Saints Transfers Thread - Deadline Day

[Chez]

Because he's crap? Why Krul?

 

Anyway, hoping for Pacheco or Skorupski.

 

Seemed a decent keeper to me, but it's been a while since I saw him.

[washsaint]

Cheers Tom.

So a good transfer profit of 50m I reckon when VVD leaves.

Not surprised VVD thinks we lack ambition.

 

What a dumb comment. If you buy into anything that p**** VVD says you are wrong - we have ambition as a club. Anyone can see that......can we compete with City, Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal? Of course not.

 

Some of you are so deluded its untrue - read the f***** accounts you numpty: this "profit" so many of you bang on about is untrue. Still won';t stop people making things up to fit their agenda.

[ALWAYS_SFC]

What a dumb comment. If you buy into anything that p**** VVD says you are wrong - we have ambition as a club. Anyone can see that......can we compete with City, Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal? Of course not.

 

Some of you are so deluded its untrue - read the f***** accounts you numpty: this "profit" so many of you bang on about is untrue. Still won';t stop people making things up to fit their agenda.

 

Its called "bash the club" attitude mate, some perform it at every opportunity ...

[SuperSAINT]

@RealKevinPalmer: Interesting vibes coming from the Southampton end after Virgil van Dijk's statement....story will be posted here shortly #saintsfc #LFC #CFC

[tajjuk]

I'd reckon Gibson is just paper talk to be honest. Very rare we buy from other English clubs these days, and certainly not for massive amounts of money. The loan with a view to buy could be Baker, those are more the sort of deals I reckon we do with other English clubs.

 

Hope the centre-backs are better than Gibson and Sakho.

 

Why did we send Harry Lewis on loan if need to get a GK in?

[Give it to Ron]

I'd reckon Gibson is just paper talk to be honest. Very rare we buy from other English clubs these days, and certainly not for massive amounts of money. The loan with a view to buy could be Baker, those are more the sort of deals I reckon we do with other English clubs.

 

Hope the centre-backs are better than Gibson and Sakho.

 

Why did we send Harry Lewis on loan if need to get a GK in?

 

Because he needed game time playing nearly every week and he is not ready yet...or likely to be for a while for Premiership football.

[angelman]

Would be bad business selling VVD for 60 and then have to spend half of them on Gibson. Gibson is good and would suit the club, but 30 million is obscene for him.

 

Is Gibson better than what we already have? With CBs I think a bit might depend on Gardos. He has been injured the whole time so hasn't played for us, at least not properly. I did point out that the 11 PL games he has played in (admittedly some just a couple of minutes) we have lost just the once (vs WBA). He was bought for a reason, and for the not inconsiderable sum of £6m back in 2014 before fees got truly stupid.

[Badger]

Gk - should be looking to sign a permanent one to challenge FF really, rather than a convenient bench warmer.

 

Attacking player, looks like either Baker, or Roberts, but hope its a watertight deal for the permanent signing - if there can be such a thing as I suspect the player could still veto the move.

 

As for Cb's - Hoedt seemed the best option out of the names mentioned, Gibson doesn't strike me as a dominant CB in the air, or one who will bring the ball out of defence. Sakho - just no, shouldn't be considering trading with them. Wimmer isn't as bad as some seem to think, although I wouldn't be happy paying anywhere near £20m for him.

[Donatello]

Because he's a £50-£75m asset.

 

We are a business, we are (rightly) not going to throw away £50-£75m. As much as the fans and many neutrals would like to see it, it's not going to happen.

 

How is it going to be thrown away?

[Rebel]

As a supporter, I don't feel let down by Reed & Co. HTH

 

really?

 

Failure to replace Fonte properly in January probably cost just the League Cup Final. Failure to replace Fonte last summer before we sold him and we knew he wanted to go.

 

Starting last season with just JayRod, Long and Austin as our forward options - surely everyone could see we were going to struggle with a lack of goals with those options.

 

Failure to really replace the goals and attacking options of Mane and Pelle last summer.

 

Buying Boufal when he was obviously crocked - when we need a fit and firing ACM.

