Baird of the land

Nice long term thinking in that scenario by saints, kicking out a great little player.

Cork's massively better on ball than wanyama. Some games suits one some the other. With Morgan guaranteed to go if not this window then next, the issue becomes academic. Now we are likely going to go from being extremely strong in middle to much weaker.

Disgraceful IMO. Plus massively strengthens palace who will no doubt finish above us now. Saints lose a great little player and get no money in return. In bleakest moments didn't think things would get this atrocious.

Embarrassing that we are selling a great player like cork dirt cheap whilst trying to pay a fortune for mediocre dross like long. This summer looks an utter disaster.

It'll require quite some effort for our weakened side to win there this season. Hoping we get through a few games and get some experience for youngsters and game time for squad players.

Not a good draw. Wanted a simple home tie.

I expect Boruc to go in Jan as i doubt he'll sit around quietly. We'll probably muddle through with Davis.

You must mean championship club.

It could happen but we should hardly be relying on them to immediately step up. Think decision to flog Chambers is going to haunt Saints and not having brought in anyone else who can play there is a very dangerous gamble on top of that. I'd happily take Kelly from Liverpool now.

Can't say i'd be impressed by that. Wasting a huge sum on a mediocre attacker in long and no right back replacement. Don't know enough about Gardos to know if he's the of the same quality as Lovren/Killer, which is what he needs to be.

Agree don't think prem experience is a musy. Splurging 12m on a mediocre player just because he has some prem experience is awful imo.

Forster seems a good addition. I'm not sure about sensibleness of keeping Boruc(who i expect will likely not take to being a reserve keeper lightly) but that's Koeman's choice.

Assume Hooiveld is reasonably happy at his age pocketing his prem wage and getting odd game until his contract expires. Yoshida may be a different kettle of fish. Last season he was challenging for 2nd spot at times so if that was to continue we could probably keep him happy. However if Fonte who's solid but not great is captain and we actually buy someone who is good then he may not be happy being 3rd choice. Big ask to bring in a quality replacement of the ilk of Lovren/Svensson but that's what we need.

Don't get my hopes up that we've been given a get out of jail free card.

Sunderland paid a shedload for him when he was 18 because he was that highly rated. Was being heavily linked with Liverpool at the time. His development has been set back by hardly ever getting a game at Sunderland but he's still just 21. Last season scored 1 in 2 on loan in championshiop with sheff wed, then came back and scored goals when finally given a chance by Sunderland in prem. Long's no left winger either and distinctly average.

Osvaldo is a good player who if he hadn't lost his head could have pushed us further up the table. Now whether he'll get sufficient opportunities at Inter i'd doubt.

I'd certainly prefer Wickham. Would seem much more akin to Jrod signing, where you spend on someone with potential to be top player, rather than vastly overspend on late twenties player who has consistently been average.

Hardly excessive fees if Long's now going for this much over his value. He's a very average player who will add to the team because we are very thin on the ground up front. Altidore would add to the team but he's dross and i wouldn't want us spending 12m on him.

Can't ignore the fee. We've flogged our stars and then squandered that money on dross like Long. Yeah if he was a free or 800k signing people wouldn't be up in arms.

Yeah an average player for 800k may make sense, 12m for one does not imo.

800k for a workmanlike average attacker i could get even if it wouldn't excite me. spending 12m million on one is ridiculous.

I'll predict he'll be mentioned in the same breath as Kerry Dixon and David Speedie.

How has he been shocking for sunderland. Barely had a game, let alone a run in the team since he signed for them. Worth much more than 1-2m imo and overpaying for someone who has potential to kick on to be very good is vastly preferable to vastly overpaying for someone who is distinctly average and has virtually no chance of getting any better.

I'd much prefer blow 10m on a 21 year old who's extremely highly rated, scored regularly for u21's, scored in loan spells in championship and when finally given a run in prem team too. If West Ham get him that's a got potential to be a corking signing.

Yes i'd prefer someone unproven with potential, like when we signed Jrod rather than relegation scrap candidate who may bag a half dozen goals but certainly doesn't have potential to improve and help us towards european places. And yes if you are buying a player who's sole attribute is his pace then you should be worried that he's in his later half of his twenties.