Lallana's Left Peg

The table is comparative results against the same opposition, not comparative results for the first five fixtures.

Why was Bony behaving like a moron? Were Fonte and Yoshida winding him up or something?

I read a few years ago that as Lyon are listed on the French Stock Exchange they are not allowed to make an operating loss each year. This constraint after a poor season on the pitch led them to sell Lovren fairly cheaply to us and they also had to sell a really good prospect to Monaco for just £5m as they had to balance the books ahead of June 30th or something like that.

He's not going to lose his quality but he is going to have to find a way to play in a team where there are a lot of players who demand the ball and want to do things with it. No doubt he was the focus of our play at Saints but at Liverpool you've got Sturridge, Sterling, Gerrard, and Coutinho (maybe others I've missed too) who all want the ball and to do things with it regardless of where they play on the pitch. His biggest challenge will be the change he has to have in mentality as a player more than anything else. Was surprised to see him come off ahead of Markovic but as it was his first game this season maybe it was a sensible thing to do. Personally think teams will see the left hand side of Liverpool's team very easy to attack if they continue to play Lallana and Moreno there.

As a general rule I don't like loan deals. I know transfers can go wrong (e.g. Osvaldo) and you are saddled with the player and the financial commitment, but really with proper planning a club shouldn't need to loan players. Absolute best case scenario is the loan player does really well AND wants to stay, but given both our loan players are owned by far bigger and better clubs I would suggest that isn't likely for us. So the next best scenario is that they do really well and leave at the end of the season. We're then left with a couple of holes to fill and nothing earned from those who departed to spend. However I can understand why Saints made some loans given the amount of change this summer, but I wouldn't like to think it'll be a regular part of our transfer strategy. There is no long term future in it for a club like us.

He casts a white shadow

I don't think this years team gets 8th or near the same points total as last year. Would love to be proved wrong of course.

Any excuse to post this:

My general concern with loans is that even if it works out the player leaves and then you have a gap to fill and no funds to replace them in the team. In the short-term you get benefit but in the long-term I don't think it is a clever strategy. I can see why we did it this summer with such a large transition in players, but ideally I wouldn't like to think loaning players (and making them better) factors into our long term strategy for being a successful club. On the other hand you can agree a fee up front but that means nothing unless the player wants to stay. Plus if the loan isn't successful we get to offload them at no cost beyond their wages and loan fee however it also means they've likely had no benefit to the team in the short-term as well.

Something is going to have to give at CB. As Turkish says, it pretty much seems Alderweireld has been promised a start. So who partners him - our Captain, our £6m signing, or Yoshida. Well probably not Yoshida, but I can't see Gardos or Fonte being too happy with a place on the bench.

Square peg, round hole. Just do not get it.

Man City can offer him wages we could never dream of offering. We've reportedly offered him two deals to sign while he has been injured and he has chosen not to sign either. I suspect he has far more reasons to join Man City than to stay at Saints. If he gets a move to Man City, Liverpool, or Spurs then he will deem his move to Saints the right move for him at that stage of his career. Staying at Saints isn't really an option for any player when a bigger club comes in for them.

He's very small - I think the club will allow him to fill out before they plunge him into the first team. Looks a great prospect though.

The club have given it a go and that is all we can ask for. We've let 5 very good players leave and attempted to replace them. Some will work, some won't. That's why I always prefer to keep players regardless of the fee offered. Replacing them is always a 50/50 risk no matter how good you think your scouting is. Bucking the trend would not be selling high and buying low, it would be to do so and maintain or improve league position - and we have no idea if that will happen or not for several months.

There is going to be no way to prove anything of course, but where do we think we stand in terms of our wage bill after this summer? Out Rickie Lambert Luke Shaw Adam Lallana Dejan Lovren Calum Chambers Billy Sharp Dani Osvaldo Jordan Turnbull Jack Stephens Jos Hooiveld Gaston Ramirez Jake Sinclair Lee Barnard Andy Robinson Matt Young Jonathan Forte Joe Curtis Guly Danny Fox In Dušan Tadić Graziano Pellè Fraser Forster Shane Long Florin Gardoș Sadio Mané Ryan Bertrand Toby Alderweireld Other considerations: New contracts given to Harrison Reed, Lloyd Isgrove, Sam McQueen, Cody Cropper, and Jose Fonte - unknown if they will be on better terms but I would suggest given the length of the deals that Reed, McQueen and Fonte will. New deals reported to be offered to Jay Rodriguez and James Ward-Prowse - again would assume better terms offered. Most young players will have automatic wage increases built into their contract on an annual basis I wouldn't mind betting we're about the same. No way of proving it though

Outstanding effort

Not a fan of square pegs in round holes. See the merit of a Shane Long type of player in the squad, but not a naturally wide player for me and although the fee is nothing to do with him it is everything to do with the club. Under the presumption that Jay Rod comes back fit and healthy and stays at the club, we're going to have some very difficult decisions to make in the final third. Pelle, Jay Rod, Long, Tadic, Mane. Granted I know nothing of Mane but I doubt he joined to sit on the bench, likewise all the others!

No doubt the club has worked hard to try and manage a hard situation - replacing lots of good players. I suspect we'll never learn the truth about what happened this summer and why, but I remain gutted that a team that was not only good but had amazing potential was on the face of it allowed to be broken up so easily. It just doesn't sit right. Not a fan of loan deals - don't see why we should be making other teams players better its not a wise long-term strategy. Appreciate we have agreed a fee up front but that doesn't mean the player will sign. There is a nice balance in the squad now, but it is clearly being shaped in the style of the Manager. Gone is all creativity from the centre of the park, playing between lines, and fluid formations. What we have is a midfield that will always consist of three solid players, width, and power. It's a new approach for us to all get used to. But before we determine the transfer window a success lets remember that NO club has a transfer record that is better than 50/50. So of the players we've signed, history suggests only half of them will be a success. That is why I always prefer to keep good players regardless of the fee we could attract. It eliminates risk. Season will be better than it looked a few months ago for sure.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2739246/Transfer-News-DEADLINE-DAY-LIVE-Follow-deals-rumours-drama-unfolds.html Relentless from Ashton. 10/10 for perseverance.

Seems a good type - refused to play or train for the club on the eve of their CL Qualifier because he wanted to leave http://www.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF8&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kleinezeitung.at%2Fsport%2Ffussball%2Fcl%2F3723089%2Fsalzburg-suspendiert-sadio-mane.story

Linked with Man City and Spurs earlier this summer, and West Ham more recently.

A game of opinions but I am fairly certain Fonte will not be third choice - new contract and team captain etc. Gardos is fighting for a first team spot with Yoshida as I see it. If he was that good he'd start. Can't see us signing another central defender unless we can shift Hooiveld.

No Wanyama I assume he is injured or something.

This game, against terrible opposition, has passed Townsend by after the first hour or so. He could be filling his boots here.

That is just based on what I am seeing. It may be too early to make any conclusions but the three midfielders aren't too dynamic in the final third and the two wide players certainly play far wider than we experienced under Adkins and Pochettino. Maybe it will all come together and we'll start to see different things but at the moment I don't see much happening from anything we do in the middle of the park.