MarkSFC

I really can't understand what people see in Hammond that suggests he will be a regular in the premier league.He has played a major role no doubt in getting us there but he hit his limit last season. A new commanding midfielder - ideally Tom Huddlestone who could easily be Captain too....must surely be signed.

Who do people think will be captain next season? Hammond certainly wont be a starter, Kelvin may be/should be a doubt to start every game and its possible that Jose may be rotated with new cb My thoughts are that it has to be a player who will start every game if fit...a Terry or a Gerrard if you like I think it could be Jos or maybe Lallana Thoughts? Maybe a poll mods?

You are suggesting from this post that you only expect saints to be "in and around the bottom" which to me means bottom 8. IF that is in fact where we spend next season and some after that then what's the point? I'm not going to fall for the Champions League rhetoric but I do not see any reason why over the next two or three seasons we can finish consistently "in and around the middle to top half of the table" which in my mind is 6th-12th. Charlie Adam is probably a better player than you make out but I think he is a player who is "damaged goods" in the sense that his career has stalled at Liverpool if not actually gone backwards and that is not the type of player I think we are going for. A Charlie Adam (having just had his season in the Prem with Blackpool) is exactly the type of player I would like us to sign 1 or 2 of (a CM and CB - has a little prem experience and is developing and probably 24-26) and I think that is exactly what NA is looking for in addition to 3 or 4 more Jay Rodriguez types - young and developing with oodles of potential!!

Think that would be perfect.....being greedy....chuck in a right back too!!

Particularly the young early to mid twenty year old ones who are definitely going to get better..... Probably be wise though to get a couple of similar age ones but who have been in the prem like Scott Dann and Mark Davies for example.

I don't really care who plays as long as we score loads and win games of football!! It's just great to have 4 such strikers at the club (almost!)....add in Lallana and this is arguably the best group of attackers we have had since MLT, Shearer, Rod Wallace and Rideout....

Not at all. At least not unless we "know the full reasons" quoted from Adkins or cortese or JR or a combination!! I think the time to judge the so-called ambition is at the end of this transfer window. You never know we may miss out on JR (for whatever reason) and then spend £10 million on someone the week after! I am hopeful, not just because of my emotional attachment to the club but from a logical perspective. Everything Cortese has done and is doing suggests that there is now more ambition than ever, or at least ambition that is planned in every detail, considering all outcomes and more importantly properly funded. Why would you buy a club just to become a yo-yo club and flirt with the bottom echelons of the Premier League. It's not the prudent thing to do. A certain level of investment (of course unknown) is designed to ensure that the club can survive "on its own merits" in the future...probably in 5 to 8 years time. I think there is no doubt regardless of the JR outcome that this club has serious ambition. For once we are are very lucky.................even if it does cost us a little bit more....it's a brilliant time to support Saints after the Askham and Lowe years!!!

I get the impression that Burnley NEED to sell him in order to buy players themselves. I'm sure that he will move because it is right for him but by moving he is also providing "his club" with the funds to improve overall. At the moment though we know nothing concrete but it seems very unlikely to me that he will not sign for us.

Green would certainly be good, possibly the best we could get right now but I reckon he will go to either Spurs or Villa.

This. He derserves to be involved but he is not the keeper to take us up the Premier League. Butland maybe. Gordon maybe. A.N.Other probably! Who ever it is must be a far better commander of his box on corners particularly and have far quicker distribution and kicking ability. Davis does not aid our fast paced keep ball style.

Booed (not literally but in discussion) by me.......Graham baker (only remember one forward pass!)...Glenn Cockerill...Gordon Hobson....Paul Jones....Malcolm Waldron......amongst others; and in the current squad..........Chaplow (has the form curve of BT without the same highs and longer troughs)....Seaborne (just rubbish under pressure which effects every element of his game)

No I'm not!!!

