SaintJackoInHurworth

I'm glad someone has picked up on this as it was certainly one of the issues in my mind when I started this thread. I actually think Hjobjerg is a better prospect there than Clasie. Whether he is the right player to provide that cover and whether that is the best way to develop his talent are other questions that need to be considered though too. I feel that we have a lot of general/'box-to-box' midfield players in Davis, Ward-Prowse, Clasie and Hjobjerg and if we can continue to develop the last three then that will be great; we shouldn't in that case need to buy others who are that type of player... Unless someone of the right age and greater ability should become available at the right cost (eg Ever Banega... highly unlikely!!) The big issue is definitely who can provide the cover for Romeu if he should become injured. The other issue is that those midfield players are not yet delivering enough in an attacking sense. I therefore agree that we need to find cover for Romeu at least plus cover for Van Dijk and if we can find someone of suitable ability a Schneiderlin-style box-to-box midfielder. To allow that sort of space in the squad I think we need to omit Taylor, Gazzaniga and Gardos from the final 25. Sent from my Fusion5 using Tapatalk

Cedric is only a good shout if he is first choice left back. Pied has the potential to challenge that though! Sent from my Fusion5 using Tapatalk

I've been thinking about our squad and the intention that we will have at least two in every position. When you look at the squad positions it makes interesting reading. Find my approximation below with apologies for times where I have mixed up right and left sided players... * Goalies - Forster, McCarthy, Taylor * Left back - Bertrand, McQueen, Targett * Right back - Pied, Cedric, Jones * Centre Back - Van Dijk, Yoshida, Wood * Centre Back - Stephens, Bednarek, Gardos * Defensive Midfield - Romeu, Hojbjerg * Midfield - Davis, Ward-Prowse, Clasie * Right Wing - Redmond, Sims * Left Wing - Tadic, Boufal, Hesketh * Striker - Austin, Long * Striker - Gabbiadini, Gallagher I recognise that these positions imply one particular tactical formation and I that at times we may play in a different tactical formation, but I hope nevertheless that it is helpful. Also, I've put Sims as right wing here, but personally I prefer him as a striker. Have I missed anyone? Does it throw any further light on where our squad is weak or strong? I think if we play a formation that is less based around wingers then the midfield is potentially lacking one or two players, though with this formation it is fine.

11 Transfer deadline day: Following the sale of Ryan Bertrand the club feel confident that Sam McQueen and Matt Targett are the future. Initially brilliant performances by McQueen justify the club's decision, but when he gets injured the club realise that Targett is still not yet ready for the first team and are forced to invest £6m, paying well over the odds, for 36 year old Patrice Evra from Marseille.

Mentioned again today in Huddersfield newspaper: http://www.examiner.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/huddersfield-town-transfer-rumours-southampton-13272162 It has also been mentioned here: http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2017/07/02/report-southampton-could-take-advantage-of-premier-league-rule-w/

