Teale's 'tache

Danny Ings has just moved to Southampton permanently for £20m+, 7 Premier League goals last season, the market is so much different to when we were last here, we will need to spend big on somebody!

I hope he's available and I would definitely take him if the price is right. He knows the system, gets on well with the other players, links up well with them, he scores goals, fits our profile perfectly.

What makes you think they aren't competent keepers? Honestly, looking at what's left of our squad and the amount we have to bring in I don't think we'll be in the market for a new keeper unless an amazing deal drops in our lap. We have too much other business to do and Steer has the confidence of the manager/defence at the moment. Having Croatia's number 1 as a back up isn't too shabby either. I trust the coaches to improve all of our keepers as well. I think it's an area we might try to improve in the future, there are better keepers out there, but I don't think it's as pressing as other positions.

Smith actually has a history for this kind of thing. He let 14 go in his first season at Walsall and brought 12 in, 18 came in during his first window for Brentford (according to Wikipedia). With that in mind we shouldn't be too surprised that we've let so many go. He obviously backs himself to be able to integrate a large number of players in one go, I trust him, but there's always that 'look at what happened to Fulham' argument nagging away. I only ever thought Whelan and maybe Elphick (depending on how many center backs we had lined up) had any chance of being offered an extension, but I can't say I'm all that disappointed that they haven't. We've got some serious business to do now!

If you are after Beef crisps I reckon Gardner is worth a bag of Beef Monster Munch...

I'd be amazed if we haven't breached the rules somewhere along the lines, just purely because our wage bill has been through the roof for so long, I know our net transfer spend the last couple of seasons hasn't been so bad, but we've wasted a lot of money since we came down. We must of found a way around it, everything coming out of the club for a good while has been saying we are compliant so I'm not overly concerned. Also, the unclean were deducted 9 points for a few reasons, they ignored the EFL and signed a player when they shouldn't, they were warned that they were in risk of not complying and went out and spent more anyway. They showed a complete disregard for the rules. That's why they were hit so hard. We've been a bit smarter about it and been working with the League, lowering the wage bill and showing willing, even if we didn't hit the targets. There's no way we are going to be deducted 9 points.

Tapas?...

The more I think about it the more baffling it is that he went to SHA in the first place, I mean other than the obvious reasons, he really just doesn't suit the way they play... I'm beginning to be sold on him after reading some of your posts, it just sort of came from nowhere, but I can see the benefits and we do need to fill the squad.

Not sure how I feel about this, if it's a straight swap then we can't really lose and it's a bit of a free hit. Adding 4m, although it's not a lot these days makes it a bit more of a risk if we can't get him playing well. We do need bodies though. I do think our style of football will suit him more than SHA clogging.

Which of you did this?

Oh I agree, I think a lot of people will be disappointed that Kodjia and Taylor aren't being moved on for example, I'm in the camp that wants some continuity, we need to keep the team spirit from last season and carry it in to this one, that's part of why bringing back the loan guys permanently is so important, but we just have so many gaps to fill. The point I was trying to make is that a number of those left over likely won't even make our bench, from your list: Gardner and Hogan I wouldn't expect to play for us again, Green, Davis and Bree will likely be loaned out as they simply aren't ready for Premier League football yet. That leaves us with 3 keepers, Taylor, Chester, Elmo, Hourihane, Lansbury, Grealish, McGinn, and Kodjia. That's not even enough for a team let alone a bench, and one of those is Lansbury who can't stay fit. We have a lot of gaps to fill and not all that much time to do it in.

I think it's impossible to say we are better than this team or that team when as it currently stands, we barely have a team to put out. Also, we need to see how well our transfer window goes, as well as how everyone else's goes. We aren't the only ones with money, and we aren't the only ones that will be improving their team.

I mean you can hope but there's an argument for Kodjia, Elmo and Taylor staying, I can't see anyone taking Hogans wages off us permanently, at least not for a decent sum and I think Nyland will be difficult to shift with his injury and recent reputation.

It's okay not having the same quality on the bench, but the problem is with all the players we're about to release we don't have a bench...

I think he's going to run riot in the Premier League, he won't be having two men put on him all the time and the defences aren't so tightly packed, the way he carries the ball is incredible to watch and nigh on impossible to stop. I can't wait!

I like your confidence, and I hope you are right and our investment in him works out. He hasn't got the shirt yet though so it can't be that easy! I think it's great we have competition for this position, Steer knows he can't make any errors or Kalanic will be in, it keeps the standards up and you must give credit to Steer for upping his game since he's been in the team, and not making any serious errors as of yet.

You can't pick your team based on what people have done previously in their careers, it has to be based on recent form. Steer has shown the better form and deserves to play, he has the trust of his Manager and Defence. Kalanic needs to earn that trust when his opportunity comes along and I hope he will, but for now the shirt is Steers to lose and Kalanic's to gain.

