Cabrone

Admittedly not a player that gets the pulse racing but with the right strike partner he's a real handful. One of the hardest working forwards around, he's always ready to make things happen and whilst his goal tally needs improving he chips in with a decent amount of assists. I'm wondering if Pelle and Long might be a BT-Ormerod type partnership, Pelle knows where the net is and with Long working all day there should be chances. Yes 12M is crazy money but then so were the fees for Lambert, Lallana, Shaw and Lovren. The Prem is a plastic circus and it's probably the going rate. A much better player than some of the drama queens make out and with the correct players around him he'll graft and make things happen. With JRod, Gallacher, Pelle and now Long our striking situation is definitely looking better than 12 months ago IMO.

Biggest plus is GK department. As long as Boruc stays the situation is excellent, hopefully no more shipping lots of points because our first choice keeper is out. Big Ron should let the two of them battle it out for no 1, both are more than adequate. Strikeforce is thin, a lot rides on Pelle's shoulders. IMO he looks a good player but we won't really know how he reacts to the prem untill the season starts. Tadic and Taider are going to need to chip in with their fair share of goals to support him. I don't think the team will miss Lambert or Lallana as much as many fans think as Lambert was going to be more peripheral (still a legend though) and IMO Tadic will be the equal of Lallana, maybe even slightly better. Defence is weaker, cohesion is going to take time and we have sold some very good players, however as said GK is stronger so that will help soften the blow. Also big Vic was out for big chunks of last season, if he can stay fit then he'll be a big shield for the defence and really help out. Talking of cohesion we've also lost our want-aways (Morgan excepted) and the disruptive influence of Osvaldo so hopefully behind the scenes the morale will pick up quickly with a squad full of players that want to be here. We won't go down but I don't think things will be as exciting as last season. 10-14th.

Been following Saints since early 80s and in terms of the impact he's made on the club Lambert is probably the best signing in my time. Keegan was a big signing but Ricky has had a bigger impact. We got his best days and he'll always get a clap from me.

Fantastic signing, at long last we've got some real strength in the crucial GK department. Now we can stop feeling nervous every time Artur gets a knock. I really hope Artur sticks around as he's still good enough to keep the jersey. Artur vs Fraser, may the best man win and the club reap the benefits. That's the way it should always be.

Grobelaar Lovren Kashloul Groves Speedie - Wright Phillips - Nathan Dyer Ossie Nile Ranger - BT - Lee Barnard

If you don't like how it's going - and I don't - then the only thing you can do is withdraw your money and hope enough other people feel the same. The plastic prem with it's 'set in concrete' top 4 has become a joke. Even the clubs that get relegated have a ridiculous advantage with their parachute payments, what a joke. Nothing means anything anymore, cash and CL potential places are the only commodity considered. I much preferred the champ and even league 1 to this, went to quite a lot of games and they felt more real to me than the plastic prem.

Poor old Morgan's been denied a move, what a tragedy. Looks like he's going to have to slum it on 40k a week or probably something close. I'm glad I haven't been putting any of my hard earned the way of these spoilt brats over the last couple of seasons, they haven't got a bloody clue about the real world out there. He's also pretty stupid posting to the world how he feels when emotions amongst the fan base are riding high. The greed is getting sickening.

Got to admit this one is the most disappointing of the lot, you could see all the others going off to the big clubs but at 19 I'd hoped Chambers would have stuck around for another year or two. The club must be wallowing in money at the moment.

No course not, firstly lets see what the transfers are, secondly lets see how the next batch of academy graduates get on and thirdly the champ is a great league - much more real than the plastic prem so I wouldn't be bothered in the slightest playing in it. The club almost didn't exist 5 years ago, this pales into insignificance compared to that.

Let's see what the transfer market brings eh? There's a long way to go yet and if players want to go after getting tapped up then what are the board to do? Koeman was a high profile manager and we've signed two of the best players in the Dutch league. So far they've brought in what looks like decent quality but getting good players takes time so fans need to calm down a bit and see how this one unfolds, besides which you can't do anything anyway so why get all worked up about it?

Generally agree with the OP although top half might be tricky with so many changes. Don't think we'll be in trouble though. We lost players who wanted out, it happens but we did get top dollar for them and the transfer window has a long way to go yet. Think we'll get some more good acquisitions - just getting a 2nd GK like Forster would make a huge difference to last season so I'm pretty relaxed about it all. It's only football, supposed to be fun, can't see the reason to get all steamed up about it.

I've been Ossie's biggest fan but he's been an absolute plum and it's time he moved on. A damn shame as I firmly believe he could have been class but his head is a mess and SFC haven't got the time or inclination to psychoanalyse the guy. If we get a reasonable offer it really is time to draw the line on this one.

