Rate the window - Summer 2019

[Dusic]

In theory, our best for a while I think, although it largely depends on how Danso turns out which is a bit of an unknown quantity.

 

Assuming he is good enough to start, I think we are probably only a little light in central midfield.

 

Attack as been freshened up nicely with Adams, Djenepo and the return of Boufal.

 

Outs wise, great to get rid of Austin who has been a poor signing.

 

If we can lose Carrillo permanently and Elyounoussi/Hoedt on loan by the end of August then I would give it an 8/10.

 

[hypochondriac]

Even if this cb isn't great, I'm pleased we've given it a go and at least tried to fix a real problem in the squad. We'll done saints.

[tajjuk]

For £4 million and some important goals not sure Austin is a poor signing, not by our recent standards i.e MoE, Carillo, Hoedt

 

He needed shifting because he wasn't going to play, but he did ok IMO, but we hoped for more.

 

IF we are sitting here beginning of September with the 3 in, and then Austin, Targett, Hoedt, MoE, Carillo, Clasie, Gallagher, Lemina all out then I'd say a very good window where we have (hopefully) improved the squad with some promising young talent whilst probably cleared a huge amount off the wage bill which should then give us options to improve again next year more easily.

[TWar]

I'd say a firm 7/10. Raising to 8/10 if we shift two of Hoedt, Stephens, Carrillo, or for decent money, Lemina. Could raise to a 9/10 if Danso fixes our defence and lets us play a 4222 or if Adams has a decent start.

[Avenue_Saint]

For £4 million and some important goals not sure Austin is a poor signing, not by our recent standards i.e MoE, Carillo, Hoedt

 

He needed shifting because he wasn't going to play, but he did ok IMO, but we hoped for more.

 

IF we are sitting here beginning of September with the 3 in, and then Austin, Targett, Hoedt, MoE, Carillo, Clasie, Gallagher, Lemina all out then I'd say a very good window where we have (hopefully) improved the squad with some promising young talent whilst probably cleared a huge amount off the wage bill which should then give us options to improve again next year more easily.

 

7/10

 

If we manage to get Forster, Stephens, Hoedt, Elyounnoussi and Carrillo all out, make that a 9/10.

 

Had we signed Kalvin Phillips and replaced Cedric with 6ft pacy Maehle, it would seriously have been a 10/10

[S-Clarke]

It's been difficult because we've been lumbered with a specific collection of players which is handicapping us, seemingly removing our flexibility to do anything.

 

However, based around those quite seemingly awful restraints, we have managed to manoeuvre 2 excellent attacking signings with attributes we were missing (Pace/strength/power).

 

And credit to the club for realising we needed a centre back and having our ducks in a line to pursue one, once one of the 'specific players' left. Never heard of Danso before tonight and haven’t seen him play, but he has arrived with similar attributes to the attackers - pace and strength. Those two words have been missing in our side for so long and we do have a really good boost of pace now throughout the side.

 

I'd have liked to have seen a mobile/quick CM come in as well, just to complete the spine of the side...but we still do have an array of options in there, so that wasn't as massively critical.

 

It's still a shame that we are so handicapped though and that we have an owner unwilling to bail us out, but in the circumstances and our ownership situation, the club have pulled off a decent result I think.

[Roo1976]

It's been difficult because we've been lumbered with a specific collection of players which is handicapping us, seemingly removing our flexibility to do anything.

 

However, based around those quite seemingly awful restraints, we have managed to manoeuvre 2 excellent attacking signings with attributes we were missing (Pace/strength/power).

 

And credit to the club for realising we needed a centre back and having our ducks in a line to pursue one, once one of the 'specific players' left. Never heard of Danso before tonight and haven’t seen him play, but he has arrived with similar attributes to the attackers - pace and strength. Those two words have been missing in our side for so long and we do have a really good boost of pace now throughout the side.

 

I'd have liked to have seen a mobile/quick CM come in as well, just to complete the spine of the side...but we still do have an array of options in there, so that wasn't as massively critical.

 

It's still a shame that we are so handicapped though and that we have an owner unwilling to bail us out, but in the circumstances and our ownership situation, the club have pulled off a decent result I think.

 

Just hope Boufal or Slattery step up this season and compete for starting places rather than bench warmers.

