Giordano

I think the answer to what happens if we don't is that we will struggle to emulate last seasons finish. Its almost a given that every other epl team will improve from last year, so we would really only have the three promoted sides that we might be good enough to beat below us. I personally feel that reinforcing and upgrading the cb position, reinforcing+upgrading the cm position and reinforcing+upgrading the cf position are all predictable moves given our compact style of play under MP. I am somewhat surprised that we have no full back re-inforcement, especially at RB. I deduce this is because our CB's or DM's will play there if necessary - as Cork as showed last year - but its not ideal as they lack the attacking quality/overlapping pace that is a requirement of that compact team higher up the pitch approach that we are playing - so this is a weakness in our squad.

SRL is certain to provide goals plus assists for any forward he plays with this season in the EPL. He has got an EPL season under his belt and knows the score. The other EPL defenders know what he can do and will be wary. If we add ANOTHER new goal threat - even if EPL inexperienced - but with an International reputation then even better. We did not frighten teams enough last year and force them to stop being so aggressive against us....... Id 100% prefer him to be on the pitch with whatever new 9 we bring in. Which brings me back around to how to achieve that given MP's tactical predispositions...4-3-1-2...or 3-5-2 perhaps..

MLG - would you know which games and what his stats / our team stats were from those games? In other words did it work as a tactic for Saints...? I presume it was the latter part of the season so if it was the last 6 perhaps not but if it was the mid to latter part then its conceivably THE thinking of the coaching team should we buy a big name number 9. I note the most persistent rumors are for tall, strong, good shot, good heading, good technique, well built forwards - not Defoe types gor example - and these are all in SRL's profile....

Would we spend £20million on a guy, probably make him top earner, and then not instantly "start" him? Sounds absurd. If the rumors about a new number 9 are true they mean: 1.We play two main strikers Rickie + Carlos kickaball - 4-3-1-2 perhaps 2. Rickie is reassigned a new position not lead striker ie AM in a 4-2-3-1 3. Rickie is on the bench as an impact striker or 4. Both Rickie and Carloskickaball are interchangeable according to the various other factors ie SRL plays fa cup matches,league cup matches and when Carlos is injured/suspended. We would need a new penalty taker, direct free kick taker, leading goalscorer and leading assist creator if SRL was on the bench.....That is some risk! Could we really be thinking of playing Rickie plus a Carlos kickaball you think...?

Exactly. The "glamour" of playing for Napoli only goes so far with established players like Gomez. Playing devils advocate a real diamond is still to do it in Europe despite his 17 Selecao caps....and i know this sounds a bit far fetched but those caps also coincided with Brazil not playing all that well tbh...I had also read he has privately discounted us in any case, as has Osvaldo. Delighted to be proven wrong of course.

http://www.corrieredellosport.it/calcio/calcio_mercato/2013/07/09-327683/Calciomercato+Napoli%3A+pronta+l%27offerta+per+Damiao Basically saying Napoli have offered 20million euros and a 5 year deal at 2.2m euros per year to him.That c £17.2Million transfer fee and £1.9Million in salary for 5 years (£36,500 per week). We can pay more fee and more salary im sure. But he wont pick us over Napoli. Napoli helped make Maradona the International superstar he was. They are a known and respected team in South America,unlike Saints.

Its either Wanyama or the Real Diamond i reckon judging from the clues. Or neither as its utter tosh.

Looking at all players/strikers Juventus have hoovered up ( Llorente Tevez and looks like Jovetic as well) and all the strikers Spurs and Chelsea and Man City have have been linked with it seems to me that there will be some seriously unsettled strikers at those clubs that might be shifted at the last minute when all the pieces fall into place... For example - Matri and Quaglierella at Juve, Defoe and Adebayor at Spurs, Dzeko and Ageuro at City, Ba, Torres and Lukaku at Chelsea...If Juve, Spurs, City and Chelsea (and there are other CL clubs in similar situations) all get the super-strikers they are linked with / looking for then it is not inconceivable that a club like Saints with possibly cash in hand could be there to pick up proven players at a fire-sale price on the last day of the window as those other clubs attempt to balance the books. Given that NC is a businessman he must have already worked that out. For example, Matri might be a £15m player now, but if Jovetic arrives then he is 4th choice and Juve will be committed to his big wages for a long while - hence perhaps unload him for £10m instead to get rid...or if Chelsea buy Benteke then Ba or Torres gets unloaded to Spurs /arsenal/city who in turn unload defoe, dzeko and say podolski. Just a different take on the game of "consequences". Those signings dont look like "saints" signings ie wrong age little up ££ potential etc - but if they are going at a bargain price then NC might sit up and take notice.... Defoe could even be what id call a nominal fee for a current international (under £5m) for instance and surely no Saints fan would argue that he could not score EPL goals for us this season after he notched 15 last year......

