Review: Summer Window 2017

[Dusic]

Overall a solid window. Admirable stance re VVD and we have kept to it, winning back some respect for Krueger and Reed after similar "not for sale" comments have meant anything but. Have to be delighted with the principle here even if it remains to be seen how much we will see him on the pitch (it doesn't look like the World Cup will be much of an incentive).

 

Incoming: Solid if not spectacular. Needed a partner for Romeu and Lemina looks an upgrade on what we have. Hoedt it has to be assumed will be a regular starter, although was a 4th choice for Lazio and looks to lack pace. Will add much needes height.

 

Bednarek looks even more bizarre as we now have 6 senior CBs on the books and no cup games before Christmas. His esrly appearances have been uninspiring, but he is young. IMO we should have looked to loan him out til January - an Intl player won't learn playing sterile u23 football and he won't make the first XI.

 

Amazed, after our truely dire attacking return last season that saw Puel fired, that we didn't sign an attacker of some sort. Would personally have looked to move on Long and bring someone in with a bit of technique alongside the pace. This season we have scored once from open play against four average sides so this is a huge (ongoing) concern...we just don't have enough starting players who score often enough. It is that simple. Players who never have been regular goalscorers don't suddenly change.

 

Outgoings - Jay Rod was obvious. He will do well at WBA and IMO is better than Austin or Long but he clearly needed a move and we got a good price.

 

Clasie out was equally obvious and it was telling nobody came in to buy him. Goes down as a very poor signing as a Schneiderlin replacement, primarily because it was clear from his first couple of PL games that he was going to struggle physically and he always did.

 

Gazzaniga a non-event but we got a couple of million.

 

Great to keep hold of all the players ae wanted to keep, first time in ages we have done so. Well played Les Reed.

 

Only minor gripe is that we didn't clesr enough deadwood. Gardos clearly has had no future at the club for about 18 months so a shame we couldn't ditch his wages as a training prop. Long (as above) has used up too many chances (literally) and it would have been good to offload him.

 

Verdict: Tempted to say 6/10 as we still look painfully short on options in attack and clearly have a personnel issue there which will probably cost us league places, but for keeping our best players and adding two key players I will go for 7/10.

 

Thoughts?

[Lighthouse]

I'm going with 8/10

 

1 mark dropped each for not replacing Long and selling Gardos. Other than that

[shurlock]

We got what we've been demanding for the last 4 years -that is, to have a window without any sales. Alone worth 8/10.

[Batman]

8/10

 

Good effort saints

[Wade Garrett]

Very good. Well done Les.

[Wimborne_saint]

Les and the board deserve a lot of praise - Another attacking edition would have been nice but to keep hold of all of our most prized assets is a big step in the right directions (regardless of if they wanted to stay or not)

[Heisenberg]

First time in 4 summers (since Nic left) that we haven't sold our best player(s)

 

Fonte replacement and partners for Romeu =

 

Still short up top + still missing that AM + GK issues and best player on strike

 

All in 7/10

[Lets B Avenue]

I wish we were Birmingham.

[CanadaSaint]

It's not just about keeping VvD, it's also about the impact this will have on Cedric and, especially, Bertrand. Whether we play Hoedt on the left and Virgil on the right, or keep Vigil on the left with one of the other three CBs, both Bertrand and Cedric will feel less reluctant to push-up, and that could transform everything for us. I've got a lot of respect for the job that Yoshida and Stephens have done, but if Hoedt is what he's supposed to be, they could both become solid depth players, at least for now. We're a million miles away from the days when Jos was a starter or first back-up.

 

Keeping VvD, assuming that we can reintegrate him, and signing Hoedt could produce a positive impact throughout the team. I think time will tell that this was a great window for us.

[beavis17]

I would have liked for us to bring in a new wide forward, but overall you have to be happy.

 

Well done to Les Reed and everyone else involved, and I'm certainly looking forward to seeing more of Lemina and Hoedt in particular.

[ally_uk]

1/10 no Ziyech no party!

[SaintAndy14]

Someone like a Vietto, even on loan, would have made it a solid 8 or even 9/10.

 

7/10 and hopefully, as mentioned above, an important window to show the rest of the footballing world that we will no longer continue to sell our key players every transfer window.

