Today we bring you a contribution from a member of the Ugly Inside community with the aptly named title The Only Optimist In The Village, read on and enjoy

The good news first.

Stripes are back! People seem to be really pleased with the strip.
However, those socks! They're pants! So I am now really confused.

Now, the Bad news

This is bad , not so bad and not nearly so bad.

But first, a little bit of History.

When Saints got promoted to the Championship, it's rumoured that the Don
thought that we would be 2 or 3 years in there.This would explain the
longer extensions and longer new contracts to various players who would
end up not being quite up to the task after the unexpected quick promotion
to the Premiership. How different the squad might have been, if their contracts
were just one year left.

That promotion year, towards the end Saints were awful sometimes and just kept
on riding their luck with results keeping on going their way.
When they came second, the Don was apparently very angry about not winning.
He didn't bother with the toys, he threw the whole pram out of the window on
to Ted's statue and it ended up as a bald Ewok.

Now a recap of last season before we start on the bad news.

We have heard all adjectives, adverbs etc on Saints playing, such as "Pressing",
"Free flowing" You get the idea. We had one of the highest possession % rates in
the Premiership. And yet we couldn't score.

We started off extremely well, with a good set of fixtures, no injuries, clean
sheets and flew. Later, the other teams started to catch up after slow starts.
We then started the injuries period and results went against us, exacerbated by
a poor strength in depth squad.

If you had watched every game, the inability to score was clearly seen.
Saints having passed the ball all over the place in their half and then into their
opponents half Saints would have eg. Lallana pass to Davis and race up to the 18 yard line.He joined 2 or 3 others on the line, surrounded by 6 to 8 defenders,all waiting for some miracle pass. This 18 yard nonsense happened all season, with Mopo not changing a thing. There were countless times that passes were attempted to the surrounded 3 or 4 Saints players to no avail. I didn't find this part very attractive to watch but actually very frustrating. The inevitable fast break happened with the inevitable goal.

Other teams flow the ball to the 18 yard line. Ramirez started deeper when he played and tried to get that flow to the defence.There seemed to be a problem with Lallana, Osvaldo, Lambert, Ramirez and Rodriguez.When fit, what combination would work .I also noticed that when defending, I would see Lallana racing slowly back to help out but always a bit late. He would finally arrive always behind the attacking player. His arms and legs would be flailing about, reminding me of Forrest Gump shedding his leg irons. His tackling from behind inevitably ended up with quite a few free kicks too near the area. My view is that he is not actually quite as good as he appears.

Shaw is fast. He has played 60 odd games for Saints. In those 60 games he received
the ball from defence, ran up to the half way line, stopped and passed back, at least five times per game. Total 300 times. What if 150 to 250 times he had run up the line and attempted a cross? 60 games and one assist. Great prospect but a way to go.

Later in the season Mopo asked what was the point of 73% possession if you don't win the game and that it was a weak squad.

Now the Bad.

Mopo must have known late last year about the Don, so must have been working out what options he had. He also said in December that the squad didn't need strengthening. I think we all disagreed with him to a man.

Just when the window opened in Jan, the Don is off skiing, so no-one in. The fan hits the sh*t and the new lot come in, only to be horrified by how crap the Don actually was at the commercial side of the business and Kreuger said that that was the first priority on the non football side. Mopo plays coy about his plans and the new lot also make plans because of his coyness.

Mopo's head is now at Spurs. The season ends and Mopo negotiates his new temp job.
Lovren now hands in his transfer request? Unsure of the chronology.
We get Double Dutch and Lallana cocks it up while Shaw flits off to Man U
Sir Ricky, meanwhile, has sold his house, bought his Liverpad and moved before I got
to ten.
Sir Ricky and Lallana had been tapped up at the England do's by Gerrard and the saga
started.
Eventually lallana is off to Liverpool with Bornmuff getting £2m plus less than
anticipated.
Manager gone, Shaw gone, Captain gone, Sir Ricky gone, Schneiderlin to go.
We are at World's End.

Now the not so bad news.

£30m for Shaw, replacement £8m to £10m ( sound of rubbing hands together)
£25m for Lallana, replacement Tadic £12 (that sound again)
£4m for Sir Ricky, replacement Pelle £8m? WTF?
£20+ for Lovren, replacement £10m ish.
My view on Schneiderlin is, he could have asked Koeman who he wants to come and asked
for a pay rise. If the targets are not met he would have a re-think. Significantly, he has taken advice from MLT on what to say, nudge, nudge.
Mopo hasn't seemed to want any of the Saints squad. They said what a great coach he is/was. That might have been because they got picked every week.
Lecter is leaving Liverpool and they can't replace him. 30 goals and 10 assists gone,
Lallana might play and Sturridge has signed a new Contract forbidding him to pass the ball.
Roll on Aug 16!

