According to reports Saints are only looking to make one signing on Deadline Day, but is this accurate or are the club looking to bring someone in under the radar.

The Daily Echo seems to be preparing Saints fans expectations for today, it is saying that if it was not for the injury to Jeremy Pied that the clubs transfer dealings this summer would probably be already concluded.

The only deal likely to be done is if Saints can bring in a right back either permanently or on loan so they can sell Cuco Martina to Everton for £2.5 million, a deal in my opinion which would be an excellent piece of business.

But that would seem to be the only negotiations to be done unless the club are playing their cards very close to ther chest and are trying to do something under the radar.

Saints are also understood to be now intending to keep Jay Rodriguez rather than send him out on loan and this could be the reason why they might not persue and further striking options.

Although that will not please some Saints supporters, in my opinion with Rodriguez staying we have three proven Premier League strikers with the addition of Shane Long and Charlie Austin, these are three players who between them have the capabilities to hit 45 goals plus, outside of the big six clubs there perhaps isn't another club in the Premier with this luxury of choice especially when you add Nathan Redmond and new signing Sofiane Boufal into the mix.

I'm sure that some Saints fans will disagree, but back in January when Charlie Austin joined most considered him an upgrade on Pelle and the Italian's natural replacement, so what has changed ?

Yes of course there is the injury issues with both Austin and Rodriguez, but sometimes you have to take calculated risks.

Personally the news that Saints might not be bringing in any other signings is shocking to me from the fact that the real position we lack depth in is in central defence, last season we got lucky in that neither Fonte or VVD got injured or suspended, we probably will not be so lucky this time around and our only cover in this position is Yoshida or the long term injured Florin Gardos, a player that has now not played a single first team game in over 18 months.

I think the central defensive situation pales the striking one into insignificance, the fact that we have done nothing about it in the summer is to me the biggest folly of Saints summer.

But most of the supporters don't seem bothered about this, they just want to see a striker brought in and if one isn't then the recriminations will start and the accusing fingers will be pointed, with the same headline rants about Katharina Liebherr refusing to spend and Les Reed being inept.

The main gripe will be about how we cannot continue to sell players every year and still challenge for the top six, that is not a proven fact but subjecture, the real truth is that we cannot match the spending power of the big six for even one year, we have no choice other than to take the route we have done and make it work, despite what some would have you believe.

But that is not to say that we will always get it right and I do feel and hopefully I may be a little premature with still 15 hours to go of the transfer window at time of writing, that we have not made the best of this window, we are not far from doing so and if we spent the remainder of the £25 million or so we are still up from this summers transfers, then it could well be a very very good summer, but at 9am Wednesday morning that is looking a very big IF.

Photo: Action Images

Fordy added 09:22 - Aug 31 Although you can say we have depth in Long, Jayrod and Austin, a more realistic view would be the following: Long is an effective striker but one who is never likely to get you much more than 10 goals a season. Jayrod has yet to prove he is the player he was before his injury and even after he came back from the major injury has had all sorts of other injuries. and Austin is injury prone and yet to prove that he has settled at Saints or played well for Saints. I think this view is a little more gloomy but realistic.

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BathSaint added 09:54 - Aug 31 "the real truth is that we cannot match the spending power of the big six for even one year" Sadly the real truth is as it stands over the past 3 years we cannot match the spending power of the top 19 clubs around us. With net transfer surpluses ever time we have spent the least of any premiership club 2 years running and are looking to make it 3 from 3, despite the club's highly touted increases in commercial and prize revenues.