[Heisenberg]

Club has been Reed-stricted and it's been difficult and will continue to be v difficult.

 

Club is still paying out c500k a week (c£25m a year) to unwanted players like FF, Carrillo, Moi, Lemina, hoedt and will need to take big losses on transfer fees

 

Despite this club has offloaded a couple and potentially bought in 3 gems

 

7/10

 

Losing (not replacing) Danny Röhl could be significant

[Raging Bull]

For the 1st time in 3 seasons I’m actually looking forward to the start of the campaign!

[Micky]

Always knew that the deadwood would weigh us down. We were never going to shift the numbers that some people thought we would or should, other clubs are not stupid.

That said, I think we're stronger than last season and if Boufal responds to Ralph well, then he'll be like a new signing. Can't see us pulling up any trees, but we'll be ok.

 

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[Avenue_Saint]

For £4 million and some important goals not sure Austin is a poor signing, not by our recent standards i.e MoE, Carillo, Hoedt

 

He needed shifting because he wasn't going to play, but he did ok IMO, but we hoped for more.

 

IF we are sitting here beginning of September with the 3 in, and then Austin, Targett, Hoedt, MoE, Carillo, Clasie, Gallagher, Lemina all out then I'd say a very good window where we have (hopefully) improved the squad with some promising young talent whilst probably cleared a huge amount off the wage bill which should then give us options to improve again next year more easily.

 

7/10

 

If we manage to get Forster, Stephens, Hoedt, Elyounnoussi and Carrillo all out, make that a 9/10.

 

Had we signed Kalvin Phillips and replaced Cedric with 6ft pacy Maehle, it would seriously have been a 10/10

[verlaine1979]

Had been hoping for a more substantial squad overhaul after the club's rhetoric when we didn't sign anyone in January. That said, three players with pace and power is pretty good going, and hopefully they'll reinvigorate the spine of the team.

[Baird of the land]

Pretty happy especially if Danso is in.

Still some deadwood to shift to Europe to make it an even more perfect week

[Unbelievable Jeff]

Happy enough. Hopefully by the end of the window we'll be even leaner. Gives us the ability to be flexible and agile going forward in the transfer market.

[Danbert]

Impressed by wee Ross moving on the dross and signing what look like exciting players for low fees. Kudos

[Batman]

No idea if the CB is any good. He has the right manager though.

 

We needed a new striker along with pace up top. We did both

We needed a CB we at least got one.

 

we needed to shift some players we have had a decent stab at that. (hopefully, more to go yet)

Shame we still have 3x first team keepers.

 

7/10 for me

[Mr X]

For what we paid for Austin he definitely wasn't a poor signing as scored some vital goals! However his attitude on SM shows he is definitely a arrogant human being & one that is now we'll past his best! No point in being bitter though wish him well at West brom

 

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[ALWAYS_SFC]

Decent window but the real marker to it being good or bad is results, so a wait and see really

[sadoldgit]

As someone has already said elsewhere, it is going to take 2 to 3 transfer windows to sort out the squad, but this has been a good start.

[Foxstone]

Happy enough for sure.

Adams was a gem of a signing and although Djenepro and Danso are less well known, they do fit the attributes we were looking for.

 

If we can shift Lemina, Carrillo and Moi overseas in the upcoming week then it has been a job well done by the club.

 

8/10

[Lighthouse]

I'd say 8/10

 

Getting rid of Austin, Clasie, Targett and Gallagher permanently is a reasonable start and I don't think we could have hoped for much better. Happy with the players we've brought in, even if I've seen very little of them before.

[Smirking_Saint]

The signing of Danso has definitely upped it from a 5 to a 7 out of ten. We are beginning to make the squad leaner too which will only be of a massive benefit in the long run.

 

Further outgoings in Moi, Lemina and perhaps one or two others would see us be further streamlined and much more ready come January or next year.

 

The return of what looks like a reinvigorated Boufal is certainly exciting. Adams looks good, ings looks lean and hungry, Ralph has seemingly installed a new steel into JWP that wasn’t noticeable before

 

Compared to previous years I’m really excited for this season

[Saint_clark]

It's just a shame that our best manager since Koeman is shackled by the overpaid poor signings/contract extensions from the years in between and that by the time we've fully freed up those funds (I believe Forster, Elyounoussi, Lemina and Carillo are contracted till 2022?) he will almost certainly have left.

