Shandy_Top_89

Some cross board chat. The folks on Not606 have started a Gofundme to raise money for City Catering Southampton. Just sharing the link in case any Saintswebbers are keen. https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/saynotoppv Following the example of Newcastle in raising 20k for local food banks, this is a handy way of raising some cash for a worthy local charity, while showing the PL and associated broadcasters that there is a limit to what we are willing to be charged.

Definitely has a ‘be careful what you wish for’ kind of vibe. Like everyone else I haven’t particularly enjoyed the Gao era, he doesn’t show much interest and doesn’t put money in, but the club seems to be better run than the end days of Liebherr and the removal of the likes of Reed and Ross with Semmens returning suggests someone in the set up knows what they are doing. DeGrosa looks like he actively put his hand in the tin with Bordeaux and used to override the Manager, which if replicated here will surely cause Ralph and our best players to leave, as well as a whole host of back room staff.

I am being a little ott, but I know you could only use it on selected items (most of which were discontinued). If the books and water were on the list it should go through, if not then it won’t work.

It’s all bargain bucket tat anyway barely worth the time, most of it is sold out and the remainder of the shirts from last season are only left in tent sizes. Saints have to be one of the most stingy clubs in the PL and can never be trusted when it comes to these things. Every ‘perk’ always comes with a meteorite sized asterisk e.g. - ‘With your season ticket you get a discount on drinks and food!’ *Invalid 30 mins before kick off. (Ok they eventually changed this but still). - ‘Renew your season ticket early and receive a £35 voucher for the Saints store!’ *Only valid on last seasons discontinued items until they are sold out. They take being disingenuous to another level.

It never usually goes well for any manager at Barcelona in the end, unless your name is Pep Guardiola. Nonetheless Koeman could do a job for them, he hasn't done badly at any side since Feyenoord, barring his second season at Everton (who have a habit of imploding under any manager at any given time). Seeing a lot of comments suggesting he is a step down from Pochettino, but if any supporters are well placed to judge it is ourselves. I always thought Pochettino's pressing game was exciting, but Koeman was far more tactically flexible, under Poch you usually knew how a game would go within the first 5 mins, the opposition either had us figured out from the off or they would get pressured to death. Koeman doesnt really get enough credit imo and he does have that Barca connection already.

He did seem gutted at the end, but all in all he is their most successful manager by an absolute canyon, must have been a very difficult decision. Cant see him turning up very far away after he returned to Bournemouth as his family couldn’t settle oop Norf. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him turn up one day in Pompey, Bristol, Reading or a London club in the Championship or Lower Prem. I’m not sure if he ever even tried to address Bournemouth’s defensive weaknesses, he seemed to want to relentlessly pursue an open style of football and was determined he could do it by outscoring the opposition, he will have to learn to be more adaptable for any future success. As for Bompey I can see the Cowley’s on the horizon after their absolutely bizarre sacking at Huddersfield they still have a lot to prove and stabilising Bournemouth could be a good ‘project’, although it might be one hell of a challenge.

He really isn't a good enough player to warrant all this faffing. Lets hope he just clears off imminently in a way that frees up enough funds to get KWP in.

Norwich - Cantwell, Pukki. Godfrey and Aarons look good prospects, but I am always twitchy about signing defenders from relegated teams, maybe an exception can be made for potential though. Bournemouth - I'd do a swap deal with them of Adams for Wilson, that's genuinely about it, I didn't realize how utterly abject their squad is. Once upon a time I would have said Ake, but I think hes been shown up this season. Fraser is already off to either Spurs or Arsenal. Villa - Grealish is by far and away the best player in the bottom three, but he is off to one of the top sides I would imagine. I seem to remember McGinn being lauded, but I haven't really kept track of his performances in the Prem.

Honestly if we weren't going to go for stripes this year, I wouldn't mind white shirt, red shorts and red lettering. With a reverse Black shirt, yellow shorts and yellow lettering as the away kit. Would be nice and simple and there would be minimal ways they could **** it up.

Given how **** we are at home we should be lobbying for permanent neutrality, kind of like a footballing Switzerland. I don't really mind if the league resumes or not, it would be nice to have something to watch but in the greater scheme it isn't really important. I know Germany hasn't had the level of Corona issues we have, but compare the football response from here to there and it really does amplify how much better run the Bundesliga is. No squabbling over 60 minute halves, no suggestions of no relegation, no gang bang parties, no Gordon ****ing Taylor. I don't care if the PL has the riches and the 'top 6', the Bundesliga is the standard our clubs should aspire to.

And so he should, i'm sure it took a lot of effort to change the definition of 'testing', so that the Government could include incompleted tests in transit to the overall figures......

I had a lovely nostalgia moment when I went to see Doncaster (my second team) v QPR in the Championship a couple of years after he left us and joined Donny. Some flatcapped elderly Yorkshireman jumped out of his seat yelling ‘Euell you’re ****!’. Some things never change. Some say he is still offside to this day!

