Dusic

I think its probably time for Stu to move on. Has been decent value but hasn't been at his top level for near on 2 years now and is probably the least suited to Sat/Tues/Sat of anyone in our squad.

Personally am suprised how comfortable people would be with losing our best striker. Yes he isn't perfect but I feel confident he would score 20 in the Championship, we don't have another player that applies to. It would cost us more to replace him with a player of an equal/lower standard and he is one of the players with "experience" that is so clamoured for on here. Will be very interesting to see the squad that flies to Turkey, as assume Charles and Manning will go for team bonding if not playing time. If the likes of Tella, Diallo, Onuachu etc (who have been training) don't travel then its surely a sign that they aren't in the plans for the season. We have way too many players so need to start getting some out as pointless giving many pre season minutes to players who won't be here in a month's time.

Paul Chuckle obviously has Andrew on notifications and Fareham James mostly spouts nonsense on here. But keep going lads if it makes you happy.

Three observations: 1. Notable use of inverted full back, Tino especially found himself in central midfield a lot 2. Obvious in this style you need CBs who can pass and receive well - arguably none of ours can, and central midfielders who can beat a press. Unfortunately Lavia showed how big a miss he will be 3. Felt for Mara and Adams as no service. Really lacking potency from the wide positions in our squad and hard to see where the likely 70+ goals needed for promotion would come from.

Suggests to me that we are probably going to sell Tadanari Lee

All sounds very nice but in the real world of football JWP will move to almost any PL team who make Saints an acceptable offer. Commuting, living away from family...its the reality of being a pro sportsperson and these guys are driven and have egos to play at the best level they can. He may well have a preference for remaining at home but if West Ham, Newcastle, Brighton whoever stump up the cash he will go and will find a solution to his living arrangements just like all the other pros who move away from their home patch.

Manning was 3rd for goal creating actions (behind Gyokores and Hamer) and 5th for shot creating actions last season. Very good attacking stats for a LB /LWB. If he comes in would assume Perraud will go as no sense in having both. Remember a recent interview where he cited Russel Martin as the biggest influence on his career so whilst there would be other interest we would surely have a very good chance. Also pretty sure we were linked with him whilst he was was QPR too.

I still think its extremely likely he will leave as soon as a PL club puts in a decent offer. All players want to play in the PL, particularly in a tournament year and he would also get a big pay increase to negate his likely relegation cut. I would imagine the shambles of the last couple of seasons has pissed him off quite a bit too...

Bazunu, McCarthy will be better than most and if AMc leaves then he will be replaced. Assume McNamara or Bycroft will be the third keeper and if it gets to the point the third keeper is needed then there is nearly always a free agent knocking around.

True, but they will surely prefer to sell to other clubs before Saints, you would imagine. That said, I prefer Downes to Grimes and Manning is a free agent so its only Piroe really.

He didn't start a PL game until Boxing Day! It was clear to seemingly everyone part from you that we signed Edozie as a promising player to be part of the first team squad, add an option and to develop him over the long term. He had barely played any senior minutes in his whole career FFS. He wasn't signed to come in and be an immediate starting XI player hence not starting in league for so long. I think signing Orsic was in theory to improve the goal threat of the team, as none of the established forward players like Moi, Stu, Adams, Arma, Djenepo, Walcott etc were doing it. You can add Edozie to the list for sure as part of the group but clearly Orsic wasn't signed in January because Edozie hadn't scored in his 3 PL starts to that point!

Be interesting to see what we end up with in the GK department. I reckon Baz, Lis, McNamara. Surely McCarthy won't put up with being a backup at this level?

Reality is that in the first few games players will start who are later sold. As always most transfers happen in the last few weeks of the window and as a Championship team that will leave us open to losing good players. But also means we should have a strong side for the first few even if we havent made many signings. The squad that goes on the Goztepe trip, and specifically who doesn't, will be interesting...

Yeah, cameos of the bench starting his first PL game on Boxing Day. Like I said, I don't think anyone expected him to come in and be a regular starter. Lets hope he has a good season, I expect him to and anyone who has already written him off is taking a risk because he is obviously talented and still so young! Not much more to say on it than that really.

