SNSUN

Brighton (a) - Cup - Win (squad players showing what they can do) Palace (a) - Win (confidence from the last game) Brighton (h) - Win (See above) Liverpool (a) - Lose (Brought back down to earth with a bump) Wolves (a) - Draw (Dust ourselves off with a 0-0 and a clean sheet) 7 points and into the next round. Tasty.

I think suspensions are now competition specific so he can play in the cup.

I'd rather a fairly strong starting XI than a weaker one, especially against Brighton. Gunn, Cedric, Yoshida, Vestergaard, Targett, Hojbjerg, Romeu, Armstrong, Elyounoussi, Gabbiadini, Gallagher for me, in a formation that suits them all.

Fortunately I was working yesterday so I was spared the misery of a last minute goal to take the point away, but it seems a very long time ago we had any kind of a run of form of wins. In fact, just checking back through the seasons, March of Puel's reign looks OK on paper, but really it was the tail end of the last Koeman season we really strung some wins together. My initial optimism about this season has very quickly dried up. I would have hope for 4 or more points so far, and we have 1, we need a couple of wins soon or we'll be fighting at the bottom all season. I still back Hughes, but he frustrates me by not picking our strongest side. In fact, like Pellegrino before him, I don't think he even knows what his strongest side is. There seems to be a worrying lack of confidence around us at the moment, and it's difficult to see where we can turn it around. Still, on the plus side only 3 games have gone. We may yet click.

Vestergaard Yoshida Hoedt Bednarek/Stephens Not sure about Bednarek... I saw him play right back at Fulham in January where he kept Sessegnon quiet, and for Poland in the World Cup with differing results, but he also came in at the tail end of last season and did well. Likewise I've seen Stephens have both good games and not-so-good games. Hard to choose between them. On the few times I've seen Hoedt play he's not been as bad as others have made out, although that's not based on this season so far as I've so far worked every game. However, I think there's to much readiness to knock our own players on this forum when we should be getting behind them, irrespective of their talents. Heck Benali would be vilified if he were playing nowadays. That said, I certainly feel we'd still have Bednarek, Stephens and Hoedt in the squad had we got relegated last season, which perhaps says a lot about what I think of their standard, however all are fairly young and can improve: I just feel Yoshida and Vestergaard are our obvious first choice pairing.

Wow, didn't see that coming - on one hand he gets first team football, on the other hand it's for a club that will be fighting relegation in the Championship this season IMO and it weakens a position for us that i feel we are already weak in. It'll be interesting to see just how much Hughes uses the youth this season, i'd like to see at least Targett and Gallagher given some game time.

This, for the rest of the season please. I was luckily enough to miss the first half of today's game as I was sleeping through it, but as soon as I saw the line up, I thought "formation better, personnel wrong". OK, Vestergaard was ill, but really we need our best players playing. The above, with possibly Romeu or Gabbiadini slipping in, is our strongest team. Vardy suspended could help us, but we have a history of Iheanacho scoring against us, so that alone is written in the stars. We need a win pretty quickly - I'd hope for 6 points from the next 3 games.

Fair enough, wouldn't be the first time i was led astray by something I've read, apparently there are also ladies wanting to have sex with me in my area... In which case, I'd rather have this chap https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/balazs-dzsudzsak/profil/spieler/35004 than Ben Arfa. Was a decent player not so long ago and had a good Euros a couple of years back.

MLG will probably know for sure, but I did find this link (albeit in the Mirror) that says we can't sign free transfers until January. https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/transfer-deadline-day-can-free-13044460 I'm sure I read it somewhere else earlier in the summer too. However we did sign Caceres outside a window so either the rules have changed or it's all nonsense and we can still sign out of contract players. I'm not au fait with the rules, I just go by what I read.

I was under the impression Premier League clubs couldn't sign anyone, even out of contract players, after last Thursday... ...unless you mean in January, in which case I hope not. Talented but there's better out there.

MLG will confirm no doubt, but at a glance we have 28 over 21. So need to send two out on loan, and the likely candidates are Forster, Rose, McQueen, Gallagher and Hesketh. I’d keep McQueen and Gallagher of those five, but it may be Gallagher now has too much competition in which case I’d keep Hesketh. Lewis as third keeper doesn’t use up a space but we’ll see. I guess we announce the squad after the European transfer window closes.

Man Utd 3-1 Leicester Newcastle 1-1 Spurs Bournemouth 2-1 Cardiff Fulham 3-0 Palace Huddersfield 0-2 Chelsea Watford 0-0 Brighton Wolves 1-1 Everton Liverpool 3-3 West Ham Saints 2-0 Burnley Arsenal 1-2 Man City

