Rebel

Ben Bereton-Diaz and Adam Armstrong worked well together at Blackburn Rovers playing in a 4-2-3-1 where they both played in the 3 behind a big centre forward (Sam Gallagher) - BBD from the left and Adam Armstrong in the hole I think. I'd be happy with signing BBD on loan ideally with an option to buy or for a modest fee to give us some strength in depth across the front. If we do play 3-5-2 in some games hopefully he would work well with Armstrong in the 2. However I still think we need a centre forward to lead the line and I have a feeling they are looking at BBD and a centre forward. I would take a chance on Bojan Mioviski from Aberdeen for £6 or £7 million. And that's on top of a winger and an attacking midfielder. I don't think we will play 3-5-2 every game though - I think it will depend on the opposition. I think we will play the 4-3-3 morphing into a 3-3-4 when attacking against teams like Forest and Ipswich. Looking something like this at the starting point - with Sugawara getting forward like a winger and Armstrong moving inside: McCarthy Sugawara THB Jan Taylor Smallbone Downes O'Riley? Armstrong Mioviski/BBD? Clarke? As for Smallbone he is good enough for the Premier League in the right position as an attacking 8 - he looked more than capable when he played there before he got injured back when we were in the premier league and before his loan to Stoke. Charles is also more than capable of playing alongside Downes as as 6 in a double pivot or as a defensive 8 when we need a bit more steel in the middle. But I would like someone who can cover for Downes as a lone 6.

At least that means we will be 'free from Desire'

I cant see us spending £25M or £30M or more on any one player. We just don't have the finances unless SR suddenly find someone to give us £100M a year or more for the naming rights to St Mary's Stadium. TESLA Park anyone? Aaron Ramsdale on loan would be fantastic - and it sounds like we have an outside chance of making that happen - but I can't see that we can afford to buy him outright for£35M or whatever they are asking - or pay his full £150K a week wages. And as far as strikers go given the amounts supposedly being asked for players like Broja I'd be more than happy with Bereton-Diaz on loan or for the rumoured purchase price o £6M and Mioviski for around the same price. If nothing else we will have a great team for our promotion push and title challenge next season.

The amount the big clubs like Arsenal and Man Utd pay their youth and squad players let alone their big players is ridiculous. Nketiah should be on something like £30K a week in reality - based on what he's achieved so far - not £100K. He's not shown anything other than early potential which he hasn't fulfilled at 25 and now will probably never do so. The only people to really benefit are his bank manager, his agent and his hangers on. I think Chelsea started this madness under Abramovich but Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool and Man Utd - and now City and Newcastle - have certainly added to the madness. And the amount some of the so called smaller clubs are spending on transfer fees and wages is also madness. Premier League Football as a whole - ignoring the false sponsorships and stadium naming rights - must be running at a massive loss.

that was from a fake account Farbizio Romano as opposed to Fabrizio Roman saying he gone to some Polish club

My worry is that Bednarek with just a year left on his contract will be off this summer unless he signs a new contract in the next week or so. I'd be OK with THB and Jan as the starting partnership at centre back for the Premier League but I am not so sure about any of the other combinations. I expect ABK to leave as well - but even if he stays he is not the answer. But I will say we are building a great team for a Championship promotion push next season if we do get relegated 🙂 The Flynn Downes news is more than welcome - even if it is a swap for KWP - but we need to make some statement signings (i.e. first team starters) in the next week or so. Ideally a Striker, Winger, Attacking Midfielder and a Goalkeeper. I worry that we just don't have the money needed though given the financial fair play rules and our losses.

I's be quite happy with signing Nathan Wood for £7M. At 6ft 2 he is tall enough to play centre back and as an England U21 player he has the potential and at 22 the time to improve. And if we are going to play 3 at the back for a lot of games this season we probably need 5 centre backs to give us the depth we need. TBH, Bednarek, Stephens and Wood gives us some depth with experience and potential. We probably just need one more. I'd have taken Woods over Edwards from Peterborough - at 5ft 11 he is probably a little bit too short for a centre back in the Premier League and has only played at League 1 level. Wood in comparison shone under Martin at Swansea in the Championship. I'd be quite happy with THB and Bednarek as the starting two centre backs in a back 4. Bednarek has proved he can handle the premier league in the past with a good partner and in a functioning team - plus I think he has improved as a player and become more of a leader than he was before he left for Villa. He certainly has a better record in the premier league than Rodon for example. I am assuming ABK is on his way out for lots of reasons. My worry is that Bednarek leaves this summer as he only has 1 year left on his contract and unless he signs a new one I can see the club selling him. I think Stephens will give us one more year then make a return to Plymouth. As Wood is right footed according to Transfermarkt I would quite like us to sign a left footed centre back to complete the 5 - Jacob Greaves at Hull would be my pick. A left footed 6ft 4 centre back and at 23 a good age.