[Neef]

I'm very happy with it tbf. Got the striker, CB and AM that we needed. A RB was only required if Cedric left, so we're covered there. Hopefully Lemina, Moi & Carrilo get moves in the coming weeks too.

 

One thing I'm happy about is that we seem to have a physically competitive spine again. Danso/Vest/Bednarek at CB. Hoj & Romeu in CM, with Adams, Obafemi, Redmond & Djenepo in attack. For a while we've been slightly weak through the centre of the pitch but it looks like that is starting to be rectified. I think that was definitely part of Ralph's wants for the team. With Lemina going we're slightly light in CM but I'm hoping that gives space for 1/2 youngsters to make an impression - Slattery springs to mind.

[saints-cris]

First time in a few seasons I feel more optimistic than pessimistic. We have a top manager who gets the best out of players, and the signings we made have been in positions we all felt we needed to add to. We have more options going forward now that we added Adams and Djenepo, plus with a seemingly happy Boufal that feels like a new signing. Last season if Ings/Redmond weren't fit I'd feel we wouldn't score, now that is totally different. Whether Danso turns out to be good or not, at least we have tried to address the biggest weakness we have.

 

Getting rid of the dross was never going to be easy, but losing Gallagher, Clasie and Austin is a start, with hopefully Carillo, Moi, Hoedt and possibly Lemina to go too.

 

No complaints at all from me, if I was being greedy I'd like another CM, but I guess Danso covers there now too.

 

I'm very happy with how we've done. 8/10.

[Saints foreva]

Even if this cb isn't great, I'm pleased we've given it a go and at least tried to fix a real problem in the squad. We'll done saints.

 

Agree with this.

[Tamesaint]

The spine of the team has been strengthened ... and that makes it a good window. Trimming the squad will also help in future windows so overall I am happy.

[saint1977]

No idea if the CB is any good. He has the right manager though.

 

We needed a new striker along with pace up top. We did both

We needed a CB we at least got one.

 

we needed to shift some players we have had a decent stab at that. (hopefully, more to go yet)

Shame we still have 3x first team keepers.

 

7/10 for me

 

This, although I would perhaps be more generous and rate as 7.5/10. The horrific problems caused by leaving an incompetent and his assorted puppets in charge of transfers 2016-18 meant this was going to be 3-4 windows worth of rebuilding. If they don't have pace and power, they don't go on the shortlist for a while as we rebuild the spine of the squad. Ross must have enjoyed working with RH a lot more than the previous showers. So to have signed three players with athleticism across the spine is great and we might be able to boost midfield if we can move on some of of the names below before the end of the month (bar McCarthy unless he has mainland European clubs interested - which is possible).

 

There were some surprises for me. Thought McCarthy would have had a few suitors in the PL so an opportunity for him to challenge Gunn. Forster's tea-making skills will be out to the test again. I genuinely thought Cedric and Lemina would early movers. Don't mind Cedric staying as he suits RH's style, can operate both sides and this summer may have been a reality check from the agent bubble. Lemina has made an utter twit of himself by contrast. He had better hope for a move in the European window as he doesn't have a future at SFC and clearly not in the PL where he was a few clubs' fifth choice signing if their other options didn't come off. He might think he is entitled to a move after two years but he forgot some basics - playing well, turning up for a few games, generally being fit for selection. Hopefully never to be seen in an SFC shirt again.

 

Wish Charlie well at WBA - would have been a shame if he'd stalled his career having worked his way from non league. Not Ralph's type of player and not athletic enough for the PL now. Ditto Clasie who I also wish well.

 

Carrillo was a shockingly bad signing for the worst manager in the club's history. Can only hope the total fee to Monaco was contingent on SFC appearances. Going to be a serious bath to take on that one. Hoedt has at least shown willing in pre season but a move looks inevitable, permanent if possible for his sake as well as the club's.

 

Redmond extension great news, now for PEH next.

[DT]

The signing of Danso has definitely upped it from a 5 to a 7 out of ten. We are beginning to make the squad leaner too which will only be of a massive benefit in the long run.

