Rebel

Unless something changes in the next week or so we are going to struggle to score goals this season. Armstrong will maybe get 10-12 goals this season if we play him the right way. Archer and BBD probably about the same unless I am pleasantly surprised - but I am not sure that will be enough. But all of them are wide strikers or second strikers - we still lack a centre forward to lead the line and give us an out ball when we are under pressure at the back. And we lack a creative winger, No.10 or AM to set the strikers up. I am discounting Ross Stewart as I don't think he will ever really play more than the odd game for us before we pay him off or send him back to Scotland on the cheap. Edozie has no real end product and probably needs to spend a season in the Championship - with a good coach - being a guaranteed starter to fix this part of his game. But at least he is better than Sulemana who has no end product at all - and no football brain - just a bit of pace. The terrible signings of Sulemana and Stewart are still weighing us down - and I hope Sports Republic have learnt their lessons from them but I am not sure the have. The goalkeeper situation suggests they still have a lot to learn. It looks like we are going to end up playing 3-5-2 so maybe we just don't need them - although I think its more a case of we just can't afford them. I think how we set up against Forest will tell us a lot about what we can expect this season. Ipswich have had a good transfer window so far - and I would have liked us to sign Greaves, Delap and Clarke - they all would have added to our squad. And we still need a left footed centre back, a good left winger and a centre forward. But I think we had a better squad than Ipswich to start with - and in both the games we played against them last season we were the better team - although we lost both. I still think we have a slightly better midfield, and a better defence but are probably about the same in attack. Ipswich due to FFP and their lack of terrible signings and small wage bill had a lot more money to spend than us this summer though. What worries me is I can't see that there are 3 teams in the Premier League with worse squads than the 3 teams then came up - maybe one of Brentford, Everton, Forest, Palace or Wolves will have bad season - and one of the promoted teams will stay up at their expense.

I think the problem with Eddie Nketiah is his wages - he's supposedly on £120K a week at Arsenal.

I didn't think Liverpool would be allowed to sign Mamardashvili and then loan him out to another premier league club in the same transfer window or season under premier league rules I am still confused as to how we could sign Cameron Archer from Villa as they had just bought him back from Sheff Utd - it wasn't a loan. Someone please explain!?

I thought we'd been linked with Caoimhin Kelleher at Liverpool. If Liverpool do sign Giorgi Mamardashvili it probably means Kelleher has no future there - and getting him on loan or permanent could make sense for us, him and Liverpool. I would have thought Kelleher was expecting to take over from Alisson when he left - but if thats not going to happen he needs to move. Maybe we could give them McCarthy in part exchange so he can be back up to Alisson and then Mamardashvili 🙂

So far this summer transfer window we have added some squad depth in certain areas but to me our current first 11 is weaker than the team that finished last season. And I think last nights game against Oxford United proved we don't really have a second 11 - or even enough depth to give some of the squad players 45 mins. Our first team from last season probably would have won the game last night and if we had played the current first 11 for the entire game last night I'd like to think they also would have won - bit I am not totally sure they would have. I am pretty sure Sulemana will end up going down in Saints history alongside Carillo as one of our biggest - if not the biggest - waste of money. Both he and Mara probably need to be sent back to France on loan as soon as they are fit in the hope we can sell them next summer with the smallest loss possible. Edozie just has no end product and probably needs a season in the Championship somewhere as a guaranteed starter to see if he can develop this part of his games. Charles probably also needs a season in the Championship as a guaranteed starter to get the experience he needs. But in both cases we don't have the strength in depth to let them go on loan. We still desperately need to sign a striker/centre forward - but we have for 3 season or more now. Armstrong is no centre forward and is better on the right of a front 3 as a wide forward but will maybe work in a front 2 as a second striker with Bereton-Diaz - who seems to be better as a wide forward on the left. We also need a good goalkeeper. When you look at the stats Bazunu just isn't good enough - unless he improves dramatically when he returns from injury which seems unlikely. And we know that McCarthy is very limited and not good with the ball at his feet. And I am still not sure why we signed Lis. And Lumley was probably OK as a back-up in the Championship but that's probably about it. I was really hoping we'd let McCarthy go and bring in a new first choice keeper. I think with our Covid losses, the terrible transfers in the season we went down, relegation itself and FFP we just don't have the money to bring in the players we need to stay up this season. I just can't see us buying players for £25M or more. Part of me thinks the club have one eye on a promotion campaign next season as a result of this. Maybe if they are clever in what's left of the transfer window we'll have chance of survival this season.

