SuperMikey

Agree 100% - haven't seen anything from Elia to suggest he's got a place here whereas JWP is almost a decade younger and is just starting out in his career. Maybe a bit harsh on Elia because he's not had an easy time of it and he's clearly committed to playing for Koeman but I don't think he's good enough. JWP has the added bonus of costing £0.00 to keep, he's from the academy and he's got huge potential whereas Elia is washed up. No brainer.

That McKinney video is absolutely horrific - even taking the racial element out of it you still have a cop swearing and screaming at a bunch of kids, pulling his gun on them and sitting on a girl who must have weighed less than half what he does. Thankfully he's been placed on administrative leave already, the other cops in the video seemed to know what they were doing and didn't react like he did. Can you imagine the uproar if that had happened in the UK? Shocking stuff, honestly.

Moreno is a very solid CB, from what i've seen of him he's very brave and puts himself about. Would be a good deal at £8m I think, and he can play in midfield too when needed.

I think Vardy is similar to Shane Long in that he's very industrious, hassles defenders and creates space for the other attacking players to exploit. Wouldn't say he's a better striker than Welbeck or Ings or even Long but he's a handy player to have in your squad. Can do a job similar to when we played Man City in our first game back in the Prem, played Guly up top on his own and he just chased their defence every second he was on the pitch and tried to force them into making mistakes.

Am I the only one who's not 100% on Alex Song? Admittedly a very good player but on his own terms - don't think he's industrious enough to fill Morgan's shoes as he puts in a lot of work defensively that I don't think Song does. Plus £8m is a high fee considering his wages would be massive as well. Surprised he's only 27 though, seems like he's been around forever.

Not sure if this has been mentioned already but it seems that Arsenal have bid for Geoffrey Kondogbia of Monaco, who is a similar player to Vic - looks like we have a stay of execution on this one..

Camping is difficult to suggest really, depends on what you want to do in the evenings (whether you want a quiet spot away from the noise or whether you want to be in the thick of it). If you want quiet, I would suggest anywhere near The Park (Dairy Ground is great) but if you want to be in the middle of the action I would suggest finding somewhere closer to the stages. Some decent spots next to the John Peel tent which is close to the Dance Village area with plenty of DJs, or at the other end of the site you have all the late-night stuff close by. Check out the Glastonbury website for some more information on the late night areas as there's so much to see and do - Block 9 is the busiest area but you have Shangri La, Stone Circle etc that are worth a look too. Overall, have fun! (And don't camp next to the long drops)

People moaned incessantly about us not buying a striker in January, now we're looking to buy the league's 4th top scorer from last season and people aren't sure... ---------------FORSTER---------------- CLYNE?----FONTE----NEW CB----B'RAND ----------BIG VIC----JWP--------------- JAYROD---------------------------MANE ------------PELLE----AUSTIN----------- Obviously they won't all play week in, week out but those attacking options can be played together with the likes of Long, Tadic etc on the bench.

It definitely makes sense for Wales & Scotland to get involved given that there are several stadia across those countries that could host World Cup games tomorrow if needed and we all share the same land mass so travelling would be easy peasy. The only thing is that Northern Ireland would feel left out, but ultimately who gives a f*ck? Would save the FA a lot of money on uneccessary developments to stadiums that will never be used again (MK Dons & Plymouth spring to mind from the original bid) At this point in the post, I had a list of stadiums but failed to see that colinjb posted a much more comprehensive list above. I'll get my coat..

Wouldn't take Weimann here but how about Carles Gil? Sherwood doesn't like him but he's looked good for them when he's actually played. Only cost them £3m in January so can't imagine he'd be much more than that to bring here, and can play right left or behind the striker. Worth a gamble I think, especially if we're letting Ramirez & Djuricic go as they're the only really creative flair players at the club.

The way I see it, next season can go a couple of ways. If we get to the Group Stage or beyond of the EL I think it'd be too much to ask to replicate this season's finishing position - i'd take anything above 10th. If we get knocked out before the Group Stage i'd want to see us challenging for a similar finish again and maybe even a cup run (although the league should be the priority). Not unrealistic in the short term, all depends on how we do in the EL. Anything beyond next season is a bit of an unknown tbh, although I think 7th place in the league is ours to lose unless we have a worthwhile distraction like Europe or we have a bad season.

So many bitter Skates on Twitter, just had a good chuckle at some of the comments on there. They seem to think they got the better deal by winning the FA Cup and getting into Europe that way, despite the fact that they are now in L2 as a consequence of that. Brilliant

I like the Freed From Desire one for Mane, got to get that one going!

Liverpool are going in at the group stage along with Spurs. If West Ham win in the 1st and 2nd qualifying rounds we could draw them unless the draw is seeded - not sure on that one.

Like this badboy?

I'll be in Sweden when the first leg of the 3rd Qual Rnd is played, so hopefully we come up against a Scandinavian side so I can pop over!