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helpineedsomebody added 09:58 - Aug 31 the southampton way being run like a pawn shop
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BaselSaint added 09:58 - Aug 31 Dont often disagree Nick but we need that hold up guy like Lambert or Pelle - its so obvious. Theres no target man.
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highfield49 added 10:05 - Aug 31 It's all gone flat hasn't it? No buzz no excitement, all conjecture about the negatives instead of the positives. Fonte clearly unsettled, Gardos highly unlikely to feature yet again, VVD body language anything but comfortable, forwards snatching at shooting opportunities. It goes on and on and in the middle of it all a new manager taking away the excitement and energy of the high pressing game that kept us on the edge of our seats. All of that, except of course the unfortunate long term injuries to players, needs to be addressed quickly. Big signings get the fans buzzing, like the present you wanted on Christmas Day, but the only real cure is winning matches and that is the root cause of our discomfort. Those unexpected points at the end of last season raised all our hopes and expectations and the bubble just went pop. Frustrating yes, and it's hard not to vent that frustration, but in the meantime we have to try and lift the team by support and contain the negativity for a while yet. New, quality signings would be brilliant but signings to appease the "we've got the money" supporters would be just a waste of resources for the future.

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Santos added 10:22 - Aug 31 So many players that I think we should have gone for. I get the wages and fit stuff but just a simple look at who has gone where and who is around that you could possibly get and should be going for. Should have signed Trippier a couple of years ago and should have put more effort now with him not playing much at Spurs. Can't believe that Bruno Martins Indi is apparently going to Stoke!!!!! Watched Watford the other day and Janmatt was playing unbelievable!!! ok had a bit of a hissy fit when we beat them but decent player. I could go on but get that wages are probably an issue with people like Bony, Benteke etc but we have I feel failed miserably this transfer window by not getting people in the right places. Maybe today will change things but I do not think so. I'd sell Martina anyway 2.5 is a deal. Chambers on loan sorts this one out and the CB cover at the same time providing we keep Fonte. There is a young CB at wolves doing well why can we not get these guys, must be able to tempt the best championship players with Prem and euro football. Very disappointed!!! and I'm still trying to be optimistic!!!!!.

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Santos added 10:40 - Aug 31 Just been informed Chambers is already on loan at Midlesbrough!!!! must have missed that one whilst on Hols!! More Pessimistic now!!!!
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stmichael added 10:43 - Aug 31 Getting away with it "the Southampton way"
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the_saint added 11:46 - Aug 31 Wow that read was a waste of two min of my life
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StRipper added 11:50 - Aug 31 Whichever positions Saints fans agree are key to finding replacements for as a priority (a striker, midfield or defensive positions) the consensus seems to be that Saints are looking like having a poor transfer window. My own view is that Saints are so focussed on making profit that this is now looking like undermining our results and not giving Puel what he needs to successfully deliver results and lead us through a challenging transition. Our approaches for players seem to be offered way below what the market is demanding. So much so that we are now looking like placing all of our eggs in Boufal's basket. Even if Boufal does make a significant immediate impact on our ability to score or create outlets and space for our attack, I don't think that it is going to stop our leaking of goals. The apparent refusal to spend on defensive reinforcements or replace Wanyama looks like it will prove costly and not give us a solid defensive platform to support Puel's style of play. We similarly don't seem to have stars ready to make the step up in defense and Targett is struggling to fill the LB space when Bertrand, who seems to have increasing injury issues, is not available. So too in the case of CB, where Gardos is effectively a write off and we only have Yoshida as back up for RB and CB now, assuming Cuco leaves. Whilst I don't agree about Chambers and certainly saw no point in us going for him if there was no option to buy, I am disappointed that for the 3rd year running we are trying to do our defense on the cheap and totally agree with Nick that this is the year it looks like Saints miserly approach will have a major effect on our league placings.

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GeordieSaint added 12:20 - Aug 31 Is Jack Stephens not ready? I have never seen him play but he seems to feature regularly for England U21. Find it hard to believe the amount of people on here who seem so upset with the way the club is being run. Saints have had 7 years of unprecedented success. Give the board and the new manager a chance. A certain level of prudence is required, just ask fans of teams like Bolton and Leeds, oh and Southampton before the Liebhers arrived and bailed the club out of the muck.

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SanMarco added 12:24 - Aug 31 It brings home to me that we support a corporation competing with other corporations. The desire to do a "good piece of business" is fine but the strength of the team that runs out to play each week HAS to be as important. I don't think it is too drastic to say that we are one long-term injury to a key player (especially VVD) away from not just mediocrity but calamity.

