mrfahaji

Interesting to know your thoughts on why you'd pick him ahead of Yoshida. There's not much in it, but I'd go with Maya. What's more surprising is that while you seem so definite about Stephens' superiority, you also seem indifferent between Yoshida, a loyal (even if that word counts for very little) servant who stepped in excellently last season and arguably ended up playing better than Fonte was before he left, and Bednarek, a youngster who few have seen play yet, and by all accounts on the occasions people have seen him, he's looked a bit suspect!

While I don't dispute the sentiment of your post, this is the trouble with using stats to prove your point. There are so many other variables, the fact that Stephens replaced van Dijk being the most obvious, that you can't rely on them to paint a true picture. I think someone used similar stats (obviously not the same ones!) to show how we weren't any better with VVD in the team than without, which is a quite ludicrous suggestion. Stephens has definitely got something about him which suggests he can cut it, but he doesn't seem very dominant in the air, and gets out of position too often at the moment. Clearly the latter he can learn and improve, harder with the former. He's excellent one-on-one with the ball on the ground though. I think Yoshida is better than him - a bit better in the air, quick, positioning - but he is also prone to being dragged out of position, which tends to happen when he plays alongside the inexperienced Stephens.

Yep, I work with a Boro fan and he says everyone who goes to the Riverside hates Ramirez now. Mainly because of his attitude, just downed tools when things weren't going well, and spent most of the time he did play diving around. Sounds familiar unfortunately.

Bit of a stretch, it was a nice goal but let's not get carried away.

Is there any way to ban someone from starting new threads?

I haven't said it's legal or correct, but being pragmatic about the situation, there is quite clearly a difference between 'exploring/investigating options' and actively pursuing a player and setting up meetings as a way to lure them to the club. Yes it would be nice if there were no tapping up whatsoever, but it's very difficult to police that. That doesn't mean I think it's ok, but sometimes you have to focus on the more serious end of a problem because you wouldn't get anywhere if you tried to clamp down on every single instance. You'd probably find that clamping down harder on the more serious instances would also reduce the other instances.

Totally agree, but I wasn't claiming otherwise, Mr X's post was purely that "£60k pw is more than enough, why would he want more?" so I was offering a different perspective. At no point have I defended his current stance, and in fact I find it totally repulsive.

Except he doesn't. He lives in a world where his colleagues at club and international level earn similar levels of money to him and have a similar lifestyle. He's better than most of them, so wanting his pay to reflect that is not such a hideous thing. The problem is the levels of money sloshing about in the game, and how much of it ends up in transfer fees and particularly player wages. And parasitic agents who contribute very little to the game but have a major role in shaping it while lining their own pockets.

You're not wrong but I think expectations to sign those three positions are unrealistic. Our squad is decent in the sense that every position is covered by someone that wouldn't be disastrous to have them playing, so signing 3 new players will just push some of those, particularly youngsters, further from first team action. I would be happy if we signed ONE of the three you mentioned, provided they weren't just back ups. Of course if Virgil goes we have to sign a replacement. But if not, priority number 1 for me would be a CM - I'm thinking of a "midfield general" type (I know they're tricky to find and we may have to compromise on some attributes). If we have a decent partner for Romeu, as well as VVD, Bertrand and Cedric, I think Yoshida can perform well or Stephens is in an ideal position to learn. I would then expect Clasie to leave. If we don't sign one of these but managed to get a more attacking minded midfielder, who covered the ground and linked the lines in the way that Davis did (or does, depending on your view), but also offers a genuine goal threat, then I'd be ok with that too. Again, they're difficult to find. If we don't get either of these then perhaps we will need another centre back, because the back line is going to come under a lot of pressure, and we need to do everything we can to stop the other team having a shot, because we know that means a goal. Unfortunately it seems like we're going to have to start preventing crosses now too

I also forget that even players like Charlie Austin are still fairly young. I'm now in my early 30s but still don't feel like a proper adult, and most of the squad are now at least a few years younger than me!

I think there is a difference between a club speaking to an agent and finding out what sort of terms they would be looking for, and whether they would be interested in a move, before contacting the club to discuss transfer fee etc, and getting the manager to meet with the player to convince him to join said club, getting into the head of the player/agent that a move is on the cards.

That should mean he has 3 or 4 more to go...! Edit: Just read the article, very good, and captures the reasons why those early Premier League years will always be the best, and it clearly wasn't just because I was about 10 years old, when everything seems brilliant, especially with the benefit of nostalgia!

