The9

After already having done it previously with Wolves and Norwich.

It doesn't suggest anything, we have no idea which of the numbers 1-4 we will be, it's (probably) not related to the seeding pots (which we don't know of which we will be in anyway other than we can't be top seeds). Also, not beaten Midtjylland... yet. So all you really know is "there will be Europa League match near your birthday". Which UEFA could have told you before we even qualified for it.

Good to see irrelevant ramblings about terrorism are still high on the list of taxi driver banter anyway...

Pochettino probably has little to do with their signings. Paul Mitchell however has clearly already had an impact, as they've stopped scatterbombing anyone they've heard of and focused on a couple of key positions. They're looking likely to be better than last season, which is annoying.

Anyway, getting way ahead of ourselves here.

Oh and just for an early heads up, in round of 32, the 12 group winners and the 4 CL 3rd place teams with the best records will be seeded and play the group runners up and the other 4 CL 3rd place sides. So coefficient is out of the window by then. At that stage you can't play anyone from your group OR anyone from your country. The first round we could play Spurs or Liverpool is actually the last 8 (QF).

Agreed, what I want to know within a week of the draw is how many aways will be needed for any of the three group aways. (If... Etc) Because I'm planning on attending all of them and I want to ensure I maximise my chances of getting tickets and minimise cost (though on that front, booking a flight back within 2 hours of the group stage draw was not smart). Even if the number of matches to attend changes across the 3 matches, they should tell us at the start of the whole stage, they already know which aways in the Prem will count by the fixture dates and can decide how many other EL ties you'd need to attend to get priority by then too.

I have 2 of those at the moment...

So, now I've got my head around it... There are 48 group qualifiers, seeded in 4 pots of 12 by coefficient. To keep teams from the same country apart they'll likely be subdivided like they have been in the predraws so far. This would mean that there would be 3x 1st seed 3x 2nd seed 3x 3rd seed 3x 4th seed For 4 batches of teams, total 48 teams. Let's call them Batch1 for the 12 teams to make up groups ABC, Batch 2 for DEF, 3 = GHI and 4 = JKL. Teams would then be drawn into one of the 3 possible groups they could be drawn into. Top seed Numbers 1-3 are drawn to go into one of Group ABC and that's repeated for DEF, GHI and JKL across each batch. Just to confuse things they'll also draw the team's position in the group (fixture slot 1-4 as listed above), which they might do for each group separately. Then it's repeated for the second seeds, drawing 4-6 and applied across all 4 batches, then third seeds numbers 7-9 (prob including Saints) and finally the bottom seeds 10-12. Eg if Saints were in Pot 3 but batch 1 (can only be drawn into Groups A, B or C) they could only play other batch 1 teams but it could still be any of the 3 top seeds in their batch, any of the second seeds in their batch, and any of the bottom seeds in their batch. Putting Spurs and Liverpool in different batches to Saints (eg Groups DEF and JKL) would guarantee we couldn't play them, as per the rules. Just a reminder that the pot seeding from coefficient doesn't place the top seeded team in fixture position 1. We're likely to be in the 3rd seeding pot. Anyone follow that?

I was about to attempt to work out how they'd do the draw, but it was starting to melt my brain. But basically I expect as well as the 4 seeding pots they'll again split them into subsections.

Just a little insight into the Group Stage in case we get there. The matches are set in a fixed schedule: http://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/Regulations/uefaorg/Regulations/02/23/69/59/2236959_DOWNLOAD.pdf Once the play-offs have been completed, the 48 remaining clubs are drawn into 12 groups of four in accordance with Paragraph 13.05. Clubs from the same association cannot be drawn into the same group. The following match sequence applies: Matchday 1: 2 v 3 4 v 1 Matchday 2: 1 v 2 3 v 4 Matchday 3: 3 v 1 2 v 4 Matchday 4: 1 v 3 4 v 2 Matchday 5: 3 v 2 1 v 4 Matchday 6: 2 v 1 4 v 3 So depending on which position 1-4 (not related to the seeding) we're drawn in the group we will know our schedule immediately.

I'm more than happy to remove any recent grounds for gloating before adopting the moral high ground anyway. And anyone who thinks we'd field a weakened team... it would still be five times better than anything they could put out.

Evidently, given that the Pavilion rebuild didn't start until more than 5 years after they had left.

Erm, so losing three games where we failed to defend a lead doesn't suggest we'd have benefited from having an experienced defensive midfielder like Cork playing? Not sure I follow your logic there.

Are we even remotely surprised that this has happened though? The only reason we had so many English players in the team in the first place was because we'd come from the lower leagues, and for years the only way to replace players cheaply and with quality USED to be cheap imports. Of course due to the change in the Academy rules and the resultant stockpiling of talent, the new way to replace players cheaply is to buy them from the stockpiling clubs who can't keep all of them indefinitely and at some point they become so poor value compared to cost they're not worth keeping. So instead of getting the top talent coming into teams directly into the side when there's a gap to be filled, everyone goes through the top clubs and out the other end "Robbie Savage"-style before ending up somewhere if they're good enough. I might have predicted this would be the new model a few years back, when they first announced the EPPP, but there you go. As far as the vision goes, just Cortese bull, exposed in summer 2014.