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halftimeorange added 12:37 - Aug 31 It won't take too many more poor results for large empty spaces to appear on our terraces. There is a huge feeling of disappointment and opportunities missed surrounding our fan base which the club must already recognise. Austin was clearly off the pace on Saturday, Rodriguez frankly got lucky with his goal and why on earth was Long left on the bench? Seems to me we are still experimenting to find who can play where and what we can get away with. Lesser clubs have made player investments which might well thrust Saints further down the league table. The Europa League is already beginning to look like an unwelcome strain on what I consider to be our fragile squad. We don't want to be the wealthiest club in the Championship.

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Archersclose added 12:49 - Aug 31 A big majority of Saints fans that I have listened to over the last couple of weeks are far from happy with the clubs efforts on replacing the quality that we have lost. Firstly, they are fed up with constantly selling our best players. Secondly, they feel that this summer Saints have gone from a club who wanted to get into the top 6, to a club that have chucked the towel in on retaining that ambition. Yes they have signed Boufall for 17m but it is clear to everybody (maybe not Nick) that Saints will need another striker. Nick is right when he says we need another centre half. Due to pieds injury we obviously need another right back too. Some fans have said to me that they feel we are missing Wanyama already, so some will argue we still need to strengthen midfield too. With European football just weeks away we are looking ill prepared to deal with the rigours of that and the Premier League, the EFL cup etc. So, after spending all of last season trying to qualify for Europe we will probably have to throw it away when we pick up injuries and we start to struggle in the Premier League. Without further signings today a struggle is likely in my opinion. Thirdly, I know its very early in the season but I have had several people say to me that they think Puels diamond formation is going to add to the problems and it looks to me that many of the players are unhappy with it. There could be a storm brewing before long at St Mary's i fear both on and off the pitch. It is totally avoidable. The club should be capable of pushing the boat out a bit more. It will be interesting to see what our spend is compared to everybody else when the window has finally shut. That will tell you everything about where the clubs ambition is.

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SaintPaulVW added 13:10 - Aug 31 I can't buy into the Wanyama and Mane are major losses vibe. They both clearly wanted away 2 years ago. It was only a matter of time. Both function brilliantly about half a season, yes they have started well at their new clubs but I am sure they'll function as normal and their performances will decline/ they'll be looking at the next club etc. Pelle was getting too old. We've started slow, we've bought some replacements not necessarily direct replacements but replacements. I hope we get at least one more. Hitting the panic button and saying St Mary's will be empty in no time is going a bit far in my opinion. We're not too far off how we started last season and that didn't go too badly did it?

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BoondockSaint added 13:56 - Aug 31 Yeah, we can't match the spending power of rich b@$t@rds like Leicester! Supporters are not falling for that line any more.
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StRipper added 14:30 - Aug 31 Geordie Saint and SaintPaulVW I don't think everyone is having a meltdown on this. Though it is fair to criticise the current situation on investment versus transfer fees received. Particularly if that is perceived to be at the cost of squad balance and quality. Your points are very valid that Saints can turn our recent results around. But not without the right squad and squad depth. Puel himself has indicated he was expecting at least one or two more signings on top of Boufal and its looking increasingly likely that Saints Exec may fail to deliver for him. The fact that we sold Mane, Wanyama and Pelle and got good money for them is to be applauded because there were negatives to those players be that age, consistency or willing. However, last season they were key players and apart from in the case of Mane, we have not adequately replaced them. Particularly frustrating considering under Koeman, we at least invested what we sold our players for back into buying replacements/upgrades. We also lost points last season when we had defensive injuries/suspensions. So far from hitting the panic button or apeing our panicking EPL opponents, I think it is fair for fans to be frustrated that shortcomings in the side may continue to be ignored when our ability to scout and acquire players and our cash pot indicates we don't need to take such risks?