Lille were supposedly interested in Mara as a replacement for Jonathan David in January. I think he is more highly rated in France than we would think. But then again the standard in Ligue 1 is probably below the championship. Hopefully Lille come knocking once Jonathan David has moved on.

How much money could we generate from selling the players we don't want or need this summer? Calera-Car £5M Perraud £3M Lyanco £1M Ounachu £10M Sulemana £10M Mara £10M ABK £12M Alcaraz £15M Aribo £5M Bree £1M With a rough guess at their values maybe between £50-60M - but how much of that would go on paying out their contracts? Quite a lot I guess. Probably about half of it I would guess. Unfortunately I think Downes will cost the best part of £20M or more as West Ham know we are a bit desperate to sign him - that's if they let him go.

Kotarkski (Lumley) KWP (Bree) Bednarek (Stephens/Woods) THB (Rodon/ABK) Targett (Manning) Downes (Charles) Smallbone (Lallana) Aribo (Ghoddos/Alcaraz) Adarma Mioviski (Stewart /Bereton-Diaz) Clarke (Fraser / Edozie) That looks a little bit better based on some of the rumours (and hopes) but still needs a lot of work to stay up.

your probably right about needing the money for a striker - I think at the time I thought it was a mistake to keep Bertrand and sell Targett for the long term - but at the time Bertrand was the better left back

https://www.southamptonfc.news/news/jacob-tanswell-on-southampton-summer-plans-including-flynn-downes-and-che-adams-future/ - not sure if its accurate or if I read it wrong but that seems to be what its suggesting

We should never have sold Targett - should have sold Bertrand instead or at least had a proper succession plan with Targett getting more and more game time. From the interview with Tanswell its sounds like we don't have that much money to spend and will be making use of the loans market as much as we can. I hope that's not true - but it sounds likely. Your only allowed 2 premier league loans I think so we are going to have to spend some money whether they like it or not if we are to have any chance of staying up. If that is the case I'd be more than happy to see Targett come back on loan from Newcastle - maybe with an obligation to buy if we stay up. He has 2 years left on his contract and they seem to want to move him on as they have a lot of options at left back. Would make sense for everyone?

It's time to let Adams move on - same with Stuart Armstrong and McCarthy. We do need to keep the core of the team that got us promoted together - to keep that team spirit and identity going - but we also need to refresh the team a bit and strengthen it in the right places. Its a balancing act. Its a mistake too many promoted clubs make - changing the team almost completely and losing the very things that got them promoted in the first place. I think Bojan Mioviski is worth a gamble if the asking price is only £6M-8M or thereabouts. He could end up being a the £30-40M striker we need. Ben Bereton-Diaz on loan maybe with an option to buy as a replacement for Adams also seems to make sense. He has played with Adarma before and scored goals in the Premier League. Mara and Sulemana both needed to be moved on - back to France I expect. Neither has lived up to the hope we had for them or show any signs of doing so. We should replace them with Jack Clarke and Liam Delap With Ross Stewart that would give us 4 strikers to choose from - with Adarma probably playing on the right of a front 3 - and with Jack Clarke on the left and Fraser and Edozie as cover out wide. Bereton-Diaz also gives us another option out wide.

