Fitzhugh Fella

This is v similar to what I heard from an impeccable source (not a player) and the club have known for more than a fortnight he was not going to extend. Why Reed released that interview I have no idea. Many of the players don't rate Koeman. He is aloof and interacts little at training. His brother is more highly rated and liked. At half time in the away game at Leicester he nastily and publicly castigated and belittled Targett in a manner many present thought unacceptable. Although he has done well for us and the fact his departure will rock the boat for a while, I am none to sad he is going and as I said before and not too many of the players will be particularly bothered either. Howe would get my vote as he is not likely to want to move too far and we need managerial continuity if we want to maintain our recent growth.

The fans will be more upset than most of the players.

Time to go? Nah he is box office popcorn material

Inclined to agree - on form he is unplayable. Vital we extend his contract but I don't think his head is in the right place ie Southampton.

Yes thanks for all the typing. Les Reed certainly talks the talk and fair play for that but next move is to turn words into facts

Not the first Saints players to form a band - in the 60s Gerry Gurr, Dave Paton and Micky Judd were "the Sunsets" and regularly played the After 8 club in Shirley, I have the photos to prove it.

Is that a real word?

When the Star says something positive re Saints it's lapped up and yet when the boot is on the other foot it is described as a rag

Unfortunately LR has been confident new contracts would be signed before and they haven't happened. Full marks for putting something out but I still believe the odds are against RK extending and there is a hint of damage limitation in this interview. Let's hope this time Les's optimism is well-placed.

Pompey fits at least one of those criteria

This bit is very true

A pretty good analysis

Except Koeman himself said it wasn't complex and hinted if the club said what he wanted to hear then it could get sorted quickly.

You are probably right but they won't be happy - Cortese might have been more ruthless of course, but there is a different hand on the tiller these days. Of course if they have someone lined up things could be interesting.

He did say if the talk went well his decision could be quickly taken. With every passing day now the inference grows that there will be no extension signed. The question now is how the board will react. Stick or twist?

This, Mane will be v hard to replace!

No Saint Billy All I know is as of midweek the impression coming out of SMS was that he would not extend. How they "manage" that I was not told.

He has a very rare quality and that is on form he is unplayable. Harness his waywardness and you have a priceless player

the whisper I heard is he will see his existing contract out and that's it

Fraid not Hutch. The club want something tangible on a shelf plus you can't autograph a kindle!

Good Man

David has given me permission to re post something he wrote on the Saints List yesterday. Its basically his report back on talking to several players (particularly SRL) for our new book "Match of the New Millennium" which the club commissioned us to put together for publication this August. Thought some of you might be interested, particularly by the fact that Katharina still seems committed. Cheers - here's what he posted - In order to get interviews for the forthcoming MATCH of the NEW MILLENNIUM, 100 top games, 2001-16, my co-editor, Barry Webb, and I hung out at the De Vere Tuesday aftn and again Wednesday a.m. in which regard, Rickie was UNBELIEVABLE. He had his family (3 generations) with him, but agreed to give me 20 mins of soundbites re some of the 38 matches (out of the 100 in which he'd played - and scored plenty of goals). In which 20 mins, he rattled off his memories of so many games (there would have been more had he not been SO miffed by losing to Reading in the 2012 run-in). Only one player has ever done anything like that for me before, Matt Le Tiss, recalling 12 of the last 13 matches in the original MATCH of the MILLENNIUM. Rickie is a brilliant interviewee, with opinions nicely wrapped into his narrative - eg where he expected KD to kick long and how this contributed to his best-ever goal in a hat-trick v MK Dons; how intelligent David Connolly was to play with; mutual assists with JayRod and Lallana - the best attack he ever played in - in a 3-0 win at Fulham (one of Duncan's match-reports in the new book). So Matt and Rickie’s brilliance as PENALTY KINGS is not all that they share: eachhas a microscopic memory and the huge generosity to share it with us historians. That said, so many of those with lesser memories paused in the foyer to give Barry the benefit of the few games each remembered. We were privileged, indeed - though the icing on the cake was bumping into Katharina in the lounge and asking if she'd write the foreword to a book that commemorates both the 15th anniversary of the move to St Mary's AND the 6th of her father's untimely death. With Club President Terry Paine with us to explain what a foreword involves - he has, after all, written two for Hagiology - she agreed and confirmed her intent, what's more, when we accidentally met again the next morning. I appreciate that that's extremely name-dropping of me, but there will be those Listees who appreciate that this development is another indication that she is for REAL in her support. This afternoon was different. I'd arranged to meet Radhi Jaidi, who was brilliant - not least re what it demanded of him to step down from the Prem to discover that there was a competition -the JPT - he'd never heard of. Fantastic stuff. Oh, by the way, Rickie confessed that he was "nervous" to face Matt in that penalty shoot-out. But, as Matt said, on mic, what brill pens Rickie's were. All credit to Super KD for setting that up and to the three of them for the performance. How very lucky we Saints fans are to have been entertained by such committed, GENUINE guys. Enough! David

Not something I am too proud about actually

Just when I thought I had it all straight. Thanks for all the replies. Come on you Red Devils! Ugh

Se even though we are entering at a later stage ie 3rd Round instead of second, we will still be starting end of July and playing two rounds before the group stages. I thought it was just one round before the group stage. Damn it.