 

Replacing Chambers and Clyne at right back - over £30 million worth of players sold - with Cedric and Martina/Pied for less then £5 million.

 

Appointing Puel - there is no denying now he was the wrong manager - but then failing to give him the backing he needed with a squad to suit his style of play.

 

All of those things left me feeling a little disappointed.

 

I'm not saying I think they've done a terrible job - after all we've made it to Europe, finished in the top 10 for 4 seasons in a row and made it to a League Cup Final - but we haven't actually won anything and our squad now is probably weaker than the one Pochettino started with if Van Dijk goes.

 

Now I expect some of this - players wanting to leave for example - was simply beyond their control - and other than the board who really knows the realities of Saints financial situation - but there are certainly things they could have done better.

 

I'm not going to be disappointed if they end up selling Van Dijk - but I will be disappointed if they don't replace him properly. Sometimes I just wish we looked a bit more like we were on the front foot with transfers.

[Harry_SFC]

How many have seen Gibson on a regular basis? Middlesbrough had a pretty decent defensive record for a relegated side last season and their fans rate him very highly. His stats are very good too. We wouldn't spend that much on a centre back but I expect he's better than what we have (Vvd excluded).

[Danbert]

Looks like we are after a keeper

 

http://readsouthampton.com/2017/08/08/raeder-reportedly-fails-agree-terms-southampton/

[Causer]

How many have seen Gibson on a regular basis? Middlesbrough had a pretty decent defensive record for a relegated side last season and their fans rate him very highly. His stats are very good too. We wouldn't spend that much on a centre back but I expect he's better than what we have (Vvd excluded).

 

Not convinced by Gibson personally, Middlesbrough last season made Puel Saints look like Keegan era Newcastle, one of the most defensive teams I have seen for a while. They opened up a bit at end of season needing wins and Gibson looked a bit exposed by having to play a higher defensive line. He may have potential but he is nowhere near the level of VVD.

[Saint86]

As a supporter, I don't feel let down by Reed & Co. HTH

 

Ditto. They are exactly what I expect and as they have always been.

 

Oh for a nice surprise every once in a while.

[Saint IQ]

really?

 

Failure to replace Fonte properly in January probably cost just the League Cup Final. Failure to replace Fonte last summer before we sold him and we knew he wanted to go.

 

Starting last season with just JayRod, Long and Austin as our forward options - surely everyone could see we were going to struggle with a lack of goals with those options.

 

Failure to really replace the goals and attacking options of Mane and Pelle last summer.

 

Buying Boufal when he was obviously crocked - when we need a fit and firing ACM.

 

Replacing Chambers and Clyne at right back - over £30 million worth of players sold - with Cedric and Martina/Pied for less then £5 million.

 

Appointing Puel - there is no denying now he was the wrong manager - but then failing to give him the backing he needed with a squad to suit his style of play.

 

All of those things left me feeling a little disappointed.

 

I'm not saying I think they've done a terrible job - after all we've made it to Europe, finished in the top 10 for 4 seasons in a row and made it to a League Cup Final - but we haven't actually won anything and our squad now is probably weaker than the one Pochettino started with if Van Dijk goes.

 

Now I expect some of this - players wanting to leave for example - was simply beyond their control - and other than the board who really knows the realities of Saints financial situation - but there are certainly things they could have done better.

 

I'm not going to be disappointed if they end up selling Van Dijk - but I will be disappointed if they don't replace him properly. Sometimes I just wish we looked a bit more like we were on the front foot with transfers.

 

Utter ******** in bold.

[Oldeuboi]

really?

 

Failure to replace Fonte properly in January probably cost just the League Cup Final. Failure to replace Fonte last summer before we sold him and we knew he wanted to go.

 

Would we have kept 2 clean sheets to get to the final with Fonte in the team? Quite clearly replaced Fonte with Stephens (who wouldn't want a young defender who's risen up through the ranks as a replacement?). Also had Caceres as emergency cover, which we didn't end up needing. Barely conceded any goals in the tail end of last season which kinda shows we didn't miss Fonte (while he was having a calamitous time at WHU).

