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Saints To Begin Revamp Once Survival Confirmed
Friday, 11th May 2018 11:23

Once survival is confirmed Saints are being touted as starting a big overhaul in their squad with several big signings lined up and a few leaving.

The media are stating that once Saints Premier League status is confirmed then they will be reopening talks with Spartak Moscow winger Quincy Promes, it is claimed Saints had agreed the deal with both the player and his club back in January, but it was dependent on the Russian club finding a replacement and they didn't so the deal fell through.

But Saints seem set to start up talks once the season is over and they can plan with surety for next season.

Promes is likely to cost somewhere near the £30 million that was touted as his fee four months ago, although Saints may get it cheaper as the winter window is notoriously higher in price than the summer one.

Although Saints have money in the bank not spent from the sale of Van Dijk, they will also look to raise funds from the sale of current members of the squad, whilst it can be said that all have contributed something individually to this season that will ultimately could big time on Sunday, the likes of Sofiane Boufal, Guido Carrillo and Manolo Gabbiadini could be sold, add to that three players who have given Saints good service over four seasons in Fraser Forster, Shane Long and Ryan Bertrand and Saints could raise somewhere between £50-70 million to add to the VVD money and of course any money from the Premier League.

There could also be a few million raised from the selling of players who might be surplus to requirements in the squad, Yoshida is rumoured to be moved on and Sam Gallagher, Sam McQueen and Harrison Reed may also go.

The priority for Saints though has to be a central defender and that has been the one singular reason that has meant that this season has been so poor, we failed to replace Jose Fonte last season when we knew for months he was off, although Wesley Hoedt came in it was six months too late and indeed it was lunacy that no one came in to replace Virgil Van Dijk.

After trimming the squad Saints need to make three key big signings, the aforementioned central defender, a wide man and a striker.

As of yet plans will be well advanced in terms of who will be targeted, but a big question will be who will actually go.

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arthurfane added 11:32 - May 11
Sell: Forster, Bertie, Carrillo, Boufal, Lemina if big profit can be made...
Bring in: Promes, Sisto, commanding CB and target man (who is actually a target man, unlike Carillo)
We need to make Hojbjerg captain asap - the man is so passionate and has had an excellent season. He speaks so well too, and appears to be respected within the group.
I'd like to see Harri Reed and Matt Targett given chances next season too. Is Gallagher ready for occasional first team football?
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DorsetIan added 11:33 - May 11
I understand that our defence has been too error prone this season, and (not wanting to single anyone out) with Hoedt giving the most cause for concern, but Stephens and Hoedt have both only recently turned 24 and Benarek, who has been a real star in the last few games, has just only just turned 22.

All three players look like they could make it as very good defenders, and I would hate to see us ditch them all just yet. Would like to see what Hughes' coaching staff can make of them first.
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LordDZLucan added 11:51 - May 11
My priority would be a couple of top drawer midfielders i.e. with great engines, who can retain possession and create good (not average)chances. We'll only know how good or bad our defence is when it doesn't come under such relentless pressure in the second half of matches.
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Sanguin added 11:54 - May 11
I agree with all of this, arthurfane I think Hojbjerg is captain material too, although he's still only 22 so he may be a bit too young.

Dorsetlan, I agree that those three central defenders need to be kept. I think Yoshida is a passionate servant, but I wouldn't mind seeing him sold in order to bring in a leader at the back. Experience suggests that Fonte constantly made his partners look great, I have a feeling that Fonte would have made Hoedt look like a world class centre back.

I think Hughes prefers more defensively minded full backs, so if Bertrand goes Targett could finally get his break as first choice. I think Boufal may be done, he has so much promise but in two years hasn’t really been able to realise it, I think he is much more frustrating to watch than Redmond. Forster could go or he may be happy to stay, particularly if a new manager comes in, but other clubs may be unwilling to match his wages. I can’t see Carrillo staying, he was Pellegrino’s man and a hugely expensive flop, we should sell him even if its at a loss. I think we should keep Gabbi, even if just for one more season. I can’t see Clasie staying given how many defensive midfielder’s we have and I worry that Reed won’t have a place either. The youngsters Hesketh, McQueen and Gallagher are all old enough that they should be getting first team football somewhere. I hope Cedric stays. I think that Steven Davis and Shane Long may both finally be past their best.

