tajjuk

So from that list Dickson, Barnard, Forecast, Forte, De Ridder, Seabourne, Hammond, Martin, Moore, Butterfield, Chaplow, Richardson, Davis, Sharp, Robinson (15 players) leaving would still leave you with:- 2 DF Nathaniel Clyne 23 3 DF Maya Yoshida 22(1) 4 MF Morgan Schneiderlin 25 5 DF Jos Hooiveld 12(2) 6 DF José Fonte 20 7 FW Rickie Lambert 23(3) 8 MF Steven Davis 13(9) 9 FW Jay Rodriguez 14(9) 10 MF Gastón Ramírez 15(3) 12 GK Paulo Gazzaniga 9 13 DF Danny Fox 10(4) 15 DF Vegard Forren 0 16 MF James Ward-Prowse 4(6) 18 MF Jack Cork 16 19 FW Tadanari Lee 20 MF Adam Lallana 16(3) 21 MF Guilherme do Prado 7(7) 23 DF Luke Shaw 14(2) 24 FW Emmanuel Mayuka 1(6) 31 GK Artur Boruc 9 42 MF Jason Puncheon 23 Un-proven youngsters:- 26 DF Jack Stephens 0 28 MF Calum Chambers 0 29 MF Ben Reeves 30 GK Cody Cropper 0 36 FW Jake Sinclair 0 37 MF Dominic Gape 0 38 MF Andy Robinson 0 39 MF Lloyd Isgrove 0 That's is still a first team squad of 21 - 2 GKs, 7 defenders, 8 Midfielders, 4 forwards. (+ the youngsters) which is enough IMO. 3 or 4 additions and you could make a case for Lee, Hooiveld and Guly to go as well.

No I think that post is 100% sincere.

Don't often agree with Turkish but this 100%.

Thanks for the summary. Much praise has been given in the Football media towards Saints in recent weeks. Makes it nice to be a Saints fan. Rest of the thread has been derailed by a load of MLT/Cortese waffle.

Nice goal, looks like they are pressing high up as well.

All the FA refs we get tell the 'linesmen' before the game that they just do offsides and throw ins. Not has a ref yet that has said different and I have been told off for flagging for fouls etc.

Neither club or player will say anything on this until it happens so it is just speculation.

Can't see Shaw on the bench if he is fit. Fox only got the place by default.

Nice one, keep us updated about the delusions that are tweeted in response to this.

Our exact problem with replacing him. He might not be worth in Market terms £10-15 million becaus eof his age, but I think he's a better all round player than Fletcher for example who cost £12 million (and his value has probably gone up). So to get a Rickie replacement that wasn't 31 we'd be looking at £10 million plus.

Yeh because that's what I said Everyone is getting all excited about Benteke except at times this season he's looked awful. The Villa fans probably say the same about Gaston. Most young players have deent potential to improve with age and experience. But some like Heskey don't.

Heskey was pretty good at Leicester, was an exciting prospect, strong, quick, could finish etc. He got worse. Not all young players improve.

What stood out for me as well, clear cut chances missed 7 for Bentek, just 4 fo Lambert. Things like that make the difference between staying up and relegation, plus it's clear that Lambert is creating far more.

If there was ever a goal for "leapt like a salmon" that was it. Imperious header. Anwya, this seems like a thread for MLG. This for me, just enjoy the ride wherever it may be. First game on MOTD last week happy stuff. Would prefer to try and fail rather than not try at all.

They are last year wages though, so you have to add all our signings including Gaston who increases that figure by about £3 million alone. Would estimate that we need to add about £8 - 10 million to our figure this year (based on the likes of Jay Rod, Boruc, Yoshida, Mayuka, Clyne Davis etc earning about £20 - 30k a week), putting us around West Broms wage bill I reckon. But then look at QPR. £69 million last year and have added Green, Cesar, Granero, Johnson, Park, Hoillett, Bosingwa, M'Bia, Remy and Samba to that. average out that £50k a week being generous adds £26 million a year to their wage bill, takes them up £95 million, more than Spurs.

Hate American muscle cars, no taste that man. Any word on what's up with Shaw?

Yeh I don't get this, the court case is to set the agreed value of Fratton park and to see if PKF can force the sale of it without Chinny agreeing to the sale price isn't it? I can only presume that because Harris's bid negates the need for the court case then there is still a possibility that PKF can sell to Harris. This must be on the basis that the PFA can twist the League's arm about what it said last week.

