Minsk

I'm usually Mr optimistic and pretty cool headed too. I guess we can all have an off day, or close season. As I said, I sincerely hope you're right about how this season will transpire. And, a couple of points back: 1) I'm pretty sure players only get a cap if they actually play, not if they are just an unused sub 2) I never thought you were either of those, but at the accusation had the desired effect of a decent reply and amicable dialogue Enjoy the season!

Thanks for a nice, reasoned, post SB. You are correct that we are never going to be in the market for someone of Mane's abilities as they are now. Although, it is a shame that he decided to leave us for Liverpool at this exact time when we have qualified for Europe whilst they have not. Again, I agree that no club can ever get all transfers right; and I am also looking forward to seeing what Boufal will bring to the team. You are also quite correct in that it probably isn't exactly right to compare new and old players who are at different stages in their careers. But then, how else are we to judge if he have had a good or not other than by whether the squad, as a whole, is stronger or weaker? And how can we conclude that without looking at what we had, and now have, at our disposal? That was all I was trying to do with my post above. Moving on, thanks to the two guys below for taking the time and effort to also make more thought provoking posts than their previous ones. This place is so much better when posters engage in decent debate, no matter how different their opinions are, than when there is just petty name calling and digs. After all we are (allegedly - no dig at either of you intended) all Saints fans. I will now respond to each of your posts below. Nicely selected players with potential at the beginning of the post and, likewise, with those who didn't live up to expectations compared with the previous season. (Although I think the addition of players such as Vardy and Drinkwater who are older and already had a full season in the prem is pushing it a bit.) That is easy to do with hindsight. Juanmi was also highly rated as a player with great potential this time last year. Yes, it is possible that all our new, young, players with potential will be amazing this season, whilst the of Mane and Wanyama will be duds - possible, we will see. One of my minus points did not come from Kelvin retiring. It was more to do with the fact that I do not see Stuart Taylor as an upgrade on Gazzaniga. I do, however, accept that Gazza needed to go out for first team experience, but I do feel that has left us weaker as a whole. Hopefully we will not need to find out either way. Yes, another minus point was because Pelle was replaced with Austin - who I do not think is as good. Do you think Austin would be leading Italy's front line if he were Italian? Plus, as I also mentioned, at the end of last season both of them were on books now only Charlie is. Therefore, we have to be weaker as a squad. Do you not agree? I am actually excited by the three young players - Redmond, Hojbjerg and Boufal - we brought in, I just hoped we might also sign one more; preferably a player of known quality. I do get your point that Redmond (6) scored more than Bony (4) - they both had 4 assists - but Redmond spent almost twice as long on the pitch as Bony did, with the latter almost always being used as a sub. I wasn't actually calling for us to sign Bony, but I really do think it would have been beneficial for us to sign someone like him, who was fully fit and raring to go from the season's start. I also get what you say in reference to the squad having to grow, move out older players and bring in younger ones. Of course that needs to happen. The probably think they have that right in Romeu, having been here one year already, stepping into Wanyama's shoes and Hojbjerg to play alongside him. Hopefully, that will prove to be the case very soon. What is more concerning is moving on the top two scorers without adequately replacing them (in my opinion). Again, hopefully Charlie, Shane and JRod will go and prove my concerns unfounded by bagging at least a dozen each in the league this season. If you check back through my posting history (beyond this summer) you will find that I am usually one of the happy clappers on here. I am just not that impressed at this juncture. Still, hopefully you are right and I will be pleasantly surprised. I shall still get to as many matches as possible, and will watch all others on-line, and will be cheering my heart out for all our players every match. Of that I can assure you. Apology accepted. In my original I compared each player as they are today based on the most recent data available, their stats for last season (or last couple of seasons). I certainly did not manipulate any of those stats. If you really think I did, please feel free to point out where. I think it would be absolutely wrong to use one player's stats from last season and another's from 2, 3 or 4 seasons ago. That would prove nothing. Or maybe you think I should have compared what Hojbjerg did last season to that which Victor achieved during his last season at Celtic - where he scored 9 goals including a screamer against Barcelona? Or perhaps I should have compared McCarthy with Stekelenburg when he was at the same age? I think not. Comparing one player at current level of ability to another of years gone past in skewing the stats; not current with current. Also, calling McCarthy a current international is stretching it a bit. How many full caps does he have? When did he win his last one? At the end of the day, as I have mentioned previously and given reasons for, I honestly believe our squad is significantly weaker now than it was in May. You obviously do not. Perhaps you can give a reasoned argument for this? Last season we finished 6th and qualified for Europe. On another thread the general consensus of Saints fans is that this season we will finish somewhere between 10th-15th. So it appears I am not alone in thinking we are weaker or, at the very least, weaker in comparison to our rivals this season (which amounts to the same thing). To be honest, I just wish we had signed at least one other attacking midfielder/striker (one who was fit at the start of the start of the season, having had a decent pre-season) and an additional tough tackling, ball winning, defensive midfielder. I honestly hope you are proved to be right and I am wrong in this instance. (P.S. Sorry if this reply bored you. )

