It is early days yet, but after the first two games 5 out of our 6 summer signings have made a decent contribution to the side and that can only be good for the rest of the season.

I would say I was shocked at the amount of pessimism on social media this summer when it comes to Saints chances in the Premier League for 2022/23 season, but sadly it is not much different from every other summer since 2014.

But when I judge our squad at the start of a season I do so on whether we have improved the depth and quality of it.

In essence we lost 3 players from last season's squad, Fraser Forster, Shane Long & Armando Broja, all contributed something to the season and it was sad to see them all depart, but their contributions were not irreplaceable.

In Goal Forster only played 19 Premier League games, exactly half the season, Shane Long started 3 games plus 10 off the bench and scored 1 goal and Armando Broja perhaps made the biggest contribution with 6 Premier League goals from 21 starts and 11 off the bench.

As I say none of these contributions are irreplaceable, Broja is perhaps the biggest, but to be blunt 6 goals from a striker is not a great total and certainly not a had task for any of the three strikers we currently have.

So in terms of depth of squad we have lost 3 players, but brought in 5 players to replace them, so the depth of the squad has grown a little and more options can't be a bad thing, especially with the 5 substitutes option now in force.

So what about quality, in goal as I say Forster played 19 games, McCarthy 17 and Cabbalero the other 2, it is fair to say although Forster came in and did a good job, there was still a need to improve, Gavin Bazunu has come in and looked good in the opening two games, all the more so given the defence in front of him at the moment.

But that defence is no worse than last year, in fact with the arrival of Armel Bella-Kotchap in terms of quantity it has another option and on Saturday against Leeds ABK looked promising and an ability to surge forward in possession too.

Yes the defence needs sorting out, yes it will be a case of sometimes we get away with things and sometimes we don't, but it is still better than last year both in terms of depth and quality.

In midfield Romeo Lavia has looked a player and will only get better with experience, it is hard to believe that he has only played twice in competitive football, both cup ties for Manchester City and never in a League game until his debut at Spurs, he is still learning, but again he adds both more depth and more quality to the side.

Joe Aribo has already turned heads and his goal against Leeds showed not only an eye for goal but composure, he didn't panic and perhaps see the keeper block his shot, he took another step, left the keeper floundering and fired home.

At the moment it is a question of where to play him, is he played as the link between midfield and the forward line or do we play him as a striker, who knows but he has already made a positive contribution.

Sekou Mara has been here less time than the others, but he didn't take long to make a positive impact, 11 minutes into his debut as a sub to be exact, with a little surge and then a inch perfect through ball for Kyle Walker Peters to get the equaliser, Mara also got away a decent shot from distance that made the keeper work.

So although we are only two games in there have been green shoots of recovery and those have been provided by 5 of our 6 new signings making a positive contribution in their first games.

Now I know that it is early days yet, but if some are happy to pick out every fault, then others have to look to find some of the good things happening.

This is not glossing things over, we all know the centre of defence needs sorting out, it needs to get that experienced leader in it, at the moment Jan Bednarek is not that man, he is playing like a man who thought he was going to go to a big club, only to find out no one wants him, at least not the level of club he thought did, will he get over that and knuckle down and play a part this season or will he just sulk, we will soon find out.

But in the meantime, lets just enjoy seeing what look like some half decent signings help the club move forward, Saturday was a game of mixed emotions, firstly it was the frustration of seeing some lax defending give Leeds a two goal lead followed by the sheer exhilaration of seeing two well worked and superbly finished goals, if you can't go to a football match and enjoy that, then what is the point of going.

Photo: Action Images

HythePeer added 10:17 - Aug 16 I concur with your observations. But, as we have seen with new talent before, they are coached to play according to managerial requirements and their talents become swamped by the imposition of strange positional play and tactics.
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WestSussexSaint added 10:29 - Aug 16 I agree with Hythepeer, 12 months ago we were excited to see Salisu play expecting him to be the next VVD but a combination of confused coaching/tactics and poor results has seen him regress considerably. Hopefully he can recover and form a good partnership with ABK.
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Ifonly added 10:33 - Aug 16 Agree that new signings look good. My worry was that too many of these might be "ones for the future" but they all look like they can contribute immediately, which we certainly need. New coaching signings? Let's wait and see. You put too much stress on the players for our defensive woes. Its much more down to the coaches. Good defence can be done with very limited players. It's all about positioning and automatic behaviours that get trained in. Drill, Drill, Drill that's how to get good. Big Sam is the classic example. He could always stiffen up a defence but always said it would take him 6 months to do it. It takes that long to make the training drills automatic. It's no good asking players to talk each other through the game. That might work in a pub team, not in the Prem. It needs to be automatic and that comes from coaching.

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Block8 added 10:34 - Aug 16 Yet again we pick on an individual to explain away our ills in defence? Bednarek may not be a natural leader and doesn't necessarily need to be if all are doing their jobs. Yes he is the most senior defender but that doesn't mean he will take charge, if by definition he is naturally quiet! (Jack is a good organiser but has big gaps in concentration) Both goals on Saturday were down to Salisu letting the man he was marking get away from him, simple as that. This is a downside of three central defenders, if you play two then you both know your duties, whether it's first knock or by man, three you lose that and have a spare man, it is then easy to assume if you let your man go the spare man will take him and heyho 2-0! Bednarek was our best defender last season, the stats back that up. We struggled last season due to the big gaps left by wing backs bombing up the pitch being exploited and us not having the pace to cover them by our two defensive midfielders. We have more pace this season and if we adopt just a bit of Liverpools style (very very similar to ours) they use the ball early, to the pace they have up front as well as wing backs, allowing the defensive midfielders to remain a little deeper thus helping the two CB's. We do build incredibly slowly meaning the only players remaining defensively are our two CB's?

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Kenm added 11:07 - Aug 16 I agree with Ifonly !,its too early to say that will be excellent or good !, my only concern is when they prove their worth !, the club will be rubbing their hands together with the prospect of a BIG reward when they go, because will never pay the rewards to keep decent players ?, that said, Leicester this weekend, only depends on which team he puts out ?, hopefully it will be the team that finished with Leeds, as they put up a good fighting display !

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Centurion added 11:35 - Aug 16 If we stay up, even in 17th, then no doubt it will be considered a success.
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landsdownsaint added 13:32 - Aug 16 I really think we’re gonna be fine & see some exciting stuff , the atttack side of things is looking good
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livsgrandad added 15:26 - Aug 16 We still need an experienced general in the centre of our back 3, and a goal scoring c/f...then i think we will be a force again...we saw glimpses of what we're capable of but, bad marking at the back did us again.... i don't believe we're that far away from a good back five,we just seem to ball watch at times.,and made to pay for these lapses.Young Gavin needs to be more vocal and dominant of the players in front of him..he can see who needs to be doing what, and when...that will come... As for the game with leeds, i think if we had more time left at the end of the game ,we could have snatched all three points..... Onward and upwards ,bring on UTD...[HOPE THEY BRING A CHANGE OF KIT]

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