UpweySaint

I get the point but that sort of ignores how plenty of teams throw money around in a desperate attempt to escape the championship. Ipswich are pretty exceptional. I would say the relative success of Brentford and the more obvious success of Brighton show what can be done if you get the recruitment right. If we’re sensible with contracts and the profile of players we recruit relegation may not be terminal. We may be able to keep the bulk of the squad together and hold out for good money for any players who are cherry picked.

Staying up would be great. If we go down it’s probably about what would be expected of us but I fancy we’ll be less insipid then our last relegation season. I was surprised we came up last season so as far as I’m concerned we’re ahead of schedule. We all know the team needed a major overhaul and you can see that work happening - young talent with a British core and arguably less players who come across like dickheads. There is a good team spirit, evidence of a coach with a clear plan and some bright sparks with the likes of Dibling, Edwards and Sam Amo looking promising. A good season for me will be one where I can see a plan, find some positives and watch some goals! 17th and up is a bonus!

At the moment it seems like a waste of money. If we didn’t go up last season it would have felt worse as it’s money that could have been spent elsewhere. At the time I thought it seemed like good value for a player with good physicality (don’t laugh!) who has scored all sorts of goals in the Championship and League one. If he gets/stays fit I’m genuinely excited to see what he can bring to the team. If he hits double figures in the prem (or fires us back up if we go down) I think he’ll represent value. If not hopefully his wages aren’t too mega and we get something out of him. We’ve certainly spent more on arguably worse/less suited strikers for sure!

Fair shout. Ideal world we would have other options so could ease him back and not rely on him. At some point our budget may run out though so I’m not sure I see us doing another permanent deal for a potential starting striker. I could be wrong though!!

BBD is good business. As others have said he stood out in a poor Sheff Utd side and seems to tick a lot of the boxes, the YouTube goals clips show clever off the ball movement, good physicality and quality finishes. Character also seems to be a positive too. I am still on the fence on if we will stay up or not but it’s hard to argue with the business we have done in the window so far. Just all very sensible, it almost feels like we’re being run by grown ups! Add in a no1 on loan, O’Riley and Camara and I think the general consensus will be a job well done. An extra striker seems to depend on Stewart and/or how we plan to line up. Hopefully we can start to clear the likes of ABK and tall Paul!

Agreed. PSR and our horror January trolley dash have hampered us. Unless somebody has an aneurysm and throws money at us for Kamaldeen, ABK etc I can’t see us having lots to throw around. The Delap miss suggests we may also have readies for a striker as well as O’Riley (price contingent). If we’re being wildly optimistic we shift the fringe players, get BBD on loan to buy (if we stay up maybe) and Ramsdale on loan and still have enough for O’Riley and Clarke. KWP sale (or not) could have an influence. I would be sad to see him go but if we have a decent offer we can’t let him go on a free.

Any idea how many years Jack Clarke has on his contract? He’ll fancy a go at the prem and unless Sunderland improve rapidly they don’t look like they’re getting there any time soon so you would imagine he is unlikely to sign a new deal without a buy out clause. I think he could do well for us bur don’t think we can justify the asking price as is especially given the other areas of the squad that need attention.

Probably a ridiculous one but if we’re clutching at straws …. 1) He may want to play in the Premier League, he’s played in La Liga and (despite some impressive European performances from Italian teams) there is consensus they are the two best leagues in the world. 2. We pay Premier League wages. It’s no Saudi pay day but my guess is we pay more than Betis. 3. Barca are still Barca but they are a mess. Maybe the prospect of signing for a club who may end up not actually registering you to play has scuppered the move leaving him open to something else. 4. Game time. He’s likely to be one of the first names on our team sheet. 5. Okay now this is a stretch - a chance to experience a new culture living in the UK. 6. Any deal could come with a low release clause and/or relegation clause. One good season with us then off to one of the top six/eight (ish) clubs. 7. These are getting less tenuous but a possible bond with Alcarez. We’ve seen a South American buddy system before! All that being said not a chance it will happen but fun to pretend! I’m very willing to accept sleep deprivation (twin boys who have decided sleep is for chumps) may be making me come out with utter drivel 😅

I hope so. I don’t like Armstrong as a 9, Mara needs a loan or to be sold, Stewart is an unknown quantity. I also like the option of two up up which has suited Che in the past. I guess a lot depends on who we can shift and how much budget we need for elsewhere.

I agree for the most part. I’m happy with Che staying on the proviso it’s him plus one - I’m keen to see what Stewart can do when fit too but it’s a risk to rely on him too heavily. I don’t mind Bazunu but get the opposing views. Macca is okay but a loan with an option would be good to see if we can get a genuine no1 for this season as a minimum. Delap I like. The price is high considering his goal return and he is raw but £15mil seems to be the going rate for potential these days. Ings? I don’t know about attitude (some have really slated this) but he knows where the goal is and I could see him doing well in our system - his movement, link up and finishing are assets and we don’t really rely on pace which he lacks. I quite like a lot of our recruitment so far. We’re being sensible and pragmatic. I honestly don’t know if it will be enough but you can see the logic whether we beat the drop or not. KWP or a top class replacement feels essential to both systems we have used. I’m not wholly convinced Aarons is the answer but he has the right profile and arguably hasn’t yet met his potential.

