SaintLondon

No additional cash for transfers then..

The Drayton Arms has now permanently closed (I believe) - there are a few boozers nearby but it’s quite hard to get into them on match day. There are a few pubs about 20 mins walk away which shouldn’t be an issue - shout if anyone wants any suggestions / if anyone has any suggestions. Emirates is about 25 mins from my house so I know a few decent places.

He would love this. Let me know the best way to sort? I can give you his number / email? Thanks.

Mate of mine is looking for a ticket for tomorrow if anyone hears of anything - cheers.

Morning All, Tried to purchase tickets this morning for Arsenal away when they came on sale to me but they’re all sold out. if anyone hears anything, I’m looking for 2 x adult tickets please. Cheers!

Tom Leach should get the gig at The Athletic. Dan Sheldon is very much a hands off journalist. Very much considers himself outside of Southampton FC. With Carl Anka, we all knew he was a Man United fan but he really bought into the club and the fans, and reported as if he really had a vested interest. We know that Tom Leach isn't a Saints fan either but he seems to live and breath it, I've even heard him refer to us as 'we' which was nice. I'm aware to be a football reporter you don't need to support the team of course but when you're a *dedicated* club reporter it's nice to feel that they care about it as opposed to it just being a job. Feels like a lot of his articles are just going through the motions and he actually doesn't have much to talk about, as per the latest article. Turn draws into wins, Cheers, Dan!

I know it’s not going to happen but wouldn’t it be great if we just pulled one out the hat that nobody knew about. Would be great. Won’t happen.

Adam Blackmore confirmed none expected in. So I’d say that’s that my friends. Bit of a damp squib but there we go..

Unless I’m going mad, Semmens & co said that were JV to leave then we would replace him. Sure, it’s not going to be a Varane / Dias type signing but surely it’s not going to be another Simeu. It’ll be a first team ready player with a (hopefully) big future as opposed to someone who is more of a gamble and needs time with the B team. Right?

Madness that this has sparked such a debate, it's clearly a positive statement from the club about inclusivity, that's it, nothing more. Nobody is forcing anything down anyone's throat, it's there for the people that want it. By all means sit behind your keyboards and be angry about the fact the world has moved on from the 70s but to get upset by a colourful shirt to be worn for a 20 min warm up is really rather sad. Oh and for those using the Qatar World Cup as some sort of win, you're allowed to do your job and still oppose aspects of what and where it's being held. Look at Sebastien Vettel a few weeks ago at the Hungarian Grand Prix, he made a statement for by wearing a rainbow t-shirt, he was fined and he made his point. We move on.

I think this will prove to be a shrewd bit of business. Another thing to note, Tom Leach is excellent, when Carl left for the Man Utd gig, there was a bit of a hole which Dan Sheldon hasn't quite slotted into, Tom is an excellent and incisive young journo.

I can't see us getting Armstrong if Danny stays and what I read into that is that Danny is def going this summer.. If we have actually made a bid for Armstrong then I wouldn't be surprised if Danny's departure might be a little further along that we all think. Pure speculation and I'm in no way claiming to be ITK!!

I actually came on here to see if there was any news on the takeover and got dragged into a chat *not* about takeovers.. Apologies.

That isn't strictly true - they had an agreement with him for the following season but after that game Real Madrid etc were sniffing around so they brought it all forward and flew him and his family to Manchester the next day to sign the deal.

No Danny Ings in the England Squad - I wonder whether this will now have a knock on effect on the contract situation. If he played for a big club I think he's getting the nod...

The Derby takeover is now off... It seems perhaps the fit and proper person test is finally becoming more stringent? Or did he just have no cash? Hopefully though it'll mean that whilst it might take longer for us to get taken over, when we do, it might not be to a skinflint - or is that wishful thinking? Probably.

For the reasons I have mentioned previously. His consortium would look to purchase the club and keep us on the same model that we have now, with other clubs investing around us all of the time there is a scenario where things end up going pear shaped and we find ourselves in trouble due to the way we were purchased with loans against the club. The part I find concerning I suppose is that ordinarily with new owners they talk about their ambitions of X, Y and Z whereas here it states that Europa would be the icing on the cake. As mentioned if the model for the club isn't going to drastically change (the anchoring business I'll believe when there are other clubs in the portfolio) then I think we're safer with Gao at the helm.

just that effectively there wouldn't be investment to make this happen. Like I said, I'm not necessarily saying that I expect an owner to do that but DaGrosa's ownership on paper would see us be in the same position that we're in now but with more loans against the club, so if things were to go pear shaped we could be in a much worse position long term.

This is the paragraph that concerns me.. “For example, to make one of the big Italian clubs work, you’d have to qualify for one of the European competitions every year, which is pretty hard. Of course, like everyone else, we would like to qualify for the Champions League or Europa League but we view that as icing on the cake.” I'm not expecting an owner to come in and spend billions but it would seem that this guy would come in and treat us as we're being treated now but with a load of loans against the club thus making us in a much more precarious position. I'm no GAO fan and I would like to see the club under new ownership but not at any cost. We always bang on about ambition and a lack there of, well I think perhaps DaGrosa would be the icing on the cake of 'PL survival ambitions year on year.' Caveat - that's my opinion so probably a load of balls.

You've got to wonder why all these names are being released to one by one turn us down / get pulled by agent or whatever. Not only does it look like a massive own goal from a PR perspective but it also doesn't look good to a perspective player either. Nobody wants to be third, fourth of fifth choice. So much for doing business behind closed doors. That or it is complete BS but it seems true that AMN's people effed the deal and that there was concrete interest in Japhet Tanganga. It's as if some people in the corridors of power at SMS think that leaking names appeases the fans when it actually does the opposite. Until Adam Blackmore says we're all done fans have their hopes up and don't need names drip fed to them for them to eventually be pulled away. Nonsensical messaging.

WBA back in for AMN - weird one that. I guess they're guaranteeing him MF playing time. Still, you'd think someone would rather play for a mobile side managed by RH rather than a static long ball manager like SA. Anyway, each to their own. Let's just hope we get someone in as cover who is happy to play rather than sulk at playing 'out of position.'

Good points well made. I just figured that some clubs might want to loan out some players to put them in the shop window - parent club could be willing to cover wages for game time so they can sell them come the summer.

Never known a transfer window to be so quiet on here. Not even a fake rumour, I know we're skint but you'd for the inevitable Quincy Promes link somewhere... (thats an attempt at humour by the way) Would be great if we could get a loan or two to bulk up the side a little. I feel like a great season is within our reach and a few extra bodies could be the difference. A little strength in depth never hurt anyone. I think we can see with Theo that getting a loan in that doesn't necessarily fit our model can work and be beneficial. We shall see, good luck my friends.

From my Everton supporting mate: "Oh mate no. Don’t do it. Actually please do! Master of nothing. Average at everything"

Tom Davies? If that is what we've been waiting for then why oh why did we sell Harrison Reed or loan out Lemina? He is is a poor man's Will Hughes and that is saying something. I don't want to be all doom and gloom after a few matches and I'll refrain from calling relegation based on a few matches but christ, Tom Davies? Doesn't fill me with confidence for the season coming. Let's just hope it's Alex Crook talking nonsense and it's actually a smoke screen for someone (anyone) else.