CSA96

Hahaha, I am not driving to another town/city after work to drop off or collect my ticket in the name of social interaction! You are right on the last point tbf, they will use it as a way to find out which season ticket holders are barely turning up or palming off their tickets too much, from their perspective. Especially now we have a waiting list (I think?) Also makes it easier to track who is responsible for away fans ending up in the home end, if that happens later in the season and leads to crowd trouble

Yup. There's no real reason to walk out on their salary, the club agreed to it after all. So they either get loaned out and get to play and their parent club offset the salary for a season or receive a contribution to reduce the outlay, or they get sold and the selling club has to help subsidise for a while

Well, what about if your pal doesn't live in the same place as you? In that instance it is way easier to send it off a phone in a minute or so, rather than post a card off to them or have to fuck about trying to find a time to pick up/drop off around work and family commitments

Same reason they have been struggling to shift Reiss Nelson by all accounts

Information on fan zones; what's happening in each one and timings here: https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/news/article/three-fan-zones-launch-at-st-marys-for-premier-league-opener?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=stadium-changes&utm_term=fan-zones&utm_content=link

And, assuming we signed Fernandes because we can't get O'Riley, then we've saved 10m or so there which we can spend on Bijlow

Presuming we do buy him rather than loan and pay in 12 months/on survival, we'll still have the other PL loan slot free. I think most of us thought that would be reserved for a GK but potentially opens up some other interesting options going into the end days of this window...

Full story from De Telegraaf, translated: https://www.telegraaf.nl/sport/1285897263/justin-bijlow-als-eerste-doelman-naar-premier-league-club-southampton ROTTERDAM - Justin Bijlow will leave Feyenoord and is in negotiations with Premier League club Southampton, which sees its first goalkeeper as the Dutch international. Earlier this summer, Arsenal were also in the market for Bijlow, but he would have had to start there as a second goalkeeper. The 26-year-old goalkeeper, who was placed on the bench by Danish coach Brian Priske before the start of this season but was present at the European Championship, still has a contract with Feyenoord until the summer of 2026. That contract must be bought out and Southampton is still in discussions with Feyenoord director Dennis te Kloese about this. Feyenoord will not simply let Bijlow go, because he still represents great value. That is why the almost scandalous offer from Atletico Madrid, which only wanted to pay a few million, was previously undiscussable in De Kuip. However, Feyenoord understands Bijlow's situation, who is too good for the reserve bench and not so long ago was the number one in the Dutch national team under Ronald Koeman, but who lost his place due to an injury. It is therefore expected that both parties will quickly reach an agreement on a lump sum payment. It is interesting for Bijlow that the young trainer Russell Martin has just as daring a playing style as Arne Slot previously at Feyenoord. The coach of the club, where Ronald Koeman (as coach) and Virgil van Dijk were previously under contract, has a very attacking playing style. That is why he also wants a goalkeeper who can play far in front of his goal and who is strong in the build-up. First goalkeeper Alex McCarthy made a major mistake when defending on the first day of play. The 34-year-old Englishman wanted to pass the ball to a fellow player, but shot the ball into the feet of Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, who immediately enabled Joelinton to score. Southampton were heading for a point in the away match because they played against ten men from Newcastle. Afterwards, trainer Martin said that the blame could be placed on him. "Because I ask my goalkeeper to play like that and build up like that. So the blame should fall on me," said the coach.

Telegraaf now reporting it too, from very reliable Feyenoord reporter Marcel van der Kraan: https://www.telegraaf.nl/sport/1285897263/justin-bijlow-als-eerste-doelman-naar-premier-league-club-southampton Translation... ROTTERDAM - Justin Bijlow will leave Feyenoord and is in negotiations with Premier League club Southampton, which sees its first goalkeeper in the Dutch international. Earlier this summer, Arsenal were also in the market for Bijlow, but he would have had to start there as a second goalkeeper.

Here's a thread from the Feyenoord board on Reddit answering the Q: How good is Justin Bijlow? They seem to be very big fans of him but sounds like his injury record hasn't been spotless...

Being reported in the Netherlands that we've made a bid for Feyenoord goalkeeper Justin Bijlow. Was with Netherlands at the Euros

Christos Mandas, Lazio - https://onefootball.com/id/berita/lazio-set-to-receive-lucrative-offer-for-southampton-wolves-target-39878511

Mara deal done

Official.

RM himself said after the Newcastle game that he/the club are still looking to add more attacking quality to the side

I don't really understand how they plan to play Broja and Delap within the same team, given they've committed to £50m spend on them both - unless they plan to change formation or force one out wide / use one as a sub routinely

Just listened to his Estoril manager Vasco Seabra talking about him to the BBC: Talking about him is easy for me, he's a humble, hard working boy with a lot of talent. It's never difficult to speak about a player with as much talent as he has and I think the characteristics of this player are so well-suited to English football. He's a very aggressive player with great ability to cover a lot of space, he can run a lot of kilometres without tiring and he is happy to play closer to the defence to help create the first phase of constructing an attacking move. We used him a lot to come back and help us to begin the attacking phase of play. He can also play closer to the goal. He always listened and asked his teammates how he can help them. I believe that the Premier League is the right step and the ideal championship for him to continue his growth now. His target needs to be to reach the Portugal national team now and have the high-level career that we think he can have. He's really strong, the way the competition goes in England is better for him because he always take a step forward, a step forward, a step forward. He's really aggressive and strong in his body and he plays with a lot of intensity. In Portugal, he fought against Benfica, Porto, some of the most famous and best teams here in Portugal and he wants to take a step forward against them. Here in Portugal, everyone compares him a lot to Matheus Nunes [Manchester City]. Fernandes has characteristics that are similar, you will see that. He is capable to play in more spaces than Nunes though, he can play in the first phase or close to the goal, but at the same time, if you want to play with inside wingers who come between the lines, he can help you with that.

Sounds good to me! Russell Martin said: “Mateus is a player we have been monitoring for a while and someone we are really excited about. He brings great energy, retains possession well and always looks for the forward pass. “He is young and full of enthusiasm to come and play for Southampton. With the ability he has to drive forward from midfield, we think he has some key attributes to really help us – not just in the future, given his age, but here and now in the Premier League.”

Yeah, that's right - was in the video they released yesterday

Might have already been mentioned, but just in case, if anyone needs some troubleshooting: https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/news/article/download-your-nottingham-forest-tickets-on-the-saints-tickets-app Having Trouble? If you or your friend or family are having issues accessing your tickets, please get in touch. Phone: 02381 780 780 in our opening hours. We will also have a drop-in session to assist supporters at St Mary's: Wednesday 21st August: 3-7pm. Thursday 22nd August: 2-5pm.

Yep, almost definitely but that doesn't fit into the thirst for hysteria in some sections of the fanbase I guess

I would genuinely be quite happy with Jason Steele, if he becomes available in the remaining 11 days or so Spoke to a mate who is a Brighton STH this morning because I wasn't that enamoured with the idea and he sold it to me and was very complimentary about him. But did suggest, from Brighton's perspective, he'd probably rather we loan Rushworth

I don't know if Arsenal would agree to an option, you'd assume they'll be pushing quite hard on an obligation to buy if they allow him out on loan