MerceSaint28

Come on guys Kandol is not good enough. I thought the criteria was a physical striker to replace Lambert if he was injured. If this is the case young Eaves of Oldham is the man. Then i would sign Antonio who could play right mid and striker and then all we need is a centre midfield. BTW is Mullins still at that lot down the road???

I think there are some very valid points from Alan. However i think the reason we as fans are slightly dissapointed is because i invisaged us getting our transfer work done early and bedding the boys in pre season. I know it often doesn't work like that but fans cast longing eyes towards teams like the Udders and Sheff wed who have added 7 new faces. Obviously that is not to say that they are going to be better than what we have and add to the fact we probabaly have the better squad anyway but it is also obvious to see the glaring needs in the team. I think that as a pretty intelligent and knowledable fan we could of done a bit more than what we have currently done. We have no doubt upgraded in defence despite signing a player who is now injured, however Butters and Dickson look decent. I still worry about centre half and a quality partner for Fonte. Jaidi is capable of 30 games tops and he is looking a bit shaky lately. Seabourne looks to be the first bad signing of Pards and not of the appropiate quality, Martin looks good but is very in-experienced and in my opinion could maybe do with a month or 2 month loan to a club in the division to get used to the step up in quality. Centre mid is also a massive area of worry to me. Having been to various away games, it was very apparant that we could be bullied by the more physical teams in the division and i think we really need a player to break up play. Wotton for me it is nowhere near good enough and should be transfer listed. I do not understand keeping a player who could be easily replaced by someone better, especially with our financial muscle. A right midfielder and striker is also needed so Pards estimation of about 3 new players seems about right. Not looking likely to get any new recruits before Plymouth now as the cut off is thursday

Itchen Dan - I agree with you on Eaves, at 6ft 3in and 18 years old he is young enough to learn from Ricky and develop into a really good player. I like the idea of getting a young player who can come on with enthusiasm and change games. Also agree on Antonio, however in terms of the midfield Garvan who is being touted by Palace for 150k would be great value. I would like to think that despite Palace being a division ahead we can still offer a better financial package.

Okay guys, i think it is safe to assume Tyson is not signing and to be honest and knowing our regime, he probabaly never was on the cards anyway. So assuming we are going to sign 3 players, who would you like to sign before Plymouth Here is my list (one of) Striker - Jason Scotland/ Aaron McClean or Tom Eaves Right Winger - Michail Antonio/ Gael Kakuta/ Andros Townsend Centre Midfield - Neil Danns/ Owen Garvan/ Hayden Mullins Thoughts please.......

What about Waigo and Antonio Andy Porter??????????? We may have a slight upgrade defensively but we are massively weakened offensively. The starting line up may be strong but we have no depth and no pace in the team... Lets hope this is addressed pronto

Hey i know what AP said and i appreciate it is tough to get players in. My point is that the season is 10 days away, we need to hit the ground running, currently we have only filled one need which is RB and lost all the pace and two important attacking players in Papa and Antonio. Now for a team that is supposed to be building, that is a worry. I also say to you, what about pre season?? players normally have families so they need to find a house, get settled, meet their team mates etc. I just think we are leaving things very late. It is unlikely we will get his desired 3 players in before the Reading game, so that means they would have had no practice games. I trust AP and NC however as the time frame shortens, i am starting to worry and certainly as it stands we are not a dead cert for the league in my eyes

I know Alpine has got a pretty rough deal lately but im inclined to agree with him. We are without question weaker than last year, especially offensively. As it stands, Lallana is out of the Plymouth game, Puncheon is 50/50 and we have lost Papa and Antonio, major panic stations in my eyes....... Add to this the fact that if Morgan were to get a long term injury we would be down to Wotton and we could be in deep deep trouble. Ill even throw in the lack of any speed in the squad, with 10 days to go until the season starts and its a pretty damning assesment. I know signings take time, you have to wait etc but seriosuly we are about 4 players short at least and the season is virtually upon us meaning no pre season. I am pretty dissapointed to be frank and surprised Pards has left it this long. One very concerned Saint....

ha ha it appears Jermaine Wright has finally found his level.... http://www.thisiscroydontoday.co.uk/football/Croydon-Athletic-sign-ex-Premier-League-player-Jermaine-Wright/article-2464376-detail/article.html

Hopkins i agree with a lot of what you have said. Essentially as fans we are frustrated as we want our team strengthened and we see rivals signing 8/9 new players. The positive thing is that i have complete trust in AP and NC. Remember Pards knows how important it is to get out of the gate fast as his job is riding on this. If we are not top 2 by Christmas, he gets sacked, end of! Obviously Pards is waiting to get the right people in at the right price, we are now 2 weeks from kick off though, so i think this will be the week if it does happen. Without sounding like a spoilt brat, i think we need at least 1 marquee signing. One because other teams and players need to know we are the real deal and it will encourage bigger players to come down a diviaion and play at Saints. The other is to continue to stimulate season tickets and gates. One thing Rupert never understood was that football is not just a business but entertainment. Our policy on wage structure while in the prem, resticted us to some cracking free agents. For instance we bought Delap for £4 million and we could of had JJ OKocha for free and given him a decent wage. Knock on effect more bums on seats etc. My point is the feel good factor is already around the town, with a good start and a couple of exciting signings, it would be possible to get regular gates of 25,000 and for big games above. Lets hope we can get some in this week, as i am sure they will see another surge in sales off the back of it

