eelpie

This. We have no other choices at present, unless one of the youngsters makes an impressive Premiership start to the season - or we come good with a new striker signing. Sharp is a poacher - that is where he scores most of his goals, admittedly when he is at his best.. There were times last season when we could have had done with a goal poacher up front. Worth a try.

The fans are more worried than disgruntled, I would say, by the slow, slow progress in signing at least one striker, not to mention strengthening other key positions. Otherwise, despite the poor writing, the article describes the present situation fairly accurately, alas. We need to move on, faster.

Very smart. I like the logo white out of the dark background too. But BLUE? (and navy?)

Would that be one enquiry/approach for each of six different positions?

Do you really believe that others will agree with you when your mind is made up?

But is he still cashing Saints cheques?

Brilliant! Brilliant! Now let's go find and sign the other six we need for our 7th place! Liverpool, here we come!

Succinctly put

Didn't Les Read say that he didn't favour loaning out players?

It is what some of us pointed out some while ago. The so called 'financial difficulties' announced by the incoming new Board seems to be the agenda - their agenda - that appears to be dominating player sales and purchases. They give an impression that they don't have a progressively long term vision. If we do not offer the asking price for talented replacements we will get nowhere. Where will the crowds come from if we don't replace the top players that have left? And how will that help our finances? (We do need to work within budgets, but how much have we been offering for Pelle? And I haven't yet heard of rumours of targets to replace Shaw, or even Fox?) We do have talented youngsters, but as 'arry said and proved 'you can't win with only youngsters'. They will only mature best by playing alongside and learning from the best. And for that reason they will want to move to bigger clubs at the first opportunity. I do believe that Les is doing his best, but has he got the wholehearted support of the Board when it comes to negotiating? I hope I am proved wrong.

No more comment (for now)

Like it. Strong stripes and classic black shorts. It reminds me of Dell times when I was younger. Up the real Saints! But - the only problem with stripes from a design viewpoint is that modern logos don't always work well on stripes, and either look like stuck-on cut outs like the first aap3 logo and here, or like when plain lettering on stripes clash optically, like Sunderland's. I would have preferred the logo reversed out of a flat red horizontal panel. But the sponsor will always want to shout his name. (I suppose I will be told I'm being negative again.)

No wonder MoPo couldn't understand him....

It is a massive plus that Jack and Steven are positive about the future. I'm looking forward to Big Ron forging new midfield partnerships if Schneiderlin leaves. Both Jack and Vic are very important players for us. Vic's distribution did seem to be improving towards the end of last season, post injury, and Jack has good muscle and imaginative flair. He did not get enough support and encouragement from MoPo it seems judging from his comments, so it's good to know that RK is here. Steve's role too is going to be massive. (He might make an excellent captain). But I agree pace could be a concern and Vic's role in front of the back three/four will be massive in strengthening our defence.

I will be brief. If there is a problem it is not the number of ‘random’ threads, but that posters don’t read and analyse O’Ps, and roam off topic, often posting inanities. Most threads that are hotly debated create spin-off topics of their own. To contain them in one thread such as player comings and goings would end up inordinately long. Spin-off threads are like sub-chapters and deserve threads of their own, and everyone has a right to debate and focus on them.

I hope so.

There is an opportunity for Les/The Board to show a bit of mettle. Both Schneiderlin and Lovren are on contracts and don't have to be sold - yet. We are witnessing how long it is taking to find and sign suitable replacements for Rickie, Shaw and Lallana. And it is going to get more difficult the closer we get to kick off. We are not in a buyer's market and won't be able to offer peanuts for the best. The best answer in a bad situation is to continue the quest to seek, negotiate and sign suitable replacements, which of course we are doing. And so what if the two players threaten to go on strike? Well, let them. They will not get paid, and they should not be allowed into club premises while they rebel. Let them wait until we have signed the players we want and are ready to sell. It is our call.

And who is the replacement we are about to sign for Shaw?

Well, this hasn't been confirmed yet and as Batman hints at, negotiations can break down. This thread is looking forward to future sales/replacements. There is a lot of business to be done. Why sell when players are on contracts until we have suitable replacements lined up? Players 'out and in' contracts can be conditional on synchronised signings. The 'big' clubs should be told in no uncertain terms to wait until then. Have we no pride anymore? We should be negotiating from strength. Why should we be bullied?

We should never have sold players without first signing quailty replacements, that is contingent on having suitable quality replacements ready to put pen to paper. And we should not sell any further players without having suitable quality replacements ready to put pen to paper. We are now in a weak buyer's market when we need not have been. We have the cash, but sellers are going to demand very high prices. Our Board/Les Read has been very gullible, and have allowed the big clubs bully us into releasing Shaw and Lallana, and pressurising us into selling more key players. Rival clubs are strengthening their teams, but Saints seem to be struggling to have a Premiership quality team at the club. Not a good situation, Les.

Do they teach anglo saxon words there? Will he be linguistically equipped for the English Premiership?

That is all very well, but this is a premature assessment. We have not yet signed replacements, and the replacements have to prove that they can adapt to the physicality of PM football. And it does not take into account further players who might be on the way out. At this moment in time the exit door is looking like it might be busier than the entry door. I hope the article is right though.

OMG - I hope we are all not going to be forever subjected to continuous cheesy Dutch accents on here. If so I can't wait till Koeman leaves.

Sorry, but I have to say that does look like a torture chamber. Is that room 101 through the black door? And what is with the tipsy logo? Or is it me? - had a few drinks today

St Mary's is actually going to be resized smaller to reflect Season Ticket Sales.