qwertyell

He had a full pre-season last term and still looked miles off the pace, so I'm not confident of his chances of returning to anything like his pre-injury level. His doddering cameo against Man City at the tail end of last season was a sorry sight. His future - if he has one - is surely away from the wings if, as it seems, his mobility is compromised (whatever swollocks Saints are spinning about him gaining pace). He's still likely to be quicker than Austin or Pelle and theoretically a decent all round striker who can score all types of goals. It'd be a great shame if his best days are in the past, and I'd love to be proven wrong, but I can't think of too many players who've lost two years to injury yet have returned as good as ever. Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

Aside from being unable to last 90 minutes, play two games in a row or keep up with the pace of the league, he was all right...

Don't see Saints shelling out £10m on a back up LB when they've got Targett and some other youngsters (Debayo and that 15/16 year old who played some games at the end of the season for the u21s, I think) in the wings. The only way Amavi is coming is if Bertrand is leaving. In any case, didn't he do his ACL? Hasn't played since. I'd like to think we've learned our lesson with Rodriguez about giving contracts to players who haven't proven that they've fully overcome a serious injury. Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

Unless we already have replaced him with Redmond. Which would be the opposite of something to get excited about.

Although it's a laudable ambition that Saints want to push academy players into the first team, it will ultimately be at the expense of the overall quality of the side if - as with the current generation - the standard of the young players coming through is mediocre at best. I know Les and his mate Hunter have to justify the efficiency of the youth set up by showing that x number of players have walked the "pathway" from fledgling to first team, but it's a pointless exercise in back slapping if the players aren't good enough - and I think most would be hard pressed to name many lads outside of the first team squad who should be anywhere near a Championship side, let alone a top six Premier League team playing in Europe. But good luck to the new manager in any case. Every appointment is a gamble - the very few managers who "guarantee" success don't come to Southampton. Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

I thought he was meant to have an £8m release clause. Anyway, it seems a sound investment - as a squad player. As others have said, if he's a direct replacement for Mane, that's such an inadequate downgrade for a key player, it's almost funny. Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

£30m plus Ibe, pays for Redmond and Kostic with plenty left over and we lose one wide attacker and replace him with three. In terms of squad building, that gives us two left wingers (Tadic being the other) and two right wingers. Don't really want to lose Mane, but if it balances the squad in a similar way, perhaps it's good business - especially as he's itching to leave. Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

They'll be lucky to manage 15 starts between them. Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

Wouldn't even relocate to his native Germany when he was national team coach. Can't imagine Saints being happy letting the manager commute from California... Wouldn't even relocate to his native Germany when he was national team coach. Can't imagine Saints being happy letting the manager commute from California... Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

Maybe, but not necessarily. We're short of wide attacking options, now Juanmi and Ramirez have left, assuming Long will play through the middle from now on, and conceding that Rodriguez's mobility is now on a par with an asthmatic slug. I think Mane's more effective through the middle too. Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

For the three games per season where he actually tries? He's got some great attributes but a heart the size of a pea. Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

First five away look pretty ugly... Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

From memory, the story goes that, after not so secretly meeting with Spurs, Ponch went back to Saints and said he wanted to walk away from the last year of his contract - but not because he had another job lined up. Saints informed him that he would then be personally liable for £2m in compensation. A few days later, Spurs made an official approach and paid the compensation. So the story goes, anyway... Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

If that were the case, Redmond would be a very decent upgrade. The fear is that he's being lined up to replace Mane, which would be utterly inadequate. In a general sense, though, the squad does need more genuine wide options in attack: Mane is more effective coming inside, Long is no winger, Rodriguez can't run any more, Isgrove and McQueen, of the youngsters coming through, aren't ever going to make the grade. (Josh Sims has some promise, though). Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

Austin and Rodriguez barely have two working knees between them. Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

Seriously? How has such a talented player not been snapped up by a proper team yet? Does he have a reputation as a bit of a plonker? Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

Plus a £50m bonus in the unlikely event Liverpool finish above footballing behemoths, corner flag inventors and everyone in continental Europe's second favourite team, Everton. Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

£25m plus add ons? Shouldn't even be in the ballpark. Always assumed he'd be off, but to someone a bit better than Liverpool. Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

Interestingly (or not) Jorge Sampaoli, who I'd love to see at Saints, was seemingly a done deal as the next Lazio manager. Wonder what's changed for him in the last handful of days... (Almost certainly not related to Saints, but hey...) Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

Would William sell? Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

That away shirt design is perfectly set up for a Rank Xerox/inverse Ajax kit. Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

Entering the final year of he contract. Badly ruptured his hamstring in early 2014, which had to be sewn, stapled and glued back together, missed the entire 14/15 season and only started appearing again for Ajax this season, a diminished version of the player he was. £3.8m could turn out to be a bargain - the talent is still there and he's only 21. But he might be playing the rest of his career on one good leg. Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

There have been points in Tadic's Saints career where I've felt they wouldn't even recoup half of what they bought him for, so benign has he been. Without doubt, he found some hot form in the final handful of games - and if that's enough to get him a lucrative move elsewhere at at ridiculously overinflated price, good luck to him. I don't think he's anywhere near irreplaceable and, frankly, if Saints made a profit on him and were able to bring in, say, Ziyech, I don't think that'd be bad business all round. Although I find it hard to believe there are clubs queuing around the block to sign Tadic. Pelle's served his purpose and been gradually eased out of the starting XI, so I wouldn't imagine his departure having a major impact. Juanmi's been a nothing player and whether he stays or goes probably makes no difference to anyone except him. The club's hands are tied in respect to Wanyama if he won't extend his contract, and they've had at least a year to consider his likely exit and line up a replacement. Mane could be this season's Schneilderlin/Wanyama, where he wants to go but the club tell him he's got to suck it up and play another year (and then leave the following summer). His market value wouldn't be as high as it is now, but I think his value to the team and the next campaign is more important. Now Long's gone central, we don't have any wide attackers other than Mane who aren't ploddingly slow. I doubt all five players will go. The board might have to dig their heels in a bit and endure the odd tantrum, but they should be used to it by now. Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

I think that's a bit of tired cliche - Walcott has enough goals and assists over his career to suggest he has some idea of what he's doing. What he lacks, in my opinion, is personality. He's wishy washy, risk averse, ducks out of challenges, is happy drifting through games on the periphery, never forcing the issue by trying to take the match by the scruff of the neck. He talks about wanting to play through the middle and be the main man, but is too prone to disappearing acts to ever suit the role. If he had Shane Long's heart (or Long had his pace and finishing), he'd be a hell of a player. But he hasn't, and his career will remain a bit of a damp (and wildly overpaid) squib. Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

Fun tw*t fact: Colbeck never actually said this - it was merely the offerings of a Twitter scamp, who worked out that slapping any old quote onto a picture of a random person very quickly spreads an "authenticated fact" among gullible internet tw*ts who'll believe literally anything if it's retweeted enough. I'd consider signing Lascelles, Townsend or Wijnaldum from Newcastle, as Saints' squad could do with a decent young centre back to challenge and eventually take over from Fonte, a genuine winger and a goalscoring midfielder. Wouldn't touch any of their other players with a bargepole though. At Villa, Jack Grealish is a talented youngster who needs a bit of guidance. Not sure what happened to Adama Traore - he looked a heck of a prospect at Barcelona, but disappeared after the first couple of weeks of this season, never to be seen again. Norwich were always a Championship side with Championship players. Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk