Nigel Adkins faces the possibly the most important fortnight in his managerial career as what he does in those 14 short days will shape the season for Saints.
So far most Saints fans would agree that the Club's dealings in the transfer market have been shrewd, three of the incoming players have been youngsters though with no experience of the Premier League and from that point of view have to be an unknown quantity for next season. The fourth Steven Davis does have Premier experience, but in truth it is less than a hundred starts in the Premier and the last of those was nearly five years ago before initially joining Rangers on loan in January 2008.
So at present the Saints squad is big on potential including the new signings and those at the club including Rickie Lambert, Tadanari Lee, Adam Lallana, Billy Sharp etc, but low on actual top flight experience, Davis isnt packed with it, but probably has more than the rest of the squad put together and a squad with less than 200 Premier games between it, is obviously not experienced enough.
So the coming fortnight will be crucial, Nigel Adkins now has to bring in 3 or 4 players who are not only of the standard required but have the experience to guide their colleagues through the Premier league.
First priority should be a central defender, or to be blunt two, our pairing last season was not good enough when the pressure was on, perhaps it was just that as a [pair they didnt gel and individually with the right partner they might be good enough, if thats the case then perhaps one good experienced centre half might be sufficient, as i type the name Scott Danns is believed to be in pole position to be the next man in the club, Danns is a good player, but in truth even his top flight experience is limited, 77 games over the last three seasons to be exact, skill and potential yes, but does he have the experience we need to be able to marshall a back four that will perhaps include three players alongside him with very few games at this level, Danny Fox likely to be the only man to have played in the Premier, the 14 outings he made for Burnley three seasons ago making him almost an expert on the division in this squad.
So a top knotch central defender is a must for Adkins and it seems that the other two positions he is looking at are a wide players for each side of the midfield, Jermaine Lens is rumoured as one of the incoming signings, again plenty of potential but little experience, very similar to Alex Buttner who now looks to be joining Hanover, although the initial problems have been sorted, Vitesse are now publicly saying the deal looks dead due to extra demands from Saints.
If Saints get their central defender & two widemen then, will the transfer dealings be over for the summer, I sincerely hope not, although the squad will be well covered in all areas, I still think it would lack a true leader, when Lawrie McMenemy built his teams he always had an experienced Captain at the heart of the squad, whether it was Alan Ball or Jimmy Case, Saints had and indeed every side needs someone who has been there and done it and can pass on the experience and I dont see that at present in any of our current players, new signings or possible signings, who we should go for Im not certain, but in my mind if he played centre half that would be a big plus.
Nigel Adkins is of course in a position he has never been in before, this time last year he had never had much money to spend on players before in his managerial career, of course he is not alone in his choices, Saints alledgedly operate a transfer committee in order to identify potential signings and Adkins is only part of that set up rather than being the sole decision maker on whom is bought in, incidentally I do agree with this style of set up, its operated on the continent and I believe will be the norm at most Prmiership clubs within the next few years as the dinosaurs like Harry Redknapp who oppose this type of system and demant autocracy for the manager die out.
But that being said its the manager who puts out the team and dictates the style it plays, so he should perhaps have the biggest say on that committee on who he wants in and whther they fit into his system, after all it is the manager who gets the credit or the blame for the results on the pitch and with a transfer committee if he is constantly overuled on signings or for some reason they dont happen, then he is not always in charge of his own destiny.