Charlie Wayman

My son's arrived this morning. This year's presentation gives a new meaning to cheapskates and what is that pin badge all about. Utter junk!

Based on what we saw on Wednesday Mccarthy Yoshida Vestgarden Hoedt Targett Bertrand Romeu Hoijberg Gabbiadini Armstrong Austin

I wouldn't worry too much about all the hot air emanating from posters who are ever happy to diss our players yet having never set foot inside St Mary's to see them play. Cedric is a class act and would be a huge loss if he does not return. I have voiced my concerns as to his whereabouts for several weeks now and the latest fake news of "tummy bugs" does Hughes or the club no credit whatsoever. Tell us the truth, we can handle it! The thought of having to line-up alongside Stephens and Ward Prowse after spending the summer in Russia with Ronaldo may have been the the last straw.

For me 'yes' Chris, of course he is not perfect but is a damn sight better than any of our other DMF options.

Totally agrees unless Elyounoussi can also defend and challenge Cedric. These days we seem to defend three at the back, two in front (in the old days it was two at the back three in front) but still five defenders. Consequently our so-called wing-backs are in reality modern wingers and part of the attack (as in the old five man forward line) so in effect we need two inside players playing as No 8 & 10 in old money. Probably Armstrong is the perfect No 10 and Gabbiadini the No 8. Austin, Long & Gallagher will have to fight it out for the No 9 role. Who sits alongside Romeu as the other holding defender remains to be seen. At the moment my money is on Hojberg even 'though his current form is very patchy.

Nice turn out last night but nowhere near capacity which surprised me. Decent evening's entertainment overall for those of us who did bother to go. Just to clarify a point picked up by one or two screen only viewers, yes the pitch was marked out much smaller than usual presumably by agreement with the visitors and the new red astro turfing edging looked diabolical, clashing violently with the very green grass that has been laid. You can look at the game in two ways. A great work-out session for both sides where the result was irrelevant and it was all about getting mileage into legs OR there are only 10 days until the season starts in earnest and our general levels of skill, team co-ordination, refinement and match fitness are woeful. On this showing, if Burnley are up to speed it could be a very long season indeed. Early on we tried fast running one touch football, cover flicks and tricks and if it come off would have pleased the eye but our lads just didn't have enough vision or practice to pull it off. We soon resorted to our old slow build up play that ends up going nowhere. Starting Steven Davis a willing but physically limited runner was a mystery explained only by the subsequent ineffective displays of Hojberg, Elyounoussi and the continuing unexplained absence of Lemina. Both goals against were individual errors involving Bednarek. Goal one he allowed their player to turn inside and hit it with his right foot from an easy position, goal two where he left Long uncovered in a one on one situation on the edge of the 18 yard box. Long is not a defender and his grotesque cock-up should not excuse the poor defensive organisation that left him in that situation. He is young and will learn but Yoshida should get the nod over him to start. Armstrong was creative and energetic for parts of the game but disappeared in others but took a fine goal. Gabbiadini was all over the place for nearly the whole match, lots of energy some good runs and a few clever bits of individual play but still no goals. Romeu was generally OK and sound despite what some moaners on here have said, the usual couple of rash tackles but generally reading the game well and rescued us more than once. Hoedt needs time but looks fairly solid and shouldl become a decent player Bertie was more committed than we have seen him for a long time but he was tiring after HT. McQueen (nor Targett on the right) are the answer to any question that I can think of; if Cedric gets injured we have a serious problem on our hands at RB Austin took his goal well but seemed to struggle physically for the 45mins he was on, looked slow and ponderous in his running Hojberg seems to over-try and at times resembled a headless chicken JWP desperately put himself about trying to link play meaningfully and impress Hughes who had seen fit to give him only a few minutes at the end. Great shot unlucky to hit the post but at least we got the second ball tap-in. Second half changes improved the team everywhere but we had to bear in mind that Celta Vega also made wholesale changes and tired after 50 mins due to the early pace and their lack of pre-season preparation. At least fans who had been quite despondent at HT felt a bit better about it at the end but Burnley is going to be a struggle as we are no nearer to knowing our starting XI today than we were yesterday. The only ones guaranteed a start on last night's showing are Bertrand, Armstrong and probably Gabbiadini.

So why have the Club dilly, dallied all summer over this one especially if money really is tight and they need £15m for Targett before that can go out and buy a striker? Leaving it all a bit late unless they had worried that Bertie might be off to Man C. Guess we'll never know. As for Sessignon coming the the other way. Too fanciful as he's bigger than us now.

Thanks for that. Maybe he was in the gym for his initial assessment work and not on the training field.

Time for experiments is running out now, Hughes needs to choose his starting XI for Burnley and give them 60mins together tomorrow night and again on Saturday to get them on the way to full match fitness and allow time for partnerships to gain confidence. There'll be loads of subs after that to give the next cut a chance to impress at the last minute and maybe force their way into the opening match set-up. Yoshida is back and we may see him for part of the time tomorrow but no sign of Cedric in training so still concerned he may be off. Great weather forecast so hope we get a big turn-out to welcome the lads back.

Let's face it there is so much fake news around these days that it is nigh on impossible to give any credence to anything you read on here as 'snippets'. Presumably anybody who works in around SFC at a senior or intermediate level of management risks immediate dismissal if they let slip any confidential information they have been given or have come across inadvertently as part of their jobs and very few people in junior or temp jobs will have any access to what is going on inside the club. Loose talk cost jobs. Any so-called leaks will likely be deliberate feeds by the PR team at SFC.