I’d like to see Shaqiri replace Davis. A new winger brought in, regardless of whether Boufal stays or Sims establishes himself. At least one new striker brought in to replace Carrillo. Obviously, we want a new central defender too.
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NZsaint added 11:55 - May 11
Has im the only Carrillo fan boy here,I’d keep him get him English football fit.Molo,will return Italy,yoshida betrand tagget McQueen’bofufal
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helpineedsomebody added 12:12 - May 11
id be heading for the city of london & getting a world class CEO better still hire a person from the civil service then work downwards .
1 investment in st marys
2 get those gas tanks down
3 £20 a ticket for games / no more free season tickets for employees
4 get the railway working for home games
5 kids get in free up to 21 & under
6 spend real money on getting good kids for the reserves+ get a out of work EPL manager to run it rk perhaps
7 please upgrade the food at st marys on match day or better still get mcdonalds in
8 good luck mr gao & nelly lets hope you can invest in this BIG club & not do what the rest of the owners plus enployees have done since 1885 very well paid then when it gets tough they all disappear like harry houdini





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darthvader added 12:27 - May 11
Sell boufal and loan out carillio . Keep the rest maybe Davis back to rangers. Add a quality cb. Deffinatly keep Gabbi he is quality
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schatfield added 12:58 - May 11
Forster is rumoured to be the highest earner at the club. I think his time is done....
Agree on others with Boufal. And Carillo on loan.
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underweststand added 13:21 - May 11
I agree 100% with ...dorsetlan . With or without Yoshida, the 3 CB lads all look promising - providing they can be "coached - out " of the various "problems " they've showed .

As for the rest...Forster will surely look for regular games time elsewhere...Wham ?
Bertrand will get a good payday if we moves on , which leaves us alternatives of Targett (if he returns from Fulham), McQueen and A.N.OTHER as LB replacements.
Others to move on ; Clasie will surely go back to a Dutch club, Boufal has one foot out of the door already, but there's a split vote on whether Gabbi should stay or not.

Will Redmond stay ?.and is Tadic on the move ? . Carrillo's short stay was clouded by games where he wasn't the only one to give a poor showing whilst trying to D.A.J for a manager who had already lost the dressing room. Maybe he deserves another half season before we can try to get our money back - if ever.

Which leaves us with Shane Long . the most likeable, hard-working player never to score goals... and the equally-appealing Charlie Austin who could really DAJFU - if he could steer clear of these flukey injuries he gets and get a full season under his belt.
Might be a good time to give Sam Gallagher a proper run at the No. 9 spot ?

If Mark Hughes is to be the next (permanent) manager, he'll certainly go back to Stoke to fill in a few gaps. Perhaps the suggestions of Shaquari and Joe Allen (two players who I hadn't liked until now ) ...might be a good sign if they are playing FOR us rather than against. There are a few more in the Stoke squad who were " Hughes men " for several years and who'll know what he demands from them from the start.

Might be a bit ironic remembering that in Pulis' time at Stoke, thier best team included; Beattie, Delap, Higginbotham and a few ex-Saints' names.

Whatever else we're sure to see a massive turnover in the summer -one way or another.



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landsdownsaint added 13:32 - May 11
I’d keep Lemina , Carrillo , what a waste of money that was
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skiptonsaint added 13:43 - May 11
I guess the question is how broken is this side ?

We have seen from the last few games they can beat lesser teams and give big six better games under Hughes. If you swapped 4 loses in the league for 4 games Cup victories and a simple change
In goal with McCarthy in from the start and we probably would of finished pretty close to Arsenal.

So for me we should only be looking at around 4 to 5 major changes to the squad and mine would be

Johnny Evans type (leader) for Yoshida
Shaqri for Boufal
Promes for Long
A main striker (Austin has to be off the bench not leading)

Sell Jordy
Loan out Carrillo, McQueen
Gallagher to go out on loan in jan. once we have seen how team is working

Reed as Davis replacement ?
Targett as Bertrand’s replacement ?
Can Van Velry step up ?

