Rebel

Unfortunately I don't see us doing any better next season than this season with a squad like that. Plus I think Vestergaard will be moving on to pastures new. Meaning we will need a new CB as well. We need to replace the players that will be leaving - as well as add some more quality and depth to the squad. A first choice left back is going to cost us more than £10M I would guess which means we are probably going to blow our budget on 2 or 3 players to replace players we have lost - unless we sell a few more. Rico Henry would be good if Brentford don't get promoted - or maybe Lloyd Kelly from Bournemouth as they will need to sell if they don't get promoted (and he would provide cover as a left footed centreback as well). Maybe Ajer from Celtic at centreback. I think Tella will end up playing on the left and I see Walcott as our 4th choice striker. So as well as another striker I think we need an upgrade on the left over Djneppo and Redmond and real competition for Armstrong on the right - not too mention cover at left back and right back so I'd happily sell both Djneppo and Redmond and replace them with someone like Danjuma . Or maybe Lookman. OIise from Reading would be a great option as cover and competition for Armstrong on the right. Hopefully Slattery, Smallbone and Janketwitz can give us some depth in midfield - but I think we will still need a DM - Joey Veerman or someone like him maybe. Lets hope we can raise some money from selling Lemina, Elyounoussi and Gunn so we can add some depth to the squad.

The only problem with selling Targett was with McQueen's injury and Vokins as the next in line from the academy (and not good enough or anywhere near ready enough) it left us with only one Left Back in Ryan Bertrand and no cover - and this summer without a first team left back at all. The money from selling Targett needed to be spent on replacing him the summer we sold him - or at least some of it. Now we are desperate for a left back and any club selling us a left back this summer will be adding a couple of million to the price knowing we are desperate. We should have kept Targett and played him more - giving him the time to develop - and by now he would probably would have bene first choice left back for us or as good as. And then know we would be letting Bertrand go and replacing him with a young prospect at £5M or so to give competition and cover for Targett - instead we are probably going to have to pay £12-15M or more for a first choice left back. It was a decision that proves we have no idea about squad planning or succession planning - and how desperate we were/are for a decent Director of Football to take a strategic view - or that we were very desperate for cash at the time.

Plan A doesn't seem to be working - so we definately need a Plan B - if not a new Plan A. The biggest problem we have is the squad is not deep enough - and what do we have is very unbalanced. Plan B could be as simple as going from a 4-2-2-2 to 4-3-2-1/4-3-1-2 to hold a lead or be less open against one of the top teams or even in the second half of a game and playing on the break a bit more - but at the moment we don't have really have a third CM to do that (Janketwitz aside) with Romeu and Smallbone being injured (and Slattery out on loan/injured). As it is we don't really have enough fit players to play the Plan A 4-2-2-2 properly as we don't have cover for Romeu in the defensive midfield role for one thing - or either of the attacking fullbacks if they get injured. I see JWP and Diallo as more of the box-to-box role and too similar to play together in the middle when we are under pressure. We probably also need another AM/No.10 like Armstrong as well - which is why we brought in Minamino to provide that on the left so I don't know why we don't play him. Now that Salisu is matchfit I'd like to see us try 3-4-1-2 or 3-4-2-1 with Armstrong and/or Minamino in the AM roles. More so if KWP or Bertrand are out injured.

That's only if Bertrand, Ings and Vestergaard don't leave surely. We need 2 LBs - one to replace Bertrand and another to provide cover and competition for the position. (It does suggest they don't think Vokins is good enough so why did they give him a long term contract?) And if they think we need another right back it must mean Valery is on his way out and Kayne Ramsey is not judged to be good enough (so why did they give him a new contract unless they see him as a centre back on plan to send him out on loan to get more experience). Whether or not Ings stays or goes we need another striker to provide cover and competition (suggests they don't think Obafemi or N'Lundulu are going to be good enough - and that Long will go on loan again - why did we give him a 2 year contract last summer!?) Redmond, Djneppo and Tella (as well as Elyounoussi and Minamino) are all right footers who primarily play on the left as inverted wingers/No. 10s so it means Armstrong is really are only right winger/attacking midfielder. So we need another one who can play on the right - ideally a left footer. Personally I'd sell Redmond and Djeneppo and Elyounoussi and by 2 new AMs/Wingers/No. 10s. I think we will need to replace all 3 of Bertrand, Ings and Vestergaard this summer on top of needing a RB, LB and CF.

