goodymatt

£8m (plus £2m add ons - assume linked to promotion), plus wages 😥

Sangare work permit led us to go for Diallo. Lamine Camara would have been a much more exciting singing than Diallo IMO. Always a risk they don’t fulfil that potential though and Martin certainly prefers a British core. If we could only have one I’m sure Martin would want O’Riley but it seems unlikely if the Italian press are right about his preferences. Could be back to square one for Saints.

You’re right that there are similarities supporting a team that isn’t local to you. I’m just suggesting the reasons for supporting that team can be very different when you are comparing the big clubs and Saints. Ultimately people can support whoever they like though.

It’s different because there is usually a good reason for supporting Saints if you’re not from Southampton, and it’s not just a default selection due to a team winning everything at the time. Nobody could call any Saints fan a glory hunter. You have to be a ‘proper fan’ to support us through league one and back etc. For me it’s a family thing and it’s nice to share this hobby across generations.

Gakpo x G.Ramos x O’Riley. Pain.

He’s giving me Jay Rodriguez vibes, think he will do well.

Interesting video on how the Chile opportunity came about.

Thought this was worthy of its own thread now he appears to be joining Saints. Here are all his goals at Blackburn Rovers: I also found 5 of his 6 goals for Sheffield United: I think for £7m rising to £8m (assume that’s if we stay up), its a very sensible signing. He looks like a player that can score all types of goals. Has good strength, can hold it up but also runs in behind well. At 25 years old there is still scope for further development too. Only question is if he will play wide striker or as our main striker, he seems to do well from LW.

Iheanacho to Sevilla (Fabrizio Romano). One free agent a few had mentioned on here as a potential option.

Lovely assist from Yaki there, great free kick

How good is it to listen to Martin talk the players through the game.

Guy finally got his act together, shame we couldn’t benefit

I agree he’s not a bad player when used on a style that suits his strengths. But in the context of Southampton FC, we signed him to score the goals to keep us up, then decided he didn’t fit the style. 11 apps, no goals and circa €10m loss. Bit of a disaster signing!

We paid €18m (plus add ons which I would assume have not been met) for Onuachu on a 3.5 year deal. Books wise he’s amortised at €5.14m per season. Loan fee last season was €1.5m. Sounds like €7m is the most we will achieve on a transfer fee. So €9.5m loss minimum. Transfermarkt values him as €13m. He’s definitely making the list as one of our worst signings ever.

Sounds encouraging

Think Dortmund have it too

Bet365 and PaddyPower seem to have stopped taking bets on O’Riley’s next club. I think Atalanta were the shortest odds beforehand… It’s giving Gakpo.

Do we think we’re trying for both Lamine Camara AND Matt O’Riley? Or might it be just one of them? Those two plus Downes is a pretty strong middle 3, with Lallana, Smallbone and Aribo in support. I could see Alcaraz leaving in that scenario. BBD, Ramsdale and Rak-Sakyi all appear to be loan targets. I would be happy with those 5 to complete our business but would rather loan a CF than Rak-Sakyi due to limited loan slots.

Perhaps this one is a little tame but he’s been a regular negative nanny when speaking about saints for some time. Guy clearly has beef for some reason.

https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/carlton-palmer-sunderland-jack-clarke-ipswich-southampton-interest/ Carlton Palmer piping up about Saints again here. Stating that Jack Clarke should choose Ipswich over us as they are a ‘more attacking force than Southampton’ and the he ‘thinks they have a better chance to stay up than Southampton’. As a former player, can’ anyone explain why his comments on Saints are always so negative? He openly said he wanted Leeds to win the playoff final over us and here he is backing a much less established side over a team he has played for. Did we treat him badly when he was here?

We will not survive if we are playing a 4-3-3 with Arma as the CF. He was so much more effective coming in from the right hand side, it’s an experiment we have already seen fail in this system at championship level and I would be shocked if that is the scenario come 30/8.

On BBD, if he is a left wide forward, he sounds a bit like Armstrong but on the other side? Would they work well as a pair in a 5-3-2 or would we still be missing that powerful forward?

Smallbone really impressed me at the end of last season. He was a one touch passing monster, very strong pass completion, always showing for the ball and manages to work well in the tight spaces that Russ-ball puts our players in regularly. Really good knack for arriving at the right time and I think his finishing improved over the season. That WBA semi goal was beautiful. During pre season last summer, he seemed to be more combative than he was throughout the campaign. Too many times he lost out 50/50 tackles and that’s definitely an area he can improve. Very much like Prowsey in terms of covering big distances without being quick. He has earned the opportunity to see what he can do at this level, having been a key player in our promotion season. I agree that in the 6 he was struggling but with Downes we have a really good balance. When I watch him on the ball he looks more and more confident and definitely has the physique to be more competitive in the tackle. Only concern for me is if we are playing an opponent where 2 CDMs might help us but I think the 5atb option is Martin’s plan.

1. Jota £25m 2. Tierney £25m 3. Dembele £19.7m 4. Bassey £19.58m

£14m plus add ons, I wonder how much the add ons were?