 

Starting last season with just JayRod, Long and Austin as our forward options - surely everyone could see we were going to struggle with a lack of goals with those options.

 

Easy to say in hindsight but Austin was banging goals in before his innocuous injury and Long had the best season of his life the season before. Jay Rod had also come back to full fitness. When had we ever had 3 capable starting strikers?

 

Failure to really replace the goals and attacking options of Mane and Pelle last summer.

 

See this so many times. It's just not an argument. You don't replace "like-for-like" when you're selling players for 30-40m. Between then, Austin and Redmond got 15 goals last season (even though Austin missed 50% of it AND we went through massive goal droughts as a team). Pelle and Mane totalled 22 goals the season before. I think 15 goals out of 22 isn't bad considering Redmond has insane potential and we were missing Austin for more than half of it. People forget how woefully inconsistent both Pellè and Mané were for 40-60% of the season.

 

Buying Boufal when he was obviously crocked - when we need a fit and firing ACM.

 

You sign players who will be good for the team. Just because a player we've been monitoring has an injury, doesn't mean we should just give up and go find someone who may not be as good. It's why many people are predicting this will be his season. Would you feel differently if we'd missed out and then signed Boufal this summer for 25-30m?

 

Replacing Chambers and Clyne at right back - over £30 million worth of players sold - with Cedric and Martina/Pied for less then £5 million.

 

 

So you're saying we did excellent business here. Sold £30m (where is Chambers now?!) and replaced with Cedric (European Champion) and Pied (best backup RB we've had?!) for very reasonable money. We've proven time and time again that we sign £30m+ players for £5m-£10m, consistently. Why can't you learn from that?

 

Appointing Puel - there is no denying now he was the wrong manager - but then failing to give him the backing he needed with a squad to suit his style of play.

 

 

While we weren't nearly as bad under Puel as some people seem to believe, what would you have changed about the squad last season to suit his style of play?

 

 

I'm not saying I think they've done a terrible job - after all we've made it to Europe, finished in the top 10 for 4 seasons in a row and made it to a League Cup Final - but we haven't actually won anything and our squad now is probably weaker than the one Pochettino started with if Van Dijk goes.

 

 

Now that's just ridiculous. Our squad finished 8th without van Dijk for half of it, while apparently being mismanaged by the wrong manager. I'm sorry but you can't have a terrible squad and finish 8th with a bad manager and then somehow get worse despite changing to a better one... Think about what you're saying man, come on. Weaker than this squad (Poch's first game)?

 

 

 

 

Now I expect some of this - players wanting to leave for example - was simply beyond their control - and other than the board who really knows the realities of Saints financial situation - but there are certainly things they could have done better.

 

 

Everyone knows if you want to find out. The yearly accounts are publicly available to be read.

 

I'm not going to be disappointed if they end up selling Van Dijk - but I will be disappointed if they don't replace him properly. Sometimes I just wish we looked a bit more like we were on the front foot with transfers.

 

I don't understand this. We've reiterated time and time again that he's staying. Every player has a price and obviously there haven't been any offers that match that. How could we be on the front foot? Sign a CB replacement pre-emptively so it's obvious we will sell and therefore lose the upper hand?

[Heisenberg]

Utter ******** in bold.

 

Is it?

 

When Mopo arrived he had -

 

Rickie Lambert

Morgan Schneiderlin

Jay Rodriguez

Nathaniel Clyne

Maya Yoshida

Jason Puncheon

Steven Davis

Jack Cork

Adam Lallana

José Fonte

Luke Shaw

Gastón Ramírez

Artur Boruc

Calum Chambers

Jack Stephens

James Ward-Prowse

Dean Hammond

[James]

Is it?

 

When Mopo arrived he had -

 

Rickie Lambert

Morgan Schneiderlin

Jay Rodriguez

Nathaniel Clyne

Maya Yoshida

Jason Puncheon

Steven Davis

Jack Cork

Adam Lallana

José Fonte

Luke Shaw

Gastón Ramírez

Artur Boruc

Calum Chambers

Jack Stephens

James Ward-Prowse

Dean Hammond

 

Our central defence was pretty bad under Poch but I'd say the midfield and attack were both comfortably better than what we've got now.

