Pass the Dutchie

No problem. If they won't let Hoedt go because De Vrij won't sign, I'll gladly take De Vrij instead.

When my sister finally had the courage to come out, I gave her a hug and a shrug and carried on with my day. Not newsworthy, and nothing between us changed. As it should be. Someone's sister comes out as gay probably every single day. But if for the first time in history an active professional football player is brave enough to risk his career (their fear, not saying it should be so) and comes out as gay, it's news worthy of some attention. I fully agree we SHOULD be past being gay being a big deal. Wanting that doesn't make it so, sadly. Not everyone is as openminded. You can't magically create equality just by saying people are equal.

Nope. People here not understanding why it's a big deal to come out as a gay person, especially in a macho environment, and calling gay people coming out 'attention seekers' is pretty much the same/worse.

Obviously not. Otherwise I wouldn't have written it that way.

Lots of people in this thread who are the kind who'd say things like 'There isn't a straight pride parade, so why does there need to be a gay pride parade'. The level of ignorance isn't surprising, to be honest,

Hoot comes close enough.

Klaassen is 24. Hardly 'of the older variety' indeed.

I'm guessing the agent will have to take much of the blame. "I didn't mean it that way, but my agent said I should play along. I still love Southampton very much, and our fans have always been wonderful to me."

If we know we'll get better in return? Yes.

And it'd be fantastic if everyone would feel this way. But the reality is that we're not there yet by a long shot. My sister is still afraid to walk hand in hand with her wife in public, for the abuse they get when they do. Even gay couples in Amsterdam, city of tolerance, still get beaten up on a regular basis. Saying that there's no difference is comparable to saying 'All lives matter' instead of 'Black lives matter': obviously true, but also obviously missing the point.

Nobody will have to 'make' it different. It's different because football is still very much a macho world in which litterally any guy will admit they fancy birds with big knockers (even if in reality they don't), and litterally none will admit they're gay. That's not because they're afraid to be 'normal'. Everyone wants to live how they want to live and love how they want to love, without making it a huge statement. They won't admit it out of justified fear that they'll receive a ton of abuse from teammates, coaches and crowds. Times are changing, and the signs are hopeful. But to claim it'll only be 'virtue signallers' making them feel different sounds naive.

He's a promising player who may become really good given game time. The question is when and where. I don't think playing in the first team should be a training exercise. Play him when we can, but if we can get someone better, please do. This goes for every position, of course. Always play the best you can get, until you feel confident we're getting the result we need.

Wesley Hoedt is part of the squad (so far). I hope he plays well so that he comes here with great confidence, but not so well that other clubs will want to steal him away before he signs.

Happy for him. He was not good enough to stand out here yet. Hopefull this season will bring him up there.

If that WOULD indeed be the back four I can see Forster's confidence rising. He's got it in him to be good.

Does that mean we're done with transfers out? Clasie? Højbjerg? Gardos?

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/14/under-armour-ceo-kevin-plank-says-he-is-leaving-trumps-manufacturing-council.html

Swansea playing ultra-defensive. We must score, but I'm much rather us than them.

I enjoy what I'm seeing so far.

Nice try by Maya.

Best stream I've found so far: http://www.myfeed4u.net/watch/2148102/1/Southampton-vs-Swansea-City.html

#1 works now as well: http://www.myfeed4u.net/watch/2148102/1/Southampton-vs-Swansea-City.html

Not the greatest quality but this one is working atm: http://www.myfeed4u.net/watch/2149158/14/Southampton-vs-Swansea-City.html

Looking at it again, I think the 3rd goald was pretty even, so not offside.