Our owners are ambitious, they will spend what we need to stay in the division. I think we will be prudent, but with the sheer number of players we need to sign and the number of those that need to be real quality for the first team we are going to get to around that total. Loan signings with an option to buy may take that total down slightly. I know bargains can be had, but it would be naive to think we are going to make 10+ bargain signings all of which turn out to be quality enough to keep us up and it only cost £50m between them. We need to buy half of our first team from their parent clubs, then improve upon that first team with real quality and then fill out a squad that is seriously depleted. It will cost a lot of money.

I want us to try and keep continuity and build on what we have, but there's no denying including making loans permanent there's going to be at least 10 bodies through the door to have any kind of squad for next season. With the quality we are looking for, most of those signings will be £10m plus. I'll be surprised if we don't spend £100m give or take. We have to get this right or we will be in BIG trouble...

Although I agree, I feel we wouldn't of released him unless we knew we had incoming players in that position, we are currently down to one not fit James Chester and one out of contract Mile Jedinak as our central defence... Gives me some hope Hause or Mings are close.

It's the 'if' that is really the debate here, we don't know that he is good enough at this level, but then we don't know that he isn't, I feel he's earned the chance to show us if he can step up. At Cardiff they didn't know if Ethridge would be able to step up last season, he was arguably their best player. I think the fact we spent 7m on a keeper in January will likely put us off buying another keeper, we have so much business to do I feel a position where we already have two good players will not be high on the list. I take your point on an experienced spine, I think it can certainly help, but Bournemouth didn't have one when they came up, nor Huddersfield or Brighton, none of the Wolves spine had Premier League experience last season, though they had plenty of quality. I remember the last QPR team that went down had plenty of experience but failed miserably. In an ideal world we'd have a spine of quality experienced Premier League players, but I think that's a big ask to complete in this transfer window.

I agree his distribution has been fine, he's decent with the ball at his feet, he's no Ederson but he's certainly no Cech, he's not really made any howlers up to this point and any mistake he has made have not been punished, lucky he may be but that's an attribute I like in my Goalkeeper! I think the most important thing that people are glossing over here is trust. He has won the trust of the manager and the trust of the defenders in front of him, yet not the trust of some of the fans for some reason. Kalanic does not have that trust yet, and any incoming keeper wouldn't have it either. Steer has earned the opportunity to prove he can step up at this level, and I don't see any reason why he can't. I'm not sure what people expect of a Premier League keeper, he's decent on the ball, a good communicator, great shot stopper, my only criticism is he could command his area a bit more, but that can be worked on and I feel a little less of an issue in the Premier League as it was in the Championship. I think it's all because of his history. I think if somebody we had signed had performed exactly the same as he has then we'd all be saying that's a good keeper, no need to make any changes there, but because he's been out on loan multiple times and made his way from third choice, people assume he's not good enough. Football is full of stories of players kicking around who suddenly get a chance to prove themselves and never look back. Could we improve on him, sure. Is it a priority, hell no.

I'm not sure we need three first choice keepers, that seems excessive. Steer will rightly think he should be given the chance to prove he can go up a level after what he's done, Kalanic will feel his transfer fee and reputation will allow him a shot at some stage, and Johnstone wouldn't join to just sit on the bench. Look at all the top clubs, look at their 3rd choice keepers. Nobody has 3 vying for the same position, the third choice is either an old keeper/coach or a youngster being blooded in the U23's. In fact, look at how Fulham messed around with their goalkeeping situation last year, they had three keepers and no idea which was their first choice. I say we back Steer to start off with, and back Kalanic to step in if Steer does wobble. They are both good keepers. Have faith in them! We have so much work to do in this transfer window, I see a goalkeeper way down on the list of priorities.

Tuanzebe - who knows what chance we have of getting him, it really is down to how much Man Utd rate him, I've seen some of their fans want to loan him back to us for another season, I don't think they realise we'd only do that with an acceptable option to buy. I'd love to sign him but this one is out of our hands at the moment. Love to have him back for good though. Lookman - not seen much of him, I would ask why they are transfer listing him and not Walcott? That's starting alarm bells ringing. £20m seems a lot, I think I'd have to see more of him before making a judgement. He fits the profile though and plays in a position we need to fill. Milner - really not sure how I feel about this, I think we have good pro's at the club already and signing a 33 year old doesn't seem to fit with what we are planning, but I do think he could be useful and I see the benefits, I like him, I just wonder what kind of wages/signing on fee he'd be after for a one year deal... Abraham - If he's available and the price is right then great, I'm not sure either of those things are going to work out our way though. Fingers are crossed. Snodgrass - He was an important player for West Ham by the end of the season and I can't see them letting him go on the cheap, they have the homegrown rule to consider as well now that they are losing Caroll, think he'll be worth more to them than we will be willing to pay for a 31 year old. Again I like him, just not sure it will happen. Turnbull - not seen him play, back up for McGinn would be nice, but not one of our most pressing concerns. Mings and El Ghazi are musts. Those are just my thoughts, it'll be interesting to see how many of those names we do go for/get over the next few months!

I don't know who Moussa Marega's agent is but he's certainly being peddled around, just seen us linked to him as well. He's 28, and from what I've seen he's pretty rubbish, again not really the profile we are looking for.