So are current squad looks like this - I see Theo as more of a striker or wide forward than a winger or No. 10 and I get the feeling we signed him more because we could than anything else: McCarthy / Forster / Gunn / (Lewis) KWP / Valery / (Ramsay) Bednarek / Stephens Vestergaard / Salisu Bertrand / Vokins / (McQueen) JWP / Smallbone Romeu / Diallo / (Slattery) Armstrong / Tella / (Sims) / (Hesketh) Redmond / Djneppo Adams / Walcott / Obafemi Ings / Long It still looks like a thin squad to me lacking any real depth. Ideally we needed another centreback and another central midfielder and probably better cover at full back. I was hoping for Marco Grujic on loan and a No 10/attacking midfielder on deadline day - not Walcott if I am honest. I get that we don't have any money and Semmens and Co did an OK job given that - but that's about it. One or two injuries or suspensions in the first 11 and we will be in trouble. To me it's been more of a sticking plaster transfer window that hopefully will keep us in the game until next summer. When hopefully we can can get some money in for Lemina, Hoedt and Elyounoussi and maybe shift some the other players like Forster and Vestergaard - and actually start to move the squad forwards. Romeu and Bertrand are out of contract next year - unless they sign new contracts - and we have done anything that suggests we really have a short to mid term succession plan for left back so that could become a problem. We could also be forced to sell Bednarek and Ings as they will only have a year left on their contracts as well. I have a feeling we might see some movement in and out with the Championship and the Football League before the 15 October - probably Obafemi, Gunn, Sims, Hesketh going out. Unfortunately due to the money burnt on Carillo, Boufal, Hoedt and Elyounoussi we need an owner that's going to put £30-40 million in to allow us to strengthen the squad. Apart from Ings I don't really see any player(s) we can sell to generate serious transfer funds - and we can't afford to lose his goals. We are still on shaky foundations - and it could all go horribly wrong - but we could also finish mid table - and get the injection of much needed funds from new owners ahead of next summer - or maybe even january.

I don't get the Walcott signing - he's nether a No 10 or winger/wideman that we need to provide cover for Armstrong. He's more of a wide striker/forward that never really fulfilled his potential and is probably past his best. And at $50K per week he's not cheap either. I see him more as cover for the forward role which suggests to me Obafemi is going to go somewhere on loan. Maybe we are finally going to give Sims the chance to cover for Armstrong on the right. It's a nice story though I guess - Theo coming home. I was hoping for Marco Grujic on loan today to provide some real competition and cover in central midfield. Leaving Smallbone and Sims to provide cover for Armstrong. Overall the transfer window - after what felt like a good start with Salisu and KWP - now feels more like a 'sticking plaster' trying to cover over some of the holes in our squad - and putting off resolving problems until next summer. We haven't really added the depth we needed - one or two injuries and we will be in trouble. But I just don't think we have the money to do anything else - but I am not sure it will be any different next summer apart from the need to replace Bertrand and Romeu (and probably Bednarek) unless they sign new contracts.

If we sign an attacking midfielder /winger to play on the right would that free up Armstrong to play in Central Midfield - which by all accounts is his preferred position. Even if we do what I don't understand is why we don't use Josh Sims as cover for the right attacking midfielder role Redmond and Djenepo provide cover for the left attacking midfielder role. Olivier Ntcham is supposed to be more of an attacking midfielder so maybe his is being looked at as competition for that right attacking midfielder position and cover for CM as well. Ruben Loftus-Cheek would fit this role as well. I still feel we need a box-to-box / defensive midfielder that can win the call and progress play up the pitch - Ibrahim Sangare at relegated Toulouse might be worth a look at for this role. Some of the big clubs were looking at him and I think Toulouse need to sell someone.

