Toon Saint

Hopefully he can live up to the billing he is getting and the pressure of being our next prodigal left-back. Sure Koeman will get a better impression of whether he is ready for a starting berth in the EPL over the next few friendlies. I like what I've seen though. Does seem to have bulked up (Jason McCarthy also looks a hell of a unit for his age) and his touch seems assured. He has quite a dry sense of humour based on interviews I have seen of him and very down to earth, much like Chambers, JWP, and McQueen, who are a credit to our academy. The fact that he is a Saints fan hopefully means he won't be off at the first smell of cash as was the case for Dopey.

Koeman seems to be converting Billy Sharp into the trequartista role. A brave and potentially brilliant move. I can really see Billy pulling the strings for us next season.

Perhaps let K Billy confirm he was talking directly about Clyne before we go crazy over this.

Clyne? eurgh.

http://instagr.in/u/maurip8 Listed as a 'baller for Saints', whatever that means.

Far too early to call at the moment, though if the league were to kick off tomorrow I'd fancy us to finish comfortably top half. Chelsea have done the best business, with Arsenal a close second. A lot will hinge on who signs Sami Khedira, as really feel that if Arsenal sign a world class DM that could propel them to the title. Currently, I think Chelsea will win it. Van Gaal will obviously improve Man Utd but their central defence is looking pretty pathetic at the moment. Still so much business to be done in this window though, it's going to be hectic.

Jason McCarthy is a unit. Reminds me of Shaw in terms of his physique at such a young age.

Papa Waigo. Offside.

I wish Gaston could take a break from international duties for a while. Not likely obviously, but frustrating that he's called up for so many trips over the other side of the world just to play 20 mins here and there. His fitness has always been a problem (can't think of a game where he's lasted 90 mins,) so would love it if he could just concentrate on his club football for an extended period. He seems to either be with Uruguay (not doing much) or nursing an injury.

So Poch was telling players he might be off around March? What a tit.

Wot a lad.

To be fair, we are probably in a strong negotiating position given that he is recovering from a career-threatening injury. At least they have put the offer out in the public domain as well so we can avoid being played by non-committal vagueisms and talk of a 'relaxed' situation. Maybe the board are learning their lessons.

A slight risk given his injury, but the club must be positive about his recovery chances to offer a 5 year contract in the first place. More money for him in the short-term and we are guaranteed a decent transfer should he ever follow Lallana and Lambert into the Melwood sunset. Hopefully it never comes to that.

Perhaps. But we'd also have three target men on our books when perhaps we should be looking at forwards who provide different options. Apart from Wickham`s decent end to last season, he hasn't progressed much at all since being signed for Sunderland. I guess I'd be disappointed if Gallagher was only at Wickham`s level by the time he was 21 so why not just give Gallagher more chances, as opposed to filling up the squad with strikers who have similar qualities, albeit of different ages.

Not sure it would say too much for Gallagher's development though.

Time will prove everything.

The WAG stakes at St. Mary's have just been raised tenfold. God, those two will make some beautiful babies.

That's right, though I guess there is room for a bit of tactical innovation, otherwise that would be clipping Koeman's wings somewhat. 4-3-3 is one of his preferred formations anyway so I guess it is more of a shared philosophy than the club necessarily imposing 4-3-3 on RK.

Koeman has already said we will play 4-3-3 next season. Frankly, we haven't got enough decent CB's to play 3-5-2 anyway.

We've just sold three and J-Rod is injured, so that removes 4 from the equation already! Plus the two foreign players we have already signed.... May well be another season or so before we see the same number of English players in the team as we had last season, unfortunately. 3 of the 5 potential signings I did mention were British, so substitute Robertson for Willems (4/5 British) and even Forster for Marshall (3/5 English), if that makes you feel better.

Good call, he definitely has a bit of Bean about him. Almost certainly out of our price range though and he is still recovering from an ACL injury - plus, I really can't see him leaving Dortmund to join us. T'would be a major coup.

So to summarise from ITK snippets (K Billy, Guan, Monk, Mouldy Coat*, Heisenberg**) and the more persistent press speculation thus far, we are in for another 4-5 signings following the captures of Pelle and Tadic: GK - Marshall (£6.2 bid lodged - Monk); Forster (Mirror/Daily Record) LB - Scottish LB who isn't necessarily Andrew Robertson, but could well be given profile and likely fee (Guan); Jetro Willems (Mouldy); Timothy Kolodziejczak (Mirror) CB - Stefan de Vrij (unlikely to come as Manure/Lazio are circling - Guan); Virgil van Dijk (Mirror); Steven Caulker (Daily Fail) Winger - Nathan Redmond (Telegraph); Scott Sinclair (Telegraph) ST - Ings (various press & a couple of twitter ITK's (thefalselibero); Paulinho (Express); Connor Wickham (Daily Fail) Other - Rugged Sean Bean type, assuming that this is not Tadic or Pelle as they do not look anything like Sean Bean. Expect I've missed a couple and that there will be a few surprises, but by picking the more realistic targets from that list and assuming Lovren leaves and Morgan stays, our team might line up like something like this next season: ---------------Boruc-------- Clyne--Van Dijk---Fonte---Willems -------Morgan----Big Vic--------- Ramirez----S. Davis-----Tadic --------------Pelle Bench: Marshall Chambers JWP Cork Ings Yoshida Redmond That bench looks pretty decent considering we have promising youngsters like Targett, Reed, Gallagher, and McQueen on the fringes of first-team squad, while the likes of Jos, Mayuka, and Billy Sharp would be confined to the training ground. *awaiting ITK verification ** awaiting psychiatric evaluation

CB Fry has the most tedious schtick on this forum. View From the Top a close second. Give me a WUM or a troll any day over the two bedroom sergeants.

When a club has millions of fans worldwide, chances are that social media and fan forums will throw up a few idiots spouting self-interested rubbish. We are hardly immune! Let's not forgot their hardcore fans (or those that actually attend games) clapped us off the pitch at Anfield last year after we beat them. Did my degree and masters in Liverpool and while I lived there the scousers I knew were some of the most gracious, good-humoured, and respectful football fans you'd care to meet, and they always had nice things to say about Southampton. Don't get all the bluster about their supposedly delusional fanbase.

Don't see any reason why he can't have the same sort of impact as someone like Bony in the EPL. He`s tall, strong appears more mobile than Lambert, and the confidence must be flowing with his strike rate over last two seasons. Importantly, Koeman will also know the kind of service he thrives off of. Fully expect him to do well for us and bang in about 15 goals next season.