Lallana's Left Peg

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.

It's going to be near on impossible to sign a player from Spurs.

I'm not saying someone who can create centrally isn't welcome, but I just think Koeman doesn't see it as an important part in his formation. If you look at our signings in that part of the pitch it's all about size and pace - nothing too subtle or clever about it. Redmond or Townsend would further add to that. Quick football in the final third with lots of width. No dragging players out of position and exploiting space, just law of averages and pounding away to make a breakthrough.

My early observations are that Koeman allows creativity on the wings to open up space for crosses rather than centrally to create clear cut goalscoring chances. He doesn't appear fussed with creativity in the middle of the park. Everything we do attack wise appears to be down the wings.

Not having a go but amazing how expectations and ambition can change in the space of a few months.

Good point - probably not a call-up but a cap would I'd imagine.

Have read that and am pretty sure you are agreeing with me other than my use of 'void' for the existing contract to be superceded?

One other thing - finally, 7 years on, our revenge for Wayne Thomas.

This is how the Spurs fans feel with their pursuit of Schneiderlin and ours of Townsend.

I think it would just cement the place of Jack Stephens in the first team squad. Fourth choice centre-half and backup right back isn't a bad job for a 19 year old.

Burton Albion away (hope I haven't jinxed them).

It is quite usual that when a player joins another team on loan that his parent club ask him to negotiate his terms for the duration of his loan with his new club and his existing contract is void for the period of the loan. For example, if a young promising player had a contract with Chelsea and earned 10k a week with 5k in bonus money every time he made a first team appearance, do you think Chelsea pay him an extra 5k he makes an appearance for the club he is on loan at? Our own Dani Osvaldo took a big pay cut when he joined Juventus last January.

I cannot blame the Board for aiming high however the one thing they had as an advantage was to be aggressive with bids given the outgoings we had. The messing about has not only caused us to miss out on targets but also then overpay for others further down on the list, which is a bit pathetic. So not only do you not get the quality of player in that you want, you also end up losing more money from the sales to get in the second, third, fourth, fifth target or whatever. I wish we had been more aggressive in the market at the start of the summer to take advantage of being a more appealing club to play for and the money we had available.