Lallana's Left Peg

Be interesting to learn if it is the same ligament he damaged against Reading in December 2012. Anyone know?

If in the space of 3 months we went from finishing 8th in the Premier League to then being a club that relied on other clubs to provide talent for us on loan which we then develop for no long-term benefit of our club I'd be raging.

Would not associate the squad with Koeman as he clearly isn't responsible for signing or selling players.

I don't think it is asset stripping I just think it is a bunch of inexperienced people making big decisions and being a bit out of their depth. They will face the consequences of their decisions in time.

Clubs with financial clout are getting deals done. We should be one of them at the level we now operate but we're finding it hard. I have no idea why but if we can't get deals done in our current situation it doesn't bode too well. Many of the deals you referenced were done very quickly after the World Cup finished, so I don't buy that they took a long time - the reason they did was the tournament many of the players were at rather than the process of the deal taking a while. We'll see what happens in the next six weeks.

The concern comes from an inexperienced Board now being challenged with replacing half the team and no track record of ever doing it successfully. We have one football man making all the decisions and the last time he saw an overhaul of a playing squad was at Fulham where he was an unmitigated disaster. So if people are worried it is not without foundation.

Then why are other clubs signing players with such ease? Can we not afford the players we're going after? Are we realising that when you sell players for big fees before you buy that you then have to pay more than you should for players as other clubs aren't stupid? Are we failing to attract players on a sporting level? As far as I am aware the club have never been richer or in a better position to attract players yet thus far all we've done is managed to 'back fill' two of our best players with two punts from Holland (which could be very good or very bad - no-one knows - but that is the gamble you take). There are 6 weeks left of course but the concern is how we haven't been able to use any leverage to get deals done when in theory we have a lot of money to spend. Lets see what happens.

He's a gonna apparently.

I think trying is the least the club can do given the sales thus far. The proof is in the pudding and getting signings over the line. I'm aware it can be hard but we've never had more money so if we can't get deals over the line then I suspect there is something up elsewhere. As always, the club have until the end of the window before I'll make conclusions but I'm concerned at their work thus far.

How is it obvious the club are doing their best? It's not clear to me that we either are or are not.

Why should he be quiet? It's getting to the point now where if I was Jack Cork I'd be telling the club to do one as I'm leaving on a free in 11 months time.

If, as the pre-season friendlies suggest, we are to play 4-3-3 this season with two wingers either side of a striker then I can see the attraction with Redmond. He's rapid and is definitely a winger. He is young and quite experienced as well. But he plays so stupidly. Every time he hangs onto the ball too long, or runs into a dead end, or cuts inside and shoots. It's infuriating. The Norwich strikers get stick but they had sod all created for them last season. Redmond is a selfish player who hasn't shown signs of learning. Now I agree that if he could be turned into a proper footballer he'd be dangerous indeed but when will the penny drop with him and how long would our supporters put up with his style of play when we've been used to a pass first team for a long time?

Forster would be good. Redmond on the other hand - no thanks.

F365 Transfer Blog suggests Chelsea may be launching a late bid.

EDIT: Thought he was out of contract at the end of the season but it appears not.

Yeah maybe. Pragmatically speaking it would be hard for a club our size to spend £75m+ in one transfer window however I didn't make the statement they would and they did so it's over to them

I'd be happy if we reinvested portions of the money into renewing contracts for players as well, plus it is fair to say that we have the manage wages properly so some of those transfer fees will need to be used for wages on new players however just the thought of a panic last few weeks of the window and overpaying for some bang average players is worrying.

They deserve until the end of the window to make any conclusions however the statement that they will reinvest every penny back into the first team and we're on the verge of raising £75m of which around £18m has been spent leaves me worried as to how we'll spend £55m+ (if indeed we do, but I wouldn't like to think our new transparent era would result in us being lied to...).

I'm not pretending to be ITK. You're just not willing to listen to an opinion you don't agree with so will just dismiss. My view is that the club have made it easier for our better players to leave than they may otherwise have done. I've listed my reasons why.

So you're now willing to accept that actually his role has changed? Because half an hour ago you dismissed that anyone could. The impact of this change is hard to determine unless you are involved with the club on a day to day basis. All I've done is point out that Les Reed's role has increased considerably (he has lots of influence over first team matters now), that Adam Blackmore has pointed out that players do not like him, and that the club has lost at least 3 (and now looks to be at least 4) important players this summer.

I can only go on what he has said publicly which makes it fairly clear to me: September 2012 http://www.2ndyellow.com/2012/five-minutes-of-your-time-please-les-reed/ April 2014 http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/25042014-les-reed-statement-on-pochettino-and-players-1509755.aspx It's pretty clear to me that his first team responsibilities have increased considerably.

He listed all his responsibilities in the interview he gave in April. He also introduced himself as the DoF. He did not have those responsibilities under Cortese where he was the Head of the Football Development Centre or something like that. His responsibilities have greatly increased - especially when it comes to first team matters - in the new Board.

It's been easy for them to leave because: 1. Complete lack of communication around plans as to what the clubs plans to do post-Cortese 2. Wheeled out the Chairman for an interview where it was said no players leave or join until the new Manager is sorted and then 24hrs later Rickie Lambert leaves 3. Appointed a DoF of which it is reported players do not like 4. Club has shown no backbone in the face of the media onslaught linking players everywhere (is it so hard these days to come out with definitive statements and then follow them up with actions?) 5. Two senior, well liked, and first team regulars being allowed to run into the final 12 months of their deal And now we've seen Lallana and Lovren bully the club and the club cave in which sets a very dangerous precedent for the future. All of the above adds to uncertainty which does not lend itself towards even attempting to give our better players a reason to stay. Now even if we sorted things out quicker players may still leave - and if that is the case fair enough but to give them a helping hand out of the door is annoying.

True, but he has never wielded as much power as he does in the current structure. He calls the shots rather than Cortese.

There are two sides to this argument, and we've fallen short on both of them. There is the argument that when the big clubs come calling it is impossible to keep players. I don't entirely subscribe to that. It's very hard to keep players, but it has been done. One of the circumstances of keeping them is buying time to prove to them the club they are at can push on even more. Since the new Board came in there have been a number of reported issues which have made it VERY easy for players to ask to leave. The reports that the players do not like Les Reed and yet he is the only 'football' man on the Board. The reports that the Board have not been communicating with the players which have left them disgruntled. So whilst I appreciate it is hard to keep players when bigger clubs and bigger pay packets come calling, we've also made it very easy for them to want to leave and not given them any reason to stay. And that hurts a bit because that was something which was under our control, and we ****ed it up.