Now the Ugly

Lallana, what a prize Rodney! I hope he has to pull down his £40,000 folly before he
can sell his house. Also, is it rumoured that his misses likes it here and doesn't
want to go to a new Country and learn a new language?
And that Poster in the Echo!!! For my own pleasure, could somebody photoshop Betty's
husband's beret and coat on him, caption it "Che Spencer" and post it.

Lovren. When did a Premier player last hand in a transfer request and then tell the
club how much he wanted them to sell him for. I think never is the answer.
He also accused the club of a lack of ambition. Citeh, Manu and Chelski have each spent
£3/4 billion to get where they are.

A sensible ambition would be to "Everton" it and dabble with the Europa league. A 32,000 stadium plus £7m in commercial income might get you relegation (under the Don)
Anybody who thinks that Saints can get into the Champion's League without a 60,000
stadium is just not facing up to reality, as were any Saints players who bought into
Walter Mitty's daydream. Arsenal have 82 Executive seats at £100,000 down and £100,000 per year. That's the sort of income you need.

Finally, my optimistic want for next season. Feel free to politely tear it apart.

I must remind you that our only competitive position last season was at right back.
That is completely out of order and needs to be addressed seriously. Mopo had his favourites, so Koeman will obviously have his own view.

Hooiveld, pay off his contract and make him a free agent so he can play regularly and
not lose any dosh.

Promote Clyne to attacking midfield.

Ramirez free from Lallana conflict.

2 new centre backs and Fonte on the bench( he is slow to turn and gives away fouls)

New left and right back.

At least one more Tadic.
New goalie, I need an adult sized nappie every time Boruc has the ball at his feet. His kicking is appalling.
Pelle to follow Tadic in.

Mayuka to possibly get to the bench.He is fast and can actually shoot.

Davis and Ward-Prowse on the bench just because we now have someone better.
Osvaldo to Inter Milan.

Is it me or do transfers-in always take too long.? My jury is still out on Les Reed.

For all those with glasses half empty at the moment, why not fill it right up and then
empty it, you should feel better.

Photo: Action Images

Toussaint added 09:57 - Jul 9 After reading that I feel like the Matrix...good stuff I use to think Boruc was kicking badly,but I began to realise he was under instruction to kick to the wing-backs..it`s a good tactic because it stops the 2nd ball comming right back and if you watched Clyne and Shaw they were always waiting for it
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brady100 added 10:44 - Jul 9 Absolutley no return for Mayuka. Not at the standard required. Clyne AM?? Davis was one of our best players last year!!
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Jesus_02 added 10:46 - Jul 9 Very enjoyable read, good fun, refreshingly "unprofessional" (or unmasked). I would agree with most things apart from that I don’t think Stadium capacity is as important as it used to be. Stamford Bridge is 41k and PSG has 46k. Success is the only thing that glory hunting fair weather supporters really need. They are happy if they don’t even have to bother going to the stadium to by "merch" and subscribe to some obscure service that gives you the latest “goss” about celeb players. Could saints still be something different, I like to think so. I still dream of a squad of players that enjoy success more than the trappings of celebrity and unjustifiably high earnings. But then I buy a lotto ticket every Saturday!

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cheltenhamsaint added 11:09 - Jul 9 Good read. I enjoyed it and overall a decent summary of where we are and how we got there. But you want a new RB (as well as LB) when you say it was the only position under competition last year, Clyne to AM is interesting but your logic goes against the competition requirement? Boruc - teach him to bowl the ball out whenever possible, Schmeichel made this an attacking threat when at Utd. We have 4 keepers on the books so one coming in has to be top draw and first choice. That will cost upwards of £5m, maybe much more. I agree with Hooiveld and Mayuka (though not seen much of the latter but clearly he fell out with MP about game time)

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danvaughan89 added 11:27 - Jul 9 Agree with much of this apart from some of the squad suggestions. Right back should remain - can't talk up the need for a squad and then ask one of them to be moved. Also, Davis is our most consistent player - always willing to run and make space for others. I doubt Lallana will have too many doing that up north. JWP is also a first team player... Will be interesting to see if Koeman makes us play with three center backs - would need at least two signings to pull it off, but exciting nonetheless. All this talk of a tidal wave of signings is dangerous... Too many will destabilize the club (further). this is how I see it. Adam - Tadic Lambert - Pelle - although a proven striker is needed and I would like to see one 'massive' buy for this... Someone with PL exp... Luke - Targett (needs cover, possibly a first teamer to be understudy to) You rightly pointed out that we had a short squad last season. New first team Keeper (who can kick - good observation) New CB to accompany Fonte - who is a good shout for captain along with Spider IMO Morgan will stay (for now at least), and Lovren will either go or come out and blame his agent. In which case a new top-drawer CB will be needed. That's possibly 7 new names, although in reality not all of them are automatic first choices. 7 is dangerous already, personally I think RK will sign less and promote a couple of others in addition to Targett... Leaving a bit of dosh for repairs in Jan. All in all, good, prudent business while making the squad more competitive. What lies in store for Sharp and Mayuka though...

