Couldn't agree more, how is it that various notable failures in our recruitment efforts (Mayuka, Forren, DeRidder for example) can apparently within the club be treated as though it is just a "...ah well, that's football for you" experience.

I watched Nathan Redmond give us a very hard time at Norwich over the weekend, why is it that we seem completely unable to make value for money signings like this young British player, while we wander around the rest of the globe chasing expensive foreign players who we have to compete for with some much wealthier clubs with better reputations than ourselves.

Did I hear someone whisper that Redmond would not be up to the standard we now set ourselves. Well, he took us apart on Saturday...and highlighted our own lack of pace and inability to play our strikers into space .

What is happening I am still waiting for your Norwich V Saints verdict report, but in the mean time you have chosen to write an article critical of Mayuka (again). Now I do not disagree with the general point your making about him as it would seem that 2 managers who see him in training everyday both don't fancy giving him an opportunity so I'll go with there opinion he's not up to it. Lets hope his loan gives him the opportunity to shine and we either get back a player that can cut it or we can get our money back.

Going back to my point of writing though I would be intersted to see the article written more around the transfer business we have / have not done rather than just focused on Mayuka, still looking forward to the verdict please!!!!

Who'd be a blogger, eh?! Damned if you do write an article, damned if you don't! Just a bit cheeky Santos!

Talking of the other 3 strikers, Billy Sharp, Tadanari Lee and the one from Essex (cant even remember his name now), did they leave or stay? Last I read on deadline day was quite a few clubs wanted Sharp but Saints were playing hardball on the loan fees...

Surprised Guly didnt go on loan if I am honest..

hope he has a blinder on load so we can sell him. We need Guly back. the only striker to score a 9min hatrick this season.

I have never tried to argue Mayuka was a great player but lets not suggest Tadanari or de Ridder (apart from possibly reading away) had any greater impact on Saints. De Ridder was given many more oppertunities than Mayuka and was quite frankly terrible. Tadanari on the other hand scored one brilliant goal in a very one sided championship game, then was frozen out of the first team picture in favour of Mayuka. Sharp made a key contribution to our PL promotion however his career to date proves he is nothing more than a proven championship performer. IMO all four are not good enough for our squad, just a bit fed up of Lee/ Sharp being consistently mentioned as hard done by or unfortunate alternatives when they are no better or worse than those being critizised.

Even a smart gaol at Barnsley couldn't save him and we are right to send it off somewhere.

Exiled supporter is right to raise our record of signing foreign players from foreign clubs. It is truly dreadful. The club need to review it ASAP. It's in total contrast to our academy successes.

I agree with all of this - why pay £3.5m for an unknown with potential perhaps but largely unproven when there are better players around including at your own club.

I do accept though that Mayuka was a better 'risk' that Forren and the truly awful De Ridder who I see scored again at the weekend.

Still waiting for your Norwich verdict. Was it that bad?

must say, I am missing your game verdicts! Can read them other places, but its always good to read a proper fans view, and see the following comments that follow, even if folk dont agree!

Scatfield ,I think, you mean Lee Barnard who is still on the books. As is , I think, Jonathan Forte - remember him?
And although not a forward isn't Aaron Martin still on our books?

What role / future do they have with the club. Their wages plus those of Lee and Sharp must cost the club a fortune each week .

Yes, the Norwich verdict please. Your verdicts are always good to read even when I don't agree with them

I'm in agreement. Our scouts seem to fall in love with a player just because he's on a national team, without considering what national team, or what league he plays in.

3.5m for a striker in the grand scheme of things is not that much money. Even with a side like Southampton--who incidentally have the fourth richest owner in the Premiership anyway, but that aside!

However, if we are going down that route then we should consider the impact made by Gaston Ramirez and Jay Rodigruez.

Gaston Ramirez for all the hype has not produced the goods. In my opinion he's become more of an impact player than a regular starter. For £12.25 million I'm pretty sure we could have got Coutinho in the January transfer window for less.

Jay Rodigruez was brought for £7m which was our second most expensive signing for summer 2012. He was unproven only boasting Championship experience and last season managed 6 goal in 37 appearance.

Christian Benteke was brought into Villa for a similar amount making the same number of appearances and scored 22 goals in all competitions--and let's not forget this is a foreign player with no Premier League experience. Similarly Michu scored 18 goals and was brought in for far less. So on a wider note we have to question our club's current transfer policy.

I personally think Mayuka is more than good enough to play for Southampton. As well as ability it's also to do with the player's relationship with the manager and whether he fits in with the manager's style of play.

We can see right now that Juan Mata--who was twice voted player of the year for Chelsea--has suddenly fallen out of favour since the arrival of Mourinho. No one would question his quality but he's no longer a first-team regular. Yet Fernando Torre who no-one will questioned has flopped at Chelsea still starts regularly. Also Jason Puncheon's contribution last year cannot be questioned yet he's been shipped out on loan to CP.

Mayuka has a lot of potential and to say he's not good enough to play for Southampton says a lot about the short-sightedness of some of the fans on this forum. The bottom-line is he's 22, has won the African nations cup, has already played in the UEFA cup and is widely considered as one of Africa's future stars.

Clearly that has not been seen by the Southampton coaching staff so I wish him well at Sochaux. Hopefully he does well at Sochaux and Southampton can make a profit out of him! :D

The point that I was trying to make was that I cannot understand why we do not put more effort into recruiting young British players from the lower divisions who would be a cheaper risk than over remunerated, foreign players who seem to be no cheaper than the equivalent British players (as is often claimed by clubs)...and, as it happens, much cheaper to watch in games than those playing for far flung clubs strewn around the world. But then perhaps there is self interest in the "allure" of foreign travel for those responsible for player recruitment. Perhaps a long weekend in Malaga or Marseilles or Montevideo is preferable to a short wet visit to Walsall or Rochdale!

Take Ramirez as an example. Did we see him play several times in Italy or did we just watch him on You Tube after he was offered to us by his agent and make our minds up on the basis of selected high spots. Did we overestimate his abilities or is he better suited to a slower paced game than the English Prem? Do we not know how to utilise him to best effect or is he unable/unwilling to adapt to our tactical needs. Was he someone that Adkins really thought would be a good buy or was Gaston really chosen by Cortese, Reed and Paul Mitchell, while Adkins was pleased to accept this marquee signing, even though he had not much been involved in the decision making (and might well have preferred the money to have been spent on a better defender. Whatever the case he hasn't lived up to expectations, doesn't at the moment look good value for money and seems to repeatedly commit the same mistakes. At Norwich in the short time that Gaston was on the pitch he lost the ball several times by trying to beat too many defenders...ironic that he should replace Lallana who had worked hard for 60 mins or so and looked our most threatening forward.

Don't misunderstand me, I think Gaston has considerable latent talent, but I am far from convinced that he is a good fit for Saints. So why didn't we understand this beforehand?