Thanks for the snippets! This bit caught my attention, maybe I have more in common with footballers nowadays than I thought Having said that, I imagine we're talking Monopoly and Game of Life rather than Chess and Settlers of Catan...

I like this idea, but push Tadic and Redmond forward and essentially you are playing the 4-2-3-1. Are they good enough and disciplined enough to play as midfielders rather than wingers? How will that affect our shape/options during the game? E.g. I think we'd miss Tadic's creativity were he not in the side, but if he's going to spend half the game in his own half, perhaps JWP should be there.

I expect it's for what he might bring, what people are hoping/expecting from him. Having a player who can beat a man and drive at the opposition's defence is a valuable asset, as we saw with Mane. I agree that to date he hasn't shown enough though. As for JWP, agree that DM is not his position. He's had a few decent games on the right, and think AMC could be his best position, but he's far from convinced me he deserves to be starting in either of them.

Exactly. People make out he's just a big lump. I saw him last season chasing down defenders, having some nice touches and bringing other into play. He's also pretty good at getting that first yard on the defender, which is crucial in his position. I like the idea of playing both, because I think both are good enough to start - if one were injured, I wouldn't be at all worried about the other playing - and if they both played it would probably be one of "meh" central midfielders that would be dropped. Whether or not they can play together and get the team structure to fit is another question. Gabbiadini seems better at playing deeper AND playing on the shoulder, and we'd probably have to have our wide midfielders as slightly more defensive. That suddenly means putting Tadic, Redmond and Boufal into positions they're not naturally suited to.

That looks a bit imbalanced, don't think that IMO guy (whoever he is) needs to play so far wide.

This. Collymore also left, but not sure if that was out of principle or because they chose not to renew his contract. Really doesn't surprise me that "Mr Liverpool" Quinn didn't bat an eyelid.

For this reason I don't think we should have been looking at signing Hernandez, and if the wages quoted are correct, he is way out of our range anyway. That being said, I think he is a good signing, and for a reasonable transfer fee in this market too. I'd be surprised if he became another West Ham striker to fail to score at least three goals.

The first line is not a ridiculous question to ask, but then you back it up with Smalling & Delph. Two players which will probably cost huge amounts of money relative to how good they are (admittedly I think Delph could still work out, but would be a risk for the money we'd have to pay, not to mention wages). Boufal and Redmond are both potential Mane replacements (i.e. fulfil a similar role). Neither have so far looked like matching him, but after one season it's probably too early to give up on them, and to "sign a new Mane" requires us to have unearthed a gem, or spend masses. I don't want us to spend for the sake of it, which with your Defore statement, sounds like you do. The idea of being 'robbed' as a fan... We all want Saints to do as well as possible, though different people value different methods of achieving it, but I always thought it's because you love the club and want it to succeed. Being 'robbed' as a fan makes it about you, and that you are somehow entitled to seeing the club you support spend money. But surely the most pressing and worrying issue here is your failure to grasp some of the basics of English language. It's "Would HAVE", not "would of". Happy to help.

We had Schneiderlin and Lallana back then - case closed!

Of all the things to pick out, this really shouldn't be on there. Gallagher either needs to be given a chance or should be moved on, we've gone with the former option. Rodriguez was arguably (he was in my eyes) 4th choice. So we've replaced our 4th choice striker with an up & coming youngster. And been paid £10-£15m for doing so. That doesn't sound quite so bad, does it? The point about midfield is DEFINITELY a concern though.

I may not be remembering it correctly, but although we all remember Morgan's hissy-fit tweet, was there ever any follow up from him? I vaguely remember him also not playing in pre-season friendlies, so maybe there were also similarities there too. Having said that, while everyone was a bit miffed at his antics, I think a lot of people could also understand/sympathise a little bit with him. It looked like rats leaving a sinking ship that summer, and Morgan had been with us from the dark days! The fact that he then played in the first game and was excellent then quickly eased the situation.

True, and equally Lovren before him. But Alderweireld and van Dijk are two of, if THE two best centre backs in the whole division, is it realistic to think that because we've pulled it off twice we are likely now to do it again? To be honest, my post was mainly to support the fact that Yoshida & Stephens weren't adequate replacements. I think we have a chance of finding someone who is good, and can use leftover money to strengthen other areas of the team. It might yet make us stronger overall, but probably not at CB.

Yep. He may be a sh1t, but he's also the best defender I've seen play for Saints and will be extremely hard to replace.