Vice - 'as a substitute/replacement for' - hence why I compared the new signings to the player(s) they replaced; as opposed to versus - 'against or in opposition to' Aww, poor poppet. Weren't there any pictures for yo to look at? I'm sorry. It's because my post was aimed at the grown-ups, who are able to read and comprehend information. Not for 'Trolls', 'WUMs', 'Skates' or school-kids who just dig at other people without ever adding anything constructive in this forum. Given that you joined here early/mid July and in that time have clocked up over 100 posts managing to call other posters boring, idiots, morons, grumpy and even the one c#nt, I'm assuming you are the latter. Please feel free to state what you disagree with and why. At least I bothered to explain the reasons for my thoughts. Do you think we had a good or great window? If so, why? All I have seen from you on this thread thus far is that a Norwich supporter thinks Redmond should be playing for them in the Championship and you think he is (or will be this season) a better striker than Berahino and Bony.

So, at the end of page 1, SaintsWeb predictions have: Utd winning the prem, just ahead of City. Utd, City, Chelsea and Arsenal taking the CL spots' with Liverpool just pipping Spurs for 5th. Saints to finish between 10th - 15th. Burnley and Hull to go down, with Sunderland, Bournemouth, WBA and Swansea trying to avoid the drop with them.

I am absolutely certain we would be more positive as a group if we had 4 or 5 points more than we currently have; as that would have meant winning our home matches and possibly drawing away to Utd. Had we only won one of those home matches and drawn the other then many would also probably be feeling more positive. The problem is that we failed to score more than one goal against 2 very poor sides, whilst also failing to keep a clean sheet and looking fragile at the back. I gave my overall thoughts of the window previously in this thread. Now, I would like to give my thoughts on each individual signing, who they effectively replaced and how I feel that will impact us this season. Primarily, I will compare how we stand right now, at the beginning of this season, with how we finished the last one. Additionally, I will make some comparisons of players over recent previous seasons. McCarthy vice Stekelenburg McCarthy - last season he made 7 appearances for Palace, failing to keep a clean sheet in any. The season before he that made 5 appearances (4 for QPR, 1 for Reading) whilst also failing to keep a clean sheet. Stekelenburg - last season kept 9 clean sheets in his 25 appearances for us. Yes, McCarthy is some 7 years younger than Stek, so will be playing for longer. However, he can only dream of having a career anything like the Dutchman who, at only 1 year older than McCarthy is now played in a World Cup Final. In a couple of years time I will probably be happier to have McCarthy than Stek. But, right now, for this season, I feel that Stek is the better 'keeper. Therefore, minus one transfer point. Running Total -1 Taylor vice Kelvin and Gazzanigga Taylor - To be honest, I am still trying to work out why we have bothered signing Taylor. Surely there must have been a better option out there? Yes, he is an experienced 'keeper; if you consider being 35 and spending almost your entire career sat on bench (at best) being experienced. He was without a club for the entirety of last season and has only made 10 first team appearances in the past 6 years! Of those only one was a clean sheet, for Leeds Vs Rotherham. Kelvin/Gazza - Kelvin obviously felt, at 39, it was time to hang his gloves up. However, in recent years, he made far more fist team appearances than Taylor, and at a higher level. I also understand the need for Gazza to get first team experience and the need for him to go out on loan to achieve this. However, all in all, when comparing Taylor's abilities to the other two I feel we are weaker in the 3rd choice 'keeper option. Therefore, another minus point. Running Total -2 Pied vice Martina Yes, I know Martina is still here but this was obviously the plan. The only thing that stopped Pied being Martina's replacement was his unfortunate, but probably timely, injury (it would be worse if he had picked the injury up today, for example, as I am sure Martina would now be an Everton player). I was sat in the Kingsland for the Bilbao and Watford matches so got a good view of Pied during those matches. To be honest, I liked what I saw. I thought he was going to be very useful for us this season but, alas, that is not to be. As we are where we were, no positive or negative transfer points. Running Total -2 Hojbjerg vice Wanyama