Man Utd, Liverpool are probably the worst - but Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal are almost as bad - and maybe Spurs! I always think it shows someone of 'low moral fibre and low character' and someone you couldn't rely on if times get tough - unless they have a genuine connection to the 'big' club like they were born there and all their family support them - not just their Grandad/Uncle used to watch them on TV. The sooner they all leave for a European Super League - and take Newcastle with them - the better

Ben Bereton-Diaz and Adam Armstrong worked well together at Blackburn Rovers playing in a 4-2-3-1 where they both played in the 3 behind a big centre forward (Sam Gallagher) - BBD from the left and Adam Armstrong in the hole I think. I'd be happy with signing BBD on loan ideally with an option to buy or for a modest fee to give us some strength in depth across the front. If we do play 3-5-2 in some games hopefully he would work well with Armstrong in the 2. However I still think we need a centre forward to lead the line and I have a feeling they are looking at BBD and a centre forward. I would take a chance on Bojan Mioviski from Aberdeen for £6 or £7 million. And that's on top of a winger and an attacking midfielder. I don't think we will play 3-5-2 every game though - I think it will depend on the opposition. I think we will play the 4-3-3 morphing into a 3-3-4 when attacking against teams like Forest and Ipswich. Looking something like this at the starting point - with Sugawara getting forward like a winger and Armstrong moving inside: McCarthy Sugawara THB Jan Taylor Smallbone Downes O'Riley? Armstrong Mioviski/BBD? Clarke? As for Smallbone he is good enough for the Premier League in the right position as an attacking 8 - he looked more than capable when he played there before he got injured back when we were in the premier league and before his loan to Stoke. Charles is also more than capable of playing alongside Downes as as 6 in a double pivot or as a defensive 8 when we need a bit more steel in the middle. But I would like someone who can cover for Downes as a lone 6.

At least that means we will be 'free from Desire'

I cant see us spending £25M or £30M or more on any one player. We just don't have the finances unless SR suddenly find someone to give us £100M a year or more for the naming rights to St Mary's Stadium. TESLA Park anyone? Aaron Ramsdale on loan would be fantastic - and it sounds like we have an outside chance of making that happen - but I can't see that we can afford to buy him outright for£35M or whatever they are asking - or pay his full £150K a week wages. And as far as strikers go given the amounts supposedly being asked for players like Broja I'd be more than happy with Bereton-Diaz on loan or for the rumoured purchase price o £6M and Mioviski for around the same price. If nothing else we will have a great team for our promotion push and title challenge next season.

The amount the big clubs like Arsenal and Man Utd pay their youth and squad players let alone their big players is ridiculous. Nketiah should be on something like £30K a week in reality - based on what he's achieved so far - not £100K. He's not shown anything other than early potential which he hasn't fulfilled at 25 and now will probably never do so. The only people to really benefit are his bank manager, his agent and his hangers on. I think Chelsea started this madness under Abramovich but Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool and Man Utd - and now City and Newcastle - have certainly added to the madness. And the amount some of the so called smaller clubs are spending on transfer fees and wages is also madness. Premier League Football as a whole - ignoring the false sponsorships and stadium naming rights - must be running at a massive loss.

that was from a fake account Farbizio Romano as opposed to Fabrizio Roman saying he gone to some Polish club

My worry is that Bednarek with just a year left on his contract will be off this summer unless he signs a new contract in the next week or so. I'd be OK with THB and Jan as the starting partnership at centre back for the Premier League but I am not so sure about any of the other combinations. I expect ABK to leave as well - but even if he stays he is not the answer. But I will say we are building a great team for a Championship promotion push next season if we do get relegated 🙂 The Flynn Downes news is more than welcome - even if it is a swap for KWP - but we need to make some statement signings (i.e. first team starters) in the next week or so. Ideally a Striker, Winger, Attacking Midfielder and a Goalkeeper. I worry that we just don't have the money needed though given the financial fair play rules and our losses.

