Many Saints supporters are surprised that Saints havent spent out much in the transfer window so far.

Leading the league at the turn of the year Saints have a great chance of a return to the Premier League after an absence of seven years, after raking in an alledged £15 million pounds in August for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, the general consensus was that it was a little late to spend it back then but it would most certainly be spent in the transfer window in the New Year.

When Saints unexpectedly became not promotion hopefuls but League leaders and showed they had more than a little staying power, this view was enforced, and Saints were linked with many players including the likes of Sharpe, Rodrigues, Jutkiewicz and maynard to name but four, however with 3/4 of the Transfer window approaching Saints seem no nearer landing any of their targets that they did five months ago.

Of course we have brought in Tandanari Lee (when the deal is finally done) and Falque, the latter on a loan from Spurs, but neither have any experience nor track record at the level at which we are playing, even Lee who has played in the J League is a gamble, Yuki Abe his colleague in the Japanese National side has not been a raging success at Leicester City since signing in August 2010, finding it hard to get into a poor performing Leicester side this season, in short Lee could be a big success or a big flop, at this stage its impossible to tell which.

So the big surprise for aints fans is our failure to have landed any of the players we have been linked with, the feeling back in December was that Saints were canny enough to have been lining up the deals so that we would be hitting the January transfer window running and getting that boost needed after a poor run of matches in November and December.

Of course most deals in January are done at the end of the month as Clubs panic and we all rather hoped that Saints might be astute enough to avoid all this, but whichever way your thoughts go on why we havent landed anyone bar the two mentioned, the fact is its a little worrying about the lack of incoming players so far.

The January transfer window was always going to be a barometer as to the commitment of the Liebherr family to the club and some fans will see it that way and if Saints fail to invest a fair chunk of the Oxo money then it could send out messages.

Maybe some supporters will feel that Nigel Adkins doesnt need to add much to his sqquad, after all we are top, but that doesnt appear to be the view of Adkins himself, who although stopping short of naming players that we are in for, seems very keen to make his views that we need new men in very public.

Those of us old enough to remeber the 1981/82 season will recall that in that year we lead the league for longer than any other club that season, with 11 games to go we were still top and as the transffer window closing approached, the senior members of the squad, including Kevin Keegan and Mick Channon were imploring Lawrie McMenemy to bring in a top quality signing or two that might just win us the league, whether it was McMenemy or the board who did not want to splash the cash is unclear, certainly Im sure the manager probably would have spent it if he had it, untried Mark Wright and Keith Cassellls from Oxford were the only players in but in those 11 games we won only 3 and took only 11 points out of 33, it would have been a tall order to win the league, but ask Channon or Keegan and they will tell you that they felt that we would have.

Perhaps that lesson from history should be heeded, a football team always has to keep improving, even if sometimes hard decisions have to be taken, the question is why dont Saints seem to be able to land any of the players linked with them, is it poor planning in identifying players that will come, is it poor negotiating or is it the fact that we just arent going to spend most of thet Chamberlain money, the truth is probably a combination of all three to varying degrees.  

Photo: Action Images

ThermosNBlanket added 09:54 - Jan 20 Spot on Nick, although its hard getting clubs to release without replacements hence why no deals yet. There has hardly been any business yet and read the other day only £3m don in Prem next week will see the market moving.
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LostBoys added 10:28 - Jan 20 1981/82 I think the chairman was Woodford but the paymaster was a Guy Askham as Finance Director and he would never spend any money and later became famous for selling players not buying them as well as appointing Bran*******foot as manager
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bailey81MCR added 11:07 - Jan 20 Not forgetting big Jos, who is also a January signing. We've got a 6ft pacey striker in Lee ( i would have preferred Sordell, but hey ho) and a very promising Spanish starlet in Falque. From what i've seen of him, he has a cracking strike and will really add to the team. It will also give Lallana some competition as the playmaker as well, as well as take some of the pressure of him. Regarding further transfers, it has to be difficult for Saints, clubs know we have the money and where a player may be worth 3mil, they will hold out for 6mil until the final day. We have to pay what a player is worth and can cut it in the premier league. It's very difficult i should imagine to get the right player, for the right value. Another point, is to not upset the applecart, yes we have had a couple of hickups, but we are still going along steadily. Corteses vision is to bring the youth through, bringing 5 players through on 3 year contracts will hinder that and the club in what they're trying to achieve. One more striker will be enough, offload Puncheon & Barnard and we will be strong enough i think.

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theallseeingeye added 11:17 - Jan 20 I really don't think we are a million miles away from being right, and am happy with the signings so far made. Look around, not may teams have strengthen more than we have. There is no guarantee that adding anyone, even a Hooper, Sharp will make us better and ensure promotion, transfers are always a risk. Often transfers are wanted by the fans just for the sake of them, give bragging rights. Don't get me wrong, better players would make us better, but these have to be the right players, not any players, just because they carry a price tag. We also don't know how far along we are with transfers, one might be being finalised as I type!