 

Further outgoings in Moi, Lemina and perhaps one or two others would see us be further streamlined and much more ready come January or next year.

 

The return of what looks like a reinvigorated Boufal is certainly exciting. Adams looks good, ings looks lean and hungry, Ralph has seemingly installed a new steel into JWP that wasn’t noticeable before

 

Compared to previous years I’m really excited for this season

 

Agree with this. Need now to find a way of shifting Forster, and perhaps getting in a workhorse in the middle, of the kind we weirdly sent on loan to Fulham.

[Chez]

I am surprised we brought anyone in to be honest, considering how tightly our hands were tied by the size of our squad and other clubs reluctance to take our deadwood on inflated wages. Great to get rid of some of that deadwood and to move on from players that simply were not good enough, but we really need a few more out the door and then to perform well so as to attract a fee.

 

Time will tell on the signings. Fingers crossed Adams finds his feet at this level and starts to cause opponents a few problems. If he can stretch teams like Long does, but offer better finishing then that will change us big style. Great to get another shot at the CB position. Danso looks a more mobile than Vestergaard, but then again who isn't. We really need to move to four at the back, but that relies on having capable CBs (and cover in front of them).

 

I feel enthused. Still nervous as to how the season will go, but feels like we are in better shape than we were. Lots of other teams can say the same though.

[SNSUN]

Welcome aboard Kev, turns a 6/10 window into a 7/10 IMO. If we can keep Boufal and Cedric by September 3rd it’ll be an 8. Not fussed about Lemina and Hoedt now, but I suppose IF Lemina isn’t signed by anyone and IF he can be reintegrated then that’s only a positive for us.

 

Goalkeeper: With Gunn and McCarthy we have good keeper options, probably top half keeper options, though it depends how McCarthy deals with being second fiddle again. With good rotation and long cup runs we should be OK. God knows what we do with Forster, either him or Lewis will be third choice. I can only assume it will be Forster if we can’t shift him, leaving Lewis seeking a loan out to Scotland or League One.

 

Defence: Jeez that was close. We’ve brought in the centre back we all craved. But now we have too many, especially if we resort to playing 2 at the back. Hoedt to leave? Right back is strong if we keep Cedric, and he also strengthens left back if Vokins doesn’t make the grade yet. There’s also McQueen in the wings if he can get back to full fitness, he can be called on in January.

 

Midfield: Attacking midfield looks decent if we can keep hold of Boufal alongside Redmond and Djenepo, with JWP and Armstrong backing them up. However clearly our weakest area is central/defensive midfield. Hojbjerg and and Romeu are decent but after that you have either a deeper JWP, Danso pushed forward (which if used maybe means we could keep Hoedt), or Slattery or another youth. Allowing Reed to leave was a puzzler, he’d had two good seasons in the Championship and I thought we could use his versatility, not to mention he was our other defensive midfielder in the squad. He would have seen decent game time this season IMO but obviously Ralph thought differently. I know there’s the January window but without Lemina, we look very light in midfield.

 

Attack: Along with Goalkeeper this is our strongest area. Adams seems to be a decent signing for less than Brighton and Sheffield United paid for Maupay and McBurnie And has had a good pre-season. It has a JRod feel to it when we first signed him from Burnley. Along with Ings, who is a good striker if he can stay fit, Long and Obafemi, I think we have a great complement of strikers.

[Nordic Saint]

I'm very happy with the Che Adams signing because I've seen him play and he's a good player. Apart from his sub appearance in a pre-season friendly, I've not seen Djenepo play and I've never seen Danso (in fact, I'd never even heard of him before) so it's hard to judge either of them yet.

[Charlie Wayman]

Impossible to say as our philosophy on transfers has changed so much. None of us has a clue how good or bad the three new youngsters will be and we have failed woefully to sell most of the players that we no longer needed. Just bringing in new faces hasn't guaranteed anything as we have found to our cost these past few years.

 

If we start tomorrow with 10 of last season's side on the field - a side that finished 16th - and do so again next week v Liverpool then I'd have to rate this window as being mildly disappointing.

