08 Aug 2021 16:00:30
So things now turning towards three incomings and one outgoing in the final three weeks.

Vestergaard I just have a feeling we may cash in on him like we have Ings if we receive a good bid this month.

Looks like the Ings money will be going towards one bigger singing and one scoop from a big club on the cheap - Broja at Chelsea, Balogun or Nketiah at Arsenal or Hoppe from Schalke.

The bigger singing now seems to be pointing towards Edouard at Celtic. Armstrong isn't happening it seems and Abraham won't consider us - sensibly.

We always seem to be interested in Nat Phillips at Liverpool - but I presume this will only be if Vestergaard goes.

All in all, it looks like we'll be in the championship next season.


1.) 08 Aug 2021
08 Aug 2021 17:27:52
Don't be so negative. True Saints fans will get behind the team and support, not write us off before we have kicked a ball.

Wouldn't want you along side me in a war!

We will get a striker in, and yes Danny was a very good player when fit, but the Board made the right decision to sell and take the £30 million off the table rather than a big fat Zero at the end of the season.

Vestergarde needs to be sold for the same reason as Danny, shame, good in parts and was solid for much of last season, but the year before many Saints would have happily waved him goodbye!

So we have limitations yes, but if we could maybe sell Vestergarde to Spurs or better still, take Harry Winks and Dele Ally in part exchange, then use the £30 million from Aston Villa to purchase a striker and another Central Defender, then in my opinion we would be looking good.

Ive watched every game in the warm ups, for me

Forster - has to be No 1 Goalkeeper
Walker-Peters is a class act, he will grow into this role even more this year
Tino Liveramento - What a player we have there, he is going to a superstar.
JWP - He's going nowhere and will have an even better season
Oriol Remeu - He is solid and we always play better with him in the side
Romain Perraud - His game against Levante taels me we have a player!
Jan Bednarek - So consistant over last season, we are lucky to have him.
Jack Stephens - Solid against Levante, get behind him!
Ibrahima Diallo - expect a good season from him, only young and a good player
Mohhamed Salisu - He's coming on well, great against Levante, more to come!
Stuart Armstrong - Most underrated Saints Player, excellent.
Che Adams - Just needs to hit target more often, but improving all the time
Nathan Tella - Best player for Saints and will be massive for us, its his year!
Nathan Redmond - At times very good, other times frustrating. concentrate!
Mohamed Elyounousi - Was impressed, he's improved, let's back him.
Jan Valery - Looked a lot better against Bilbao, good back-up
Theo Walcott - 20 minutes a game back-up for me, just help the youngsters
Mousa Djenepo - 50/ 50, He's not a left back, not sure what he is?
Alex McCarthy - Not consistent, has to be No 2


Shane Long - For me, he should step down and help the youth, he's lost his pace and has been poor for too long. Doesn't make him a bad person, just age has caught up with him. Shouldn't play for us again.

Will Smallbone - let's hope we get him fit and back in the mix.

Last and not Least -Sam McQueen, i would give double my season ticket money to see him play for us, even if only a couple of games. Good luck Sam. keep going. you are on the up!


2.) 08 Aug 2021
08 Aug 2021 18:05:56
Pete, I’ve said before you’re a glass half full guy but in truth, we will do well to finish top of the bottom 6 mini league. Right now, I’d take 17th spot.
I agree with SaintGGsy, by and large a championship squad with one or two bright sparks. Otherwise, bang average.
This is not about being a true Saints fan, or being in the trenches, this is about accumulative disappointment as each season our squad weakens and the quality of the youngsters isn’t good enough when compared with mid table sides.
It’s all so predictable too - 6 days to opener and scrambling around for ‘big signings’ who would probably my not get into any other PL starting line-up.
False optimism can only carry you so far (I know because I’ve been that guy) and I would be really interested to see how many points you think we will have in the bag after 4 games or indeed how many goals we will score/ concede. Both GKs are liabilities. Yes, they are capable of wonder stops but neither can do the basics such as controlling the 6 yard box or distribution. Without a better GK we are really going to struggle. One thing I will say with absolute certainty is over the course of 38 games we will concede many more than we score.
All that said, looking forward to trip up to Everton!


3.) 08 Aug 2021
08 Aug 2021 20:06:12
Thanks MT, Pete I’m not a downer, I am sadly realistic. I was incredibly optimistic last season, but look at us. I appreciate the positives you’re trying to bring, but where on Earth are the goals coming from.

Since Puel came in, we have lost the plot. First the style went, then the results, and now the players. We aren’t going to get anything like Winks and Alli, we are currently struggling to sign a bottom half championship striker and our best hope looks to be an SPFL striker who will cost £20m. And the owners aren’t helping us, they just see us as an investment and they will fast be losing money at this rate.