[hypochondriac]

6.5/10. Certainly above average window but a failure to address our lack of goals will probably come back to haunt us and will most likely lead to a fairly average season. We will address the problem eventually either in January or next summer but it's another opportunity to push on missed.

[LaptopSaint]

If Costa goes to Athletico tomorrow, is a cheeky loan bid for Vietto out of the question? Can but dream... 7.5/10

[SaintMB]

6/10 - Good to keep our 'bigger' players, but not addressing the lack of goals will mean we will continue to frustrate.

[qwertyell]

If Costa goes to Athletico tomorrow, is a cheeky loan bid for Vietto out of the question? Can but dream... 7.5/10

 

Wouldn't be cheeky so much as pointless, as our window for incoming transfers is closed until January.

[James]

7/10 for me too. Still short up front but brilliant to have not sold anyone significant and to have recruited two quality players.

[Saint Benali]

4/10 didn't improve the area we needed to improve most. Injury to Austin or Gabbi and we are ****ed.

[Saint Pete]

Massive kudos to Les and Ralph for holding firm on Van Dijk despite disgraceful behaviour and extreme pressure from player, agent, Liverpool and their army of pundits in the media.

 

Our stance on this is what this window will be remembered for for us and hopefully will stand is in good stead for negotiations with players and clubs going forward, who will no longer expect us to just roll over.

 

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

[Pamplemousse]

We didn't sell any key players, although I have a feeling there may be a bit of a defensive exodus next summer if Bertrand and Cedric still want out. But who knows, we might win the league or qualify for Europe and they might change their minds.

 

I personally think we're an attacking player short. Still, there's January to sort it out if it becomes an issue.

[LaptopSaint]

Wouldn't be cheeky so much as pointless, as our window for incoming transfers is closed until January.

 

Right you are, my bad. Hadn't realized the rules on loans had changed. Gabbi and Charlie it is.

[BARCELONASAINT]

Well the window turned out to be what most of us wanted bar 1 or 2 incomings.

 

I said to a work colleague at the end of the last season that in my view the board would hold strong and not sell VVD unless it was for a stupid amount. They have stood their ground despite huge pressure from VVD, his representatives, LFC and every victim to do with that low life club and the media who were determined that they would sell VVD for us!...For keeping to your word I applaud our board for the message it sends out to not only players...but other clubs!

 

Personally I never want to see VVD wearing the shirt again after his appalling behaviour towards the fans and club that gave him a nice pay increase, a longer contract and the bloody Captains arm band!...I will never applaud or cheer his name when he appears (and i'm sure he will) and I will not boo him....I will be realistic and accept we will re-integrate him into the first team squad but I don't have to like it.

 

 

The new signings on the face of it look good....I like what I have seen of Lemina already and think he could be a very shrewd signing.

 

 

Like everyone else my massive concern is where are the goals coming from....because at the moment I do not see much difference from the side of last year and that is worrying.

 

 

8/10 for not buckling Saints!

[trousers]

I will never applaud or cheer his name when he appears

 

IMO, that would be 'cutting off nose to spite face' territory.

 

When Schneiderlin was interviewed after his throwing toys out of pram episode, he said one of the main things that made him knuckle down and have a good season was the good reaction he got from the Saints fans at his first game back in the fold away at Liverpool. If VvD senses a hostile atmosphere towards him from Saints fans it's hardly going to help with his reintegration. If we want to maximise the chances of him having a good season then we're going to have to bite the bullet and give him an encouraging 'let bygones be bygones' welcome back. Just my opinion.

Edited 1 September, 2017 by trousers

[View From The Top]

At the start of the window we all said CM & DCM are an absolute must as is keeping players. We've done that so it's churlish to then start dripping about other positions.

 

We've goals in the team IF we give them the service.

 

A Barkley type player in January please Les.

 

8/10

[angelman]

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/15205/11014124/paul-mersons-transfer-window-grades-positives-for-man-city-man-utd-but-not-arsenal

 

Typical journo just looks at vD and judges our whole window on that.

[St Jim]

Pretty happy with the window overall - we've come out of it stronger than we were at the end of the season.

 

We've not lost any first team players and strengthened two key areas.