[HarvSFC]

Ralph said he wanted five at the beginning of the summer, we got three, so at least that's over half. Boufal could also be like a new signing this season if his head is right. We've been calling out for pace in the attack since Mane left and hopefully Adams and Djenepo can provide that, while we've needed a competent centre-back since Van Dijk left, so hopefully Danso can work a strong partnership with Bednarek, as they're both young.

 

On the incoming front, I'd probably rate it a 7/10. The signings seem like the Southampton of old with the three of them being young, untested at the top level and with the hope of progressing.

 

As for the outgoings, there's probably more to come. But, despite the romanticism of bringing players through the academy there was no point in holding onto either of Gallagher or Targett. Neither are good enough if we want to club to start being ambitious again. Once Bertrand goes we need a good replacement, and having Targett as first choice would have seen us regress in that position. Austin was one I wasn't expecting to go after his one year left on his contract comments on Twitter, but a Championship club panicked as some predicted and we made back what we paid for him in the first place, which is good. Clasie's not really been a part of the squad for a few years now. Hopefully we can ship out Hoedt, Carrillo and Elyounoussi in the coming weeks to give us some funds for January.

 

My one concern now is that we're going into another Premier League season with pretty much the same side that has had to fight to stay in the Premier League the last two seasons. But, then we have a very good manager with us this time, so that eases the concerns at least.

 

The Premier League club who I think have had the worst summer are Palace. They have previously spent big money on the likes of Benteke and Sakho, while I doubt that Batshuayi loan was cheap. However, they sold Wan-Bissaka for £50m, didn't sign a new right-back, but went with the signings of Stephen Henderson, Jordan Ayew, Gary Cahill, James McCarthy and Victor Camarasa instead. Typical Roy Hodgson signings really. The did keep hold of Zaha, but we also kept hold of Van Dijk one summer and he was no use to our team in those final few months. Depends how Zaha acts now, as he can win matches for them on his own, but as we've seen when he's previously been injured, they're no threat without him.

[Shropshire Saint]

Very pleased with the signings. Che Adams looks a player and whilst they are young, Moussa and Danso seem to have the right credentials. Possibly a defensive midfielder would be useful in January. There were stories a week or two back that we were signing a wonderkid from Reading (Diamond Edwards) for the youth teams but that does not seem to have materialised.

[SNSUN]

 

The Premier League club who I think have had the worst summer are Palace. They have previously spent big money on the likes of Benteke and Sakho, while I doubt that Batshuayi loan was cheap. However, they sold Wan-Bissaka for £50m, didn't sign a new right-back, but went with the signings of Stephen Henderson, Jordan Ayew, Gary Cahill, James McCarthy and Victor Camarasa instead. Typical Roy Hodgson signings really. The did keep hold of Zaha, but we also kept hold of Van Dijk one summer and he was no use to our team in those final few months. Depends how Zaha acts now, as he can win matches for them on his own, but as we've seen when he's previously been injured, they're no threat without him.

 

The key thing for Palace was keeping Zaha. Even if he did want to leave, he hasn't and he now needs to knuckle down and play well, and I expect him to as he's always seemed very loyal to Palace before. He can win games on his own. Additionally they signed Camarasa who had a good season with Cardiff last season, and while Cahill is probably largely past it on the pitch, he will be good experience in the dressing room and should still put in some good performances. They did need a striker and a right back and they didn't address those (aside from re-signing Ayew who doesn't score many) so they could have done better.

 

I look at other teams lower in the division and judge them more by the players they were able to hold on to more than those they signed. For that reason Bournemouth keeping Fraser, Brooks, Ake and Wilson did a remarkable job, and made some decent young signings too. Norwich surprised me by not signing anyone! That's a brilliant show of faith to the squad that got them promoted. Looking up a bit I think Leicester could genuinely challenge the top 6, Everton won't do as well as people think, and West Ham will start slow and improve. Wolves and Watford won't do as well as last season. I still think Brighton will go down with Sheffield United and Norwich.

 

Exciting season ahead though.

[hypochondriac]

8/10. Feels more like our sort of signings, sensible number of them, not wholesale changes and a great manager still here.

