SNSUN

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.

It was a lighthearted jest as per my previous posts. (Except the ones about Harrison Reed leaving, I'm really surprised we're now left with one recognised defensive midfielder in Romeu in the squad! Well 2 if you count Danso but still, I thought this could have been Reed's breakthrough season.)

So now we've got to wait until the morning? This club! Will that be the latest unveiling after a deadline day ever? How will I sleep? I need beer. Thankfully only 10 more minutes of work left...

My shift finishes at half ten. Any chance of an unveiling before then? Otherwise the car ride home listening to the Sports Bar will be excruciating.

I'd say it isn't happening but no news is good news and we still have silence from Saints... ...It's 20:23 in 8 minutes, perfect if he signs a 4 year contract...

A surprise double announcement? :poundit::poundit::poundit::poundit:

TBF there were a lot of deal sheets put in more important than ours...

When was Ings announced last year? I was working then too.

IF we don’t get him, I’m going to be extremely ****ed off about not signing a player I’d never heard of until two hours ago...

Has the fax machine broken since the deal sheet went in? .

Danso would be a youngster would he not?

What a joke. Hojbjerg and Romeu are the two senior central midfielders. Or JWP or Armstrong who are better suited further forward. So weak in midfield. A lot of faith is being put in the youth, Slattery will see a lot of game time IMO. Really was hoping that wasn't going to come off today... We bloody better get Danso now!

Announce it FFS! I can’t concentrate at Work!

When it's confirmed, IF it's confirmed, I'll rejoice. Not before...

No disrespect to Austin because he scored some important goals for us, but he's dropped to the right level. I hope he does well at WBA, and more importantly for us, his wages have been removed AND we got his transfer fee back for an older, injury prone player. That's two good bits of business for Saints today, please God let there be a couple more...

A DM and I would pump this window up to a 7/10 Two would be even better. If he pulls off the signing of a DM and CB, I think my willy would have grown a few centimetres too. Talk about leaving it late though! Granted it was probably a lot to do with Austin leaving but I'll still be delighted if we even bring one DM in. Still, All it will take is for Boufal or Cedric or Hoedt to suddenly decide they actually don't want to be here between tomorrow and the end of August, throw a paddy and refuse to play demanding to be sold, and the squad will go back to looking very thin again.

If we get rid of Harrison Reed, one of two of the true defensive midfielders in the squad, we might as well resort to long ball if Romeu gets suspended or injured. It’d be madness. Central midfield is weak enough as it is without losing another one, especially with Lemina on his way. We will concede goals galore. I really can’t see any incomings now with under 4 hours to go.

Surely after a couple of decent seasons we are giving him a go. I’m nervous enough about midfield personnel as it is without shipping any more out! Good news about Redmond though. One positive from this summer has been the ability to hold on to the likes of Redmond, Bertrand and JWP.