goodymatt

Sounds encouraging

Think Dortmund have it too

Bet365 and PaddyPower seem to have stopped taking bets on O’Riley’s next club. I think Atalanta were the shortest odds beforehand… It’s giving Gakpo.

Do we think we’re trying for both Lamine Camara AND Matt O’Riley? Or might it be just one of them? Those two plus Downes is a pretty strong middle 3, with Lallana, Smallbone and Aribo in support. I could see Alcaraz leaving in that scenario. BBD, Ramsdale and Rak-Sakyi all appear to be loan targets. I would be happy with those 5 to complete our business but would rather loan a CF than Rak-Sakyi due to limited loan slots.

Perhaps this one is a little tame but he’s been a regular negative nanny when speaking about saints for some time. Guy clearly has beef for some reason.

https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/carlton-palmer-sunderland-jack-clarke-ipswich-southampton-interest/ Carlton Palmer piping up about Saints again here. Stating that Jack Clarke should choose Ipswich over us as they are a ‘more attacking force than Southampton’ and the he ‘thinks they have a better chance to stay up than Southampton’. As a former player, can’ anyone explain why his comments on Saints are always so negative? He openly said he wanted Leeds to win the playoff final over us and here he is backing a much less established side over a team he has played for. Did we treat him badly when he was here?

We will not survive if we are playing a 4-3-3 with Arma as the CF. He was so much more effective coming in from the right hand side, it’s an experiment we have already seen fail in this system at championship level and I would be shocked if that is the scenario come 30/8.

On BBD, if he is a left wide forward, he sounds a bit like Armstrong but on the other side? Would they work well as a pair in a 5-3-2 or would we still be missing that powerful forward?

Smallbone really impressed me at the end of last season. He was a one touch passing monster, very strong pass completion, always showing for the ball and manages to work well in the tight spaces that Russ-ball puts our players in regularly. Really good knack for arriving at the right time and I think his finishing improved over the season. That WBA semi goal was beautiful. During pre season last summer, he seemed to be more combative than he was throughout the campaign. Too many times he lost out 50/50 tackles and that’s definitely an area he can improve. Very much like Prowsey in terms of covering big distances without being quick. He has earned the opportunity to see what he can do at this level, having been a key player in our promotion season. I agree that in the 6 he was struggling but with Downes we have a really good balance. When I watch him on the ball he looks more and more confident and definitely has the physique to be more competitive in the tackle. Only concern for me is if we are playing an opponent where 2 CDMs might help us but I think the 5atb option is Martin’s plan.

1. Jota £25m 2. Tierney £25m 3. Dembele £19.7m 4. Bassey £19.58m

£14m plus add ons, I wonder how much the add ons were?

Sun report states that O’Riley is ‘keen’ to link up with Martin again. Hopefully this is just part of the negotiations. To be fair this player has only ever played at SPL and L1 league level, £25m seems steep, it would be an SPL record.

You should see the WHU ticket prices for this season. Cat A games are up to £120! 🤯

Training separately with Lallana in Spain today and missed the first pre season game altogether. Any idea what his injury is?

See what you did there 😉

Sounds like this one does have legs, perhaps even as a loan. Trouble is with the loan is if he does well, would Palace want to keep him?

Now officially announced. All the best, Che.

Lallana pictured today

That’s a fair comment, but was his poor finishing not a big contributor to us being in that position in the first place though?

Might explain his omission from the Spain trip? Should have maybe had more chances last season in the championship but really hard to throw him into the team now as we fight for survival. Bad timing.

As a result the PL clubs voted on a 5 year cap for contract amortisation.

Girona’s new third kit by Puma. Wasn’t the rumour ours will be pink/purple? Might end up being something similar.

Southampton are ready to make an increased offer of £12m for Crystal Palace winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi #saintsfc @reluctantnicko We keep going back, loan with option, £7m and now £12m. There must be an Indication that a deal could be agreed?

Yes, but we will have zero contribution to his replacement and those sales going straight into the allowable spend in full from an FFP perspective will be missed. I suppose you win some, you lose some on the free transfers situation.

Agree with this. It’s a big shame that we invested £15m and he’s walked away for nothing. This is compounded by our £9m rising to £12m deal for Stewart as his replacement, who can’t stay fit. With FFP constraints, we haven’t made it easy for ourselves to legally fund the level of replacement we would all like to see. Perhaps a loan in this position will be the solution.