We haven't got any money - or very little anyway. We had to sell Hojberg to fund KWP. The extra from this and the new sponsor paid for Salisu. And I expect any money we got for the loans of Cedric and Yoshida - which wasn't used to pay them off - was spent on KWP and Salisu. And if we sell Boufal for £3-4 million most of this will go on paying him off as well. So we have the Reed money and maybe a little bit extra to buy a much needed CM and a RW/AM. But I think we are selling Boufal to get him off the wage bill more than anything else. Romeu, Josh Sims, Hesketh, McQueen and Bertrand all have a year left on their contracts so there is no real money to be made in selling them - just like with Boufal. And the ones we want to sell we can't - by the time Hoedt, Vestergaard, Forster have a year left on their contracts next summer we will be able to sell them - but most of the money raised from doing so will probably have to go towards paying the last year of their contracts off. Our only hope is next summer Fulham stay up and have to buy Lemina and Elyounoussi has such a great season at Celtic and with 2 years left on his contract we can sell him for a decent amount. But we'll have to sell Bednarek who will only have a year left on his contract for less than he is worth like Hojberg this summer.

I always thought it would be a case of Saints having no money to spend this summer. We have had to sell to buy - and since we wasted the £75M we got for Van Dijk we have been in trouble as it means we've got no money in the bank to spend on new players. The players we have bought since we sold Van Dijk we have over paid for and then over paid them - which means we can't sell them on to generate new transfer funds or even get our money back. And as we gave them all big salaries as well we have no room on our the wage bill either. It will be one or two out and one in if we are lucky.

We looked OK for the first 10 minutes or so but we are always vulnerable to the counter attack or ball over the top when teams sit back and have pace up front with the way we play the high line. Romeu's lack of pace as the defensive midfielder - and our centre back's lack of pace only makes this worse. But once Palace scored it was more or less game over as they sat back even deeper and just hit us on the break with the pace of Zaha, Ayew and Townsend. And we didn't have the creativity to break down a 10 man defence. Maybe Armstrong would have made a difference to this - but we didn't really have a plan B. I would have brought Long on and gone a bit more direct to get behind the Palace defence. Djneppo is a left winger who likes to cut in - and should be the competition for Redmond. We don't really have an alternative to Armstrong on the right. Maybe Sims would be worth a go as cover. Boufal seems to be on his way - as although he has a bit of magic his end product is poor and he doesn't really have the discipline for Ralph's system. Plus he only has a year left on his contract and he probably earns too much for us to extend it - and the club have said anyone who only has a year left on their contract will be sold. He also seems to be better on the left as well. Romeu only has a year left as well - and due to his lack of pace I don't think he'll be offered another contract either. I wouldn't be completely surprised if he leaves if we can bring in another central midfielder. I have the feeling we need to shift 2 or 3 players out before we can bring anyone in - due to lack of transfer funds and space on a heavy wage bill. The failure to move on players like Hoedt, Carillo, Forster and Boufal (and get fees for players like Lemina and Elyounoussi) is causing us a real problem. We really need to bring in a box-to-box midfielder, an attacking midfielder to play on the right and a target man to give us a plan B up front.

