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I wasn't and am not writing Saints off. Merely stating a reality. Much depends on the squad recapturing the end of season spirit that kept us up, and work clearly needs to be done during training. Someone has to step up to creating the assists for our strikers that Tadic created last season. We have the talent in the squad to do this.

We can't be stronger than last season without Tadic.

Why is it that signing a decent striker has become such low priority for the club ever since Mane and Pele were sold three seasons ago? We could have afforded a top quality striker then.

I agree wholeheartedly John Boy. And didn't Strachan boast he played most of the season with a first team of just 16 players? That was fitness and commitment.

I reckon that had Mark Hughes been in charge all season, instead of the clown for most of it, he would not have only just kept Saints up. We would have been around 12th, that is my feeling.

Armstrong seems to have a good game in France, but what has Redmond done to deserve a start? On the basis of recent form I would have Long and Gabby in the team and Austin on the bench.

Yes, let's be positive

But isn't it traditional at Saints that ex-keepers get to become one of our goalkeeper coaches? So don't be surprised if FF becomes assistant to Watson.

The Championship can produce players of the quality of Maddison so your comment is somewhat naive.

..or before Mark Hughes is told about it?

Why are we rushing through this signing while Mark Hughes is in China?

HCDAJFU Seriously so could several of the Japanese team. Sign them. They ran and ran, their passing was sharp and they never gave up . Amazing skills. Proud you are true Saint, Yosh

And it's a positive that incoming signings are confirmed early this summer before our best players are sold. Fingers crossed though that we are improving the quality of the squad this time, and its what Mark Hughes wants.

So who do you think is making the decisions?

Easy. Ely Ely O

Good to have an Armstrong playing for Saints again.

Taxi talk?

Could be. Hugh knows?

It's always frustrating when players prove their talent then underperform, but that was the story of the last two seasons for most of the team under Puel and the clown. I'd very much like to see how Gabbi does under Hughes's training next season. When he scores, they are very important goals.

Just as well too. To be fair, it's early days, and likely that the team will be around the same strength or perhaps even a little weaker than now, given comings and goings over the summer. I'll be pleasantly surprised if there are major signings while there are almost certainly going to be departures, so Mark Hughes's evolving 'way' and style will surely be determined by how he manages to get the best out of players, and he certainly did this during later matches. Realistically 'the Southampton Way' may have to wait until more gifted youth players emerge. I think that his intention for Saints to play 'front foot' football is exciting but comes with defensive risks, so I'm prepared for a few nasty shocks. But in the long term we should enjoy far more interesting matches, and a good mid-table position. I'm very ok with building on that after the last two seasons. Hughes does have good history with Saints as a player, he proudly wore the saints shirt, and I believe him when he says that his past links with Saints were important to him when he took on the job of staving off relegation. He comes across as genuinely looking forward to a new challenge. So glass more than half-full for me. Im very much looking forward to pre-season matches.

Sure, and not forgetting the firesafe of anyone that is sellable. For heavens sake go, Les Reed.

And then it snows/floods for a week/fortnight and matches are cancelled so there's no footie for five or six weeks. Still 1947 will never happen again when the country ground to a standstill for nigh on two months. Surely. It's true Charlie, we won't notice the difference.

Sources?

Rashford for me in preference to Sterling after the two warm-up games. He is sharper and penetrates defences better. Sterling is underperforming.

I would like to see Target, McQueen and Gallagher given a chance with Mark Hughes's training regime. Boufal has been disciplined for refusing to warm-up during a crucial match so he must go. He's been a negative influence despite his skills, and he's lazy.