Pwoite

I think Sully is an inexperienced version of Redmond, with similar lack of end product. Tall Paul unimpresses, and I know the counter arguments about service. Edozie is too light weight. And there is as much chance of Lavia staying as me getting a call up for England!

I can't believe we are discussing MLG on this thread, at this time. For possibly the first time this season we have had a match when the players were really responding to their manager, put themselves on the line time and time again, rode their luck but made their luck, and came away with three points. Selles might lack experience, he might be slightly tarnished by working as number two to The Stale One and The Mad One, but he has seized his opportunity. He speaks well, inspires, brings confidence and got a result. Bring in someone new, be it Big Sam or Jurgen the German, and it would take weeks, and games, to even get to know the players, never mind work out how to get the best from them. We don't have that time. So, let him earn his tripes, then, if it has gone well, give him a three year contract. If yesterday was a flash in the pan, well, he's still a better bet than Lampard!

I understand that Tella has a car waiting. Not to bring him to Southampton, but at Southampton to return him to Burnley, in the unfortunate instance of him being called back!!

I wonder to what extent losing the deadwood is part of the SR thinking. I’m guessing they aren’t expecting too much income from any of the players we might be happy to lose, and we will be lucky to move most of them on considering their current wages. Therefore I can see a lot of loan deals or wage assisted deals, or possibly cancelled contracts, just to get the squad size down. Equally, most of these players might prefer to sit out their contracts with us, rather than take an almost inevitable drop in league status, depending on their age and ambition. Apart from the obvious first team squad we see mentioned as potential leavers, how many younger players, who were on loan last season, are in similar situations? Ramsey, Vokins, etc…… Not seen mention of them at all, and not aware any of them went on the Austrian tour, though I might be mistaken.

Thoroughly approve of all this buying early and before we sell, and impressed by the business, but for everyone coming in, and keep them coming, it potentially moves another towards the revolving doors. As well as the Djenepos and Walcotts and Redmonds, plus one/two/three centre backs, plus Forster and Long, we have half a dozen players who were out on loan last season - Vokins, Ndululu, Ramsey, etc..... plus, probably, Smallbone who are all taking a piece of the wage bill. (Although in some cases, a very small piece!) I'm guessing that clubs looking to buy know we want rid, and effectively it becomes a fire sale of damaged goods, hence the risk we get two thirds of bugger all in transfer fees, and the closer we get to the end of the window, the less the value of the deal. I suppose there is no way around this, but it might mean very little income, just reduced salaries, is the end product.

My suspicion is that we will bring in two new keepers, and that once that happens McCarthy will be off. however, should that plan go awry, we have an insurance policy and some experience we can fall back on. Alternatively, bring in two, keep Alex, see how the new boys shape up, and look to get rid of one of them in January.

Interestingly, £13m of that potentially disappears on July 1st, giving power to the war chest over the summer. However, whilst that funds wages, it doesn't fund the purchase. Looking at the numbers, one sees why the Club wants to do another Livramento type deal. Equally, does one presume from this that everyone else is on under a grand a week? If that's the case, I'm guessing, a lot of the B team aren't picking up much more than the average national wage. Even Harry Lewis, a 'genuine' first team squad player, just about, is more than making a living, but not exactly building for his retirement.

I can't see why Ralph isn't blooding some of these youngsters on the bench, even if he is reluctant to play them. With eight outfield players getting named every game, there are always two or three who are very unlikely to be called upon. Sure, always have the 'spare' central defender, but do we need to have Smallbone and Diallo, and if Djenepo is Ralph's answer, I hate to think what the question might have been! So, let's get two or three experienced in first team match days, rather than shunting along those unlikely to be in stripes, (or whatever brave option is adopted), next season.

Interesting question. If he returns to Chelsea, as seems likely, then what have we gained. Yes, a few key goals, and points, and it would be worth seeing quite how much they amount to, and in January Armando was on fire. Since then, well, what? They are the positives. On the downside, he has taken a place that could have gone to Adam Armstrong, to further his potential, or Long or Tella or even someone from the B team, that would have increased their experience, skill and value. As a result of Broja's presence, AA has become a lonely, forgotten squad member and his career has been set back, perhaps irreversibly. Longer term, has the club truly gained?

Or Shilton?

I cannot disagree with the sentiments posted or the priorities highlighted. Indeed, even those who are told where the door is, if not yet actually shown it, but the one thing missing from the debate is who might emerge from our junior ranks into potential first team players. Also, no one ever mentions Smallbone. Admittedly, Will has had wretched time with sickness and injuries, but does he have a future role? Equally, with the exception of Small, no 'prospects' get mentioned. Clearly the next few months are potentially huge for Simeu, but there are some youngsters starting to get rave reviews, and if this is genuine talent, we must ensure their paths aren't blocked. But, if this real talent, or just short term hype? So, looking at our 'best' eleven, if we could agree one, we have three camps: Broja, Salisu - secure or replace like for like Romeu, JWP, Tino/KWP, Lyanco, Adams - maintain, ensuring a good, probably young, player is covering Keeper, right back, No 10 - upgrade I know that's only ten positions, but it leaves that flexibility to play Diallo, Armstrong S, Tella, third central defender, Redmond, depending on the opposition, which has actually been working well for us over the last few weeks.

This was the old Liverpool policy from thirty years ago. Buy someone in, embed them, get them thinking and behaving, and playing their way, then gradually introduce them into first team matches. The Liverpool team isn't virtually unchanged for three years, and there are a few, particularly in midfield, such as Oxlade Chamberlain, who could well be moved on. I can see this deal working for both parties, providing he is that good.

It simply a fire-fighting situation.

