Fitzhugh Fella

People question as to why Brighton are able to outbid us but that's simply because over the last few years they have made some good investments while we have made some poor ones. That's the bottom line. We are having to shop in the bargain basement for at least another couple of windows and hope we can avoid relegation in the meantime. Recruitment is so important for clubs like Southampton who do not have a bottomless pit when it comes to funds.

Adam Blackmore is an important link between the fanbase and the club and is obviously used (if thats the right word) by the club to get information out without their name being all over it. They are obviously frustrated with Celtic dragging their heels have told Adam to publicise the reasons this deal is dragging on. Fair enough. In his tweet advertising the piece Adam says himself you have to read between the lines in some of the things he says. I do sometimes worry that he has had to sell his editorial independence to gain access to the inner workings of the club but that's the price you pay I guess. His comments re Ramsdale's salary being out of our range is interesting too because that is the club reining in the fans' expectations, but as someone has pointed out, signing Ramsdale on loan could just keep us up and that being the case it would be worth "splashing the cash". It's a huge gamble. All in all with just over a week to go before the season starts like a lot of others I am concerned our squad is not near PL standard. I am not criticising the club because it is incredibly hard for promoted clubs to compete in the financial maelstrom, created by the mega wealthy with access to bottomless cash reserves, without bankruptcy if it all goes wrong. What might keep Saints up is a togetherness, all players pulling in the same direction and some canny under the radar signings that all work out. We have a manager the players seem to like and the euphoria of the win at Wembley has created a feel good factor among the whole club but there is no hiding place in the PL and I fear a few big losses in the early weeks may shake our confidence.

Absolutely this and it ain't going to be easy.

Interesting Wolves "dally" while we on the other hand sensibly take our time.

Really? You either do not know Rupert Lowe (a narcissist if ever there was one) or your politics.

Depends who you heard it from.

Please No! Couldn't get in a struggling Burnley side last season and he was dire for us in his last two seasons. This would be a ridiculous (if true) signing.

While I can turn a blind eye to the circumstances of his departure to Liverpool and I can can concede a 36 year old may still have something to offer in the PL, I would say the deal breaker for me is his vulnerability to injuries and his inability to manage even one full game in over 3 years of football.

Top bloke and a good Saints fan.

We do play games in midweek too

Should we go up then there would be a necessity for a lot of serious recruitment and without a DoF ready and waiting then we will be handicapped before the season gets underway. Not sure I understand the logic of SR's thinking on this if House's tweet has any substance.

I will support Southampton until my demise but right now I am finding hard to "like" my club.

If he is/was so good why didn't we keep him instead of loaning Rothwell and Brooks?

Yep I agree. He is too full of senseless decisions that don't add up and now his mentor (Wilcox) has decamped maybe time for yet another reboot? Brooks came here as a good player and looked promising initially but Martin has managed to turn him into an also ran. SR haven't got much right so far, on or off the pitch. The Chris Nicholl tribute debacle might mean nothing to many on this forum but it shows the club do not have a steady hand on the tiller.

Lurking while making the odd comment. Unfortunately my words are monitored so I have to be careful with my criticism these days! I was at Blackburn for the "Sam Gallagher" derby of course, watching and listening to the home fans and afterwards in the players lounge listening to the Blackburn players thoughts on our performance. Suffice to say I think Russell has been rumbled.

We really are up Schitt's Creek if we are still relying on Che Adams.

Do you have any Gary Glitter records in your collection by any chance? Just because MLT was our most skilful player of all time doesn't preclude him from being correctly taken to task for spreading misinformation that could potentially be harmful. Yes he is a nice guy, generous with his time etc etc but he is also very gullible and not particularly bright. Have you forgotten his ridiculous backing of the tinpot Pinacle consortium which very nearly caused Liebherr to walk away (and cost the late Leon Crouch millions)?

He does his damage in the area

I know that 25 match unbeaten run was impressive but there were quite a few ordinary performances in there when we didn't really look that convincing. Some excellent 45 minutes followed by some dross as we sat back. In three of our last four matches we have been found out, starting horribly in all three. I think 4th is about right for us and I am resigned to a play off position. But a part of me dreads going up (if we are successful) as there will be helluva lot of rebuilding required (no shit sherlock), if we are not going to become canon fodder a la Burnley and Sheffield Utd.

No but it might impact our recruitment in the summer if we have no DoF

While its admirable you are defending free speech there should be questions asked when what is being preached is potentially dangerous and irresponsible. People are still dying of Covid having been persuaded not to have the vaccination. (Oh and falling off a high horse can be painful as well).

Does anyone know if the impasse with Swansea over compensation has been sorted? Apologies if I've missed it.

I think the fact he came "armed" with his own photographer so he can paint himself as a man of the people tells you all you need to know about him as a person and your worship of him tells us all we want to know about you! Happy New Year.

According to @reluctantnicko (I know) we are "on the verge" of signing 18-year-old Joe O'Brien Whitmarsh from Cork City. A six figure fee has been mentioned.

It'd got to be related albeit indirectly