batterseasaint

All we ever had we're bull**** rumours from spurious sources about our interest in this player. The 2 genuine journalists who have links to Saints that I saw comment on this both said that we were interested in the summer, but that they had not heard anything genuine to link him with us in this window. Simon Peach even commented that he thought some people in Italy were mischievously using our name to hurry Liverpool along. That is enough for me; cut through all the Twitter bull**** and there is no evidence whatsoever that we made any sort of bid.

Oops, this was posted on to the wrong forum. Anyway, if anyone is interested, there's an article on ItsBeautifulOutside which is a pretty well thought out view on the situation.

I see your article is creating a fair bit of Twitter interest. Is all over the saintsfc hash tag, which I guess means it is being read by most fans that are on Twitter.

Just looked at the stats. We have played 2 up front in 8 games, from which we have gained 4 points. With 1 up front, we've gained 14 points from 12 games; more than double the average points per game with one less striker. Not only does this prove that we are a far better team when we play 4-3-2-1, but it also proves that Harry Redknapp is an idiot if he thinks you need to play two strikers to win games.

Of those victories, have you looked how many we won playing with one up front, and how many with 2 up front?

Weighing up the 'evidence', I suggest this is what happened: - Brum made it clear they want to offload Butland. - We probably made a below par bid, on the basis that we have higher priorities, but if we can get him at a good price, it might be worth it. - Brum said no. - so we put it into the public domain that we aren't after a keeper. Don't want to seem too keen. And actually, we probably aren't that keen that we would pay the current asking price. - see how Brum fare in trying to offload him elsewhere. His other suitors seem to be Everton, who have no money, and Liverpool, who have Reina. I guess they are much in the same boat as us; they would take him, but at the right price. - on Jan 30th, if he hasn't gone elsewhere, repeat the same bid and see what happens. If they haven't managed to scrape together cash from sales by then, they could be a bit desperate.

Very interesting question. Many people seem to define their feelings for the club by their feelings for the chairman. Of course, the chairman has a major impact on how we perform, but ultimately for those 90 minutes when I'm inside SMS I don't give a second's thought for Cortese, or Lowe, or Askham. So I guess, no, it isn't important.

Agent has nothing to do with it; he merely acts on behalf of the player. Has to be Penarol. Are they even awake yet?!

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I thought in many cases, contracts are often already signed 'subject to medical' and 'subject to work permit'. So I reckon there is a more than even possibility that the contracts are all signed (with the player, with Bologna, and with Penarol) and these last 2 hurdles of the medical and work permit are currently being completed. This would also align with the fact that Bologna are already signing players; because the deal for Ramirez is already done.

Are you effing mad? He went on strike, effectively contravening his terms of employment, in order to force through a move to us.

I will be genuinely gutted if Rickie goes, and I hope to God it doesn't happen... But: 1. I was a little surprised not to see him on the bench tonight; if I'm not mistaken Rickie has always been on the bench for these sorts of cup ties in the past. A good get out clause if we are struggling. Tonight he wasn't. 2. Sibley hinted on Twitter that there's been a 'bit of everything' today... Perhaps an outgoing as well as an incoming? 3. We signed a striker today, which of course could just be to provide the injection of pace that we need, or it could mean there will be an outgoing striker. Am not saying I believe it will happen, but there is some very circumstantial evidence here that it might just happen.

Matt Elliott. Pretty sure we pretty much had him tied up in a deal from Oxford, then at the last minute Leicester came in for him and he went there. Andy Reid pretty much laughed in our faces when we had an offer for him accepted.

The problem with that chart is that there doesn't appear to be a circle for Adam Lallana. Either I was dreaming when I read Lallana himself say that Nge wants him to go wherever the ball is, or that chart is not an accurate reflection of how we play.

It is possible that Ramirez was Spurs' first choice but went for Willans when it became apparent that Ramirez's wage demands were too high. Now, if they can get Ramirez at the price they originally offered, they may prefer that option to spending more on Willans. I'm not saying this is the case, but it is certainly a possible scenario. Either way, it is a gamble for Nic, unless he knows someone at Spurs from whom he can find out their true position. That said, we have played hard ball so far and I don't see that changing. If he comes to us, it will go right down to the wire.

Difficult to translate, but it sounds like Tottenham's offer is still on the table; it is acceptable to Bologna but the player would prefer a move to us because the money is better and the promise of football. Our offer is not acceptable to Bologna, so we are currently out of the running. So come the end of the window, it is then down to the player; either he accepts Tottenham's terms, or he buckles down and makes amends with Bologna. Unless the player flatly rejects Spurs' terms, in which case Bologna may be forced to accept our bid if they need the money. Personally my hunch is that this puts Spurs in pole position. The player will not want to sit tight at Bologna because it will be quite a challenge for a 20 year old to build bridges after what he did. Until now, it has been a case of whether either Saints or Bologna blink first. Now, there is a real possibility that the player will blink first and instruct his agent to complete a move to Spurs. If we have the capacity to meet Bologna's demands and we really want the player, I think now is the time for Cortese to complete the deal. Otherwise I suspect he will be a Spurs player by Wednesday and we will have a very limited time to complete a deal for one of the alternatives.

