Ivan Katalinic's 'tache

I wonder if there will be a change of emphasis. Hughes always strikes me as someone who is more interested in established players rather than those needing a lot of development. Maybe an experienced forward, like Dzeko, would do us the world of good although I'm not sure we could tempt him.

Answers below. Cheers Paxo - shoulda got some leaflets printed really before hitting the campaign trail.

Much obliged... And thanks to Hypo too!

Maybe not but I'd like to offer what I think, I know a reasonable number of other Saints fans and will happily pass on their thoughts (within reason!) and I'd like to see what the deal really is with this. I'm not really one for nodding nicely and, if selected, if this transpired to be an empty gesture which was to tick a box that says "listens to fans", I doubt I'd stick with it. Would happily post highlights (lowlights??) on here as I think there should be some semblance of openness about the discussions (if they are truly discussions)!

Yup, that's me. Happy with any vote, to be honest... ;-)

I can't speak for others on here who may have put themselves forward and not yet made themselves known but I am a regular forum user who has done so! My reason, beyond the banal blurb you put forward which, although honest to a degree, has to be tailored so the club will allow you to be a candidate (let's be honest, even though it might be a vote winner, they won't let you stand for 'fans who think Les is a c*ck' & they even removed my 'long suffering fans' group) is because I'd like to know more about what this is about. It's true, it could end up being about pasties & what type of pen you get as a Junior Saint but if I don't try to find out for myself, I guess I'll never truly know. Obviously, it's not about helping choose the next big signing or influencing team selection (which is a shame given the past 2 seasons but I have faith in Sparky) but the nosey sod in me would like to what they do want from us.

Do you think it would be helpful if I added "slobbering mongboarder" to my bio Crabby?

Well, I would be Dell-ighted if anyone fancied voting for me (& my naff Saints-punnery)! I've put myself forward as I'm genuinely intrigued as to what this will really be about & how much the club will actually listen to feedback from the group & even action things. I'm Mark C. from the list, by the way.

Priceless. Utterly priceless. And that it was Bale who delivered the hammer blow was merely the icing on the cake.

To play Schalke & Jiangsu Suning in pre-season.

True. Although maybe this was already planned as he wasn't expecting a return to management at such a late stage in the season because no-one would be so daft as to leave it that late to make a change...

If I had £50m plus leftover from a deal, I'd be saying we had to sell before we can buy, too, to try to limit fees for potential deals being inflated as they probably were in January in the immediate aftermath of VVD's departure...

Oh good...

Brighton have signed Leon Balogun on a free from Mainz. They did some reasonsble business last summer which kept them up & they're starting early again.

Saints website seems to be down right now. Maybe something afoot? Or maybe it's a review of last season??

Ralph would be taking himself to new levels of c0kkishness if this were to be true, after his comments on Wednesday!!

Good. I agree, he's earned the chance. Let's see how he gets on with some input into incomings & a full pre-season.

Timmy Mallett was at SMS yesterday so we can rest assured nothing has been left to chance for this one... t

Let's never need to do that again. Well done Sparky & co. for bringing us back from the brink. Barring a monumental f*ck up, we should be Premier League again next season & hopefully Hughes will be given a chance to rebuild us properly in the summer now.

Is this true? Carrillo is out with depression?! Or is he "Boufal-style" out?

Can't help but see any other result, unfortunately. Aubameyang against Stephens and Hoedt could be one of the biggest mismatches this season.

I'd rather have Rickie scoring no goals on the pitch than Carrillo and Long doing it. Having said that, at least we might actually score a penalty if was playing.

Virgil, Mane & Lemina. Toby for Lemina if I can include loans.

Might be good for a few goals now, then...

Unconvinced he'd be the best choice if long term considerations were the only factor but, given we're in a desperate fight to stay up, hopefully he can inject enough spark & fight into the team to do so. Then it's up to him to prove the doubters wrong about him successfully leading a longer term project.