Giordano

I'm a loyalist ( whatever i will always support saints) but also a curious natured realist so I cannot help but business analyse the club at times. The evidence of my eyes says there's plenty of clues out there about transfer spending policy and targets policy. Ive read pretty much all there is out there post Mopo and NC to get a feel for what we are going to be all about with the new boss on transfers and how much will he really get to spend. And whats the real story & basis for KL's ownership. Here's my current view. We are not splashing the cash we are (eventually, supposedly) getting but that might be a timing issue, or might be that we are not going to spend all that money after all ( take your pick according towards your cynic/ non cynic disposition) And having good young players is the alibi but also great news as we continue the home grown conveyor belt/valid business model ( take your pick cynics and grow your own youth supporters). Either way we will only have a fraction of the total values being quoted up front for starters. In easy words to understand : If we sell players for £50million it usually does not mean its there in readies at the bank to spend the next day. The cash over and above player sales line we hear repeatedly is an interesting one. My view is to forget it. I'm sure they regret saying it. It will hang over their heads forever now because, frankly, everything points to thats not going to happen. In rough terms from all the interpretations of that comment and what we supposedly already got in ££ it would mean up to a further £40-£50m to be spent. If we are currently looking at £4m and £6m players as rumoured then something's not right. I think our default operating model is to buy c£5-£10m players - already good, talented and who have all the attributes, and turn them into £20m+ players via the SFC finishing school/ process. Saints bosses are certainly not giving the impression that losing SRL,LS and AL is relegation worrying. The two incomings seem good though ( they fit the price/quality model) and we are giving the impression that we will more than cope. Whether thats fact or trying to make the best of a bad situation, or directorial incompetence, or all of them, again, take your pick. Now the matter of the non returning Osvaldo and long term injury for Jrod. I think Koeman is going to be fair to Billy Sharp and Mayuka by assessing them in pre season. Totally obvious. Many on this list have "retired" BS and forgotten about Mayuka but both need be viewed in the flesh by Koeman. He can then decide to use or to release. That's his decision partially based on whats out there thats better as alternatives as much as there own qualities. We have a ready made raw youth replacement product for Pelle in Sam Gallagher who debuted last season but otherwise the striker cupboard or starting the season, for me- does look short of goal scoring firepower When Jrod gets back he will be an immediate starter in this squad when what should happen is that he needs to displace a top performing other striker - not someone doing a job for us until he gets back which is what i fear would be the card otherwise. So that is a problem for me. It will not be good for his motivation either. He needs to know he must fight to get back i to the first team, not just get fit again. Indeed the absence of other strikers then lends itself to playing formations using just Pelle up front alone using our strengths - MF- in more numbers. So our current most likely formations include not three strikers but one no matter what Koeman played before or says he likes. Away to Liverpool it will be him plus five mf's, a back four and a gk is a simple to make prediction. Lastly : the Lovren, Morgan, maybe Calum and others and the cork, jose and Jrod contract talks. So, why are those players contracts not being renewed more promptly given the recent team disruption? Is it All the more reason to hold into seasoned players - or the best chance to completely change the team? Take your pick again. My own view is this is a very serious mistake by the board. Koeman needs to see them play its true but these have got many EPL games experience already - they are not Mayuka or billy sharps or potential good players- they ARE good players. Too much change all at once is too high a risk. As for the possible leavers, there's always possible leavers in every squad, but given we lost three already and Koeman must know these two are top top players he will surely fight very hard to keep them in his team. They represent the spine of the team and without them, no matter who comes in, it makes his job a lot harder. I see a new striker coming in plus a CB if we lose DL and a left sided defender to replace Luke. Morgan IS our best player imo - but thankfully he is internally replaceable because we have a glut of top DM players especially in JWP who plays Morgans position for England under 21's plus Cork and big vic so we got three who can do it. Not as good as Morgan but who can do it. A Left back, a striker and maybe a CB is what we will get by Liverpool game is my best guess.

