Brave Sir Robin

Obviously would hate to see him go, but if we got £25m+ plus Jakuzi or whatever his name is on loan with an option to buy, then also bought Austin with some of the proceeds, I'd be quite happy tbh. One thing we can be certain of is that the club have several ideal replacements identified for every player in any case, so we shouldn't really be panicking anyway.

Hmmm. Let me see... 6 potential wins to ramp up the winning mentality and confidence vs 6 extra days training in the rain, reflecting on where it might have gone wrong...

Funnily enough, I heard someone comment on the radio the other day that Man U at least have no defensive worries this season, now that they've got Schneiderlin protecting their back four.

The only actual fact I've seen so far is that we've had a bid turned down. I wouldn't be suprised if it goes to deadline day, and we probably won't be the only club bidding by then. Until I see anything more concrete, I'm still regarding this as a long shot.

Looking back over our games against Vitesse, Newcastle and Everton, I'd say we just haven't finished our transfer dealings yet. We've bought well for Europe, now we need to add a couple of strong, pacey players for the Prem. Glad we did it that way round, too, as I'd be far more disappointed to be out of Europe already than to only have 1 point after 2 games of a 38 game season.

Lol Don't go giving them ideas about Wanyama though, you never know who might be reading this

Arsenal and Man Utd target?!! - That's stretching it a bit isn't it?!

I'm your boss. Consider yourself unemployed, slacker!

How ironically optimistic! Personally, having witnessed Saints in Europe in the 80's and 2003, I'm not expecting more than 2 extra fixtures! However, if my hunch is right about this, I think we'll still have a decent squad and could be in with a shout of finishing 6th.

Isn't that just group stages onwards?

Isn't it pronounced "Van Deek"?

I think we're going to be really exciting to watch, with goals flying in at either end! I think most top half teams will also be better than last season, though, so anywhere from 6th to 12th would be my guess (which I'll be more than happy with personally)

Nah, don't worry. They'll all be at Liverpool by then!

Hmmm was thinking of going, but now we've got Vitesse either side, I reckon it'll be kids & reserves and a repeat performance of the red bull tournament.

Nope. We're at home first leg. Fly back from Holland to play Vitesse then friendly against Espanyol, then back to Holland for away leg against Vitesse, then back to UK to play away at Newcastle. Pretty exhausting way to start the season!

Berkovic

Looks like a bargain right now, but I bet Feyenoord made sure there's a whopping sell on clause!

Good article. Personally, I'm not counting on Clasie being on his way until the official announcement, though, but that's just me!

He's going to sign on Saturday. He'll play for Feyenord 1st half, score a goal, sign for us on the pitch at half time then score an equalizer. I'm itk, honest.

Reading this thread reminds me of the bit in Time Bandits where Napoleon is going on about all the famous people in history that were shorter than him!

So it's just me that half expects Clasie to be announced as Liverpool's next signing today or tomorrow?

Nope. We're nothing if not fashionable right now. I think it's more likely that other teams see as a small, but growing, club stuffed with great but expensive talent.

Strength in depth is my main concern for this season. Personally I think we need to add 4 or 5 players who are as good or better than our first choices in order to have a good go at all 3 cups and finish in the top 10. As it stands, I think we'll have enough to stay up. The reality is that we'll probably add 2 or 3, go out of all the cups by March and finish around 12th.

(Shudder)

No wonder Ronald looked angry at the end of that - they looked totally disorganised. Made him look bad. My guess would be lack of leadership on the pitch. Fonte will be crucial to our defence again, and I reckon we need someone with great awareness alongside him at cb. Morgan needs a top quality replacement too. We have little choice but to field kids in Europa unless we want to gamble on increaed risk to key players for the Prem. Our squad just isn't big enough to do anything else. On the strength of this afternoon, it's going to be a very steep learning curve for them, and it'll be a massive achievement if we get past the group stage. On the plus side, Juanme and Cedric look like good signings, and Stekelenburg will do.