I think it will be a tough ask for us to finish higher than eighth next season, even if Pellegrino has the desired effect. I am hopeful that we will see an improvement under Pellegrino - especially if we can keep our top players and maybe bring in a couple of extra players to further strengthen the squad/first team. Yet, that improvement may only be enough to close up some of the gap that opened up last season, rather than necessarily helping us to finish any higher. The problem is that the gap to the teams above us got a little too large last season and many of them seem to be working hard at improving their squads for the season ahead. The one thing that may help us however is that most of them will be competing in European competition this season so that could have the effect of putting pressure on their squad depth at times - especially if they suffer any problems with injuries. Looking at those teams though it is hard to see how we can do enough to catch up with and pass any of the seven teams that finished above us: * Chelsea - they were streets above us and everyone else last season. While the did poorly the season before, under Conte they look incredibly hard to beat. Even if they lose Costa, they still have huge resources of talented players including Eden Hazard and they are sure to find a quality player to replace him. * Tottenham - The Spuds may be set to lose Walker, but they have plenty of strength in depth and I have no doubt they will use the money from his sale to buy a good replacement and to strengthen their squad further. Even if they don't I can't see them falling back sufficiently for us to catch them. * Man City - You have to think that this season could well be the season that they come good, especially if they can finally sort our their fragile defence with good dealings in the transfer market. * Liverpool - They have maintained a steadily upwards trajectory over the past couple of seasons under Klopp and with continued high levels of transfer spending it seems likely that they should maintain that. Nevertheless, the return to European football this season could put extra pressure on their squad, so it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that they could do less well in the league in the season ahead. If we are to catch anyone next season they could be one of the teams we might have an outside chance of catching. Yet, they have sufficient resources and strength in depth that this must remain unlikely. * Man Utd - They seem to be spending a lot this summer and Mourinho is a winner. They have certainly begun to look a lot better with him as manager than they have done since Ferguson retired. While I don't think it will be enough to make them genuine challengers for the title, I think it will mean that they should have the strength in depth to maintain at least Europa League qualification and possibly to compete for a Champions League spot. It would take a few catastrophes like in Mourinho's last season at Chelsea for them to be catchable. * Arsenal - While our expectations of them have slowly descended in recent seasons and there are big questions about whether they can cut it among the big boys any more, they seem to be looking at strengthening their squad more this year than they have done for a while. Whether that will be successful for them remains to be seen, but I still think it would take a much bigger drop in Arsenal's squad ability for them to be quite catchable yet. The fact that they are in the Europa League this season and not the Champions League could work either way and is probably not a significant factor. Nevertheless, if they fail to make the necessary improvements to their squad or if the players they get in are not good enough, then we have shown in recent years that we can match them on the field, so there is some vague outside possibility that we could catch them. It remains very unlikely though. * Everton - It is a bit shocking to see the amount that Everton are spending this summer. While they may be about to lose Lukaku it would seem more likely that they will push on this season rather than fall back under the pressure of European football. Nevertheless, if the new additions struggle to settle and if they are faced by an injury crisis due to playing so many fixtures there is the possibility that they could still be catchable. So, while it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that Everton, Arsenal, Man Utd or Liverpool could be caught, it would seem highly, highly unlikely. The bigger challenge for Pellegrino will be to close the gap on those teams and to assert Saints as part of a distinct top eight rather than the top team of the bottom 13. Hopefully he can also prioritise continued commitment to doing well in the cups. What does anyone else think?

OK... slight correction... Xavi Tamarit is the author of a book about "Tactical Periodization" which is the name given to the coaching methods used by Jose Mourinho and others. He didn't co-author the original training manual. Apologies for any misunderstanding! Tamarit's book is called "What is Tactical Periodization?" Nevertheless, the following article describes him as a "keen proponent" of this approach: https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/lowdown-on-new-southampton-coach-mauricio-pellegrino Monk - has that dealt with whatever caused your unexplained outburst?

I would anticipate Pellegrino's coaching staff will follow him as is usual in situations like this. The only thing that might stop that is if they haven't yet left Alaves and are offered jobs there - especially if one of them is appointed as the new coach of Alaves. If we got only one of them I would anticipate it might well be Xavi Tamarit who was one of the authors of the book "Tactical Periodization" which is the inspiration behind the coaching methods of Jose Mourinho and others. Nevertheless, employing his other assistant at Alaves, Carlos Campagnucci, brings with it the possibility of signing his son, Lucio Compagnucci, who has been an Argentine under 17 and under 20 international. Of course, that may or may not be of interest!