Surely JWP's wages would be an issue. The same with Ings. Personally I think we need to look to the future - not the past. And with Ings you have his injury record as well. Plus he chose to leave for the money when it came down to it. Ben Bereton-Diaz on loan to provide some cover across the front 3 or 4 positions and to link up with Adam Armstrong again as they did to great effect at Blackburn would probably be a good signing. We still need a centre forward / striker to lead the line as score some goals. We should give Stewart a chance to prove himself in the premier league as back up but I think we probably need at least one more if not two given Stewarts injury record. Bojan Mioviski feels like the most likely based on transfer fee and wages. I am not convinced about signing Lallana unless its really as player coach for the U21s. He left us in a bad way so I don't really want him back if I am honest. I get there's not really any loyalty in football - but there should be some integrity, honest and respect. Particularly when you leave the club that helped you become a premier league player. One player I would take back is Matt Targett on loan at left back. I don't think he ever really wanted to leave - and he would be an upgrade on Manning and give us some experience, leadership and commitment in the team.

Songs have come and gone. I like the newer slow version of 'Oh when the Saints go marching in' but I miss the old faster repeated version that would go on and on and on. We very rarely sing that now. Other chants like 'Oh Wei! Oh Wei! Oh Wei! We are the Saints! We are the Saints' seem to have completely disappeared (maybe not a bad thing in this case).

I am sure people were singing 'Saints are on fire! And your defence is terrified!'

An assumption 🙂

Personally I wouldn't take back any of the players on loan - they didn't want to be here when it mattered. We should cash in on them now and put the money raised back in to the squad. And that includes ABK, Perraud and Alcaraz. Hopefully getting promoted back to the premier league means we will get a bit more money for them all now though. And I think its time to let Adams, McCarthy and Stuart Armstrong move on. I'd also sell Mara and Sulemana back to France. We need to try and keep the core of the team together - and build on it. But we need to keep one eye on having a team capable of getting promoted again if the worst happens next season. We'd obviously lose players like Bednarek and KWP next summer if that happened. For the same reason we should make full use of the loans we are allowed - is it still 5 in the premier league? - to make sure we don't get ourselves in a financial mess if that happens. Fraser on loan for the season again makes sense to me - but I am not sure I'd spend a lot of money on a permanent transfer. Downes is a must for the defensive midfield role - but we need to strengthen here whatever happens. Maybe we should go for Ampadu and play him in his best position at CDM. Maybe will go in for Hjulmand again. A key signing for us will be a new number one to replace Bazunu - Kelleher or Ramsdale on loan possibly. What about Matt Targett on loan to fill the hole at left back? And he would add some passion, experience and leadership. Ben Johnson on a free at right back perhaps? But will KWP stay? If Spurs or another club offer £35M do we cash in? Or do we sell James Bree and upgrade? We will also need to add another CM or two to replace Stuart Armstrong and add a bit more depth - we've been linked with O'Riley at Celtic before so that one is a possible. But we probably need 2. The key signing above everything else will be centre forward - and we probably need 2 to compete with Ross Stewart and replace Adams. If we our going to get the best out of Adarma he needs to play as a second striker or wide forward. Bojan Mioviski has been linked so he seems likely - but who else? We also need 2 centre backs to add to Stephens, Bednarek and THB. Nathan Woods from Swansea has been linked a couple of time and I could see this one happening. I've seen Rodon suggested but I am not sure about that one. Maybe a signing from Europe we've never heard off. And then we come to AMs or wingers/wide forwards. We need a couple of these. Jack Clarke from Sunderland or Whittaker from Plymouth perhaps. Bereton-Diaz on loan? Reiss Nelson? It was always going to be a summer of change again - but now it will be a much more exciting one! I do think it makes sense to sign the best players from the Championship - I think they have more chance of making it in the premier league than players from other leagues outside of the big 5 leagues.

I read that as 'mad f*cker Jonson' for a second! Worth signing just for the song potential?

I think maybe Bednarek, KWP, and Adarma only having a year left on their contracts will make a difference - the buying clubs can afford to buy them out of the last year of their contracts or we will be able to find the money to pay them off as part of any sale we might be stuck with Aribo and his £70K a week I had hoped they all had relegation clauses cutting their wages by 30% or more which would have made them easier to sell - but it doesn't sound like they did. They should be mandatory in all footballers contracts!

he got sacked by Valencia in his first year and by Estudiantes after 2 years, and then was at Independiente for less than a year before he moved to Alaves - and then was only there a year before moving to Saints. Not exactly a great track record. Pochettino was a gamble - but it worked. I think Pellegrino was a bad appointment - and not really based on any great decision making or analysis - or indeed the black box. I think it was more Les Reed thinking how clever he was finding another Pochettino. Can't help thinking they used to the same method to replace Van Dijk with Wesley Hoedt (a 6ft 4 left footed Dutch centre back - he will be great just like Virgil!)

