austsaint

Last season I thought Davis, Bertrand, Tadic and VVD did a pretty good job with corners and free kicks.

Well said; and a word for Batman - stick to opinions about Football.

Tick, tick, star.

I'd make two comments. On what I've seen (TV only) you couldn't say Hesketh is not PL quality. Secondly, while I agree strongly that Mane has to be replaced and Redmond is not the player to do it, I'm not convinced Les sees Redmond as the replacement for Juanmi - he may think he's the replacement for SM. Not that Redmond's a bad player, it's just that we need someone else in that creative AM/striker role.

Can I add my feelings of revulsion to the attack in Nice.

Agree, we need another attacking player, preferably in the Mane mould. Depending on how PEH settles in, I still think our midfield lacks steel, Romeu aside. There were times last year when Clasie, Davo and JWP were on the park at the same time when our midfield was easily breached. It will be interesting to see if Harry Reed can impress Claude, I thought Rk discarded him to quickly.

Are we well stocked though. Clasie has to improve on his interrupted first season; we haven't seen much of Reed for sometime and then there's JWP, not my idea of a DM, what are you expecting of him this season Clarkey?

Pelle was great for SFC, and SFC have certainly been great for him. Such a lucrative deal for a player getting close to the plateau stage and for Saints to recoup purchase price and more was outstanding business. Loved some of his hold up play; link up with Tadic and inter-changes with Mane and Long - even some of those flicks were worth watching. Interesting to compare the effectiveness of Pelle, Tadic, Mane and Long with the Adkins/Poch combination of Lambert, Lallana, J-Rod and Punch. Happy days.

Don't know about that; but I am waiting to see whether Redmond is the only option replacement for Mane - if he is, Uncle Les' judgement comes under question again.

If this lad can play as well as he comes across in interview we have a cracking player on our books.

Indeed. A similar quality of player to replace Mane and I'll be happy.

There has been a narrative from the Club in the past few windows of getting transfer dealings (in and out) done "early". Notwithstanding dear old Ronald leaving, our business "in" looks to be rather later than earlier with a worrying suspicion that Redmond is Mane's replacement.

I'm fine with that as long as Redmond is not the Mane replacement.

What a marvellous human being. Bailed SFC out at a time when things looked bleak. Not a hint of ego or triumphalism in the short time his life had to run. Managed an ethical, innovative company and generously set up the successful EPL team we've been enjoying for the past three seasons.

Enjoyed reading this - very well thought out piece. I think we will need an AM/10 role player as well since Mane covered that option when required; I suppose Tadic can fit in there but a "Payet" type as well as a "Wanyama" type would be ideal. Quite agree with your assessment of Wanyama being under-appreciated by many.

Redmond might turn out to be a good player, but how you can say he has better control of the ball and more footballing intelligence than Mane is over-the-top. I'd be very disappointed if he is the player replacing Mane.

Let's review the wisdom of your words at the end of the season. Anyone who is happy about not seeing Mane go round in a Saints shirt next season is a wee bit odd.

Sales like this make your middle sentence, "And the Club keeps improving" very debatable. As for Mane's exit turning into a positive for Saints - that remains to be seen as well. Some are mentioning that he was offered an improved contract and refused it - if this was true, you can understand if not like the Board (Reed's) decision; if it isn't the case then it just looks like a book balancing exercise and a further weakening of the team.

Without knowing the full story, selling our best attacking player to Pool just seems crazy to me. What is the 30 mill going to buy us? This leaves us with VVD as the last highly saleable asset, perhaps Bertrand as well. What then? It just looks like a cave-in economic decision at a time when we don't even have a Manager. At this rate we're going to look more like West Brom and Crystal Palace than a top 6-8 side.

Just in case he gets the job can someone advise on pronunciation - is it Puel as in fuel or Puel as in poo-el?

Not really; he was dropped by Koeman for the Norwich match and barely featured for many games after that - you know as well as I what a class act Mane is, and the thought of Les and co. selling so quickly and readily just sends a deflating message.

Seriously disappointed by this development. What are we going to be left with? A crocked J-Rod, a partially crocked Austin, an ageing Pelle, a rising 30yo Long who is unlikely to repeat last season's heroics, a hot and cold Tadic, a decidedly lightweight Clasie, an underwhelming JWP - what must VVD and Bertrand be thinking.

Judging by Andy's previous posts I think he sees JWP as the hope of the side in the wake of Vic's move. We surely have to replace Vic with a quality DM.

Why can't we say, no, Mane is not for sale? What good is 30 million if you end up with two or three replacements who are nowhere near as good as SM? Has he been offered a new deal? Has he said he wants to leave?

It's not just the low amount for a player like him, it's the suggestion that the Club isn't going to fight tooth and nail to keep our most influential attacking player. Hope the story is wrong.