Friday Midday Sent from my Fusion5 using Tapatalk

As I see it from what I have read on here the following are the potential options as far as we see things at present: Mauricio Pellegrino - Has done well with a minnow Spanish club Alavés, taking them to the Copa Del Rey Final after achieving promotion to La Liga and securing a mid-table position. He also previously managed Valencia achieving a better win ratio than both Koeman and Ranieri and just short of the standard achieved by current PSG Manager Unai Emery. His success at Alavés was based on strong defence. Some Saints fans have questions about how well he will be able to achieve greater attacking success than under Puel. Patrick Viera - Has done well at New York City and is very thorough in all that he does. Was previously in charge of youth development at Man City so has some good experience of developing younger players. However, he has limited experience over all. Slaviša Jokanović - Has been hugely successful with a number of clubs, winning titles or achieving promotion or other success in most places, with only a couple of failures against his name. Last season he nearly took Fulham from relegation strugglers to promotion to the Premier League. His teams play attacking football with a winning mentality. It would cost £5m to compensate Fulham and appoint him as manager. Frank De Boer - Hugely successful as manager of Ajax but a total flop at Inter Milan. Hannes Wolf - After a successful spell as coach of Dortmund's reserve and youth teams he became head coach of VfB Stuttgart and has been very successful with them leading them to become Bundesliga 2 champions and thus to promotion to the Bundesliga. Apart from this he has a quite limited amount of experience. Julian Nagelsmann - Has taken German minnows Hoffenheim from Bundesliga strugglers to Champions League qualifiers. He was previously youth coach at the same club where he coached them to become title winners. However, other than this he has limited experience. Jaap Stam - Has helped Reading to recover their fortunes and took them to the Championship play-offs. He has previously been an assistant coach but is otherwise very inexperienced. Giovani Van Bronkhorst - limited but successful career in football management. In two years he has led Feyenoord to their first Eredivisie title in 18 years. Less likely than the above are: Thomas Tuchel - Has been very successful with several clubs but has sadly ruled himself out of the running after being apparent favourite for the post at first. Markus Weinzierl - Had a 42% win ratio at Schalke 04 but they failed to qualify for European competition for the first time in 8 years. Roberto Martinez - Mixed fortunes as a Premier League manager but has done well as coach of the Belgium national side. Eddie Howe - Unlikely to move to Saints but has been successful in transforming Bournemouth from a lower division club to a club that has managed to hold its own in the EPL. Vítor Pereira - Has had a mixed managerial career with some good success at both Porto and Olympiacos but has had a torrid couple of seasons in Turkey and Germany. I have probably missed a few from that list but hopefully it serves as a good summary for some people.

I was at the Middlesbrough v Saints match on Saturday and particularly noted the performance of Jeremy Pied. I felt he looked very assured on the ball and his decision making was very good. Some of his longer kicks were a little wayward, but maybe that is one of those things that will improve with match practice. I now note that he has come on as sub tonight in place of Cedric and I am interested to see how home fans view his performance tonight. Obviously it is not the same as a full match, but nevertheless it will be interesting to hear how well he has played. Hopefully it will turn out that once again we have uncovered a real gem of a player.

There are a lot of bed-wetters on here tonight calling for Puel and Reed to be sacked and declaring that we will be relegated; and to some degree I can understand the anxiety. I am sure we all felt down and negative about everything after this afternoon's result. However, at times like this instead of getting our knickers in a twist we need to be calm and see what rabbits Puel and/or the club might pull out of the hat. It's not as if we haven't been continually amazed over recent years at how resilient we have been at everything that has been thrown at us. All is not yet lost and there are plenty more things to be tried before Puel has to give up! I want to suggest just one possible solution to our current defensive problems. I wonder whether the solution could lay with Ryan Bertrand. We all know he is one of our best and most experienced defenders and, of course, he can also play as a centre back. So, with both McQueen and Targett providing back-up options at left back, might it be an idea for Bertrand to play as a left centre back with McQueen at full back and potentially Targett as sub (if we feel we need a substitute for that position)? I know that Bertrand maybe doesn't have the height of some centre backs, but he is solid. If we are concerned at having more height or we want to help Stephens to develop into a great player we might potentially play five across the back. On this basis we could have a team that looks something like this: [table] [tr] [td][/td] [td][/td] [td]Forster[/td] [td][/td] [td][/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][/td] [td] Yoshida[/td] [td] Stephens[/td] [td] Bertrand[/td] [td][/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Cedric[/td] [td][/td] [td] [/td] [td][/td] [td] McQueen[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][/td] [td] Romeu[/td] [td][/td] [td]Davis[/td] [td][/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Tadic[/td] [td][/td] [td][/td] [td][/td] [td] Boufal[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][/td] [td][/td] [td] Gabbiadini[/td] [td][/td] [td][/td] [/tr] [/table]