Nah. 8 would have been offloading carillo, forster etc. DM would have made it a 10

[Saint Pete]

The key thing for Palace was keeping Zaha. Even if he did want to leave, he hasn't and he now needs to knuckle down and play well, and I expect him to as he's always seemed very loyal to Palace before. He can win games on his own. Additionally they signed Camarasa who had a good season with Cardiff last season, and while Cahill is probably largely past it on the pitch, he will be good experience in the dressing room and should still put in some good performances. They did need a striker and a right back and they didn't address those (aside from re-signing Ayew who doesn't score many) so they could have done better.

 

I look at other teams lower in the division and judge them more by the players they were able to hold on to more than those they signed. For that reason Bournemouth keeping Fraser, Brooks, Ake and Wilson did a remarkable job, and made some decent young signings too. Norwich surprised me by not signing anyone! That's a brilliant show of faith to the squad that got them promoted. Looking up a bit I think Leicester could genuinely challenge the top 6, Everton won't do as well as people think, and West Ham will start slow and improve. Wolves and Watford won't do as well as last season. I still think Brighton will go down with Sheffield United and Norwich.

 

Exciting season ahead though.

 

Agree with most of your comments, especially regarding Bournemouth. With the four players you mention, it is an impressive feat that they have managed to hold on to all of them and it's hard to imagine the same would have happened if Saints had 4 young players of that quality.

 

With Leicester, the question mark will be how much they are weakened at the back from losing Maguire. As for Brighton, much will depend on how their late signings from the championship fare, especially Maupay. They need more goals to stay up this year and can't rely on Glenn Murray for much longer.

 

As for us, I think we have definitely improved our options and flexibility going forward which I think will give Ralph more tools to work with than last year. The worry is still at the other end. We have got Danso in which is good, but not sure we can expect a young and inexperienced CB to solve all our problems there. And with Lemina seemingly out of the picture, we do look light in centre mid, particularly if we get a couple of injuries. Overall, with the Ralph factor, I'm still pretty hopeful we can move up a few places this year though.

 

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[HarvSFC]

Ryan Fraser's contract runs out next summer. The big boys didn't want to spend the money Bournemouth would demand when he can be picked up on a free next summer.

[Mr X]

Carrillo, Elyounoussi, Lemina, Hoedt will all probably go.

 

Forster will end up just being released I imagine. Surprised no one bought McCarthy, thought he'd be desperate for a move after rarely being first choice in his career then losing his place here. Guess clubs noticed that he's not very good.

 

McCarthy is still a very adequate keeper when compared to the likes of gazziniga (truly bad) Bartosz Białkowski or even forster at the moment

[Crab Lungs]

No idea as I’ve not seen 2/3 players play, but a failure to shift on Carillo Hoedt and Forster is shocking.

 

As is we still have no decent DM cover or a commanding CB.

 

So, in all honesty... cr4p.

 

But RH will overachieve no doubt and have the forum mongers dreaming of Europe.

[Charlie Wayman]

Surely Stephens has to go out on loan now that Danso has arrived, he is so far down the pecking order that unlikely he'll ever get a game here.

[VectisSaint]

Not really convinced this has been good. Signed 2 players who it's debatable if they will be first choices, but should work out well in the future. Can't get excited about Danso, unclear if he is better than what we already have, but promising for the future. I like Adams, clearly going to be an improvement on what we had. Failed to shift one of our 3 first team keepers (so far), meaning we have an over abundance of experienced keepers. Finally, failed to strengthen in CM which is where we appear to be weak. Most of our problems at the back stem from failures by our MF to provide the protection they should. On top of that PEH and Romeu are liabilities in the discipline stakes, losing one or both to the inevitable suspensions could be very costly with no decent cover. We'll see, hopefully Ralph can work his magic but really it hasn't been the window expected, even Ralph said he wanted to get players in very early, which apart from Che we spectacularly failed to do, with Djenepo being one of the latest back from his hols, no time to integrate, and of course even worse with Danso.

[S-Clarke]

No idea as I’ve not seen 2/3 players play, but a failure to shift on Carillo Hoedt and Forster is shocking.

 

As is we still have no decent DM cover or a commanding CB.

 

So, in all honesty... cr4p.

 

But RH will overachieve no doubt and have the forum mongers dreaming of Europe.

 

To be fair, we got a CB, and if you just look at his attributes alone he does look pretty commanding.

