Southampton Banter Archive July 29 2015
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29 Jul 2015 22:03:51
I would love to see Redmond join us still!. anyone els think that still?
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30 Jul 2015 00:30:16
I would love redmond to join but I'm afraid we're well stocked in that department. People should remember aside from pelle and his like-for-like replacement Gallagher, we have a very versatile group of attacking players plus youth like Seager, McQueen, and Hesketh coming through, plus possibility of Gaston staying then the attacking department is pretty much done and dusted for the season.
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30 Jul 2015 00:32:13
Oh, my mistake. Sammy G isn't with us at the moment.
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29 Jul 2015 22:02:52
Caulker is a brilliant Singing . I can see Bertrand,caulker,fonte and cedric working well as a team and trust in koeman to get Faulkner back in the england squad. And let's not forget that gardos isn't dead he's just got a long injury and we got yoshi!!. Hopefully we get Vvd and I would call that a bloody brilliant defence.maybe we might see a couple more loans befor the window shuts . maybe a cheeky Austin signing lol (I wish).Heads up southampton fans we are looking good it's not all doom and gloom :).
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29 Jul 2015 22:47:34
Loving your enthusiasm! I agree, Caulker will likely improve a lot under Koeman, the same with van Dijk if he signs. Player improvement in the defensive positions was phenomenal last season.
My ideal signings would be:
Kamil Glik, 27, Centre back, available for around £12M upwards. (Torino)
Lorenzo Insigne, 24, Attacking midfield/wing, available for around £15M upwards. (Napoli)
Renato Tapia, 20, Def Mid/Centre Def, available for around £3M upwards.
Glik is a very competent defender and current captain of his team, Insigne is a very quick, stylish player who knows Pellè from the Italian national team and Tapia is a talented, up and coming Peruvian playing for FC Twente so knows Tadic`^ and will have heard of Koeman. Thoughts?
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30 Jul 2015 00:02:34
I would also love them signings but would players like insigne want to much money? What do you think about kongolo and max gradel I can see them fitting well.
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30 Jul 2015 00:48:48
This isn't FIFA.
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30 Jul 2015 13:24:15
@esso14 + @MUZZ_TING, these transfers make sense so have nothing to do with FIFA games. Insigne is a high earner at Napoli and would be an expensive transfer for our club, however he is hugely talented and has improved a great deal since Benitez took over as coachcoach; now that he is gone Insigne is slightly unsettled and has previously mentioned his attraction to a bigger league.
Lastly him knowing Pelle could have an impact. Glik is perhaps the least likely transfer I mentioned since he has no links with anyone associated with Southampton but he has often been scouted by Premier League clubs and the Torino president has said that he'll listen to offers for him.
Tapia is highly rated and may develop better at a club which can offer him more than what FC Twente can, he has some connection with Tadic and the Koeman brothers so the club are definitely aware of his talents.
Also, Gradel looks to be joining Bournemouth soon. Kongolo is very good too, however he does need more experience to dominate his position, even in the friendly against Southampton he was a little hesitant and couldn't keep Pelle under control. I expect that if the club sign a new First XI defender then they'll be over the age of 23.
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30 Jul 2015 17:45:51
To be fair I would just be happy with VVD now think we have had another good window. People go on about another winger but I can't see why.
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30 Jul 2015 18:50:15
Yes, all said I would still be very happy with van Dijk! This transfer window has looked very successful so far. A winger is not required but if the team were playing a 4-2-3-1 formation then a proper RM would be useful. Since Tadic, Mané, Juanmi and Ward-Prowse all play better centrally and McQueen/Isgrove are just not ready.
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29 Jul 2015 19:57:28
Just out of interest, not having seen much pre season how as Gazza done in goal? Will Skeleton be our number 1? Thoughts.
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29 Jul 2015 22:14:00
Gazzaniga played really well, huge improvement on last season. He made some mistakes in the first few games but also made some quite brilliant saves against FC Groningen and in the Audi Quattro Cup. I expect him to appear a few times this season in cup games along with Davis, though Stekelenburg will be our first choice for almost all of the season.
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30 Jul 2015 06:09:25
Thanks matey. Great to here he's improved and solid backup as we are prone to giving hkm some stick and I would love to see him prove us wrong.