What is it with some Saints fans? They seem more obsessed with telling everyone they hate a tiny nothing of a club down in the fourth tier of English football instead of just properly getting behind our players. We don't care about Pompey so stop singing about them! Maybe you should just think about this: every time a Pompey fan reads about us making songs about their tin pot club they must feel an odd sense of affirmation that their club must be something special because Saints fans are still singing about them! Why do people want to give them that pleasure?! Stop, think and get behind Saints instead of spending your lives worrying about them! As for a song, it would be great to have something a little different like Stone Roses, etc. but the reality is that we all have widely different tastes in music and lots of these songs will be unknown to many fans. So we must choose a song that just about everyone will know. That doesn't have to mean all the same songs that are used over and over and over again though! There are plenty of well-known songs that are not widely used. I would therefore like to suggest a few songs on which a theme song for Gabbiadini or some other player or manager could be based. Some of these may have already been used; others may not have been used or have not been used recently: * Yesterday - The Beatles * It's a Kind of Magic - Queen * It has to be perfect - Fairground Attraction * What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong * Come on Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners * I still haven't found what I'm looking for - U2 * Help! - The Beatles * Somebody to Love - Queen * All you need is love - The Beatles * Light My Fire - The Doors * Every time we say goodbye - Ella Fitzgerald * I'm a Believer - The Monkees * American Pie - Don Maclean * Hotel California - The Eagles * Feel - Robbie Williams * Wish you were here - Pink Floyd * Bridge over troubled water - Simon & Garfunkle * I will survive - Gloria Gaynor * Imagine - John Lennon * Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin * Wonderwall - Oasis * Stand by Me - Ben E King * I heard it through the grapevine - Marvin Gaye * We'll meet again - Vera Lynn * Dancing Queen - Abba * God only knows - Ther Beach Boys * One - U2 * The Boxer - Simon & Garrfunkle * Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen * Everybody Hurts - REM * Somewhere over the rainbow - Judy Garland * Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers * Let it Be - The Beatles * Yellow Submarine - The Beatles (OK this one probably has been used quite a bit!) * It Must Be Love - Madness * Live and Let Die - Paul McCartney/Wings * Goldfinger - Shirley Bassey * Waterloo - Abba * Shout - Tears For Fears * Fast Car - Tracey Chapman * Happy - Pharrell Williams * Beneath your beautiful - Emeli Sande & Labrinth * Blank Space - Taylor Swift * Hello - Adele * Fix You - Coldplay * Hotel California - The Eagles * The Hall of Fame - The Script * Stop in the name of love - Diana Ross & the Supremes * I love Rock n Roll - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts * I wanna know what love is - Foreigner * O sole mio (Just One Cornetto) - Giovanni Capurro & Eduardo di Capua! er... ok... gonna stop there! There are absolutely loads of course(!) but my point is that with so many songs to choose from it must be possible to create something original using a well-known song that everyone will know! So, to end with how about these for possible Gabbiadini songs: Fast Car - Tracey Chapman We've got Ma-nolo Gabbi.. Man-olo Gabiadini! We've got Ma-nolo Gabbi.. Man-olo Gabiadini! He's gonna score a goal for us; he'll get another and Saints gonna win! He's gonna score a goal for us; he'll get another and Saints gonna win! (repeat) Somewhere Over The Rainbow Ma-no-lo Gabbiadini, Ma-no-lo! Ma-no-lo Gabbiadini, he's gonna score a goal. He'll score from the left, he'll score from the right, He'll shoot it long, he'll shoot on sight. And then we'll sing loud... (Repeat) O sole mio (Just One Cornetto) Manolo Gabbi, Gab-yadini A goal machi-ine, from Italy! He shoo-oots, he shoots some more, Gabbiadini, he's gonna score!