No more ins, no more outs then? OK. Pros: Gunn > Forster Vestergaard > Not having a 5th centre back Armstrong appears to be a decent addition that could add goals from midfield We don't start the season with Pellegrino Gallagher as 4th choice striker offers us something different to Carillo. We have at least managed to loan out Boufal, Clasie and Carillo to get some wages paid. Cons: Lost Tadic and have to hope Elyounoussi is as good if not better. Forster is still on the books, and have one or two fringe players that perhaps could have been loaned out or sold. (Could still happen of course) Defence still looks shaky and we have to hope they improve. No striker signed (although Gallagher as an additional 4th choice IMO strengthens the position in lieu of Carillo, but we should still have signed an experienced, goal-scoring striker) Lack creativity and pace in the attacking midfield positions due to a lack of strength in depth. Overall I think we are stronger this season than we were last season, but whether we have kept up with other teams I don't know. As for other teams around us, West Ham have been splashing the cash to reach the next level and have done some decent business, Wolves and Fulham already add tougher teams to the league than last season and Fulham have had an excellent window. I'd like to think our youngsters like Reed, Gallagher, Sims, Stephens, Targett (if he's still here), McQueen and Hesketh (whichever of those don't go out on loan) step it up this year now they have a bit more experience, but I'm not going to hold my breath. (Although I'd like to see Gallagher more than the others given some chances to show what he can do.) I'd like some late drama though, Targett and Forster out, Alcacer or Welbeck in, something like that, but it doesn't look like it's happening. As the window stands it gets a 6/10 - needed more attacking talent and the purse strings loosened. Mid-table finish if we are lucky.

You're the manager, everyone is fit and raring to go, your formation/system has been implemented in pre-season successfully, and there are no more incoming transfers. Using the current SFC squad, what is your best/favourite XI, formation and tactic to start against Burnley? For me, I'd be playing a 4-1-2-2 (a kind of elongated 4-3-3) with a back 4, one holding midfielder that can drop back into centre back if a full back bombs up field (Which in a perfect world would be more like Wanyama than Romeu but there we are), two box to box central midfielders, two wider players and a striker. Team would be: ---------------------McCarthy---------------------- Cedric-----Vestergaard-----Yoshida-----Bertrand -----------------------Romeu----------------------- ------------Armstrong-----Lemina----------------- -----Elyounoussi----------------Gabbiadini-------- -----------------------Austin------------------------ McCarthy gets the nod over Gunn purely as he won POTS last season and deserves to at least keep his spot for a bit. Tactic - press them high up the pitch a la Pochettino, and counter attack quickly. (But then all this is why I'm not a Football Manager. And do poorly playing Football Manager.)

Yes please to Welbeck, he started out as a striker but now offers something across all the attacking positions, a bit like Gabbiadini. I do feel we need an out and out striker long term, but right now I would take any attacking player that has some kind of pedigree as I feel it is a position we are weakest in, and Welbeck is pretty good overall, if not exactly known for his goalscoring exploits. For a season-long loan with an option to buy, this would be a no-brainer. For a permanent transfer, for the right money of course, I wouldn't be against it. In reality though, despite being linked with a number of attacking players this summer, I don't think anyone else will be brought in. A mistake perhaps, but at least one we can resolve in January, if the powers-that-be have learned from their lessons of last January.

Never has one of academy prospects ever split the fan base so drastically. For one, I'm a fan of his, he's not going to change the world but if he were better than he is he'd be at a top 6 club. He's a good squad player for us, tries hard and appears loyal. For £10 million, Watford can jog on. JWP is a £25 million + player whether you love him or hate him.

Hoedt, Lemina and Davis? IMO I'd comtemplate selling those 3 BEFORE the deadline if we could sign better replacements but certainly not AFTER the deadline. Firstly Hoedt - We play with 3 centre backs currently, as dictated by our manager. Going into the season with 4 specialists for those positions would be crazy. Sure, if we revert to 2 centre backs for the season, 4 is enough, but I'd have concerns with Bednarek and Stephens backing up Vestergaard and Yoshida for a whole season. I do think Bertrand could do a job at left centre back in a 3 centre back system, but that would be at the expense of having him in his best position. Hoedt may have had a poor pre-season, but he improved towards the tail end of last season, and who's to say that, after a 38+ game season he won't have surprised us all and improved further, especially with Vestergaard alongside him. Secondly Lemina - I'm not a huge fan of his, if the right offer came in (probably £30 million+ in today's crazy transfer market) BEFORE the deadline I'd not hesitate in selling him and bringing in someone else, but he has undoubted quality and played Palace off the park last season. I'd certainly not sell him after the deadline, where he would actually HAVE to knuckle down and play well if he wants a bigger team move. Thirdly Davis - Granted I see him having reduced game time this season, and if he asked to leave I'd let him, but he still has something to offer, and not having the ability to replace him would be foolish. IMO attacking midfield is our weakest position IMO, and even though Davis isn't a specialist in that position, we've seen from previous years he can do a job there. The only player I'd sell after the deadline would be Forster. Surprises can happen though, I just hope nobody kicks off and we either have an unhappy player on our hands or are forced to sell them. Earlier in the summer I said I wouldn't sign a specialist right back as we have cover within the squad and Cedric ends up playing most of the season anyway, but now I would bring in a "back up right back" (in quotes as I'd actually want one as good if not better than Cedric to "challenge"/replace him) just in case, seeing as Hughes doesn't seem to trust Valery to yet play there (or I'd have assumed we'd have tried him there in pre-season for more than 45 minutes in the first game.)