Antti Niemi was the signing that triggered our brief spell of success a decade ago. In Paul Jones, we had a keeper that had served us well and was a good shot stopper, but he didn't command his area that well. Paul Jones was a keeper that was more than adequate for the level that we were playing at, but Antti came in and allowed the defence to turn into one of the best in the country. In many ways, he was a signing that many of us didn't know we even needed at the time because Jones was a good keeper, but we looked a different class as soon as he was in the team. Maybe there are some parallels to be drawn with now. Kelvin is an excellent keeper but maybe we need a keeper that can take us to the next level. And I say this with a heavy heart, because I am very fond of Kelvin.

On the question between Phillips and Ince, I am satisfied that our club will have done the necessary scouting and made their own decision on which player would fit better into our team, rather than read Blackpool's mongboard for their information.

We are a top flight club with high ambitions. Even managers of clubs with lesser ambition are constantly under pressure to deliver. Throw into the mix a chairman who is not afraid to make unpopular decisions, and yes, I'm sure Nige realizes that he has to perform otherwise his position will be under scrutiny. Which is a shame, because I'm not sure that a manager can work best, with the long term good of the club at heart, if they are more worried about their own short term future. And equally, I believe that Nige is one of the best young managers to develop in this country for a good few years. That said, we would live on as a club without Nige, and you never know, we may even improve without him. If Cortese really is hell-bent on achieving his stated ambitions, you wouldn't bet against a change of manager improving our position.

Anyone who thinks Cortese would employ Redknapp cannot fully understand what Cortese is trying to build here. Redknapp insists on total control over everything relating to the first team, including the formation we play. This does not fit with Cortese's strategy of having a 'Southampton Way' which the youngsters are indoctrinated into at a young age, so their transition into the first team is as seamless as possible. Which neatly leads into the next point; anyone remember Mansfield (?) when Redknapp picked the kids, we promptly lost and Redknapp said 'I told you so'? Cortese and Redknapp (and throw in Les Reed as well) would be a match made in the fires of hell. And I'm pretty sure they'd all know that if they gave the idea even five minutes of consideration.

A few years back I was lucky enough to spend a wonderful lunch with Pete Rodrigues, Jim Steele, Peter Osgood and Mel Blyth. That was quite something.

It sounds about right that the clubs are playing a bit of hard-ball because it seems they both agree that neither should be picking up the tab for whoever this third party is. So then it is down to the player to sort that little problem out, but I would imagine that Saints are showing a little bit of patience towards the player because if the player is contractually obliged to ensure this third party is paid his whack, it won't be just a case of the player 'sorting his life out'. I'm sure its a little more complex than that. I actually still feel like Buttner will become a Saints player, on the basis that Vitesse clearly don't believe he is their player anymore and are planning for life without him. They wouldn't just 'write-off' the value of a Dutch international just like that. If the deal had fallen through, they would be protecting his value by ensuring he is training properly and if necessary, be ready for him to continue as a Vitesse player next season. I also don't think Saints would necessarily see all this hassle as meaning that the player 'doesn't fit our profiling system'. Complex agent agreements are part and parcel of football (whether we like it or not) and sometimes they are difficult to negotiate out of. As long as communication between the club and the player are cordial and clear, and everyone understands what is going on, I don't see any reason why Nic shouldn't show patience with the player while he sorts out a difficult situation.

I've got a couple of names not mentioned yet. I actually quite enjoyed the double signing of Higginbotham and Prutton, right at the end of the January transfer window in 2003. Both were young and highly regarded players at the time, brought in to complement an already good squad which was to take us to the FA Cup Final a few months later.

Shame that they never managed to transfer that special little place at the Dell to St mArys. I have some very happy memories growing up in the club at the Dell, including having a few beers with Pete Rodrigues in there. We went to the Dell Cafe bar a few times when we first moved but it wasn't the same.... Felt like an airport lounge.

Matty's last at the Dell. Brett at Villa Park. Camara v Norwich The whole day at JPT Moment of promotion from L1

I suspect our transfer policy is designed more to stop bad investments than to only buy players who can improve. Nothing wrong with employing someone who is right at the top of their game, as long as we aren't making a massive investment which will depreciate very quickly. Davies is 27 so unlikely that we would get a big fee for him in the future. But that's ok, because we've paid nothing for him. I'm sure our transfer policy would be more bothered if we had spent money on him.