baggytrousers

Given a choice between Jeremy Wilson and Sky as a source about what's really going on I know which one I'd take. The Telegraph article is pretty definitive. they say our bid has been accepted by Lille. Hopefully it's now just a matter of agreeing all the personal terms and conditions. Very excited about this one. Most naturally skilled player we've had at Saints in a long, long time, IMO.

Good to see your natural positivity shining through. Why on earth would the club want to sign someone like this : https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/apr/20/europe-transfer-targets-under-23-in-demand http://www.just-football.com/2015/09/top-10-best-ligue-1-young-talents-to-watch-in-2015-16-jf60-youngsters/ http://www.fourfourtwo.com/au/features/sofiane-boufal-meet-lilles-spurs-scouted-midfielder-whos-throwback-hazard

50m debt from Cortese years and 40m on Staplewood

According to the Guardian our total transfer dealings for the last 3 seasons are : players in £120.85m, players out £169.5m That leaves a £49m difference at the moment but presumably that will narrow with the two anticipated signings before the window closes. Question is where did all the TV money go ? Well, it's pretty well known that Cortese left us with a £50m black hole, plus Staplewood development has cost £40m, plus we've re-signed 7 players on improved deals this summer. Now the assumption is that these new contracts were reasonably substantial upgrades as the club have been keen to keep the majority of our key players so I would assume that the wage bill has risen significantly this summer. Taking all these factors into account I'd be surprised if, assuming we sign another two players before the window closes, there will be a significant difference between money in and out over the last 3 seasons other than to cover off the Cortese debt and balance the books so we can build with confidence moving forward.

Really don't understand this obsession with "proven Premier League quality". Probably the only player we have signed in recent years who meets this categorisation is, as you say, Charlie Austin, who has hardly set the world alight for us. Granted there have been a few players we have signed that had patchy PL records such as Bertrand, Long, Davis and Romeu and they've been good investments but then again there was Stephen Caulker. Our best signings over recent years have been the likes of Mane, Tadic, Pelle, VVD, Wanyama, Foster, none of which had ever played a minute of Premier League football between them (Foster was at Newcastle but never made the first team) when we signed them. Surely our history of successful signings would point us towards continuing our existing policy of targetting and signing very promising, technical, well-balanced players from other leagues who have all the attributes to succeed in the Premier League rather than pay way over the odds for those that have already had some success with another PL club when the evidence shows that there is no better chance of success.

Player who has played in the Premier League. Forward. Scored a decent amount of goals. Has anyone checked if Charlie Austin is availa........ oh !!!

At Old Trafford we had 57% possession and 13 shots on goal compared to their 12. It was quality in the final third that did for us, not the formation.

Excellent blog from George Weah's cousin which backs up what you say and pretty accurately addresses our current situation, the club's direction and how most Saints fans feel about it . Well worth a read : http://georgeweahscousin.com/what-do-saints-fans-really-want/

Excellent post. Sums it up for most of us I'd say.

yawn

But, apparently a very good one. Listened to The Game podcast today and Julien Laurens was saying that we've got a gem of a manager in Puel and expected him to do really well. Also, Thierry Henry was talking about him today and backing him for success : https://www.premierleague.com/news/74195?

Boufal would be an excellent signing IMO. Naturally very talented and exciting. A real technical player. Take your point about Clasie but his start with Saints was blighted by injury as was proven Premiership player Charlie Austin. Many factors go into whether a player is going to be a success or not and it doesn't come down to whether we've heard of them or not. No-one had really heard of Kante, Mahrez or Dele Ali at the start of last season and everyone was expecting Hazard to tear it up again. No guarantees on any player but Boufal is one that would definitely get me excited.

Complete and utter rubbish !!!

and Elvis could still be alive.

And now there are reports that Charlie Austin is going to Everton. OMG. Further proof, if any were needed, that we are a Level 4 club with no ambition looking to sell anything with two legs to our rivals all so greedy KL and incompetent Les can make a tidy profit. Or... Alternatively, it could just be a lazy journalist looking to meet his deadline pulling a Saints player to Koeman story out of his big fat *rse. Again. You decide.

And yet we finish higher season after season. Also, can't believe that so many people have leaped on Jack Schitt's info that there are no actual offers for Jose and that this whole situation is mainly Mendes stirring the pot to try and get him and his player a really good deal (entirely plausable) but AR-10's assertion that the club are looking to replace Jose as captain for no apparent reason gets accepted as gospel. Bizarre !!

When did Puel ask for patience ? I've not seen this. All the interviews I've seen with him he's been very positive about the club, the players and the new season. Not seen him trying to dampen down expectations at all. Think some of the fans have said that we should have patience with him and see how it goes but that doesn't seem unreasonable given that he hasn't actually lost a game yet.

Anybody found a Kodi live stream for tonight's game ?

No it's not just you. Really looking forward to tomorrow and feeling really positive. Think we've upgraded the manager and the midfield (Hojbjerg is class) but do concede that we could well miss Mane. However don't think Redmond is as far short of that standard as many on here would have us believe. It's gonna be a good season people !!!

Nobody ever keeps players to the end of their contracts these days. Think the 6 year contract for VVD has to be seen in the context of all the other extended contracts that have been negotiated this summer. A lot of players will stay with the club if they feel valued and believe the club are moving forward and they are par of something special. Witness Jamie Vardy's rejection of Arsenal this summer. It's all about getting a core group of players to give the team some stability and critical mass moving forward and building around that. Achieve this and even the shop window type players will be more tempted to stay longer.

What a load of cobblers !!!!

Agree. F365 trotting out the Koeman left because of lack of ambition, Southampton glass ceiling claptrap that so many in the media believe. Guardian write-up seemed more balanced, knowledgeable and better written.

Jese Rodriguez is reportedly available for 15 million Euros. Just saying.

This would be an absolutely outstanding signing. Can totally understand why Real would want a buy back clause. If we were to get Jese, even with a buy back clause, it would be a major, major coup.

I think the Tottenham example is interesting. They spunked the Bale money on a lot of big name players some of whom eventually came good (Erikson, Lamela), but a lot of whom were a complete waste of money (Soldado, Paulinho, Epoue,etc). They then changed tack a bit and started promoting the young English players into the first team (Kane, Dier, Mason, Ali,etc) and did miles better. This runs contrary to the suggestion earlier on that looking to get a few young English players into the first team is a huge risk. For Tottenham it was the tactic of making big money signings that didn't really deliver and only when they brought in the young English ones (mixed with the better few of the earlier signings) did they really start to improve. Would indicate that a good mix of academy and smart signings is the way to go.