SaintsIRL

Well some are saying we can't stay in the division, I think it could but obviously if we want to challenge for top 6 again, we need some reinforcement having sold a few. Plus 5 signings.....but a couple of those are back ups. So it's really only 3 regulars we're looking at. Push Cedric, Tadic and Austin to the bench and then we're ready to go

Don't think the squad is in as bad a shape as some are making out. Hojlberg and Redmond were good additions and I'd expect both to be regulars. Long-Tadic-Redmond ------Austin Not the worst attack in the league by any stretch, we just need a couple more options, maybe a 10 and a striker. Also want aright back, I don't rate Cedric too much tbh. Outside that a few backs ups....keeper, centre half. 5 signings.....that's achievable before the window shuts.

No chance in hell of us getting him in. Tottenham as well as some other Champions League clubs are said to hold interest in him. He's a very highly rated player, we have to find the ones that haven't been uncovered yet. I'd take every link to a French player with a pinch of salt now, for obvious reasons w will be linked with plenty. For starters what's the bets we're linked to Moussa Sissoko and Debuchy in the coming weeks

Ah my mate who is a Liverpool fan said he doubted the link. Says he thinks the journos are name dropping Bertrand and Robertson as Liverpool are feinting moving on from Chilwell. He says they did a similar thing last summer with Benteke; claiming they were looking at Rondon and Bacca is a deal could be done. So you saying the information is incorrect, makes his theory more plausible. Thank god. Don't think I could take losing Bertrand, he's probably the player I'd want to lose least.

Paul Joyce of the Express, on of the more reliable journos for them lot says that Bertrand is being discussed as an alternative to Ben Chilwell, among other names. Seems odd as the other day I read that they were looking for a young left back to mould, obviously Ryan doesn't fit that. However Joyce did mention that Ryan has a year left on his deal (I didn't realise that!), so perhaps he's implying they see him as an opportunity difficult to turn down. Ugh if he goes, what's to stop van Djik going if Koeman comes knocking for him when Stones heads off to City? Who will we have left?

I don't agree. The idea they are trying to unsettle Mane so he'll push a move..... He clearly wants to go to them, they wouldn't be bidding unless his representatives had indicated to Liverpool that he wants to join them. I remember listening to an interview with a football agent a while back. As he said people are under the impression that it's all by the books. Club A bids, Club B accepts, Club B grant permission to speak to the player in question. However as he said the reality is, no club will bid for a player unless they've been given an indication that said player wants to join them. Only exception to this is when a player uses a club in order to get a better deal from his current club. We can't hope to match the wages Liverpool would pay him so I doubt it's the case. Liverpool don't need to stir the pot as Mane is already sold. It's down to us now, do we accept a bid or do we make him stay and watch as his value plummets and we have to sell him for £10-15m next summer, like Wanyama. I'd rather we took the money tbh. Mane has a lot of talent but he's erratic as hell. A brace one game, to be anonymous in the next three. that's what Mane is. Perhaps a certain manager could get him to produce consistently but Koeman was a very good manager and he couldn't. £32.5m spent smart, could benefit the team more than Sadio Mane in my eyes.

Media seem to suggest a deal could go through next week. Never this much smoke without fire. My guess. Deal done at undisclosed fee. We claim £35m. They claim £30m. True price probably somewhere in between. Should give them about £20m of their cash back for Ibe and Allen. Good players in my eyes.

Klopp specifically mentioned a winger as a target that will need looking at. SO I'd imagine Mane would be a priority. And again It'll believe £40m when i see it, I think it'll be less. You talk like Liverpool are poor. Most EPL clubs can now afford a net spend of £50/60m due to the TV deal. Liverpool have a higher revenue than most clubs so could comfortably spend about £80m without bringing a penny in. Then on top of that they have a big squad with plenty of players likely to leave; Skrtel, Allen, Benteke, Markovic, Ibe etc. All adds up. Liverpool could spend well in excess of £100m this summer. So £30/35m for Mane is more than affordable if their manager sees his position as a priority. Again heard all this about Clyne last summer, we're in denial again. Liverpool are a bigger club than us, with more money, whether they finished 8th or 1st, makes no difference to that. They have a proven European name as a manager, who i building his own project. We once again have no manager. I hold no malice against Liverpool for coming for our players; if they recognise talent and make a move for it, they're well in their rights,. We can say no but we never do. As for Everton. £100m and the rest. Stones and Lukaku both being linked with big moves to City and Chelsea. They may well have double that sum to spend this summer. They come knocking with 50m+ for Tadic and van Djik this summer, who are we to say no?

Ireland are through. Now gunning for vengeance on French. Then on to Iceland

Think we're kidding ourselves again if we think he won't go to Liverpool; read the same things on here last year about Clyne. And arguably Liverpool are in a better position that they were then overall. Granted they were in Europe then but still they had a manager with major doubts over him, they'd been trashed 6-1 by Stoke. Now they have Klopp, a manager who took Dortmund from mid table mediocrity to league champions and a Champions League final. He took Liverpool to two finals with a squad that wasn't his. He's a big name; a bigger name than Koeman, at least as a manager and we've just lost Koeman. Of course Mane is going to want to see how that project goes. We've lost another manager. Wanyama is gone and you can't rule out a couple players following Koeman to Everton now they've got money to throw about. My money's on van Djik and Tadic tbh. Last time we lost a manager and a few stars we managed a rebuild, will lightning strike three times? I'm not so sure. As for the price, don't think we'll get £40 but don't think we'll get just £25m either; I seen £25m + Jordan Ibe mooted a few weeks ago; I'd be happy with that. I rate Ibe, lots of potential there just need to be in a system that suits him, don't think that pressing nonsense is for him. In a squad with other young english talent, think he'd flourish. Sure Wanyama, Mane and whoever else. Anyone who wants out is welcome to go and let the door hit them on the way out. We don't need players who are always looking elsewhere.

