking up a bit I think Leicester could genuinely challenge the top 6, Everton won't do as well as people think, and West Ham will start slow and improve. Wolves and Watford won't do as well as last season. I still think Brighton will go down with Sheffield United and Norwich. Exciting season ahead though.

Welcome aboard Kev, turns a 6/10 window into a 7/10 IMO. If we can keep Boufal and Cedric by September 3rd it’ll be an 8. Not fussed about Lemina and Hoedt now, but I suppose IF Lemina isn’t signed by anyone and IF he can be reintegrated then that’s only a positive for us. Goalkeeper: With Gunn and McCarthy we have good keeper options, probably top half keeper options, though it depends how McCarthy deals with being second fiddle again. With good rotation and long cup runs we should be OK. God knows what we do with Forster, either him or Lewis will be third choice. I can only assume it will be Forster if we can’t shift him, leaving Lewis seeking a loan out to Scotland or League One. Defence: Jeez that was close. We’ve brought in the centre back we all craved. But now we have too many, especially if we resort to playing 2 at the back. Hoedt to leave? Right back is strong if we keep Cedric, and he also strengthens left back if Vokins doesn’t make the grade yet. There’s also McQueen in the wings if he can get back to full fitness, he can be called on in January. Midfield: Attacking midfield looks decent if we can keep hold of Boufal alongside Redmond and Djenepo, with JWP and Armstrong backing them up. However clearly our weakest area is central/defensive midfield. Hojbjerg and and Romeu are decent but after that you have either a deeper JWP, Danso pushed forward (which if used maybe means we could keep Hoedt), or Slattery or another youth. Allowing Reed to leave was a puzzler, he’d had two good seasons in the Championship and I thought we could use his versatility, not to mention he was our other defensive midfielder in the squad. He would have seen decent game time this season IMO but obviously Ralph thought differently. I know there’s the January window but without Lemina, we look very light in midfield. Attack: Along with Goalkeeper this is our strongest area. Adams seems to be a decent signing for less than Brighton and Sheffield United paid for Maupay and McBurnie And has had a good pre-season. It has a JRod feel to it when we first signed him from Burnley. Along with Ings, who is a good striker if he can stay fit, Long and Obafemi, I think we have a great complement of strikers.