Rebel

That's for next summer!

We still need a left back, a winger and another centre back

please no!

We hope!

Benayoun will be on massive wages in relation to his ability - no thanks!

I think most of them will go out on loan rather than be transferred out - gives us a plan B for next season if plan A doesn't work this season and we get relegated!

They won't sell Ince - we should go after Zaha from Palace instead if we want pace and potential

DanKerins has just retweeted 'Barcelona centreback incoming' so hopefully there is some truth in the Fontas rumour! If we sign Fontas, Ramirez and Biglia I may have to take something to calm myself down!

Something along the lines of: Gaston! Gaston! ....... ....... As in 'Marchons! Marchons!' to the tune of La Marseilles - French national anthem chorus! That's only if we actually sign him though!!!

We should just go and sign Mateo Mussachio from Villareal - supposedly he's a great player, he's the right age and Villareal need the money as they just got relegated.

I think it was more a case of we had no one else to start on the left with Lallana in midfield. Sorry I'm going to bite! He was brought to To the club to give Lambert some competition for the role of centre forward or second striker, to give us some strength in depth in that position and eventually succeed Lambert Do you not remember the cries of despair if Lambert missed a game as we has no fallback option on the bench!

I think he frustrates people because he shows flashes of brilliance but just isn't consistent enough. On Saturday he slowed the game down an awful lot and too often held the ball and then made a pass backwards when the through ball or attacking run was on - that's probably why he had the most completed passes. Stats in themselves don't actually tell you that much about s game. He's also made a lot of tackles because he was caugh on the ball an awful lot.

The 2 best young Saints players I saw were Shearer and Le Tissier. David Hughes and Paul Tisdale we're the 2 great losses too injury - both could have really been great players. Used to bump into David Hughes out and about - he used to DJ at the Rhino occassionslly I think - and he was always down to earth. A genuinely nice guy. The 2 best Saints players I saw were Kevin Keegan and David Armstrong.

Ricky just isn't mobile or fast enough to lead the line in a 4-5-1 or a 4-3-3 formation. We've got the best out of him over the last 3 seasons when their is someone in front of him to lead the line and creat space behind them for Ricky - so he can drop deep or go wide to pick up the ball and create the play or attack the space and go for goal. Once we've signed someone to play on the left Rodriguez will probably move to the middle if we are going to play 4-3-3 or 4-5-1. Ricky will then probably be a sub or impact player from the bench if we switch to the diamond or 4-3-2-1 during the game. I can see him starting if we play 4-2-3-1 though.

The ticket prices are too high for one thing. And it's not as easy to buy matchday tickets as it shoul be for another. And people are forgetting it was Wigan - Probably the smallest draw in the Premier League for opposition fans and a club with probably the smallest away support. They brought less than 1000 fans and returned a load of tickets. It was the bank holiday weekend and a lot of people were away for the weekend or are still away oh holiday - including season ticket holders - it happens every season. Added to that some people would have bought tickets for Man Utd and Wigan but not bothered with the Wigan game for a number of reasons - they are on holiday, it was Wigan - something like that!

Ricky's goals have goals have got us to the premiership - but he hasn't got the attributes needed to lead the line in a 4-3-3. On Saturday he lacked the pace and movement needed. Instead of playing on the shoulder of the defence he was dropping deep to pick up the ball. If we are going to keep playing this way we should take the £4 million on offer for him now. However he deserves his chance in the premier league but we need to play him in the hole or as a second striker in a 4-4-1-1, a 4-3-2-1 or a 4-2-3-1 formation where he can drop deep to pick up the ball at his feet or go wide and use his strength in the air to win the ball and then make the play. It will also give him ths chance to make the most of his shot with space in the edge if the area. Lambert has always played best when he's got someone like Barnard or Sharp in front of him to lead the line and create space behind them. I'd love to see a front line against Man Utd of the following: Rodriguez Lallana. Lambert. Ramirez This would give both Lallana and Lambert the bit more time and space they need. Lallana also likes to cut in from the left and Lambert likes to drop out wide to the left. Lallana and Ramirez can also swap wings and all three can drop back to give us 5 in midfield if needed. Lambert isn't going to be sn automatic starter this season or our main striker - both he and the team need to adapt or move on.

We should be after Ince not Phillips - he's the far better player!