Actually, this a difficult one to call as they are such different players despite both being defensive midfielders. Pierre is undoubtedly going to be the far better footballer of the two. I really like what I have seen of him thus far. Such potential. However, he does not (yet) give the defense anywhere near the amount of cover Victor did/does. Yes, I know Victor got sent off three times last season, but he still only played 3 games less (over the course of the season) than Pierre. And, as bad as his record is, Victor also seems to offer more of a goal scoring threat than Pierre - but I am sure this will change in the next season or two. As we stand right now, I really think we are missing Victor's presence in midfield. Hojbjerg has not replaced that. What Hojbjerg has done is given us more strength than JWP or Classie in midfield. All in all I will call this one a draw, thus no plus or minus transfer points. Running Total -2 Redmond vice Juanmi/Ramirez Another case of one player replacing two, as (despite their limited game time) we did have both Juanmi and Ramirez on our books last season and even paid a third of the latter's wages whilst he was playing for 'boro. I like Nathan and believe he does also have a lot of potential I really hope he can be transformed into a striker but not sure that 6 goals in 37 last season (4 of which were scored by mid-October) and 7 in the 50 the previous one indicate that he can. To be fair though, he is already off the mark this season, but then he scored in both Norwich's first 2 matches last season. I was also one of the few on here who liked Gaston and thought he was never really given a full opportunity to show his abilities with us. I honestly think he would be good in the number 10 position for us in our current system. He did score 7 in 18 for Middlesboro last season, albeit in the championship. And, I wonder, would Nathan be a full Uruguayan international if he were of that nationality? Of course, Juanmi lacked the physicality for the prem, or maybe just couldn't settle. Weighing up all of the above I am, for some reason I can't really put my finger on, going to give this one positive point. Running Total -1 Boufal vice Mane Again, very hard to compare seeing as we have yet to see Boufal in a Saints shirt. However, we certainly know what Mane was (and is) capable of - 25 goals in his 75 Saints appearances = 1 in 3. Boufal is going to have to go some to top or equal that, which he was not far off for Lille, scoring 15 in 50. Once more the key word with Boufal is potential. Hopefully he will give us the same unpredictability and threat that Mane did. As for Sadio, I really think we should have got more for him than we did. Liverpool have looked far more threatening when he has played this season. Obviously, it will still be a few weeks until we see anything of Sofiane; whereas Sadio is up and running. Therefore, I am going to give this one a minus point. I certainly hope that Boufal goes on to show I was wrong in doing so. Bu I honestly think we would have those extra points in the bag had Mane played for us against Watford and Sunderland. Running Total -2 Austin vice Pelle I really hate having to put this one here as we had both on our books for the latter part of last season, and we should be comparing to how we were at the end of last season. However, as it is generally accepted that Austin was bought to be Pelle's replacement....... Over the past 2 seasons Austin scored 29 in 59 whilst Pelle bagged 30 in 79. Of course, 10 of Charlie's goals came in the Championship, whereas Pelles were in the prem or at international level. Which is another point, is there any one on here who honestly believes Austin would have be leading the Italian front line if their nationalities were reversed? I certainly don't. Which one of the reasons why I am going to give to give this another minus point, although perhaps that is a bit harsh and the players are more equal in talent. The other reason why I believe it is a minus is that we are a striker light within the squad (as I said previously, we had both of them at the end of the season). Running Total -3 So, overall, I believe we are 3 players worse off - in terms of their current abilities and effectiveness to the squad - than we were at the end of last season. As has been said before, by myself and others, I feel that this really equates to huge missed opportunity given our 6th placed finish and participation in Europe this season. We do, however, now have three players of great potential. If they all come good they will really be useful for us next season. I just hope they will all be here then, along with Frazer, VvD, Bertrand, etc.

