Dusic

Makes Mane at £35m an absolute steal, albeit not an English player. I doubt Liverpool would sell him now for anywhere lower than £70m. Those players have the premium of being British but still, ludicrous prices for centre backs who are good but not top quality. Alderweireld/VVD for £12-14m must be two of the best PL signings of the last 10 years, especially TA as he was already PL proven.

Topley set to play tomorrow and hopefully bowl his first ball for Hants First XI. I think Root and Bairstow are available for Yorkshire so will be a tough game. Hants missing Roussouw also, who is replaced by Alsop.

Biggest, most telling, revelation from the ALWAYS debacle is that so many haven't even heard of the (joint) second top scorer in the Championship yet spend everybday talking or posting about football. Bizarre.

Not enough ability to cover ground quickly in there IMO. Thats been our biggest midfield problem this season and a large reason we get easily counter attacked, big lack of pace and mobility in the middle of midfield.

Puel clearly deserves another season and also for the Club not to leave him hanging in the transfer windown which has happened in both since he has been at the Club. Some nice football this season but not ruthless enough. Worth noting Koeman beat all the top 6 in his two seasons, thats where we have regressed most.

Agree. Austin's movement is poor and he is injury prone. Long misses too many chances and Jay needs a move for his own sake. Not sure Gallagher is PL quality but another loan at a better team would be good. Moyes was watching him again today and has done a lot, be interesting to see if we would sell or only loan. Puel didn't exactly speak glowingly about SG earlier in the season and ultimately most Championship strikers struggle at PL level, albeit with a few exceptions.

Absolutely. But also worth noting that she is obviously looking to sell when the deal is right. Its important a club has an owner who wants to own the club. Numerous examples of clubs that have quickly declined once the owner is looling to sell and cannot find the right buyer.

Really promising start to the season, especially from the new recruits. Hopefully the injuries won't be too bad and if not we have a chance to be one of the better sides in theory.

Would be nice for the club to give the Manager a balanced squad without clear weaknesses, which has not been the case after the summer and winter windows this season. Then we should have a good season relative to the quality of player we have. Then

He has a worrying attribute of making at least one really, really poor, underhit, scuffed pass a game that puts us in real trouble.

Its hardly a suprise, its a good summary of our business model. These players wouldn't join in the firsy place unless they knew we would allow them to move on when a bigger, better, richer club comes in for them. Anyone who joins Saints under the age of 25 or 26 and is still here 5 years later will probably not have progressed as they, or we, expected.

Given his tangible benefit to the side it would be naïve IMO to just let him go easily. He is one of the best players of his type in the PL and age 28 is in the prime of his career. Would imagine having signed a new deal last summer we would be looking for at least £25m.

Agree with that. Won't happen but in an ideal world we would sell two of Austin, Long and Jay Rod in the summer and bring in a couple of players better suited to our style and system. Gabbiadini has showed so quickly how limited the others are. And all are on big money.

The reporter said 8th could mean Europe, not Puel. Puel didnt correct him, nor did he affirm that 8th could mean Europe.

Sensible comments. They will certainly be sniffing as he is a top player and the type they want to sign. The key is that better teams will want him, otherwise he would propably want to join Everton due to the much publisised money on offer - as swayed Koeman.

http://www.football-italia.net/58253/southampton-prepare-dybala-bid Good to see our scouts always looking in the right places, even if not everything comes off!

Davis back in training. Likewise Boufal. No sign of Gabbi. Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Which two of these do you see us finishing above then? Chelsea, Spurs, Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Man Utd, Everton, Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Strange toss up also as one's best attribute is stamina and agility, which is the others weakness. Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Amazing how difficult it seems to be to spell Wilshere correctly. Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Pochettino changed us from a relegation candidate, bottom 6 type team to a solid top 10 club. He changed the perception of Saints in the top flight, got us playing some brilliant football with mostly young, English players and we have built on that really well. He is an excellent Manager, probably the best in the PL IMO. Pretty much all the players who work with him love the guy and Les Reed still has a lot of time for him. His time at Saints was certainly beneficial for him, as it was for us - a brilliant appointment by Cortese and Reed. Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

If they bat sensibly (big if) then we have a chance...great bowling effort today. Even if we lose as is likely, it is clear we are a better bowling team than last year which would represent some consolation. Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Pretty much all our good spells as a team coincide with him being on form. Interesting Romeu said he is one of the players who always wants to win, probably sometimes comes across as petulant but probably not intended like that. He is good, and he knows he is. Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Interesting, Ron. Dave told me they have been setting up like that in training this week.

Usual drivel with the bat after getting back into the game well after lunch. How much longer does Adams get?