tajjuk

Feeder clubs, it's all gone a bit Champ man. The idea is sound though, Saints obviously have a very thorough approach to developing young players that goes beyond just game time and training. Making sure this is still followed through with players on loan will ensure they will get maximum benefit from it. Plus there is no point players going on loan and then not playing, so i think that is what they were getting at, some of those clubs may just loan players to cover injuries etc. which is pointless, those players might as well be at our excellent facilities playing in the U21 and U18 teams.

If you look at a list of the biggest stadiums in the country (England), 16 'club' stadiums are bigger than ours, 7 are currently not in the Premier League and 1 (Sunderland) is very lucky it is still there. Big stadiums aren't doing a lot for the likes of Newcastle, Sunderland, Villa, Leeds, Sheff Wed.

Personally I'd go back to Arsenal for AOC and Chambers, maybe in a swap for Mane if we have to sell him (i.e. he makes a proper fuss about going). But go for them anyway, £25 - 30 million the pair. I'd also see if Morgan is Mourinho's plans, we know he loved it here and he's probably not had the best time at Man Utd. If Mourinho comes in and buys a few new centre-mids he could be looking at a season on the bench all year. Like the Will Hughes shout above, he's always looked a very classy player to me at such a young age, though he's just had a year out pretty much. There is a big question mark around Austin getting fit and Jay Rod getting back to his old form. So far neither of those have looked that likely, but a full pre-season injury free may change that. I'd also take Townsend, because £8 million is a decent amount and aside Spurs, he's looked good for both QPR and Newcastle. He' not Mane quality but if he was to go then someone with that pace and directness would be a valuable squad player.

Best thing is it will have no impact on our pre-season, we should have played 2-3 PL games before the 1st one so should be up and running. Would love a Bilbao or Milan that would be excellent, though really an easy group is preferable because we have the best chance of progressing. Let's be honest if a Liverpool, who have just finished two places below us, and a team that finished 7th in Spain and didn't manage an away win all year in their league can get to the final, there is no reason we can't.

Pelle is replaceable and probably already has been with Austin. Wanyama has been coming for ages, we knew this. He's a good player but still replaceable (cheeky bid for Morgan back?) Mane would be the saddest loss IMO, the most difficult to replace with his pace and strength. Again though this would not be unexpected and we hold the cards here, he won't go cheap. I expect £30 million plus. Juanmi, meh he's not played all year best for all parties for him to go. Tadic is the only unexpected one from that list really, and that less seems about our club and more about him falling out with Koeman. Plus we don't 100% know any of this is correct, players change their minds, maybe some of this is left over from the mid season slump, we've had a great end to the season, we've qualified for the Europa group stages and the likes of Tadic and Pelle who weren't getting games mid season all had a good end to seasons and looked happy. I'd wouldn't be surprised if Tadic and Pelle extend their contracts. Wanyama and Mane going has always been likely this year, it's just a case of us doing our utmost to get the best quality replacements for them as well as adding more quality to the rest of the team. The last two years despite the sales we've come out of it with a better squad than before, this year the sale IMO will be less (I reckon Wanyama and we'll make people pay through the nose for Mane) and we have more cash to spend, I reckon 2-3 out at most and a good 4-5 quality players in.

It's the cash, he'll sign the contract if we buy better players to try and kick on. And of course do our utter best to keep the ones we have. He's said that like 3 times now.

Great season, fantastic as well to finish above West Ham, Chelsea and Liverpool. If Bournemouth can sneak a win we could add Man Utd to that list as well. 3 pts off a Champions League place, 3 pts. Over to you Board, this is the greatest position this club has probably been in for 20 years, sign Ron up, sign the players up and get us a transfer kitty to push on. (Have to LOL as well at Spurs, finishing below Arsenal again after that season, also liking the bitter West Ham fan)

We've signed IMO our two best players, the two players we would currently struggle to replace the most I think. Also ones that should only get better as well, of course it doesn't stop them being tempted by a bigger club but probably means at least another year from them and we can make it very hard for suitors to get them. I'd add Mane to that list as well, if we can sign him as well then that is the 3 key players, I think Wanyama is more easily replaceable.

They are completely clueless, they are not even the best team in their City FFS. One 4th place finish (and then failed in the qualifiers anyway) and what mid table mediocrity for last 5 years.

It's a sideways move whatever those deluded Everton fans think, hell even a step down. If he goes its for money just money.

I think he's the most likely to go, think we will get another year out of Mane. Our recruitment record is generally decent and I expect we have been watching potential replacements. I also think whilst Wanyama is good, probably Van Dijk, Forster, Bertrand and Mane are more key players than him. I also don't think he's as good as he thinks he is. Especially when we have Romeu, who is good enough IMO to replace Wanyama if we improved in quality in a few other areas. Would be lovely though if we could finish above Man Utd and Liverpool, which would be above the majority of our players who have left. Would be quite a 'grass isn't always greener' moment, not that someone like Wanyama would notice it.

'Traditionally bigger club' means very little these days IMO. It's cash and the level of football for most players out there, even the cash situation is not that favouring the 'bigger' clubs because having an extra 10,15k people through the gates is small compared to £150 million TV money everyone will get. You need like Man Utd levels of commercial money/sponsorship for the true extra revenue. Players/managers will go from us to Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool because they can offer them high wages and likely will challenge better than us, and they will go to Arsenal, City, Spurs, and now Leicester because again higher wages + champions league. Unless Everton can literally throw millions at players and offer him a giant contract as well, it's a step down for him.