* I pretty much agree with all of the OP's points. * I think we have an inferior manager/coaching this season compared to the last one. * I am happy with Redmond, Hojbjerg and Boafal who look to be signings with great potential. My main concern is, how long they will take to reach that potential (Boufal in particular). * I am very concerned that we have not adequately replaced out top two scorers from last season and that our midfield now looks far less able at protecting the defence. * It is unfortunate that Pied has picked up his injury and I am very concerned now that Frazer has an injury, as I am not at all convinced with our goalkeeping cover. * I honestly feel we have missed an opportunity to enhance our squad on the back of qualifying for Europe. Indeed, I absolutely feel that we are now weaker than at the end of last season. * I will make the most of this season's trip into Europe (although, unfortunately, I will probably only manage to travel to Milan) as I don't think it will be repeated for a very long time. * I don't think we will finish in the top half this season. 12th-15th is, I feel, far more realistic. If that is the case, my main concern there would be that our better players (yes, including those who have recently signed new contracts) will then want to move away in order to repeat their European experience.

Now that the transfer window is closed and all the teams have their squads until January, what are your predictions for this coming season for: top 5; where Saints will finish; the 3 clubs to be relegated? Here's mine: 1. Man Utd 2. Man City 3. Chelsea 4. Arsenal 5. Liverpool Saints to finish 12th Relegated: Burnley, Hull and Sunderland

You, more so than any other poster on here, should know that the list below is our named '25 man squad' for the second part of last season (i.e. from 01 Feb onwards): 01. Alves Soares, Cedric Ricardo 02. Austin Charlie 03. Bertrand, Ryan 04. Clasie, Jordy 05. Davis, Kelvin Geoffery 06. Davis, Steven 07. Fonte, Jose Miguel 08. Forster, Fraser Gerard 09. Gardos, Florin 10. Gazzaniga, Paulo Dino 11. Isgrove, Lloyd Jeffrey 12. Jimenez Lopez, Juan Miguel 13. Long, Shane Patrick 14. Mane, Sadio 15. Martina, Rhu-endly Aurelio Jean-Carlo 16. Pelle, Graziano 17. Rodriguez, Jay Enriqus 18. Stekelenburg, Maarten 19. Tadic, Dusan 20. Van Dijk, Virgil 21. Vidal, Oriol Romeu 22. Wanyama, Victor 23. Yoshida, Maya To make it easier for you, I have even numbered them. We had 23 players aged over 21 - 2 less than we could have had. For the start of this season, if we hadn't sold or bought any players at all, we would need to add James Ward-Prowse - making it 24. However, from that list we have lost (replacement, not on list, in brackets): Davis Kelvin - (Taylor Stuart) Gazzaniga Paulo Jiminez Lopez - (Redmond Nathan) Mane Sadio - (Boufal Sofiane) Pelle Grazianno Stekellenburg Maarten - (McCarthy Alex) Wanyama Victor - (Hojbjerg Pierre) So, 2 without replacement (from the nominated list of 25) takes us down to 22. Additionally, I believe Hojbjerg counts as an U21 this season - so that makes it 21. 21 Senior players - that leaves us room to sign more 4 more, or is my maths wrong? Now, I am not saying that we should have signed another 4 players but we could have done before reaching your pointless player number 26. As for those we have brought in in comparison to those they replaced, in my opinion overall they are lesser players. So, not only is our senior squad lesser (in terms of numbers of personnel) than the one we ended the previous season with but many of the players within it are also not (yet, at least) of a standard as those who have departed from it. We had a perfect opportunity this summer, having finished 6th and qualified automatically for European group stages, to push on and improve our squad. Instead, it is now weaker than it was in May. That, for me and many others on here, is very disappointing!

