SonicBoom

I feel for the club. I'm pretty sure they know that if they buy a CB regardless of who or how much, the media and most of the fanbase will go into a hysterical frenzy claiming it is proof that VVD is leaving - even if they state he is a replacement for Fonte or whatever. FWIW I hope VVD is made to stay. I'm sure he'd have to knuckle down and play sooner or later. We don't have to love him to let him do a job for us this season. You also know that if he nodded one in in his first game back, most would be cheering the goal and chanting his name in no time.

It's just a banner on a forum mate, it's not Mount Rushmore......

I saw a story over the weekend that Kieron Gibbs wants more football and will leave Arsenal. Watford are rumoured to be interested but they can't match his wages and he won't drop his demands. When are these dopeys ....ers going to realise that if you are moving back down the pyramid then you aren't going to get the same money! If you are going from Arsenal to Watford you cannot expect the same money. Theo would have to come to the same conclusion.

Pundits are there to give an opinion. We usually like the ones that say something nice about us and get offended by any idiot who doesn't have something good to say about us. They are not employed to be right or wrong. They are employed to give an opinion. That generates discussion and reaction. People want more balanced pundits. That would probably be really bland. Just enjoy the panto. Incidentally the sky Sunday show with journos is usually good value. They do look at things in a slightly more in depth way. But again...it's all only opinions , you don't have to agree.

Clasie has never really worked. Seems an odd thing to say but he just seems to small ! Doesn't have the presence to make an impact. That said, PEH hasn't shown me anything to convince me he's going to make it either. Looks ok, but I don't see what his strengths are. Needs to deliver this year or he'll be off next summer too.

I actually feel more distaste toward Chambers. He was here from the age of 8, played 23 games for the first team then couldn't wait to leave for the greener grass of Arsenal.

I don't care how many goals we score, how many players we flog, how many managers we sack or how many dodgy Chinese owners come and go..... Just as long as we stop playing that bloody awful dirge of a song before the game!!!!!

I would just add this to the OP, (and to cover a point made by Saint Garrett) players dont get to a "decent level" then they're off. The vast majority of the players that we rue leaving us, got to the very top level and then were off. We don't lose players to West Ham, Stoke etc, we lose players to United, Liverpool, Spurs and other top 6 clubs. Are we therefore a selling club or are we a club that for whatever reason have unearthed incredible players? Everton, West Ham, Stoke, Watford, Swansea, etc etc all of them have the odd jem that the big clubs sometimes want. It is a testament to our recruitment and development that we have produced so many. Had any of the clubs around us produced those players, I don't believe it would have been any different. Top players want to go to the top clubs. I'm convinced we would rather keep them than sell, but unfortunately what the club wants and what happens are not the same thing.

I think you can tell the quality of our midfield by the fact there isn't really a "first choice". You might have your preferences, but overall they are all kind of interchangeable (although I conceded some may see this as a positive). If Davis is injured, that's generally met with a shrug as JWP will come in. If Hojbjerg is out then Clasie comes in, I'm never that excited by them and never that disappointed. Previous seasons saw us having the likes of Lallana, Schneiderlin, Wanyama, etc all of whom were on the team sheet if fit. That's what I like to see. Stand out automatic selections, backed up by decent and improving squad members.

Funny how Benitez spent a massive pile when in the championship and Newcastle were the big fish. Back in the premier he's moaning that players are too expensive. The prices just indicate the TV money. All the other clubs here and around Europe know how much revenue is in our game so the price of players simply goes up to reflect it. Liverpool will baulk at the fee for VvD but yet they still want 30 mill for Sakho.....

Er let's be honest here. Everton finished what 15 points above us? So before we start comparing line ups, have we done anything to close that gap ? I would say no. Everton have made several big signings so currently I would say they are much better than us. We need to improve a lot before we can say we are realistically as good or better than them. They are also reported to be after Sigurdsson too for 32 mill so we have our work cut out to say the least.

Adam Blackmore said yesterday that Black is very popular with the players. Seems to me that the fans took against Black from pretty much his first day due to the Villa fans comments. TBF he was there at a time when they were in decline. Most seem to have decided he was only here to translate which is patently nonsense. I guess he'll leither lstay or go depending on the new managers requirement.

"He replied with a smile and a nod" Absolutely ridiculous. If he is staying and wants to confirm it then he could put all the speculation to rest in one shot from his twitter account. "Happy to say I'll be staying at Saints for at least another season" He doesn't do that which of course prolongs and intensifies the speculation. If you have agreed to stay then I can't think of a reason you or the club wouldn't put all this to bed.

Agree with most comments on here. He was good for a few seasons but never looked back to his best. Although apparently I'm doing him a dis-service. Our player liason guy, Hugo Schekter, tweeted about Jay yesterday. He said he's one of the nicest guys in football - and a true Saints legend. Hmm you might want to lay off the fizzy pop Hugo. He was a lot of things but he certainly is not a true Saints legend.

Mark SFC since we came back to the premier league we have had ever improving finishes pretty much. We established ourselves in the top ten and are generally regarded as the best of the rest. Had we booted out Les Reed a few years ago can you tell me what you think we would have achieved that was better than what we actually did ?

There are many reasons to offer a player - or at least one that is yet to establish himself - a new deal. Just because we a giving him a new contract I still wouldn't immediately think it's because we think he is going to break into the first team. It might be to just protect his future value for example for when we do let him go. I've never seen anything from him that leads me to believe he's going to be PL quality - however I haven't seen much of him since he went out on loan so I really don't know. I genuinely hope he has developed and can step up.

Well I don't think it could happen but Wagner at Huddersfield impresses me.

Hmm I know we should expect it but it's never nice to know that your captain and highly paid player is perfectly willing to meet other managers even though he would be fully aware it's against all the rules. Nice one Virgil. He might stay for another season but I doubt he'll be regarded in quite the same light as before.

I just wanna say that getting to a cup final is not winning a trophy. People keep saying "we got to a cup final" like we won the champions league.

I actually liked Gardos when he played. I'm surprised he hasn't been given more of a chance since he recovered from what was a horrible injury.

We need to retain some sense of reality. A while back 50 million was touted which is a huge amount of money and the most we've ever got a for a player by far. Then it rose to 60. And now people are saying we shouldn't let him go for less than 70! We throw these numbers around like it's nothing. In reality we might get 50 plus a player but at those numbers I doubt it. If we get 60 that is incredible business. You would hope with that money plus surely investing some of the new tv money, we could bring some serious talent to the squad for a comparatively modest outlay. But let's not get carried away by expecting 50 then 60 then 70.... I would imagine there is a price to be agreed then the player will go wherever he gets the best deal from those willing to pay it.

My issue with Puel is that he doesn't seem to have learned. We are no more fluent now than we were at the start of the season. I can't really see a definable style of play any more now than in his first games. Other than a few players he seems to rotate the rest endlessly which works no better now than the start of the season. We all make mistakes but we try to learn and improve. Puel seems to stubbornly refuse to change despite the evidence in front of his eyes.

The club won't sack him based purely on moaning from the fans. For all we know he is hard to deal with for example. Maybe the club have seen his training methods? Who knows. The stories today highlight that the players aren't happy with a lot of things. Fan pressure will have some bearing but it won't be the only factor.

More importantly who will be on penalties this time?