st alex

Each player on the banner represents a different era, with the exception of - Terry Paine (record appearances) & Mick Channon (record goal scorer), as couldn't choose one over the other. Kevin Keegan is the only 2 time winner of the Ballon D'Or to play for Saints as far as I know, and Peter Shilton is England's most capped ever player. They're also from an era otherwise not represented on the banner. I'm amazed that a ballon D'Or payer player has ever played for Saints, likewise that England's most capped player represented Saints and I think both are worth celebrating. Designing by committee must be pretty much any designer's worst nightmare.

Not really sure we should ever be signing people as 'back up' (unless they're youngsters). Surely if we want to improve as a team we should be signing players who could compete with Fonte and VVD for a starting place. Otherwise we risk diluting the squad down. Would like to see Jack Stephens given some game time but honestly have no idea how capable he would be in the Premier League. Not sure there's too much value in having Gardos here if he just blocks the path to the first team for Stephens. VVD could easily pick up a long term injury and Fonte could easily pick up a few red cards over the course of the season. Would feel nervous if we had to play Yoshi & Gardos together.

Not sure we've signed that many players in that age band in the past few seasons to really judge. The only ones I can really think of are Mcgoldrick, Sparv, Blackstock, & Stephens and although they weren't star players for the club I wouldn't call them failures. Statistically, since we sign tonnes more players at a much younger age (and at much older ages) there's a much larger margin for error. It's certainly worth the relatively small gamble of buying players for small fees when they're 15-18.

Although Wanyama has been sensational in some games for us, he has been very inconsistent. His first season was fairly poor followed by a pretty good second season. And then a pretty mixed season just gone. Against Spurs last year he was supposed to have lost the midfield battle to Dembelle plus they've got Eric Dier playing well in the same position as well it certainly gives them a lot of depth, and I wonder how much game time he'll get there. Think it could be handy to have someone with his physical ability but we did well last season despite him missing nearly half the games due to suspension.

Because he's only got a year left on his contract, probably half what we might have got from him otherwise (same situation as Clyne last year). If Spurs were to wait until January they could offer him a contract and then he would join them for free at the end of the season.

William Hill have priced Saints at 100/1 to win the league, joint with Premier League giants Everton. http://sports.williamhill.com/bet/en-gb/betting/e/9228349/English+Premier+League+2016+17+-+Outright.html

Do Financial Fair Play rules still exist? Will Everton end up being on the wrong side of them? I realise their 'big club status' means they'll be making a fraction more in sponsorship, ticket sales, and shirt sales, but then they've made less in prize money for their poor campaigns the passed few years. Since we're also owed by a Billionaire do they have any financial advantage over us? If financial fair play exists I struggle to see how they are able to pay £5m for Koeman while doubling his salary and then talk about dipping into a war chest to bid £20m for our keeper. How is this sustainable when in reality we're similar sized clubs. It feels as if we're sticking to the rules and they've forgotten they even exist.

Thought both Virgin Media and Virgin Trains were quite good when compared to their competitors? The poor service in both the rail industry and broadband providers makes them one of the better companies in both sectors? I can definitely think of a few train companies I'd rather avoid before Virgin Trains.

Will probably be a company I've never heard of. Otherwise either a betting company or ageas.

This one did have a bit about a dad bringing his kids to matches after switching allegiance from Liverpool, although that seems to have disappeared from the article now. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-36160621

He's 25, so too old for any compensation?

Hamas are the ruling party of the Government of Palestine and are democratically elected. They're no more a terrorist organisation than the Isreali government. Not sure how this is any different from Cameron's alliance with the Saudis, and the non-democratic, non elected ruling King of Saudi Arabia who has a human rights record comparable to ISIS. Why kick up a fuss if Corbyn does it but not when Cameron does the same?

I think it's possible but unlikely. Something like if Man City win the Champions League (and finish outside the top 4) then they'll qualify for next season's champions league as well as the top 4. Then Man Utd to join Man City by winning a domestic cup would mean 2 extra places in the league, so 5 champions league places and 3 europa league? Or it could be something to do with the possibility of Liverpool winning the europa league, not sure of the exact rules for qualification.