So if Anjorin goes through that will be four deals in little over six months with Chelsea. There are two ways of looking at this. Either it suits Chelsea to see their best youngsters getting game time, and there is a buy back clause so that no one ever truly escapes the net, or, they get pretty sick to death of all their talent being stolen. I strongly suggest the former. It is all very well going to Locomotiv or Arnhem for game time, but it isn't the Premier League. It doesn't provide real experience of what the parent club's players are living with every week. However, a top club, well run, and just an hour away down the M3 from Cobham has some appeal, especially if you can bring these prodigal sons back again once out of nappies and competing at the highest level. Of course, such an arrangement to develop talent, if formalised, would surely be illegal, but a sale, or loan, with a buy back option...... It could really work well for both clubs. Chelsea get their finest brought onto the big stage and apprenticed elsewhere, thereby showing future generations that there is a real opportunity to succeed, whilst we get top young players, filtered and developed at no cost to us, to replace our own, rather stuttering, youth development programme. Sure, we lose the players after two or three seasons, but we do that anyway. That is the Southampton Way. And, we get good players, and sell them on for good money.

So, would this be a loan with an option to buy? Can't see the point if it isn't, as it blocks the progression of a squad player, for little longer term gain. However, if Ralph can turn his game around, and the asking price isn't too high, then great. Certainly a step up on Minamino.

Great point, but, as fans, will we ever know? If a young gun asks to leave, how can we tell he stayed an extra season, compared to what he might have done prior to the takeover.? I think you might be right, players chasing a bigger pay day might find the differential between what we can now offer and the 'big six' is less than it was, and some will stay longer, and those staying should encourage others to also stay, but we all know, ultimately, that there are very few MLTs around who spend all their career at one club. So, at some point Salisu, Livramento, Diallo will all move on. I guess, if we can keep each for a season longer, through higher wages and the new regime, it has to be good news, and might also make us more attractive to new recruits.

Interesting, I wonder where we are currently seen by players looking for a new club, and presuming we are now able to be more competitive in the wage market, we must be punching above our current league position in terms of attractiveness. So, we won't be on a par, or close to the top 3 and MUFC, and never will, and the next three London clubs have both the glamour and bright lights appeal, so would be ahead most of the time. At the other end, the bottom four, even Newcastle with its money, can't be that appealing, and I'd add to that Everton and Brentford. So, that leaves us with Brighton, Palace, Wolves, Leeds, Villa and Leicester. Reluctantly, I can see Villa being seen as a good place to go, and Leicester have, until this season, seemed like a top six club for a few years, but I don't think the other four offer anything we can't. Indeed, new owners, stable, respected manager, great training facilities, great youth and development prospects...that puts us ahead of the four in my eyes. In summary, it makes us top half, but certainly upper midtable, in terms of a 'good place to play', which means we have a fighting chance of attracting new talent into the club, if the deal is right and the prospects of game time in that position are genuine, which will at times, put us above some more attractive clubs. So, I don't think Carvalho is impossible, if the lad wants a real chance to play regularly at a high level in a positive, supportive environment.

For Newcastle, or for Saints? Or both? (Obviously he can't sign for both teams, that's not what I'm asking!!) If he can replicate what he achieved at WHU last year, then most clubs would want him. IF!!!!!!!!!!!

The whole Newcastle situation is extremely amusing, from a distance. Their fans are getting understandably restless at the lack of visible progress in bringing in players, with more names being thrown up daily. Much of this is agent talk, no doubt, or the press desperately trying to find stories in yet another quiet window, but the club needs to bring in players urgently to stay up, so the frustratio0n of knowing the money was there, but having only got two deals over the line is understandable. Contrast that to our situation. Any money available now became available later, and we have no urgent need to buy this month. So, whilst we might like a marquee purchase this month, our survival doesn't depend on it, so any lack of visible progress is not a concern to our fans. Simply, a 'nice to have'! A great position to be in, and one the Board and the manager have done well to manufacture. Newcastle's plight provides great external entertainment because of the what ifs that might arise. Should they stay up, then those players brought in now, along with those already there, will certainly be deemed 'not good enough', and be cast aside, though presumably with massive survival bonuses. Next summer will then see the cheque book come out in style, and bigger names come in. But, if they are relegated, their current squad is probably not strong enough to secure automatic promotion, but who will join a championship club, in a World Cup year, knowing that if they gain promotion, they are likely to be cast aside twelve months later? So, a relegation might be followed by two seasons in the second level. How patient to such a situation will their owners be?

One of the reasons Diallo shone on Tuesday was that we played five at the back, meaning he benefitted from Perraud overlapping, and playing one twos. The pair, in combination, were ripping Brentford's defence apart, and, unlike the Redmond/Bertrand partnership, were creating shooting opportunities Diallo is not a Romeu, so we need to play to his strengths. So, if that means a back three/five, three midfielders and two further forward, so be it, except it places rather a lot of the squad on the bench, particularly if Broja's name is automatically on the teamsheet.

Trouble is, it would be a statement to 25 squad players that the wage cap didn't exist anymore!!

Who will break through past the twenty odd senior players and establish themselves as matchday squad players this season? Vokins? Slattery? Smallbone ? Can any of them with so many seasoned pros without a serious injury crisis? Or is U23 their only hope?

Ralph seemed to trawl quick deeply into the kids last season but are there any others coming through that will gain consideration and could be pushing for the bench? Appreciate this won't impact on the 25 man squad but it will affect possible purchasing priorities.

Hang on. Whilst Sam might be fourth choice, I can see times where I'd prefer to bring him on rather than Shane Long, when height rather than speed is required. I'd hang on to him till January, then consider a loan, unless we have another striker coming in.

Fans will have fun with chants if one of these makes it.. Olu - dare? Olu - fun? Wah!! Must fit into some wicked songs!