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30 Jul 2015 06:53:11
No problem, though I wouldn't call him solid back up just yet. He has gained a lot more confidence since last season and that is more evident in his game, he has been going for a catch rather than palming it away for a corner, for example. Last season he seemed a little bewildered to be handed Premier League game time but I expect him to be much more assured this time out.
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30 Jul 2015 07:58:15
King Kelv as number 2 still then you think?
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29 Jul 2015 15:10:59
It's official the black box is broken. Jeez now we're buying donkey's. Koeman someone sold you a curve ball with this signing.
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29 Jul 2015 15:40:09
Caulker will be a good signing, everyone thought the same of Bertrand last season then he turned out to be the second best left back in the prem. have some faith
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29 Jul 2015 15:51:39
Don't be prejudice. Caulker may be a great addition to the squad. Many were against Bertrand signing last season but he adapted his game and improved tremendously last season, Caulker could well be the same. Furthermore, players change under different managers, Koeman has had a huge impact on Fonte, giving him the captaincy and Wanyama too who stepped up his game as the season progressed. Wait until the season starts before you insult anyone involved with Southampton FC.
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29 Jul 2015 15:54:20
Funny thing is about a year or so ago lots of of you were calling out for us to sign Caulker . I think the problem is that we lost Toby and it will be very hard to get anywhere near his quality as a replacement . Having said that with the right coaching who knows what we might get out of him , he was a great prospect a couple of seasons ago so who knows? Ronald was one of the best defenders of all time so if he has seen something in him let's wait and see if he was right to sign him . The only thing that bothers me is we are now lacking a bit of pace at the back . Anybody know any updates on Ryan Bertrand? Got a feeling we're going to need him rather sooner than later.
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29 Jul 2015 16:31:02
As a loan signing with apparently no fee involved I think it's a smart choice! He had potential, but had a couple of crap seasons in two VERY poor defences! Maybe playing next to fonte and under Ronald will lift him up again! Does anyone know if there's an option to buy? If we get van dijk as well then he will add a bit of pace to the back line and confidence in the ball.
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29 Jul 2015 16:43:22
Agree Milky, initial reports are LOAN only, maybe when RK gives an interview this will become more transparent.
My only concern is pace as you rightly point out, we need a CD with pace.
I also agree with chrisdownj, we are always going to be comparing whoever comes in with the player we lost (Toby) and he was class
I'm sure I read Bertrand was out until Christmas time.
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29 Jul 2015 19:20:21
RE: Bertrand - was only supposed be out for 5-6 weeks and miss just a handful of games at the start of the season.
The last I read about it was from the man himself on Instagram last week: "Injury has gone perfect and I will be back sooner than expected."
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29 Jul 2015 19:40:37
I read somewhere (can't remember where it was) that Bertrand expects to be back in training before the end of August
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29 Jul 2015 20:09:41
Well that's great news, cheers qwertyell,
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29 Jul 2015 20:27:43
1.3m for the loan and paying his wages!
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29 Jul 2015 21:46:12
Obviously wages. BBC reports no fee.?
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29 Jul 2015 21:47:38
Heard that figure too.
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29 Jul 2015 22:44:39
The fee is 1.3m.
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30 Jul 2015 00:20:18
Come on, at least give a guy a chance to kick a ball for us before slagging him off.
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29 Jul 2015 14:27:30
A couple of points from the Vitesse press conference, Koeman and Fonte both happy to have Caulker join, will provide good competition and is of the right calibre.
Koeman suggested there is an option to buy, that it's down to the player to decide, although other media sources are saying there isn't an option.
No mention of VVD, or at least no one asked if he was also a target.
But Koeman did say there are other things going on, it just takes time. He wants competition in the squad, and is happy to rotate players.
Just something to add, anyone who's not sure on Caulker, think about the fact that Fonte had a very similar situation early on his career, but through hard grafting he has become one of the best centre backs we've had in a Saints shirt.
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29 Jul 2015 16:00:09
My answer to the hard graft by Fonte is that he did that from 2 divisions below the PL so he had rather less pressure on him from top forwards and AM's. Don't think Caulker is going to have that luxury .
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29 Jul 2015 09:54:50
Lol NO I'm a True Saint
Just think they wasting there talent up there.
Move to so called bigger clubs n they expect more of them, n the. They on bench.
I would welcome Lovren back as we all know how good he was with us for that 1 year. N Ads too, he always be a Saint even though he did leave in slightly odd n bad way.