I totally agree. And whats more, not only have those two new players arrived c/o Koeman ie nothing to do with our superb scouting network reg trademark but seemingly only dutch players fit the bill plus 2 players who scored against Saints last year in Redmond and Ings and two who stopped us in Marshall and caulker. Now forgive me for staying the obvious but to me it does seem like that bunch of buttons the analysts press every game to denote who did what and when must give one hell of a brucey bonus to whoever scores against at us or stopped us scoring. I could have told you that a guy who scores against us might be worth looking at and vice versa without analysis. I reckon all those video all those sheets of analysis are a very good fun job for saints enthusiasts to make some kind of a living from but on terms of delivering the right players - i reckon the way its set up favours whoever plays well against us on the basis that we are great. But we are not all That great. So it will deliver a list of the top twenty EPL players last year. Just like we could do. Are they available? How much? Will they join! Can the gaffer swing it with his reputation? All these are as important. And u reckon up until Koeman starting its why we were shut at buying good players. Good videos mean diddly squat frankly. If Koeman wants his old 37 CB here at SFC he will but him no matter if the vid says he's a donkey.

You obviously have never read an Alpine post. According to him we are best advised to give him away for free - essentially writing off his c. £12M transfer fee from August 2012 just 2 years ago - in order to save his c. £2m pa wages. So, in order to save c. £2M this year and next on his 4 year contract that commercial genius poster thinks its better to give away our £12M expensive asset GR and forfeit all of the £££ we paid for a 23 year old World Cup squad Full International. And he is a Saints player still and we've just lost 3 maybe more of our best International standard players and yet the solution/answer offered is to give this one away free? To say that answer is laughable is to be disrespectful towards comedians. IF we got an offer for him I reckon the Board would listen. But to bin him for free with the rationale given? And you wonder why its hard to have authentic conversation on this forum at times. My girlfriends Westie, that is what id call a small dog with an even smaller brain (id say sub squirrel size) could come up with a better answer than that by woofing and doing sit stay and turn around's on cue.

I have never told Saints that i would not be supporting them next season nor that i was not going to turn up for preseason supporting or stuff like that. Sure, i am taking a summer holiday and i might not make the Bournemouth match but i will try hard and im certainly not going to go to a Shslke match or a Liverpool friendly because, as us well known, my support is NOT FOR SALE..

FWIW With regards to what looks like the imminent departure of Dejan Lovren, both Caulker and Kongolo are names mentioned periodically as potential incoming replacement at CB ~ and both represented by the Stellar group. If you want to know more about why certain names crop up as either transfer targets or are "agitating to leave" in various ways then its sometimes a good idea to check out who the agent is for either or both. Saints have regular dealings with many Agents ~ and Stellar represent a number of current Saints players ATM.

Im still not selling. I know it's fashionable to sell to Liverpool or Man utd but I am a anti-fashionista. The only shame is that due to calf and lower back injuries my ability to volunteer for the Adam Lallana role is rather compromised. With about 5-6 weeks good training I might make it though so as well as being a supporter for life I will also obviously offer my football skills limited as they are, on behalf of the team.

A. I personally don't think that's true. I'm not ITK but I do know how to analyze stuff like this accurately sometimes. Anything leaked out of SMS about the Shaw fee is not going to err on the side of "too little" because there would be a public outcry from saints fans. Putting out big numbers is the best antidote for upset saints fans to quickly "get over" losing Luke. The Board, after a slow and frankly sub standard amateurish start, are gradually getting their black ops team sorted to massage fan sentiment in the right way. Does not mean they are any better at their job or are making better decisions though. Just that the PR is being executed a bit cuter. The perception and reality exercise is being managed better. B. Secondly, a word of warning. Spurs sold Gareth Bale for a trillion pounds and bought a job lot of ultimately second grade players who got their manager sacked twice and achieved the sum total of f-all last year. So, IF we got a gazillion pounds for Luke but bought similar dross then that would not be a great surprise. It happens more than the other way around. For every big sale that was wisely invested (and that's a loose term) there's plenty examples to the contrary. Indeed Southampton have got a number of great ones in our history. Incidentally. The Board need to up their game. I like RK as a bloke but I suspect he is not the right man in the right place at the right time for us. I would not be surprised if he left, and soon, to be replaced by a more seasoned EPl operator.