 

How anyone could argue that the Wanyama and Morgan shield plus an attack of Lallana, J Rod and Lambert isn't better than what we've got now is beyond me. We arguably had better full backs under MP too.

 

Our squad was a bit thinner under MP but ultimately the quality of the starting XI was better and we still had players like Cork, JWP and Yoshi in reserve. Two of those players are now starters...

[Bearsy]

i spose he also had a fair bit of Fox, Hooiveld & Guly to contend with as well tbf.

[mrfahaji]

How many have seen Gibson on a regular basis? Middlesbrough had a pretty decent defensive record for a relegated side last season and their fans rate him very highly. His stats are very good too. We wouldn't spend that much on a centre back but I expect he's better than what we have (Vvd excluded).

 

I work with a Boro fan, he says Gibson is a Premier League player, and one of only two or three that met that criteria last season, but doesn't exactly rave about him. I think for the amount we'd have to pay for him, we could get a better player elsewhere.

[Pengi]

I'd sell Tadic. He seems to be a moaning minnie at the end of each season, if the press are to be believed.

[beavis17]

Lemina deal really close. Should be closed out today.

 

Loan offer made for goalkeeper.

 

In discussions with three CB's to replace VVD. Only one will be signed.

 

Another loan offer with option to buy made for an attacking player.

 

Will be 4 signings before end of window apparently. Three expected to go out. VVD, Gazzaniga (although might change if we don't secure a loan) and one other.

 

Hoping one of three centre-backs is Issa Diop.

[mrfahaji]

 

Easy to say in hindsight but Austin was banging goals in before his innocuous injury and Long had the best season of his life the season before. Jay Rod had also come back to full fitness. When had we ever had 3 capable starting strikers?

 

 

All excellent points in your earlier post, but I think on this specific topic you could also argue the opposite. Long had the season of his life, so was it realistic to expect him to reproduce it? Austin had questions over his injuries when we signed him. Rodriguez had been out for best part of 2 (?) years, was it realistic to assume he would rediscover his form from years gone by?

 

I can see the reasoning from the club as to why it might have worked, but equally the majority of fans were concerned about how light we were in attack, or at least the risks associated with going with those three, and they were proved right.

[fish fingers]

I'd sell Tadic. He seems to be a moaning minnie at the end of each season, if the press are to be believed.

 

The press are not to be believed. I thought everyone knew that.

[Oldeuboi]

All excellent points in your earlier post, but I think on this specific topic you could also argue the opposite. Long had the season of his life, so was it realistic to expect him to reproduce it? Austin had questions over his injuries when we signed him. Rodriguez had been out for best part of 2 (?) years, was it realistic to assume he would rediscover his form from years gone by?

 

I can see the reasoning from the club as to why it might have worked, but equally the majority of fans were concerned about how light we were in attack, or at least the risks associated with going with those three, and they were proved right.

 

Exactly. It was a gamble (on Long and J Rod, which I feel was right) and rectified at the earliest opportunity with the Gabbiadini signing (which also turned out pretty good for us). I think the Austin injury thing is unfair. He was absolutely clattered and ****ed up his shoulder. Nothing to do with previous injuries. His injury was as innocuous or predictable as Virgil's.

 

The most disappointing for me about our attack was simply as a whole failing to put our horrendous amount of chances away. I don't think it was a distinct lack of quality. If anything it was psychological and a lack of any sort of luck towards the end of the season.

[verlaine1979]

Exactly. It was a gamble (on Long and J Rod, which I feel was right) and rectified at the earliest opportunity with the Gabbiadini signing (which also turned out pretty good for us). I think the Austin injury thing is unfair. He was absolutely clattered and ****ed up his shoulder. Nothing to do with previous injuries. His injury was as innocuous or predictable as Virgil's.

 

The most disappointing for me about our attack was simply as a whole failing to put our horrendous amount of chances away. I don't think it was a distinct lack of quality. If anything it was psychological and a lack of any sort of luck towards the end of the season.

 

Surely worth noting that the season of Long's life was in fact pretty mediocre. It's just that most of the other seasons have been dire.

