TWar

Yeah, I think a front two but with one player playing a bit deeper and holding it up/providing more, and the other playing a bit further forward as a poacher/9 off of his partner is not that common anymore. Some of our fans didn't even understand how our strike partnership worked last season.

I think it'll be £15m then Obafemi to them might be a bit cheaper than it would otherwise have been.

This one may be a little confused as to how we play, seems like they think we play a front 3 with a wide forward but he will more be in a front two where being on the shoulder of the last defender and then winning space with pace is very much encouraged.

If we can upgrade on Vest and maybe bring in a quality attacking mid with the money from Vest plus the remaining £15m and any extra from Oba ect. then I think we have definitely improved our starting 11. If the season starts right now I think our depth is better with a new back up forward and rightback.

I imagine if we accepted a deal for JWP and it had a decent pay rise he'd be off. Similarly I think if we didn't he'd be happy to stay. The thing stopping the deal likely isnt JWP's lack of interest, it's our refusal to lose him alongside Ings and Vest in one summer when he is our most important player (inc. Ings and Vest)

Armstrong got 7 goals and an assist in his last 3 games (including two hatricks) so hopefully coming in nice and confident on a good run.

Lukaku is absolute class. Underrated as he was massively misused at United but was insane for basically everyone else he's played for and still put up good numbers at united regardless.

Nixon is saying Obafemi is going the other way as part of it, Leach is saying Obafemi is likely to be sold and possibly to Blackburn but not part of the deal. We shall see.

I think after the friendly this signing can be called insane because that one has been upgraded to Livra-mental 😉 In all seriousness, this guy looks pretty good but as a loan it is, at best, good cover for a season. If it was a perm and cheap it would be pretty nice though, little chance of that happening!

This chap reckons the deal is done now.

What does he know? He is reporting different to basically everyone else with regards to Oba being involved. He is pretty reliable normally, making me paranoid.

The "there's still a way to go" in that worries me. He needs to agree personal terms.

Nixon playing the role of "worrying saints fans" very well this summer. Hope we don't get gazumped by Palace.

That's excellent business if true. Ings for Armstrong + £15m is pretty nice.

Looks like he's on his way!

In fairness, he has basically said that in this tweet where is says "Southampton captain James Ward-Prowse is going nowhere this window"

Everything is for sale everywhere for the right price, that's capitalism! If we got offered more than JWP is worth to us I very much hope we would take it, no shame in selling an asset for over it's value. I just feel JWP is worth about £70m to us and about £45m to a potential suitor so I don't see him leaving at all. Maybe next season if he smashes it and city/liverpool/united/chelsea come in, but probably not until then

This is my point but much more succinctly.

Yeah as I say, I think Villa think they can get him and will make an offer and we know whatever they suggest will be a no. Nixon heard villa will make an offer from villa sources and Blackmore heard we will say no from Southampton directly, in his role as mouthpiece. For the record I do agree Blackmore is a mouthpiece, but I've never seen him lie for the club, correct me if I'm wrong. I also just don't think the club would use their mouthpieces to say how brilliant and not for sale and vital an asset is if they were, infact, considering offers. Just seems like a really silly and unnecessary way to piss off a fanbase.

See my above response. Preempted this "stooge" argument somewhat.

Also not really getting this "Blackmore is a lapdog/stooge" thing. Firstly he's a well respected journalist for the BBC who's been operating for years, I can't see him putting his rep on the line to lie for the club over this one so definitively, maybe say "it's unlikely he goes" but saying it's impossible and then it happening weeks later would severely damage trust in him. Secondly, if he is being a club mouthpiece and they are announcing to the fanbase JWP isn't going anywhere then surely that's even better. If they were considering a deal for him it's much more likely they'd be trotting out the "he's important but every player has his price" line and "he's good but he's no better than the rest of the team" so that if/when they sold him they could be like "well it's a lot of money which will really help the team". Saying he definitively isn't off and is our #1 most important player and then selling him weeks later is suicide from a PR standpoint. Big him up, make people confident, and then dash it. Why would they do that? What's to gain?

Also not really getting this "Blackmore is a lapdop" thing. Firstly he's a well respected journalist for the BBC who's been operating for years, I can't see him putting his rep on the line to lie for the club over this one so definitively, maybe say "it's unlikely he goes" but saying it's impossible and then it happening weeks later would severely damage trust in him. Secondly, if he is being a club mouthpiece and they are announcing to the fanbase JWP isn't going anywhere then surely that's even better. If they were considering a deal for him it's much more likely they'd be trotting out the "he's important but every player has his price" line so that if/when they sold him they could be like "well it's a lot of money which will really help the team". Saying he definitively isn't off and is our #1 most important player and then selling him weeks later is suicide from a PR standpoint. Big him up, make people confident, and then dash it. Why would they do that? What's to gain?

He's had a few conflicts with local journo's this window. Also arguing with the Pinkun about whether Norwich have put in a record bid for Armstrong. I like Nixon but I'm inclined to side with Blackmore/Leach/Sheldon who have all said it's widely unlikely/aint happening. They are about as reliable as it gets for club news. Maybe on Villa's end they think we are bluffing and are prepping a £35m-£40m bid and Nixon got word of this but I really don't think we are to be honest.

Weird, if I see SS's posted last in a thread I tend to be a lot more likely to check it out. Normally means it's actual news rather than just opinions on that news (or off topic arguing)

That was on Long to be fair. Defending from corners is on everyone as everyone needs to not be beaten. Long was given a taller guy to mark as he used to have a mean jump, seems like age is catching up on him now though.