SNSUN

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.

According to SSN, Barcelona have set Alcacer's asking price at £27 million. Leicester and Everton interested - that's a bit out of our price range I reckon. SPORT in Spain reckon he's rejected Watford and another club is in for him. https://www.sport-english.com/en/news/barca/barcelona-striker-paco-alcacer-studying-a-premier-league-offer-6966972 Also Baj, what's with the full stop announcement at the top of the main page?

Back in '94 I when I was 13, we beat Norwich 5-4 with Monkou getting the winner in injury time. I was watching the scores increase on Ceefax and got excited so rang TeamTalk to listen to the last 10 minutes of commentary using my parent's landline. Worth every penny of course with Monkou's winner, but I got a bit of a rollocking when the bill came through... On topic, with Targett I do think we'd sell if an offer of £15 million+ came in, however it does seem the club are keen to keep hold of him. With McQueen also in the squad, if the money was right, I'd reluctantly sell Targett if it meant strengthening our attack, which right now is the area that concerns me most. If Hughes plans on playing wing backs, Bertrand and McQueen would do a job there, but I'm not sure Targett has the pace from what I've seen of him. It's an area that could be strengthened.

—————————————McCarthy—————————————- ————-Bednarek————Vestergaard————Hoedt————— JWP—————Romeu———-Lemina—————-Bertrand———- ————Armstrong———————————-Gabbiadini————— ———————————Austin————————————————— Yeah it’s crap. More attacking midfielders and strikers please Sparky!

We have five centre backs. Surely there are two amongst them that are half decent enough if we have to resort to a 4 at the back system. We also have 2 decent keepers at long last fighting to be first choice. I see enough defensively for us not to have a problem, so long as Cedric doesn't get a season ending injury. Attack worries me more. The same strikers we limped to 37 goals with in the league last season, no Tadic and really only Redmond and Sims backing up Elyounoussi and Armstrong. Work is needed here in the next fortnight. I agree with Egg though, we lack a dominant Wanyamaesque defensive midfielder too.

I'm very much looking forward to it. We have a trimmed down squad without the uncommitted Boufal, the wastes of wages Carrillo and Clasie (and soon you would expect Forster), and we have made signings that on paper look decent. We needed a dominant centre back and have signed a giant, we have needed strength in the goalkeeping department and have signed one of the top young prospects in the country, and we have added some dynamism and creativity to midfield. Granted we sold Tadic which is a shame but he rarely turned up every game anyway. Additionally, so far, we've held on "jewels" like Cedric, Bertrand, Lemina and Gabbiadini. But mostly I'm looking forward to actually having a manager who seems to care about the club and isn't prepared to take any crap. We also have a very winnable first game against Burnley, and if we make a positive start to the season we could even be high up in the table come October. The transfer window isn't over either, I reckon we will see another player or two coming in yet. Keep the negativity at bay until later in the season if it's needed, for now I'm happy and positive that the season is around the corner!

Sims has had some good games for us, and we're not exactly blessed with strength in the attacking midfield department, so I would hope we would keep hold of him - in fact I'd hope we'd keep him even if we do sign another attacking player. Additionally he doesn't count towards a place in the 25 man squad so is a decent option to have around. If this move were to happen, then I can only assume we will be bringing in another attacking midfielder/winger, as Elyounoussi and Redmond alone are not nearly enough.

Still a couple more to go, Forster for one, Gallagher appears to be up for sale with suitors, Targett has suitors although we remain solid on our stance of not selling him, rumours surrounding Lemina too - if anything I think we are going to have a very interesting last week of the window, and may even be busy on deadline day for a change. There are enough rumours going around for me to think there isn't going to be any more incomings, not to mention we have enough quality to start the season with anyway.

I'll stick my neck out and say that we won't finish below Palace. I'd take 12th though, so long as we've learned our lessons from the previous two seasons and continue to look to strengthen to get us back into the top 8/10. As has been said on other threads, we are still 2/3 signings away from being half decent - we need to be as strong through the squad outfield as we currently are in the Goalkeeping department. Outside the top 6, there are Everton, Leicester, and probably West Ham this season, and maybe even Wolves will feel like that's where they want to be with the money they're spending. It would be good to at least think of ourselves as falling into that category again.