Hate to say it but Ipswich are doing (on paper) some good business - the four players they have signed/are hoping to wrap up are all players I would have been happy for us to sign though as others have said our previous mistakes are haunting us. if Ornstein is right that we had a bid accepted for Delap then hopefully it shows we have a few quid tucked down the sofa for a striker. Hutchinson, Delap, Philogene and Greaves for somewhere around £75mil is a big outlay without any transfer fees in but fair play to them - they are well backed and have PSR room. On a side note their no1 from last season has turned down a new deal so I expect they may also need to spend a few quid to get a proper replacement in. We are still a well coached side and it’s early in the window so we’ll see but at the moment I’m struggling to see three teams I am confident we can finish ahead of. Ideal world we can shift the likes of ABK, Sulemana and Onuachu for a few quid and add a bit more quality in the squad in key positions. I like Charly but if he doesn’t fit our set up and we could see a good return from him I can see him being moved on.

Twins finally in bed and sleeping and I've missed us going one up! Any decent streams appreciated please, talksport alone is anxiety inducing.

After some advice please. Coming up to the game from Dorset and expect to be in not long before kick off (first antenatal class in the morning). Any sensible parking suggestions where I'm likely to get a space and be able to get over to the stadium in under 20 mins? Getting away afterwards isn't a major concern.

Well balanced post. Yesterday was a fiasco but the wider context is important and the short termism of some, while not surprising, is disappointing.

Plenty of suggestion that we actively tried to do so with Roberts and the Villa lad strongly linked. Either way our wide options should arguably be plenty good enough for us to challenge at this level.

An ex saint in the 18s and 19s too in Max Alleyne and Jimmy Jay Morgan. Seems to suggest we're developing promising talent again.

Fair based on the dross Everton served up today but the squad/toxicity he has inherited would have been tricky for any manager to do much with. FWIW I think they'll come down this year along with Luton and Sheff Utd though if they keep above the dotted line it will largely be because the likes of Wolves have fucked up or Fulham fall apart without Mitro up top. 17th would be a good season for them, much like us they've been circling for a good few years and are weighed down by a cycle of woeful recruitment and muddled squad building.

To an extent yes, if we're not the most physical we will always be vulnerable at set pieces. That being said with some organisation and intelligence we could be better than we are even with the limitations of the squad. Christ, we couldn't really be much worse!

I would suggest the merits of the line up would be better judged after the Norwich game. If we get a decent result the dross we served up midweek will feel marginally more justified. That being said are woeful ability to defend set pieces is such a frustration - at least we've recognised the issue and got a dedicated set piece coach in with a good reputation. The poor showing does illustrate the importance of keeping our best XI fit and firing this season. For such a big squad we are lacking in depth/quality for key positions. Until we've got past Sept and have time to bed in whatever new recruits we end up with things could be rocky. Provided we're still in touch towards the top of the table by Oct I personally would be happy. All the same fair play to Gillingham. It sounds like they had a game plan, worked hard and executed well. They've had a few tough years so good to see them on the up.

Early doors but this looks okay so far: https://cdn.sportcast.fun/embed77/?event=stack.html&link=1&domain=&force=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sportcast.fun%2Fnginx.php%3Fid%3D35&ask=1691179200&lgt=3

Such a bizarre one. Early days I was convinced we had another VVD on our hand, he was an absolute ball magnet. No clue what actually went on behind the scenes but all the conjecture seems to be indicative of a player who couldn't get his head right to reach his clear potential in his time with us. I do wonder if we'll ever get the full story of what went on for him. Hopefully we've included a sell on and he reaches his potential at Monaco.

I was planning on cancelling mine, when I went to do so I got a fixed £9.99 for a full year rather than £7.99 a month offer to keep my subscription. If you're a monthly subscriber worth seeing if you can get it cheaper.

Fair point. He's probably been tarnished a bit. Most of the team he was parachuted in to last season looked utter w*nk so deserves a fair crack next season, have to admit I found myself nodding along with the Bree is rubbish stuff. He's not as exciting as Tino but we are where we are as a club.

I've had some joy following the fb link without needing to log in: https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/video/live-goeztepe-vs-saints?fbclid=IwAR3z2qaDXuCLfXPYJuhos43wA__3a9ko9F1xuEhfF9QJu6ONCnX0qFihrko

Best of luck to him. It will be interesting to see how he sets them up considering they'll be one of the 'bigger' teams in that League and he'll have a preseason to bed in his ideas/influence recruitment.