OK - there is a lot of negativity here tonight about our failure to sign a centre back. I guess we are all disappointed that no-one has been signed to cover for the loss of Fonte, but hopefully it is not all bad and maybe.. just maybe... in a few weeks time we will look back on this and once again laugh at the bed-wetters. I want to suggest a few more positive factors and possibilities but I also want to be honest that there are some significant pitfalls with these... 1. Hopefully VVD will not be injured for as long as we fear. 2. Yoshida is not great but he has been far better this season than ever before. With a regular starting place he is finally starting to live up to the potential that originally caused Saints to buy him. 3. Stephens is only young but he has done pretty well so far and the more he plays the faster he will learn and the better he will get. OK, he made mistakes against Arsenal but it is unfair to single him out for blame for that result. The absence of Romeu in front of him was a significant factor in that result as was the unfamiliarity of playing with Gardos. He will learn from it. 4. Gardos was only just back from injury for the Arsenal game. He will get better as he gets more match fit and as he trains with the other first team defenders so that they become more familiar with each other's style of play. 5. Romeu is an extra line of defence that was missing for the Arsenal game. Hopefully he will not be missing for many other games. 6. Bertrand can also play at centre back and we have other options at left back with both McQueen and Targett. 7. Martina can also play at centre back. 8. We also have Alfie Jones, Will Wood and Ollie Cook waiting in the wings. Maybe this could become their big opportunity. However, there are of course quite a few pitfalls with all of this: * What happens if Romeu gets injured? * What if VVD is out for a long time? * What if Yoshida gets injured? * What happens if we get further injuries to centre backs? * How quickly can we get Gardos up to full match fitness without leaving ourselves with a team that are exposed by this lack of fitness? * How quickly can we build up an understanding between Yoshida, Gardos and Stephens? * How much risk do we want to take with our youngsters? Putting them under too much pressure could undermine their confidence at a key time in their development. Personally I think we have taken a big risk - even if VVD is back from injury soon. We should not have sold Fonte until we had a replacement not just lined up but tied up. The injury to Tasci came at an unfortunate time and negotaitions for players take a long time but that just adds to the importance of tying up a deal before a player is sold. Of course, it could be argued that keeping Fonte any longer was liable to cause further unrest in the squad and that maybe getting rid of him led to us being in a place to defeat Liverpool, but we will never know. There are lessons to be learned by the club from this whole fiasco. let's hope they learn them fast!

OK - so we have just sold Fonte to West Ham. If it were next to be announced that as part of the deal, West Ham have agreed to sell us Payet for £25m with £5m add-ons, what would you think?

So... it turns out that Simon Kjær has been linked with Chelsea, but his club deny any offer has been made: http://metro.co.uk/2017/01/11/fenerbahce-release-statement-on-chelseas-rumoured-bid-for-simon-kjaer-6374555 Iñigo Martínez on the other hand has not evidently sparked any recent interest, though a few articles have suggested he could be a potential transfer target and there were rumours that Liverpool were interested back in the summer. Emanuel Mammana hasn't long been at Lyon but when he signed for them there were rumours that Chelsea were also interested and there are now rumours that Spurs are keeping tabs on him. Björn Engels was of interest to Arsenal back in the summer but he turned the opportunity to join them down as he didn't feel ready. So who knows, maybe he would feel more ready to come to Southampton?! Armando Izzo was similarly linked with Arsenal a year ago, but nothing since. Jorge Meré was previously linked with Everton, but there are no recent rumours as far as I can see. Finally, former Newcastle player Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa has not been linked with anyone since he moved first to Roma in January 2015 and then to Lyon the following summer. The other players listed above in the OP have also not attracted any recent interest as far as I can see.

