Saint Charlie

You Sir, are a WUM. Seriously - no reason at all apart from thats not the way we have gone so far, of course we could have signed Hoilett on 50k - then Lambert and Lallana want that, Fonte and Hooiveld want up to 30 and all of a sudden your wage bill has doubled. Saints have talked about being sustainable, and of course you need to always look to improve and that costs money, but there are plenty of good players that will be cheaper than that. Look at what happened down the road...first its 20k a week, then 30, then 50, then 80....its right in our faces what happens when you overspend. Could we afford a 50k a week player currently? Im not sure.

Should be ok to cover as have Lallana, ward-Prowse, Davis, Schneiderlin, Chaplow, Hammond, Puncheon and Guly who could all play in the central three. Hope he isn't out for a long time though because he is a quality player.

This.

Agreed - always space for a goalscorer like Sharp in the squad although he doesn't offer a lot in out side the box.

I commented on every player you listed - hardly fingers in ears? The fact is you make the point that the players we have signed are not of the required quality, and then suggest alternatives who are no better and in many cases worse. At the end of the day we need to judge what the squad is like on the 1st Sept. if we havent added I will take your point. Plus - I have never said the signings we have got are good enough for Europe - they are not. Europe is not the aim for this season for me. I am happy that Clyne, JR and Davis (who has played in the Champions league incidently) are good players who will improve us. if you are basing your view of the signings on Europe then I agree they arent good enough. But if you were doing that then the players you suggest as signings are equally nowhere near that class either.

The list you gave wasn't great to be fair.

Agree with this mostly - its just frustrating with the CB position as we are so bare there is zero competition in there. Out wide we have some options and need to supplement them but if its done on the last day that is fine. What will annoy everyone is if we get a CB on the last day who doesn't seem to have great pedigree a la Hooiveld. Then we just have to hope it turns out ok. I am confident they have targets like you said - but this Forum will be in meltdown if the above happens. Dibden Purlieu Saint will rule the WUM Kingdom he has created!

Fair POint. Suarez at Liverpool is a great player who will run past 5 players and then mess up the finish. Always better to HAVE a player like Billy Sharp and Im sure he will score goals, but as Clarke says I don't see that he necessarily fits the style perfectly outside the PENALTY AREA.

This. Premier League finisher, Championship all round game.

I do agree with this - especially seeing as we let Martin go out on loan - I then expected a CB to join soon after. I think anyone not happy with the quality of the signings is unrealistic and probably doesn't understand football a lot (certainly hasnt taken any notice of Saints transfer policy in the last 3 years) But its fair to question why the CB situation has been left how it is and if we had a fans forum I would like to hear the answer. It is fair to say that if we brought in a CB that we are as happy with as when we signed JR or Clyne (not necessarily similar profile, just the feeling about the signing) then most of the Forum apart from the few Mongs/WUMS would be happy. Similarly the wide attacker/midfielder poosition where we have been lacking on the right since AOC left.

A lot of people with too high expectations who have odd opinions that cannot be backed up with any kind of facts and don't like it when people point out they are being ridiculous. It always goes like this during the summer though, even if we brought in Messi and Ronaldo we would still be short in defence.

He wasn't asked about them. Don't be hysterical.

They are a nightmare for Rio and Vidic too...those arent the games we need points from.

Wouldn't say many of those are any better than the players we have brought in. On the CBs and wingers wait and see what business we do. of the RBs selected here Clyne is better than all of them IMO.

Point A I agree, but thats how it is. Most teams havent done a lot of business yet. If the siutation is get a 6/10 player in June or an 8/10 at end of August I would go for the 8/10 player. You will say that Reading have done great business, but then Mariappa, McCleary, Gunter all fit into your category from Point B - they dont have the "current ability". If we had signed those 3 players everyone would be underwhelmed but because Reading signed them they become "great business". On Point B - Kightly has played the vast majority of his career in the Championship and was loaned out there last season. He has a huge question mark about his quality to play well at Prem level. Clyne is clearly a great signing - Im not sure what kind of players you feel we realistically could have signed who are better than what we have brought in? Before you say Hoillett - he is probably on plus 50k at QPR. Lets see some of these proven prem players, who fit our signing model who we could afford that are miles better than Jay Rod, Clyne and Steve Davis? Maybe Suarez for Jay, Debuchy for Clyne and Cazorla for Davis?

Predicatable from you. Very clever. Saw on another thread you suggested we should be signing the likes of Kightley instead of Stoke, yet you say the players we have brought in are not of the required quality. I would say they are all on a par with or better than Kightley myself. Maybe just calm down, chill out and wait and see what our squad is like at the end of the window.

The in house media team never do. Should be a Solent interview on Saints Player ahead of Udinese - that should ask the question.

Can barely view some of the stuff - this mornings gallery for example. Actually amazed that something so poor can be put out there (and obviously not anyone at Saints' fault but the contracted company are mugging all the teams off).

Cork set to miss the start of the season.

Yes. Plus a general feeling on their attributes. Rickie is most effective in a 4-4-2 as shown by his assist for Sharp tonight. Not sure taking away some of RLs impact is the wisest thing, not as if we have massively strengthened in attacking areas. We have lots of strikers but few wide attackers. The 4-3-3 suits our midfield but do we have the right mix of forward players to pull it off?

World class

Just shows the madness of buying British at times.

Very good point. Ludicrous money for him.

Corks limps off...not a good evening.