thefuriousb

Bingo!! We actually did just this against Watford.. a lot...if people watched the match

Portugal?

That sounds a great transfer strategy.... Go after one of the best (& young) centre backs in the world. Get snubbed... Turn attention to a soon-to-be 33yo as the alternative.

And we won't ever fulfill that ambition if the players do not deliver 'their end of the bargain', i.e finish 8th, 7th, 6th in the past 3 seasons.

It is interesting that the club remains 'water-tight' about its transfer targets yet is happy to let all and sundry know that Jose wants out (has his head in the clouds; feels agreements have not been honoured; has had captaincy stripped from him) / is staying (new deal signed; is taking coaches badges/groomed as future manager). The policy of wanting to circulate bad news to the fan-base above any good news is a terrible way of running the club...surely?!

You omit to mention any "ins" - who contributed to a higher league placing each season. I guess this snippet does not support your view of the continued demise of the "spirit of Southampton". You are tiresome

Even a test match progresses quicker than a Saints signing! Where is my pitchfork? I've had all I can take now! :-)

Chadli happens to fit the bill of a left sided forward, who has to wait for the replacement. I'd be very pleased if it is him

Fonte was the last for me. All other signings have not raised much of a reaction either way. Even VVD I had a few reservations about due to him coming down from a poor Scottish league

This. Only K Billy is worth taking note of, and that is pretty much just before deals are announced. Guan is as vague as this new kid on the block (AR-10) IMO.

Out of interest, and in no way having a pop, but how can Fonte sign an improved deal if we do not yet know what the top earner is on? It may be x today, but if we sign 2 players before the end of August he might well not be top earner again.

Puel also never said that he "expects Fonte to stay" - he said that Fonte is an important player and the captain. This sky chap has had a mare.

My late father used to say "erm" quite a lot when he was articulating a response, esp on the phone to a person he did not know, and English was his first language.

Out of interest, how is it he has so few caps for France? It seems strange that he is not the heartbeat of the French midfield?

And a better one than our previous manager at his new club. "Silver lining" and all that.

He won the league with Monaco!! He took Lyon to semi finals of Champions League!! He took an unfashionable Lille side into the Champions League, winding up Fergie in the process.

I read Professor's post as being sarcastic.

The part about the re-structure of German is the bit that has me pretty intrigued. However, how his teams play is not something I have a lot of knowledge about. However is it that bad to be counter-attacking if we have pace in Long, Mane and potentially Redmond. I am confused by the interest all the same

It's more likely that the pound will fall against the dollar. As too will the euro. Thereby meaning that the pound to euro will be broadly as is

Hopefully extending the search to coaches in the Bundesliga & La Liga

Or you could go in 2-0 up at half time against the eventual league winners and not bother coming back out at all for the second half, then ending up lucky to come off with a point. Motivation is a key point but you must be able to ensure the players are on it from the start, throughout, and come the end. I suspected (and it is just my view) the person most inclined to assume that role last year was Erwin, rather than Ronald.

On the assumption we would make an appointment based on a search of European leagues, I had a shortlist of Roger Schmidt, Marcelino & Valverde. However, if we were picking from a pool which included premier league experience then Pellegrini would have shaken up the pecking order. He has been there, seen it , done it. He carries respect and gravitas in the game. If he has the desire to be the saints manager then I can't see a reason not to make it happen. Additionally, as it's been said above, he will be influential in convincing players of our seriousness, both current and new. So, with the 3 Ps known to be on the shortlist, Pellegrini is at the top of the list for me.

Think the 3 are Garcia, Puel and montella (or Vialli)

He was manager at Lille before Rudi Garcia. Garcia was more successful and also more expansive. That said his last season at Nice has been really good. His replacement at Nice, Lucien Favre would have been an interesting shout

He was replaced by Bruno Genesio around the turn of the year. Don't now if that means we would be looking at the current or previous manager of Lyon. Neither of which mean much to me