So, it is looking likely that Fonte will leave - probably to join West Ham. It is not clear from Puel's interview with the Echo whether the club are likely to replace him: http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/news/15035464.Puel_talks_Sakho_and_Fonte_transfers However, what if the club do bring in a central defender. Who will they bring in? Here are a few possibilities: [table] [tr] [th]Player[/th] [th]Age[/th] [th]Club[/th] [th]International?[/th] [th]Wikipedia link[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]Simon Kjær[/td] [td]27[/td] [td]Fenerbahçe[/td] [td]Denmark captain (59 caps)[/td] [td]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Kj%C3%A6r[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Jorge Meré[/td] [td]19[/td] [td]Sporting Gijón[/td] [td]Spain U21 [/td] [td]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Mer%C3%A9[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Iñigo Martínez[/td] [td]25[/td] [td]Real Sociedad[/td] [td]Spain (4 caps)[/td] [td]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%C3%B1igo_Mart%C3%ADnez[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Björn Engels[/td] [td]22[/td] [td]Club Brugge[/td] [td]Belgium U21[/td] [td]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bj%C3%B6rn_Engels[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Armando Izzo[/td] [td]24[/td] [td]Genoa[/td] [td]Italy squad (uncapped)[/td] [td]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armando_Izzo[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Olivier Boscagli[/td] [td]19[/td] [td]OGC Nice[/td] [td]Not yet! (French)[/td] [td]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivier_Boscagli[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Emanuel Mammana[/td] [td]20[/td] [td]Olympique Lyonnais[/td] [td]Argentina (1 cap)[/td] [td]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Mammana[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa[/td] [td]27[/td] [td]Olympique Lyonnais[/td] [td]France (3 or 4 caps only)[/td] [td]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mapou_Yanga-Mbiwa[/td] [/tr] [/table] I'm not claiming any of these are likely, but they perhaps fit the profile of the sort of player we might sign. Most of these are either just breaking through into their respective international squads or else play for Nice or Lyon, Claude Puel's previous two clubs. The only one that doesn't quite fit that pattern is the first one, Simon Kjær, who is Danish International captain. He is the one for me that stands out most among this lot. He also, incidentally, used to play for Lille in France, so he is probably another player that Puel will be aware of. He is also halfway through a four year deal and only cost €7.65 million when Fenerbahçe bought him from Lille. Does anyone know anything about any of these and whether they are in their opinion any good? Does anyone have any suggestions of other players that we might look at as potential replacement for Fonte?

We all know that there are at least three sides in the discussions about the transfer window: * The optimists who believe that this has been a brilliant window and the club can do no wrong. They hate the pessimists and cannot accept that there can be any concerns about the way the club is run. * The pessimists who believe the club is in complete meltdown, owned by self-serving profiteers who are part of a conspiracy to destroy Southampton Football Club. They hate optimists and cannot accept that the club have done anything right in the transfer window. * The realists who expected and would have liked a bit more out of this transfer window but can see both good and bad in it. The can't stand the arguments between the optimists and pessimists and wish they would just shut up so we can concentrate on what is really happening (or not happening). Of course there are various shades of grey between each of these positions. If you are an extreme optimist or an extreme pessimist this probably isn't the thread for you. Nevertheless, you don't need to be a pure realist to contribute - but let's try to avoid the arguments of other threads shall we?! Thanks! So... having said all of that, what are your reflections on this transfer window? What was good and what was bad? I will start... * I like the look of many of the players we have brought in. * I am concerned at the players we have lost. * I am concerned at the loss of Koeman and, while it felt like the right appointment at first, I have yet to be convinced that Puel will turn out to be the right manager for us. * Nevertheless, I have had my reservations about each of the managers we have appointed during the Liebbherr era (apart from Pardew) and each time I have been proven wrong. * I don't believe we will win anything this season, nor do I think we will qualify for Europe. * I think we should (hopefully) be strong enough to avoid relegation but I'm concerened that we may not be totally confident about this until quite late in the season. * I think the club will be disappointed at our league position at Christmas and will be forced to make further unplanned steps in the transfer market. * I do think there may be a longer term strategy at play here, which could work out to be inspirational as long as we can steer clear of relegation. * I think we could, if things go to plan in that longer term strategy, potentially see a steady building up of Saints status and league standing over forthcoming seasons built on greater squad/transfer stability which will hopefully see us surpass our recent success. * I think we will also see Saints re-establish itself as a hot bed of international youth development. * I think next summer will see less players leaving Saints, because long contracts will make them too expensive for other clubs. * Nevertheless, I do think there is a risk that some players may become unsettled at a sense that the club seems to lack ambition and does not seem to provide any prospect of silverware. OK - so what do you think? Feel free to disagree with other's opinions but let's do so constructively rather than by arguing. Thanks!