@Tancredipalmieri: Napoli bid £23m for Southampton's Rickie Lambert....they have bid for every other decent striker why not Rickie...:-) ..its like, what, isn't our Rickie good enough for you?

...as expected...Dzeko is the second choice for Napoli so lets hope he goes to them...If not Dzeko let it be Osvaldo or Suarez or Villa then....anyone but our main target :-)

Yup- a wide forward/midfielder and he has played for MP when he was at Espanyol. If we really wanted this kind of player he has got all the credentials of a possible signing ....Dam is a striker- different unfortunately - Napoli will still need to replace Cavani- the likes of Callejon will as likely add assists to the new guy as score himself..

I understood from the Ramirez saga that he has got a similar clause in his deal. If we got relegated his "trigger" for transfer talks would be whatever we paid for him- no more. I'd imagine that in lieu of trophies on the shelf and historical prestige and instant European football NC can only offer EPL football, big wages, big ambition and the get out of jail free card of a contract that allows easy escape if we fail to acheive defined targets or if a "bigger" club comes knocking at a reasonable sell on fee. Benefits both parties. We don't have much choice tbh with the big name players but to make it a comfy contract.

I'm not sure Benitez would buy an unproven in Europe number 9. They are playing CL this season, not getting sorted out for the next year after. A serious proven CL number 9 is what he should be going for .Gomez is his number 1 im sure, Dam is only3rd or4th choice i think - but if its between CL bound Napoli to replace Cavani or to little Southampton- to fight it out with SRl- we lose. We have to wait because We are ( still) lower on the food chain- FACT :-)

I'd say well worth hearing what tancredi has got to say on Damiao...

Yup less than 2% chance then, but Roma are sniffing around him and think $14m tops will get him - according to Corriero dello sport. If Non-CL, non EL Roma are sniffing anyone then Saints are entitled to have a sniff too :-).

I wonder if MP has transgressed one of the Chairman's principles because he earlier stated " Southampton has certain principles and values in the way we carry out negotiations set out by the chairman"....i thought one of those was to say nothing and not name names?

Kevin Strootman. If we are keen on centre midfield then he would be awesome. Toughtackling, defensive mid. Age 23. 6ft 1. Even looks like Morgan so it would be like there is two of them on the pitch... Dutch international, Psv Eindhoven. Cost: unknown. Likeliness factor: 2% chance.

Plausible. Agent told to STFU- that's got NC's fingerprints on it. Internacional playing straight bat. Ditto. Age 23. That is a good age, and the age of a player or players we are reputedly / allegedly looking at. Centre-forward. We are in need of one so its no surprise. Brazilian number 9 though? In a World Cup year for a World Cup taking place in Brazil? GTFOOH!!! This would be our biggest and highest world wide profile signing ever. Fast forward thirteen or so months and that player could be lifting the Jules Rimet trophy on tv in front of a world wide audience of billions having been highest goalscorer in the Tournament,.....and the whole world would know he plays for.....Southampton. It guarantees full houses this season home and away. Its a massive move to enter the big league. Damiao joins and I bet you all the dithering Banegas and Astoris and Naingolans and Stochs all rush to sign up too... But i give it a 10% chance im sorry to say- mega delighted to be proved wrong, but more likely if the bloke does leave its for a CL team. Oh- and if he does join, he does play WC and Brazil do win - his value doubles overnight. So it makes commercial sense too. You need to get your brazilians in now....after Brazil win the WC next year they will all be much more expensive. ps. I don't mean getting your bits waxed to landing strip dimensions either, i mean proper players ;-) 0.

To put this into perspective, you can pick up 29 year old Mathieu Flamini for virtually "free" as a Defensive midfielder if we really want another one. He has loads of experience, undoubted skill, and can do the DM job at least as good as Cork.....Has just turned down a AC Milan two year extension at $150,000/month cos he wants three years at £280,000/month. If we got him for "free" on £200,000 a month that means the £12,000,000 we would previously be giving to Celtic could go towards the superstriker and the full back.There is no resale value with Flamini and he is injury prone - but without a fee (or very little) it might be sensible, he would certainly add European and EPL "know-how" to our squad.

