Dusic

Hopefully like the last few days with Carrillo, no news is good news. In theory, if Promes had no desire whatsoever to join Saints then his agent would have told us and we would have walked away - so their must be some kind of willingness to make it happen on the right terms or if its the best gig in town for him and he wants to move now (although not sure why the urgency to do so). Equally if he has a release clause then that helps not having to negotiate heavily with the Russians. I still think Promes will likely wait until the summer and assess his options, so hopefully we have a backup. Carrillo is a good signing IMO as we lack that profile of player. But alone he makes a static and slow attack even slower, so to have the best mix then we need the pace and directness, as well as the goal record, that Promes would bring. Lets see what happens, but no news may be good news, especially as we havent been linked strongly with others in his position.

Good move. We are crying out for a targetman and he might also help defend set pieces better as we are a small, fragile side. Get Promes as well and its a decent window for us.

Was better than Palace at the weekend but still fairly poor, despite the amount of rain. Hopefully better for Brighton, our team is based around technical play and in a league of marginal gains, a crappy hoke surface does our chances no good. Strange that this season it has been worse with fewer games than we had last year.

The Sturridge one was clearly a possibility much earlier in the window. I think Wilson mentioned it and then later said it wouldn't happen. These things are very fluid. We have probably enquired about 20 or 30 players. Carrillo is clearly a main target. Promes I am far less convinced on the liklihood of that. For those saying we won't sign anyone, we obviously will. They just might not be that good if we don't get the ones nesr the top of our list. It also doesn't really matter if its today, tomorrow, Saturday, Monday etc as long as we bring in quality.

The situation is pretty clear: the club, especially Reedo and Wee Willo will be judged at the end of the window. Not today, not tomorrow but on the morning of 1st Feb. We know we have sold our best player for a lot of money, but if they use that money and bring in 2 or 3 players who instantly improve our side then fair play, they will have done a good job. If they just bring in one player, or none, or sign utter dross then it will be judged as another cluster**** window. Until 1st Feb you cannot really judge. And you certainly cannot claim they are not doing anything because you have no idea if that is true or not.

IMO it would be mental not to rest at least: Hoedt - only quality CB we have Romeu - on 8 yellows Tadic - only effective creative player Bednarek must start at CB to give him game time as will likely be needed in the league assuming we don'!t bring in another CB.

What do we think the chances of the currently linked names are? I reckon: Carrillo - 7/10 Promes - 4/10 Another different wide player - 5/10 VVD replacement - 1/10 Hope whoever joins they are in to be available vs Brighton. Even if from bench it would be a big lift.

You would hope we have been given a bit of encouragement by his agent, otherwise its a massive waste of time at a crucial point of the window and very naïve. For the player it makes more sense to wait until the summer and assess his options. But if he wants to join Saints and has a release clause then it would be very possible. The key part is if he wants do, which should be easy to find out. Hope Les the Postie doesn't get his hand bitten through the letterbox by the Spartak bulldog.

Much better today and suprise, suprise, it helped the players. People at the club know they have made bad decisions, taken too long to spellcheck pledges and sign players etc but supporting the actual players on the pitch is always going to be more conducive to getting a better result than stupid protests. Fans were better, Manager was better, players were better.

Definitely missing a defensive leader. Stephens, unfortunately for a centre back, is better on the ball than off it.

Totally agree. Supporting the team gives the best chance of a good result. In some ways I see this game as a free hit. We likely won't get anything and most results went well yesterday with only Stoke winning in the bottom half. The biggest games are Brighton and WBA plus the whole of March - that will determine our fate. Was noticeable the positivity and excellent atmopshere at Anfield last week when Liverpool beat City. We could do with some of that, otherwise I feel playing at home is a disadvantage to us. You know all the oppos will be saying keep it tight, score first and the crowd will turn on their team. Reed et al will know they have made some bad decisions, MP will know his position is precarious. They don't need pieces of crap A4 photoshop waved in their faces to work that out.

Its not breaking news. We have been in a relegation battle for a few weeks now. Big games coming up and we need to support the team not start protesting.