This is why the Trust bid is the best for Saints fans, they become a nothing club. A midtable (maybe even worse) league 2 club with little budget to progress. In a few years everyone will have forgotten about Pompey you'll hardly see them mentioned unless draw a big club in the FA cup. Their gates will dwindle the longer they are in league 2 as well which could be a while. The current mess acutally keeps them relevant, people are talking about them, they make the national media much more than other club doing a lot better in league 1. Once the trust takesover they will be an afterthought on the Football League show.

Can see an argument for Richardson but I think it's an area we could improve. I can see another decent DM coming in to challenge/provide cover for Cork/Morgan. If we do that then Cork is a better right back than Richardson. Can't see a role for Chaplow, we have Morgan, Cork, Davis and JWP. Chaplow isn't a DM so in reality is behind Davis and JWP who aren't first teamers either. Reeves should get a season loan to a lower league team. If we are going to keep people in the squad they should be the younger players rather than championship/league 1 level players like Chaplow who aren't going to get any better. Doubt Sharp is going to get a look in under Pochettino, don't think his techinical skills will be up to scratch. More likely to see someone like Seagar promoted.

Their new signings have helped, mainly Sissoko and Debuchy, but I think Cabaye's return has been far more crucial. Don't think they are in a false position at all, if anything they were in a false position last year. Some of their players like Krul, Tiote, Cisse, Collocinni had excellent form last season that they have failed to replicate. Not many Tiote for £20 million rumours going around this year. At times they have played some awfull football this year and they have made some bad defensive errors.

Reallistically the squad rates as follows:- - Proven more than capable for the league: Boruc, Clyne, Shaw, Fonte, Yoshida, Cork, Morgan, Gaston, Lallana, Puncheon, Lambert, Jay Rod, JWP, Davis. (14) - Unknown quantities: Mayuka, Forren, Lee, Callum Chambers, Jack Stephens. (5) - Shown they can do a job (but not relied on): Hooiveld, Guly, Fox, Gazza. (4) - Surplus to requirements: Richardson, Chaplow, Butterfield, Davis, Barnard, Sharp, Seabourne, Martin, Forte, Dickson, Hammond, Forecast. (12) 1. First off tie Boruc, Puncheon and Shaw to long term contracts (and anyone else who only has a year) 2. Get rid of the surplus players not worrying about transfer prices for most. 3. Get 3 quality players in to challenge for first team positions (Full back, Centre-back, Attack mid/Forward) plus maybe a keeper. Which makes the 'do a job' players more reserves. We need about 23 players but we don't want a bloated reserve team so we shouldn't have any players past that 23 that aren;t here for the long term to allow plenty of space for the young players to progress. Plus its good to have a close knit squad.

Yeh no worries, QPR fans will still blame Hughes though, bet Redknapp will get away with their relegation completely, on his record it won't have happened. I was thinking through the 30+ players who they have signed and can only think of handful that if Saints had signed them I would have been happy with. I reckon Hoillet & Cesar. Remy and Samba would also be in the list but at the price and wages QPR paid.

Well aside from examples like Giggs, Scholes, Pirlo, Sherringham, Phillips, etc. all still playing on into the their late 30's which must be due to modern physio techniques, training and nutrition, all of which Rickie can benefit from. He's also got the fact that he's only really been regularly playing football since he was about 20 and unlike many modern footballers an early career in the lower leagues has seen him average about 43 games a season, a lot less than the 60+ some players have played with Internationals, Champions League etc. Lambert has played 567 career games, in comparison Rooney at just 27 has played 546. Plus you add in the regular end of season breaks he gets unlike those who go to international tournaments. He's a bit of a late bloomer both abitlity wise and by his own admission professionalism wise, so I don't think he's going to burn out physically, plus he doesn't have any pace as it is. I think there are a fair few miles in his legs yet.

Someone will buy Samba, but not close to £12 million, nor will he get close to £100k a week. He'd add steel to someone like Arsenal or Liverpool. Tarrabt will get takers, as will Remy (but I wonder how low his release clause is). Julio Cesar will get takers, Granero will have takers in Spain but probably only a free. Think they have spent close to £40 million in transfer fees, doubt they will get 25% of that back. The likes of Zamora, Wright-Phillips, Andy Johnson, Onouha, Robert Green, Jenas, Mbia, Park, Bosingwa will be very tough to get off the books as most are on around £50 - 60k a week.

His current record at QPR. When he took over they were 20th, 6 points from safety. £23 million and 6 players (plus another £250k a week in wages) later they are 20th, 7 points from Safety.