Yep agreed it would seem that Garvan would be an excellent addition. Highly rated a few years ago and slightly lost his way, however a full international and the kind of combative midfielder we are looking for. Garvan and Tyson are very plausable and would both be great buys, with the ability to be first team players. Perfect friday scenario - Saints double signing of Garvan and Tyson, then Pulis being let go. I would even allow myself a jubilant dance on the spot...

Sorry Dell days, why would he play second fiddle??? McClean was a championship player who is very well respected and is not a target man. There is easily room to say he would be first choice up alongside Rickie. I think you are also missing the point. We don't know whether we want a replacement for Rickie in which case anyone who comes in will be a reserve or a speed merchant who has the chance to play alongise Ricky. Pards has to decide, so we wait to see..... I must say though i am still very worried about centre midfield. I think as we are in such a fortunate position financially it makes no sense keeping a player like Wotton on the books. Clearly he is not good enough and we are at least one short in centre even with him. I would be looking for an experienced quality player to push Morgan and Hammond and then an exciting young player to learn from the others. I just don't see the point in keeping the likes of Wotton and Pulis, hopefully Pulis is gone in August. However if this was the case why was he given a squad profile??

Seriously guys, i think we could do better than Varney. A championship reject, who has lost his way. I think Aaron McClean of Peterborough should be the man. Strong, fast and aggressive. Otherwise Austin would be great, but i doubt Swindon will sell. If Pards is just going for a straight replacement for Rickie, someone like Adebola or Agymang would fit the bill

Sorry guys I feel alpine has a point. Firstly I think a lot of people underestimate bow important papa and Antonio were and secondly we are in the fortuntae position in modern day football where we have money to spend and can cherry pick players from other teams, something which we are not doing this off season. Why keep an ageing wotton when we can clearly get better centre midfielders???

Hey guys, someone i thought of who nobody has mentioned for a while is Sam Vokes. Young, battering ram forward, who was on loan at Leeds for a few months last season and is unlikely to get in the Wolves first team. Throw into the fact he is Saints fan and local boy, it would be good deal. It seems we will probabaly sign another striker, will it be a replacement for Lambert ie big physical striker, in which Vokes or Adebola would be a great fit or are we going for a speedster ie Jackson or Brandy. Interesting....... Any news on Antonio people??? we really need him

Why would Cortese go on holiday in mid July, when every other club is is signing players?? Im pretty sure if he was holidaying it would of been in mid June. The other thing im pretty sure on is that our transfer targets was selected months ago and many may be close to fruition. I would be surprised and dissapointed if we didnt make a signing this week

Jackson would be an excellent signing

Sorry Clarky, you have a right to your own opinion but to say Harding is quick?? get off the pipe buddy, Lallana and Puncheon aren't exactly sprinters either. I think the general consensus amongst fans is we need more pace, it is a vital ingredient in modern day football. Right now as far as options go, we don't have much pace down the flanks, we have no direct replacement for Lambo if he gets injured and we don't have a quick striker to play alongside Lambo who can stretch defenders as another option. Also the position of massive need is still centre mid. Morgan played well last season, however we need a holding player particularly if we want to play 4-5-1 and we have no quality beyond Morgan and Hammond as Wotton really should be transfer listed. BTW - Please tell me we didnt waste £200 on a ticket to Switzerland for Pulis??

Sorry Mike, we all know the current strongest eleven is strong, but it is severely lacking in pace. I wouls argue that our team is weaker, as we have only got a modest upgrade at both left and right back and that is not guaranteed anyway. We also don't have any game changers from the bench. It is all well and good harping on about the first eleven but it is a team game and subs change games. Right now, we have lost Antonio who on current form would be a starter and Papa who is a high impact player from the bench. Connolly is too similar to Barnard and the current squad has no one to get in behind the defence. We all knew that was missing last year. We need a speedster up front and at least one on the wing. We are also powder puff light in centre mid, i watched us get bullied by Millwall at the Den. We need a strong holding player to break up play. Wotton clearly isn't good enough. Overall we have a good squad but teams will spot the lack of pace in the team and exploit it. It needs to be sorted out and fast

Sorry Appy, you are judging a kid on 2 end of season games against average teams. If you went to Millwall away and saw how good Fonte was, you would realise how ridicoulous it is to compare a player like Fonte to Martin. Fonte was a huge signing and i will go on record as saying the best centre half we have had since we signed Michael Svensson. He could definitely play at the top level. Martin needs some games, i think a 3 month loan to someone like Bournemouth would be good for him.