That was a phenomenal full International debut. Bar scoring that chance I don't see as he could have done much more than what he did. That French squad is packed full of "flair" players and goalscorers. There are few, if any, who are able or willing to do what Morgan does and at such an excellently high (dare i say it, World Class) level. His work-rate was excellent, his distribution was excellent, his positioning was excellent, his interceptions were excellent, his tackles were excellent and his passing was excellent. They called Didier the original "gregario" - or "watercarrier" but Morgan looks like his natural heir except he's bigger and (dare i say it again) potentially way better. He played in the Bigvic position but what he lacks in Vics physicality he more than compensates with sheer elegance class and technical/passing ability. That performance on the World stage just catapulted him into the stratosphere for any managers who know anything about what is a good footballer. And Morgan is a VERY good footballer. If anyone did not know who Morgan is or why he was in the French team, they do now.

Good point Mr TOA. Totally agree. Saints have earned the right to charge whatever the f-ck they like for whatever player they developed. They invested and it was th right thing to do. Others sit up and listen . And copy. Or just pay whatever we see fit and stf crying *****es.

Know what you mean but they are still Saints players. And i would still get emotional if Rickie gets on too. He has still not played for anyone else but Saints this year. Next season is different but whilst in the grey zone if the WC he is still our Rickie in my mind and I'm proud of him. Adz and Shaw too.

Reasonable effort at parody on a message board. I sende what you're saying is that this is NOT your view. It's not mine either. But some Saints fans will see it totally like you've written it, and thats because they will buy and want to buy the club official line on everything. But you don't and you hope by the little story to help fans gently understand that everything is not always as it seems.

I lost my entire twelve months winnings plus about £350 on the england v italy result so that was something of a calamity. Was up several hundred on the WC then BOOM England decided to be useless on me....i know- not as if england don't do this every tournament but I think I was genuinely unlucky though as England really did deserve a draw at least v Italy. If the match was replayed ten times i don't think Italy win more than 3 or 4 with the rest England or a draw. Ho hum. I'm now in deficit and this next match with Uruguay will be a chance to fightback ( after some little follow up wins with France and some other WC games recouped me £50 or so..mere morsels compared to the beating i took though..). I think the double chance England to win and/or the draw is nailed on (once again). But im strongly confident of the win as well. Uruguay lack Italian defensive and offensive flexibility and in Lugano have an obvious weak spot. The attack does not frighten me with or without Suarez, who even if plays will not be match fit - and at this tournament fitness is essential....As long as we play like we did against italy we will be fine. Uruguay do not have a pirlo and de rossi combo. Id pick same team minus Henderson for Adz, put ronney central and let sterling and adz and welbeck and sturridge rotate around around him. 3-0 England. Oh- my betting credential's for the last last twelve months - a five figure amount staked and up until England my net return was 3.3% on all bets, and that was on over 570 separate, small (all mostly under £50) bets- up until my very very large Eng bet! The Gods of betting taught me something there! Level stakes level stakes ..... I'm not a professional but my win percentage is pretty good (imo) nor am I an addict , I genuinely like working out whats going to happen or not happen in footy ( nothing else) then proving myself right (or wrong) by getting monetary feedback. Just adds edge to me. Double chance eng/draw will be odds on but if Uruguay score first im piling in on it for sure....