 

I haven't seen him play though, so I wouldn't know for sure. And whilst it's frustrating we haven't cleared those guys yet, I don't think it's been without a want of trying. The problem has been what went on before (the long contracts, stupid fee's paid), not what we failed to do this window.

 

I think Carillo at least will go out on loan to a European club come the end of August. Possibly Hoedt as well, given we have Danso in.

 

Forster - he's here for the rest of his contract, no club will take a game on him with the money he's being paid.

[Saint Pete]

Why? The market has changed a lot since we sold regularly. Even VVD would be sold for a lot more than 75m, and we'd be selling Mane for double what we did.

 

We've held onto Redmond, they've held onto Fraser and others. But they'll go if they prove good enough over time. Clubs get enough money in to be able to reject big bids. Once we've cleared out all the dross and stop wasting money we can do the same. Bet Ake isn't there next season anyway.

 

Can't recall that any offers have been reported for Redmond whereas Bournemouth have received and rejected lucrative offers for some of those players this summer. My point was that Bournemouth seem genuinely interested in pushing forward and keeping their best whereas we always seemed more interested in maximising sale values of our players. Not convinced that has changed under current ownership, just that we don't have players that any of the richer clubs are bothered with currently.

 

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[Saint Pete]

Carrillo, Elyounoussi, Lemina, Hoedt will all probably go.

 

Forster will end up just being released I imagine. Surprised no one bought McCarthy, thought he'd be desperate for a move after rarely being first choice in his career then losing his place here. Guess clubs noticed that he's not very good.

 

Short memories some Saints fans. Have you forgotten McCarthy was fans player of the season the season before last? If it wasn't for his performances that season we would be a Championship club (or worse) now.

 

In my view, having paid quite big money for him, Saints have clearly decided that Gunn is the future, but that doesn't mean McCarthy has suddenly become a **** keeper in my opinion.

 

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[Dark Munster]

No idea if the CB is any good. He has the right manager though.

 

We needed a new striker along with pace up top. We did both

We needed a CB we at least got one.

 

we needed to shift some players we have had a decent stab at that. (hopefully, more to go yet)

Shame we still have 3x first team keepers.

 

7/10 for me

Don't you mean 2 first team keepers and a tree? But anyway, better too many than too few.

[Gingeletiss]

Not really convinced this has been good. Signed 2 players who it's debatable if they will be first choices, but should work out well in the future. Can't get excited about Danso, unclear if he is better than what we already have, but promising for the future. I like Adams, clearly going to be an improvement on what we had. Failed to shift one of our 3 first team keepers (so far), meaning we have an over abundance of experienced keepers. Finally, failed to strengthen in CM which is where we appear to be weak. Most of our problems at the back stem from failures by our MF to provide the protection they should. On top of that PEH and Romeu are liabilities in the discipline stakes, losing one or both to the inevitable suspensions could be very costly with no decent cover. We'll see, hopefully Ralph can work his magic but really it hasn't been the window expected, even Ralph said he wanted to get players in very early, which apart from Che we spectacularly failed to do, with Djenepo being one of the latest back from his hols, no time to integrate, and of course even worse with Danso.

 

You don't take a player on a season long loan, to train for the future! RH knows his market, and thankfully, he is the manager, and not you.

[Dark Munster]

I'd say 8/10

 

Getting rid of Austin, Clasie, Targett and Gallagher permanently is a reasonable start and I don't think we could have hoped for much better. Happy with the players we've brought in, even if I've seen very little of them before.

Most of us were happy with Hoedt and Moi at the time. So the jury's still out.

[Dark Munster]

I'm very happy with it tbf. Got the striker, CB and AM that we needed. A RB was only required if Cedric left, so we're covered there. Hopefully Lemina, Moi & Carrilo get moves in the coming weeks too.

 

One thing I'm happy about is that we seem to have a physically competitive spine again. Danso/Vest/Bednarek at CB. Hoj & Romeu in CM, with Adams, Obafemi, Redmond & Djenepo in attack. For a while we've been slightly weak through the centre of the pitch but it looks like that is starting to be rectified. I think that was definitely part of Ralph's wants for the team. With Lemina going we're slightly light in CM but I'm hoping that gives space for 1/2 youngsters to make an impression - Slattery springs to mind.

That's a good point. If he stays that's a definite plus for this window.