RobM

Pelle does need time to settle and fans should definitely not be booing him or any of our players (IMO), but that doesn't mean he or any other player are immune from criticism where it's justified. If somebody had a poor game, it's right and fair that fans can say so. If a player has done little of note to impress, fans are free to say that. That's a huge part of football, it's why forums like this exist. Reading this forum and Twitter there seems to be a divide between 'everythings awful, we're doomed' and 'everythings going to be amazing and anybody who suggests otherwise is a moron'. What's wrong with saying we're not playing well and some players aren't performing well if that's actually the case?

What seems to be overlooked at the moment is we're still incredibly lightweight in terms of depth and options in some key areas. All focus is on replacing those who have left, but we had a light squad last season and we're even worse now. Regardless of how our current first team compares to last seasons, we're still one injury away from a big problem in some key areas and have very few options to change things from the bench. Last year we had no LB cover, we still don't. We did have RB cover though, we don't any more. At CB we're still reliant on Yoshida and Jos, which is a problem. Less so this year since our playing style means our defence is better protected by midfield, but it's still a problem. With Boruc leaving we're in the hands of Davis, Gaza or Cropper should Forster get injured. We missed an opportunity to have quality competition and cover here. Up front we have three players who could be up to the standard (assuming Pelle finds his feet) but little if any cover or options to change. We've plenty of midfielders, but few game changers other than maybe Gaston when he's on form. I really hope we use the rest of this transfer window to improve our starting lineup, then use Jan to add depth. I know we have plenty of youngsters, but few have much game time to prove they're ready.

Surely that's the ONLY reason they'd stipulate a mid-table move. He isn't the greatest striker England has ever seen, but he would be a very good addition to our squad IMO. He'll have a point to prove I'm sure.

You could see some of the passing and movement styles and shape against Bayer were different to Pochettino, which would match the short-sharp bursts of running JWP describes. I imagine we'll see a lot of that - receive, pass, short sprint to get into a new position. Then run like hell to get back if you lose it!

Seems an odd move, but it's largely pointless to bring one to SMS anyway, since there is no WiFi and all mobile networks are crippled during the game. I would be all for a supporters WiFi network though. Twitter and services like it are a part of the modern game, sharing opinions and debating things in real-time. Make it a part of the season ticket price if necessary.

9th. We might not be much stronger, but I don't see all last years competition for the 12th - 8th spots improving significantly either. We finished comfortably last year, this year will be tighter but not much different overall.

Maybe its Cork who doesn't want to sign? For all we know, we've offered a great contract to keep him and he doesn't want to sign. Let's not pre-judge before we know the facts.

Yeah that's the way to build on success, trade your best players in for players not good enough for a club just above you in the league.

If the latest rumour is true, I wonder if The FA are paying close attention to what is going on here. If somebody bought a club and sold this many first team regulars in such a short space of time, they'd be investigating the owner quite quickly. Did KL have to pass the fit and proper persons test?

Received both of mine and got seat transfers sorted too so I'm good to go. Regardless of how annoyed I am at the way the club is being run, I'm still a Saints supporter and that won't change.

It's really hard to know where the problem is these days, or even if there is a problem at all. Is Reed the problem, for coming out and saying he is responsible for football and transfers, for saying there won't be a fire sale, then going on to sell many of our best or most promising players? It wouldn't be as bad if we had equal replacements incoming for each, but as yet we just have two, so I'll hold back a definite judgement for now. Let's not forget he promised all (ALL) funds from sales would be re-invested to build on last years success. He also said we would only sell if it was in our best interest... hard to understand how selling Chambers fits into that. Is it Kruger, for promising open and transparent communication, before promptly disappearing and not communicating AT ALL in one of the most unsettling periods since our rise from L1? He also allowed MoPo to take us for a ride, knowing he would be leaving but not acting decisively. Is he pulling Les' strings behind the scenes? Or was he just a smiling face to make us all warm and happy inside? Is it Gareth Rogers, the man who runs the business and will surely be accountable for any and every operating decision, even if it's a rubber-stamping exercise? Is he in full control of the business he's employed to run? Has he been given a direction to follow and is following orders? Is he completely out of his depth and being blindly led by other people? Is it Katharina, who is ultimately responsible for everything, who is clearly seeing huge income with no sign as yet of reinvesting anything like the same level? Is she asset stripping and looking to sell like some people seem to believe? Is she clearing out bad vibes to rebuild a fresh, unified, non-Cortese team? Is she simply in the background paying little attention to what's going on? The problem is we don't know, so it's easy to blame Les Reed as he is the one who has made bold statements about our transfer activity which has then been proven incorrect. In the absence of any communication or clarification, or even equal investment in new players, he seems the easy and most likely person to blame.

