Saint86

Suarez and Forlan were also utter crap. Don't worry though, the muppets in our fanbase would turn down Cavani and Messi if the opportunity to sign them arose. Because those fans are just muppets and there is no point arguing with blinkered viewpoints.

The club didn't want to give him the deal he wanted, and it was his final contract so he looked elsewhere. The club turned that into a massive PR slander against him....

Whether his role has changed or not, there has been a clear change in strategy. We have reverted back to signing players who've hit their glass ceiling at the club's there at, rather than squad players not wanted at other clubs. Its the policy we had in the first few seasons after promotion and characterised signings like Clyne and Jayrod. Not sure why it has changed, but it has. Maybe its the new balance between Hughes and Reed. Maybe Reed has had his wings clipped? And maybe he realised he was doing a terrible job and went back to what worked before. Either way. The club are presiding over a good window so far. Credit where it is due. And I for one am glad the strategy has been revised and improved!

Quality signing for me. We've gone back to the policy in our first years in the prem. Signing promising players who are at the top of the rung below. Very interesting that this is after the rumoured reduction in powers for our previous transfer guru.

Are there any highlights of the schalke match? - scratch that, found them on the official site.

I thought that. Coutinho maybe? It needs a defensive midfielder as well. And Neymar would be absolutely nowhere near it. not even on the bench. He has done serious damage to his nations footballing reputation in just 5matches. Embarrassment of a player.

It is a no brainer. He should be given a shot in the team just as much as Long and Austin. He has proven himself at every level he's been tested at.

Because you're attention seeking is less annoying?

You can't argue with them. They play Fifa and FM and think they know it all. Matty T has a future and I hope its with Saints. There is also the benefits of showing "the pathway" remains a part of Southampton. It is a huge attraction to parents and youngsters to chose saints.

Didn't stop Always trying to praise Les Reed for our recent transfer business....

You cant argue with die hard remainers Nolan, save your energy and just use the ignore function. A lot of them are sadly just sheep who do what they're told, don't question, and spend their lives campaigning for their invisible lords and masters with whatever fake news is available. Then they ignore or make the debate a mockery when facts that contradict the fake news are presented. All as standard. They are the wet dream of the left, a sea of people unable to think for themselves and who blindly follow what they're told.

Bizarrely one of my first memories of Tadic is his first league game at Liverool. Live on TV, after the summer of lies, sales, and fan despair. I remember him doing a cheeky back heel / flick on for Clyne to score our equaliser. I knew at that point that we were going to be okay! I also remember his goal away at united and ridiculous ronaldo-esq celebration Sad to seem him leaving and £10m is a steal for them. Also fair play to Tadic, for a guy who was off anyway (and who had a world cup to look froward to), he gave it his all to keep us up at the end of the season. Certainly has a lot more class and integrity that lallana, lovren, chambers et al.

If you use media reports to criticise the club... then on here yes. Laughable given the flack I got for saying that selling him for £15m is too little. Queue abuse and snidey comments. Now its £10m. All the best to Tadic and thank you for the memories. Shockingly poor transfer management from the club though.

Perfect for the back line then!

Looks a good buy, glad we've had a reshuffle behind the scenes... Appears to be paying dividends immediacy. Ta-ra Leslie, your involvement will not be missed.

£14.98M then?

Well, unless we've got some hidden stoke ITK's on here (?) we won't find out how much influence he really had there. It seemed they had a lot of bad eggs in the dressing room and he fell out with the more vocal ones amongst them. I said on the Les Reed thread that I hoped Hughes (not being a yes man) would balance out with our recruitment strategy to actually compliment each other. More Koeman than Puel/Mope I hope. Guess we'll find out. To me at least it was obvious how much better we were under Hughes last season as soon as he took over. He obviously saved us, and I hope that with a pre-season and some of his own players he will take us back up to mid table. Whatever else happens behind the scenes, we best all hope its a stark improvement on the last 2years!

Carillo to be his last signing then?

Does this need some red bull? Or does it have wings already?

This is a good signing, about time we signed some decent British talent... and for the price we can't really lose. Looking forward to seeing him in the shirt. Pushes JWP and Steven Davis further from the team though I imagine?

I want to see Gallagher give time at saints as a minimum.

Does that mean our game would get pushed back? Its interesting if so, but I do wonder how much difference that particular element will make given they should be at their freshest at that point in the season. Given we're touring china, I reckon we'll see arguments for them being more match fit that us, or for their qualifying games upsetting the start of their season between now and then! I know the world cup is exciting and england are doing well (loving it whilst it lasts), but I also can't wait for the first game of the season! I hope it gets moved actually - will be the first first home game I miss in a long time otherwise

Exactly this. And our track record in recruitment is certainly very below par in recent seasons. That buck needed to stop regardless this summer, it needs a significant improvement if we sell Tadic. The only saving grace to all this is that I think Hughes probably knows what he's doing and I expect us to achieve a midtable to top 10 finish under him.

I'd love him to stay as well Always (especially for the rumoured fee), but there is so much smoke on this one that it does seem a done deal. Fee somewhere between £15m-£18m currently. You're right, its all based on rumours. But there are so many of them :/

Fans will never agree ofc. But it is a shame that seemingly so many can't wait to see the back of him though. He is without doubt our most creative player... in a team crying out for more goals, and being sold well under value with no real replacement in site.