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DPeps added 14:37 - Aug 31 I don't think it's all doom and gloom. In time, Redmond, Boufal and Hojbjerg will be great additions and the sales we made were more or less unavoidable. BUT... I'll be concerned if we don't buy another striker. Our need is so clear: Long is a great player but hardly prolific, Jay needs time and may never regain his old form, Redmond needs time to adapt to his new role, and Austin has done little since he's been here to convince me that he's the main man. Don't forget also that Boufal will probably be at African Cup of Nations early next year

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aceofthebase added 14:41 - Aug 31 Cedric has already cost us two points against Watford and his poor attempt or rather non attempt at stopping kone having a free header against Sunderland almost cost us three points. He is just not good enough, surely RK would buy him rather than Martina if he fancied him. For goodness sake hang onto Martina, he played well in all but one match last season. £2.5 is chickenfeed, anyway Everton must always now pay at least three times face value for our players. We need a defender that can defend and not just hurtle up the wing. I was hoping for at least two quality central defenders this transfer window. Fonte has slowed and penalties galore if he continues to push and shove to gain ground. We need to give VVD a break in some games. We need height throughout. Where has George Kirby gone to?

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landerwal added 16:03 - Aug 31 I agree with Geordiesaint, give Stephen's a run out in the 1st team. After all, in their last match, Manchester United with 100's of millions of pounds worth of players failiing to score against Hull, it took a player from their academy who cost nothing, to get the winning goal. We've got a world class academy according to many experts, it's a crime not to make more use of the players it produces.

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landerwal added 16:03 - Aug 31 I agree with Geordiesaint, give Stephen's a run out in the 1st team. After all, in their last match, Manchester United with 100's of millions of pounds worth of players failiing to score against Hull, it took a player from their academy who cost nothing, to get the winning goal. We've got a world class academy according to many experts, it's a crime not to make more use of the players it produces.

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landerwal added 16:03 - Aug 31 I agree with Geordiesaint, give Stephen's a run out in the 1st team. After all, in their last match, Manchester United with 100's of millions of pounds worth of players failiing to score against Hull, it took a player from their academy who cost nothing, to get the winning goal. We've got a world class academy according to many experts, it's a crime not to make more use of the players it produces.

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highfield49 added 17:08 - Aug 31 If there are no further additions to the squad today then we have to presume that Stephens, McQueen, Hesketh, Reed etc are considered ready to make the step up to first team starters. Considering some of the talent around the league that proposition makes me concerned that they could simply be out of their depth. The squad is good but lacks the game changing flair that the top teams seem to have in abundance and If we have a disgruntled Fonte sulking at the back where will the leadership come from? I guess that's the sort of players we were expecting to arrive today, but it's horribly quiet at present.

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the_saint added 17:13 - Aug 31 Leicester Stoke West Ham Everton crystal palace all those teams are spending money, I know we can't compete with the big clubs but surly we can these. Bournemouth looks like are snapping up Wiltshire. Where's reed in the bog with a picture of boufal.
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redandwhitedee added 18:14 - Aug 31 St Ripper's comment that Targett is struggling to fill the LB space is incorrect in my humble view. He has been arguably our best player so far this season. He still lacks a final killer cross, but for me, he is doing a great job in a tough formation with little cover on flanks. He got a lot of stick last year - but i think some people need to see the progress he has made. Pelle was a big lump.. lazy, not very accurate, and completely over-rated - mainly by himself. Koeman was dead right to drop him towards the end of last season, and it was exactly at that point our fortunes finally turned... when we finally dumped the big target man formation. So who says we need one ? We do need a bit of CB cover - but i guess they know what they are doing by letting Turnbull go. For me, Yoshida is a good, experienced deputy, a regular international, and deserves his rare chances to start. It is unusual to have both CB's out at same time, but if they are, then Jack Stephens (who kept a clean sheet against Man Utd last season in the cup) will have to step up (he has to at some point), or even play Bertrand who i thought was excellent in a back 3 last year. We have replaced with better players than we sold. Wanyama was a disaster. Pelle, Lump and Mane superb - but getting two players for same price in Redmond and Bouffal more than compensate his loss i believe. So for me the Club have done very good business. The Manager's preferred formation is still a worry for me - much more so than the players we signed or didn't sign.

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