Lallana's Left Peg

Clubs aren't going to forget about a player just because he isn't in the press. It's not like the scouting teams of Spurs, Liverpool, and Man City base their work around what players they hear about in the papers and write online blogs. However, you have a point to a degree, even if you have expressed it a little silly. Jay's blog, and his twitter account, are jointly run by his management company. It is their business - no matter what his form or playing status - to promote him in a positive light. Koeman's statement yesterday may well have prompted them to want to put something out there more positively around Jay Rod - but it certainly wasn't done for other clubs benefit in case they'd forget about him. I don't know if Jay's contract offer is still on the table but rejecting a 5 year deal in the middle of coming back from a cruciate ligament injury is a pretty big statement of intention as far as I am concerned. Come this summer he'll claim he is fit and that is going to be the biggest window of opportunity for him - and Saints - if he is to be sold. Then we'll see how serious the interest from the aforementioned three clubs are.

The offer does sound low and I don't know much about the player but I do know a bit about Karim El Ahmadi and I'm glad Saints don't want to pay too much for anyone being kept out of the team by him.

What a coward.

I don't think we lack creativity or a killer final ball - with Tadic, Mane, Davis, and Elia we have different types of player who play in the same position as this new chap, who eerily appears to have the same qualities as a footballer as the man we decided wasn't good enough for us at the start of the season and we shipped him off to Hull. We don't play with creativity through the middle, I don't see where he has a natural home in our formation either. I am sure there is a plan, I just don't see the need for this sort of signing when we need a striker - desperately.

Wow, sign an attacking midfielder we don't need and lose Jack Cork for a packet of peanuts. Not a strong finish to a transfer window that started so well with Elia. Can't win them all I suppose!

The mistake was not sorting his new deal in the summer. At the end of last season he mentioned a new deal and said he wanted to stay. Even if the club was unsure about him, why not protect the asset? It was more risky to take this approach in my opinion and now we've sold our backup defensive midfielder for a pittance. Cork would have had a very important role to play in the final half of the season and as good as Schneiderlin and Wanyama are, they do pick up a lot of injuries. Davis dropping back, or even Reed, are not half as good as Cork in that role in my opinion. Don't really see how this can be dressed up as anything other than a bit of a balls up. Not a massive one, but Saints haven't really got anything out of this other than selling a good player for dirt cheap and 2 days to source a replacement.

Except to make your analogy more reflective of the situation the person at work who didn't know whether he was wanted or not saw other employees told they were wanted before the new boss came in, and then other employees told they were wanted straight away while you waited. And then at the last minute you are told you are wanted. How would that make you feel? Like you were a last resort? Like you were being treated differently? At the end of the day Cork hasn't acted unprofessionally but what did he have to prove to Koeman over and above anyone else? He has always been a steady performer for us. Last summer loads of fans got upset with the players that wanted to leave, and now we have a situation where in the summer a player clearly wanted to stay and has been messed about (in my opinion). Loyalty, if it does exist in football, works both ways for me. I would be annoyed if I were Cork - and no wonder players decide to take matters in their own hands like some of ours did last summer.

Would be very disappointed to hear that Cork is leaving because of the way he has been treated rather than anything else. Why **** about all this time. Lad wasn't first choice last season but still made 28 appearances. Absolutely no reason to delay giving him a new deal.

A peculiar signing if true - sounds quite similar to Ramirez in ability? In the first half of the season Koeman clearly wanted his creativity to come from out wide, and we definitely played that way, and we have Mane, Elia, and Tadic already competing for two roles. I know Long is out for 6 weeks but a backup to Pelle would be preferable. Am sure there is a plan somewhere but just surprised to us go after a player like this - if indeed it is true.

My Dad claims to have been there. I have no idea if he really was or not. Probably one of those ones where people claim to be there when they weren't.