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SaintNick added 11:47 - Jul 9 I think Boruc gets unfair criticism on his kicking, it would have been easy for him to punt it up the centre, it would mean he didnt get the blame if we then didnt win the 50/50 ball it had now become, but it would not help our overall play. He was being asked to try and find a man out wide, this meant that he had to be a lot more accurate, none of our outfield players complete 100% of passes so how can we expect a keeper to do so, but the fact is that we probably still kept possesion a lot more even with a few kicks going into touch than we would have if he had punted it down the middle

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TheFont added 12:27 - Jul 9 Davis used to get criticised for his kicking but I know for a fact that he was under similar instructions to get the ball wide. Despite that though, Boruc can be a liability with the ball at his feet. Sometimes last year, we just played too much football. Look at our 'route one' goal against Man Utd…..it shows that sometimes a long, hopeful punt down the middle does pay off.

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Zambucco added 12:52 - Jul 9 Good read, but I'm the eternal optimist and already buzzing for the new season. Agreed with it all apart from Davis, my player of the season, his work rate and contribution was phenomenal, rarely putting foot wrong and always made a direct line for the opposition box when in possession, and fight for the ball when not.
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johnny_hilliard added 13:04 - Jul 9 Brilliantly written. Great to see some much needed perspective on current situation. I share your optimism - just look where we were 5 years ago......
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Newdawn2014 added 13:28 - Jul 9 good piece,( love the idea of the Lallana advert being meddled with) Zambucco , Davis also my favourite player of last season gave everything every match, and so under the radar I am surprised & delighted that no-one has come in for him,and one player whose head is NOT up his own .....! COYS
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signalmanwhite added 13:35 - Jul 9 Great article! The sign of a good, thought-provoking piece is that there is a lot you agree with and a lot you don't, and that is the case here. For example, it is good to see someone say that Lallana is not as good as people think. I agree - a few silky skills and the odd goal do not a world class footballer make. Also, I agree that there should be two quality players competing for every position. I do think, though, that this requires flexible players who can cover more than position, because otherwise you will have too many quality players not getting game time and becoming unsettled. I do not agree that JWP is a squad player - he will be a first choice this season and in the England squad before long. Clyne is a RB and should stay there. However, there is nothing to stop the manager using him or Chambers in midfield when required - that's the sort of flexibility we need. As for the history: the five year plan finished, NC and MP have gone, and a new era begins. New board, new management, new players. Everything has been put in place, apart from the commercial side, which is being addressed. There is no reason to be pessimistic, in my view, but this next five years requires a new approach, of consistent top ten finishes, of steadily improving the image of the club in world football so that better and better players can be attracted; this will lead to bigger income and ultimately to a larger stadium and £100,000 executive boxes (maybe!). At some point in the next five years, we need to be playing European football, but we must not be in too much of a rush, because that means lots more games, a bigger squad - a much bigger operation altogether. So, hopefully, gradual and steady improvement over the next few years, and that makes sense - we cannot progress as dramatically and quickly as the last five! One last thing, I agree that too many arrivals will upset the balance of the squad. Let's sign a GK (Marshall or Forster would be great), CB (van Dijk?), LB and striker. Please let's try and keep Schneiderlin and Gaston, plus let's hang on to Sharp and Mayuka as back up to J-Rod and new striker. Onwards and upwards!

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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 13:47 - Jul 9 Very good article until you make some ridiculous suggestions about the squad. Clyne to attacking midfield? WTF? He's a modern attacking full back, due to break into the England squad next season. No need to change. A new right back needed? What about Chambers? He's quality. Not too far off Shaw's ability IMO. Agree about Hooiveld. Mayuka is rubbish. He couldn't even get a game for a relegated French side last season. They need to offload him. S Davis and JWP are first team players. Agree with 2 new centre backs needed. Fonte will get shown up without Lovren next to him. I can see Saints signing David Marshall from Cardiff as our new number 1.

