Lallana's Left Peg

I am with you in that I don't like Davis as a DM (not in our system, anyway) but Yoshida as an emergency right-back is fine but as a bonafide alternative to Soares is concerning for a club with Top 6 ambitions. Yoshida is a valuable squad member and had he been forced to play there through injuries then I have no complaints. But for him to be selected over Soares concerns me because a) it's Yoshida at right back, which defensively isn't great and going forward is a disaster, and b) it means Soares either can't be that good, Koeman doesn't fancy him, or he has some big errors in his game which will take a while to fix. I think for Southampton to have Soares / Martina / Yoshida as options at right back is fine. I think for any team wanting to finish Top 6 it's laughable. And that is the way I look at things. If I look at things from a Saints perspective it is very easy to justify most of what we have done in the summer. If I look at it from a punter who gets told by the club that they want to compete on all fronts and push on I just laugh - it's not good enough. Stek I will give you but with Forster out the bar was low to find better than Davis. I am quite happy with Stek and think the club have done good business there. Clasie we have to see but I suspect you are right and he will be a starter no matter what. Romeu and Soares I don't see him as thinking they are better than what he has got, but time will show there. I'm not seeking a big wage player really, but I am seeking someone ready to make an impact straight away. Because each summer if we sell high and buy low - and the replacement player is of an ilk that they will need half a season to get up to speed this club cannot and will not sustain progress and will instead just be a factory that takes punts on players and some will be hits and some will be misses. With the money we have available we should be able to do better in my opinion. That said, it's all very early but when I see signings to beef out the squad that aren't better than what we have I don't think it's a good way to go about things.

I would suggest there is a difference between rotating central midfielders in their natural position and shoehorning a centre-half who has weak distribution into a right-back spot. This is my main issue: If Soares is known to be defensively weak (you would like to think the club were aware of this before we signed him), and yet he is immeasurably better than Martina, why didn't we buy another proper right back to compete with Soares (who has differing characteristics)? This would mean we don't have to play a centre-back at right-back. The only teams who do this crap are Tony Pulis long ball teams. It's the same with Juanmi, club talked about pulling off a great deal etc. when we signed him and yet he has the body of a pre-pubescent 12 year old and he isn't in a condition to be able to contribute. Of all the signings we made in the summer right now there is only ONE who is Koeman thinks is better than what we already have and that is VvD. That's a problem for me.

The only person who could be suggesting Soares is rubbish is Koeman as he is playing our third choice centre back ahead of him out of position.

But if he never gets the chance to play against the best wingers in the league, how will he ever be known to be ready? He's 23 and Clyne's replacement - I think he should play accordingly.

Always enjoy watching the U21's - we often come up against teams with a lot of individual talent but as collectively as a unit they aren't as cohesive or refined around being a proper footballer and managing the game etc. We are clearly very well coached and trained and taught the fundamentals of the game which give them a good chance of competing in every game they play, even if as I said better individual talents. I even quite liked the way we just played percentage football the moment we went 5-2 up. There was no desire to do anything other than see the game out and make the most of any opportunity on the break. Not that we sat back, but we just didn't take any risks going forward, and the moment any of their wide players came inside he was just hassled until he lost the ball or he was fouled. We're coached to be a very savvy team.

The club claimed Clyne decided to leave when we brought Soares in but I don't believe it to be anything other than arse covering after they publicly stated they were hopeful on Clyne signing a new deal and then he did what any sane person would do and join the bigger club for more money.

Accounting profit does not equate to money in the bank, so club can spin the financial results any way they want depend on the mood of the club at the time.

I think most teams have some £10m+ players, but not many outside those who finished above us last season have as many as we do. Off the top of my head (therefore would need validating): Swansea - 1 West Ham - 3 Leicester - 1 Everton - 1 Crystal Palace - 0 Norwich - 0 Aston Villa - 2 Stoke - 2 Newcastle - 4 Sunderland - 4 West Brom - 1 Some of those may be wrong, but I think regardless none have as many as we do. Many have kept their best players too so number of £10m players isn't an indication of how good you are (and wages come into it too), but it should give an indication of how could you maybe could expect to be. We have spent a lot of money.

