Lallana's Left Peg

Mid-table, a decent run in Europe, and a decent run in one of the domestic cups (that does not end because we played a weaker team). My only concern is what that then means for some of our better players leaving.

Easiest way to look at it is that for 3 years it would be a £10m + (3 x £4m) = £22m investment for Man Utd. Regardless of when they pay the transfer fee and in what sort of instalments it'll go in the books over 3 years as a £7.3m investment. That is about 1.5% of their turnover per year. It's the equivalent of Saints buying a player for £1m and paying him 20k a week. Peanuts for them.

Fonte left a team in the Championship playoffs to join a team outside the League 1 playoffs when he joined us. He didn't do that for his love of Southampton. He made a professional decision that was probably related to his wealth and his opportunity to achieve. If he did the same as Man Utd or Arsenal are after him how can anyone take exception to it?

With the squad nearly set I'll be very interested to see what kids get minutes over the next two games and who takes their chance. It is very clear to me from the Puel interviews yesterday that he has a remit to ensure there is a pathway to the first team for the youngsters so lets see who takes their chance in these games.

I think it is quite clear that Koeman did not like the idea of having Mane and Cedric down the right hand side last season because the former didn't have the best instincts to track back and Cedric would have up and down games defensively which meant we had a weak spot that teams could target. Cedric is ok defensively - his aggression in the tackle suits him against some players but others will use it against him. He is tenacious as you say, but at times you'd rather not want a player to have that as a trait when someone who had better positioning and tackling would never put themselves in the position he finds himself at times. He has a lot of potential though.

Not that we will ever know, but would be interested to find out why we felt we had to go public with the contract offers last night. Our record at releasing news in the media is not the best when the final outcome is determined.

I agree - that is the most natural fitting three for the way we appear to be playing thus far. Redmond and Long have the pace, movement and energy to break as we need to and also cover the full backs while Tadic is our most creative player. I can't stress enough how counter productive it is to see Austin play wide, deep, and covering full backs when out of possession. As others have said, it wouldn't work for Pelle either. He's a very square peg in a round hole at the moment.

Early says yet but Jay Rod looks a shadow of the player and this new formation does not suit Austin at all (he picks up the ball far too deep and is knackering himself covering the full-back). Doesn't bode well, lets see how it progresses.

Seeing the strikers fan out and mark full backs when we were out of possession was a painful experience in both games. But it was good to see two players in the box when the crosses came in each time.

I'm not overly worried if we don't invest any more in the team. That isn't to say I don't think there are areas we can strengthen, but at moment my own opinion is that it will be very hard to match last seasons achievement by virtue of other clubs performing to their expected level and our Europa League challenge. Add to that a crazy transfer market and I am comfortable with the pragmatic approach of investing in our current squad via new contracts and padding out the squad with Academy prospects. There is something more fulfilling as a supporter when we give a young homegrown player a chance. I would rather know they aren't good enough than be left wondering. And it's important to safeguard that opportunity in the modern game as Saints are slowly carving out a very good position. We are starting to see top prospects at top clubs question their future. Man City are on the verge of losing one of their best young English players because he doesn't think the club will give him a chance. It is happening at Chelsea too. They are starting to see through the promises they are made when they sign big contracts having done very little in the game. If Saints can be that club that keeps the pathway clear then we become a more attractive proposition all the time. It's really important right now to show that - more than ever. That is not to say I think there should be blind faith in kids and we see the team suffer, but in a season when we will need our largest ever squad I am far more intrigued by the approach of giving kids a chance than padding out the squad. That said, we know that the funds are there if the club see a deal that is right for them in the market. To lose Mane, Pelle and Wanyama and bring in Redmond and Hojbjerg and get VvD, Forster, JWP, Davis, Bertrand and Long sign new deals feels ok - it's better the devil you know at the moment and allows us to build in a far more planned manner than patching up the team each season. Lastly on the matter of goals - until we see how Puel intends to play and assess the fitness of Austin and Jay Rod we won't know if the goals we have lost from the team are easily replaced. But Jay Rod and Austin deserve a chance.

They aren't, but if you are going to join a club that talks about its past so much you might as well dress accordingly.