Reality is that most deals happen towards the end of the window. We obviously want Carrillo and I expect we will get him. An added difficulty is that clubs like Monaco or Spartak for example i.) Arent desperate for the money ii.) Know we are desperate for players and iii.) Know we just sold VVD for a record fee. Pellegrino seems happy with what the club are doing to sign players, and ultimately as long as we get them it doesn't matter now whetger they sign today or in a week's time.

Pellegrino seems fairly certain that two players will come in. Agree with him that its only worth adding good players and generally that goes til near the end of the window. The Watford cup game is irrelevant so as long as we have two in for the Brighton game then so be it. Will be glad if we are targetting quality.

Practical question: as we only really have Reed and Wilson who are senior enough full time employees to lead transfer negotiations, would we struggle to do two big deals at the same time? For example is Reed travelled to Monaco to work on Carrillo, woukd he be able to do much on another deal at the same time?

Russian report says Promes is not true. Even if we are interested, I bet they are a nightmare to deal with, and like any other club, knows we i.) Have money and ii.) Are desperate.

Support the team, make a positive home atmosphere. Stuff like this is counter-productive to the above and will help cause relegation, not prevent it. We have some massive games coming up at home, now isnt the time for stuff like this. (Plus the Manager is a part problem but not the biggest problem).

Absolutely bossed some games earlier this season and looked fantastic until his injury. When on form was clearly one of our best players and added vital pace, mobility and strength. Time to give him a run of starts again?

Agree, but in that context Carrillo is the sort of player you will end up with. £15m is the £8m of a few years ago. You will get a young prospect with few games, a Championship striker you aren't sure will make the step up, a reserve who isn't playing at a bigger club or an old past it has-been. £15m will not buy someone in their prime with a great goal record, who starts every week at a team in a good league. For those you start the bidding at £30m. For a player like Benteke.

Judging by the latest Wilson piece we won't replace VVD. I expect that circumstances will occur that will mean Bednarek starting at least one league game before the end of the season so hopefully he is good enough. Yoshida currently injured so he is our first backup. IMO each of our CBs is currently elevated one place above what their true squad level should be. Hoedt is a 2nd choice, Yoshida 3rd, Stephens 4th and Bednarek out on loan learning his trade. From Fonte-Lovren, Fonte-Alderweireld, Fonte-VVD to Hoedt-Yoshida is unquestionably a big downgrade. Ever since VVD got vardied we have shipped more goals than for the 3 years before - simply because the defenders are worse.

20 goals in 29 starts for Monaco (plus a number of sub apps, some for just a handful of minutes). Not as terrible as some make out. The problem, if there is one with this signing, is not Carrillo. It is that we are spending £15m. It it were double that then you get access to better players, with better goal records in better leagues. Simple as that. Source: Soccerbase

Start of the window puff pieces in Telegraph and Sky etc said we would be very active. One signing doesn't cut it. Simple as. Everton have done what we needed to. Addressed key areas quickly.

If we matched the financials and he picked Everton then you can't really blame us or him. Over the next 5 years its 99% likely they will fare better than us.

Stupid thing is that we actually have a good amount of decent players. We clearly are lacking in three main areas and if sorted we would have a good side: - Powerful striker - Defensive leader - Pace out wide With a world record fee for a defender having come in then we shoukd be able to sort these 3 in this one window. But we won't.

Could this window be set to rival last January as an omnishambles? As I see it: Carrillo will be the striker. We need one with more presence. Its a gamble but unless you pay big dough then you can't sign proven PL strikers, and we won't pay. At least MP knows what he is getting. I say at least, because its clear (even more so after Stoke's search) that we will be retaining him. Out wide we are badly in need of some pace and goal threat. That is why Walcotr would have been ideal. You wouldn't get a more proven PL wide player with 100 goals for that price, would have been a great signing and would have given the whole club a lift. CB a must. Backup RB at a push could wait til summer. Deals Needed: 1. Carrillo or similar targetman type 2. Pace out wide 3. CB who can lead the defence. Tick tock Leslie Arnold and Wee Ross... I think we will end up with just Carrillo, after hyping to all the favoured Journalists about Walcott, Tosun, Benteke, Shaw, Sturridge, Mawson etc. If so, would rather have kept VVD til end of season.