Fake news. No allegiance to Arsenal whatsoever. Is trying to stimulate debate now known as 'trolling'? Why all the rudeness from the usual culprits just because they don't agree with me. Offer an alternative viewpoint not personal insults.

---------------------McCarthy------------------ -----------Yoshida--Vestergaard--Hoedt---- McQueen------Romeu-----Hojberg------Bertrand ----------Long-------------Armstrong----- ----------------Gabbiadini-----------------------

Dave Watson has built a small empire of English goalkeepers at Staplewood and is obviously feeling great about himself (see video on OS) but it is a fool's paradise and unsustainable. Three of those keepers will want and expect to be playing in the PL and 3 into 1 won't be harmonious for very long. Somebody will want or be shipped out once pre-season is over and minds are made up about who will start and who will get the bench. The only reason Forster is still here Watson in Hughes ear saying "at least give him a chance to show what he can do", Forster's failure is Watson'd failure too and that might hurt.

Saints are a Premier League football club and part of what is supposedly the best league in the world not a Sunday League pub side. Why would you not expect all our players to be totally professional, single minded and dedicated to becoming the best player they possibly can be. Austin seems to take it all for granted, behaves as if he is still playing for a pub team where all his usual banter would be par for the course. Why would our dressing room appreciate his amateur comic act when most other players are fighting for their places and focusing on the task ahead? What you need in a dressing room are real leaders like Yoshida who can instil belief and confidence in others that they can be the best that they can beat any opposition. What a professional, international, multi-cultural dressing room in the twenty first century does not want is lunatic joshing from a guy who has only half his mind on football and doesn't play very well either.

Indeed yes, every season is different and often turns out to be quite the opposite to what you expect. I will be off up to St Mary's on Wednesday and Saturday re-invigorated by the up-beat noises coming out of Staplewood - if we can believe all the stuff posted on the OS - and it's always great to see new faces coming in with all the first day promise that we hope they bring with them. I just have a hunch that the smiles on the faces of Hughes and his staff may be indicative of him not being able to believe his luck at having such a talented squad of young players at his disposal, possibly for the first time in his career asa top flight manager. Hope springs eternal and for the next few days everything will seem possible. That's why we go to matches come rain or shine.

Well that sets your level of intellect then? ;-)

How embarrassing was CA's bike video tour around Evian embarrassing? He really is a brash, unruly individual and it seemed to me that quite a lot of our players and staff find him a bit of a PITA judging by their bewildered expressions when they were the butt of his banter. I mean come on, he was even rude to the gaffer and our captain and that surely isn't on even in jest. Reckon your a bit of a Jack the Lad, eh? More like a camp wrecker to me. Come on Charlie, stop the gob and get on with what you should be doing and do it well. Concentrate on your football and for heaven's sake take it seriously, you are after all supposedly a professional footballer. Look no further for your work ethic than Romeu, Hoedt and the others who are giving it 200% in the gym and in training ready for our new season.

The problem for Sims, Hesketh, Gallager and other young players is that they can't stay in limbo forever. New younger kids are coming along every year and need headroom above the U23's where they also can train in and around the senior players to mature and improve their techniques and try to impress. Sims, Hesketh, Gallager and others have had their chances to impress 3 managers now and fleetingly they have done so but not nearly consistently enough to secure a coveted regular first team slot. If they are kept in this limbo state but cannot break through then they are blocking spaces for the next batch of youngsters. Going out on loan gives them one last chance to make an impression here as well as vital match development time and regular football. Then their spaces are freed up here for the next group. Of all the young players currently in this limboland, Harry Reed seems to me to be the one most likely to make it and I wouldn't have said that a year ago.

If you drive in France then you can't really help noticing that it is the perfect overnight stop from Calais to Nice down the A6. Just about half-way down!. Guess most who work the OS have never set foot on foreign soil except perhaps for the odd shopping trip to Gunwharf Quay. The City itself is beyond a nightmare of one-way streets and impossible to find car parks. Better to stop-over in Beaune. No moutard is grown there nowadays despite the name.

Most of the players who did their best to get us relegated are still here so why would it be any different to last season? It won't be. We'll struggle again and be near the bottom all season.

Well what did you expect from Hughes.....

What if he has a superb season with Celta Viga, what then? Still our player.

Great to see, something really seems to be working for him right now. Long may it last.

No so much different to Redmond then with the definite advantage of not seeing the need to hitch up his shorts to his waist to show off his legs. Oh! La! La! Why the discrimination, is it cos he's not English?

Hughes is probably evaluating all his striker options one-by-one in the run up to the new season and before the TW closes. Quite likely the question to be answered for each player is keep for squad or sell. In SGG's case where he has been out on loan more than once already, it is likely that Hughes and his team will either be impressed enough to keep him as a bench player or he will be shipped out. There will be no point in a further loan spell, we will get the best price we can from whoever comes sniffing around. There must be a worry for the club in deciding what to do with players like SGG who have not asked to leave but cannot break through here. What if we sell a player who then turns out to be a real nugget at another club with a different ethos and coaching/training methods? I suppose a sell-on clause might offset those worries to some extent. What militates against this line of thought is that young future stars like Shearer, Bale, Walcott and even Lallana made an immediate impact in our first team which Gallagher has not done.