Hang on to Lemina , Cedric and Tadic as known quantities and could flourish under Hughes ? They will go following year
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Wembley76 added 13:44 - May 11
Sadly the players out on loan haven't really shown themselves to be up to Prem standard; so need to move them on asap.
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pintsizedsaint added 14:05 - May 11
Lots of speculation! It’s tempting to say ‘lets get over the line first’ but its also great to be in a position to be speculating on next season in the PL.
My penny’s worth:
I wouldn’t want to see a huge influx of players - particularly if they are unproven European imports etc. Last two seasons have shown that this can affect the squad immensely. There is also the cautionary tale of Stoke – who cocked up by bringing in an assortment of ‘should be good’ players for lots of money, only to see them go absent. If Sparky stays, surely he will guard against that particular Groundhog Day.
I don’t think Gabi will leave; hasn’t his agent just indicated he is happy to stay in England (admittedly not specifically with Saints)? I think Gabi just lost faith in Pelligrino and wanted to go home, but now may have bonded with Sparky and considers another season here would be good. There’s no denying his quality, but Saints haven’t played to his strengths.
I see Boufal going – big time. He’s clearly not helped with team dynamic and is not a team player. I suspect he is one of the ‘wrong uns’ Romeu has spoken of. Same with Forster; he got dropped due to not giving a toss and believing that he was England’s no.1 (or 2) by default. McCarthy has done a sterling job – and is a real bonus for Saints getting back on top with regard to transfers.
I would like to see Carillo stay. Sparky has had good words to say about him (he has good temperament and ability) but he just came in at the wrong time. A good close season training and acclimatising more to the English game and I think he would make a great addition.
Promes is perhaps the only one that I would say definitely to – he’s a class player. But I want Saints to get back to the thorough analysis they put into checking out their temperament etc. We need team players right now; not some potentially flashy player who is high maintenance. If Quincy is a grafter and team player then sign him up for a record fee. If he’s not – move on.
A CB is definitely needed, and I agree that Targett should get a solid crack at things. Bertrand is likely to go (not that he’s done anything special this year). I can’t see Harry Reed coming back in to the fold – he’s made it clear its first team or sell. Gallagher I do see coming back, but then we have an awful lot of rangy strikers.
So, to conclude, I hope we don’t ‘do a stoke’ and buy shed loads of ‘promising’ players. Get Promes and an established CB - and get them in early so they have the summer (if not world cup bound) to get into the Southampton Way.
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ItchenNorth added 14:09 - May 11
I am not sure why so many are so quick to want to cast away Carrillo. We have to give the lad a chance. Hes barely been with us 5 minutes, we've hardly seen anything of him. If being new to the Premier League isn't hard enough, he joined Saints in the middle of a relegation scrap. Hughes would not have risked Carrillo late on in the season because he doesn't know anything about him: he'll be assessed over the summer by the coaches and should be given until the end of next season to prove what he's got. From what I've seen hes a stand up striker who is powerful in the air. And if nothing else: if Charlie Austin gets crocked again: hes a perfect replacement for that role.
20mil doesn't get you a world beater in today's world, so we need stop focusing on each price tag. Give the lad a chance would be my assessment.
There are other players far higher up the chopping board list that need to go first. Players that have had their chance and either failed to deliver week in week out or have shown lack of interest for the cause this season.
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BoondockSaint added 14:18 - May 11
I highly doubt the revamp will begin "once survival is confirmed" if Dithering Les and Ralph are left in charge. Past performances tell us they will sell our best players in the next week or two and then do nothing until the last week of the transfer window. They'll stand by and watch teams like Burnley, Huddersfield, Bournemouth, and Brighton (or as Ralphie would call them "bigger teams than our small club") are out in the market signing players improving their squads as they did last year-the table doesn't lie. .
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aceofthebase added 14:20 - May 11
Let's keep Cedric, we can all go through the headed goal at the far post saga again and again. More points lost! One good cross this season and countless boot it upfield or pass back moments.
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DorsetIan added 15:00 - May 11
I agree with ItchenNorth about Carillo. We haven't seen enough of him, and he did make a couple of good assists, as I recall.

It can't have been easy coming in when he did and then seeing Pellegrino leave so soon after. And then his appointment becomes the symbol of everything that is wrong behind the scenes. He deserves a chance to shown what he can do in a team full of confidence, and sounds like Hughes is prepared to give him one.

Boufal...let's remember his first game against Sunderland in the League Cup and his goal against West Brom. He's another one who is only 24 and who hasn't really realised his potential. Let's see how he does in the World Cup and then take a view.
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SaintBrock added 15:07 - May 11
Seems many on here are still wrongfully blaming our defenders for this season's fiasco but surely had we been able to score a lot more goals the defence would not have come under anywhere near as much pressure and we'd have won many of those drawn games.

The clear-out should start with our inept forward line starting with Austin, Long, Redmond & Ward Prowse. Boufal will be gone and Carillo looks like a non-starter anyway. Yep, keep Dusan Tadic and start again with some imports who can work with him.

It would be beyond F-ing stupid to lose any of Cedric,Bednarek, Hoedt & Bertrand and the three mid-fielders Romeu, Lemina and Hojberg.
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IWOZTHERE added 19:21 - May 11
Some balanced views, amidst some real crap in keeping with much of the article.
0

petedoors1 added 19:25 - May 11
I would get rid of Ward-prowse, Boufal. Gardos, Gallagher, Davis, Clasie, Stephens & Yoshida. They have all had enough chances to show their worth and have failed miserably.
We need a new Central Defender, Attacking Midfielder and a good Striker.
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halftimeorange added 19:52 - May 11
I still believe that our malfunctioning attack is due to the lack of height. Had Pelle or SRL been here this season our goal poachers would all have scored into double figures. Our airborne attack tactics have been consistently fruitless. Either change the system and keep the crosses on the floor or get a hold-up man in - imo, Carrillo is not that type of player. Our central defence is made up of too weak or too inexperienced players and the captaincy needs to be sorted out. Hobjberg shows signs of being the on-pitch leader we so badly need. A genuine playmaker would also be a bonus.
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DPeps added 06:02 - May 12
There's no real consensus on here, which suggests that the club has some difficult decisions to make. My view is that we don't need wholesale changes but need to be much better at phasing out the weaker links in the team.

