Joensuu

Watched Latvia play Greece in Riga in c. 2008, hoping for a Pahars cameo. Failed

I fully expect to see Adkins have a successful managerial career. He was very good for us, and IMO was certainly an upgrade on hoof and hope Pardew (albeit, Alan's transfer record puts Nigel's to shame). However, Pochettino is for me a clear upgrade. I've no idea why some people think Reading was the wrong move. Local (so no family upheaval), already relegated last season (so no blame), parachute money to spend, and IMO more realistic expectations than say Leeds fans. What more could a manager in Adkin's position want?

Was with a Brighton fan last time played at St Mary's. Wish I'd thought about the stupidity of our chanting beforehand. Had to apologise to him after the game - "really sorry mate, we have a fair few ******* in our fanbase, but I guess every team has some". And to think, some people are embarrassed by others choosing to wear scarfs or replica kits.

Not fussed about this. Thought #MarchingIn was the new tag, or is that just for this season?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/west-bromwich-albion/10259885/Nicolas-Anelka-leaves-West-Bromwich-Albion-and-could-retire-from-football-completely.html

This one? http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/get-inspired/23754457

B, then C. D would be third pick - but only when ready, don't want or need to rush things. Avoid A at all costs.

NB, I personally doubt he will be replaced. We can already play a large number of players in our right-sided attacking position (Rodriguez, Ramirez, Davis, Isgrove, Osvaldo, Ward-Prowse, possibly even Lallana or Clyne (and even Guly if absolutely desperate)). If we bring anyone else in during this window, I'd suggest a left back is far more likely.

Good sensible move for all parties. Palace get a good player. Saints get a backup wage (partially?) off of the bill, and keep a reserve player fit, while probably helping Palace to take points off our rivals. If we need to recall I'm sure we will. Basically, everyone wins. Good luck Punch.

I think there are two reasons that few people have commented so far - firstly it's a long OP without a direct question, so lot's of potential discussion points, but nothing to focus people's thoughts [NB, intended as an observation, not in any way a criticism]; secondly the trolls on here would quarterise anyone getting a 'football' factoid wrong - perhaps many are scared off by the numpties? Anyhow, very interesting post IMO. It certainly looks as if Osvaldo has moved to a more central position over the past few years. I'm interested to see whether he starts out wide, or if Lambert is pushed back, or even dropped to the bench to make space. I certainly can't imagine we'd start the game with Osvaldo, Lambert and Rodriguez all playing (with what, Mayuka as cover on the bench?). I would expect Rodriguez will be the player to miss out, as while we lack pace, our pressing game seems to me to require players with higher levels of fitness, imagination and ball control, rather than raw pace. But where pace often makes a difference is when a game has become stretched - and when stamina levels are beginning to flag. Could Rodriguez become our impact specialist? My guess is that Rickie will start up front, mainly to hold the ball up and allow players like Osvaldo to make runs. I'm probably wrong though. As soon as the game begins all 4 players will swap positions - making a mess of the oppositions marking. I'm sure for much of the game Osvaldo will be central, and Lambert will be dropping back, irrespective of their allocated starting positions. I wonder if Osvaldo has been promised a position - I mean, whether Maurico has told him that he will always get the lone striker position when he's fit. I wonder if he would be concerned if he were played on the left or right side of our attacking unit. Big fish, smaller pond - will player demands actually dictate our formation? I have no idea. I wonder if Lambert is really suited to sitting behind Osvaldo. So many questions. So few answers.

We have our winner.

Strangely think I might almost agree with the OP. Ramirez/Lallana/Yoshida look like the weakest links in the first choice team. All three have loads of potential though, and all three are worth persevering with. However, if we had to use one of them as a counterweight in a deal for a better replacement, it would be hard to say no (e.g. Banega for £4.5 + Ramirez anyone?). However, even as one of our weaker-links, Ramirez is hardly a bad option. He'd be straight into the first team of 2/3 of the premier teams. He should get plenty of game time this year, and hopefully with a bit more experience, and a bit less pressure/expectation, he should hopefully start to impress us all. We could do with a few less threads about him IMO. He's quickly replacing Guly and Fox as the anti-hero of choice for the trolls and numpties. Cut him some slack.