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mayfairsaint1 added 14:04 - Jul 9 Well observed piece. I would further add. When we started losing games last season, I consoled myself with 'Oh well, look at the stats, we had more possession than Arsenal etc" Like you though, after a while this began to wear thin and I found myself getting frustrated. Why the hell couldn't we be more flexible sometimes and do what other teams were doing to us. Soak up pressure and hit teams on the break. I'm hopeful that RoKO will be more pragmatic than MoPo. As for Lallana. I'm glad he's gone and thats not sour grapes. He's good but not great. I'd put him in the 8 to 10 million bracket. His ability to turn in tight spaces was let down by poor delivery and powder puff shooting. He saw a lot of the ball with us and our lack of goals stems partly from his poor end product. At Liverpool there are other players who like to keep the ball, Sturridge, Sterling and one other play who unlike Lallana, does possess a killer pass - Coutinho. I think Lallana might struggle. We got a tremendous price for Shaw. Is he really worth 30 million? Did Man u really think they were getting the next Gareth Bale? It will be money well spent by Man U if he's their left back for the next 12 years. But will he be? He's got a bit of pace but not enough to get to the by line against 2 out of 3 opponents. I can see a scenario in a couple of years when a newer brighter shinier left back comes onto the scene somewhere in Europe or wherever and then Man u will jettison Shaw. I might be totally wrong of course but to me Chambers is a more exciting prospect. Can't agree with your comment re Davies, i really thought he played well last season. Bit like Didier Deschamp used to play. Winning possession, recycling the ball maintaining tempo in metronomic fashion. Much as I hate to say it, Lovren will be a big loss playing wise. I know we will get top dollar for him but quality centre halves as as rare as hens teeth and he is quality. Imagine playing a back 3 with Jose in the middle, Chambers on the right and Lovren on the left. Still, if no one coughs up 25 million for Lovren money it might still happen?

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BoondockSaint added 16:29 - Jul 9 Nice level-headed assessment. I hope Koeman can instill some mental toughness and/or tactics to stop us letting in late goals. Too often we let points slip away. As the article mentions, even in the lower leagues we would top the standings for almost the whole season and then let it slip away late in the season, losing or drawing to teams far below us. Just to add to the Lallana bashing: I was never a fan of his corners. They seemed always to go to far. The highlights of our new signing show him doing a much better job.

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welhamdowed added 00:27 - Jul 10 You're right on the CL talk, 24 points away last season and fans still mumbling about it!!!! get real folks. Agreed Boruc has awful feet and can't hit the pitch let alone the wing backs. Chambers might be better than Shaw, crazy money for the boy. Goals not such as issue for us as you make out. Least we forget what Lala did for us, give the guy a break. SFC v LFC? Champs league V mid-table? Silly bunce V Crazy bunce? you do the maths. Clyne to midfield, maybe on Fifa only.

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hmmm added 05:37 - Jul 10 Good thought-provoking article, and I agree with most of it. Now for a stat attack. On the goals front I understand your argument, but struggle to agree with it. We (me included) were frustrated at the lack of goals. Yet we were the 8th highest scorers with 54 goals ... and finished 8th. 11 teams scored 45 goals or less. We were excellent against the 12 teams below us (46 points in 24 games, nearly two points per game, but relatively poor against the rest of the top 8, 10 points in 14 games (which was still better than United)). So overall not bad, especially for a second season back. Why were we frustrated? Because we had the highest percentage stats in the league (yes we were No.1) and also spent a lot of time in the opposition half of the pitch - hence we all thought there should have been more shots and goals (despite all our possession we were only 7th in shots, and 9th in shots on target). We also had the 6th tightest defence in terms of goals conceded, and 2nd best in terms of shots conceded. Pretty good I would say. Stats courtesy of whoscored.com. We can all argue about games we feel we should have won (Spuds twice and Villa come quickly to mind) but there are also those we probably should have lost (Swansea for one) - so I have assumed, rightly or wrongly, that this all averages out. We finished a very comfortable 8th. Squad depth was definitely an issue, and we had most of our injuries around xmas, when the fixtures come thickest and fastest - and hence we had our worst results. Our first 11 was pretty good, but after that not much. Yes we had competition at right back, and I would argue also in midfield - Wanyama, Spider, Cork, Davis, W-P (who can only improve), Lallana, Gaston (who for me has the talent, but not the application. He is not even a starter for a pretty poor Uruguay team, even when Suarez is unavailable - I hope we can get money for him). But up front nothing really once Osvaldo ruled himself out (although that seemed to help SRL). And given we only really had one CB (Lovren will be a real loss, he made Fonte almost competent - and a lot of the goals we shipped were when Lovren was injured) and one LB, I was amazed at how good our defensive record was. So it was easy to feel frustrated because generally we played really well. But who wouldn't have taken 8th at the start of the season?

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