MerceSaint28

Interesting that Posh have come out and denied that CMS is coming to Saints and that we have not made a bid. Cant help thinking that this must be a smokescreen on Saints behalf in order to push on other targets. Its clear Burnley are bidding for Austin, lets hope we are the other as im not convinced Blackpool would risk that much money on a player who may not be up to the step up of prem football. Otherwise it is eerily quiet, lets hope a strom is brewing behind the scenes. I think a mobile striker and minimum 2 wide players must be on the cards, i watch this space....

Sorry who can verify that this was heard on Solent?? Secondly i have to say we should be getting the best players in that we possibly can. It looks like Oxo is off, as is Puncheon and Holmes is done. That is 3 players out. Now i would love to sign Austin primarily and would be very happy with McKailSmith also. You have to remember we can play 4-3-3 if needs be also. I am sure it will be one of Austin or McKailSmith, then at least one or two wingers a midfielder and maybe a centre half. i think we need more creation in midfield as when Lallana doesnt play, we lack creation. Any more word on the S****horpe boy???

hmmmmm not worried yet as i trust Nicola but 2 undoubted targets in Manset and the boy from Exeter have gone to champ clubs. Does this say we dont have the pulling power we thought we did or did we not go for the said players??? Either way its clear we are targeting a couple of players and we cerainly need it as we cant afford a no promotion this season. Lets hope we can pull something out of the bag next week

Sorry guys I think many of you are far too negative. If saints don't go up this season, we lose all our best players, lallana, Fonte, Chamberlain, Lambert etc. There is no way the club was bought to just hang around in this division...if you own a business you get the best people to work in there full stop. We have a financial advantage over our rivals so we must make it count. Granted I don't think we need wholesale changes but if there is an opportunity to buy players better than our existing players we should do it...the best teams always build and we must do the same. Chappers was a great start, Guly would be great if we could snare him also....then a possible upgrade at centre half and a winger come striker and we should be good, exciting times.....

Hi guys if anyone has 2 tickets for the away game at Dagenham, please can they email me at mercercharlie@hotmail.com as I am desperate to go. Cheers

Im sorry you are seaking rubbish. He is completely useless, a complete waste of 2 years of wages. Just go and ask the imps what they think of him having had him on loan for 3 months last season. They had an article on how he was the worst loan signing they have ever had and that was div 2!!!! There is nothing to suggest he has been given another year deal

My gripes are thus - 1/ Lack of interaction with the fans - i understand we cannot know everything ie why Pards was sacked but please tell us something. Part of the frustration with Lowe was lack of information which created dis-trust. 2/ Making bold statements and not backing the up - ie we want to be in the prem in 5 years...okay great, well we are not going to get there if you turn off the money tap. £500k spent this summer, off set by £400 k received from the Van Damme deal. With multiple holes to fill in the side we did not spend money on improving the side, why????????? Its great that we are getting good coaches, uefa marketing men, yawn yawn, doesn't mean anything on a saturday afternoon, you need to improve the quality on the pitch. Best catering in the Premiership, remember that staement??? there is a warning if ever i heard one. As a business man that he is, i also don't get it either. if im a company i don't employ half a good team and stop when the job is not complete, so why does he??? The signs to everyone else is he has stopped spending money, this is not going to help attract players or sell a vision 3/ Perceived arrogance. Get a PR man in to stop the negative press. We have been battered from pillar to post over all kinds of issues, with things which could of been handled much better. Frankly the photographer ban was emberassing.... Just a few things i have observed.....

Well i completely agree Alps. I was one of the few who agreed with you over the lack of transfer activity in the summer, others on this board just stuck their head in the sand and beleived what the press were telling them. We are at least 5 players short of being a championship winning side, the question is why does this not happen. I am a licensed football agent and no a thing or two about football, so lets just summise a few things. Firstly i am going to take the Pardew sacking out of the equation because Cortese clearly wanted to get rid of him ack in June and didn't. So moving on to the squad, which is paper thin, here are the problems - Centre half - Jaidi is shot and should be a reserve at best. Seabourne is Pards only poor acqusition and is not of the required quality. Martin is a good kid, but should be brought in slowly and not be thrust into first team football Solution - Loan (Derrick Boayte) - Centre Midfield - This was a problem all last season and having gone to the game last night, a problem yet again. Hammond sadly is neither an attacking or defensive midfielder and does not command the centre. We need a tough tackling ball winning midfielder who will do the dirty stuff and give the ball to more skilful players. Frankly it is disgraceful that Wotton is still on the books. Here is a guy who is no where near the required standard to be useful, why did we not buy a younger centre midfielder in the summer??????? At least Morgan is playing well, but he is being badly let down by Hammond and if we get injuries, we have massive problems. Wingers - We only have 2, a promising kid and inconsistent Puncheon. We need at least 2 wingers to provide competition and pace down the flanks. Strikers - I said i didn't know why we re-signed Connelly. Old, injury prone and does not have the pace we needed alongside Lambert. We really needed a quick aggressive forward alongside Lambert. An Aaron McClean or Charlie Austin should of been targeted in the summer. Personally i am completely confused as to Cortese's message. He wants to everyone we are a big club, we want to get to the Premiership blah blah, yet we spent no money in the summer, when the job was only half done. Seriously guys, even if Pards was still here and our guys were playing well, we simply do not have a strong enough squad overall to maintain a top two place. There are too many weaknesses and the squad is paper thin. Funny how Alps noticed this (as did i) and got slaughtered for it, maybe some of you are getting a dose of reality now. Adkins you need loans and NOW!!!!!