Sorry Andy B - but yes i am serious, are you serious?? do you honestly think we will walk a league with a team which is weaker than last year, get real!! The best football teams are the ones which recruit better players each summer and we are no different, its called progression!!!!!! We want to get promoted but hopefully not have to build a completely different team for the Championship. If people can't see the holes in the team you are very short sited. I have read some of you lot saying that cus we signed a right back, that is the right back position sorted????? sorry but we play a minimum 46 league games and are in 3 cup competitions, so that should be at least another 10 games. You think Richardson can play for 56 straight games!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Injuries, form and competition are all variables over the season and right now we dont have a balance Appy - Sorry son but 2 league games where the season was over means nothing. They were essentially dead rubber games, so it was perfect to blood Martin. He is too inexperienced and to compare him to Fonte is crazy... Too many years of mediocrity have obviously temprered your expectations, however we need more signings and soon.......

Well finally we have got going with a signing. I would say a solid signing rather than spectacular thats for sure. Liam Rosenior would of been a great pick up or if we were really making a statement Nathanial Clyne, however Richardson will do for League 1 although will certainly not be good enough for the Championship which is my only reservation. Now i know we are all in the same way of thinking ie we trust Pards and there is plenty of time left etc. However the best teams always get their business done early and as yet this has not happened. There are still worrying holes for the following positions Right Back Centre Half Holding Midfield Centre Mid Right Mid Striker Personally and i may be alone in thinking this but i was dissapointed in re-signing Connelly. He is 33 years old, injury prone and has very little pace. He is also very similar to Barnard, admittedly he can be class however the really worrying thing about this team, as of all Saints teams in the last 10 years is the complete lack of pace. I really feel we should of been aiming for an aggressive quick striker like McClean from Peterborough, or a speedster like Jackson. Unfortunately now we will probabaly just get another battering ram type striker to cover for Lambert and this will again leave us lacking pace. The worrying thing is that we have lost Papa and Antonio who gave us genuine pace and unpredictablity. We will not win this league with the team we currently have. From the back, we need another right back, someone with pace to challenge Richardson. Centre half is still a concern as to who will partner Fonte, Jaidi will not play 46 games, at best 30, Seabourne doesn't look good enough and Martin is too inexperienced and could do with a short loan to gain experience. In midfield is another grave concern. We need a defensive midfielder to give us some bite in midfield. Schneiderlin definitely got better but is still shy in the tackle and i think the World Cup has highlighted the importance of a holding midfielder. Elswhere we still need more competition in centre mid as Wotton is not good enough and we are looking at a 60 game season so we need to account for injuries. All this with less than a month to go before the season starts, there is a lot to do... On another point, it seems like the lines of communication are well and truly down again, its funny how the club doesn not seem to think it needs to communicate with the fans. We are not expecting a list of targets or a declaration that we are going to spend millions. What would be nice however would be to be told that are excited about the up coming season and to expect some exciting arrivals. Come on Saints, we love the new regime but lets not take a note from the Rupert Lowe school of PR..

Well clark if you think paying ridicolous wages for a crocked over age player is a good thing, you are sadly wrong. My argument is in no way ruined, i would rather have Scotland every day of the week than Owen. The idea of paying him £25k a week would make me sick, give me an Antonio for a fraction of the wage any day. Your point is ruined by the fact that this is pie in the sky and we would never be stupid enough to sign Owen

Clark he is pretty quick, certainly quicker than Ricky and would be a cracking signing. His goal record at League 1 and champ suggest that. As for the troublesome centre midfield holding position, what about Amdy Faye on a free????? surely he would be perfect, strong, experienced and i think he would come

Come on guys, look i know its Owen but the guy is finished. There is no way he would come here, i would not even like if he did. He is a one dimensional striker who used to play off the shoulder and use his pace, which he no longer has and desire which he also no longer has. Best if he retired before he dents his image further. I would be far happier to take a risk on a younger, faster, more hungry player. I could name 4 strikers available i would rather have right now McClean (Peterborough) - ran rings around us 2 years ago Scotland (Wigan) - muscular quick striker Jackson (Gills) - quick striker to give us another option Austin (Swindon) - cracking all round player who would be an excellent addition

Sorry guys, but there is some valid points in the thread. Cortese and Liebherr have not bought the club to be an also ran, i think the years of mediocrity has filtered into the fans thinking and a lot of you are just happy with what we have got. To those who say we don't need signings are crazy. Firstly we are weaker than last season, no right back at the club, therefore at least 2 needed or one and another covering right back. We have lsot Papa and Antonio, so both need to be covered and we are weak in the middle of the park. The current team would not run away with the league and needs at least 6 new players, so hence the urgency from the fans. Top clubs always refresh their squads with better players each year, its called progression! we are in a unique postion where there are a lot of teams in financial trouble and we are financially strong, even stronger than teams in the championship. This is a buyers market and we would be foolish not to cherry pick the best players. I trust Pards and i am sure the work is being done, however i also hope we get our work done early so we can have a pre-season for once. There are a lot of holes to fill so lets not kid ourselves, we are still lacking in the middle of the park and are crying out for an enfrocer. Lots of work to be done, lets hope it starts soon....