Koeman, Monk, Mourinho, Pardew - in that order. Koeman had to completely rebuild the squad and still achieved our highest ever Prem finish and points total. Monk had a similar task as he had to replace Bony and also recorded their highest ever points tally. Mourinho's Chelsea were the most organised team in the division and very worthy winners, although they were helped by lacklustre efforts from Man City and Man Utd who are their only real challengers atm (Arsenal will be if they get a top striker & DM). Pardew did alright at Newcastle but has revitalised Palace in the same way that Pulis did last season. Made them very tough to beat at home and on the road and has snatched some big wins against big teams too.

Reminds me of -

You rang?

As far as i'm aware, our clause will be active until his loan contract expires which isn't until the 1st of July. I think Atletico will probably be quite keen to pay up early to start a bidding war as soon as they can though. With regards to Morgan, those quotes are pretty conclusive. Interesting that he says "if I leave this summer" rather than saying "when I leave this summer" - shows that he may be willing to wait for the right move if the offers he'll get this summer aren't attractive enough for him. Seems that he has his heart set on a Top 4 club in the Prem though which is annoying as I was hoping we wouldn't have to play against him domestically!

If we want to sign a midfield with good physical presence, we should look no further than Sissoko from Newcastle. Could probably get a move to a bigger club but Ashley will accept any reasonable bid for his players and he'd probably be quite keen to get as far away from that asylum as possible and you can't get much further away in the Prem than us! Would be worth investing a large chunk of the funds from Morgan's sale this summer into imo, quality player with a goalscoring threat and a real box-to-box player.

I'd take Romero on a free at least for a year - him and KD as goalkeeper options until Fraser is back would be more than enough. Very good record for AZ back in the Eredivisie so Koeman will know of him and he's been a bit unlucky not to get more playing opportunities at club level since he left there. Was solid for Argentina in WC2014 as well.

