Ashby Saint

Should have been JWP for Tadic, leaving Sims in the team. Tadic has been woeful and has a lousy attitude when things aren't going for him - practically uncoachable.

"Southampton seem to have seen a lot of the ball without troubling Newcastle," so says BBC commentator. This IS the Southampton Way.

Not the best start.... 1:0 Newcastle after 1 minute.

I'm not saying that it is the plan, but I was just pointing out that he could achieve his possible aims without looking at the club as a longterm investment.

This works if you are trying to make money, but what if the objective is to get money out of the country. Spend £200M on club, recoup £75M on Van Dyk, leaving £125M to get when you walk away from the club. You could make that from selling the squad and pocketing the parachute payments.

Bit harsh on the snail. Now one with a crutch... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This. I went to the league cup game in Oldham in the late 1980s. Cold, wet, windy, most exposed terrace I have ever stood on.

They probably miss Sturridge's sulky attitude on and off the pitch while he is on loan.

I don’t doubt your assessment of the driver, mid-rang car? Hmmm.

So is there anything in the club tweeting a picture ahead of the game tonight with a space in the dressing room or am I desperately clutching at straws?

I guess it could be back on if he doesn't injury himself. All the risk is with the player and Spartak (assuming he wants to come here and they are happy to sell). Seems unlikely.

Looks very much like a picture of Les and Pellegrino during the prematch chat.

It is very unlikely that the rich will suddenly get less rich.

Sensible post.

Is it him though? Have you checked the shape of his ear lobes? It could be someone just wearing his number and he is down Ocean Village shooting his Facebook introductory video.

With all due respect, this is bullish*t, you don't have to love all those who run or play for a club to love the club.

This. A deal will never happen in the summer. Sure we didn't land him this window, I don't like that but hey ho, but to continue to spout this optimistic bullish*t does make you question how stupid the board think we actually are. Little did I know back then that when I laughed at all the rubbish spouted by Comical Ally during the Iraq war that it was going to become the blueprint for what is now considered normal by football clubs and Governments alike.

LOL

I'm sure that Chelsea or Man City would be happy to loan them a player or three.

I agree that the players need to be accountable, but what if either (a) their talent was over valued and/or (b) their 'fit' into the existing system wasn't clear. These are both valid questions that must be addressed by the man responsible for their recruitment.

This. We do come across as incredibly naive in negotiations - rolling over to Liverpool on 1st Jan and still being frustrated by Spartak on 31st Jan.

Although I would agree with you, I am worried about the alternative. Gao as an owner is an unknown entity. Several clubs with foreign owners have gone to pot very quickly with them making the day to day decisions.

...

Insanity is to believe or to do the same thing repeatedly and expect a different outcome.

I get the line 'we'll only bring someone in who can improve the current squad', but if you are 19th in the table and presumably have faith in the manager and tactics, then it seems to me that there should be quite a few players out there that would improve us.