Bewildered

Forster - Could do little about the goals, little to do otherwise. Targett - Tried hard, but wasteful with the ball going forward and struggled for pace at times. Fonte - Could have perhaps made a better effort to contest Ibra for the first. VVD - Did well Cedric - Fairly average Hojbjerg - Played well, looks a good player Romeu - Wasn't involved long enough to judge Davis - Some poor passing and woeful defending for the first Tadic - In and out of the game. Looks like the only creative player in the squad right now. Long - Ran hard, but another average game. Redmond - some nice touches first half, but faded. Reluctance to shoot could hinder his conversion to CF Subs: Clasie - neat and tidy but little more. Penalty was harsh Austin - Did nothing of note Rodriguez - nearly got in on goal at the death

Lack the attacking quality needed to play how Puel wants to against sides like Man United. Either need to sign players who can rectify that or change tactics against the good sides.

Tepid stuff from both teams really. Our defending for the goal was rubbish though. Davis lets Rooney take all the time in the world to pick out Ibrahimovic, who rises above Fonte like he wasn't even there and finishes. Had some good chances, but we seem incapable of producing a worthwhile shot. Neither full back is contributing enough going forward either. Targett wastes every attacking opportunity by crossing on sight and Cedric is just passing backwards and sideways.

If we let Rodriguez go out on loan then surely we would have to bring in a striker.

I will reserve judgement until the seasons been going a couple of months and those we have brought in, whether that includes more incomings or not) have had a chance to settle in and show what they are capable of. I'd be happier if we brought in one or two more (an attacking midfield player and a defensive midfielder would be on my wishlist as I neither want Tadic to be tasked with doing it all himself creatively, nor do I believe Romeu is good enough to be a first choice DM).

New info? not seen an itk refer to any pl failures. If it is then...Shinji Kagawa?

Summary: Only us and Schalke are actually interested in Boufal, but Schalke are prioritising Diego Rolan so as it stands now Saints are the only option for him unless he stays.

The club are totally not selling unless you offer over 10m at which point forget the not selling bit

Record seems rather mediocre at Feyenoord and Basel.

According to the Echo, Puel wants one more signing before the window shuts.

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/14683938.Saints_optimism_over_Fonte_deal/ Saints "optimistic" Fonte will sign a new deal. No contact from Man U or anyone else regarding a deal, let alone bids. New deal is just a pay rise to keep him in line with other high earners at the club after the slew of new contracts. No extension beyond his remaining two years due to his age.

No contact from any club over Austin, nor would the club welcome it according to the Echo.

Simon Peach ‏@SimonPeach 28s28 seconds ago Lots of talk about Fonte but told #SaintsFC have no intention of selling. Player apparently seemed happy enough yesterday

Well, Hesketh can't possibly make any less of an impact than Juanmi. Really though, in addition to this mystery left sided attacking player being talked about we need a player to play in front of the back 4 if Puel is going to play Hojbjerg in a more advanced role. Romeu is a good squad player, but not good enough to be relied on as a starter.

Grew into it, some encouraging signs by the end. Bring in another attacking player to play in the diamond, move Hojbjerg back into Romeu's place and get Fonte and Bertrand back into the starting line up and things could get a lot better.

Get Bertrand and Fonte back in, bring in another more attack minded midfielder and we should be fine. Forster - Despite the goal, he had very little to do. Cedric - Looked way off match readiness VVD - Did Well Yoshida - Some dodgy moments Targett - OK, offered little attacking threat Romeu - Decent enough, but a clear step down from Wanyama in that position JWP - Largely anonymous Davis - Fairly mediocre performance Tadic - Played well, only real creative outlet in the side Long - Lots of effort, but it didn't happen for him. Redmond - Grew into the game, strong second half Subs: Hojbjerg - looks a very good player, not sure why he didn't start. Pied - Got on the ball in good positions, but crossing was not very good. Austin - Didn't really provide any extra threat. Personally, I would prefer Hojbjerg start for Romeu and a more forward thinking player brought in to replace JWP.

Tame stuff, Cedric looks miles of match sharpness, Redmond looks lost as cf so far. Overall we also look very lightweight. Hojberg and Austin on please.

thats £58,000 per week, we probably have players at the club earning that much, if not more already. Especially considering VVD, Forster, Bertrand and Tadic got new deals this summer.

http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/08/11/ss-report-newcastle-united-offer-around-82500-per-week-contract/ According to this, reports in Italy are saying Newcastle trying to sign him. But it does mention that Inisgne is keen to leave Napoli as they didn't offer him a good enough contract renewal. Would also explain the stubborn stance of the selling club as Napoli's president is a notoriously tough negotiator.

I don't know...Vela's form has dipped for the last couple of seasons. He's still solid now, but the period where he was very good ended 2 seasons ago.

This attacker we want, is he someone to get excited about? By which I mean does he have an existing reputation or is he someone fans may not know much about.

So is our latest transfer target another Pied/McCarthy type signing, where info is more guarded because the names involved are nothing to get too excited about?

http://gianlucadimarzio.com/en/eng/tello-set-to-return-to-fiorentina-tomorrow-signatures-will-take-place/

Sam Gallagher (vaunted by the club friendly press earlier in pre-season to be one of those to be given a chance by Puel) is on the brink of a loan to Blackburn according to Alan Nixon. A sign that Puel has changed his mind with regards to replacing Pelle perhaps?

I think they got that from here: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tuttomercatoweb.com%2F%3Faction%3Dsearchform%26word%3Dsouthampton%26x%3D0%26y%3D0&edit-text=&act=url Same article suggested that Saints are interested in Manolo Gabbiadini from Napoli as well. Doubt we want either though since tuttomercatoweb tends to be very inaccurate.