 

It's obvious that the forward area is a place a lot of fans feel need addressing, particularly since Pelle and Mane left, however I can't help feel that was what Boufal, Redmond and Gabbi were meant to address that, so it is down to MoPe and the coaching staff to work with them to get the best out of them. Gabbi has certainly shown us he can score given the service, Redmond has shown glimpses of what he can do, however his decision making and his shooting radar need a fair amount of work, and Boufal I think needs game time.

 

For me 7/10

[Faz]

IMO, that would be 'cutting off nose to spite face' territory.

 

When Schneiderlin was interviewed after his throwing toys out of pram episode, he said one of the main things that made him knuckle down and have a good season was the good reaction he got from the Saints fans at his first came back in the fold away at Liverpool. If VvD senses a hostile atmosphere towards him from Saints fans it's hardly going to help with his reintegration. If we want to maximise the chances of him having a good season then we're going to have to bite the bullet and give him an encouraging 'let bygones be bygones' welcome back. Just my opinion.

 

We're a fickle bunch. He'll play against Watford and if he plays well he'll be cheered to the rafters.

[shurlock]

IMO, that would be 'cutting off nose to spite face' territory.

 

When Schneiderlin was interviewed after his throwing toys out of pram episode, he said one of the main things that made him knuckle down and have a good season was the good reaction he got from the Saints fans at his first came back in the fold away at Liverpool. If VvD senses a hostile atmosphere towards him from Saints fans it's hardly going to help with his reintegration. If we want to maximise the chances of him having a good season then we're going to have to bite the bullet and give him an encouraging 'let bygones be bygones' welcome back. Just my opinion.

 

He got booed quite a bit at Liverpool as well as at West Ham, at least in the opening stages of the game. What really made the difference was the couple of goals he got at West Ham and the very fast start the team made in the league as we scored plenty of goals and occupied the top spots. Not hard to imagine how this time might be different.

[Batman]

He got booed quite a bit at Liverpool as well as at West Ham, at least in the opening stages of the game. What really made the difference was the couple of goals he got at West Ham and the very fast start the team made in the league as we scored plenty of goals and occupied the top spots. Not hard to imagine how this time might be different.

 

results matter. If we get a min of 4 points from the next two with good performances from the team (and him)

most will be content. Much like Puncheon before Morgan.

[trousers]

He got booed quite a bit at Liverpool as well as at West Ham, at least in the opening stages of the game. What really made the difference was the couple of goals he got at West Ham and the very fast start the team made in the league as we scored plenty of goals and occupied the top spots. Not hard to imagine how this time might be different.

Fair enough. I was just echoing Morgan's account of his reintegration into the team:

 

http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2014/10/07/schneiderlin-this-was-the-moment-i-knew-i-was-staying-at-southam/

 

“I played against Liverpool at Anfield and all the Southampton fans applauded me and chanted my name. It was so heart-warming. I knew then I would spend the whole season at Southampton."

[Saint Fan CaM]

I'm not as sure as some of you that this window could be classed as a success. Sure we brought in Lemina who I think will be a great addition and kept VVD...we're well covered at CB. However the club have not addressed the lack of goals issue - it really could be the undoing of us such is the problem.

 

Many other clubs would be treating this issue with more significant measures - i.e. given that nothing has changed style-wise with a new manager, the root cause must lie with the players. I said ages ago that we had too many forward players that were not of Prem standard and I stick by that. Collectively they're not good enough and I'm not sure a single signing (like Boufal for example) will actually make a difference. If it were a single signing then it would need a player of a quality (that we rarely see bought) to make a difference - I'm thinking perhaps Maurez, Coutinho, Suarez or similar.

 

Don't get me wrong...we'll be ok this season...however IMO we could very easily see a lower half squeaky bum finish.

[trousers]

I'm not as sure as some of you that this window could be classed as a success.

 

 

[Pass the Dutchie]

As I'm expecting VVD to return into the team soon enough, we'll have a defence of Cedric, Hoedt, Van Dijk, Bertrand, with Romeu and Lemina in front of them. This will give the whole team a big confidence boost, and I trust the goals will follow. Well done, Saints!

[Saint Fan CaM]

 

 

Come on Trousers, that's a bit below the belt...I gave a reasoned argument rather than a "it's all going to wotsit" post. Expect more from you. Time will tell and remain hopeful that the coaches find the key to unlock the goal drought.