GK Begovic CH de Vrij CH Vlaar CH Jamaal Lascelles ST Ings\Rhodes ST Finnbogason

Well we've got his ex manager who brought him through the ranks so let's hope they got on well. Could possibly be enough to swing him away from United? Unlikely TBH but you never know.

I don't like the PL, it's a self enforcing system which enables the top 4 to stay at the top and with those parachute payments also enables the rest of the prem clubs to stay in the prem (I'd ditch the parachute payments, they are clearly unfair to the champ clubs but if they have to stay then why aren't they paid to clubs as they come up?). Every year it just gets harder and harder to break into the top cartel as they coin in champs league cash and the league gets more and more polarised. That said, Saints do have an opportunity at the moment to progress if they spend wisely. I think they have gotten over the odds for the players sold and if they can replace with equivalents for less money (which I think they have so far) then there should be a bit extra money left to strengthen. We can't stop the top 4 from coming in like vultures but we can screw them for as much money as possible, buy with cool heads and slowly reduce the difference between us and them.

A solid CH and would be a decent signing, alongside Lovren (if we can keep him) and Fonte we'd have a pretty solid CH setup. Would like this one to happen.

Best of luck to him, he's gone and we've got big Ron. I think he's taken a big gamble at Spurs but that's his choice. Really can't see the point of going over leavers, they've gone and that is that, football is just like any other business - people come and go. Time to move forward, more interested in how Pelle and Tadic are bedding in than what MoPo, Lallana or Shaw are up to.

Looks like Rogers has developed a bad case of Saints tourettes, every time someone mentions the name of one of our players he shouts 'BUY'.

Said it before that the club could make significant forward progress if they played their transfers well and so far it looks pretty good, Tadic should be the match of Lallana and Pelle looks to me to be a more than adequate replacement for Ricky, who TBH was probably not going to feature heavily next season. So far I'd say SFC is up and maybe with the extra money they could get a top class GK - we're too reliant on Boruc.

Pelle and Ossie, it's the Italian dream ticket. Those two could be quite tasty together, they'd complement each other too. Could even be the Italian international forward line if they gelled well. Until Ossie is sold off I've got my fingers crossed for a reconciliation.

It's the same, whether by choice or forced the squad gets disrupted and that has an impact. Top priority is a centre forward - hopefully resolved by Pelle, an attacking mid hopefully resolved by Tadic, a top class GK (would love a bid for Begovic) and possibly a centre half (depending on events). The club have got their work cut out over the next 2 months no doubt.

Players come, players go, the club remains. £50M should buy us decent replacements and some. Best of luck to Luke and Adam, a pay increase and champs league is a big incentive. The club have been given the cash to significantly strengthen, lets hope they do.

Yes, it's not a doom and gloom scenario if it's managed well. If the club spend the money on foreign equivalents that are cheaper and keep on developing more talented British youth then it's a model that could push the club higher. 1 -> Sell British stars for top dollar. 2 -> Buy as good foreign players for less. 3 -> Nurture and blood in the next generation of Britsh stars from the academy. 4 -> Repeat until you are big enough to keep your British stars. I'd like to keep our star academy products but this is the real world and we're still a feeder for the top 4. However if the academy keeps on making British stars and the club buy well we could at some stage start to match them and then the situation changes as our own grown want to stay. The club could take a big step on it's growth trajectory this summer if that money is spent wisely.

I like the look of this guy, seems a natural replacement for Ricky and has already had experience of football in a northern european league unlike Ossie. I hope we land him. If we could somehow coax Ossie back into the fold him and Pelle could be a very interesting if not explosive combination. There'd be a few cards flying around but I think they'd be exciting together.

Wanting Katharina Liebherr to sell up is laughable, I'm hugely grateful for what the lady has done for this club since 2010. Just remember she didn't buy SFC, her father did. She inherited the club in lge 1 and could have cut and run immediately but she stayed with it and bankrolled us all the way back to the premier league. Cortese was an amazing driver but it's easy to have grandiose plans when you aren't the one writing the cheques. Katharina wants to run this club on an even footing and that is exactly how it should be, just remember back to the summer of 2009 and SFC's very existence on a knife edge if that strategy doesn't grab you. As for Poch and the players moving on they all wanted to leave, they were offered big salaries and champs league football - not much the board could do except get the best price available. Long may Katharina run this club, some fans may grumble because they want top 4 on a plate but she's done nothing really wrong as far as I can see. I like the low key style of her ownership, rather that than than some of the loons that have taken over various clubs - playing in blue shirts anyone?