When it opened at the end of last season, this transfer window looked like it would be another with a mass exodus of our best players, but it has perhaps proved a pivotal moment in our recent history.

Saints had to make a statement to their supporters this transfer window, they had to show that they were serious in trying to keep moving the club forward and would keep to their strategy to do so.

There were plenty of cynics out there who claimed that they would not do that, plenty who went into bewetting mode everytime a headline went up that Van Dijk's transfer was close, but Saints did what they said they would do.

That has made it a good transfer window for Saints, perhaps not a great one, personally I would have liked to have seen at least one more incoming player in, but it is a good one.

It is not always about spending money, it is about spending it wisely, not just because you can do, but because you need too and it could be said that if they kept their top players then the squad needed tweaking not a major overhaul.

So the only major departure was Jay Rodriguez, in truth Rodriguez contribution over the past 3 seasons has been minimal and blighted by injuries, he needed a new start and we did well to get £12 million for him.

Apart from that it was only fringe players like Paulo Gazzaniga, Lloyd Isgrove and Cuco Martina who joined J Rod in leaving the club.

Incoming hasn't been major but it has been thoughtful, Jan Dednarek at £5 million is one for the future, Mario Lemina at a club record £18 milion was filling a vital need as was Wesley Hoedt at £15 million, these two filled genuine gaps in the side.

The squad overall is still strong, the problem last season was the way we were managed, the fact we got to 8th was testament to the strength of the squad, if we could finish that high in what was an inconsistent season blighted by injuries then what can we do with the momentum with us.

Now it is down to Mauricio Pellegrino to do what Claude Puel could not, find that consistency and get a talented squad playing to its capabilities, the fact is that too many underperformed last season, part of the problem being the way the team was constantly changed.

Saints fans need to forget last season and give the likes of Sofiane Boufal and even seasoned campaigners like Fraser Forster, Dusan Tadic and Shane Long clean sheets to work from, base them on what they do this season not last.

The first issue though is to get Virgil Van Dijk back in the squad and back to his best, if Pellegrino can do that then we have a great base to build on, if we get that solid foundation that has been the base for the last three seasons, then we have the attacking options to succeed.

Maurcio Pellegrino has made a solid start in difficult circumstances, there is a lot to feel optimistic about, lets get that positive attitude back, in terms of League position and getting close to winning a trophy, this is as good a period in the clubs history than at any other time other than 1976, some supporters need to get a dose of reality and accept that, if they do then we can all march forward and make this another season to be proud of.

Photo: Action Images

SaintPaulVW added 08:07 - Sep 1 I just feel we lack a consistent threat up front. Would have liked this addressed really.
13

lovemachine added 08:22 - Sep 1 we gonna really struggle to score goals, should have bought a striker!!
10

SanMarco added 08:23 - Sep 1 I expect the January rumours will be starting today... I think the 'good window' is correct in terms of departures and the two main players in should be good but we need a goalscoring attacking mf in the Mane mould. I still believe that the main reason for our relative downturn last season was the failure to replace him - and we still haven't. VVD's next move will, sadly, dominate the next few weeks. I don't give a fig about apologies but he needs to be told he is not going anywhere until he puts a season's worth of solid performances in.

11

pintsizedsaint added 08:36 - Sep 1 Agreed: a good window. Could have been better, but certainly could have been worse. Most important is the stability - the first summer window where we haven't seen lots of 1st team members leave. I know some will say the VVD scenario is hardly stability but MP correctly put him to one side and left the squad to get on with it. Of course LFC fans will continue, although I suspect much of the cocksure nature of their predictions will now be tempered down. I very much doubt VVD would go in January in any event - of SFC were happy to dig in come September, then it's very unlikely that will change in 3 short months. Nice to see as well that people are starting to realise the situation: no bids. LFC ended their interest and that cannot be revived unless SFC give a green light. The ball is in VVDs court now. If I was him, I would switch agents - that would be a class move for the fans and can help him portray that he was misadvised. He does have to think seriously about what good has come of it: this time last year he was God. Now he just looks like a little sulk with lots of talent but lacking intelligence/experience. SFC will also have to come at this softly too.