Spurs have plenty of centre halves now. Obviously Vertoghen and Tobi will be their starters, they only signed Wimmer, and Dier looks set for a bright future; however the rest of them are likely up for grabs at the right price. Maybe we should look there for Tobi's replacement. Kaboul is finished and Fazio is a bit too slow for the EPL but Chriches looked a player when he first signed just had a couple of injuries, I wouldn't say no at the right price.

So we need a centre half to replace Tobi. A midfielder to replace Morgan (inevitable). And a winger to replace Elia. We've added Cuco and Juanmi to the squad; and we have Jay-Rod back, so we'll definitely be stronger squad wise next season

van Djik is the obvious option, he's set for a move down south, why not go all the way south? I honestly feel he could be as good as, if not better than Tobi was. If we're beaten to him......I'd consider Ashley Williams as a stop gap for a couple years, he's a rock solid proven EPL defender and also another leader at the back.

Levy has gone over personally to seal the deal. Worst thing is he's a master at negotiating, bet Spurs get him for £12-13m. Looks like that ship has sailed. Ashley Williams anyone? Was talk of Palace making a bid, doubt he'd go to them but to us? Maybe he'd be tempted. Just hope we don't pick up Vlaar (Dutch connection) on a free, decent player but so slow, wouldn't suit us.

Looks like he isn't keen on them, won't swallow his pride. I think he should take them up on their offer. The lad has made bad career moves so far. Going to Bayern Munich when he was young and needed football, with them having Robben and Ribery on their books was stupidity. And then to finally leave them for an Inter Milan side that have suddenly decided to build up to challenge Juventus, with increased pressure, was another bad decision. Maybe at Stoke he can play football and get back to the level he's capable of, use them as a springboard to a bigger club in 2016. might sound harsh on Stoke but thats what players do when they move to clubs like that. Honestly think he'd be worth a punt for us. Massive talent, just look back at the world cup, happy playing for his country, he played good football.

Bit spiteful..... Our fans want to slag off Liverpool, yet act like this? Liverpool have some bad fans....just as we do......just as any football team does. Clyne is in the top three right backs in the league, no matter what we want to say about him now. And he will likely continue to do so. Right back was a problem position for Liverpool last season so Clyne is arguably their best signing so far. Adam had some good spells for them, despite it being deemed a "poor season" for him, he managed 5 goals and 3 assists, far from awful. We know Adam isn't 100% in terms of natural fitness, that's why he rarely seemed to finish 90 minutes. So I can only imagine getting injured in preseason didn't help him at all. if he gets a full preseason in for them this season, I reckon he'll be a big player for them. Lovren has struggled. He tries so hard, he messes up even the simplest of things. He's never going to be a £20m defender, we mugged them off big time for him. However if he can get over his nerves, perhaps he can be the £8m defender we signed originally for them. Then again I remember reading an article on him last summer written by a Croatian writer who had followed his career, seems inconsistency is his middle name, 6 months on, 6 months off for the entirety of his career. I disliked the guy at first last summer but a few months on I felt sorry for him, he was trying so hard to be an LFC player and he just couldn't manage it. Lambert I truly pity, he dreamed of playing for LFC, they sign him and then they don't play to his strengths at all. Now their plastic fans (by that I mean a section of their fans, a minority) are labeling him a flop on Twitter etc. Infuriates me tbh. If Rodgers wasn't going to use him properly, he should have left him with us. Overall I don't blame our players for wanting to move on to Liverpool. I've seen people on here saying Liverpool aren't above us, and its simply about money but I disagree. Liverpool have finished above us the last few seasons and will continue to do so. Their chances of a top 4 finish or winning a cup may be low, but ours are almost non-existent. We've lost six first team players to bigger clubs in the past two summers and look to be losing two more (if you count Tobi). Yes we've signed well; the likes of Tadic, Mane and Bertrand have been great signings and the rest have been decent. However you can't keep that kind of success rate up, I read somewhere once that the success rate of signings is usually less than 50% so we're riding our luck atm. I'll get behind Soares of course but the chance of him being as good as Clyne are low. That said I don't even go along with the attitude of some people that we upgraded on the players that left. I'd honestly have preferred to have Lambert than Pelle last season, Pelle fell off in the second half of the season, I doubt Rickie would have done the same. I also still would have preferred a fit Adam to Tadic. I do think Tobi was an upgrade on Lovren, but sadly we likely only had him for the one year. Bertrand had a super season, and I honestly could not have seen Shaw doing the same, however I still think if Shaw can overcome these injuries, he is England's future left back. I think the reason we were better last season is that we had a better squad, the players we brought in like Mane that weren't direct replacements for anyone who left, were the difference. And I hope we can once again improve our squad even if the replacements for Clyne, Schneiderlin and Tobi aren't quite up to the bar they set. Also to say they are Liverpool's spine? What about Coutinho, Henderson, Sakho, Skrtel, Sturridge and Sterling (for the minute)? Are they not Liverpool's spine? Ultimately I predict Liverpool to be battling Spurs for 5th. With ourselves having to fend off the challenge of the likes of Swansea, West Ham, Stoke and Crystal Palace for 7th place, all the while praying that it once again is a European place. And honestly I think that's as high as we go unless we get a takeover from someone that is willing to invest to bring us to the next level; tbh I think Liverpool are in the same state, if they want to be top 4 they also need new owners. And maybe when they get new owners who do their business behind closed doors where it belongs, Liverpool will stop bugging us all so much