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StSaint added 11:21 - Jan 20 It's a bit naive that you are surprised we haven't added more than 2 people so far. Having landed 2 already is good going, as by your own admission, nothing is going to happen until the end of the window. Why would a club sell someone at the start of the window when they can wait for interest and deadlines to drive the price up? We are desperate to get rid of Puncheon, but he won't go until the end. It's pretty standard and it's not like everyone else is signing people left right and centre.

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BlackRod added 11:38 - Jan 20 You could also ask why Puncheon is still on the books. I think we are trying to be too canny in our negotiations and risk running out of time. It wouldn't surprise me if there are no big signings and Puncheon is still around come February. Then we have to hope that the untested players we have brought in perform well. Certainly a gamble when such a big prize is at stake.

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tiptop added 11:39 - Jan 20 I'm confident in what NA is doing. Look at who else have signed anyone. West Ham? Cardiff? Reading? Hull? Birmingham?... From what I can see none of Sharpe, Rodrigues, Jutkiewicz or Maynard would improve us or would be exciting. A waste of money even. Yes Jutkiewicz would provide backup for RL but thats all. He would prefer to have a starting role in the championship as would all of these. They wouldnt get past Lambert or connolly. Lee is a risk but he's NA's risk, not Sven's. I'd go with NA's choice. Plus this boy is a goal scorer not a defensive midfielder. Def worth a gamble if it pays off. I think we're def after Hooper and will have to wait a week or so if anything is going to happen. NA knows what he can do and I believe we'll get him. Remember we have two of the top scorers in the division already in RL and Guly (conners would be up there too if not for injury). The other trick is to get more goals from the rest of the team, be more fluid and more of a threat. Falque is an exciting choice. Being left sided he could free Lallana up form his wing ties..i think thats NA's plan. NA is thinking about being promoted next season and having premier league quality in place. None of the affor mentioned championship strikers in my mind would cut it enough in the next div. Hooper looks like he well might. Trust in NA. He hasnt had to rip up the squad because he didnt have to. But just like you said and is always the case real business gets done at the business end of the month

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SaintNick added 12:03 - Jan 20 Im suprised that so many of you have so much faith in players who are completely untried at this level, Bailey tells us Falque has a great strike on him, but this is a 22 year old player who is yet to start a first team league game and yet to score a first team goal in any competition, so where is his track record apart from a few games for Villareals reserve team. Im not rubbishing him, I really hope he proves to be the real deal, but at this moment in time we have no proof apart from blind faith

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bstokesaint added 12:44 - Jan 20 All I know is I'm getting sick of Celtic fans giving us stick on the forums. No Saints fan can deny that they are a bigger club, with more former glory and a bigger fan base, but how exciting can it be for (an English) player to play 4 testing games a season? It's nuts, the SPL is not a good league and if Gary Hooper had any ambition he would have to give serious consideration to a club with ambition such as ours. That's not being disrespectful. It's putting things in context.

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tiptop added 12:47 - Jan 20 True about Falque..he is a gamble. But an educated one made by NA. He's not the real deal yet but hes obviously got something and will add an effective spark if NA hopes plans come to fruition. To some degree we have to still operate in this way in the market when talking of improving our current players considering wages and transfer fees. For instance in an unthinkable scenario who would you be happy with as a replacement for RL? Who would be available to us with RL's pedigree? A premier league striker or a promising lower league striker like a Sam Baldock? Rl would only move upwards from here to a team taking a chance from the prem. And so it would go for us...to some degree. We have a good bargaining position now though and someone like Hooper might be swayed with the potential we can offer ie the prem with RL! In NA I trust

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stmichael added 13:04 - Jan 20 Reality is we have bought a relatively cheap Japanese player (and the deal is not finalised as we speak) and a loanee. For a supposed ambitious wealthy cash rich club with a great chance of promotion that is not a statement of intent. Last season and this we have succeeded thanks to the efforts of players bought in the main by Alan Pardew. Despite being owned by billionares we are yet to spend 2 million pounds on a single player. Our last major signing was Jose Fonte! I think our wealth is a myth and the transfer bids we are making a complete smoke screen. Just my opinion. On a positive note the players are performing magnificently and credit to the club for implementing a wage structure that has allowed us to keep the players we want and to sign the players we have seriously gone in for.

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stmichael added 13:09 - Jan 20 Sorry i forgot Dan Fox he was a major signing. Even if he is no better than our other Dan who cost nothing!
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SaintNick added 13:15 - Jan 20 Fox's number of assists against Hardings perhaps tell us who is the best player
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geezershoong added 13:43 - Jan 20 Blind faith regarding Falque? Well if you pop on to You tube, going to the Soccerbase or something similar you can make your own mind up without exercising faith. Must confess I haven't but if you want to it's called 'doing your research' Nick. Fox's number of assists against Hardings? How many games has Harding started compard to Fox..?
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tiptop added 13:45 - Jan 20 Not sure how rich saints really are? Billionaires? Uh, no. Smoke screening. No Lambert cost less than (cheap) Lee by the sounds of it. Punching finantial weight? Look at Leicester. Old Svenny boy couldn't stop spending; a quick 2mill here a 2.7mill there..and what did it prove?..sweet fa...'Its in the way that you use it' Fox is NA's a substantial financial signing (along with SdR and Hooiveld) and apart from that, as stmichael says, the most of it is Pardew. Fox's assists as Nic says prove why he's here.