9

LordDZLucan added 08:46 - Sep 1 At last we've seen net investment into the squad rather than disinvestment. That has been our Achilles heel for a few seasons now so hopefully those days are now over. In football you can't keep selling your prize assets and not replace them. I'm slightly disappointed that we didn't get another attacking option in but if Manolo, Charlie, Shane etc. start firing I'll soon forget about that.

4

davepid added 09:03 - Sep 1 And we kept Gardos.
1

highfield49 added 09:05 - Sep 1 As has been said before, replacing Mane was always going to be difficult because affordable players of his quality are very hard to recruit. I was disappointed when Ahmed Musa chose Leicester over Saints but even he hasn't made the impact that might have been expected, a season's loan to Hull can't be the highlight of his career. Looking at all the projected deals that didn't materialise I agree that the window has overall worked well for Saints and the squad has been strengthened. Apparently we also picked up a couple of million from Ox's sell on clause, perhaps the club should consider spending this little bonus on the supporters by subsidising away tickets and/or travel?

0

larry12 added 09:21 - Sep 1 Good window for Saints. Kept all our best players. Bought shiite Polish CB. Bought shiite Dutch CB(did you see him last night!!!!!) One plus Lemina. Mr Saints FC will now order in some magic dust to transform non scoring people for the last 18 months into record breakers for our new manager who brought on an LB for Gabbi to preserve a 0-0 draw. Saints fans reactions to that pathetic window, seems to me, is to rush out and order the op to transform them into the Cojones less people they long to be. I hope the relegation odds are better than 10/1. One apparently is unable to make a t*rd shine. In theory they should be disgusted with the non arrival of any attacking threat that is totally lacking and was demanded to be addressed before the window shut. Accepted the Reed betrayal with just a childish whimper.

-14

pintsizedsaint added 09:29 - Sep 1 Larry12: what you wrote was just gibberish. You don't sound like you actually support SFC at all. If you are a fan, you're not a very supportive one. There's a glorious irony in that.
3

saintmark1976 added 09:33 - Sep 1 larry12. I appreciate that this is a site which allows open and free discussion and understand that you are entitled to your point of view. However you would do yourself and fellow posters a favour by moderating your language please. Alternatively, please post elsewhere.
4

Sanguin added 09:40 - Sep 1 I’ll get downvoted, but as Nick has said Mane was prolific in spells but went for long runs of games without scoring. We definitely miss his 10 goals a season, but I’m not sure there’s anybody we could’ve bought to replace those goals. I think we view Mane with slightly rose-tinted glasses since he is playing better for Liverpool than he did for us. My only real regret is that we didn’t hold onto him for another season, we got about £35m for him last summer, imagine how much he would be worth in today’s inflated market. We know Gabbiadini, Long and Austin are capable of scoring 10 goals a season each. We just need to get them firing.

1

ChapelChap added 09:43 - Sep 1 Who is this 'Larry12 'bloke? Perfectly entitled to your viewpoint (as pessimistic as it is), but please stop with the name-calling and the language. (Matt here, by the way, the one that thinks Saints can finish 7th).
3

LoisDeem added 09:50 - Sep 1 A good window. Some laughs: 'Arry's regular car window chat on Sky where he mistook Brum for B'muff, might as well, he bought them a new team, didn't mention one signing to the Sky genius, next 'breaking news' item Brum sign striker. The Sky man stood all day at Leicester without a clue as to what was happening -love it. Various Sakho's causing chaos all over, and the new game 'Where's Mahrez? Seriously, would love to know who we were talking to /about, and whilst secretly wishing for that one biggy to make a difference, I believe the manager and this squad can achieve. Support is now required from all quarters, so time for the moaning minority to stump up, and abstain from the boo's!

0

SaintBrock added 10:10 - Sep 1 In what sense was this a good window? Once again we are top or bottom of the net spend league depending upon which way up you read it. True to form we have sat on our money whilst the glaring weaknesses in our mid-field and attack remain. Don't let it be said that all our targets couldn't brought across the line, we've had two months to get deals sorted out and patently failed to do so. Suitable players were there for the asking so what went wrong? Ok, great that we did not sell our best players for the first summer in ages but that is not progressing as a football team. Winning the vD battle was a great demonstration of determination by the board but amounts to diddly squat for us as a football team as he won't play for us again anyway. Maybe the securing of Lemina & Hoedt will prove to be really progressive steps who knows but we could have done so much more surely? With the seemingly club mindset that £20m is a lot of money to spend on a player when the average going rate for a half decent one is £40m has left us where we are.