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29 Jul 2015 12:31:34
Really sorry but can't make heads or tails out of this post so can't agree or disagree , could you start again?
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29 Jul 2015 13:19:44
Wtf? I think I get some of what your saying but I refer you back to my first query.
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29 Jul 2015 15:16:12
Burnt their bridges with us as far as I'm concerned, only way I'd want them back in a saints shirt is of they're locked in stocks and 30000 people are throwing month old eggs at them
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29 Jul 2015 07:10:50
My verdict on the (So they say) impending Caulker deal:
Yes he was relegated twice in a row with two different teams but he was once regarded as a promising player. Had a couple of solid games most notibaly at spurs however his standout season was at Swansea where even I was impressed. He might not fit the bill at both Cardiff and QPR but tbf their whole backline was not up to it. Maybe Caulker can play decently when he's put in a decent team playing with a decent system. Especially when we're armed with Fonte, who can bring out the best from his partner in defence, seeing that he can form a fruitful partnership with anyone atm.
More pluses is that a loan is reported on the cards so if he passes the test then there's a chance he will sign, if he fails then at least we didn't lose out a lot and he gives us time until Gardos returns or a new CB arrives.
Conclusion: Not convinced by present abilities but was quality in the past. Loan means that we don't have much to lose as well.
Verdict: 6/10
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29 Jul 2015 09:58:07
I wasn't happy about signing Bertrand last year and thought exactly the same about him as I do now about signing Caulker.
Who knows
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29 Jul 2015 10:05:51
He's got something to prove, much like Stekelenberg, definitely could be a great signing with the right coaching which you'd expect he'll get under Koeman.
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29 Jul 2015 11:04:24
It looks like its happening.
Good cover and I firmly believe that VVD will sign for us after Celtics Champions league qualifiers.
That's leave us with a good starting back two plus good cover also.
There will need to be a little rotation too with the games we potentially have plus any injuries or suspensions during the year.
If these are out final two signings (and I know VVD hasn't been confirmed in any way shape or form yet) then I think we have a great squad for the coming season.
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29 Jul 2015 13:07:57
I suspect the VVD deal is done but the move will be delayed by CL with Celtic. If this is the case then the Caulker deal makes a lot of sense-young, plenty to prove, initially 3rd or 4th in the pecking order and with Gardos hopefully back in the frame some time in the season. At worst, Saints take up the option at Christmas and then treble their money by selling him to Brenda in the summer!
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29 Jul 2015 13:45:28
Provided Caulker is Gardos' replacement and there's someone else coming in for Alderweireld, it's a reasonable deal. He shouldn't have to play too much, it's only a loan, and he might even turn out to be decent in the right footballing environment (which Cardiff and QPR weren't).
If Saints can unlock his potential (just 23 years old), and assuming there's an agreed transfer option at the end of the loan, it could work out very nicely in the long run. If he turns out to be rubbish, there's always Stephens or McCarthy or Turnbull waiting in the wings to step up and be 4th choice, and the club haven't wasted too much money on a loan player they can just cut their losses on.
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29 Jul 2015 16:38:14
Agreed qwerty. If we sign another cb then caulker on loan is a brilliant bit of business! The more we go about our transfer business the more confidence and trust I have in the board. If he doesn't work out then we're not stuck with him and gardos comes back in. If he does the business then we try and sign him. Remember fonte is 32 this year, we could do with some younger defenders integrating with each other for a couple of years and building that understanding, and possible learning from fonte while they still can. Caulker, gardos, and van die (if/when he comes) have all got time on their side. BUZZING FOR THE NEW SEASON!! COME ON SAINTS!!!
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29 Jul 2015 18:25:06
RoKo says he would like another 2-3 players in. Pretty obvious another CB will be one (we have lost two and signed one, so the maths look to point in that direction.)
Perhaps an attacking midfielder or winger and cover for Pelle and that would do it.
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29 Jul 2015 00:09:15
Ive been told clunker has had a medical. Hopefully he's winding me up. Not the worst signing as its a loan. RoKo has done well with Yoshi so.
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29 Jul 2015 09:02:16
Esso14, if it was Dave Watson's nephew he probably was winding you up!
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29 Jul 2015 14:23:34
It wasn't a wind up 😂
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29 Jul 2015 15:37:00
That face has tears*
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29 Jul 2015 15:37:26
Don't want people thinking I'm beaming at clunker
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