I said 'likely' to bog-off in January, not dead cert. However, I will explain it for you none the less......... It is now August; already three games into the season. He hasn't played since May. From all reports I've read he will be ready to start training in about 3 weeks. How long after that until he is fit enough to start a match? How long after that will he be fit enough to complete 90 minutes? I don't know the answers to either, but a rough guess would be: fit enough to play some part mid-end October; fit enough to play a full 90, mid Nov. Fit enough to go to ACON in January? Yes. Personally, I would have preferred us to buy our 'top' player way before the season started - and for him to be fit and available for all our matches. Still, I'm sure Bouffal will prove to be the best player we have ever signed and I will forever be shamed by this post.

Getting down to nitty-gritty time. Let's get Bouffal over the line (although I wish we hadn't blown our wad on a player currently injured, having not had a pre-season and likely to bog-off for a while in January); then let's bring in either Berahinno or Ings; keep JRod here; and I would love us to bring in a DM better than Romeu (but I am sure that one is even less likely than bringing another striker in).

Okay, so here we are, 3 games in and a much divided fan base as to how we will do this season. What we do know is that the previous 2 seasons we have broken our highest points total in the premier league. In addition, as we all know, we have improved our league position year after year for the past 7 seasons. Obviously, the more points we get the higher our position should be. Therefore, I have decided to do a running comparison with last season. Now, there are 2 ways in which I could do this: by comparative match-day results/points or by the comparative matches from last season. So I shall do both, just to be fair to those on each side of the fence. Of course there are 3 different teams this season, so I shall substitute those results in the following way (when they eventually come about): Burnley for Newcastle; Middlesborough for Norwich; Hull for Villa. Here goes then: Match day comparison: Last season our first three matches yielded 2 points. These were from away draws against Newcastle and Watford. In between those matches we lost at home to Everton. This season we also have 2 points. These were (as we know) from our home matches against Watford and Sunderland, with the loss away at Man Utd. Therefore, using this criteria, we are exactly on the same points as this time last season and it looks as if we should be able to at least match last seasons points total. Except, perhaps, that at this stage last season we gad played 2 away matches and only 1 at home; the opposite to this tear. Match by Match comparison: As we are all fully aware, so far this season we have drawn at home against Watford and Sunderland and lost away to Man Utd; yielding us 2 points. In the comparative matches last season we won at home against Watford and away to Man Utd, whilst also drawing at home against Sunderland. This gave us 7 points. Therefore, with this criteria we are 5 points down on last season; thus we would do well to achieve a season's total of 58 points - which would have seen us finish 9th last season. I shall endeavor to update this thread on a match by match basis. So, looking ahead, our next match is match day 4 away at Arsenal. Last season we got 3 points from match day 4 and drew away at Arsenal. Let's hope we replicate at least one of those results!

I am hoping Milan away tickets go on sale to members as well, as I have also booked accommodation (which I can also cancel up to the day before). However, even if they don't I will still go and buy a ticket there for the 'neutral' zone (and try to get moved). Flights won't be a problem for me coming from this end.

That would be perfect for me!

As others have said, Cedric, Martina and Classie should at least be in the indifferent group. This would mean we have probably only made 4 'bad' signings in the past couple of seasons. He is correct though. Last season we paid the wages of and had the option to select (when fit/available) Forster, Stek, Kelvin and Gazza. Admittedly, we probably wouldn't have signed Stek had Frazer not had the long-term injury; but we did. Stek was returned after his loan; Kelvin retired; Gazza is on a season long loan (hence not available to us for this entire season); therefore, we have lost 3 'keepers and only brought the one (McCarthy) in as a back-up. At the time we signed him McCarthy was Crystal Palace's 3rd/4th choice 'keeper. I seriously hope he is not intended to be Frazer's long term replacement. He really isn't that good. Had we signed Randolph from West Ham (as was rumoured before we signed McCarthy) then you may have had a point. Personally, I think we will be seriously screwed if Frazer picks up an injury this season. There is no way that Mason is worth only 1 million less than Wanyama. If we were to pay 10 mil for him after only receiving 11m from them for Victor it would mean Spurs would have seriously shafted us this summer - again!