I's be quite happy with signing Nathan Wood for £7M. At 6ft 2 he is tall enough to play centre back and as an England U21 player he has the potential and at 22 the time to improve. And if we are going to play 3 at the back for a lot of games this season we probably need 5 centre backs to give us the depth we need. TBH, Bednarek, Stephens and Wood gives us some depth with experience and potential. We probably just need one more. I'd have taken Woods over Edwards from Peterborough - at 5ft 11 he is probably a little bit too short for a centre back in the Premier League and has only played at League 1 level. Wood in comparison shone under Martin at Swansea in the Championship. I'd be quite happy with THB and Bednarek as the starting two centre backs in a back 4. Bednarek has proved he can handle the premier league in the past with a good partner and in a functioning team - plus I think he has improved as a player and become more of a leader than he was before he left for Villa. He certainly has a better record in the premier league than Rodon for example. I am assuming ABK is on his way out for lots of reasons. My worry is that Bednarek leaves this summer as he only has 1 year left on his contract and unless he signs a new one I can see the club selling him. I think Stephens will give us one more year then make a return to Plymouth. As Wood is right footed according to Transfermarkt I would quite like us to sign a left footed centre back to complete the 5 - Jacob Greaves at Hull would be my pick. A left footed 6ft 4 centre back and at 23 a good age.

Lille were supposedly interested in Mara as a replacement for Jonathan David in January. I think he is more highly rated in France than we would think. But then again the standard in Ligue 1 is probably below the championship. Hopefully Lille come knocking once Jonathan David has moved on.

How much money could we generate from selling the players we don't want or need this summer? Calera-Car £5M Perraud £3M Lyanco £1M Ounachu £10M Sulemana £10M Mara £10M ABK £12M Alcaraz £15M Aribo £5M Bree £1M With a rough guess at their values maybe between £50-60M - but how much of that would go on paying out their contracts? Quite a lot I guess. Probably about half of it I would guess. Unfortunately I think Downes will cost the best part of £20M or more as West Ham know we are a bit desperate to sign him - that's if they let him go.

Kotarkski (Lumley) KWP (Bree) Bednarek (Stephens/Woods) THB (Rodon/ABK) Targett (Manning) Downes (Charles) Smallbone (Lallana) Aribo (Ghoddos/Alcaraz) Adarma Mioviski (Stewart /Bereton-Diaz) Clarke (Fraser / Edozie) That looks a little bit better based on some of the rumours (and hopes) but still needs a lot of work to stay up.

your probably right about needing the money for a striker - I think at the time I thought it was a mistake to keep Bertrand and sell Targett for the long term - but at the time Bertrand was the better left back

https://www.southamptonfc.news/news/jacob-tanswell-on-southampton-summer-plans-including-flynn-downes-and-che-adams-future/ - not sure if its accurate or if I read it wrong but that seems to be what its suggesting

We should never have sold Targett - should have sold Bertrand instead or at least had a proper succession plan with Targett getting more and more game time. From the interview with Tanswell its sounds like we don't have that much money to spend and will be making use of the loans market as much as we can. I hope that's not true - but it sounds likely. Your only allowed 2 premier league loans I think so we are going to have to spend some money whether they like it or not if we are to have any chance of staying up. If that is the case I'd be more than happy to see Targett come back on loan from Newcastle - maybe with an obligation to buy if we stay up. He has 2 years left on his contract and they seem to want to move him on as they have a lot of options at left back. Would make sense for everyone?

It's time to let Adams move on - same with Stuart Armstrong and McCarthy. We do need to keep the core of the team that got us promoted together - to keep that team spirit and identity going - but we also need to refresh the team a bit and strengthen it in the right places. Its a balancing act. Its a mistake too many promoted clubs make - changing the team almost completely and losing the very things that got them promoted in the first place. I think Bojan Mioviski is worth a gamble if the asking price is only £6M-8M or thereabouts. He could end up being a the £30-40M striker we need. Ben Bereton-Diaz on loan maybe with an option to buy as a replacement for Adams also seems to make sense. He has played with Adarma before and scored goals in the Premier League. Mara and Sulemana both needed to be moved on - back to France I expect. Neither has lived up to the hope we had for them or show any signs of doing so. We should replace them with Jack Clarke and Liam Delap With Ross Stewart that would give us 4 strikers to choose from - with Adarma probably playing on the right of a front 3 - and with Jack Clarke on the left and Fraser and Edozie as cover out wide. Bereton-Diaz also gives us another option out wide.