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bailey81MCR added 15:21 - Jan 20 Exactly Geezer, it's not too difficult to do a bit of research. Harry, must be showing blind faith in him for taking him on loan and then deciding to buy him, must have thought he was bobbins. Also, just to re-iterate, Jos Hooiveld is also a January signing...in effect. I don't agree that we should just wave the checkbook to please the fans. Yes, i would love us to buy some BETTER players, but who is really out there and wants to come for less than 40k? I'd be happy with getting Hooper in and that's that.

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SaintNick added 16:18 - Jan 20 Geezer Firstly about research, I have been on Soccerbase and Falque is a player who has yet to start a first team league game for any of his clubs, his total league appearances amount to 20 mins for Villareal, although he did play 30 games for Villareal B in one of the lower spanish divisions, anyone can produce a video sequence of good parts of their game, Phil Thompson once said that he had a video of all his goals that made him look like the best striker liverpool ever had, trouble is they were spread over about 12 years. As for Harry showing faith in him, remember when Martin Crainie was going on a free to Yeovil and harry came in and signed him for Pompey and then immediately loaned him out somewhere, all of this was the subject of much speculation on documentaries A good player is about end product not flying up the wing Fox has played 18 (4) league games this season and has five assists Harding 9(4) and has none, perhaps giving an example of his accuracy on Saturday when he crossed a ball to Schneiderlin that was at waist height meaning all he could do was lift his knee up and luckily it diverted to Connolly, a stroke of luck but a poor cross from Harding. Last season Harding had 2 assists to his name from 35(1) appearances, Ryan Dickson had 4 fronm 14(8), in 2009/10 Harding had 1 assist from 42 league games, so to total Harding has played 86 games for Saints plus 10 as sub and has managed 3 assists, is this an accepted total for a playerly here is an attacking full back who gets up the line and puts crosses in? Im interested to here views on it All well researched i would add,,

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bailey81MCR added 17:26 - Jan 20 Haha :-)
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1teeminants added 17:34 - Jan 20 Nick the secret is to scowl other message boards that way you get a pretty good idea what a player is like by what other fans are saying. Spurs fans are very excited about falque having seen him play several times for Spurs. That'll do for me. I dont think we need any more strikers we have been scoring goals for fun all season ffs. Another defender on top of lee and falque will do me. Like everyones saying nobody has done anything yet but im sure all that will change in the last week of the window.

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COYRalex added 18:14 - Jan 20 What I find funny that spending a large amount on a player = ambition. Is it not best to look for quality rather than just show everyone how much money we have? I am not saying these 2 we have got aren't a gamble but every transfer or manager appointment is a gamble! I think the more you pay the bigger the gamble. Yes money should mean more quality but look how chaplow, hoilveld, and I am sure there are others that havent cost much but have made a real impact. And that is what it is about. Who will come in and make an impact not who costs the most.

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1teeminants added 19:09 - Jan 20 completely agree with you coyralex. Unfortunately we have too many fans that think hoovield, chaplow etc are just very average players. I think they must watch different games to me sometimes.
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Whatsforpud added 20:43 - Jan 20 On the subject of Fox/Harding assists, I assume that the definition of 'assist' is providing a cross or pass from which a goal is scored. There surely are many times where players provide a good cross or pass which is then touched on for someone to score. Then the original player is not credited. What would the Fox/Harding score be then? Re the transfer debate, there always seems to be talk among fans about the need 'to get two or three in' in the latest window, irrespective of how well a team is doing. We are top of the league and top of the goal scoring, therefore the team does not need to be tinkered with too much. Hooiveld and the two incoming players should be enough. Maybe in the summer we should looking to replace Bart to challenge Davis. On the subject of the club being owned by billionairs, although the slate was wiped clean by Liebherr, I get the impression that Cortese is trying to manage the club thereafter on a business-like basis - that is to not spend more than the income, including the Chamberlain money. I don't think he is looking for a constant top-up from the Liebherr estate.

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landsdownsaint added 22:03 - Jan 20 Nope ,and I don't think we ever will .They seem adamant on not letting us know what's going on,there's a but of blind faith going on I think, I desperately want to be wring about this.
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1teeminants added 22:29 - Jan 20 Falque has played games for Spurs in the Europa cup Nick.
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avonsaint added 09:39 - Jan 21 i think we should leave it to NA and NC. i was disappointed when we didn't do a lot in the summer i really thought we would struggle, but the players brought in have done really well since they have been here, so for me it proves the people at the top know more about running the club than me, im looking forward to the rest of the season, im sure there will many more ups and downs, but im just hoping we can keep going , as for the prem, well for me i dont think i'll ever enjoy watching saints as i have the last 2/3 years without the need to watch prem football , in fact the lower leagues are much more honest where, brighton apart you see very little blatant cheating, and surrounding the ref etc, i for one am on the bus and quite happy for the company to sort out who drives it

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