Yeah that is a fair point, but when I see Saints play well and not win and then not play well and not win, I start to worry. Momentum is a huge thing for us, and we have none of it.

7th to declaring ourselves ok from relegation is a helluva fall from grace. Just because we avoid relegation I don't think that should prevent fans wondering what has gone on. A team that could, when all fit, field 8 £10m+ players should be very good.

We do not press under Koeman like we did under Pochettino. But it is fair to say that all of our better performances under Koeman have been when we have pressed and taken the initiative against teams and gathered some momentum. Pressing makes us look better. Where we are better under Koeman is when we have to soak up some pressure and accept we have to concede possession, but since February that has degraded from what it was.

I agree we'll be ok but it's whether or not, for the money spent in the summer, that going from 7th to 'we'll be ok' and dumped out of Europe in August is acceptable? It's taken 6 league games this season for that to be deemed as acceptable to some supporters.

If you can't capitalise when you play well you will not get points. If you can't defend properly when you decide to sit back and soak up pressure you will not get points. It seems to me like there is a complete lack of belief in the team - even an early goal and Man Utd playing like part-timers for 30mins wasn't enough for us. Remember under Adkins when we first went up and we'd have a few moments early on in games but then teams would turn the screw and a little and we'd fold, but then in the last 10mins we'd rally a bit and people would pretend that was good enough? We got all we deserved - that is not to say we didn't have our moments, but how many times will we play well and get nothing before we accept there is an issue somewhere rather than say 'oh well, onto the next one'?

The summer has not been wasted but it was a rather limp trudge back to heading back where every team who finished above us last season wants us to go - mid-table. The quality of the team has been diluted in favour of a slightly larger squad. The same issues we had with the balance of the squad last season haven't been addressed. We're still in great shape as a football club, but another summer next year like the one we've just had and that'll be the job finished and the team back to what we all knew pre Premier League relegation - the odd good player, the odd good result, but by and large just a very average team.

No - it would be perfect for us as our competitive edge would come from the young players we produce which couldn't leave so easily. EDIT: Unless I've missed something.

Why do you think the club would leak news like this if it wasn't true? If you are to brief the media it is usually for the clubs benefit. I don't see what benefit the club would have by leaking this and it not being true.

It's as their job titles state really - Ron is Manager, Erwin is Assistant Manager, and Sammy Lee is a Coach. All take part in putting on sessions.

Suspect he'll sit on his existing deal because he'll be unsure whether he could do any better with us than he did last season.

My point is that I believe Jack Cork would still be here had we offered him a new deal last summer, and to that end I also think he would have been a better option than Davis and JWP sat next to Vic as well. That he was willing to sign a new deal (or at least stated he was) when he was already behind Morgan and Vic for that 13/14 season speaks volumes. We've missed out on keeping a player who makes 25+ appearances for us a season and, in my opinion, offers far more in the middle of the park in that deeper role than a few players who have played there for us since he left.

No, have you? Going on what has been said in public and reported by reliable journalists: 1. Cork said at the end of the 2013/14 season that he would like to sign a new contract and had spoke with the powers that be about it. 2. Ronald Koeman joins as Manager and there is no sign of a new deal for Cork 3. Koeman says in press conferences in the first half of the season, which is also validated by journalists, that no new contract has been offered to Cork and the club are waiting to see whether or not Koeman likes him enough to be offered one 4. A contract is offered in January (reported by the Echo to be a very good one) which is rejected 5. We sell Cork for peanuts (because of his contractual situation) and the media today report that England are taking a look at him with a view to a call-up.

Absolutely. People refuse to accept we messed up failing to offer him a contract earlier than January of this year. He would still be here and making a valuable contribution, likely as a starter, if we hadn't delayed offering him a deal.

The following: Dejan Lovren Adam Lallana Luke Shaw All play regularly for a team that finished above us in the league. Jason Puncheon could be argued, though he plays for Palace. His performances have certainly kicked on but he *****il now, anyway) is playing for a worse team.

My thoughts are that he is a better fourth choice than Gardos but regardless I am just happy he is fourth choice.

No doubt that Wilshere is made of balsa wood and injury prone however what is it with Arsenal's medical department - when is the last time they managed to successfully diagnose an injury and predict a return to action that wasn't at least 12 weeks wrong