benali-shorts

Alleged interest in Ryan Fraser https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2022/12/02/newcastle-open-offers-ryan-fraser-want-keep-another-big-signing/

Ralph on Sky Sports: Could Southampton recall Tella from Burnley loan? Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has been impressed by the progress of Nathan Tella while on loan at Burnley and refused to rule out the possibility of cutting short his stay at Turf Moor. Tella, the 23-year-old winger, has scored six goals in 16 appearances this term, while his parent club have struggled so far and are just three points above the relegation zone. “I’m very pleased," said Hasenhuttl. "I know that some people say it’s only the Championship that he scores goals but I must say it’s still a big achievement for me and this is exactly what we wanted to see – that he gets a lot of game time and can show his qualities. “I mean he has shown it also in the Premier League so far. For him, it didn’t look like he would get enough game time this season. But I think it was the right decision to take (to loan him out). “We will see what we do. We have our eyes open and we will definitely look very detailed into what we will do with him.”

Oh my god, I suddenly wondered if they're going to wait until the WC in the hope of appointing Southgate after we're knocked out.

From the Times. Marsch seems improbable. Southampton eyeing replacement for Ralph Hasenhüttl Southampton have drawn up a list of potential replacements for Ralph Hasenhüttl who may only have two matches to earn a reprieve. Southampton are one place off the Premier League relegation zone having lost three consecutive matches and 14 of their last 20 matches in the league stretching back to last season. Among the managers of interest include Jesse Marsch, the Leeds United head coach, and Steve Cooper, who is under pressure at Nottingham Forest following a run of five defeats that has left them bottom of the table. Both are under contract so compensation would need to be paid and it is not clear whether Southampton’s owners would be willing to do that, having tended to appoint coaches who were out of work. Southampton were booed off after losing 2-1 to Everton on Saturday. Some of their players have lost faith in Hasenhüttl who was given a lifeline by the club this summer, sacking three members of his backroom staff and spending £50 million on six new players. Although they would be expected to lose away to Manchester City on Saturday, a heavy defeat could spell the end of his four-year tenure. If he hangs on, his position would be in serious jeopardy if they lose at home to West Ham United a week on Sunday. “I’ve been here a long time,” Hasenhüttl, 55, said. “We’ve had tough times and good times and I don’t have a different feeling than every other Premier League manager. You need results and wins and you need to concentrate on them. “We’ve had better periods that’s for sure and we’re facing Man City [next]. We know what team we’re facing but I know we drew twice against them last season and were one of few teams to take a point off them at the Etihad. That’s what we’re concentrating on, the rest is up to you guys [the media].” Cooper, 42, gained praise for his work with England Under-19 and Swansea City but there have been tensions at Forest, whom he led to promotion from the Sky Bet Championship last season. Marsch, 48, was appointed by Leeds in March and helped them secure Premier League survival on the final day of the season. The American has three years left on his contract. Southampton have informed season ticket holders that they will be closing a block of the Itchen North Stand due to “unacceptable behaviour” in the defeat by Everton. A total of 27 missiles were thrown across the segregation line by both home and away supporters. “We’ll also install new CCTV cameras to identify and deal with any further anti-social or unsafe behaviour in these areas,” the club said.

Or hoping that if Forest lose tonight, Cooper might be available.....

This is trademark bullshit from Ross. What does this stuff even mean? As you say, total fraud. “One of the things I always say to my staff at the training ground is having a ‘What’s next?,’ mentality,” he said.” When we’ve done something, what can we do next? Without being reckless, without being kamikaze but making sure we have a clear plan to keep moving the club forward in all of the areas because football doesn’t stop and we definitely can’t stop. We have to keep our foot to the floor. We have to keep moving forward and remember the club we represent.”

Pleased for him. Easy to forget he's only 24.

Magnificent beast. Thank you Oriol.

Brilliant, thanks for posting. Excellent celebration from DA, instinctive joy.

Also a lovely cross for Steve Moran at Fratton Park. Happy days.

Excellent player, fond memories of him. £600k very well spent.

Agreed as well. The vision and quality of incisive passing from our attacking midfielders is very poor.

MB, do you know if they're also playing 3 x CBs? Is it a club-wide dictate now?

Plausibly it's the usual case of having to try and sell with two years left if Che has indicated he won't extend his contract? Shame if he goes, decent player and I always feel we have a better physical presence when he plays.

Whilst acknowledging that there was a top flight before 1991, we've punched remarkably above our weight since then. https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/iWda6/2/

Lovely second goal from him

Interesting that you've fixed your expectations despite not knowing how our squad will look compared to the other 19 teams at the start of the season. I based it on how our squad is currently, and generally I'd base my expectations on knowns. I'm not sure how that makes me "thick" but thank you for your observations.

Wow. We have no chance of top 8 as things currently stand - we clearly have a squad that is bottom 6 currently, including only Che as an established PL striker; and AMs who are proven inadequate at PL level. How would top 12 be deemed satisfactory as things stand?

£12m fee seemingly. Burnley in a terrible state.

Allegedly it was 20% of profit over original sale price of £34m, and I think Liv sale price is c£26m plus up to £9m add-ons.

Isn't the issue that we can't afford £25/30m, given investment required in multiple other positions this summer?

You seemingly have to sort by the final Total Salary column - it default-sorts into a nonsensical order when the page loads. We were 10th highest in 2018-19 apparently.

I don't think we've ever been near the top 3 salaries in the PL......

Thanks for posting. Oriol studious and thoughtful; he has the attributes to be a potentially excellent coach.