Completely agree Saint 76er. If you had asked me yesterday, i would of been disspointed but lets put in persepctive, this bloke is obviously an intelligent, educated man and done very well with a tiny team. A very good post and i for one am feeling much more confident we are making the right choice

SSN just reporting 2 premier league managers have applied for saints job, i assume one is Brown

i think a poor appointment if made. Sure Adkins has done well with a small team on limited resources but we are a big club with loftier expectations and i don't think a one time physio with a few years experience is gonna cut it. So dissapointed we have not gone after Poyet, but Zola would of been my choice of the current crop. Not gonna excite the fans or get them running back to SMS

Kevin mc donald

I am amazed nobody has ever mentioned Poyet for the Saints job. Personally i would be over the moon with that apointment and he knows the league well Thoughts???

Can we get the witch back please.....

Satisfied with what Rory???? one point from 2 home games against 2 very average teams...and dumped out of the league cup. In terms of finance we are the Chelsea and Man City of this league and how have they started the season?? come on where do the excuses end here??

Completely agree with the original post....i like Pards but this laid back approach by Pards to the start of the season and lack of transfer activity have really hurt us. Yet again we are chasing our tail, we could not even win for Markus...Pards has been in charge for a year and it seems like we have really fallen away again from last season. Where are the goals coming from?? what if Ricky gets injured??? and transfers for me has been particularly dissapointing. I know sometimes its difficuilt to get players at the right price blah blah but come on...signing 2 right backs and a left back....not exactly setting the world on fire. We had 2 months to get players in and didn't...other teams in this division strengthened and we didn't, now yet again we are chasing players after a poor start. Come on Saints sort it out...i may be unpopoular for saying this but i am not sure giving Connelly another deal was a good idea, surely a younger injury free striker was a better idea and what is Pulis and Wotton still doing here??? if anything happens to Morgan/ Hammond we are up the creak, plus there is no competiiton for places. Sloppy management and planning thus far, not amused....excuses have got to stop

Sorry guys but i felt like i needed to add my two pennies worth. I definitely see your point Glasgow, however we were left with a wreckage of a squad through 24 months of mis-management and relegation. Personally i think Lowe made some terrible signings on purpose as an up yours gesture to the fans. I mean who would sanction a signing of a player like Pulis???who has played about 12 games in his less than glamourous career?? the guy was probably on 4k a week and has cost the club in the region of 300k on his wages alone. Add players like Molyneux, Wotton and youth players we had like Lancashire and that squad would of been relegated from League 1 let alone the Championship. Pards had to spend, it just goes to show that even after bringing in all those players we are still not quite strong enough to win it out right. Now i see your point, go out there with what you got and prove yourself....however staying in this league is damaging for NC and Saints as a business. The quicker we get to the prem the quicker the club gets to being more commercially viable and self sufficient. So why not spend the money now while the wages are relatively low and transfer fees low??? Add to the fact, any one can see we are at least 3 players short. Centre mid would be a huge worry if any of the starting boys got injured as frankly Wotton should of been got rid of. Pace is also lacking and is there for all to see. Im sure the players will come, they would not leave numbers 8 and 11 vacant for nothing....

Markus you have changed a lot of people's life and made a community happy and proud to be Saints fans again. We are all in your gratitude and we will never forget you. Though you were only with us a short time, your memories and legacy will live on with Southampton football club. I wish your family well and RIP Markus Liebherr, you will always be a Saint

Sorry guys im not quite sure why you don't think we will bring any more players in?? clearly we need to and the sheer fact the number 8 and 11 shirts are vacant makes me beleive the players will come in. Pards is obviously still playing his cards close to his chest and not giving anything away. Personally i could see a young winger like Phillips come in, a centre mid and maybe a striker on loan before the window is up. I admit i have been dissapointed with our off season. Lack of signings, Cortese cuasing problems with ex players and the press plus the usual slow start. When will we ever have a season where we sign our players 2 months before the season starts, have a good pre season and win our first 3 games.........

Im sorry but signing some 33 year old is not the answer a/ he is too old b/ he is not tall enough to be a Lambert replacement - 5ft 10.... c/ he does not have the quality i really would have to question our ambition if that is the best we could come up with.

If worst case scenario did happen, Poyet for me

Yep i think every Saints i have spoken to has said the same, where are the signings??? Well i like Pards but a couple more losses in the next few months and he will be gone, Antonio should of been signed months ago. We knew we needed cover for Ricky and still nothing. One game down and a poor result on tuesday could be very bad. Horrible start to the season and has put himself under immediate pressure

First of all i just want to say i am very excited about the new season. Dare i say of all seasons i can remember this is one where we are favourites and should do well. On thing is worring me is Huddersfield, who i expect to go up with us. I see they have signed Damien Johnson to go along with about 10 pretty good signings. As things stand our first 11 is excellent but the lack of depth in certain areas worries me, particularly centre mid. Surely no one beleives Wotton should be anywhere near our first team, im dissapointed he wasn't let go as we could get a lot better cover elswhere. Still the number 8 and 11 shirts are still vacant so signings will be imminent, lets just pray nothing happens to Hammond or Schneiderlin

Yes i do Appy. I have seen him play numerous times and i don't think he would add anything to the team im sorry. The guy could barely get a game at Leeds and his attitude and temprament are questionable and probably not worth the gamble. As well as playing attributes, you have to consider other intagibles like personality, motivation etc. I just think there are better options available My ideal end to the window would be Dawson (Rochdale) centre half Hayden Mullins (Pompey) Centre Mid Antonio (Reading) Right Mid Eaves (Oldham) Centre Forward

Kandol is also garbage....