Darmian got his debut three weeks. It was the English equivalent of picking and PLAYING Luke Shaw, albeit because de sciglio ( first choice) was injured, as were Montolivo and Buffon. Italy were shorn of three first team starters -unlike full strength England. So Prandelli won that game tactically. I did not know what to expect being as I'm not a football manager but I would hope Roy would have targeted Darmian -instead the opposite happened and Italy targeted OUR left back. As for Pirlo -yes England should have stopped him by man marking. Stop Pirlo and Italy are down to 50% effectiveness. If you are going to pick Gerard AND Henderson then I would have told Henderson that's your job-stop that slow Jesus lookalike guy. Henderson did nothing anyway. If he had stopped just 25% of Pirlos output then in the second phase turnover that would have arisen by his harrying and tackles/interceptions etc we would have had many more dangerous chances - as it was no one got within three yards of Pirlo -criminal frankly. I know everyone respects him as a player me especially but FFS it's the WC so somebody should have taken a card for the team and country by taking him out. I know that's cynical but that's how winners win sometimes -and England yet again show how losers lose. Did you see what I think it was barzagli or chiellini did to sterling ( of was it sturridge?) -that knee in the back of the thigh. Looked a slightly mistimed challenge and hot the free kick. ******** it was slightly mistimed. So if we'd got turnover ball from pressing Pirlo and with the pace of our front players I'd say at least one goal would have arisen, perhaps more. Instead Henderson just ran around a lot like English midfielders always do but without intelligence-if he'd been running round Pirlo all the time different story different outcome maybe different end result. For me-if he plays Henderson and Gerrard then there is spare to man mark Pirlo-not two guys essentially " sitting" because we want to be solid for our offensive other players benefit. When I mentioned humility I particularly mean the absence of ego required for players to track back diligently. If ALL our forward players had it then Pirlo does not get so much ball either. Incidentally both Pirlo and de Rossi had over 100 completed passes. A magnificent statistic and the best statistic to have in that atmosphere and climate . England's highest was about 60 I think. De Rossi and Pirlo basically Made almost more passes than rest of eng mf put together. Yeah-so Roy went for it. But we did not have to lose that match IMO. Avoidable yet unlucky in some sense defeat. Players gave everything but tactics let them down. Lions led by donkeys I think is the phrase. I still think England can do well in the tournament though. Fingers crossed. They will get more joy against teams like Brazil who are more open than against teams like Italy ( ANC Chile incidentally who gave us an idea of what to expect a few months back...)

Italy. 93.2% pass completion rate in that match. Apparently Best WC stat since 1966. Essentially a lesson in how to adjust your play to fit the conditions. Then again, that's not the first time Italy have given a good team a football lesson the the WC and won't be the last. Just wish Team Eng have stayed awake in class and actually LEARN from this result. Fingers crossed. They will best Uruguay and CR playing sameish way - because frankly those are NOT Italy / but a good team - nope, same kind of thing can easily happen again.

Congratulations to Both teams. BUT That result cost me a LOT of money. However in a way i don't feel bad because the players to a man did everything that was asked of them and that they were capable of doing. On a different night Eng would have got the draw that i feel they deserved. And It was about the best Eng performance that I've seen under Roy too-all those slagging Eng off are probably just emotionally upset at the result. Mark my words -IF England can play like that at that intensity v Uruguay and Costa Rica they will get through to next phase. So how come Eng lost? For me in this order : 1. Prandelli is a better tactician than Woy.Not marking Pirlo was negligent and a poor choice by Woy-handed over the initiative to a team that was desperate not to have to fight for the ball too much. Prandelli was quoted as saying his dream was to win the WC playing seven matches with seven different formations.amazing. 2. Ball retention technique amongst Italian team way superior - essential in that heat and humidity. Play the same game in an Eng winter and it might have been 2-4 to Eng. 3. Pirlo is a footballing God playing with mere mortals. 4. Italy played as a cohesive team with great humility. Eng relied excessively on individual flair to win the game. I think it was Cannavaro said Italy had nobody any good at 1 to 1 , unlike Eng, but that as a team they had great awareness and spatial /movement expertise. True. 5. Footballing tournament intelligence. Italians have it in the DNA -England do not. Grind out tournament success year after year decade after decade -often with inferior players. I think its basically called being pragmatic about winning the game however and whatever it takes. 5. No SFC players in starting 11. In a match where ball retention was king which English players in his squad would understand and execute that the best -from which team with the best ball retention stats in the EPL? C'mon Woy... That aside i see Eng progressing even if ultimately its Brazils WC to lose imo. All these matches in these conditions will eventually dap the legs and much like Mexico 1970 we might see a team literally fall over the line into the final but not have enough energy to put up a good fight in the final. The best squad with the luckiest draw/logistics for play& travel will win....

Agree and what's more: Seriously. Get a grip of yourself man FFS. So much of what you write is bed wetting par excellence. Your genre is negativity beyond the call of duty and finding a problem or difficulty wherever you can. Which is no great skill but don't pat herself on the back cos a stopped clock is always right twice a day...Season after season at this time of year you say the same ****ty things. Always downers always negative . Please **** off this site and stop ruining discussion of matters saintly with your incessant negative ****e . If it was just once or twice or thrice I'd get it. But ever since I been on this site the vast majority of what you write is ****ing depression ****. Please **** off or at least give it a rest you sad ****. Go and support Pompey or someone else. PLEASE.