I'm with Richmond on this one, why on earth would a club spend money to sign him, when they could have him on loan and just pay his wages (+ possibly a small signing on fee). If you ran any club and you knew his history, but were willing to bring him in to see if he can put that past him and perform to his potential. Would it be better to: A) Spend £5-10m up front, then pay his wages. If he is a success you've done well. If he isn't, you too have lost money as you'll sell him for less than you paid, like Southampton did. Or, B) Spend nothing or a small amount up front, then pay his wages. If he is a success, sign him permanently at the end of the season. If he isn't, back to Southampton he goes. If we were only willing to sell it would be a different story, but we just seem interested in making sure he isn't here and isn't on the wage bill. This also means we could end up getting nothing for him though and losing all of the money we paid. If we loan him out season after season until his contract runs out, he'll leave for free. He'll find another club very quickly then, as he's worth a risk to an Italian club who don't have big transfer funds, but can pay a moderate wage. This also means this is far, far from his 'last chance'. He'll always have a club to pay his wages and I don't think he really cares who, he just wants his ego tickled and money in the bank.

You know when you're reading comments from people who know **** all, when the conversation turns to French geography and history

Awesome.

It is of course clear, but some people just want a fight. There was an old saying, something along the lines of 'attack wins you games, defence wins championships' that seems to stand true. As already said, our success last year was built on a solid defence, which was fortunate since we looked unable to score in some games. How many times did we dominate possession and not score, or worse, lose? But let's not get too upset at the moment, judge the team when the transfer window shuts. We all said we needed more attacking options, then we sold two attackers and lost JRod for a significant amount of time which made this more important. We're doing that, we still need to do more. But it doesn't mean we wont' strengthen defensively as well, we just haven't done so yet... there is still plenty of time.

Compare that to the tweets from other players, the younger ones especially, saying they were 'buzzing' to get back and is clear he doesn't want to be here.

Great news, but I wish he hadn't said anything like this. While it's nice to hear, we can hardly moan about other teams talking about deals for our players before they're complete, if we're doing exactly that ourselves!

I thought the bit about Morgan was positive, did I miss something that suggested there was a problem?

This. He plays in a position where players tend to be older with a lot of experience before they reach their best. You can only really get experience playing so this move is a good thing.

I really, really wish this would happen. We'll still be able to sell him for more than we paid come January, so let him rot in the reserves for now and send a message to the rest of the squad that they're supposed to be professionals. If somebody wants to move, they should put in a transfer request, have honest conversations in private and show some respect and professionalism in the meantime. If they don't and decide act the **** like Lovren has, they can go and spend some time training with the young players who are clearly more hungry and determined. Otherwise you sent a precedent that this is OK and will go unpunished.

Morgan for me too. I prefer a midfielder as captain anyway, somebody who's in the thick of things all game.

I think we all knew at the end of last season that we needed to bring in more attacking players, regardless of anybody leaving. It became even more important when JRod for injured.

Bony publicly said he would only move to a top 6 team, which we aren't.

Suarez perfect for Real Madrid, says everyone outside of Liverpool and a few inside it. But you just won't sell him. I don't think you deserve him.

The same Lallana who said at the end of the season he wants to hear the ambitions of the club, hear what's planned and then he'll make a decision? And now we're hearing he's upset that he hasn't got that information. All we know is what Blackmore has tweeted. We don't know what's going on in Adam's head and what he really feels, so no, it hasn't flown over my head, I'm just not forming an opinion on second hand (maybe third, or fourth hand) information that could well be utterly biased and agenda-driven, or just plain wrong. For all we know you're right, Adam is throwing his toys out of the pram and if so, **** him, cash in on the spoilt brat. Equally, for all we know you're wrong and Adam just needs assurances that we are investing to push on to the next stage in our progression and we want CL football, at which point he'll be happy to stay.