Our defence looks good, the trouble is they are all prone to a match costing error each week and the goalkeepers won’t bail them out. As I type Willock is going to Newcastle for £20m+. The three promoted sides look no worse than us on paper. 17th is a dream.

A measure of our success recently has been big teams wanting our players and giving big money for the privilege. We then have players in the wings to bring through, rinse and repeat. Ings has gone to Villa. They should’ve been relegated 15 months ago. And no replacement.

Vestergaard will probably go to Tottenham, fine. But who else that you listed would a top five club not only want, but would improve their starting XI? Realistically, zero. Mane, Shaw, Højbjerg, Cedric, Van Dijk, Wanyama, Scheniderlin - they were the heady days but that was the peak.

Either we change tack and try and become a Palace/ Burnley, disciplined and together, or we become a Newcastle/ Brighton and throw money at players. We currently have the set up for neither. Too flaky. Too often disappear in games - two very glaring examples - and most importantly, teams will not look at a fixture versus Southampton and think ‘that’s going to be tough’.

And for the record, I’m not the most physically intimidating but with a maths degree I’m sure I’d be a decent tactician from the trenches 😉.


4.) 08 Aug 2021
08 Aug 2021 22:43:36
SaintGGsy I nearly always agree with your posts and I certainly do here. I think we've gone backwards over the last couple of years and I feel that this coming season could be our last in the Premier league for some time. I've supported Saints for nearly 60 years and I've never felt this negative before. Like yourself if I was offered 17th position at the end of the coming season I would bite your hand off. I've looked at all the other teams in the league and I just can't see that there is 3 teams worse than ourselves. Obviously I hope that I'm wrong but I'm not going to hold my breath.


5.) 09 Aug 2021
09 Aug 2021 12:52:53
Whilst I am generally a pessimistic Saints fan having been following for 40 years. I have faith in Ralph snd I think he has made mistakes which he is learning from. Whilst o would love us to go out and spend loads of money and bring in some big names it’s not our way. I love the signings we have made so far and whilst not personally an Adam Armstrong fan we do need more goals in the team. If we some how managed to add the Ox to our recent recruitment I would be confident of a fairly decent season. Even with Vestergarde gone . A famous quote comes to mind with “you will never win anything with Kids” . Well let’s be honest a win for us would be a mid table finish. I think we are good enough with a bit of support from our more experienced players. The only thing that does make me nervous still is the goal keeper situation. Unless Lewis has been shocking on the reserves I may be tempted to try him what is there to lose we already have keepers that flap and can’t move their feet. COYR.


6.) 12 Aug 2021
12 Aug 2021 13:29:07
Im delighted with the players that have been brought in, and indeed those that have gone. We should have sold Bertrand a year or so ago, he wasn't engaged last year and was part of the problem, not the solution in my opinion. That said, he gave us a lot of good years so its sort of acceptable.

As said, Danny scored from great goals and we have to be thankful of that. Financially, we came out about even £20 million 'In" £30 million out, take his wages into consideration and as said its about even.

Vestergarde, at times average, at times excellent and occasionally had a very poor game. Could always be done by a fast player, but he was an average 6.5/ 7 out of 10, so acceptable - £18 million "in"- £15 million "out" add his wages, probably an £8 million loss.

Adam Armstrong - Have a very good feeling about him, He's not a one trick pony, can score with both feet, quick, likes a canter attack and knows where the back of the net is. £15 million on the "In" 24 years of ago, hopefully get some good years out of him.

Tino Liveramento - He is the future, my view is that he could very quickly be one of our top 5 players. Great that he has two feet, got a good physique, fast and has a football brain. Was only on 2 minutes and opened up the Bilbao defence for Theo to bang it home. More than that, he sprayed the ball around with confidence, best Saints player on the pitch!

Broja - Interestingly, my best buddy Rob Easton, said, there was an 18 year old playing for Chelsea against the Saints U18 two years ago, he said he was light years infant of anybody else on the pitch. it was him! He's robust, fast, two footed and I think could deliver say 12 goals for us this year. let's hope so.

Be interesting to see if we can pick up Nat Phillips from Liverpool to replace Vestergarde . only trouble is the defensive injuries that Liverhampton have.

So 'Come on you Saints" go a bury Everton, its been 23 years so we are due it! Man United at St Marys next week, that will be hard but 'We are Southampton" so could win 3-1, loose 1-6 but we will still look forward to that experience that has drained us all since March 2020.

Great closed season for us, cleared the decks of toss-pots, few in - few out, ready to rumble!