david in sweden

Whilst McCarthy still has one year left on his contract, having an extra body around is a good choice on a free transfer. 28 is still "youngish" for a keeper (aside from people like Bazunu) and he might be a welcome replacement for Willie C.

Finally got the deserved result, but with 80% possession and 23 shots , we might have hoped for a few more goals. PROBLEMS ?.. none on the footballing side, but Wednesday had a squad of heavyweights and some of our shorter players got " unnecessary attention" and not a lot of protection from referee Madley. With a whole season ahead of us I'd be glad if we kept Lyanco - at least he can take care of himself.

you're right about Prowsey's Academy service of course, but Jack is almost one year older than James and signed his pro-contract in April 2011 JWP was at the club much earlier, but didn't get to sign his first pro-contract until after we got promoted in May 2012.

a two year extension for Jack who must rate as a veteran player by now. He is actually the longest serving player still at the club - even a bit longer than JWP. Growing up in the shadow of Fonte and Van Dijk he was thrust into action when both were suddenly out of the picture, and partnered up with Maya Yoshida when neither was a natural first team choice. A real baptism of fire and not an easy task for him to suddenly adapt to the Prem. He is a bit of a Marmite player for some, but always gives 100% and although picking up a few yellow cards along the way, is not afraid to get stuck in. Hopefully he may be able to partner up with Bednarek (always assuming he stays), but also a good chance for him to show up and do well.

Anyone who could score a hat-trick against Arsenal was bound to attract attention. I'm surprised that it took so long for someone to buy him, but the 3,5 million we got for him ( a British record at the time ) was then mercilessly squandered on sub-standard players, far beneath the value of the fees we paid for them, and who contributed nothing to the club and subsequently *ucked off as soon as they had the chance. Shearer was an outstanding player in his later career, but in hindsight we drew the short straw on the original deal.

Considering that he spent much of his first season " in rehab " for whatever injury it was he was carrying when he signed and despite some good performances, he seemed to lack consistency and never partnered-up with any of the other CB's he played alongside. His departure is nothing lament over and at least we made a profit on the deal. It's nothing to try and hold on to a player who doesn't want to be here. He may fit in at Monaco, so good luck to him.

only 60 million ?...I thought we weren't going to sell players on the cheap...

Good post John B. Clearly the club is investing in youth, (and very good acquisitions they are)... when you see the fees they are commanding now. Prowsey has one foot out of the door, and if Stuart Armstrong stays it may be his last season, so the whole squad is in for an overhaul. We may end up having one of the youngest squads in the Championship, and by the end of August we may all be looking to see who is left rather than getting used to one or two new names as we normally do.

to be fair Duncan, in a friendly game where we had a conveyor belt of 20 players, some playing out of position, I thought we looked fairly good with RM's " holding pattern" of high tempo passing but we lost cohesion with so many changes, but looked worth a few more goals than we actually scored. It will be easy for people to criticise obvious mistakes from a young squad that is still not concreted into a predictable starting line-up. Good points were obvious : Bednarek and Stephens looked confident enough as a CB pairing, and Will Smallbone clearly stood out well in midfield. The back end of the game was a bit sloppy at times, but Edozie and Amo-Ameyaw will cause problems for many sides this season, and goals from Adam Armstrong and Joe Aribo will help to improve their image after a poor Prem.season. As someone in the same generation as John B. (original post), I have to agree with many of his points and continually remind ourselves that it takes time to formulate a balanced side and the whole idea of " friendlies " is a chance to iron out obvious mistakes - without losing 3 points every time. In one way... it was good that we couldn't keep a clean sheet, as it exposed potential problem areas and had we won 4-0 it still wouldn't have been convincing enough for anyone to think that we had come anywhere near a side that was " the finished article " . Our performances against Bournemouth will tell us more when coming up against a team that did do well enough to survive in the Prem. last season.

he spend a useless amount of time not being used on his half season loan ...with Eastleigh ! What was seen of him early season with the B team was quite impressive. can surely be worth a 3rd choice for the first team, or another loan .

How far has he got with his book on the Kennedy assassination?

