Introduction: transfer window verdict

Last updated : 12 February 2006 By Chris C

Both Saints and our south coast neighbours to the east have seen more incoming and outgoing than our respective ferry terminals, as George Burley did his best to ship out the dead wood and ship in the kind of elusive quality required to get the club back up the league.

Saints were thwarted with five ‘big money’ bids in the transfer window, yet let our three best players leave, Niemi, Quashie and Walcott, arguably the only three left with genuine resale value. Burley has tried to fill the gaps with a series of cheap and loan signings, but what effect has this had on the squad? We all recognised that the Saints squad was desperate for a clear out, but has the pruning killed the roots of recovery?

The likes of Palace and Norwich have largely preserved their squads, but these are sides that went up from the Championship and came straight back down. Those Premiership clubs that have gone down have had to completely rebuild. The likes of West Ham and Sunderland have been successful and Leeds are a work in progress. For the likes of Leicester, Derby and even Nottingham Forrest, the Premiership looks a distant memory.

So what of Saints? On the Cross assesses the relative strength of the new Saints squad, position by position.

Click on the links below to read the verdicts:

- Defence
- Midfield
- Strikers and overall verdict