Surely JWP's wages would be an issue. The same with Ings. Personally I think we need to look to the future - not the past. And with Ings you have his injury record as well. Plus he chose to leave for the money when it came down to it. Ben Bereton-Diaz on loan to provide some cover across the front 3 or 4 positions and to link up with Adam Armstrong again as they did to great effect at Blackburn would probably be a good signing. We still need a centre forward / striker to lead the line as score some goals. We should give Stewart a chance to prove himself in the premier league as back up but I think we probably need at least one more if not two given Stewarts injury record. Bojan Mioviski feels like the most likely based on transfer fee and wages. I am not convinced about signing Lallana unless its really as player coach for the U21s. He left us in a bad way so I don't really want him back if I am honest. I get there's not really any loyalty in football - but there should be some integrity, honest and respect. Particularly when you leave the club that helped you become a premier league player. One player I would take back is Matt Targett on loan at left back. I don't think he ever really wanted to leave - and he would be an upgrade on Manning and give us some experience, leadership and commitment in the team.

Songs have come and gone. I like the newer slow version of 'Oh when the Saints go marching in' but I miss the old faster repeated version that would go on and on and on. We very rarely sing that now. Other chants like 'Oh Wei! Oh Wei! Oh Wei! We are the Saints! We are the Saints' seem to have completely disappeared (maybe not a bad thing in this case).

I am sure people were singing 'Saints are on fire! And your defence is terrified!'

An assumption 🙂

Personally I wouldn't take back any of the players on loan - they didn't want to be here when it mattered. We should cash in on them now and put the money raised back in to the squad. And that includes ABK, Perraud and Alcaraz. Hopefully getting promoted back to the premier league means we will get a bit more money for them all now though. And I think its time to let Adams, McCarthy and Stuart Armstrong move on. I'd also sell Mara and Sulemana back to France. We need to try and keep the core of the team together - and build on it. But we need to keep one eye on having a team capable of getting promoted again if the worst happens next season. We'd obviously lose players like Bednarek and KWP next summer if that happened. For the same reason we should make full use of the loans we are allowed - is it still 5 in the premier league? - to make sure we don't get ourselves in a financial mess if that happens. Fraser on loan for the season again makes sense to me - but I am not sure I'd spend a lot of money on a permanent transfer. Downes is a must for the defensive midfield role - but we need to strengthen here whatever happens. Maybe we should go for Ampadu and play him in his best position at CDM. Maybe will go in for Hjulmand again. A key signing for us will be a new number one to replace Bazunu - Kelleher or Ramsdale on loan possibly. What about Matt Targett on loan to fill the hole at left back? And he would add some passion, experience and leadership. Ben Johnson on a free at right back perhaps? But will KWP stay? If Spurs or another club offer £35M do we cash in? Or do we sell James Bree and upgrade? We will also need to add another CM or two to replace Stuart Armstrong and add a bit more depth - we've been linked with O'Riley at Celtic before so that one is a possible. But we probably need 2. The key signing above everything else will be centre forward - and we probably need 2 to compete with Ross Stewart and replace Adams. If we our going to get the best out of Adarma he needs to play as a second striker or wide forward. Bojan Mioviski has been linked so he seems likely - but who else? We also need 2 centre backs to add to Stephens, Bednarek and THB. Nathan Woods from Swansea has been linked a couple of time and I could see this one happening. I've seen Rodon suggested but I am not sure about that one. Maybe a signing from Europe we've never heard off. And then we come to AMs or wingers/wide forwards. We need a couple of these. Jack Clarke from Sunderland or Whittaker from Plymouth perhaps. Bereton-Diaz on loan? Reiss Nelson? It was always going to be a summer of change again - but now it will be a much more exciting one! I do think it makes sense to sign the best players from the Championship - I think they have more chance of making it in the premier league than players from other leagues outside of the big 5 leagues.