First and foremost we need to win (though Palace with nothing to play for and a cup coming up AND at home it's as easy a premier league fixture as you will probably get) then it's West Ham fail to win/Man U lose and we've had a fantastic season. 6th, record points haul and Europa League (with no need to qualify)

With the way the club seems to go about it's business I wouldn't be surprised it's players that aren't linked. Hopefully like last year we can get a few in early.

Not exactly fitting the mo the club seems to go after or the club that Zlatan would play for, but considering Leicester City are Premier League champions I'm not going to rule it out. Would be hilarious to be honest, but hey if it made Koeman and few other stay, and potentially even attracted other more long term players then yeh for a year £300k a week would be worth it.

Would be an excellent replacement IMO, think he's a quality manager and will go on to top things.

1. Sign Koeman long term, which may be dependant on 2 & 3. 2. Try not to sell anyone at all, at max one key player - Wanyama, and if we do sell early replacements of real quality. 3. Get someone in attacking midfield No. 10 role, someone like Ox or Sigurdsson who will add goals from midfield, a sensible but high quality signing. (i.e. someone that fits the ethos not a high profile signing for the PR) 4. Get Jay Rod and Austin fit 5. Get another centre back in to challenge Fonte/Virgil. This squad is basically one Mahrez/Payet away from the Champions league challenge this season IMO, so if we can hold on to what we've got and 2/3 that improve the squad, whilst keeping/getting others fit we'll have chance.

This. Don't rate Depay, would probably have Townsend over him.

Yeh sorry for wanting a striker to actually take chances and score goals consistently, how rude of me. Especially when they are playing as a lone striker. The fact that 9 goals this season is the most he's ever managed in one premier league seasons tells you all you need to know. If we want to improve, we need someone that scores more than 9 goals in a season considering all the chances we create.

Getting Austin fit and Jay Rod back to his best are key for me. A fit Austin is our sharpest finisher and Jay Rod before his injury was excellent. Don't think we should sell Pelle though, he gives us extra options, especially at home where teams will sit deep against us and the likes of Long/mane can't get in behind. Still think the key to our attack is getting a quality no.10, someone who can create something out of nothing, score a screamer etc. make late runs etc. Tadic is a tad too inconsistent. We've got a top class keeper, a very good back 4, good defensive mids and good forward/wide players with a mix of styles. The missing ingredient is a goal scoring midfielder, Davis is a solid player and useful squad player but not good enough for that position IMO. We need a player that we thought Ramirez was going to be. Not to mention as well, without Ward-Prowse we need someone else who can take a good set piece.

Two away games, contrasting results. Scoring 4 away to villa but only scoring 1 away to Everton despite having a similar number of chances is telling IMO. The Everton defence, while not top notch is a big step up from Villa, and they gave use less time on the ball, marked closer, had a better shape etc. and under those conditions our strikers don't seem to finish as well. Hopefully a fit Austin and Jay Rod can be that extra clinical edge we need. Let's be honest, if were better in front of goal we'd have beaten Villa and Newcastle by a lot more, plus won comfortably at Everton. I like Long, his movement and work rate is excellent, but his first touch is not good enough (think the poor touch that fortunately fell to Pelle against Newcastle) and his finishing is not clinical enough, for example that first shot that hit the bar, he really should have scored and kept that down more.

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They have been really poor at home for ages. Just 4 home wins, 8 defeats, 3rd worst home record in the league. As good a chance we've had to win there in a while I reckon.

The type of player that Gaston was supposed to be and was in glimpses is still what we need. We need a number 10, someone who can do something a bit special, unlock a game. Coutinho has won Liverpool games with moments like that when their performance as a whole was pretty ordinary. For whatever reasons, probably injuries and pace of the league, Gaston hasn't worked out, but I don't begrudge the club buying him and taking that gamble. He's clearly talented and at the time was a highly rated and exciting young player doing well in a top European league, hopefully we out there looking at similar talents so we can find our Coutinho, Payet, Ali etc. (all of whom weren't megabucks) We have a very solid defence, midfield, plus if we can get them all fit some decent strikers. if we can unearth a little nugget of a player to fill that no10 role, bring some extra flair, creativity and quality to our final third play I think we'd have a decent chance of being in the top 4 with the current squad. A fit Alex OX maybe able to fill that role for us, maybe a bit more direct but could be a key signing. No disrespect to Davis who has been a very solid signing for us, but we need a bit more in that role IMO. Good luck to Gaston, hope he find a home and finds the consistency his talent deserves.

A good read, to be fair you'd have to say a lot of our transfer 'hits' have been more defensive minded - Lovren, Forster, Van Dijk, Wanyama, Bertrand, Aldierweld, Clyne. Aside Toby, those were sold or would be sold for a lot more than we paid for them whereas as the article points, Ramirez and Osvaldo were flops, Davis, Long, Tadic, and Pelle can be described as 'decent' buys, with Mane potentially being the big cash potential. But the scouting hasn't quite hit the exciting talents, maybe Ramirez (lesser extent Juanmi) has burned them a little for going for the foreign talented players, especially ones not pure pace. I supposed Mane was always likely to do ok in the league just with his physicality. It also odd why Tadic doesn't play more. We are 2/3 players away from being a good side, imagine if we had found a Payet or a Mahrez? I think such a player and we would have been top 4 this year.