DuncanRG

There's a broader issue about empty sentimentality in football - did the whole Premier League need a minute's silence the week after the Manchester bombing because there there were no fixtures at the time? - but local people, local fans are different. If bereaved friends and family see fit to arrange a tribute then we do it for them. And if we don't take part, we at least keep our thoughts to ourselves when people are reading what we say.

Not to knock Boufal necessarily, but who's the last player to actually 'come good' after we all used the phrase? It might be true that he'd benefit from games, but he won't get picked until he impresses in training and/or as a substitute, which is exactly how it should be. If Tadic continues to be ineffectual he might drop out but not after a couple of games.

Glad he's doing well after that ordeal. You're right about the rush to judgment though. Even if your circumstances aren't as tough as those faced by Chaplow, Sharp, Arter et al, the pressure and psychological burden of being a top footballer can weigh heavily on people.

To be fair, Mahrez is a poor example to those guys because he didn't get his move and may well have done if he'd been a prat.

You don't really believe no one wanted him.

Double post

It's been very good indeed. Our current squad would have had to up its attacking game even if we'd signed someone. I wonder how many fanbases aren't sat on their forums right now wishing they'd signed a pacey attacker. City, Liverpool...?

Wait, Romeu seems more loyal than Wanyama? He's not been here as long as Victor was and would probably also want to move if a top club came in.

There's a question of familiarity (and trusting the advice of others) but Clasie's clearly got plenty of talent. We were all excited about him in a way that we weren't for any of the guys you mention, because he'd demonstrated that talent.

Which was around the same time as the Hillsborough independent panel reported, right?

I think past windows have shown that there can be a domino effect once one club moves. It looks like we have an attacking target in mind who's probably not leaving/prefers another club, but could end up on the way if other deals go through. I'd assume from the lack of press noise that it's highly unlikely in our case.

Sooner or later they need to start asking questions of their club. It must be frustrating not to land your big target when he wants to come but there's no excuse for leaving that position unfilled. They desperately need a centre half, even if it's not Van Dijk.

C'mon, that's pushing it.

'Scored no goals for Bayern Munich' is still a pretty good CV entry!

Saints fans of all people could be forgiven for thinking you have to attract top-level clubs to be good enough for Southampton but in reality, Davis is perfect for how we play, even if he wouldn't cut it at the big boys. Eh? All five managers have had the chance to sign replacements and not seen fit to do so.

Absolutely. I think everyone's pleasantly surprised at how well Romeu's done in Wanyama's absence but he was the biggest part of the foundation on which we were building a European-class team.

Hold-up play wasn't all that Pelle offered, or Lambert before him. Both were brilliant at dragging defenders around to create space for others. Gabbiadini can do this on the break and Austin has a bit of that quality too, but I don't feel like either can really carve out openings for Tadic/Redmond when we're comfortably moving it around the opposition box.

A lot's being made of the link with Paul Clement, who worked with him at Bayern. If Swansea do pull that off, that will be why.

Another striker's not an unreasonable demand when you've sold Lukaku and only replaced him with an ageing Rooney imo.

That's the consensus for everyone besides the fans. If we were going to sell we'd have started softening the ground by now.

Arsenal have spent plenty of money in the last few years. Their fall is down to how the place is run, not the numbers behind it.

Not sure Liverpool would pay him more than Chelsea or City. I think Van Dijk just likes Klopp and the culture/history around Liverpool. Seems daft saying it now but you can tell he has a sense of romance from the way he talks about Celtic. He'd also be the main man at Liverpool, whereas he'd be second in command in the Chelsea or City defence.

That's a sign of deep, deep problems at Arsenal. If he were leaving to play more games he'd go to Everton or us.

Lambert succeeded in the Premier League because of his movement and hold-up play as much as his finishing, if not more so. Sharp didn't have that, and I'm sure that was clear in training without having to play him. I don't think anyone can begrudge Koeman's move now, looking at what they're doing, but the dishonesty still rankles.

Agree with this. Watch Tadic and Cedric against Swansea for an idea of how it's supposed to work.