0

SaintGeorge added 10:23 - Sep 1 Drop Redmond, play Austin and Gaba
2

pete_boggs added 10:25 - Sep 1 Southampton 0 - 0 Southampton
0

LondonSaint added 10:26 - Sep 1 SaintBrock - where have you got those figures from? By my reckoning there are at least six teams with a net spend lower than ours this window (about £20m net spend): Arsenal, Burnley, Leicester, Stoke, Swansea, Spurs. More than half of those even made a profit this window (Arsenal, Burnley, Stoke, Swansea). More to the point though I don't believe there is a correlation between net transfer spend and final league position, anyhow. Wage bill is a different story, however...

-2

law101 added 10:52 - Sep 1 I do genuinely feel for the board, we have made a stand with Virgil, but the reality is it would have made more sense to sell him and buy a midfielder who can create and score goals. I've said it before, Davis, JWP, Lemina, PEH, Tadic, Romeu, Redmond. No consistent goal scorers in there and apart from Tadic (who has started poorly) no players who can really pick a forward pass.

4

law101 added 10:53 - Sep 1 Tadic not a goal scorer but someone who can assist I mean.
3

LordDZLucan added 11:21 - Sep 1 SaintBrock I do take your point but it was a better window than we've been used to in recent seasons, assuming we can bring van Dijk back into the fold of course.
2

skiptonsaint added 12:43 - Sep 1 Goodish window IMO. The Gallagher one is an odd one though. For the amount we have got from the loan deal I would of thought it would of made sense to keep him. At least till jan if we can look at current strikers after a few games. And see what needed shuffling then. But this is still the team that played like it did at Wembley without VVD. Just gotta get back to that standard. Also lets take a few attacking risks with 20mins to go when needed. Cant have us last on match of the day anymore this season. We are more exciting than that

0

OhBlox added 13:25 - Sep 1 Regarding net spend here is a list from the mirror: Premier League net spend table 1. Man City £138.1m 2. Man Utd £136.2m 3. Chelsea £89.75m 4. Everton £54.2m 5. Liverpool £54.05m 6. Brighton £39.65m 7. Huddersfield £38.9m 8. Watford £36.7m 9. West Brom £32.1m 10. Crystal Palace £31.3m 11. Bournemouth £30m 12. Newcastle £23.7m 13. Southampton £23.15m 14. Leicester £18.85m 15. West Ham £17.3m 16. Tottenham -£2.65m 17. Stoke -£9m 18. Burnley -£15.2m 19. Arsenal -£18m 20. Swansea -£19.5m

1

saintpp added 13:32 - Sep 1 Larry12 so based on one game against top french strikers our new cb is shite now thats what i call a knee jerk reaction. As for the polish cb he is one for the future but it seems youve written him off too.cant be much fun for you supporting saints if thats what you call it.
1

saintpp added 13:39 - Sep 1 OhBlox As for the net spend list well we have brought in about 50 millions worth of talent including breaking our transfer record again, we have balanced our books with a few sales which should applauded as good business.Plus we have kept players unlike previous years so the was no need to splash the cash.
0

BoondockSaint added 14:11 - Sep 1 Good window? it was more like playing for a draw. Yes, we didn't sell our best players as ususal, but that was because we only have one left (VVD) that anyone wants! This is now the third window where we have needed 2 quality CBs and 2 proper strikers. So far, we have only brought in Gabbiadini and only just bought Lemina. We desperately need goals and have not addressed that issue. Sanguin, Mane is not playing better with the Scouse, he has better players around him. They create space for him and him for them. A few months ago I posted how the Scouse went on a winless streak while he was away at the African Nations Cup last year. Posters (and Nick) often mention that he "only scored 10 goals for us." However they forget that other teams had to watch him at all times, and that he created miles of space for J-Rod, Austin and Long take their 5 chances to score one goal. Look at how their "productivity" dropped off when he left. He's the one player in the league that get people to their feet as soon as he touches the ball and it really galls me that we sold him to the Scouse. But, hopefully he will soon move on to a bigger club with more "ambition" that that lot of pretenders.

5

Blogs 32 bloggers

Leeds United Polls