[Gingeletiss]

As I'm expecting VVD to return into the team soon enough, we'll have a defence of Cedric, Hoedt, Van Dijk, Bertrand, with Romeu and Lemina in front of them. This will give the whole team a big confidence boost, and I trust the goals will follow. Well done, Saints!

 

This

[trousers]

Come on Trousers, that's a bit below the belt...I gave a reasoned argument rather than a "it's all going to wotsit" post. Expect more from you. Time will tell and remain hopeful that the coaches find the key to unlock the goal drought.

Please accept my apologies for attempting lighthearted banter on an internet football forum

[Adkins' Bus]

Very happy with the window. Addressing CB and DM were almost unanimously the key areas identified by fans and it's comforting that the club had the same ideas. We also kept our best players so its got to be an 8/10!

 

A good attacking midfielder would have been the icing on the cake but it is easier said than done. We already probably have 6 players competing for 3 spots behind Gabbiadini, 2 of which were only signed last season so we need to persevere with them and show some loyalty - it should work both ways. I believe we have enough talent here, it is just a case of finding the right balance and players finding some form. We need to mix it up a bit to show Tadic and Redmond that their spots aren't guaranteed and also to show Boufal/Long/JWP that they will get sufficient opportunity to make an impact.

[Charlie Wayman]

Right you are, my bad. Hadn't realized the rules on loans had changed. Gabbi and Charlie it is.

 

The rules haven't changed but we can still sign free's. Costa unfortunately is still under contract to Chelsea.

[Adkins' Bus]

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/15205/11014124/paul-mersons-transfer-window-grades-positives-for-man-city-man-utd-but-not-arsenal

 

Typical journo just looks at vD and judges our whole window on that.

 

That is a pretty laughable analysis. Gives a few teams a poor grade because he has never heard of the players they have signed He praises West Broms signings individually apart from Krychowiak (probably their best one), again probably because he has never heard of him! Absolutely stealing a living as a pundit!

[dronskisaint]

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/15205/11014124/paul-mersons-transfer-window-grades-positives-for-man-city-man-utd-but-not-arsenal

 

Typical journo just looks at vD and judges our whole window on that.

 

Journo? Merson?? Go look it up!

[once_bitterne]

We've kept VVD's registration document - we lost the player in May. To think we would ever get a him back in team and playing to the level he was is laughable. We've just delayed the inevitable and prevented us from getting £60m which we could have used to buy 2-3 new attacking players.

 

As it stands we have the worst goal scoring record in the PL of of any team who didn't get relegated last season, have started the season with 3 nils out of 4 games (1 goal scored which wasn't from the spot) and addressed this issue in the window by the revolutionary method of getting rid of two strikers.

 

So now we seem to be relying on the old stalwarts of our lack of goals is just bad luck or clinging to the belief that Davis and JWP will come up with 20+ goals.

[doddisalegend]

We've kept VVD's registration document - we lost the player in May. To think we would ever get a him back in team and playing to the level he was is laughable. We've just delayed the inevitable and prevented us from getting £60m which we could have used to buy 2-3 new attacking players.

 

As it stands we have the worst goal scoring record in the PL of of any team who didn't get relegated last season, have started the season with 3 nils out of 4 games (1 goal scored which wasn't from the spot) and addressed this issue in the window by the revolutionary method of getting rid of two strikers.

 

So now we seem to be relying on the old stalwarts of our lack of goals is just bad luck or clinging to the belief that Davis and JWP will come up with 20+ goals.

 

**** me damned if they do damned if they don't. We get absolute meltdown on here every summer when we sell good players and we finally have a window were we don't we have people saying we should have sold them.. So are all those saying we should have cashed on VVD saying the same about Mane, Pelle, Morgan, Victor, Clyne etc etc or is this just a new stick to beat the club with?

[Baird of the land]

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/15205/11014124/paul-mersons-transfer-window-grades-positives-for-man-city-man-utd-but-not-arsenal

 

Typical journo just looks at vD and judges our whole window on that.

 

Typical two faced reaction. No mention of keeping an unhappy Coutinho in his Liverpool analysis.

