Saint Charlie

Will obviously take time to get used to the speed and physicality of the PL, but I'm sure he can cope. He also played 60 something games last season apparently, which is way too many and he won't play anything like that for us I don't think. Got to remember he is a different player to Morgan who is very athletic, covers a lot of ground and is able to cover for full backs very well.

Surely anyone that is a Saints fan already knows we have signed him though?

Of the newly promoted sides Watford seem to be making some intriguing signings. Holebas is a good player and Capoue could benefit from playing every week.

Chambers definitely. His move only got him a big pay rise, senior England caps and an FA Cup winners medal in his first season.

Only the same as last season.

So if we sign 2 more players and do include Forster, then one player plus Mayuka cannot be included?

West Ham have sold 31k do far for their games tonight. Would hope we do similar for ours.

Mayuka is irrelevant so if needed we can ditch him from our squad - please not "roster") so can fit 2 more foreign signings. Interesting that, for a club which promotes the Academy so much, we only have one "club trained" senior player and the jury very much out as to whether he will ever make it properly at Saints. Next summer we will definitely need to buy a few British players unless some of the older U21s who havent really broken through yet show they can hold down a first team squad place in the coming years.

Wonder if Maya might have an injury. Couldn't see him in those pics nor the extensive training gallery posted the other day on our OS.

Not sure on the veracity of the source, but interesting: @joethomlinson: There are issues with #Clasie's hamstrings and hip region, but they were only minor & due to a poor training regime at Feyenoord. #SaintsFC @joethomlinson: #Clasie is fit, but slightly overcooked due to playing far too many minutes last season at Feyenoord. Just needs time to recover. #SaintsFC @joethomlinson: #SaintsFC view #Clasie as a future star of Dutch football & expect him to improve with the English football's pace. Very exciting signing.

It wasn't a debate. Just telling fans what he has been told by the club.

Quality signing for a great price. Must be a decent bit of cash left to spend...

Doesn't matter what Celtic do in the CL if Van Dijk has decided to leave.

Yeah if we get through there will probably be plenty of scope for "easier" trips in the group stage. Have to want to face the weakest sides possible, especially as the games are either side of the PL season. If we are convincing winners in the first leg we can rotate for the second and give the first XI more time to prepare for the league game.

Why rush it tonight? More exposure to announce it tomorrow. Edit: having seen troll tweet it could be tonight. Haha. Top effort.

Good for our midfield to pass the Dale Stephens test and get valuable minutes.

Yeah they look the best side in that list. Odd would be a cracking draw IMO.

If we really wanted him why did we offer one so late when Steve Davis signed an extension when he still had about 2 years to go? You can see why the player didn't feel especially wanted. But its history now.

Quality article on Clasie and Koeman: http://www.benefoot.net/clasie-and-koeman-united-in-red-and-white-again/?

Of course. Can't force them. But definitely better for us if we know they are good players, so this one has worked out well. As an aside on contracts, I would imagine we are already in discussions with Mane to extend his, even if its a token extension.

5 year deal the way to go over 4. Learning from the Clyne situation (and possible Wanyama one next summer).

Sunderland's deal for their no 1 CB target Nicholas Lombaerts has collapsed. They have been heavily linked with van Dijk this summer.

http://gianlucadimarzio.com/calciomercato/mario-suarez-savic-scambio-difficile-e-latletico-va-su-bruno-alves/ Clear as mud.. Good player, although on the face of it not a very typical Saints signing as 29 in Feb so no real sell on value.

Thursday makes sense as is probably the day the squad fly out to Holland. No need for him to come over here then go straight back there! Aside from CB good the other target is a central mifielder. Will have a tidy and fairly strong squad once those two areas are covered. Only slight negative is probably no British players coming in. But they are mostly crap and overpriced!

There have been lots of comments for a while, about the mystique of the Black Box™, and the process implemented by Paul Mitchell under the guidance of Les Reed. As we know, after a successful transfer window in the summer of 2014, Mitchell moved to Spurs, and Ross Wilson (lover of over-sized suits) took his place. The Black Box™ has taken on additional importance at Saints as we have lost top players this summer and last, to teams who cannot be bothered to invest in their own boxes. Instead they find laggy online streams of our Black Box™ and pay increased prices for players we identified earlier for a lot less. Despite this, the algorithm Mitchell, Reed and Wilson used to identify these signings has not changed significantly, and can be revealed as below: Weighting 1 (45%): Koeman knows the prospect from the Dutch league, believing them to be “a good one” and/or “a young one” and thinking they are good enough to be successful in the PL. Examples: Tadic, Pelle, Clasie Weighting 2 (32%) – The prospect is young, has European/Intl experience but plays in a less wealthy and high quality league when compared to the PL and can be lured by the chance to play in a more high-profile league. Examples: Mane, Gardos, Forster, Wanyama, Lovren, Cedric Weighting 3 (17%) – The prospect has proven his class previously (bonus points if proven to Koeman) but has fallen away slightly, and needs a chance to rebuild his career. Prospect is often available on loan with legally complex options to buy. Examples: Alderweireld, Bertrand, Djuricic, Elia, Stekelenburg Weighting 4 (5%) - the prospect plays for an emerging football nation and may provide commercial benefits if they do well in the PL. Examples: Yoshida Weighting 5 (1%) – Prospect is Mayuka Examples: Mayuka Summary: the Black Box™ isn’t as complex or mysterious as is made out by the media. It runs off a stable process, involves good people (Scouting & Management) whose judgement and opinions are trusted, and then supports them to the benefit of the club. Long may it continue.