[Pass the Dutchie]

The whole VVD saga can't help with enthusing new players atm. It's can't be an appealing vibe. Thanks Virgil!

[harriesss]

Surely if it's 4 in, it'll have to be 4 out as well unless one is an under 21, as otherwise we'll have 26 over aged players

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Faz]

The whole VVD saga can't help with enthusing new players atm. It's can't be an appealing vibe. Thanks Virgil!

 

It will have no impact at all. Player come and go, they all know that. If Double VD is obliged to stay, his fellow players will have no problem with him re-joining the Group either. Most of them would jump at the chance to got o a top 6 team, although might have gone about it differently.

[doggface]

Exactly. It was a gamble (on Long and J Rod, which I feel was right) and rectified at the earliest opportunity with the Gabbiadini signing (which also turned out pretty good for us). I think the Austin injury thing is unfair. He was absolutely clattered and ****ed up his shoulder. Nothing to do with previous injuries. His injury was as innocuous or predictable as Virgil's.

 

The most disappointing for me about our attack was simply as a whole failing to put our horrendous amount of chances away. I don't think it was a distinct lack of quality. If anything it was psychological and a lack of any sort of luck towards the end of the season.

 

Austins shoulder was already ****ed up before this season, he had previous surgery & is a weak point.

[mrfahaji]

Exactly. It was a gamble (on Long and J Rod, which I feel was right) and rectified at the earliest opportunity with the Gabbiadini signing (which also turned out pretty good for us). I think the Austin injury thing is unfair. He was absolutely clattered and ****ed up his shoulder. Nothing to do with previous injuries. His injury was as innocuous or predictable as Virgil's.

 

The most disappointing for me about our attack was simply as a whole failing to put our horrendous amount of chances away. I don't think it was a distinct lack of quality. If anything it was psychological and a lack of any sort of luck towards the end of the season.

 

While it's true about Austin's injury being unforeseen, didn't he have a few niggles the season before, and had also suffered with a dislocated shoulder a few times before? I also happen to think that his injury history was/is overblown, but it would equally be wrong to say he has had years without any problems.

 

Unfortunately I would have to disagree on the finishing - Long, Rodriguez, JWP, Davis, Hojbjerg all regularly demonstrated how poor they were in front of goal, and it's not like any (perhaps J-Rod, but again, pre injury) of them have previously been adept at sticking chances away.

 

As I said, I think the rest of your post was excellent, just this bit... That being said, if we don't sign a CM (which hopefully we will), I think it would be worse than not bolstering our attack last summer. For the points you mention, you can at least see why the club took the chance, even if, like me, you thought it was a mistake to risk it. Our central midfielders have all played together for a whole season and shown they're not currently good enough. If we don't sign a new one, we are taking a chance that 2 out of the 4 (PEH, JC, JWP, SD) significantly improve this season. 1 out of 4 I can see happening (JWP maybe, Hoj maybe), but 2 I'm not so comfortable with.

Edited 8 August, 2017 by mrfahaji

[Dellman]

I'd sell Tadic. He seems to be a moaning minnie at the end of each season, if the press are to be believed.

 

It doesn't need the press to tell us, he is a moaning minnie to all his team mates every match. I was pleased to see young Jack Stephens have a go at him after he had one of his strops. Loss of Tadic woulod help team spirit imo

[angelman]

Heard Lamine Koné was being sniffed after as a VVD replacement.

[Batman]

Kone and Ben Gibson being touted for us

[DT]

Kone. Bloody hell. That's like replacing a Rolls Royce with a Raleigh Grifter

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Appy]

Austins shoulder was already ****ed up before this season, he had previous surgery & is a weak point.

 

It was ****ed by our own Kelvin Davis.

[Lord Duckhunter]

Heard Lamine Koné was being sniffed after as a VVD replacement.

 

He's a decent defender if you're compact & don't push the full backs on, but not sure he'd fit our system .

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Saint86]

Its been a poor window so far to be sure. plenty of time to go though!

[Faz]

Its been a poor window so far to be sure. plenty of time to go though!

 

How has it been poor?

