SAINTS chairman Rupert Lowe has re-iterated his stance of not commenting on transfer speculation.

It's been a quiet summer for major links of ins and outs at the club, with few national newspapers interested in any goings-on at St Mary's.

But there have still been names cropping up every day on the Internet, many simply placed by agents for various reasons - and a few correct.

Despite calls from fans to try to indulge their thirst for transfer news, Lowe is maintaining his policy of keeping quiet until the deal is done.

He said: "We are working on a number of things to strengthen for next season but we are not prepared to comment on any speculation now.

"We are being linked with all sorts of players and most of the rumours are simply agent talk and will prove unfounded.

"We cannot get on with the job of signing players if we are having to deny all those which are not true.

"If we admit to having watched a player that can be misconstrued and suddenly we are ready to sign him. It is much better to say nothing.

"There is a lot of rubbish being written but fans should know that we are prepared to spend where necessary and they should watch what the hands are doing rather than what the mouth is saying.

"We will stick to the principles which have served us well over the past few years and we are working on a few things. Hopefully we can bring some of them to fruition soon.

"We plan to get players in as soon as possible so we have a full squad ready for pre-season training next month."

The latest names being linked, and not being commented on, are Swedish star Mikael Nilsson and Birmingham's Stan Lazaridis.

Boss Paul Sturrock added: "We know where we want to strengthen and we have a few irons in the fire. I hope we can get someone in fairly quickly and, as soon as there is anything to announce, we will tell the fans."