Yup - that will be the draw in the last game with Italy!

Agreed. Terrible bit of cheating by Grosso. But Neil let him have it by sliding in like he did in the penalty area. Bit naive. At least Italy won the World Cup by beating the two best teams there though in Germany and France. Incidentally if you feel aggrieved at that then spare a thought for Italian supporters at the 2002 World Cup. FIVE perfectly good goals in THREE games disallowed. v croatia, v mexico and v south korea PLUS plus Totti getting sent off for being tackled in the south korean penalty area in extra time...for conspiracy theorists it was like EVERYONE was doing everything they could to cheat Italy and especially to get the host nation through....cosmic justice and karma restored when Italy won it in 2006... PS i think Eng will win or draw v Italy.

Just in case anyone was worried about it coming out in the Daily Mail, I can confirm that I have not sent an email, "signed" or otherwise to SFC informing them of my desire to leave and stop supporting them. Its good to put positive things out there. I full expect to be at Boscombe Athletic, Swindon and Brighton in preseason with my gf and kids supporting whoever turns out representing SFC like I usually do unless I'm away on holidays. Might have a few boxes of t shirts to sell off as well with "I'm an SFC supporter and I'm Not for Sale" or similar so could i put a cheeky bit of advertising in there - please bring an extra £10 and buy it off me and wear it when you can. Oh, btw can somebody good at designing t shirts with saints stuff on it please try to design a few mock ups of what it might look like. That's not my specialty though i know there's people here can do it in a flash...

I don't know about names of people on shirts or clever words about them. I just know about Southampton fc. Which is the football club I support. And that my support is Not for Sale and so forth. A simple T with a simple message like that would suffice. Buy them for £10 outside SMS and all net after cost proceeds give it away to local charities. I do appreciate that many of us have been frightened scared & angry at what appears a classic saints f&ck up just when for once or perhaps only the second time in our lives ( for those that remember the early eighties) we actually appeared to be on the cusp of something big. And maybe it does not look like that will happen in our idyllic all saints academy team . Maybe we won't now be winning the EPL, the CL and then the World Club Cup plus they are all English and a team with 11 Saints players wins the World Cup for England kind of way ~ but it has been a salutary and in a perverse way a rewarding experience. I now remember why I can stick two fingers up to the rest of them , especially the so called " big boys". For a while there I had turned, Animal Farm-like, into one of them. But I ain't ever going to be one of them and my support is Not for Sale, ever. Saints and proud.

Maybe for you, maybe for some, but not for me. So I guess you are not interested in buying the special "I support Southampton fc and my support is not for sale" t shirts then? Was rather banking on you being one of my wholesale distributers.

Stop being funny gemmie.

Well Colin it was a 660ml bottle of moretti about two hours ago. It's a fairly reasonable isotonic drink available from most big supermarkets and good offies. Maybe it's because I'm watching back to back episodes of breaking bad at the same time and that Heisenberg guy has got me rooting for him. I always been a fighter in life anyway, especially against the odds. I like it better against the odds. More glory. Maybe part of why I am Southampton.

Can somebody please tweet and get trending that Mr. Gio saints supporter support is not for sale. That I've not turned down a variety of unsolicited offers etc but even if I got them I'm not interested . And I'm not hoping to move before the WC starts or after it's over. I'm not looking for CL or whatever and I never said muffing to no one at the end of the season apart from 'that was a good season'. Thank you whoever is clever at twitter things.

Ha. Good to see that the famous Southampton SOH is alive despite the bombardment. I especially like the " I was having a medical with a new supporters club " . But Some of you are right lightweights though despite your fearsome keyboard warrior status. It's time to stop being flakes and start showing up. All this crying in front of the rest of the world about this manager that player leaving etc is just pussy talk. Ok I was doing a little bit of it too but it's seriously time to cowboy or cowgirl up. I'm not for sale so man utd supporters club can feck right off as can KFC and th fc and KFC supporters club. I'm not having it. No crispy fried chicken no scousers no North London efforts and no mancs none of them. They can beg to join Saints but I'm not interested and neither should you. It's my supporting and it ain't for sale.