Or its a sign that Jason Wilcox has recruited a player that he knows extremely well and thinks will be well suited to our needs. A player who is well versed in the style we will be adopting and has senior Intl experience.

Edozie, like Larios, was clearly not signed to go straight into our starting XI and make an immediate impact. Anyone who thinks otherwise either hugely misinterpreted that or is pretending otherwise to fit whatever point they are making. I don't think he was in the squad to start with and then took a while to even come off the bench. When he did it was imediately clear that he is a very talented dribbler with tight control, a good first touch and an ability to beat players 1 vs 1. Pretty much all his apps, in a poor team lacking attacking cohesion showed these attributes. IMO he could be very good next season if he can add end product in the way that Tella, who had lookwd woefully short of that in the PL, managed to do at Burnley. I think being in a team that has more of the ball will suit him and I am still glad we signed him as there is clearly big talent there. Learning on the job in a poor PL team is a tough gig and anyone who has already written him off as a failure is being pretty short sighted. If you think every signing is brought in to make an immediate impact then you must have totally missed our operating model for a number of years.

Don't see it this way myself. They have the best academy, lots of players who are clearly very good but have no real pathway to regular football at City. We have the ex City Academy Manager as our DoF, a manager who plays a style these players are trained in and a stated aim of giving players like those mentioned an opportunity to play first team football because we can't afford to sign players of that quality once they are proven. This summer we are dealing with interest from at least Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea in Lavia who we will make a significant profit on having come from the same route. I get why some people might clamour for more experience, although our recent more experienced signings (Orsic, Onuachu, DCC, Aribo etc) have been much worse than the young players, but not sure what makes it "dodgy, weird and worrying"? Its supply and demand and using a market we have strong knowledge of.

Yes, we already 'lost' AMN and its certain two out of JWP, Lavia and Diallo will go plus not impossible all 3 do.

He also doesn't really fit their style particularly. Under Martin he had something ridiculous like the 2nd best pass completion % in the whole of Europe, so for a ball oriented style seems well suited and young enough to develop further. He is a big West Ham fan so would be a big step for him to leave after just a year but hopefully he values regular minutes under a Manager he knows gets the best from him.

Supposedly Besiktas have offered €4m for Lynaco whilst Saints want closer to €8m. Would be amazed if they have actually offered a straight €4m fee for him. If so, surely rip their hand off for it. I had imagined he would end up leaving on loan so any kind of permanent deal would be good for us.

Nobody will pay that, its not a realistic fee. But they could still pay a substantial fee for him. Its highly likely they would still be able to make a profit in a couple of years even if they spent £30m on him. They have already dropped £30m on Joao Pedro and want Kudus from Ajax who is valued at £40m or so and their most connected reporter has said a couple of times they are very much interested in Livramento, so would imagine they know the likely costs involved. Just saying...one to watch until they sign another RB, especially if Tino's main thing is about playing time.

A new signing. Has to be someone who will play the vast majority of minutes, so most likely a CB or CM. Of the existing players who have a higher liklihood of staying only Stephens and Bednarek are realistic shouts IMO.

I think Brighton are the ones to watch with Livramento. They wanted him before, are keen now and unlike Chelsea and Newcastle he would be a starter. Last season they had no first choice RB, Lamptey is on his way out and Veltman is a versatile player who can play elsewhere. Seeing as they will have Europe he would get plenty of games, fits their profile and they aren't short of cash either.

Would say in the summer the talent ID was largely good. We signed some very good players like Lavia and ABK and clearly identified Gakpo, Ramos, Colwill and Hojlund too before they became much more widely revered. Not sure on the roles and responsibilities but maybe its too simplistic to say Shields did a poor job if his role was to identify the players and then pass it to the owners/Semmens to actually get deals done? Takes a good structure to get things done and noticeable that when Russell Martin had his big rant about Swansea's poor Jan window he specifically said the head of recruitment there couldn't have done more and was as frustrated as everyone else. Usually there are multiple factors and its too simplistic just to blame one person.

Obviously its just interviews but liking what he is saying so far. Nothing OTT, just clear, genuine, leader-like and easy to warm to. One of the biggest challenges this season is to really win back the fans and a manager who people trust and like will help a lot, assuming results and performances follow.