Are we assuming that if we get Haller in it is to replace Long, Austin or Rodriguez? Maybe it's more of a case of the club wanting to bring in younger players who can be developed into star players over the next couple of seasons. That to my mind is consistent with the ethos of the club and the disagreement that Koeman is rumoured to have had with the club. As I understood it Koeman wanted investment in already established talent while the club did not match his 'ambition' prefering to mostly replace established players with one or two up and coming talented players. Whether that is an effective strategy can only really be assessed in the longer term. Sent from my GT-I9195I using Tapatalk

OK, so do we have no idea who we might be signing and in what position?? Could anyone summarise the possibilities by any chance? I will start it off, but maybe others can add to this to give us a clearer picture? So... CB: Jason Denayer, Ruben Samedo RB: Calum Chambers, Kieran Trippier CM: Stefano Sturaro, Franck Kessie AM: Riccardo Saponara, Solly March, Hakim Ziyech CF: Manolo Gabbiadini, Valere Germain, Ademola Lookman, Saido Berahino Who else have we been linked with that could be possibilities?

Here is another article from Sky saying that Rodriguez is staying put: http://www.skysports.com/transfer/news/12691/10555660/jay-rodriguez-set-to-stay-at-southampton-rathern-than-make-loan-move-sky-sources. Personally I welcome that. I was at the Man Utd game, standing among the home fans trying not to be noticed, but doing that gave me a different perspective to his performance than most others will have gained. I know it was televised but the problem with any television coverage is that you only get to see what the cameras are focusing on. What I saw from my particular vantage point was that Austin's touch and positioning was poor (this is not meant as a criticism of Austin, just an obervation), while in just the short time that he appeared Rodriguez achieved far more than him. Yes, his confidence was clearly low, but it seemed to grow with every moment he was on the pitch. It struck me that if that continued it would not be very long before we see Rodriguez finally rediscovering the ability that brought him to Saints in the first place. I would not be surprised to learn that Puel has now come to the same conclusion and buoyed by the upturn in form has decided to make him a more significant part of his plans in the longer term.

