One of the players who has impressed the most in pre season in trialist Alex Mendy, he seems an absolutely quality player, but do we need yet another winger, when we already have arguably the best two wide men in the championship already (Snodds and Gradel), and we also have fantastic back up in Sam, White, Nunez etc. I desperately hope we sign Lichaj from Villa, a quick and agile centre back and a quality midfield general. Its amazing that we have gone all pre season unbeaten, its now six days and counting to the big push, lets hope we keep our unbeaten run going. I know its premature, but here's my starting line up for Saturday. Lonaghan Lichaj (WE WILL SIGN HIM) Kisnorbo O'Brien Parker Brown (DM) Snodds (RW) Howson (C) Nunez Gradel (LW) Paynter (LONE STRIKER) M.O.T
I reckon our next signing will be logjam and then maybe Cohen hopefully but somehow I doubt it, I don't think we need much more maybe bodor but havn't really seen him play much
Mendy is quality & can play as a striker,so hopefully we'll sign him. We already have a midfield general in Brown who I think will sit deep alongside Clayton. Lichaj would be the icing on the cake(apart from a quality holding centr forward a la Mark Viduka)
For Southampton at the moment, it's looking like: Paynter Gradel - Howson - Snodgrass Brown - Clayton Parker - O'Brien - Kisnorbo - Connolly Lonergan Subs: Rachubka, Bromby, Nunez, Sam, McCormack. Which I think can get a result. Parker will be weak at left back, though, and Nunez/Howson aren't really ideal to step in if Brown or Clayton get injured/sent off. Ideally we'll get Spector (cover across defence and midfield), Andrews/Clingan (playmaker to compete with Clayton), Mendy (cover on the wings and as centre-forward) and a proper left-back in.
Lichaj would solve the left back issue I should think. I sincerely hope this is something that we are still persuing.
definitely convinced Adam clayton runs and plays like Lee Bowyer - just been watching the highlights against sandjeford on LUTV and he plays, runs, steps just like the lad. Im convinced hes going to be a huge player for us this season. Nunez looked class aswell
I thought the Lichaj deal was almost done, so I'm surprised we still don't have him. Perhaps McLeish has watched the Villa in training and at games and thought he may need to keep the lad.
the 1 up front should be ross mc not paynter, id rather have ross running in behind and dropping off then us just lumping it to paynter for him to lose
Can't see Paynter starting as for a new player, criminal that with under a week to go we have lost 5 in Naylor, Higgs, Kasper, Kilkenny and Johnson and replaced them with just three new faces.
Higgs & Kasper have been replaced by better GK's Rachubka & Lonergan,so that's an improvement. Johnson has been replaced by an authentic DM, & a midfield general Brown,so that's another improvement. Kisnorbo missed the whole of last season,& he's back & replaces Naylor,further improvement. Plus the loanees have all returned having gained valuable experience & by all accounts have impressed in pre-season,Nunez,Clayton,White,Lees,three of whom are midfielders if you count White who can also play LB so that's the loss of Kilkenny more than adequately covered. So when you look at it in a positive way,the players who are now available to us,Rachubka,Lonergan,Kissa,Nunez,Clayton,Lees,White,Brown, that's about £6m worth of talent,acquired for next to nothing. There's also the possibilty of adding to the squad with one or two of the trialist,Mendy for example,so things are looking promising.
LeedsinEssex, I love your optimism. Must admit, I was dissapointed when we missed out on Bowyer, and even more mad when Johnson (a Leeds Fan) when to crisp-munch-ville. I hope we make a couple of quality signings before Saturday
Five has gone, but they have been replaced. Naylor left, but we've still got Bruce, Bromby, Lees, O'Brien and Kisnorbo, so we didn't need another, ideally Bruce or Bromby would leave. Clayton has come back and looks a good player, replacing Kilkenny, and IMO he's better than Kilkenny cause he's not piss slow and weak. Brown is a massive improvement on Johnson - who was good, but wasn't a DM - and Parker/White are back from injury/loan. Ben Parker was quality in the 08/09 season, and it seemed like we had a good, young leftback but after his injuries, he might not be the same player. He could be a surprise though. We have a few unknown prospects in the squad - Clayton, Lees, White, Parker and Nunez - could all potentially make big impacts.
What about that Tavernier lad who was playing for Newcastle on Sunday? Huge Leeds fan and spoke of his dream of playing for the Elland Road fans, can play anywhere across the back line, and didn't do too badly considering the quality of our wingers and the fitness deficit. Could get him on a season-long loan, I'd have thought; can't see him breaking into Newcastle's first team.