It is essential that we sign at least one CB - would be happy with either Dann, C Davies or Mariappa. I wouldn't expect another one as Martin could/should be enough at number 4 but if worst comes to worst there is the loan system. Central Midfield is my main concern. I like Morgan and think he will definitely become the deep sitting play-maker type. Cork still has a little improvement to make I think and is probably closer to Morgan than an attacking mid-fielder. We definitely need one real quality player here - which sort probably depends on whether we stick mainly to 442 or maybe go 433. I think the reason Swansea were so good last year is down to their mid-field so if we can match them there we will certainly be better. Right wing is certainly a spot that is up for grabs. SDR has not yet shone, and nor did Guly there. some players bizarrely do get better as they come up against better players, and also play with better ones. If we mainly go 442 I would like to see Matt Phillips added - raw pace, certainly improving (despite his sluggish end of season) and could be very good, very soon. Right-back is interesting too - how far is Stephens away? Even if "good enough" wont be ready for the whole season. I'm not convinced by Richardson but has played in the Prem before so that may help but I fear that against pace he will be done. Maybe a loan signing here or maybe an investment in Trippier or Clyne. I like Fox, the only thing for me is that he does not get beyond Adam enough- maybe that's instructions, who know. I doubt we will see any addition here. Up front I really hope JRod signs - massive potential - and well worth the investment. I would not be surprised if we sign another striker either. Lee will potentially be a useful (if not firing them in anyway!) sub as can play up anywhere across the front so may well act as a "back up" to Adam as well as striker. Barnard should leave. Guly I think is a good one to keep because can play on the right, in the hole or up top. Remember 7 subs in the prem. Finally we obviously need a GK. I hope to see one who is better than KD and possibly just coming into his prim, late 20's early 30's. Gordon springs to mind, especially for no fee!

Here we go again...Mr clueless is back....making assumptions based on his own detached theories. I was enjoying this forum again for a while!!

This will be a great signing if indeed it does go through. When is the last time that Saints signed a player who is in his early 20's, highly regarded and whom some people think has the potential to play for England? If you think about it £7m+ for a player who has scored 40 in 121 games at a young age is pretty good. The price reflects mainly potential and so if you compare to AOC at £12-15m depending on who you believe, he is certainly better than half as good as AOC, especially if in 2 or 3 years they are leading the England line together. Very smart business if NC and NA can get this done.....1 or 2 more of a similar ilk would would be just great!!!

The OP describes "returning fans" as those who for whatever reason stooped supporting Saints and started supporting someone else. These sort of fans imho are NOT real fans in any sense......but if they want to put money into my club so be it. For me "returning fans" means supporters of Southampton who for whatever reason may not have been to St Mary's during the football league era or at least only two or three times a year, and now decide to buy a ST or end up going to at least 10 games this season. This is quite obviously going to happen because as the team improves - and so does the opposition - more people are going to turn up. The definition of real fans is someone for whom Southampton FC is in their heart and ALWAYS will be. It is NOT about having a ST and going to every game because there are so many different reasons why people cant go to every game and therefore do not purchase a ST. Equally I know people who have/have had ST knowing full well that they are not going to go every game - does that make them better? No, it means they like to sit in the same place when they do go with the same people. It's their choice to pay for that. If you knew me you would very quickly understand the passion for Saints I have but do I go to every game...no. Have I ever been a ST? Yes, for the last 7 years at The Dell. Why then over the years have I not gone as often as these self-proclaimed super-duper-A list- fans? A complete mix of work commitments (working away/working weekends), living the other end of the country, mates not around to go with (although I have been to many games on my own), finance, family commitments, weddings, stag-do's, holidays, cross-over fixtures with England cricket or Hampshire Finals, illness, injury, and once or twice when I could of gone "I really could not be arsed"!!!! Those who sit in judgement of others need to get in the real world. As long as you love Saints F.C. that's good enough for me....

life's a ***** get over it. I'm unemployed through no fault of my own. I can barely afford to eat let alone buy a ST. Get real OP....things change...put up or shut up.

