There are some Saints fans who are a little concerned that Saints have not done enough in the transfer market in the summer.

I know this was covered in an article a couple of weeks ago, but on the eve of the season its probably a good time to reiterate the point, we have the best squad in the division in the terms of both quality and quantity, I have been asked whether Saints can live with the burden of being favourites and that Leeds made some great starts to their campaigns in League 1 only to fade twice, likewise Charlton who started well last year along with Leeds but faded and couldnt get automatic promotion in the end.

Can that happen to Saints ? well of course it could, but unlike the aforementioned two Saints have the advantage of strength in depth, when injuries and suspensions strike Saints have enough cover in all positions.

Of course the key is going to be the managerial skill of Alan Pardew and i would hope that he has learnt his lessons well from last season and can use that to our advantage, too often last term we showed sides too much respect away from home, especially to the lower third clubs where we frequently did not get results nor the upper third where ironically we only won once against the top nine, that at Norwich, of the other seven clubs we lost 4 and drew 3 and again that will be a key area, if we want to go up automatically we have to avoid defeat and more against the top teams.

The fact is that we have to make teams fear us and not the other way round, play every week like we did against Huddersfield at home rather than when Oldham visited SMS, look at every areea of the team ts strong, opposition defences should be overun by our strike force, our midfielders should dominate and our back four should be able to tuck most opposition strikers into their back pocket and if that all fails then there is Kelvin or in his absence Bart.

The time to be brave is now, we need to show our intent to the rest of the division from the off, Plymouth will be no mugs but a comprehensive win will give us the start we need and put the fear of god in the watching rest of the division, St Mary's needs to be somewhere opponents come and quake in their boots, not somewhere they relish playing, we as supporters need to turn their legs to jelly with the noise.

Markus Liebherr has chipped in and helped build a squad worthy of this division, now its time for us to show him we are grateful, I may be in dispute with certain people at the Club at the moment, but that doesnt mean that I dont want the team to do well and Saints to be promoted.  

Photo: Action Images

eusebio added 08:45 - Aug 6 The last paragraph had me reachng for the hankies
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kcaj1164retsof added 09:49 - Aug 6 People could rightly think that we are not as strong going forward as last season, considering we have not replaced Wago and Antonio, who were certainly influential players in many games. There is still a few weeks to remedy that however. I would like to see us concentrating more on our own game rather than changing our formation to match our opponents, as we did in many games last term. I have no fears of us starting well and fading, I think there is more chance of the opposite being the case, although we all hope and expect to start and continue well to the end and gain promotion!

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montecristo added 19:13 - Aug 7 oh dear the ugly has got it wrong again dad... Some folk have fallen into the trap of beleiving that just because we signed Lambert we should automtically go up and I incloude our chairman in that. There are after all 11 players in a team and therefore if you want the team to go up they have to be good enough,. Saints are not good enough.Im sorry but there is a corporate arrogance about St Marys that is beginning to irritate my anglo saxon sensibilities. But6 to cut to the chase could someone pleasse tell me why Antonio has not been signed nor Papa Waigo ? Does someone in his infinite wisdom think that he is going to get them on the cheap? Todays game underlined how much the team misses both thses players. Bluntly we will not go up without them or players of their standard. Yes they will cost money and maybe because we are Southampton we will have to pay over the odds but again if you publish your wealth for all and sundry to see expect people to add ten percent or more to their transfer demands. I am getting just a bit fed up with Cortese's tantrums with regard to the press and generally anyone who holds a contrary opinion to his own. he would do better to stick to his executive duties and leave PR to those better suited to playing in that arena.

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Kamawoop added 21:44 - Aug 7 I wouldn't swap Saints current squad for any other in the division; so yeah can't really argue to much with the jist of this article. However at the moment we remain at the whim of the fates and the vagaries of injuries. Our squad is to thin to justify the outrageously short odds given. Two, or three additions, in certain areas could give us the strength to expect success whatever's thrown at us. Currently I think we'll do well if things go well and luck is on our side.

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