You stated we are only one squad player down from last season, that isn't true. I am fully aware Stek was brought in as cover for Frazer (whilst he was injured) but he was still one of our 25 man squad all season and we still had to pay his wages; ditto with Kelvin and ditto with Gazza (who I had forgotten about last night). So yes, Palace's 3rd/4th choice 'keeper has replaced 3 of our squad from last season. Thus, surely, we should have room to sign 2 more players in other positions (Pied plus one?) Juanmi, whilst not contributing much on the pitch, was also in squad (and taking wages) all season. Additionally, Ramirez played at the beginning of last season and we continued to pay a third of his salary all season. I agree that Redmond effectively replaces both of these, but I doubt he is on as much of a salary as their's combined. Thus, surely we have wriggle room there? Agree that Hoj is Victor's replacement, I never said otherwise. Hoj is certainly an all round better player than Victor, but doesn't, I feel. offer the same protection to the defence. So, again, it is up front where we are significantly weaker than at the previous season's end. At that point we had Austin, Pelle and Mane on our books - available to play and being paid. In addition, Gallagher (IMO, our best development squad attacker) is now also out on a season long loan. If, as you say, Austin replaces Pelle, who has replaced Austin? We are far more than just one squad player down on last season. At present, we are significantly weaker and with more matches to play - with all the travelling, etc, involved. If we were to loan JRod out, without bringing a further player in, we will certainly be struggling once one or two injuries are picked up. To even be standing still we need to bring in two more forwards by the end of the month (although that still means we have been deficient during the opening weeks of the season). If we let JRod go, we need to bring in a third. Having qualified for Europe, for the second season running, this was our opportunity to push on and improve - not just stand still. Standing still, in this league, is effectively going backwards as all other teams strive to improve. My fear is, with only 8 days left of the window, that this will be our last year in Europe for quite some time. I hope we get to enjoy it!

We are two players down. Players named in our squad for the 2nd part of 2015/16 season no longer with us: Kelvin Davis Stekelenberg Wanyama Juanmi Mane Pelle Additionally, we also had Ramirez on our books last season. Important to the JRod going on loan debate is that 3 of the above (4 if you include Ramirez) are attacking midfielders or forwards. Only one of our incomings (Redmond) is an attacking player. That leaves us 2 (or 3) attacking players down already (which would still give us a deficit if you are correct and we bring one more in). Having said that, maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing for JRod to have some loan time - PROVIDING we bring in at least 2 attackers, at least one of which should be a striker (say, Berahino or Ings). Given that JRod has been linked with 2 teams now, Hull and WBA, it looks as if him being loaned out is a possibility. Personally, I would rather it was to a Championship team and only for 3 months. However, I think only season long loans are allowed this year? (Hope I'm wrong.)

Apart from the two that went in of course! Hojberg and VvD both played well. Tadic, Targett and Cedric had their moments. Redmond and Long, to a slightly lesser degree, looked afraid of shooting. De Gee really didn't have a save to make. Lots of possession from us, mostly in our own half/mid-third; lots of passing by us, mostly sideways and backwards; completely toothless up front. Pretty similar to last week in many ways. For me, the signs so far are not good. We are 5 points down on last season (match by match basis) already. For those saying everything is looking good, we'll be fine, etc, what, in particular, makes you think this?

I am a serial happy clapper but, alas, not so at this moment in time. We are, undoubtedly, weaker now than at the end of last season. In addition to this we are also playing a system that really does not (to me at least) seem to suit some of our better players. When I was sat in the Kingsland on Saturday watching us struggling to break down a poor Watford there was not a single player on our bench who I thought could come on and weave some magic to turn things around. We seriously do need to sign a couple of good quality AMs/FWDs. Long, Redmond and Tadic are not going to be able to play every match, and it doesn't seem that Puel is willing to change shape to make the most of Austin (something he should have done for the last 15 minutes on Saturday). I'm not saying we need to spend a fortune, but we do need players good enough to walk into the first team. Having finished 6th and qualified for Europe this summer was the perfect time to push on. However, at present, it looks/feels as if we are stepping back and pausing for a breather instead. As things stand, I will be surprised if we finish above 10th. Here's hoping for a productive next 2 weeks. If only the transfer window closed before the season started..........