6.384. I'm not sure there's all that much in it to be honest, much of a muchness going forward and once he gets used to Prem pace Cedric's defending will reach the decent-enough levels of Clyne's.

We conceded 2 goals in successive away games towards the end of the season because we stopped being any good at defending and/or trying, which coincided with either Wanyama or Schneiderlin being absent.

Completely expecting it. Plus Mane, and Fonte.

1. What is your opinion on your manager Ronald Koeman? What are his good points and what are his bad points? He's amazing, level headed, a perfect fit for the club, has a sense of humour, proven player and happiest I've been with a manager since Strachan. His bad points are that he won't retweet my photos of me eating chips with ketchup (not mayo) from Holland preseason. That's literally the only bad thing I have to say about him. 2. You have made 8 signings so far this summer, who are the ones to look out for? Stekelenburg has been outstanding so far on the few occasions he's been troubled, behind a less than stellar defence still missing Alderweireld and Schneiderlin's influence. Cedric is already showing signs of being a more than adequate Clyne replacement and Romeu and Clasie might help with shoring up in front the previously strong defence. Juanmi might have an upside but hasn't played much yet, and Rodriguez, as the cliche goes, is like a new signing after 16 months out. 3. Who will be the key threats to Everton at the weekend? Mane and Pelle - oh and your defence scoring own goals if the last two visits are anything to go by. Wanyama has been a monster the past few matches and has been everywhere just getting the ball back and using it well, stepping up his involvement nicely now Schneiderlin has left. 4. Where will be your weak points? Targett's not as accomplished as Bertrand at left back so we lose something going forward from there, and the defence is still reshaping with Yoshida/Caulker alongside Fonte. There's a huge Schneiderlin-sized gap in midfield which I'm hopeful Romeu or Clasie can fill, but we're not the rock-solid unit we were for most of last year and Yoshida is usually good for one gift a match. Not conceding two goals would be nice, it's been happening a lot recently. 5. What are your season ambitions? Last 16 of the Europa League and top 10 would be fine by me, though winning something or even just getting to Wembley (preferably twice) would be great too. Can't see us matching last year's league finish unless we sign someone superb to play CB, and even then the defensive midfield is likely not to be as good. On to Everton 6. After a great first season under Martinez and disappointing second, how do you think Everton will do this season? The lack of European football should make things a bit easier, top half, in and around Saints, Palace, Swansea and Stoke for the places not taken by the usual suspects. Injury problems will need to go away soon to challenge the top 6. 7. What do you make of our manager Roberto Martinez? Honest, considered manager with his systems and a pile of planning, you seem like a good fit provided he doesn't see your goals as the same as the ones Wigan had. 8. Who do you see as the biggest threat to the Saints in the Everton side? Lukaku, more on reputation than ability in the past year though. Deulofeu looked decent when he was on loan before so could be a problem if he gets up to speed quickly. 9. Where do you see our weaknesses? Can't say I've been paying too much attention, but losing Baines has got to hurt, and the kid you've plugged in there will probably be tested. Finally – Score predictions? 2-1 Saints.

Overall, I'm sticking to my theory that he's here this season and gone next summer, it's due.

Do they think anyone in the Phillippines knows who they are nowadays then? Even I only barely remember them winning the European Cup, and Forest won it twice within the 4 years prior to that. Nottingham Forest, ffs. Back in a time when you could barely watch the European Cup Final in Britain if there wasn't a British team in the final, never mind around the parts of the world they think they're famous in. Them and Newcastle are the has-beens of the Premier League.

As the only way you could get to them was to walk right to the furthest corner at the back I'm guessing a lot of people just decided to go elsewhere. There were also about 20 rows' worth of people permanently stood on the steps down the wall side of the stand so that would probably account for about another fifty to a hundred or so available seats.

Like I say, I can see him going to one of the top 6 (either Spurs or Liverpool to be honest) in 2016, definitely can't see him going to one of the bottom 10 now.

Van Dijk and Caulker, replacements for Alderweireld and Gardos. So, as Saints "would not let him leave without signing a replacement centre-back", we're not letting him leave.

I love this. Last season when Pardew nearly got Newcastle relegated. I stopped reading at that point. That's up there with Portsmouth building a 60,000 stadium for detachedness from reality, that one. http://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/2015/06/25/newcastle-sunderland-reviewed/ "Newcastle finished the season in 15th place on 39 points. The second half of the season (after the departure of Alan Pardew) was truly dismal, with 26 points coming in the 18 games before Pardew left and only 13 points in the 20 games when John Carver took over." You can't blame Pardew for problems that didn't exist when he was still manager. PS Keegan second time around was sh111te and so was Shearer, so "strangely the managers and players we've effing loved are those that done well" doesn't hold any water either.