While I think it is probably a fair point to suggest that football players are probably getting an unequal amount of stick compared to other high earners e.g. CEOs, they do occupy a unique position and generally have much less responsibility. That being said the main issue is PL club chairmen showing pure greed and the PFA offering absolutely pathetic leadership to the players. However the players are doing themselves absolutely no favours speaking out about how 'unfair' the pressure is, the best bet would be to stay quiet and seek a resolution. I also don't get all these convoluted solutions about players either taking a 30% pay cut, but with no guarantees that this will go toward non-playing salaries or talk of charitable donations instead. All the public want is for the PL to be self-sustainable and pay their non-playing staff out of their own resources without assistance from the taxpayer, which is achievable through player wage deferrals. The Club Chairmen and the PFA (especially Gordon Taylor) are the worst offenders here, but the players certainly aren't doing themselves any favours with these outbursts.

Kind of what I said at the end of my post.

Almost feels like this should be the last straw and unless clubs refund the taxpayer in full when this is over, all clubs who participate in this should be boycotted until they do. Not talking a wish-washey boycott where a few thousand stay away, I mean getting average attendances at PL games below 5000. I know it doesn't necessarily hit the clubs hard enough in the pocket, but it would probably be damaging enough PR wise (and crucially would look bad enough on tv) that it might just cause some thought amongst them. Unfortunately we will all be so relieved to have football (and all forms of freedom and entertainment) back after this, that its probably extremely unlikely and next to impossible to organize. Have to admit I would find it hard to stay away after months without it!

I should correct that to say both Womens teams from Southampton!

Reading that all leagues from the National League and down have been cancelled and all results expunged. The same has happened in Women's football from Tier 3. A shame for Saints Women's Team as they were battering everyone that came their way and were set to win their league by a Liverpool-esque margin, hopefully they can roll on again next season.

I thought Rooney's dramatic statement that Footballers had been used as guinea pigs was a bit ott, considering that the football authorities were probably the quickest to react and take action to isolate / protect their employees, while the rest of us on 0.1% of a wage are either unable to work from home, or our work places are still deciding what to do. Some being paid to run towards danger are on less than 20k (Care workers) and they complain far less. Personally think he should have complimented them on swift action...

I actually wouldn’t be surprised if they did try and restart this season even if it was 12 months down the line, if that’s how long it took. I imagine they would be far too afraid of the legal repercussions of cancelling this season.

On the Sky Sports debate tonight they were really emphasizing that this season will be completed. The squeeze will come on a future season instead where a 'half season' may be played instead.

Undoubtedly there are some challenges there, but it’s about going with the lesser of two evils. I think the League could push the transfer window back and clubs might need to renegotiate contracts / loans, although might not be able to do much if players and agents have other plans. Non essential Ground maintenance may have to be postponed for a year, but I don’t really have an answer for anything more urgent. The League split is interesting, I had a look at dividing between North and South, but the North side of the League would be disproportionately stronger, so I think it would have to be based on finishing positions this season e.g. League A: 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17, 20. League B: 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15, 18, 19. They would play their own league twice (18 Games) and the opposing League once (10 Games), for 28 Games overall. The league leaders would advance to a one off final and the two 10th place sides would be relegated, with no play offs in the Championship. Cancelling the current season removes the transfer and ground maintenance issues, but they will have to square the lost TV matches with Sky, BT and overseas broadcasters, as well as facing heavy legal action by clubs negatively affected e.g. Liverpool, either sides that get relegated or miss out on promotion. So I guess either route has big problems, they will have to decide which is the least disruptive. In reality I think the professional season might be finished behind closed doors, with clubs establishing a strict set of rules to try and prevent further illness e.g. players and their families sign up to only travel between work and home, with food and supplies provided by the club. Something along those lines.

I wonder if it might be easier to postpone Euro 2020 to 2021 and compress next season rather than cancel this one, based on the fact this season is 3/4 completed and next season can be started with a set of rules that sees everyone on the same playing field. Also it prevents what would be an absolute siege of legal action should the league be cancelled. E.g. Each division split into two with a final between the two topping each table at the end of the season (For the PL two leagues of 10, which can remove between 10-19 games depending on how you set it up). You can restrict promotion and relegation to automatic only to compensate for the reduced season. League Cup Semis reduced to one leg only. No replays in the FA Cup. Champions League and Europa League drop their group stages and just go straight to knock outs from the Round of 32. All as a one off with normal service resuming in the 21/22 season. That could give this season up until August to restart (behind closed doors if needs be, with time for clubs to prepare a thorough set of quarantine criteria to reduce chances of getting the virus / containing the virus). I feel like a right anorak, but I genuinely think this would be the better way forward, even if we miss the humour of nature denying Liverpool a title.

Takes some skill to be as financially irresponsible as we have been and yet maintain the same ****e performance at the same time. If we are going to go broke can’t we at least do a Leeds and go out in a blaze of glory?

I don’t actually believe the season gets cancelled, I would expect that they will complete the season, even if it means the next season gets pushed back and starts straight off the back of this season.

I think it will be a gradual process. Firstly the Leagues will all be suspended temporarily, then Euro 2020 will be pushed back to 2021 to open space up in the Summer for the season to finish. Obviously if time to play starts running out then maybe you get into cancellation territory, or next season is altered in some way to allow this one to finish. Just total unchartered territory really.