itchen

Manolo Gabbiadini has Southampton scoring again. Now to bolster the defence https://www.theguardian.com/football/who-scored-blog/2017/mar/07/manolo-gabbiadini-southampton-nathan-redmond? Good article. Although we apparently lost away at Southampton in January.

It's very unlikely he's paying 45% income tax. He'll probably have some tax efficient scheme whereby he becomes an employee getting paid a moderate wage while the real dosh is taxed at corporate rates. Taxes are for the little people,

Both of our goals could and should have been prevented as well. That's rather the nature of competitive football.

Getting National Express to London Sunday morning and coming back midday Monday. Staying in a four star (or so it claims, but the reviews are good) hotel in Paddington. I love you all but the thought of trying to squeeze onto a train Sunday with loads of drunk Saints fans really didn't appeal so I'm taking advantage of having a day off on Monday. The coach may be slower but you're guaranteed a seat. Total cost, including breakfast Monday, just under £100.

Taking them someone warm may boost their morale but doesn't sound very moral to me.

It would be harsh on Stephens or Yoshida to miss out on the final. They helped get us there. Plenty of time to introduce Caceres in the league.

True. But they (we) didn't pay very much. It's been explained why he chose the side that he did. It was a disappointing result but I'm not going to get hugely upset by it.

As I said in the match thread I have three conclusions: Their reserves are better than our reserves. Josh Sims may become a great player. I feel strangely unconcerned about the result.

Just home, left after fifth goal to avoid closure of North car park. Conclusion: Their reserves are better than our reserves. Josh Sims may become an excellent player. I strangely don't care too much about the result.

No VVD, no Austin, no Boufal and no Fonte (who's gone to West Ham to win trophies). Sweet.

Of course. Silly me for praising one of our young players.

Although I still think we need a new central defender, I think Stephens did very well. Didn't really miss VVD (and you don't get to say that very often).

Just as a matter of interest, who was the best manager available to us and why do you judge him to be the best?

Players come, players go. Players do what is right for them and nobody else. It always has been this way at every club. No point in getting upset about it. I'm sure the club has a long term plan that will be only temporarily disrupted by one player thinking he deserves more.

Good grief there are a lot of people on here today desperate to spend somebody else's money. How many times does it have to be explained that you cannot just take money spent from money received and calculate a "profit"? We don't know the figures, how the payments are staged or, most importantly, the wages. And of course there's financial fair play which is skewed in favour of clubs with a bigger fanbase than us. And we're not even sure who we want or who's available but Kat should "spend some money" because it will show ambition. It may not achieve anything but it will give us boasting rights down the pub. I'd have thought that consistently higher finishes since we were in League 1 shows ambition. A new training complex shows ambition. A club built on sustainable foundations shows ambition. But, apparently, we have to flash the cash to satisfy some fans. I'm as frustrated as the next fan by our recent results and I hope we can identify a striker at he right price who can come in and make a difference. But if we can't find such a person it won't mean that the club lacks ambition. Honestly, get a grip.

Please supply photographic evidence of this frustration.

Well you've been saying something very similar for a lot longer than three months. The window opened three days ago and you're disappointed already? And surely someone with the knowledge you have of the club's history knows very well that it does not do its transfer business in public. I have no knowledge of whether the club is likely to sign anyone. It doesn't generally do much business in January but, who knows, maybe this time. But who is available, affordable and better than what we have (I believe the last of these is Puel's stated criterion)? The last three games have been hugely disappointing. We seem to give up as soon as somebody scores against us. That's a question of belief and effort. A new striker may help but it's not the total answer. But, despite those three games, we are still doing better than at this stage last season so let's not get carried away in gloom.

They just had an interview with Harry Redknapp on Radio 4 Today programme. He didn't really add much except to say that there were rumours about Higgins when he was coaching Bournemouth and Portsmouth. He also said he was sure that McMenemy and Merrington would have booted him out if they'd known anything. He seemed to row back a bit when the interviewer asked him if he would have had concerns about Jamie going to Southampton when he was a boy, just saying that he was happy at Tottenha and the stuff about Higgins came later (or was it earlier? I was as confused as Harry by the end).

Yes. You're so right.

God I hope he doesn't.

It was bloody loud. It was good to hear the Louis Armstrong OWTS though. I've always thought the team should run out to that at the start.

I was working this evening so couldn't be there to comment on the atmosphere. But I got home just after half time and I could clearly hear OWTS in Bitterne Park. And that was before we scored.

I like singing. I sing in all sorts of places. Sometimes I've even been paid for it. Very occasionally, I may join in with OWTS if (a) the team is playing well and (b) I've had more than my normal amount to drink. But, mostly, I go to SMS to watch football, clap and cheer when appropriate and boo Dejan Lovren. There are no circumstances in which I could see myself singing about fetching my father's gun.

Think you were at a different game.

It has been explained time and time again that you can't just subtract money received from transfers from money spent and produce a net spend (or surplus). Firstly, we don't know how much was spent or received as the buyer and seller often release differing figures. There is probably an element of add-ons that may or not be triggered. But the biggest factor usually is the wages and image rights over the life of the contract. And that's where the financial fair play rules hit a smaller club like Saints. Most of our senior players are now on improved contracts and we cannot just go out and keep spending without significantly improving our income (which is what Krueger and friends are trying to do). Even if the owners were willing to give away more of their fortune(and why should they?) FFP makes this very difficult.