Going into the summer we owed ~£27m in unpaid transfer fees. So I think that covers much of the difference between the transfer fees we received compared to what we spent, even if every transfer will be paid over a different period of time. In addition I suspect that our wage bill would have increased this summer too - whilst Lallana, Lambert, and Lovren would all earn good money I doubt Chambers or Shaw earn a massive amount (relatively speaking). I would imagine Forster, Bertrand, Long, Elia, and Alderweireld all earn very good money, whilst Tadic, Mane, and Gardos are all senior players who will have decent deals too. Plus many of our younger players will have accelerators in their deals which mean they earn more money for each year of their contract (assuming we follow standard practice). That said, we did also clear some bad contracts in the summer (Sharp, Bernard, etc.). To offset this I think our increased revenue this season from league position and TV appearances would be ~£7.5m (and that is conservative), and I doubt that was accounted or budgeted for therefore I suspect there would be some wriggle room for a loan but not a big transfer, especially if we didn't want to compromise the potential permanent deals for our three loan players. However, I still think finding a striker who will fit the profile of what we need and be comfortable to be backup will be hard and we'll sit tight.

Nothing.

We need to be careful though. We need a striker as backup, so it's going to be a player on loan. But how many established players go out on loan to be backup - it goes against the principle of going on loan for them. So then that leads you down the 'loan a prospect from a better club so they get more of a chance of first team football' route. But then you aren't loaning a known quantity that will definitely do a job for you. I can see why the club may want to sit tight and manage Pelle's fitness closely. If the opportunity arises to bring someone in then of course it makes sense but I don't think that circumstance will present itself personally. Not sure when Gallagher is back either.

As others have said, the need to sign a striker has existed since the start of the season as if we lose Pelle then the complexity of the team changes entirely. Long can't be relied upon to score goals and he is a different type of player to Pelle. Long's injury may prompt more movement in this area from a numbers perspective but the real need for a proper backup to Pelle has existed since the summer.

Same as at Newcastle except that Cork comes in for Reed.

Why would you think that? I don't think that would indicate anything personally - Koeman would be well within his rights to stick with the midfield three who did well at Newcastle. If Cork wasn't in the squad at all that would be more of an indication.

Isgrove Reed Gape Rowe

I don't think putting a deadline on it is going to go down well with Cork. It's taken the club the best part of a year (if not more) to sort out whether or not they want to keep him, and then they want an answer within a month or so? I'd hold out until the summer - refuse to leave if the club accept a bid, give my all for the rest of the season, and watch the offers roll in and compare them to the Saints offer.

I'd say he'd wasted plenty but made us far more in the grand scheme of things.

The 'best' new song I've heard recently was the Status Quo Toby Alderweireld one someone was hammering away with at Newcastle. It's so bad it's good.

A bit late with my reaction after a good weekend in Newcastle but just to say a special word for Pelle in the game. He is finding goalscoring chances increasingly hard to come by in some games but what impresses me so much about him is his spirit and teamwork. He clearly loves scoring goals, and he's been used to it for the last half of his career, however we're seeing a different side to him the last month or so. But while he can be frustrated he is never negative, he is always encouraging his teammates and putting his body on the line for his team. When the team scores he is making sure everyone celebrates together. I think he is very influential with all of the intangibles he brings to our team. He looks shattered and isolated at times, but I can't help but think he is always putting the team first and doesn't think a second about it.

I started a thread on him last season. I see his value and he has a lot of qualities but his best position is still unknown. In this system it is being furthest forward of the three midfielders - I don't think he has a 'presence' to play in the defensive two. But he needs to generate a goal threat, and needs to influence games more. He is clearly an intelligent and diligent player, and when he plays in his age group for England U21's he plays deeper and always looks good. There is more to come, and he deserves the opportunity to be able grow in that respect as well. He has developed nicely over the last few years and as long as that continues I'll be delighted. At a time when the fitness demands of the Premier League increase year on year, to have a player as adaptable as him is valuable - as well as his in game intelligence.

Based on what I understand from information that is out there (or rather, reports that claim to know) Schneiderlin - may be back for Swansea, should be back for QPR. Wanyama - early diagnosis was around 5 weeks, there hasn't been an update since that so on that basis he's back for Liverpool or West Brom JRod - no-one knows, no timescales given. Alderweireld - may be back for QPR, should be back for West Ham Mane - not sure how good Senegal are but the final is 8th February. So worst case (and assuming he doesn't come back injured) he is back for Liverpool.

"The Shaka Hislop Power Rankings" I don't think I even want to live any more - we've made it.

It's an absolute goldmine. Assuming our revenues are about ~£110m this season I estimate an increase of around 50%. Quite what the club would do with the money I have no idea but what a great task to have.