So if you were in Cortese's shoes right now who would you sign - assuming we have money to spend and plan A isn't to accept relegation this season and bounce straight back next season? I'd pay up and sign Ramirez right now - otherwise it's been a lot of wasted effort which has probably stopped us from signing other players. We desperately need his creativity as well. I'd go after Douglas straight away for centre back - he's 24 Dutch/Brazilian - so a perfect age and would partner well with Fonte and Jos as he speaks both players lingo! He can also play a bit by all accounts. I'd add Maya Yoshida at centre back as well - be good company for Tandanari and also at 23 a great age. He can also play a bit as well. As an alternative Matt Kilgallon on loan would do. Lucas Biglia permanently or on loan to add some quality to the central midfield and give us another holding midfielder. We might as well forget Phillips and/or Ince - Holloway and Blackpool will never sell to us - and at this rate they will be in the premier league this time next year and we won't! Instead we should go after Zaha at Palace to add some pace down the wing and some real potential! For left back I'd look Erik Pieters - he can play at full back or centre back - and once he's fully recovered from his Injury would add some really quality at the back.

I think you might be right - but the club still need to strengthen the current squad if we are going to bounce back in one season after accepting relegation this season

What did we learn yesterday? That we move the ball to slowly and lack pace. But we already new that! That we probably don't have the players to play 4-3-3. Certainly not at this level. Lambert is too slow and nowhere near mobile enough to lead the line and we have no real pace down the wings. If we are going to persist with 4-3-3 Rodriguez needs to start in the middle as at least he's bit some pace, De Ridder on the right as he's got the pace we need and is used to playing this way from his time in Belgium/Holland and Lallana on the left where he's got the space he needs to make a difference. That Lambert is not a premiership class centre forward. He lacks the pace and mobility needed. That's not to say he won't score goals or be a good player at this level but we need to adapt the way we use him. He'd work better as a second striker with Rodriguez or Sharp in front of him or as the playmaker in the whole in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Lallana is not a central midfielder - he needs to play out wide or in the whole where he has a bit more space - and the space he needs to make a difference. Schneiderlin needs to step up - at the moment he takes too much time on the ball. I am sure he had the ability to do so - he just needs time to adjust. Steven Davis was OK but we are missing Jack Cork in the middle to keep the ball moving and keep possession. Dan Fox cannot defend at the level - he gives the attacking players far too much time and space. Fonte needs to keep it simple at this level. Guly slows the game down too much and loses possession far too much - and doesn't give us the width we need on the right. He is not a premier league midfielder! We need a left back who can defend, two good centre backs and a right winger at a minimum to have any chance of staying up. I would add a striker with real pace and a holding midfielder who can pass to that list We need to adapt our formation - perhaps playing 4-2-3-1 at home and maybe 4-3-3 away from home when we are going to see less of the ball.

Kelvin Davis is probably better than Rob Green - but the team is nowhere near as good as the 2003 Saints team. We crawled across the finish line last season to finish second - and that was obvious yesterday. A lot of the players who started the game should be on the substitutes bench at this level. Norwich who also had successive promotions from League 1 and the Championship like us brought ib 8 players this time last year - and now look like they are going to struggle like us. Swansea brought in 9 players last summer. So far we've brought in 3 and a reserve goalkeeper. We desperately need to add som pace to the team if nothing else. For some reason are transfer strategy seems to have gone horribly wrong this summer.

Resigned to it There is no way the team that played today will get a point against Man Utd or Arsenal

I never said I think the club is being run badly - it's been a success story for the most part for the last three years - but then I don't think everything has been run perfectly either. It's not a case of black and white - it's 50 shades of grey! The way the whole Pardew issue was handled two summers ago probably cost us the League One Title and the delay in bringing in players in January probably cost us the Championship. I suspect Cortese is still on a learning curve when it comes to transfer negotiations in the football world. And in my opinion the club got the season ticket pricing wrong this summer - and this season the home and away shirts have been a bit of mistake. They look like Liverpool shirts - not Saints shirts - and for this reason it looks like shirt sales haven't exactly been great - when for our first season back in the premier league they should have been great. I've only seen a few new shirts around - when this time last year and the year before they were all over the place. But overall the powers that be at the club have got far more right than wrong which is why we're back in the Premier League after two successive promotions.

I'd be amazed if we do sign more than one more player before the window slams shut - and if we do I bet it won't be a big signing. That's not to say we don't need to strengthen the squad - we do - but all I'm expecting now is a relatively unknown centre back for a relatively small fee, a failed premier league player like Dann or Berra for more money than their worth or someone on loan from another club whose been left out of the 25 man

I'd play 4-3-2-1 with Rodriguez leading the line, Lambert and Lallana behind him with Rickie drifting to the left and Adam to the right. Morgan, Davis and Ward-Prowse in the midfield 3 And the defence as it was today.