Mowgli

Actually, there were times when we played excellent football last season. So we know the team is good enough. We had the choice of changing the team or changing the manager. We chose the latter. Let's see what he can get out of this squad in competitive games first.

You're not a big fan of Messi, Sanchez, Neymar or Xavi then? All about that h same height Which has absolutely zero influence on quality. Haven't seen too many comments on our new CB. Difficult game time judge him on I know but he played the full 90 didn't he?

He's fine. Someone commented on that late last season (probably you) so I made a point of counting clearances in the next game. He completed 8/10 clearances, 4 of which were with his head.

I dont suppose there is a video of his appearance on Soccer AM for the penalty shoot out. It was a goal with six ball sized holes cut out and random players had 10 attempts to score. It had been running for weeks and the record was something like 8 goals out of 10. Matt, as I recall scored eight straight off and then 'picked his target' for the ninth. His tenth was kicked with the wrong foot and he still scored.

I wonder if we will look back as fondly on VVD who will also have spent three seasons here by the time he leaves next summer? I liked Hassan and without knowing the ins and outs of contract negotiations, I can't comment either way on why he left. I just remember feeling very disappointed at the time by yet another player who seemed to have little loyalty for the club. But that's football, we notice it more 'in the moment' (VVD, Wanyama, Lovren and others) and we forget it's been going on for years. The irony is that he is now an agent. The controversy around his departure, as I recall, was that he gave his word to Ipswich and then changed his mind when Villa came in with a late - better - offer. I thought it was that which caused Lowe to label him as greedy though to be fair he also said it was out of character with the nice guy he knew at the Dell.

He will only block the path of our players if he is better than them...

Interesting thought process. For my first 15-20 years of supporting Saints, I never knew who the Chairman was, nor any of the personalities behind manager. In truth, whilst I find it quite comforting to have the likes of Krueger and Reed ensuring we are run in a sensible fashion and growing in a sustainable fashion, I'm just a paying customer who goes to be entertained by football.

Yep. We know we have a good squad. It's whether we have the right manager to get the best out of (all of) Them

Team shirts ...

On an entirely different point, I thought the team shorts looked quite classy on the pitch yesterday. Definitely (thank goodness) a different cut to the replica shirts

Honestly? Can't you people read? He doesn't say he is back in full training. He says he is fully fit and in full training with the ball - which is the next step toward full contact . MP said in his interview they are stepping up the contact side but doing it bit by bit. I think VVD knows exactly what he is doing by not simply coming out and saying he is staying. It's just so much fun (and easy, apparently) to wind the fans up a bit. all harmless fun.

Should have read 'parted about the right time '

Fonte's performances at WHU suggest we parted. Implant at the right time. Caceres was an improvement but kept out of the side by a rapidly improving Stephens. May not have been plan A but we came out smelling of roses - again.

OK is there anyone out there who HASN'T filed this one away for future quoting??

Has this become the new 'you can't win anything with kids' cliché? Before we all get carried away taking it as gospel, the correct idium is 'standing still means falling behind'. It has little to do with money (although that may help in certain cases).

Agreed. He has not delivered as expected at WHU.

Well we made up a 20 point gap on Leicester from the season before despite losing some top players.

Full marks for effort...

You do realise that you used Lovren and 'top class' in the same sentence?

You do realise that you used Lovren and 'top class' in the same sentence?

Yes I saw that and thought, hmmmm... that's exactly why RK left us. He's basically playing football manager with someone else money - not something he would have been allowed to do here. Two points though - one is that buying superior players at Everton isn't that difficult (Barclay and Lukaku aside) and two, spending £100m+ really gives you no more chance of success than our (comparative) budget buys. The trouble for RK is that spending that sort of money raises fans (and boards) expectations astronomically and unless he delivers a vast improvement on last seasons 7th place, he could be in trouble. It really depends how all these new signings gel into the team. I can remember getting similarly excited when we signed 5 relatively high profile players (Beresford, Ripley, Hughes, Hiley and Howells) - plus an upcoming Scott Marshall at the start of one of our more disastrous seasons. Contrast that with what looks to be one of our most stable summers in living memory, I am more than happy to be borderline delusional ;-)

Yes I saw that and thought, hmmmm... that's exactly why RK left us. He's basically playing football manager with someone else money - not something he would have been allowed to do here. Two points though - one is that buying superior players at Everton isn't that difficult (Barclay and Lukaku aside) and two, spending £100m+ really gives you no more chance of success than our (comparative) budget buys. The trouble for RK is that spending that sort of money raises fans (and boards) expectations astronomically and unless he delivers a vast improvement on last seasons 7th place, he could be in trouble. It really depends how all these new signings gel into the team. I can remember getting similarly excited when we signed 5 relatively high profile players (Beresford, Ripley, Hughes, Hiley and Howells) - plus an upcoming Scott Marshall at the start of one of our more disastrous seasons. Contrast that with what looks to be one of our most stable summers in living memory, I am more than happy to be borderline delusional ;-)

Jeez. If Everton is our benchmark we've slipped a bit. They will do well to replicate last season even with RK. We should be looking at the top four clubs and pouncing on one of those places if one of them slips up and has an uncharacteristically poor season.

Jeez. If Everton is our benchmark we've slipped a bit. They will do well to replicate last season even with RK. We should be looking at the top four clubs and pouncing on one of those places if one of them slips up and has an uncharacteristically poor season.

If he stays till next summer then our 'in public we won't sell him' will be perfectly accurate. Job done.