mrfahaji

I'd say it's more likely that you try and get involved, fail, and then slip down the leagues.

Agreed, but I think we should only add people to the banner once they've stopped playing for us. Just in case he comes back from the Euros and says he wants to join Everton.

Wales always set themselves up as a defensive unit first though, which gives the RB a lot less pressure defensively and more opportunity to join the attack, which I think most would agree is a stronger area for Cedric. For the same reason, Walker (twice) and Clyne were arguably England's best players in games against defensive teams - the full backs are often the out-ball, so see a lot of the ball in attacking areas without being particularly exposed the other way.

Everton have confirmed their appearance. Probably so they can add "first academy to register for Football League Trophy" to their list of incredible achievements.

I don't think many people are saying this is the worst kit we've ever had, but just that we were hoping for a lot better, and that the white yoke (I think it looks more like a baby's bib...) looks a bit daft - if they had continued the white bit further over the shoulders it would look less like it had been stuck on. It feels like the kit design is about stamping "Under Armour" on it rather than "Southampton". By the same token, I can't understand how people can look at the kit and not think the white bit looks atrocious! Yes it's better then the two Cortese offerings, but not a patch on some of our best kits - your profile picture being one example!

Because it's worn by the team I support and I will be watching them wear it every week. I'd prefer it to be something I like rather than dislike looking at.

I did wonder about that, but I bet there are also quite a lot of people who would enjoy having a "limited edition" kit that wasn't used by the team in a way people revel in owning super rare memorabilia!

They should make 3 or 4 different shirts, sell them well in advance with the proviso that only 1 is going to be the official kit, the others will end up as limited editions. Whichever one sells the best is the design they eventually go with. I'm sure there are (and The9 is about to point them about) flaws in this idea in terms of production timelines and cost effectiveness, but at least they might end up with a popular kit...

It's times like these I'm glad we only have to wait a year for a new kit...

Well the white yoke just looks ridiculous. Like they've got some sort of bib on. It probably would have looked slightly less sh1t if they had carried the white over the shoulders a bit. Ugh, so disappointing!

Won't be long until 30m euro equates to £35m...

To an extent, but it's easy to say that when it applies to you. Do I support Southampton because they were my closest club? Or because my Dad had been a season ticket holder since the 1960s and took me to my first game when I was 5? When I started following the NFL, I wanted to support a team, but due to not having any connection with anywhere in the US at that time, I had to choose one rather than it "choosing me". I suppose it's a similar situation with fans abroad following the Premier League (even though I would agree/argue the nature of the support is slightly different).

They're too big to need new fans

In general I'm an advocate of more white on the kit, but I think red bra (just calling it that because everyone knows what it means), at least on the mock ups, looks a lot better.

It was a poor penalty, the worst since... Italy's previous one! However, as much as it is criminal not to hit the target, the real embarrassment were his pre-penalty antics. Telling Neuer you're going to chip him with a load of bravado, and then squirming it wide... Face Palm!

It was like after Zaza's penalty someone said to Graziano, "no one will ever take a worse penalty than that" and he thought "well I'll give it a good go!"

The white bra just looks weird... I don't understand why designers feel they need to make their mark by adding something totally unnecessary. Classic works. Would like to see a bit more black on the collar and perhaps lining the sponsor to make it stand out. The away kit doesn't look too bad, but not a patch on our dark blue muvi kit from a couple of years ago.

Not sure why they can't use the template seen in the Japanese kits earlier (ones that look like potential Coventry & Luton strips). Red and white instead of the dark/light shades. Seems like a no-brainer, but instead we're getting some weird looking bra across the top... I'm sure it's still better than the all red kits, but just a bit frustrating...

Townsend has signed for Palace, with Gayle going the other way.

Maybe, but Koeman wanted to take Sammy and our board blocked it at the time. ITK ;-)

Don't be entirely surprised to see Sammy Lee end up at Everton now (despite his unpopularity there). I believe we planned to keep him until the "Eric speaks French" plan came to pass.

I wish Jose would stop tapping up his Portuguese teammates...

That he could be good!

Agreed - I was thinking about last season when I wrote it, but as you say, it has been a problem area for a while.

Neither of those formations will suit Tadic or Redmond, I'll be sorry to see Dusan surplus to requirements, and would be strange to sign Redmond only to have him sitting on the bench every week. Also, wasn't one of the pre-requisites for the job that they play a 4-3-3 in accordance with the tactics played throughout the club? Not saying you're wrong on what you've heard, in fact I have heard similar, but my guess would be that Puel will use 4-3-3 and change to the other formations as and when appropriate.