The9

Having been to the San Siro to see Inter v Torino last year I'd be pretty annoyed if Saints drew them...

Getting close to knowing the "either ors" for the Group Stage with the Play-Off Round ties, from which we'll be able to work out best and worst case seeding scenarios...

Well it bloody well didn't work on Saturday, and you can't reasonably expect Romeu to drop in between the centre backs every time a full back goes chasing up the field into the position of the left sided midfielder for a couple of seconds leaving a huge gap which the opposition can easily exploit with a couple of passes into the gaping space.

Not in either of Reed or Hesketh's positions.

Cheers for the heads up by the way, I just laid myself down on the altar of Mike Ashley... also bought the away socks and home shorts while I was at it. The shorts are weird, I tried on S,M and L and they're VERY slightly different sizes - I got into all of them and the large is only about an inch longer than the small lengthwise - though they are at least a bit different around the waist.

It's first come first served and no idea what's going to be open. I suppose you could go online for the Bilbao tickets and see how many we've sold and take about 10% off that for it being midweek and people being forgetful - though the only people I know who aren't going to one game are going Weds and can't make Sunday.

Speaking of which, they've just stuck some new banners up outside the ground, one of which is basically the hoop pattern off the socks...

Maybe it's a photo of our real changing room.

They can easily avoid that by losing their group games...

But... Sheffield United...

The white ones also have 4 white stripes...

Because he's on the bench.

I suppose McCarthy is also blocking the path of players like Reed and Hesketh? I haven't YET seen either of them play in any of the positions Pied plays. Now if you'd said Valery, you might have an argument.

That's a very "Saintsy" type signing... ripped from the black box.

Arsenal have been doing it for a while, it's just a "media round up" of what's online or being reported in print media so they get some of the clicks the bullsh#tters get for making it up in the first place.

Literally against the rules. There are no more emergency loans and players can only be recalled during transfer windows now (not that the Premier League rules have changed).

Amazingly we found a chain hotel in Salford Quays for under £30. Though we are flying there and back and (stupidly) went with the 5pm option back on the Saturday, buggering up my chance to sneak in a Rochdale or Oldham match on the Saturday and tick another one off the list.

Ha, you want to see weird? Go to the "home socks" page on the SportsDirect website and mouseover the photo, for which the description is "white" but the main photo is red: http://www.sportsdirect.com/under-armour-southampton-home-socks-2016-2017-373286?colcode=37328601

I was actually quite annoyed they had signed it "for me", I preferred it without.

Interesting enough that I'll be buying a pair when I find them.

And yeah, every team, every kit, every season. Even the halcyon days of having some 2 year kits seem way off now. The last Saints kit that was INTENDED for two seasons was the last own-brand shirt sponsored by flybe. The last shirt actually used in two different seasons was the yellow Umbro from the Championship season due to lack of Cortese planning and our stupid all-red home and all-white away Umbro season back in the Premier League, and the last home kit actually used in two successive seasons was the Umbro flybe which would have been replaced in 2009 had we not been in administration - though this is an assumption on my part based on us not being able to afford to replace the charcoal away shorts and socks with the away kit during the previous season and gradually migrating to red ones!

We will need a third kit for Bournemouth, but as they don't even look like they're selling a plain-back version of the home shirt for the Europa League, I'm not holding my breath for a third kit we can actually buy. As for the yellow Newcastle away shirt, I'll sell my signed Jose Fonte boxed one with certificate of authenticity... but only for upwards of £750. I need the money at the moment...

I'd completely forgotten about Doncaster. I'll go for them to win it. Carlisle, Cambridge, Cheltenham, the Skates, Plymouth, Crewe, Wycombe, Luton, Colchester and Notts County for my promotion and play-off contenders (in no particular order). Actually that's more like a top half. Newport look to have recruited better than Barnet, Morecambe and Crawley, and they've got a little bit of depth, so I'm sure they'll (we'll ) be happy enough with that. Not entirely convinced Accrington will maintain last season's form either.

Italian clubs don't really "do" season tickets on any kind of scale though, they've always been very selective about the matches they attend, and most don't commit to STs. Just out of interest, the cheapest ones are only 205 Euros for the second tier behind the goal (though most are 350-550) - which underlines that it's a cultural thing, because that's pretty cheap... as a comparison, Luton's behind the goal alongside the away fans are £290 and £370 everywhere else.

You're paying more attention than me - but had Notts County not been taken over AND added "Newport and Oldham-saviour-cum-Judas" John Sheridan as manager, they'd have been my bet for relegation this year. As it is they're an outside bet for promotion. I suspect Blackpool will finish in the bottom half unless Oyston actively plans to ruin them, too. Anyone else coming up and anyone coming down will be a contender for at least playoffs. I can see Crewe going back up, and Cambridge and Plymouth should be a contender from those sticking around too.