[SuperSAINT]

Southampton now regard their transfer business as largely complete and there is still no compromise on a club decision not to sell any key players.

 

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/08/08/southampton-make-mario-lemina-record-signing-18m-deal-juventus/

[angelman]

Have to say that, to try and keep the price of potential CBs down.

[Cartman]

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/08/08/southampton-make-mario-lemina-record-signing-18m-deal-juventus/

 

Goalkeeper Les

[washsaint]

Anyone who thinks that Forster will be replaced is smoking crack......they would not have given him another improved contract less than 12 months from another contract extension if they were not happy with him.

 

While he was not great last season, in common with many other players, he was certainly far from the liability our resident forum experts thought he was and was still near the top of the clean sheets list.

[Mikey88]

Heard Lamine Koné was being sniffed after as a VVD replacement.

 

Heard from Adrian Durham on Talksport earlier by any chance?

[angelman]

Probably as was on radio this afternoon.

[tajjuk]

Presuming VVD stays and we get him to play, do we need anyone else? Are we going to get an upgrade on any of our first team players without spending £40-50 million?

 

I'm presuming Stephens rise, coupled with Yoshidas consistency has eliminated the pressing need for Fontes replacement and we have Bednerak as more competition in that position. Lamina adds that physicality and pace in the middle that we lost when Wanyama and Morgan left. We have four strikers vying for one spot it looks like and I'm not sure a club of our stature is going to get much better a striker than Austin or Gabbi unless we unearth a young gem. And whilst I reckon we probably lack the goalscoring midfielder I presume they expect continued development from JWP and Redmond, plus a much better season from Boufal.

[Faz]

Presuming VVD stays and we get him to play, do we need anyone else? Are we going to get an upgrade on any of our first team players without spending £40-50 million?

 

I'm presuming Stephens rise, coupled with Yoshidas consistency has eliminated the pressing need for Fontes replacement and we have Bednerak as more competition in that position. Lamina adds that physicality and pace in the middle that we lost when Wanyama and Morgan left. We have four strikers vying for one spot it looks like and I'm not sure a club of our stature is going to get much better a striker than Austin or Gabbi unless we unearth a young gem. And whilst I reckon we probably lack the goalscoring midfielder I presume they expect continued development from JWP and Redmond, plus a much better season from Boufal.

 

Assuming Double VD stays, we'll have the strongest squad we've ever had imo. Load of competition for places. If we can add a few goals from midfield we're in for a cracking season I reckon.

 

Optimists live longer.......

[ally_uk]

Who is next? Hoedt?

[Saint_Tony]

We still need a VVD replacement. Stephens and Yoshida simply not good enough to be first choice if we have any sort of ambitions for top half.

 

 

 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[Cartman]

Presuming VVD stays and we get him to play, do we need anyone else? Are we going to get an upgrade on any of our first team players without spending £40-50 million?

 

I'm presuming Stephens rise, coupled with Yoshidas consistency has eliminated the pressing need for Fontes replacement and we have Bednerak as more competition in that position. Lamina adds that physicality and pace in the middle that we lost when Wanyama and Morgan left. We have four strikers vying for one spot it looks like and I'm not sure a club of our stature is going to get much better a striker than Austin or Gabbi unless we unearth a young gem. And whilst I reckon we probably lack the goalscoring midfielder I presume they expect continued development from JWP and Redmond, plus a much better season from Boufal.

 

Just a goalkeeper really. Will never happen after his new contract, but I don't have any confidence in Forster and McCarthy is never fit. Other than that, I suppose a CB and a RF would be nice to have but not an absolute necessity assuming Van Dijk gets his head around the fact he isn't going anywhere, followed by saying he was badly advised and that it was all Jansen's fault.

Don't think I have gone into a season recently thinking that we only really need one more player, which makes the fact that it almost certainly won't happen particularly disappointing oddly enough. Put a really good keeper behind Stephens, Van Dijk, Cédric, Bertrand, Romeu, Lemina, Ward-Prowse, Tadic, Boufal and Gabbi, plus plenty of decent options for each position, it looks quite good.

Just a bloody goalkeeper Les