1 - Would you be happy with the perception of the club being that of an academy club? Yes 2 - Would you accept an attitude of almost positive discrimination towards youth to achieve this? Yes 3 - Looking at the depth chart for 16/17, where do you think we need to improve and/or add depth? (the answer of which will obviously depend heavily on your answers to 1 and 2) We need another young prospect at centre-half and an attacking midfielder. Maybe a striker depending on how we think the fitness of Austin and Jay Rod is. 4 - Do you see any academy players having breakthrough years? If so, who? Into the first team? Unlikely. Maybe Jack Stephens. If Callum Slattery can stay injury free then his talent could see him go far.

That's because teams know he is available and what his price is. Unless he is first choice you can leave him on the backburner. His cost is known. I'd expect more chatter about him in the last few weeks of the window as clubs start to lose out on targets and turn to backups. Someone will get him for a good price but pay him far too much in wages. At least, that is my prediction.

Moneyball is about finding abilities undervalued by the market and purchasing players with those abilities cheaper than the players you lose / sell for higher money. It has also never (yet) been proven to work in football, a sport where there are far more dynamics to it than statistical analysis. The nearest football has got to it is the concept that you sell high and have sophisticated scouting / recruitment techniques that allow you to identify potential and you have an environment where it can flourish which allows you to purchase talent cheaper than you sell it. But every club in football tries this anyway (and did so before Billy Beane made Moneyball famous at Oakland) - the difference is that only a few succeed at it over a decent period of time.

I don't think the club is arrogant enough to think it can lose Mane, Pelle and Wanyama and replace them with Redmond, Austin and Hojbjerg. With an even more competitive league anticipated this season and the European campaign if the club want to sustain progression (or at least maintain a Top 6 - 8 position) then it needs to strengthen - and I am sure it will.

Club know they need to invest in order to replace those who have left. They also need to invest to keep some of the players who signed long-term happy. Plenty of time left in the transfer window to sort it.

What chances are you giving of any of the development players turning into £10m rated players who contribute to our first team?

Not much about in the U21's to get excited about. Lots of steady professionals but not a lot with the talent (or evident potential) to make a contribution to our first team at the level we compete at. For what it is worth I consider Reed a first team squad member. Slattery is the one with all the talent from the U18's but he had a stop-start season last year and spent most of it injured. The other U18's aren't great but Alfie Jones made massive strides and played for the U21's several times. The U16's I am less familiar with but it is said there is plenty of talent in there. Lets see how they get on at U18 level this season. The U18's are in desperate need for a talent injection.

Club really don't have a good record in this area - if we get one lets hope he can make a contribution.

Not really heard of him before he was linked with us but despite his up and down experiences in management the common theme in everything I have read about him is his commitment to attacking football and giving youth a chance. If he brings this approach to Saints that will buy him a lot of goodwill from supporters even during an indifferent period on the pitch. Personally I am expecting European football to really stretch us this season and would happily accept a so-so mid-table finish in the league if it meant we gave the cups (all three of them) a good go whilst playing attacking football and continuing to see the commitment of integration of young homegrown players into the first team.

Why is it tedious? You've just said it is important to get it right. The players aren't even back on the training ground and the only two players that have left are those who were likely to no matter who was our Manager. We're clearly active in looking to appoint so I don't think the club can be criticised at all at this stage. I am more interested to see what we spend our pennies on in the transfer market. I have the expectation that the club will spend sensibly but invest all in the team that it can - so when you consider the increased revenue from commercial deals and the TV money along with the sales I expect significant investment in the team one way or another. And I don't mind if a part of that is new deals for existing players (as we have already done so for three important players).

Are we just lucky that the last three Managers we've appointed (presuming it is Puel) have been out of work or is there something about the way we go about things that means we only tend to target out of work Managers for whatever reason? I know Adkins was at S****horpe but even most of the candidates we've been linked to over the years have all been out of work. Why is this?

In your opinion is he one for the first team squad this season or will he be a part of the Academy?

I'm with you. £30m appeared to short-change us. £35m to £38m (though doubt we'll get that if it depends on Liverpool being in CL and successful) is much better. Time to invest it all back in the team now. From what little reading of Puel I've made I can see he likes quick play in the final third - excited to see what sort of direct and fast players we buy.