LuckyNumber7

He had a poor last few months of the season for sure (as everyone did), but he clearly has the ability and all the attributes to be a top defender. Pace, strength, good on the ball and his reading of the game is exceptional. He is still relatively young so will make some mistakes, but I expect him to up his game further this season. It's vital we tie him to a new contract so we get a proper fee for him when he inevitably moves on.

KWP is the only player in our squad I would be genuinely gutted to lose. With 3 years left on his contract he is surely worth every bit of £40m (at least) TO US, and if no club matches our valuation (whatever that may be) he won't be sold. Wan-Bissaka was sold for £50m with relatively little experience a few years ago and I don't think it's a stretch to say KWP is better. Regardless, the suggestion of a £10-15m fee is absolutely laughable, why on earth would we sell him for that? I'd like to think he'll give us one more season and then probably go for fairly big bucks next summer assuming he doesn't sign a new contract.

Heard Alex Crook (I know) on Talksport earlier talking about the Aribo signing, he said he was fascinated by the Saints 'project' and has been told there will be 'many more' incomings. Personally think after Aribo we will surely get a striker. Then any further additions will be dependent on who we can shift.

Welcome Romeo! Seems like a nice grounded lad, hope he has a long and successful career at Saints.

Agreed, he's never looked anything more than 'ok' when I've watched Rangers, I'm not convinced he's much better than what we have and seems to lack pace which we are crying out for. On the plus side it's nice that we're signing someone who hasn't just got out of nappies and the Rangers fans who see him every week seem to rate him highly but then Moi also looked good in the SPL. A fee of £6-10m means it's a relatively low risk gamble so I'm not opposed to the signing, just not too excited by it either.

As things stand I think we are almost nailed on for relegation so just staying up would be a success in my view. Of the squad that finished so appallingly last season we have lost our best striker and goalkeeper and only added a few kids who although highly rated, have very little experience of top level football. Now obviously that will change and we will sign more players but if we are basing our whole summer window around signing promising kids then we're in huge trouble. We need players who can come in and improve us instantly and we also appear to be severely lacking in the leadership department. I don't see a squad that is cut out for a tough relegation battle at the moment.

What the actual fuck is that? It's a shame as our kits last season were fantastic, especially the yellow and blue. Absolute monstrosities for this season.

I agree, personally think that shirt above is a disgusting mess.

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/20207183.southampton-gas-works-st-marys-demolished-403-new-homes/

https://www.southamptonfc.com/news/2022-02-12/southampton-fc-update-on-progress-of-the-new-big-screens-at-st-marys

I've been to Gdansk and saw the stadium from the plane, it is indeed very impressive.

Well that's really worked out for us the last five years! Since when has 22 PL goals been mediocre? Even 12 is a good return for a club like Saints. And his 7 goals last season were achieved in fewer minutes on the pitch than our two main strikers who scored 7 and 6. If he returned I'd be pretty confident, injury permitting, that he could score 10+ which is not to be sniffed at. Everyone always talks of needing a 15-20 goal striker but in reality that is only usually achieved by the top strikers in the league. For a decent fee and on a 2-3 year contract it would be a no brainer imo.

We know that if he can stay fit he is proven quality and fits our system. Is clearly better than any of our other forwards. For the right price I would have him back. I don't see a queue of quality strikers lining up to join us within our budget. Ideally we'd bring in two strikers this summer to replace Broja and Long/Armstrong. A bit of experience and known quantity in Ings, plus a younger striker probably from some foreign league would do nicely. I understand the concerns over his fitness but don't think he had too many injury problems last season, mainly just fell out of favour with Gerrard. It won't happen anyway so it's all academic.

If we are seriously offering Long another contract then my faith in Semmens and the new owners will be severely dented. At 35 he should be nowhere near a PL pitch, as shown at Bournemouth he's not even good enough for the Championship now. I honestly don't know what we are doing but the thought of McCarthy and Long both still being around the team next season is utterly depressing. Not even bashing Long, he's been a great servant for us but all he does now is come on for a few minutes and run around a bit and throw himself to the floor. He should have been released two years ago, by keeping him around when he's well past it all we're doing is tarnishing his memory here. I honestly can't believe we're not releasing him. What other PL club would have him?

Would be happy with any of Barkley, Traore and Diop.

Let's not forget he won Player of the Season under Koeman so whilst he's never been a prolific goal scorer, he has still been an important player for us. THAT Anfield goal, the goal against Villa and the record breaker at Watford are the obvious highlights. Well past it now and shouldn't be retained, but even this season he basically turned around that cup tie at Swansea. Not the most talented player we've ever had but has certainly made a contribution over the years. I wish him good luck at Reading or wherever else he ends up.

Yep spot on, it feels like there has been a disconnect between the fans and team for a long time now. It briefly improved when Ralph first arrived but clearly hasn't lasted. A terrible home record together with the high turnover of players over several years I feel has really affected the atmosphere and there is a significant feeling of apathy amongst the fanbase. I don't have a ST any more but it feels like a long time since I actually enjoyed going to games. I don't know what the answer is but something needs to be done.

I know very little about Dragowski but Johnstone is shite. Seems to make a howler every time I've watched him so not sure he's really any better than McCarthy.

Thanks for the memories and the loyalty Super Kelv, will never forget that Leeds game! Best of luck for the future.

Good player from what I've seen but I'm getting really worried we're just going to sign a bunch of kids. That's all well and good but it's surely blatantly obvious that we need some leadership and experienced older heads out on the pitch too.

West Ham's average attendance last season was just under 60,000 - third highest in the PL. We can only dream of those figures. Like it or not they are on a different level to us now, big London club with much bigger fanbase and stadium - and that in turn attracts more investment. And their fans hate their owners!

Absolutely I would, if the fee was reasonable. If we don't find some goalscorers next season we will be relegated, simple as, and I don't think there's an abundance of quality strikers out there within our budget and willing to sign for us.

Nah I disagree. Stephens and Bednarek make just as many if not more mistakes. Agree we should have signed a proper starting CB in the summer though. We basically have Salisu and three backup CBs.

Feels like deja vu from the last few months of last season too. So depressing. I'm a long time supporter of Ralph but we need a change. In fact we need lots of them. Manager, players, coaching staff. Without major improvement I can't see us staying up next season.

Think he's been alright overall but had a shocker today. We need better though for sure. I still think he's our second best CB which says it all.