Forster - sell, if only to free up some wages
Cedric - keep if we're playing a back 5, phase out if playing a back 4. He is too exposed in a back 4
Bertrand - don't sell yet but phase out, playing Targett and McQueen more often
Romeu - I know he's a fan favourite but IMO he doesn't offer enough moving the ball forward. I'd buy a young and promising DM and phase out Romeu.
Boufal - I'll be sorry to see him go but the writing's on the wall I'm afraid
Long - sell while he still has market value
Carillo - it seems pretty ruthless but I say sell while we can. I hope I'm proved wrong and he scores 20 next season

We desperately need an experienced CB, a striker, and an attacking midfielder who has goals
4

skiptonsaint added 10:14 - May 12
One more point I would like to make with this selling and restructuring is should we go back to a team with a clear best 13ish players more like we had under Poch rather than spread our wage bill more equally round a squad of 22 players where we are not sure of our best 11

We have no Europe this year and I still think we have a slightly bloated squad because of the Puel season in Europe.

With a bit of trimming, using the vvd money, sales from squad players and a bit of common sense on running the business we could look at 4 25 million pound players.
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highfield49 added 10:29 - May 12
All those calling for Carrillo to be sold asap remind me of the posters who said Bednarek was a waste of money. Whatever talent Boufal has, and he appears to have a lot, current implications are that he is not a team player. The likes of Davis, Long, Reed, Yoshi and Gallagher may well be moved on, or choose to leave, but this is all speculation because we don't know how the management is going to be restructured. I think we have to build again from a solid base and that most certainly doesn't include a manager without Premiership experience. Hughes is the obvious candidate and would give some continuity, he has certainly got the players motivated judging by the dressing room pics after Swansea.
0

TeamCortese added 11:24 - May 13
I think before we even consider wholesale squad changes we need to consider what the club wants? Is it year-on-year mid-table finishes or pushing for Europe? (or more cynically just survival).

If the former then we should definitely stick with Mark Hughes. He's done nothing short of a minor miracle keeping us up.

If the latter then we need to consider hiring a young manager with a solid track record. I think the following should be considered (in order of preference and being realistically considering us):

Slaviša Jokanović (Fulham Manager)
Željko Buvač (assistant coach to Jurgen Klopp and old teammate)
Rui Faria (former assistant coach to Mourinho since 2001)
Brendan Rogers (I know very ironic!)
David Wagner (currently manager of Huddersfield and also worked under Klopp)
Marcelino (currently managed Valencia to 4th but worth a punt with more money in the EPL)
Vincenzo Montella
Marco Silva
Ralph Hasenhüttl (Currently manages RB Leipzig. Highly unlikely but always worth a punt)

In terms of players we need to sell and buy but in as someone mentioned in a phased way. Here's my proposal:

Out:

Jan Bednarak (needs a solid season on-loan in the Championship or EPL)
Maya Yoshida (is getting older. may need to reconsider being a backup or be sold)
Ryan Bertrand (his head is no longer in it. I think he wants one last payday). Needs to be phased out with Matt Targett/Kieran Tierney as his replacement.
Steven Davis (too old now). Should be replaced by Shaqiri or Wilshere
James Ward Prowse (has been given enough opportunities. time to cut our losses)
Dusan Tadic (is getting older. likely to leave this summer. Should be replaced by Boufal or Boufal's replacement)
Forster
Clasie
Harrison Reed
Carillo (should go out on loan)
Sam Gallagher (not EPL quality)
Charlie Austin (too injury-prone. may have to accept himself as an impact sub)
Redmond (too inconsistent and not strong enough on the ball)

In:

Christian Benteke to replace Pelle (was never replaced!). Might need to consider alternatives but he's the best I can think of at this moment.

Adama Traore/Quincy Promes (both will bring pace and directness to our attack). Traore is younger and may have a better sell-on value in the longer term.

Hakim Ziyech and Shaqiri (replace Davis and JWP)

One (possibly two) Solid centre back with leadership qualities i.e. Harry Maguire, James Tarkowski etc.

Backup goalkeeper for McCarthy

Backup right back for Cedric. Maybe it's time to see whether Jan Valery can step up to the first team.



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