Trying to remain grounded

The day itself concluded without too much drama at St. Mary’s, despite many hoping for some big money arrivals.

Taken as a whole, the window hasn’t been too bad.

Jack Cork is a top notch addition and, for just £750,000, is astounding value.

Steve De Ridder is still an unknown quantity but looks promising.

The Danny Fox deal seems a bit odd on the surface, as it has still to be revealed exactly what plans Adkins has for him – but he is certainly a capable player.

The 11th hour signing of De Hooiveld again looks like a sensible addition in a position that needed another option.

Departures of Puncheon and Chamberlain actually seem like great business.

The fee from Arsenal for the latter is phenomenal and despite his talent, few seem sorry to see Puncheon go.

So the deals we know were completed look solid bits of business.

What intrigues me – not worries – is why other deals didn’t happen.

Saints were certainly keen to get Tunisian defender Ammar Jemal, but the deal fell down in rather bad terms, going by the quotes from the player himself, and whatever went on over Jasper Gorkss certainly left a bad taste in Neil Warnock’s mouth – although, to be fair, Warnock isn’t known for a cheery disposition.

Without knowing what went on behind closed doors it’s not really worth getting too bogged down in it, but I’m sure we’d all like to know who was top of Saints’ list of targets, even just for idle curiosity.

So as we look to the loan window – presumably for a new striker – we just have to hope that neither Lambert or Connolly get injured.

The start we’ve had to life in this division has been superb and certainly blew away my expectations.

But if we are indeed looking at replicating what Norwich did last year – which was fairly exceptional lest we forget – we do need a bit more depth up top. After all, the Canaries did add seven new players to the side that won League One – we’ve added four.

Overall, I’m pleased with the transfers overseen by Saints. In fact, when it comes to Cork, I’m thrilled, as he has already added a new dimension to the team’s play.

But, as ever in football, it is vital to keep improving. It is important our fantastic August doesn’t give us false expectations.

I know this reads a bit doom and gloom – which most certainly is not how I view Saints’ chances – but I’ve allowed to myself to be carried away before, and the deflation is so much worse as a result.

We have a good squad playing some superb football. But let’s not get too carried away just yet, please?

The Sports Pink Online