Nordic Saint

Our success was largely due to our former Head of Recruitment, Paul 'Black Box' Mitchell, wo brought us the likes of Mane, Wanyama, Pelle, Bertrand, Lovren and Alderweireld and although van Dijk signed after Mitchell left, we'd already been linked with him. Mitchell's replacement, Ross Wilson, has been a failure. It goes to show that recruitment is largely determined by the appropriately named Head of Recruitment, not by Les Reed, who was happy to take the credit for Mitchell's work but has hidden to let Ralph take the flak for Wilson's failure. It will be interesting to see who RB Leipzig sign this summer as that's where Paul Mitchell and his black box work now.

No, he was in Kiev to watch Liverpool and I expect he'll be on his way to Russia to enjoy the Wrld Cup finals. He'll probably manage to squueze in another holday as well, like he did in January. Old Les knows how to enjoy life. You can see that from his ever expanding waistline.

Treasure that one. That's a club record signing.

Based on his malleolar injury, which kept him out for more than a month in 2014/15. his groin injuries iwhich kept him for months in 2015/16, his hamstring injury which kept him out out for weeks in 2016/17 and his knee injuries which kept him out for months in 2017/18. He managed just 15 league appearances in Scotland last season, although that's partly because he's no longer considered good enough to be a first team regular.

Another factor which could affect the Premier League's popularity in future is the rise of the Chinese Super League, with the money available and the massive number of local fans, potentially football's equivalent of the IPL.

If recent transfer windows are anything to go by, I fully expect us to try to sell 1 or 2 of our best players and bring in inferior ones. But, apart from Bertrand, we don't have anyone left now who'd attract a big transfer bid. Our best players have all all been sold already. Armstrong, an injury-prone player, surplus to requirements at Celtic could well be our first signing. The new Neil McCann?

"Armstrong failed to make a big impact at Celtic Park last season, only starting 15 league games for the club." More of a Hooiveld type signing than a van Dijk one. Let's hope there is no truth to the story because it looks like the downgrading in he quality of the squad is set to continue if we are looking to bring in players as mediocre as Armstrong.

He wasn't exactly given a hero's welcome by the club after he won the European Championship, was he? I think they'd already decided it was the last opportunity to get a big transfer fee for him. Then we got the usual club PR spin about how he was unsettling the rest of the team and something that sounded as though it came straight out of Les Reed's mouth, the oft-repeated "Billy big boll--ks," which was a load of boll--ks as Fonte has always struck me as being a very humble chap compared to most Premier League footballers. Les Reed has a bigger ego than Fonte.

Fonte won his 30th cap for Portugal tonight in, playing the full 94 minutes in a 0-0 draw against a Belgium team, which included Lukaku, De Bruyne and Hazard. It would be great to see him add a World Cup winner's medal to his European Championship winner's one. Although underrated by many Saints fans, he was the team leader and backbone of our rise from League One to the top 6 of the Premier League. He has arguably been our most influential defender and captain this century. Since his departure, we've not been the same.

83/84

Last season was dire. We became a bunch of losers who hardly ever won or even played well. A Pochettino The real choice is the 2015/16 season. At the end of that, we felt great.

Sounds like he's back from Kiev then. Let's face it, nobody's going to offer him another job, no matter how many he applies for. Looks like we're stuck with him.

The problem is that Hoedt wanders way out of position at crucial moments and then meanders back slowly, like Hooiveld used to, leaving other players, including Cedric and Bertrand, to cover fro him in the centre of defence.

His most effective position is midfield. He's only 23 but he always looks a real goal threat when played in an advanced position. He's got a hell of a shot and scored 6 goals in 8 PL2 games last season. There were times last season when I think he could have solved the first team's goalscoring problem. I'd prefer him to Redmond or Ward-Prowse.

Judging from Saints' last 2 transfer windows, I'm not so sure about that. All we got was Carrillo. The last window when the squad was really strengthened was back in the summer of 2015.

I really rate McQueen. He looks a more talented player than Ward-Prowse or Targett, as he has strength, pace and that very rare quality in our current squad, he is a good finisher. I think he will turn into a very good attacking midfielder. We will regret selling him.

Let's hope not. We need a clearout of the dead wood. One ex-goalkeeper as a first team coach is enough.

Ben Gibson, Nick Powell, Carlos Bacca and Nils Petersen.

Why on earth would Vicenza be our feeder club? If Gao buys them it will be for the ssame reason he bought Saints, to help promote Lander Sports new chain of soccer centres in China. https://www.caixinglobal.com/2017-03-08/101063881.html

An all-expenses paid trip to Kiev to see his beloved Liverpool play? I wouldn't be surprised if he then pops up at the world cup finals, all on business expenses of course. Hopefully, he'll manage to fit in a proper holiday in between.

Haven't Kat and Gao's 'innovative' accounting techniques already attracted some interest in both Germany and China? https://www.90min.com/posts/5107050-german-tax-inquiry-could-force-southampton-owner-katharina-liebherr-to-sell-club https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/3422978/premier-league-blocked-gao-jisheng-200m-southampton/

Another factor is that as he has got older, he has got fatter, slower and lazier. So much of what doesn't happen at the club nowadays reflects laziness at the top.

You sir are very astute.

He's 66 this year, he is not keeping himself in good shape. In fact, for someone involved in a professional sport, he's setting a very poor example. With the facilities at hsi disposal he could at least make an effort. He appears lazy and set in his ways. A lot of what's happened at the club recently suggests there has been an air of lethargy and stagnation about the place. His mental and physical energy levels are clearly in decline. He's not going to do any better. I know you are a big fan of his, Duncan, but his best days are clearly behind him. It's time for someone sharper and younger, with more energy and enthusiasm, to take over.

Well, as we have the 12th biggest average gates in the country this century, in spite of our limited capacity, and social media figures indicate that we have one of the 10 biggest fanbases, that was hardly a massive overachievement, was it? Admittedly, in terms of trophies won, for a club of our size, we are historically just about the most underachieving team in the country and last season was another example of it. It's still underchievment though. If you want to see real overachievement, you need look no further than Bournemouth, who finished above us.