For me its a bit like the situation we found ourselves in with Claude Puel - we either need to sack him or back him. With Puel we failed to back him and then decided to sack him late in the summer replacing him with a last minute panic decision in Mauricio Pellegrino - so be careful what you wish for. I still think Les Reed went for Pellegrino as he looked and sounded a bit like Pochettino. Only he was far from that and his track record was terrible. I believe in playing out from the back as opposed to lumping it forward - but I get frustrated that we do it all the time, with short passes to the centre backs or pinch passes to the CDM, particularly when the opposition have figured it out and are pressing the back line waiting for the mistake. At times it looks like suicidal football. But we still seem to have holes in the squad - we have missed a centre forward all season, as well as cover at left back, centre back, CDM and in central midfield. How many times have we needed to close a game out by putting on a ball winning box-to-box midfielder but we just don't have one? I'd stick with Martin - but tell him he needs a plan B as well as be a bit more pragmatic about how we play. But also they need to give him the players to play his way - but also have a plan B. If we don't go up a lot of players will leave - those on loan but also players like KWP, Aribo, Bednarek and Adarma - partly though cost cutting and the need to raise money but also partly because they want to play at a higher level

If we don't make it back up I think there will be a few more players leaving than people think. McCarthy, Adams and Stuart Armstrong will all be out of contract - and I think will be leaving whether we go up or stay down. Adams will probably end up back in the Midlands at Wolves. And it sounds like Stu will head to the warmer weather of Italy. Fraser, Downes, TBH, Brooks and Rothwell are all on loan and will be heading back to their parent clubs. I can see Fraser coming back on loan whichever division we are in next season as it seems he wants to live on the South Coast more than anything else. I would love us to sign Downes and TBH permanently - but I can't see us getting either of them if we don't go up. I don't think we will miss Rothwell or Brooks that much. KWP will be gone - to a bigger club in the premier league - hopefully for a good fee - whether we go up or not. Bednarek won't stay for another season in the Championship - probably end up in Italy or Germany at a top flight club. And I am not sure we could afford his wages if we don't go up anyway. Similarly if the rumours are true and Aribo really is on £70K a week we will need to sell him if we don't get promoted - and he won't want another season in the Championship either. And Adam Armstrong will have just a year left on his contact so I think he is another one that will push to leave for a low end premier league club. It looks like Sulemana and Mara don't really want to be here and I think they will head back to France this summer no matter which division we are in next season - and good riddance to both of them to some extent. Same with Alcaraz. And I don't think he or any other of the senior players who have been out on loan will want to come back (Tall Pall, Lyanco, Perraud or ABK) Bazunu is out injured for most of next season - so I think Lumley will sign for another year if he hasn't done so already. So that leaves us with: Lumley? Bree Stephens ? Manning Smallbone Charles ? Edozie Stewart Fraser? and the young players like SAA, Meghoma, Ballard, Abu, Dibling, Lawrence, etc Doesn't look great does it. Looks more like a side that will be fighting a relegation battle or lower mid table than one mounting a promotion challenge. We are going to need to make much better use of the 5 loans than we have done this season - and be much better at recruitment than we have been in the last couple of years. But the clubs coming down don't look to be in good shape so maybe with 5 good loan signings and 5 or 6 good permanent signings we could be in with a fighting chance nest season.

But he has no end product - no final pass or shot. He's got pace and some tricky feet - but no awareness or game intelligence -and his positioning is terrible. And I get the impression he doesn't really want to learn those things - or out the work in to get better. He seems to think he is the best there is already. How we managed to pay the best part of £25M for a player who only played 34 games and scored 5 goals across 2 season with Stade Rennais in the French Ligue 1 is beyond me. They are terrible stats. We paid more than double what he was worth. For potential I guess - but based on what!? 42 games and 2 goals - and maybe one or two assists - for Saints. I just hope we can get more than £10M back for him when we sell him in the summer - whether we go up or stay in the Championship we need better players than Sulemana. Even if we paid £5M for him it would still have been a waste of money.