I recall seeing David Beckham doing the same thing - and that was in a tournament

Bringing back Jose Fonte?. This is a head / heart question isn't it?. Many may say he's too old, but good players can outlast even younger talents. Milner and Young will still be Prem. players next season... and it's not as if we would expect Fonte to play all 46 games + cup matches. He was fit and good enough to start for Lille last season and still remained in the Portugal squad until a while back. You can't ignore the sort of career that he had and having him around for a year or two.. on a free transfer .... is surely a no-brainer. with the gossip about CB's soon to be departing Saints, his knowledge and experience both on-and-off the pitch would be invaluable.

......can't disagree with much of your analysis but we should remember that SR have spent around 130 million (of someone's money) in the last 18 months , so it's not as if we will end up with quite so much money to play with. Man City will get 20% of an eventual sale of Lavia and we surely have outstanding amounts to pay off from previous buys, as many deals are made on an instalment basis, and not with all the money up front. As we will be unlikely to sign too many Prem. class players this season, buying in free transfer(s) will save a lot, and even deals of 10-15 million will be good investments. If / when we get back to the Prem. most of the newer buys will have proven themselves good enough / OR / haven't made the grade for the top tier. Profitability for the club isn't just based on player sales as there will undoubtedly be a decrease in attendances at SMS, sponsorship deals and a huge drop in TV income compared with the Prem. level. we have been used to. Nevertheless, we will certainly be better placed than some other clubs recently relegated who are still struggling to get back up.

Well said " Whitey" . If Wham (or anyone else) think they can get JWP for a cheap fee, they don't understand why we are demanding so much. Whilst they happily squander huge sums on foreign imports who don't fit the bill and become a liability for them, JWP has been a Prem. player for over 10 years, with 350 + apps. ... far too few England caps for his ability and might have scored penalties for England whilst others missed. His stock will go up if he moves to a bigger Prem. side, and he might even get back into Southgate's squad - after he passes Beckham's record. Our position is clear and surely everyone knows we wouldn't find a replacement for him for a measly 20 million.

there is a long list of transfer deals (over many decades) that didn't happen because " the wife " didn't like the new club / location.

New CEO?.....most important questions. 1. Does he like football ...and does he understand the offside rule, before Wenger changes it. ? 2. Did he have a favourite football club when young? 3. If he has a RR to run, we shouldn't be paying him too much.

YES Chez ..looking at your point 3 ... the interesting thing (to me) has always been .. How much is " a big fee " ? Clearly any club with a billionaire owner treats a 40-50 million transfer fee as " a normal transaction", whereas a 20 million fee has always seemed like "the 4 minute mile barrier" for Saints and most of the other clubs in ( or presently ) outside of the Prem. Like many of the smaller clubs we were " breaking the sound barrier" when it came to paying more than that for a player. (Apparently ....Burnley have never paid more than 15 million for any player )... at least until now. Rory Delap's 4 million (club record in 2000), stood for over 10 years until we signed Jay Rodriguez for... 7 million (?) , after which Nicola Cortese went out and borrowed huge money which were promptly squandered on Osvaldo and Ramirez and suddenly 15 million became " par for the course " in Saints' reckoning. Whereas the desperation purchase (20 million) of Carrillo was a huge disaster, the same amount paid out for Danny Ings was clearly a life-saver at the time. Now we face the prospect of getting 40 million plus for Lavia, I begin to wonder where will Saints land in the transfer market? Clearly we won't break any records whilst still a Championship club, but what will be " the norm ", if / when we return to the top tier? Our new owners will need very deep pockets if we are to compete with the rich clubs in the future?

think it might also be geographically convenient. As a boy, his family lived in / around Didcot / Newbury area and so Reading isn't that far away... if he's looking to keep " fit" , it's a good idea to have some pre-season exercise... can't see him signing for Reading ....even if Selles is there.