It could be argued that Bournemouth improve players better than we do at the moment. They've taken a fair few players from the lower leagues and turned them into capable premier league players. In the past couple of years we've taken players from top european clubs and although it might seem like they've improved to us it might just be that they're just suddenly in the lime light (I at least have no real comparison, having never seen the likes of Soares, Pelle, Tadic, Juanmi, VVD, etc play before we signed them).

Just for fun, may have been done before (apologies if so). I pass Butterfield Road in Bassett quite often and then today noticed an Oakley Road in Freemantle. And it got me thinking, can would it be possible to put together a 'dream' team using just Southampton street names that are share the same name as current or ex-players? Besides those two there is of course Ted Bates Road which is probably the only one which is actually named after a player.

Surprised that Man Utd were rumoured to be interested in Hesketh since at 19 he's not seen much action for us http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/14196337.GOSSIP__Manchester_United_want_Southampton_starlet/?ref=mr&lp=20 Also anyone know how Callum Slattery has been getting on this season? He was supposed to be very highly rated.

Oh yeah, found it now, thanks.

I can't even find any radio commentary. In Southampton and all I can seem to get is the Pompey match on BBC Solent.

Would have said Howe or Monk, maybe Michael Laudrup?

There's no credibility in writing a player off after their first game. The poster I replied to seemed to be saying that they could successfully identify a ****e player after just their first match, which is a pretty pointless thing to boast. Loads of our players have improved huge amounts since their debuts. I don't think Yoshida's good enough to play right back, but I think he's perfectly adequate as cover in centre back. To say that he's awful after he's first game is ludicrous. The same could have been said of Mane, Pelle, Bertrand or J-Rod any number of players who were underwhelming. Martina hasn't looked good enough for me either, no idea why we signed him. I think we could do with another right back, Trippier would have been ideal for the price and his age. If we could shift Martina on and get a decent young right back like an England U21 player that would be of greater benefit to the squad in my opinion.

I think he's alright at centre back and he's improved since he's been here so whatever you thought the first game you saw him play is irrelevant.

I don't think he's died. He was just shocking at passing. After he played for us he disappeared, seemingly off the edge of a cliff...

Worth noting that security guard who stopped him was allegedly a muslim, and has therefore potentially saved the lives of hundreds of 'westerners'? http://says.com/my/news/muslim-security-guard-zouheir-hero-paris-attacks I think it's worth looking closer to home for any solution to the whole isis problem. There is still inter-communal tension and occasional violence in Belfast (in the UK) between different Christian denominations, and it wasn't long ago that the UK was home to it's own terrorist group in the IRA who claimed responsibility for several bomb attacks in the UK. It will likely take a long time and some effort at diplomacy to solve the issues at the heart of Middle Eastern stability.

I'd have thought that in the summer before the pitch is relaid there might be a window of opportunity to host a couple of concerts and make the club some extra money. Thought that commercial revenue was something the club wanted to improve upon, and it seems like a good opportunity, certainly easier to get to than the Ageas Bowl if you're planning to have a drink.

It wouldn't have mattered who we had in goal on Saturday, if the midfield aren't challenging for the for ball in the middle of the park then it was only a matter of time until they scored. Kelvin didn't have a great game but was no worse than anyone else, he certainly played much much much better than Mane who made a whole host of mistakes. To pretend that Forster doesn't exist because he's out injured is pretty pointless, he's still a Saints player and is likely to be on high wages, as is Steklenberg, to then say that we should have a third top quality goalkeeper waiting in the wings is fairly unrealistic. We've got a lot more squad depth this year than last season, and yes it would be nice to have 3 top goalkeepers at the club, but if it was a choice between, and it may well have been, added depth in central midfield (Romeu) or centre back (Caulker) or a spare goalkeeper they went with the former, deciding as did most on here in the summer that those were areas that needed more quality in depth. I expect the club has a budget and sticks to that budget, maybe the owners don't want to just magic up £3-£5 million plus wages to hire someone just for back up who may never play.