I'm another that had a slightly different perspective than many others. I borrowed my boss' season ticket and so was sat among the home fans in the Stretford end. So here's a few observations from my perspective.. Targett was not as bad as some people have said and I would like to give him a bit of credit. In fact he carried more significant attacking threat than many other players and I would even go as far to say he was one of our best players! However, Puel clearly wants to prioritise him in the attacking role rather than in defence and that will be why some felt that he was always out of position. Whether that is Puel's fault or a wrong understanding of what Puel was asking him to do we cannot comment. Tadic worked incredibly hard but was often too deep, which limited his ability to use his flair to take on players. It felt a bit as though he didn't want to move into more attacking positions and take on players for fear of moving out of position and doing what Redmond was being asked to do. Sadly Tadic is no deep lying midfield and several of his long passes went woefully long - much to the frustration of Targett who had got into some brilliant wide positions on the wing only to see the ball going over his head into touch. Too many players seemed to be out of their natural positions - it seemed like we were not playing to the strengths of the players available but to a system. Nevertheless, we did have much of the possession, so let's not be too critical of the system. Hojbjerg was incredibly hard working, but again I think he is better in more attacking positions and his long passes were sometimes wayward. Redmond was incredibly inconsistent across the game but did get better as the game wore on. His first touch is poor and his passing and shooting accuracy leaves a lot to be desired. He was better when taking on players than in crossing. Clasie was also a mixed bag. He got into some good positions and worked hard but I'm not quite sure why he seemed occasionally to be playing in a more advanced position than Tadic. Nevertheless, at other times he did provide a bit of midfield stability. Cedric - mixed - didn't seem clear as to whether he should be pressing on or defending and got caught out on a number of times. Unlike Targett though he offered little attacking threat. Virgil - was a super hero in defence but we can't expect him to do it all for us defensively. Without him he would have been in trouble. Fonte - was exposed for a lack of pace on a couple of occasions. Thank goodness we won't have to face Martial or Pogba or Valencia every week! Davis - did ok but was far from spectacular. I would have liked him to have been the one tracking back defensively a bit more instead of Tadic. He seemed to lack conviction in front of goal and prefered the safe sideways pass rather than the incisive attacking pass but was hard working and kept Felaini busy. Long - did very little as a striker but maybe that is because he rarely received a pass from our midfield that he could use. Austin - lacked match sharpness and was way out of position. He didn't really do anything of note while he was on. Rodriguez - was not on long enough to offer anything much but was far more intelligent in his positioning than just about any other player. Sadly this was not noted by our midfield and he didn't receive the passes that could have allowed him to show what he could do. Even having said that he offered far more than either Long or Austin just in those few moments on the pitch. Forster - did OK. He couldn't really have done much about either goal. Man Utd - were relatively poor for much of the game, apart from the occasional glimpse of the attacking threat of Pogba, Valencia and Martial. For much of the game these players seemed to go missing, but then they would suddenly spring to life. On the whole though they seemed to allow us too much of the ball in midfield, though sadly we didn't do anything with it. To some degree Man Utd must be credited for how they allowed us possession in places where it made no difference, but cut out any offensive moves. Saints - did have lots of possession but didn't do anything with it. Few clear cut chances were created and too many players were played out of position. United Fans - sang lots and lots of songs (whose words were almost impossible to work out) but seemed to lack any passion about what was going on on the pitch. When Saints scored they were stunned, but didn't seem to think there had been any foul or off-side or anything. They just seemed relieved that the ref had let them off by disallowing what looked to be a perfectly good goal from a calamitous bit of United defending. They also did not shout for a penalty when Shaw dived in the area. I think they were as stunned as me that a penalty had been awarded. Overall - despite a disjointed Saints performance the result seemed to swing on two key refereeing decisions. Firstly the disallowed goal. It seems that there is significant uncertaint as to why this was disallowed. One report says that it was disallowed for offside, while another says there was a push. It didn't look like either to me - but it is always hard to judge these sorts of things from the terraces. Secondly, there was the penalty. This again seemed questionable - Shaw seemed to go down with no-one near him. If there was any foul I wonder if it actually happened a few feet back from where he fell and if so did the foul take place in the area. Again ist is very hard to assess this sort of thing from the terraces and especially as I was at the far end away from this.

In my opinion he showed enough in the few minutes he was on to suggest that he can rediscover his ability. OK, there was not enough time to really assess him, but he was getting into good positions and showing appetite for the ball. It was just a shame that his teammates did not pass the ball to him when he got into some of those good positions. More significantly on one attack he showed real persistence in the box and almost created an opening. Admittedly just before that he showed a little fear of a crunching tackle coming in, but nevertheless, he did hold his ground and came out of the situation fine. The more he can have experience like that the more confidence he will gain that his injury worries may be behind him.

I'm surprised that (unless I have missed it) no-one has mentioned that West Brom continue to seek a replacement for Berahino. Having abandoned their plans to sign Sakho, newspaper reports now suggest they are after Watford's Ighalo. This seems to suggest that they will definitely be selling Berahino. While Stoke have seemed to be the front-runners to sign him, might the previous rumours that we had sneaked in and gazumped their bid be true? Personally I think Berahino would be a great addition. On another point and as an aside, if world class players are only those selected in Wortld Cup XI that would rule out Gareth Bale as a world class player and would rule out a number of other players who many would describe as world class.

I was just looking at the teams lining up at the Olympics and see that Germany, Portugal, Sweden and Denmark all have squads at the tournament together with a number of non-European nations including, of course, Brazil. It just occurred to me that with our emphasis on younger talented players could this effect our ability to bring in players that we might otherwise have wanted to sign now? For example, I wonder whether Denmark had considered taking Hoijbjerg to the tournament. If they had would we have signed him?