I pasted this from "the science of soccer". It's talking about the last World Cup, semi finalists were Spain Uruquay, Germany and Holland. Unsurprisingly, the teams that run the most don't win the most. From a team standpoint, the distance covered per match by each team did not correlate with passing, shot attempts or goals scored per match. In fact, of the 8 teams that covered the most distance per match, half made the round of 16 and only two made the quarterfinals. Also, of the eight teams posting the top sprint speeds, three did not advance past the round of 16. Finally the distance covered by the four semifinalists was only slightly more than the average for all 32 teams. So, the relationship between fitness and team success at the World Cup Finals level is a bit muddled. There is no correlation between running and success in isolation. Only in England (and the USA) is there the accepted as FACT sentiment that players who run around a lot are good, and those that do not are not so good. Its why players like MLT did not get recognition he deserved. It's why Berbatov is still regarded with suspicion in the UK yet players inferior to him like most forwards in the EPl are better regarded. Its another reason why England are galaxies away from ever winning the WC.

I was thinking its "too quiet" myself as well. Two weeks ago the latest player associated with us was coming out every day... Now nothing for a fortnight. Its almost like NC has said " if this gets out deal Is dead"....as was rumoured to be part of his modus operandii.woild not be surprised if we got multiethnic irons in fires right now...just edit and see...

According to the agents we made our bid (now) some three weeks ago. It took two weeks to get out that the Agents and (maybe) Wanyama were not having it. The agents did'nt say "we been negotiating for two weeks to no avail", they basically said fees and wages rejected two weeks ago then not heard a thing. Celtic just confirmed they accepted a bid and allowed us access. That sounds wrong to me. Once NC told them what he would pay and they told him what they want do you not think there would have been a bit of haggling? We are just being fed BS - certainly by the agents. From what ive heard i think NC is pretty decisive with this kind of thing. Id say its a dead situation unless the agents change. Says to me that in all likelihood we have deals lined up on the QT.

Yes Brazil looked good - but it was loaded against Spain who had a day less rest, a tough extra time semi-final penalties against a tough Italy team, played at a ridiculous higher heat and higher humidity at a location four hours flight away from Maracana where Brazil already there nicely prepared after straightforward win against Uruguay that Spain totally destroyed in first half of their match early in tournament. Even Italy struggled against that relatively weaker Uruguay ( albeit Italy put there a load of new players out there against full strength Uruguay) because of the scheduling. The political situation out there added extra power to Brazil too... You make the Brazil team do what Spain did, give Spain the extra day etc - different story. The next world cup will be decided on scheduling of fixtures as much as matches. Its not fair. Both finalists should get equal preparation time as a minimum. I think Spain, Germany and Italy from Europe could all give that Brazil team a good game on equal terms...

I understand your sentiment but its pretty old hat to think that vomiting is the sign of increased fitness. That's what I used to think near thirty years ago when training my amateur footy team. Sports science has moved on considerable since then. If your real meaning is "I want them to be super-fit" then with the technology at their disposal its quite simple to see who is and who is not in good shape. Gone are the days when MLT could cheat the weighing scales by leaning against the wall a bit etc... Incidentally - Saints are widely regarded as one of the fitter teams in the EPL, and our pressing game is not one for players of limited fitness of that I'm certain. My only concern on fitness is that there is a school of thought that says our high intensity pressing game cannot be sustained a whole season unless we have a squad that is deep. Beyond the first 14 /15 the quality drops dramatically though. Which means the same players doing more and more...you can only go to the well so many times..... by the end of the season the peak intensity of performance over the course of 90 mins must be affected for those ever-presents (SRL case in point) .....and perhaps that what we saw the last six games...we appeared to lack absolute gut-busting intensity and did not have a second set of fresher players of the same standard to bring it back in...

In fairness, it's our weakest position in that when Cork was out we were a shambles. No other position left us so exposed, despite the obvious quality of our first choice pairing. Perfect post. First person to make this obvious point- but then again they say that genius is only the art of spotting such things. Without Cork we were rubbish. We need a top too quality extra DM in the squad to avoid a repetition. Thats why we are looking at DM's.