Waste of money though they have been, I'm encouraged by the current management shipping out the "deadwood" this summer, not what we should find ourselves in this rather expensive position in the first place. Clasie leaving on loan on top of Boufal and Carrillo at least shows that we're not sitting on the flops, but actively trying to free up some wages. IMO the 25 man squad will look like this after some more outs: (Brackets players are under 21) GK: McCarthy, Gunn, (Lewis) RB: Cedric, Reed LB: Bertrand, Targett/McQueen CB: Yoshida, Vestergaard, Stephens, Bednarek, Hoedt CM: Romeu, Hojbjerg, Lemina, JWP, Davis AM: Elyounoussi, Redmond, Armstrong (Sims) STR: Gabbiadini, Austin, Long OUTS: Gallagher (whether we like it or not, looks like he's up for sale), Targett or McQueen (I still think we will keep Targett and sell/loan McQueen), Hesketh, Forster (if we can), Clasie (now gone), Boufal (Now gone), Carrillo (Now gone). That leaves a 22 man squad giving us three extra places for transfers in if that is accurate - and I still hope we sign another attacking midfielder/winger type and a striker, with either another CB or RB as the third (Or even a third keeper in the ilk of Taylor). = I'd also be looking to ship out Davis and Long in the long term. Is that how other's see it? We're still light in attacking areas I think. Interesting 2 and a bit weeks to come...

The BBC website gave Hoedt MOTM against Swansea second to last game of the season. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43353971 Fingers crossed he comes good. Looking forward to see if Vestergaard fills him with confidence.

Good. Pione Sisto in exchange please

What we don't want is to get to that period between our transfer window closing and the European window closing, only for, say, Gabbiadini to then say he wants out back to Italy, meaning we either keep an unhappy player or have to sell him and find ourselves and injury away from using Long. That's why I'm torn with the early closing of our window. Yes, it means, say, Lemina can have a great few games and other clubs can't touch him until January, but on the other hand foreign clubs can still unsettle our players.

Posted on Foxestalk. Still 4 teams yet to sign anyone! We've spent decent money so far, top 10 here we come!

McCarthy, Gunn, Lewis/Rose Cedric, Stephens, Bednarek, Yoshida, Hoedt, Vestergaard, Bertrand, Targett Armstrong, Elyounoussi, Redmond, Romeu, Hojbjerg, Lemina, Ward-Prowse, Davis, Hesketh, Reed Austin, Gabbiadini, Long, Gallagher Sims is 21, Forster, McQueen and Clasie sold/loaned out. One question mark is whether our 3rd keeper will be 23 year old Rose who takes up a squad place, or 20 year old Lewis who doesn't and leaves a space free for another outfield player, or whether we bring another old Pro keeper in. Personally I'd also sell Long and Davis and loan out Hesketh, bringing in a striker, attacking midfielder and another centre back but then I'm not the manager! I do worry about our creativity though. Armstrong and Elyounoussi appear to be good acquisions in this field but I worry it's not enough, looking at who we have backing them up...

Agree with the majority, we have enough versatility in the squad to cover a right wing back position (Reed if he stays, Stephens, even JWP and Redmond have been mooted of late) and Valery if we want to trust the youth, assuming Cedric gets injured. Crystal Palace played Wan-Bissaka from their youth academy at the tail end of last season and he did very well against top 6 teams - there's no reason why Valery, who has looked good on the odd occasion I've seen him play, can't do a job if needed.

Lol@Lovren. This could be a pasting here, France have their tail up and don’t have to worry about protecting the lead.

Liverpool must be smoking crack if they think they will get £20 million for Ings. He’s got worse knees and a worse scoring record than £4million Austin. Bung them £3million and tell them to spend it on new bench cushions for their new substitute Shaqiri. Don’t get me wrong, I think Ings is half decent when fully fit, I just think he’ll spend time keeping Chaz company on the physio table, leaving us with Gabbiadini, Long and Gallagher to score the goals. ( And that’s if we keep all 3.) I’d rather see that money spent on another attacking midfielder in an area we’re (imo) short on.