I think we have a good first 11 - but we don't really have any depth to the squad. If we get one or two injuries in the first 11 we will be in trouble:- McCarthy / Gunn / Forster / Lewis KWP / Valery / Ramsay? Stephens / Vestergaard Bednarek / Salisu Bertrand / Vokins / McQueen? JWP / Smallbone Romeu / Slattery? / Jankewitz? Armstrong / Sims? / Hesketh? Redmond / Djneppo Adams / Obafemi Ings / Long If both JWP and Armstrong are out injured with start to look very stretched - maybe Ntcham would be a good fit provide competition for both the CM and AM roles - or maybe we need another attacking player to provide competition for Amstrong so he can drop back to the CM role. I feel we need at least one or two more players to cover the first 11 - ideally a central midfielder and an attacking player. I doesn't sound like McQueen has recovered from his injury - and both Sims and Hesketh have a year left on their contracts which suggests they will be leaving in this transfer window. Same with Boufal. Romeu has a year left as well. And I am not sure where Slattery sits - hopefully Ralph thinks he is good enough to play in the first 11. I am guessing the problem is probably wages - our wage bill was too high anyway (and that's with Carillo, Hoedt, Lemina, Forster and Elyonoussi out on loan and probably with wages subsidised by Saints) - but with the loss of TV revenue from Covid, the LD Sports and Kit fiasco and the loss of gate money its probably even more of an issue now. It's possible that the money made from selling Reed and getting Lemina of the wage bill has already been earmarked to fill this gap - and it could be the same with any money made from selling Boufal and Hoedt - that if its not used up in paying them off to get rid of them. I think it will be next season before we can really strengthen the team as we will finally be able to shift players like Hoedt, Vestergaard, Lemina and Forster as they will only have a year left on their contracts - and others like Carillo and Boufal will be out of contract. Maybe the answer is to use Sims and Hesketh as cover this season.

English is the official language in Ghana - which I think is part of the reason he wanted to come to the Premier League. It sounds like he's either injured or had to travel back to Spain or Ghana to sort something out - maybe a family issue. I don't think not having a work permit would stop him training but I could be wrong. Feasibly we could be planning to loan him out for a season to get more first team experience under his belt before bringing him in to our first team - but if so I would expect us to sign another centre back - and maybe a left footed one at that.

Romeu is great as a DM when he plays regularly - but he’s not a box-to-box midfielder which I think is what Ralph wants. Although he seems to have lost some bulk recently so he can get up and down the pitch a bit more easily. He’s also a great passer of the ball which people seem to have forgotten. As much as Reed is homegrown Romeu would play In the DM role over Reed every time for me. But I think Ralph actually wants another box-to-box midfielder which is where Ntcham comes in - although he could also play the 10 role as Armstrong does. If we do want a DM how about Marc Roca from recently relegated Espanyol - he is very highly rated. And people are forgetting as well as Smallbone who has played as a 10 and 8 so far we also have Slattery who plays as a box-to-box midfielder - and Jankewitz who is a DM supposedly. personally I’d like us to get rid of Boufal and bring in Ntcham and A N other. As well as £8M for Reed I expect Fulham will be paying a loan fee as well as all of Lemina’s wages.

If its a loan with an option to buy for Kyle Walker-Peters it makes some sense as we get the rest of the season to see if he can actually live up to his potential and replace Cedric in the long run - plus he can play at left back as wel by all accounts so he will provide cover for Bertrand and Cedric for the rest of the season as its sounds like there are some doubts over Vokins and Valery's ability to do so for the rest of this season. I liked the sound of Joakim Maehle at right back though. Wouldn't be to unhappy to see Vestergaard leave for Leicester if its on a permanent transer and a decent fee. A loan doesn't make any sense for us. Same with Che Adams if we could get a decent fee (at least the £15M we paid for him) from Leeds for a permanent transer and someone in on loan to replace him as cover for Ings, Long and Obafemi. I'd have taken Jean-Kevin Augustin on loan to the end of the season with an option to buy for example. But I am guessing Leeds just want a loan which makes no sense for us.

Aleksandar Dragovic at Bayer Leverkusen is out of favour or so it seems - he's having a run in the team at the moment due to injuries but is coming to the end of his contract and is supposedly looking to move in January. He did OK on loan at Leicester last season. Could solve our problems at the back. Maybe Bayer would be interested in doing a deal with Vestergaard going the other way :-) Andreas Christensen at Chelsea also seems to be out of favour - but he's probably betther than anything we've got at the back right now.