That’s what I get for posting when I should be working. Ok, Armstrong needs to go in somewhere but God knows where. I can see us starting with Austin and Gabs so I guess maybe Elyounoussi on the bench and Armstrong in. Glad I’m not Hughes. I still think we lack a creative attacking midfielder but who knows where he’d slot in even if we got one; Maybe Austin on the bench, with Gabbiadini as the sole striker.

Will he be match fit? He's only played 20 odd minutes of pre-season. I'd hope so but I wouldn't be surprised if we went with the same back 3 as against Borussia Munchwhateverthey'recalled.

Jeez, people are slitting their wrists and the season hasn't even begun yet! Next we'll have babies in the womb slitting their wrists as they're destined to become Saints fans! This is a fresh start people. Let's get a few games out the way before we see what shape the team is in! We can't be worse than when we had Pellegrino in charge...can we? Nah. We'll beat Burnley - I've thought this since I saw the fixtures announced, I have a feeling in me bones. Whether we will go on to have a good run remains to be seen, but I certainly think we have a soft opening fixture. 2-0 Saints. ----------------------McCarthy---------------------- ------Bednarek---Vestergaard----Hoedt----------- Targett---Hojbjerg------Lemina-------Bertrand -------Elyounoussi---Austin---Gabbiadini--------- SUBS: Stephens, Reed, JWP, Romeu, Long, Redmond, Gunn That's what I think Hughes will go with, not the team I'd choose personally. (Cue a loss to Burnley and me transforming from a happy-clapper to a wrist-slitter...)

Agree with Hesketh but I don't see the value in loaning out Sims (From a selfish point of view more than for his own benefit). We're fairly short in attacking midfield as it is after Elyounoussi, Armstrong and Redmond, and Sims doesn't count towards a squad place. If we do bring another AM in though, then a loan would be good for him, as I think he has a promising future.

BBC have just put up a final table predictor. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44972853 I did it fairly quickly but ended up with: Man City Liverpool Arsenal Tottenham Man Utd Chelsea Leicester Everton West Ham Wolves Saints Fulham Brighton Watford Newcastle Huddersfield Burnley Palace Bournemouth Cardiff Cardiff aside, who I think are the weakest side in the league by some margin, there's not really any weak sides any more. I think it's possible Bournemouth could find it their year to struggle, Palace rely heavily on Zaha and have lost Cabaye, and Burnley will survive but Europe and a small squad will be telling. We will click at some point hence the mid table spot but I have rose tinted specs on slightly. Brighton and Fulham have made some good signings and it's possibly they could finish higher, West Ham could also finish higher but I didn't have the stomach to do it in the table. United will implode under Mourinho.

Yeah there is a Saintsweb one set up already, I believe the code is 11286-4509 looking back at a thread from a couple of years ago.

I'm with you in thinking if we play 3 centre backs all season we could use another, but with the signing of Vestergaard we do have 5, whatever their quality. Then there is the "whatif" if we ditch the 3 centre backs for 2, meaning we then have 4 unhappy centre backs a lot of the time. I think we'll stick with the 5 we have, and there's always the option of Bertrand or even young Jones if we are that desperate. Right back is an interesting one - Reed seems the obvious choice as back up as he played there fairly successfully last season, but it seems Hughes is trying out other options. I don't like a left footer there but Targett seems to have had a good game there tonight, and then there's the crossing ability of JWP but without the pace. However all these are stop gaps and if Cedric was out long term, I'd dread to think what would happen. However again I don't see us bringing in another right back when we have options in the squad (and Cedric did play most of the games last season meaning Pied never got a look in). That leaves attacking midfield and striker - now here we DO need a little surgery. Going into a season with Austin, Long, Gabbiadini and Gallagher would be risky, although not completely without hope. Austin is a natural goalgetter if he can stay fit, Gabbiadini has good movement and also offers versatility with other attacking positions, Long bothers other teams with his running and "never say die" attitude (although he'd be the one I'd be selling), and Gallagher is raw but has height, a bit of pace and an eye for goal, and offers us something we don't have. I think Gallagher will be the most likely to be sold which is a shame, but we do need pace up front, but someone with pace who can finish, not like Long. As for attacking midfield, this is really the department that worries me. We have little strength in depth. Elyounoussi is the Tadic replacement, we need him to come good, Armstrong offers us something new perhaps, but then there is Redmond (who has spent the best part of 2 seasons doing very little) and Sims, who I rate but is hardly tried and tested. If we were to bring in one more player, for me it would have to be a pacy attacking midfielder/winger type that can score goals. Quincy Promes would be absolutely perfect for us right now looking at his goal record.

Redmond must have a knock. There's a distinct lack of pace and creativity in that line up. Hard workers and runners yes but little pace and creativity. If we don't bring in another attacking midfielder/winger, we are really putting all our eggs in one basket with Elyounoussi. (Although I do think we will sign one more. Too many rumours about them IMO) I still think Lewis will be our third keeper over Rose as he doesn't take up a place in the 25 and has playing experience (albeit in Scotland...) Is Bertrand or McQueen on the right? Goes to show it is our problem area until Cedric returns. Oh I've found the stream, I'll answer that myself.