BARCELONASAINT

I must admit i'm gobsmacked about both these signings, how the hell we have pulled these off god only knows!

At last i can sing Leo Leo Leo at St Mary's....ok it's not Messi but let me dream!

Now i'm starting to feel a bit optimistic about the season. If all the current deals go through i think we will be in a good place. If i'm being greedy i would love to see a striker come in and i mean one that is proven at this level and WANTS to be here. Very disappointed to lose MF but if there is any truth to the rumour he travelled to West Ham without Saints permission then all respect for him has totally gone!

oh well

Tyler Dibling debut, Alcaraz scores!

the cynic in me says the Rangers players all got together and decided to get rid of RM by getting their worst ever European result

if RM was a dog he would be put down to end his pain

Would some of our outcasts not fancy linking up with RM again??? By god he needs all the help he can get, the Rangers players are doing their best to get him sacked tonight!

i'm feeling "The Blues......Brothers"

It was nice to win 3-0 but the scoreline flattered us, we could have lost the tie in the first half when we looked absolutely woeful. The second half was a much better display and the second goal killed them off. There were some positives out there. Roerslev looked very composed for his first game and officially ended with an assist. Wood and Quarsie grew into the game, i like Quarsie, real rough diamond. The wee man i thought had another good game as did Charles. Flynn has me worried, he looks disinterested and makes some horrendous passes in dangerous situations. Stewart and Archer looked decent, Archers finish was sublime and i hope it gives him huge confidence to kick on. Matsuki with a wonderful strike, wow its been a while since i saw a Saints player actually blast one in! Downs did ok when he came on and as others have said should have had an assist if the ball had gone to a competent striker, unfortunately it went to BBD who is shockingly bad. Important to win these sort of games early in the season when the manager is trying to implement his ideas and the players are still getting over being losers every time they step out onto the pitch. It's still far from pretty but small steps and all that!

I was saying to a friend before the game the FD is a quality player at this level BUT i seriously question his mental attitude and his desire to be here. Really hope he knuckles down and embraces the challenge this season.

West Ham look like they have just signed a new midfielder which might mean they have cooled their interest in Matty, fingers crossed!

Tend to agree with you on the basis that we are a Championship club now that got relegated with the second worst season ever by a Premier league side. Attracting our no.1 targets are/were always going to be very hard. I think it is already clear we have missed out on our no.1 target which you could argue was unrealistic anyway because we were dealing with a Russian club. There is still something niggling with me about this one and i wonder if its all done!

The only one i would question is Charlie Taylor given the injury to Wellington at the weekend. The rest i will be surprised if any of them are still here next Tuesday1

I would expect to see all 6 of those leave by the end of the week

Like it or not that is the hard truth of the situation!

There has been an awful lot written in the last few pages about our disastrous recruitment in the last few seasons which has carried on into this season....or so some think! Now i don't disagree with anyone that our recruitment thus far has been nothing short of disastrous in the main but a line should now be drawn. Judge the new recruitment team on who they bring in from last week....that is when their first recruited player entered the building Mads Roerslev. The second is the third choice keeper from Norwich (which was exactly the profile they were asked to get, a third choice!) Damion Downes and Quarsie transfers had already been agreed prior to the new setup taking control and the new head a recruitment having anything to do with! Hopefully we will see some more solid incomings in the ilk of Mads Roerslev.

There's not a chance in hell i'm going anywhere near her box!

Big big week coming up. I can't help but feel we relied to heavily on our marquee signing being this Armenian guy and the club honestly believed they had it all tied up with club agreeing to the fee, the player wanting to come here and then only for his club to go all Russian like Putin. I think Saints have been massively played and as a consequence are having to very quickly get options 2, 3, and 4 going! Still needs backing and the squad badly needs freshening up. We have players that were good enough to get us promoted last time round but those players are nowhere near showing that form now, their hearts are not in it, they clearly would rather be elsewhere. It's all well and good fans saying our squad depth is ridiculous for this division and opposition managers in awe of what we have available but if those players are not committed then they may as well be invisible!

We give the ball away far too cheaply and hand the initiative back to Stoke far too frequently. At the moment Saints are looking like one of several teams that will be there or there abouts but no runaway leader of this division.

Its my firm belief we believed we had "our man" (the Armenian guy) he was stellar signing to make up for losing Dibling and Fernandez (obviously Fernandez might still be here come the close of the window). I think we have moved on to our 2nd, 3rd, 4th choice alternatives which unfortunately are unlikely to be of the same quality. It will be interesting to see if our stance on loan signings has changed if this is the case!

Hugely disappointed TD looks set for Everton. Yes like some i personally believe he has been very poorly advised BUT as far as Saints go its a decent fee and the emergence of Robinson definately makes this transfer easier to swallow. Everton have buckled massively and this is a panic buy. I really wish him well but i very much fear he is making a huge mistake (finances aside)

Hugely disappointed TD looks set for Everton. Yes like some i personally believe he has been very poorly advised BUT as far as Saints go its a decent fee and the emergence of Robinson definately makes this transfer easier to swallow. Everton have buckled massively and this is a panic buy. I really wish him well but i very much fear he is making a huge mistake (finances aside)

no name was ever mentioned but i'm guessing the player being referred to is the Armenian guy who IF we do end up signing would appear to be quite the coup.

Portsmouth?