My thoughts on today's match (I was sat in Kingsland, near half-way line, high up): We didn't so much seem to be playing the diamond (4-1-2-1-2) as a 4-3-3 with Tadic (first half) and JWP (2nd half) as the spearhead. The reason I say this is that going forward it was a front three (with Tadic/JWP central) whilst when defending Long and Redmond (later Austin and JRod) tracked back leaving the 'No 10' player (Tadic/JWP) as the one furthest forward. This looked weird, wrong and ineffective. Long and Redmond worked hard but didn't really offer much threat. They also swapped sides frequently. On one occasion, 5 minutes before half time, Long swapped with Tadic (Long going central, Tadic right). 2 minutes later Long scored (surprise, surprise) following a sublime through ball from Davis. Please, please, please Puel - stop playing Tadic as the furthest player forward. Use Long or Austin; THEY are strikers! Other than that, we played a tight game, keeping possession and knocking the ball around well enough. We all looked composed at the back, though rarely troubled. VvD once more looked our most talented player and a great leader. Yoshida also played well. On the flanks, I thought young Matt Targett had a very good game; certainly better than Cedric first half. I was also pleased to see that Pied has a bit of pace and can beat a player well enough. Romeu played the holding role first half; Hojberg did this job second half, after being one of the 2 in the first. Both looked comfortable in the holding role. When we are hit on the counter the holding CM drops in between the 2 CBs, allowing one of them to go wide. Basically, I would say, with the formation Puel wants us to play, the whole team has to be fluid, switching positions as and when required - although I'm not sure what he made of my favourite piece of play today (barring Long's goal) when Virgil broke forward with the ball at his feet. I just wish he would have shot instead of trying to pass the ball inside. In conclusion, we looked tidy but not really stretched or tested (don't recall Forster having to save a single shot). However, we looked toothless up front. Don't expect many goals at St Mary's this season based on today's showing. VvD, Targett, Romeo, Hojberg and Davis all played well. I would add Long, Redmond and Austin to that list, but they seemed hampered by the formation/the way they were asked to play. Unfortunately, JRod has still to give any slight hint that he will ever be the player he was. In the few performances he put in last season and all those I have seen this pre-season he just doesn't seem to be able to beat/go past a defender as he used to, let alone score the types of goals he was renowned for. We really do need two new forwards (or one forward, one AM) if we want to finish any higher than mid-table and have a good go in Europe, based on what I witnessed today.

So I guess that I am the only one not particularly enthralled to see us signing Crystal Palace's number 3/4 as our number 2? Yes, he showed promise at Reading but has failed to become first choice at both QPR and Palace since then. In fact, he wasn't even 2nd choice at Palace. Added to this is the fact that now Gazza has gone on a season long loan Harry Lewis is 3rd choice for the season. God forbid anything happens to Fraser! Anyway, welcome Alex. I sincerely hope Dave Watson can get you back to your best, and that Fraser stays injury, illness and suspension free for the next year and well beyond....

You disagree that he is 4th choice at Palace behind Mandanda, Speroni and Hennessey, or that he would be 2nd choice at Saints, or that he isn't as good as the two Irish 'keepers (RoI and NI number 1's)?

Big step up for him. 4th choice at Palace to 2nd choice for us. IMO, not as good as any of the other 'keepers we were linked with. Probably our 3rd or 4th choice I would imagine. Heyho.

No, more likely: -----------------------------------Lewis----------------------------- Martina--------------Yoshida-------------VvD------------McQueen -------------------------------Hojberg------------------------------ --------------Reed------------------------------Classie------------- --------------------------------Tadic--------------------------------- --------------Austin--------------------------JRod------------------