If you look at the teams at the bottom, they all spent small sums and it can easily be argued that is a big part of why they went down or nearly did. Wolves spent about 5m plus two undis.(R Johnson and Jonsson) Bolton spent about 6m plus 1 undis. (Ngog) Blackburn spent about 10m plus 4 undis. (Orr, Yakubu and 2 unknowns) Villa spent about 10m plus 2 undis.(Given and Hutton) QPR spent about 10m plus 4 undisc. (Traore, Ferdinand, Young, and DJ Campbell) A few free ones were thrown in the mix at most clubs which aren't as free as they sound so my point is that it is realistic and quite possibly very necessary to spend 15-20 million. I would expect this to contain 2 or maybe 3 players that beat our record...2 or 3 players in the 1-3 million bracket and 2 or 3 "freebies". I would expect the "fee breakers" to be young and english - JRod/Hooper/Jarvis types The "1-3million" players to be foreigners, playing abroad And the "freebies" to be quite well experienced - Gordon/Cuellar types (not that I would want Cuellar but cant think of any more!) The big money (for us) will go on players who are still not at their full potential but are certainly developing quickly. It's interesting when you start talking fees on here how us spending possibly 6-8 million on JRod is regarde by many as too much but it was perfectly ok for us to squeeze Arsenal for every last penny for Chamberlain!! IF we do end up buying 2 or 3 "youngsters" it would show a massive sign of intent and how far things have actually changed. We may not shop at the top table but perhaps we are at the level below....

very well put.

I think there will be two strategies to the transfer window. 1) Young(ish) English players ON THE UP in their career. e.g. Rodriguez, Trippier, M Phillips, Ince, Clyne. players who may well be more expensive to purchase but will over time become more valuable (just in case of need to sell) but more importantly potentially International class or very near to it. I expect 4 or 5 of these. 2) Fairly experienced Foreign players who may have reached their peak or are just on their way down so to speak and maybe are a level below International. I suspect these to be the cheaper (in comparison to english/british equivalents) options...and almost certainly players most of us haven't heard of! I expect 2 or 3 of these.

great piece. Full of logic. Shouldn't be anywhere near this forum! Keep up the good work.

like!

Guesses..... 1) Who scored the first and last goals of the Saints Championship campaign Hammond / lallana 2) How many penalties did Saints get in the league this season6 3) How many penalties did Saints concede in the league this season5 4) Who was the only player to play in every game this seasonCork 5) How many league goals did defenders score for Saints this season12 6) How many Nationalities made up the official squad of the season (Including Loans)10, Eng, French, Japanese, spanish, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Belgium, Irish, Brazilian...11 if you include Fox as Scottish 7) How many own goals did Saints concede in the league this season3 What was the most league goals Saints scored in any one week7,birm, prest, burn in september...looked that up! 9) What was the most league goals Saints conceded in any one week4 on a few occasions 10) How many players did Saints use in their Championship campaign26?

Thing is Lowe was not even taking a chance as it was "proven" that we could easily get mid 20's as that it what we achieved before we had to go all seater. If I remember correctly Stoneham was "only 28K" so he wasnt mad, in fact in my opinion he was actually - as he ALWAYS did - playing it very safe. That attitude had a lot to do with why we ended up where we did. Cortese, if we do expand is being brave and visionary. He may get it wrong, it may be proven that in fact 32-35k is all we actually need. Unfortunately until you actually build a larger capacity stadium no one will ever know the true potential of our matchday support. My guess is that he will expand to mid forties. That would equate to approximately a 30-45% increase which seems very sensible. Less than 40k and it could be said is it really worth it - and over 50k may be a stretch. I think that expansion and progression on the pitch will have a bit of a knock on rally effect, i.e. as the team get better, there will be more demand - increase capacity - more revenue, better players, more success more demand etc...guaging the limit of that progression is down to Cortese not us!!

even if it cost us 10 mil for JRod and Trippier, which I doubt it really would, add in the 2 ish mil for Sharp thats 3 good players with lots of potential for the loss of Oxo. Seems like a great overall deal to me.