Here goes nothing.. GOALKEEPERS FRASER FORSTER 8 Had a few dodgy games, but overall very solid and certainly saved us points in the league. Gutted about his injury and I think we missed his presence until the end of the season. Easy to forget that this was his first season playing at this level, at times he looked like he'd been playing Premier League football for years! KELVIN DAVIS 7 I don't think many anticipated seeing Kelv back in goal for us any time soon, but he did his job fairly well when he needed to. A few hairy moments but he's still got it and i'm more than happy with him as 2nd choice keeper next season while Fraser is injured. PAULO GAZZANIGA 6 Didn't get to do too much this season but he's looked more confident than he did the last time he featured for us. Unfortunately for him I think his time at the club may be up unless he's happy being 4th choice long term as I don't think he's going to break into the first team any time soon. DEFENDERS NATHANIEL CLYNE 7.5 Clyne was exceptional for us last season, a real force in the team. I think this has been a slightly more subdued campaign for him at club level - 2 goals and 0 assists is a decent return but considering he had 1 goal and 5 assists last year it's a slight drop in his usually high standards. Very solid otherwise. RYAN BERTRAND 8.5 Luke who? Ryan's really made the LB position his own this season and he's been one of our most consistent performers as well. 2 goals and 3 assists is a good return and he's been key in our attacking play this season as well. Keen to see how he builds on this next season and if we do get into Europe, his experience at that level will be invaluable. MATT TARGETT 7 Only 6 appearances for Matt this season in the league but he's done well when he's been needed. Still a little raw and needs more time to grow but you can see he has the makings of a very solid LB. JOSE FONTE 9 Captain Fantastic! Admittedly he's gotten away with a few dodgy moments this season but overall he's been the force driving us forward this campaign with some inspired defensive displays. Formed a really solid partnership with Toby Alderweireld and it's great to see that one of the players who joined us in L1 is still such an integral part of our team today. TOBY ALDERWEIRELD 8.5 I was delighted when we signed Toby on loan because I know how good of a defender he is and it made me a lot more confident having lost Dejan Lovren in the summer. Immediately formed a formidable partnership with Jose Fonte in the middle of defence and has filled in at RB and CM when needed too. He'd be an excellent addition to our squad in the summer but I don't think we'll be able to tempt him here as he'll have bigger offers on the table. MAYA YOSHIDA 7.5 I like Maya as a player, I felt that he got a lot of unfair stick in our first season and has been very patient being 3rd choice behind Fonte, Lovren and Alderweireld this season and last. Filled in very well at RB, LB and CB at times this season and while unspectacular, he's delivered some solid and consistent performances. FLORIN GARDOS 6 Perhaps a bit of a harsh rating considering he's barely been on the radar at times this season. While he has put in some decent performances he's also put in a fair few crap ones as well - especially in the League Cup against Sheff Utd (which was a bad day all-round tbf). Would prefer to see his place in the squad go to one of Stephens, Turnbull or McCarthy next season as I just don't think he's going to make it with us. MIDFIELDERS MORGAN SCHNEIDERLIN 8.5 Such an important player for us - although we've been capable when he hasn't played for us, our midfield just doesn't seem to tick right without him. Has had a bit less of a barnstorming season than last time out and a few injuries have hampered him, but still an excellent showing. Has more than earned a move to a huge club. VICTOR WANYAMA 8 Has come on in leaps and bounds this season after a slightly patchy one last time out. He reads the game much better now and has improved on the passing aspect of his game vastly. Has been guilty at times of a bit of ill-discipline and a lack of concentration, but he's still only 23 and has a long way still to go in his career. Can be a formidable player in the future with more hard work and a bit more consistency, but maybe that's nitpicking. JAMES WARD-PROWSE 7.5 Another one who I think gets an undeserved amount of criticism. Has shown some really neat play and been a real creative force for us at times from different positions on the pitch - whether that's wide right or left, in a deep role or playing off a striker. 7 assists is a good return for a young player at this level. Admittedly his set-pieces have been a bit disappointing so that would be my target for him next season. STEVEN DAVIS 7.5 Mr Consistent. That can be a blessing or a curse, as early in the season he was vital to some great team performances but in the later stages he has sometimes been a bit of a liability with some lacklustre passing and poor awareness. Still an influential figure on the pitch and deserving of a place in the squad, but I don't think he should be an automatic starter. HARRISON REED 7.5 I like Harry as a player, he's full of energy and very tenacious. He's not the biggest presence on the pitch (to say the least) but he's shown his quality in a few games this season. Not a comparable level, but he has run entire games at U21 level and has the capacity to do so in the Prem as well with some more work and game time. Next season might not be his year either but with time I think he'll be a very important player for us as well. FILIP DJURICIC 6 For me, he hasn't really contributed anything worthwhile to the team other than a few fancy flicks and some nice passes. Frustratingly similar to Gaston Ramirez in his play in that you can see he has talent and good technique, but he just lacks the spark to actually make it work in any real sense for the team. Wouldn't sign him in the summer but you can tell the lad has talent and will be a decent player for a team at a lower level than this given the chance. FORWARDS SADIO MANE 8.5 Has been a game-winner on several occasions for us this season and has made a vital contribution. Again, slightly frustrating at times by going to ground too easily or by not finishing a few simple chances (the open goal against Spurs away springs to mind) but overall this has been an excellent debut season for him. Has scored some sublime goals and he's still only 21. With a few more seasons like this he could be a very good player indeed and he has the attributes to make it to the top if he carries on the way he's going. DUSAN TADIC 7.5 Was torn between giving Dusan a 7 or an 8. I think a 7 would have undervalued his key contributions to us early in the season with a few nice goals and some superb assists as well as his willing running and skill, however an 8 would have overlooked a poor second half of the season where he's looked a shadow of his former self. RoKo has spoken a couple of times about Dusan being tired and carrying knocks, so it's fair to say he's had a bit of a tough time adjusting to the intensity of this league. Needs to be more consistent. ELJERO ELIA 6 I was at the Newcastle away game where he scored twice and he was phenomenal at getting in behind their defence, finishing his 2 chances well. However, I don't think he's been close to replicating that performance at all over the rest of this season - instead he's been relegated to a few cameo appearances off the bench and a handful of starts where he's been largely anonymous. Even though we have a cheap price agreed for him as part of his loan deal (£3m) and he's clearly willing to work his socks off for Koeman, I wouldn't sign him in the summer. SHANE LONG 7.5 Another hit-and-miss performer and another one who's come in for an unfair amount of stick this season too. Maybe burdened by a £12m price tag, Shane's struggled to achieve consistency for us this season. He has put in some outstanding performances against Leicester at home where he bagged 2 off the bench, away at West Ham where he terrorised their defence and the other week against Villa where he was unplayable along with Mane. At times though he has been frustrating and ineffective playing in a bit of an unfamiliar position out wide. I think he plays better as a second striker, where we may see him more next season. Personally though I think he's been a valuable addition to our squad and has the ability to be a matchwinner...sometimes. GRAZIANO PELLE 7.9 Stopped just short of giving Pelle an 8 because of his obvious struggles in front of goal at times. Similar to Tadic in that he was utterly sublime at times early in the season and scored some very important and impressive goals, but severely dropped off in the second part of the year. Perhaps unlucky at times seeing some of his efforts being unfathomably saved (Howard's save vs Everton away springs to mind) but there are aspects to his game he really does need to work on. Altogether though he's had a good first season in the Prem and i'm sure he'll come back better and stronger next year for the experience. AND FINALLY... RONALD KOEMAN 9 An utterly seamless transition this summer and an excellent first season for our new head honcho. Very endearing to the fans with his humble attitude and there have only been glowing reports from the players about his management style. Has bought out the best from some players at the club and has had us playing some really sublime football at times. Perhaps short of a Plan C during lean times but overall i'm delighted with him as i'm sure 99% of Saints fans are too. Proost Ronald!

So if Arsenal win the cup, Liverpool and Spurs automatically go into the Group Stage and we take Liverpool's current spot in the 3rd Qualifying Round. If we make it through that tie, we then face off against a team in the Play-Off Round which consists of winners of the last round and teams knocked out of Champions League qualifying. Potentially 4 extra games next season, and that's even before Group Stage fixtures if we make it through there! Although saying that, Villa might win the cup and we can all watch Coronation Street on Thursday evenings instead next season.

He'll be offski. We'll make a loss but considering his contract is up at the end of next season we'll just get rid of him.