The Committee may have started out as an attempt to be funny and bring back the spirit of the old fanzines like Red Stripe -and initially it was fun to read on twitter with its old ins and outs. But then they just started to have a go at people - particularly the Saints Away Supporters and anyone that vlogged or so it seemed - which wasn't particularly clever or funny. I'm not particularly keen on half and half scarves - but why have a go at people for wearing a Saints shirt and going to games home or away - or younger fans who want to vlog or blog about games. Is someone vlogging really any different to the Committee wanting people to hear their views by Tweeting all the time? If you don't like don't read them or watch them. Just ignore them which is what I did to the Committee - I just muted them on Twitter. Or they did really was make the Saints twitter feed an unpleasant place to visit - and that's when there's not that much good about beings a Saints supporter at the moment anyway.

I've always thought MK Dons - the original franchise club - would be the logical English club for Red Bull to buy in to and then buy there way in to the premier league. Besides 'MK Red Bulls' would be a better name than MK Dons - and then they can give the Dons name back to AFC Wimbledon. I would take Red Bull as a sponsor for access to the Red Bull FC network and players - it would certainly be no worse than our current non-existent sponsor LD Sports. I'd take them over Kat and her 20% anyway. Our best hope is Jim Ratcliffe decides he needs a 'nice' English club to go with that club he owns in France.

doesn't make good reading: https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/southampton-news-sale-gao-jisheng-owner-ralph-hasenhuttl-arsenal-epl-a9213571.html

Isn't LD Sports basically Lander Development Sports? The CEO/MD seems to be the same person as the MD of the marketing agency the club have been using in China to raise awareness of Saints FC in the market. Looks to me like we were all set for Virgin to continue as the main sponsor but disagreed on the price at the last minute. I am guessing they wanted to pay a lot less - and we couldn't find another sponsor at short notice. So they have dropped to secondary sponsor (sleeves and women's team and U23 team) and Gao and Co have created LD Sports to fill the hole. I expect its also a way of Gao putting money in to the club for player signings and wages without breaking the FFP rules. If he loans or invests money directly doesn't it have to be for infrastructure? Will they use LD Sports to promote Saints and try and make money out of football academies and other stuff in China - probably and it may be part of this larger plan for Lander Development that's been talked about. But primarily I think it was a quick fix to a sponsorship problem.

I was hoping we'd replace Ross Wilson this summer if not before - his track record at Saints hasn't exactly been good has it!? Glover's track record at Everton and Sunderland isn't much better though. I was hoping the rumours linking us to Julien Fournier from Nice were true - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-6579583/Southampton-line-Nice-general-manager-Julien-Fournier-director-football.html - his track record at Nice is pretty good by anyone standards. Both from the Daily Fail so who knows what is true and what is not.

Apparently his full name is Che Everton Adams - although he was born in Leicester it sounds like he's an Everton fan. Now if that is true and if Everton want him in the summer its probably a done deal. We missed our chance back in January it seems. I'd happily take Maupay and/or Ollie Watkins from Brentford instead though. But I wouldn't be surprised if we sign Jean-Kevin Augustin from RB Leipzig and Davie Selke from Hertha Berlin if we are looking at strikers that have played under Hassenhuttl before and done well in his system.

sorry meant to post Red Bull as a possible sponsor - not that they are carbon neutral, vegan or non-profit but a link with RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg wouldn't be a bad thing

Red Bull

I would give Stephens a go at the DM role - he’s got he ability with the ball and the engine to take the ball forward and then get back to cover if it all goes wrong. Romeu is great defensively and can pass the ball - he’s jus not got the pace or engine to get up and down the pitch which Ralph seems to be keen on

How the hell did we go from making a profit on transfers every year and selling Van Dijk for £75M to scrabbling around to find enough money to sign players on on loan? Don't worry it's a rhetorical question - I know how. Les Reed is how! The pay-offs for Puel, Pelligrino and Hughes and their assistants, the terrible signings of players we now can't sell (Boufal, Carillo, Clasie, Hoedt), and the stupid contracts we gave to players we should have sold (Long, Forster, etc).