As I just posted on another thread.... From what I have read/seen of Puel and his team's tactics, I am expected a variant of 4-3-3 more akin to a 4-1-2-1-2 diamond. As in: 2 solid CBs; RB and LB being used more like wing-backs, giving us all our attacking width; 1 holding DM (hence why I don't think VW will be replaced); 2 box-to-box midfielders (sitting deep when defending/against top teams - more advanced when attacking/against perceived weaker teams); 1 AM, to provide defence splitting passes/shoot from distance/arrive late to assist fwds; 2 fwds, not playing as a pair but not particularly wide either - more in between either CB and fullback. It seems to me that Puel also likes his teams to keep possession and keep the ball on the deck. So, not so many 'lumps up the field' or crosses whipped in (as last season). I would imagine our 1st/2nd eleven to be something like: -----------------------------------------Frazer/Gazza------------------------------------------- Cedric/Martina-----------Jose/Maya-----------------VvD/Gardos------------Bertrand/Targett ----------------------------------------Romeu/Hojberj------------------------------------------ ------------------Davis/JWP------------------------------------Classie/Reed------------------- ---------------------------------------New/Tadic-------------------------------------------------- ------------------Long/Redmond------------------------Austin/Jrod------------------------------ But I may be wrong.

From what I have read, and the little I have seen, Puel will have us playing a variant of 4-3-3 which has the central midfielder and forward playing deeper than the others. The other 2 mids/fwds will mostly be playing quite narrow (fwds attacking the gaps between CBs and fullbacks) with all our width coming from our fullbacks. If I am correct, what does this mean in reference to current and possible future players? Let's look at who we have and who could play where: GK: Frazer and Gazza - obviously we need one more, and I am sure we will get one RB: Cedric seems perfect for this style; Martina less so. However, I was very impressed with Valery against DC Utd. I can see why there is rumour about us wanting another RB (as back-up to Cedric) but feel we are okay without one. LB: Bertrand and Targett are clearly adequate. Ryan, we all know about. Matt did well as a wing-back last season; he is decent going forward, not so convincing defending. I think we are fine here. - N.B. For those saying they would be happy for Matt to go out on loan, who do you propose we use if/when Ryan is injured or unavailable? CB: Jose, VvD, Maya and Gardos (with Stephens as 5th choice) I think is good enough. Yes, I would like better cover, but we are Saints, we are not going to bring better players than Maya/Gardos in as cover. DM: Puel only really uses one deep sitting DM. Our problem is that we only really have one experienced player capable of playing in this role - Romeu. My worry is how we will cope when he (inevitably) gets suspended/injured. I would like to see us sign another big holding player, but don't think we will. We will likely see Hojberj play this role when Oriol isn't available. Mids: For the other two midfield positions we have Davis, JWP, Classie, Hojberj and, as back-up, Reed. This should be enough and I doubt we will see a new box-to-box midfielder coming in. AM: By AM I mean the central one of our attacking 3. Some on here seem to be thinking back to previous seasons where this player is the spearhead - Rickie/Pelle - but Puel doesn't seem to do this. The central fwd is likely to sit deeper in the AM 'No 10' role. Or am I mistaken? If I am correct, at present, we only really have Tadic who has anywhere near the skill for this position. The problem being, he really isn't a No 10 either. Perhaps Redmond could be trained to adapt to this position? But that would take time. This is, for me, our number one target and where we should aim high. We all know that we have made around a £40m profit so far this summer, and I doubt we will spend much on a back-up 'keeper; so we should have sufficient to get a top player in. Hopefully, one fit and able to walk straight into the team and a name to put bums on seats. Don't know who, but for some reason don't want it to be Boufal. Fwds: That leaves us with Long, Austin, JRod and Redmond to fill the two proper fwd roles. Not wide, but not exactly central. IF they all stay fit, this should be okay. However, with the doubts over JRod and Austin, and the fact that Nathan is more of a wide player than a natural striker, I would really like to see one more conventional, mobile, fwd come in. I know others disagree, but to me Berahino would be perfect. However, I don't expect us to bring another one in, instead relying on Gallagher if JRod and/or Austin break down again. This could cost us, as we really do seem to be missing in the goals department. Having said all the above, I do think it is a good thing that we have kept our defence together. Puel also, apparently, likes to play somewhat defensively. So, perhaps the plan is to just go for low scoring wins; hence, the club not being too worried about lost our two top scorers? I don't know. But, to summarize, unless there are any more departures, I can only really see us bringing in a back-up 'keeper and an attacking midfielder.