Saints supporters are crying out for another player to be signed, indeed its not just Saints supporters but at this time of year fans of every club demand that new arrivals come in by the bucket load, but truth is are new signings made because they are necessary or  just for the sake of it !

Of course every squad in the country could do with strengthening, but the scatter gun approach to signing players now adopted by the Premiership, most of the Championship and Saints in League 1 now means that the skill needed by a manager is diminshing by the season, the key to a succesful side is no longer decided by how good the manager is, but by the size of his transfer budget.

A look at Saints squad shows that even though 14 players were released in the summer plus two returned to their clubs after a loan spell the squad is still strong.

In goal we have Davis and Forecast with the prospect (albeit diminshing) of Bialkowski returning.

At right back the arrival of Fraser Dickson is welcomed,and although there is no obvious replacement should he be unavailable there are still those that could cover.

In the centre of defence we are blessed with a plethora of options, Fonte, Seaborne, Jaidi, Martin, are four players who between then should be able to cover all bases .

At left back we have the signing of Ryan Dickson, plus Dan Harding and Joseph Mills all proven at League 1 level.

In midfield the options and possible formations are a plenty, Lallana, Hammond, Schneiderlin, Wotton, Holmes, Puncheon are six who would get in most League 1 sides, add the youth of Oxlade - Chamberlain and Gobern and although a case could be made for a lack of a wide man, you have to concur we have more than enough midfielders.

Up front Barnard & Lambert were the two top scoring strikers in the division last year and if Connolly is fit he has the potential to weigh in with a decent haul of goals, yes another striker would be good but those three should suffice if you consider we have the option of throwing Lallana or Gobern up front.

So it has to be said that even at this moment Saints on paper at least have the strongest squad in the division in terms of both quantity and quality, in those that have just been named we have 20 players proven at this level, plus several youngsters who could break into the squad including Callum McNish who made his debut in the final game of last season.

Of course any squad including Saints can be improved on, but it has to be said at league 1 level this should be enough to take on the riguers of a season.

If Saints were to make any more signings i would say they only really need to make two, a wide midfield player could be an asset, but it could be said that in Lallana, Mills, Holmes, Puncheon & Gobern we already have five and even Harding could be employed there.

Up front we need to perhaps consider a youngster with potential as a back up.

But apart from this it could be said that Pardew made his summer signings in the January transfer window and although Saints fans consider that given the perceived spending power of Saints he should be signing more, perhaps the fact is that every club has a budget and it could be that Cortese is now reaching the limits of what he is prepared to allow Pardew  to spend given the expentiture in January.

It is now time for Alan Pardew to show that he is the manager that Saints fans believe he is, he has the numbers at his disposal, the trick now will be to get that little bit more out of them, that extra that wasnt quite there last season.            

Photo: Action Images

st_bangkok added 11:15 - Jul 15 Hmmm, in most respects i agree, but in midfield i think we are weak in the middle if MS and or DH are out for any great length of time matey. Wotton is just not up to it. But i agree that we are lucky to have such a large squad. Perhaps we do not need to sign anyone, nor should we expect to in this league.
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legod7 added 11:53 - Jul 15 One more keeper as I don't think Forecast is good enough as a back up.As you said probaly another right back and another forward to put pressure on Barnard. It is nice to have Connolley,but he is a bit injury prone.
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PatfromPoole added 13:19 - Jul 15 A central midfielder and a wide player are musts. 46 games is far too long a season to be able to rely on the fitness of the midfielders we do have, plus Schneiderlin is prone to getting sent off.
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alexturner added 23:34 - Jul 15 I pretty much agree with everything you say, except we definately need another striker as back up. Simeon Jackson from Gillingham looks like a great young forward, he nets about 20 a season and has been linked with QPR, Norwich, Millwall, Plymouth and Peterborough; he's fast and has played at wembley already so he has experience for his age. If we could bring him in for 750,000 as rumored then we'd be the best strike force in the league by far. I'd like to see a young right back either come through the academy or be brought in on loan/bought to cover Dickson. I hate it when managers play players on the wrong side (Mills or Harding playing right back for instance). The midfield however I think is fine. Wotton is a good enough holding player which Schnierderlin can manage is Paul is out. Puncheon is the best winger in the league when on form and I think this season will be the one where Lee Holmes will shine on the left wing. Schniederlin and Hammond or Lallana and Wotton can play in the centre respectively. Lambert should be able to play 75% of the games like last season as can Barnard, Conolly should maybe manage half the games so long as he doesn't get injured. Like you say, we can always stick Adam up front if all else fails but you'd rather not -- If we don't manage to sign another striker I say we persuade Marian Parhars out of retirement! Who agrees?

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kcaj1164retsof added 18:09 - Jul 16 Surely though, if we agree that Papa and Antonio were influential players within the squad last season, the loss of them both must mean we are now weaker as as a squad than we were!
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