Worth pointing out, that under Cortese, I think we've made c. 36 permanent signings. Most of those have been good or excellent (relative to our position when we signed them). There have only been a handful of poor or average signings. IMO the only signings we should definitely have avoided are Forren (in hindsight) and Forte (not in hindsight!) . The only poor to average signings I can remember were: Otsemobor, Seaborne, Dickson (again, in hindsight), De Ridder (ditto). There are a number of that are too soon to tell, including everyone signed this summer, Gazzaniga, Mayuka, Jack Stephens and Harlee Dean. Very approximately, I'd suggest that c. 64% of Cortese's transfers have been good or excellent. About 16% have been below par, and 19% too soon to tell. I can't imagine many chairman have overseen anything like this level of transfer success.

Anyone want to talk about our inactive, inept, negligent and over-ambitious transfer policy?

Looks good, although I feel we'd mix it up, with both players and formations changing on the fly. If I had to stump for a single formation, I think we might be considering something like this: ----------------BORUC----------------- CLYNE----LOVREN----YOSHIDA----SHAW --------WANYAMA----MORGAN---------- ----OSVALDO----RAMIREZ----LALLANA---- ---------------LAMBERT----------------

Osvaldo will play as a wide forward. In a 4-2-3-1 he will probably be playing in the wide berths that Punch/Lallana filled last season. I'm not sure where he'd fit I a 4-4-1-1 (guess up front, but assume he could fill a wide berth if needed). Essentially, I feel he is the wide player you want us to sign. He will get the 11 shirt. If we sign Osvaldo, and if we then were to sign another player (which I doubt), they would probably be backup at left back or perhaps to cover Artur, not a winger IMO.

DP, exactly the same situation I've just had. 3 offers, and trying to delay to see if a larger company (Microsoft actually) had a genuine interest. Would have been happy with any of the offers, but wanted to know the score before making the decision. Have just accepted a new company, who have grown rapidly since being founded in 2011. Wanted to see how that rollercoaster plays out; sounded like a fun ride. Anyone who thinks Osvaldo doesn't want to be here doesn't understand the way job offers work. The employee wants to know their full options before making a decision.

Must have missed that quote, could you point us to the source?

Last ditch effort by agent IMO. Managed to get press links to Spurs and Arsenal in under 24 hours. Good effort. Still feel we are in pole position.

Well, as I said above, I'm going to try it your way. I've just made use of the Ignore facility for the first time - it doesn't feel right, but I'll give it a go. I think you are slightly confusing my previous responding to trolls as naivety. I know exactly what they are doing, and certainly aren't blind to the situation. The ignore option has never worked in the past, but the running rings around them and making them look silly has certainly seen a fair few trolls loose their temper and get themselves banned. But I'll give your suggestion another go, and see if it's more effective.

@Saint Agreed entirely, but for some reason on this particular forum, these characters aren't banned, or blocked. Do you ignore the elephant rampaging in the corner, or point out that they are making an prat of themselves? You are right ignoring the trolls makes most sense - I guess I respond to them in the vain hope that one of the mods might actually start restricting them to the muppet show where they belong. Tell you what, I'll try it your way. I won't respond to a troll for the next 6 months and see if that causes their activity to stop. I suspect not, but I'll give it a shot. Back on topic - the conference seemed rather dull to me. Pochettino avoided talking about transfers, and I didn't pick up any new revelations. Did anyone notice anything of interest?

Glasgow, you really set the bar low when it comes to quality. Perhaps post a little less and put a little bit more thought into each post? In answer to your statement, we are aware the Pochettino is trying to learn English, and we have no reason to believe that he isn't trying to do this as soon as possible. In fact, suggesting that he should try to learn faster rude IMHO. Where would you prefer he focus his efforts - coaching and preparing tactics for the new season, or refining his English?

Don't worry about that - this doesn't have a quote to back it up, so is almost certainly guess work on behalf of some hack.

Why? Why would he announce anything until he has made a decision. Imagine if he issued a statement saying 'I want to join Southampton' only to have to retract it when, say, Arsenal approach him tomorrow?