....and he's not alone, but with so many good Academy graduates still on the books, and 16 and 17 year olds now getting game time, it's hard for any 20+ year old with no first team experience to get a foot in. For many it will take a season or two in L1 / L2 to make real progress and develop a career in League football. We will see half a dozen more go to lower league clubs in the summer and hopefully improve. The list of those former Academy lads who we let go too early, and went onto greater things.... is too embarrassing to publish. Recently, I counted over 30 L1 / L2 players who had come through our Academy in the last 10-12 years - without having travelled on the first team coach. JWP is the last of his generation still at the club, whilst several others of that era have also moved on and played with other Prem. clubs. (e.g. Chambers, Shaw, Targett, Reed, Stephens). * We would surely have added Sam McQueen to that group had he not been so badly injured.

Maybe we can see your point - in principle.. as QPR fell away badly and were lucky to avoid the drop to L1 . BUT ... Burnley, Sheff. Utd and Luton (3, 4 and 5 on this table) were all promoted, whilst Blackburn and Millwall finished in 7th and 8th place - merely 1 point and a goal difference behind the play-off places. Coventry (with 3 games in hand on this table) and West Brom. recovered well, and Swansea did finish in the top 10. Five teams between 6th and 10th were separated - by just 3 points. A bad decision or, * VAR call might have made the difference. A run of good form, or a lapse in continuity can mean the difference of half the league by the end of the season. There are quite a lot of "good teams " at this level, but few who are good enough to stay in the Prem. if promoted. Personally, I never take a serious look at League tables inside the first 7-8 games, and several other Prem. sides who started poorly might have been relegated last season - if we hadn't been quite SO bad. * Yes ...I know there is no VAR in the Championship.

A lot went wrong after Koeman jumped ship. A move that undoubtedly enlarged his pension fund in a very few months before departing Everton. You can only employ managers who are " available " and there were very few to recruit and it was Claude Puel who drew the shi**y end of the stick. All new managers are given money to sign "someone" and Puel chose Boufal, remembered mostly for a few magnificent goals he scored, and his frustrating ability to nutmeg opponents twice over ...whilst still on the halfway line, and blatantly ignoring team mates in every attacking build-up. Despite finishing in the top half and making it to a Wembley final, Saints' pathetic ability to score goals at SMS led to Puel's inevitable dismissal. Once again we had to choose from " the best of the worst" available replacements, and Pellegrino's sojourn is remembered mainly for his now-notorious record signing of Carrillo ...(a forerunner to the Onuachu-type panic signing)... with a similarly pathetic, and costly outcome. Mark Hughes' short-lived appointment was marked only by his blatant determination to continue playing those in an already-failing squad, whilst ignoring younger talents like Jan Bednarek, who later developed into an international CB despite his occasionally predictable faults. Ralph Hasenhuttl's arrival was a welcome relief (with / without his fridge guarantee) and in retrospect we may consider he did the best job, despite a significant lack of investment and an inability to transfer his " Leipzig success-formula " to a lacklustre squad incapable of scoring goals. Too much has already been written about his successors in the coaching role, but it's now clear that Russell Martin will need to construct a decent group, (with what will remain of last season's squad) and the acquisition of some of the players who DAJF him in his previous clubs. His "new-look squad" will be revealed in the coming weeks, and we must live in hopes that they can kick-start the new season, whilst continuing to learn the way to Staplewood, (suggest taxi-sharing), learning each other's names... and remember the roles they should be playing. It should make for an interesting new season.

IF he's still on 100K /week, it's not a question of a lot more money, BUT If he wants to move ..just in order to stay in the Prem. then any club below the top 6 would mean he'd become " just another Prem. midfielder " (like Maddison) in a mid-table club who won't be playing in a Euro competition next season , and is hardly likely to advance his England career beyond the occasional friendly game, and knows that he will never get off the bench in a major tournament squad. After having moved to Arsenal for 100 million ...Rice will have cemented his England place for a few years, but I must admit that like the last 100million player (Grealish) I am not overly impresses by either of them, and the footballing media will lambaste Gareth Southgate if he dares to leave either of them out of an England squad. IF ... Prowsey does stay on with Saints - even for another season - he will (like MLT) attain " club legend " status for loyalty, or just the fact that he enjoys living on the South Coast and not need to uproot his family for no good reason.

..and if they are better than us, at least it should be easy to organise a few players on loan.