[hypochondriac]

**** me damned if they do damned if they don't. We get absolute meltdown on here every summer when we sell good players and we finally have a window were we don't we have people saying we should have sold them.. So are all those saying we should have cashed on VVD saying the same about Mane, Pelle, Morgan, Victor, Clyne etc etc or is this just a new stick to beat the club with?

When you say "all those" do you actually mean that one poster who has a different opinion to you? I'm pleased we kept vvd but I'm certainly not pleased that we are weaker in an attacking sense than last season. I think once Bitterne made some good points even if I don't entirely agree with him.

[doddisalegend]

When you say "all those" do you actually mean that one poster who has a different opinion to you? I'm pleased we kept vvd but I'm certainly not pleased that we are weaker in an attacking sense than last season. I think once Bitterne made some good points even if I don't entirely agree with him.

 

 

Its not one person though is it? but you crack on trying to make out it is in attempt to make you look like a reasonable poster rather than the hysterical tart everyone knows you are. Maybe you could get your Wreck it Ralph avatar out again..

[hypochondriac]

Its not one person though is it? but you crack on trying to make out it is in attempt to make you look like a reasonable poster rather than the hysterical tart everyone knows you are. Maybe you could get your Wreck it Ralph avatar out again..

What are you wittering on about? How does pointing out that there isn't a hoard of people on here saying we should have sold vvd mean that I am pretending to be a reasonable poster? The reality is that the vast majority of posters on here see the clubs stance over vvd as a positive. I'm not going to criticise others who see it differently though and would prefer that the money was invested in more attacking players.

[SKD]

7/10 for me.

 

Would have taken this as an excellent window at the start of the summer, but our lack of goals / creativity is a concern (hopefully we will reintegrate Virgil, which will free us up to become more attacking).

[S-Clarke]

For the first time in a good couple of years it feels as if we have made attempts to 'Improve' the first team, rather than either bulking up the squad or focusing on replacing who has left. Lemina and Hoedt are both quality additions in area's that needed enhancing and those two have come in without sacrificing any of our players.

 

In an absolutely ideal world you'd have liked another attacking option, but I'm sure every club would just like that '1 extra' option. To summarise, we're stronger than we were at the start of July - and when you take into account all of the rumours re: players such as Bertrand, Cedric, VVD, then it's a pretty good effort we've got to today even stronger.

[Saint Garrett]

INS

Hoedt - - We need someone with a bit of physical presence - international defender

Bednarek - - Seems a pointless signing

Lemina - - Looks a good signing in the position we needed

 

 

OUTS

Gazza - - Wouldn't have minded keeping him but got a few quid.

Clasie - - If he's not in the plans then we're right to get rid, I quite like him but clearly going to play

J-Rod - - Would have rather kept him and got rid of Long, however we did get a good price and he arguably needed a fresh start

Reed - - Needs games, not going to play here this season.

 

KEPT

VVD - - Great that hes staying, just hope he does a Schneiderlin and knuckles down

Gardos - - No point keeping him, not good enough and we have 6 CB's

Cedric & Bertrand - - Kept him despite being linked away

 

Would say 6.5 / 10. Think we definitely needed another forward player with some pace. Delighted we have kept hold of VVD, Bertrand and Cedric who were all linked away. Lack of goals still a concern, especially from midfield.

Edited 1 September, 2017 by Saint Garrett

[qwertyell]

Lemina seems a good fit in midfield. I've no idea if Hoedt is any good or not.

 

Preventing another mass exodus of our best players has to be considered a positive - tempered by the the fact that our steady downgrading process over the years has left us with very few players these days that are worth coveting.

 

Holding onto Van Dijk might be nothing more than a pyrrhic victory if he sulks all the way to January and leaves for less than we could've gotten this week.

 

In my opinion our weakest area last season was all in the final third. And not only have we done sweet FA to strengthen it, by selling Rodriguez and loaning out Gallagher, allied to a long term injury to Sims, we actually have less options now than we did at the beginning of the window.

 

So I can't say it's been a good transfer window, because I don't see how we're going to score enough goals with the tools at our disposal that proved utterly inadequate last season and have shown no flickers of encouragement that things will be any different in the early stages of this campaign.

 

Generally, I feel like contract extensions for Forster and Yoshida coupled with the refusal to address our attacking impotency seems more like a commitment to mediocrity and standing still than any sense of the club pushing to improve and demonstrate some ambition.