The9

Well it was a cut and paste from what I already wrote yesterday, I just reordered it for clarity. As for a life, give us a chance, I only got back from Rotterdam on Saturday afternoon after a mad dash to an earlier plane after a flight cancellation, and having been to Salzburg two weeks before I was glad of a day to relax.

Despite my personal number "thing" when I played (guess which number...) I don't expect any players nowadays would turn down a transfer over it. Even I could be bought for a couple of hundred thou...

Just for the record, West Ham haven't had a number 6 since 2008/9 (Hayden Foxe and Matthew Upson were the last two) and Man City have been #23-less since Foe died at the Confederations Cup in 2003. Mind you they've only had one #27 for one season since 2008-9 as well, and I'm fairly sure neither Benjani (last regular wearer) nor Jo (2010-11) left enough of an impact to cause that.

Nothing specific any more since the recent rewrite (they've also got rid of the minimum occasions shirts need to be worn in the past few years), but numbers must be consecutive "unless otherwise agreed" - they tend to be a lot less stringent than they used to though, lots of gaps appearing. I think they're starting to view it like foul throws... http://www.premierleague.com/content/dam/premierleague/site-content/News/publications/handbooks/premier-league-handbook-2014-15.pdf Player Identification M.1. Before the commencement of each Season each Club shall allocate a different shirt number to each member of its first team squad. M.2. A Club shall likewise allocate a shirt number to any Player joining its first team squad during the Season. M.3. Save with the prior written consent of the Board shirt numbers shall commence with the number one and shall be allocated consecutively. M.4. While he remains with the Club a Player will retain his shirt number throughout the Season for which it was allocated. M.5. Upon a Player leaving a Club the shirt number allocated to him may be re-allocated. M.6. Each Club shall forthwith provide to the Secretary on Form 12 full details in writing of shirt numbers allocated so that throughout each Season the Secretary is aware of the names of members of the first team squad of each Club and the shirt numbers allocated to them. M.7. When playing in League Matches each Player shall wear a shirt on the back of which shall be prominently displayed his shirt number so as to be clearly visible in accordance with guidelines laid down by the Board from time to time, and above that his surname or such other name as may be approved in writing by the Board. M.8. The Player’s shirt number shall also appear on the front of the left leg of his shorts. M.9. The size, style, colour and design of shirt numbers, lettering and the logo of the League appearing on a Player’s shirt or shorts and the material from which such numbers, lettering and logo are made shall be determined by the Board from time to time. M.10. The colour and design of the shirt and stockings worn by the goalkeeper when playing in League Matches shall be such as to distinguish him from the other Players and from Match Officials. M.11. The captain of each team appearing in a League Match shall wear an armband provided by the League indicating his status as such. M.12. Any Club acting in breach of any of Rules M.1 to M.11 inclusive will be liable to pay to the League a fixed penalty of £300 for a first breach, £600 for a second breach and £1,200 for a third breach. Any subsequent breach may be dealt under the provisions of Section W of these Rules (Disciplinary). Form 12 has consecutive numbers up to 46 printed on it.

A wife, who was asleep on the sofa next to me when I did the first one last night, and watching something gash on tv today in the same room when I cut and pasted the information (which took about 15 minutes).

West Ham aren't actually allowed to retire Moore's number according to Premier League regulations, they just "happen" not to allocate it every season nowadays, they had a number 6 from Moore's death circa 1993 (also around the time that squad numbers came in) up until fairly recently. There are plenty of examples of it, just not in England, which is the only place it matters if we're talking about Saints doing it.

We should always be trying to sign players who are better than the ones we have as a general rule. Occasionally the definition of "what we have" is a large empty space though, and in the CB position you have twice as many players as pretty much everywhere on the pitch nowadays. In that situation being better than one of the two current CBs is good enough.

The depth comes from the players you already have being moved down the pecking order. You know, like we've been doing for the past 6 years. Hooiveld was a starter at one point, Yoshida replaced him, Lovren replaced him, Alderweireld replaced him. At no point did we consciously add a worse player - Even Forren and Gardos would have been intended to be better than what we had. Each player should be intended to be better than his current equivalent. We're not signing bulk. Even the likes of Elia and Djuricic were attempts to give us something we didn't already have. As for "you can't have 4 x £50m strikers", well, no we can't, but we don't look like signing anyone just to sit on the bench behind Pelle, do we?

The pecking order is either intended to be this or we're doing it wrong: 1. New signing 2. New signing 3. Fonte 4. Yoshida etc. Obviously with time tight and us definitely needing to sign SOMEONE, we might settle for someone who sits between 3 and 4 (as it is a huge gulf), but we should always be trying to improve on our best player with every signing.

As they were in the EL last season I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't all that impressed by it.

Glad you're so blase about potentially drawing Borussia Dortmund, Athletic Bilbao and Sampdoria rather than Vaduz, Rabotniki and Kukesi.

And if West Ham are above us as the coefficient tiebreaker regulations suggest, it could even be a whole "zero upsets needed to knock us out of the seeded places". I'm hopeful there will be a few EL upsets and fewer CL ones (there are more EL matches for a start), but it's going to be a close run thing with the seeding even if we do get through - there were only 2 CL upsets in the 2QR from more matches, but you'd expect the teams to be more even as the rounds go on.

Oh, and the coefficient tiebreaker regulations are as follows: http://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/Regulations/uefaorg/Regulations/02/23/69/59/2236959_DOWNLOAD.pdf D.7 Equal coefficients If two or more clubs or associations are ranked equally, the following criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine their final rankings: ● their coefficients in the most recent of the seasons on which the rankings are based; ● their coefficients in the next most recent season in which they are not equal; ● drawing of lots. That is still open to interpretation - but West Ham previously qualified for Europe more recently than us, so theoretically should have a higher coefficient more recently, and our scores should theoretically be equal for all other seasons since (as we've both got the basic England national score). Which would make them seeded and us not, as it stands - on form.

There's a MUCH easier breakdown of where the seeds are at the moment here (based on seedings) - as I've said, it splits us and West Ham either side of the seeding line despite us having identical coefficients: http://www.footballseeding.com/european-cups/europa-league-seeding-15-16/

I make it one, even assuming we're above West Ham.

That 100% comment above is so misleading I've tried to clarify. Another way to explain it is if there are 22 teams with a lower seeding than Saints we'll be seeded in the Play-Off round (if we're in it). Again, there will be 15 CL 3rd QR losers and 29 EL 3rd QR winners in the PO Round. The following teams will definitely be ranked below Saints in the Europa League Play Off Round (ELPOR), if there are 22 of them, Saints will be seeded. Confirmed: 1. Kairat OR Aberdeen 2. Žilina OR Vorskla Poltava 3. Debrecen OR Rosenborg 4. Thun OR Vaduz 5. Belenenses OR IFK Göteborg 6. Charleroi OR Zorya Luhansk 7. Elfsborg OR Odds 8. Apollon Limassol OR Gabala 9. AIK OR Atromitos 10. Brøndby OR Omonia Nicosia 11. Hajduk Split OR Strømsgodset 12. Krasnodar OR Slovan Bratislava 13. Milsami Orhei OR Skënderbeu Korçë 14. HJK Finland OR Astana In addition, West Ham have the same ranking as Saints, whilst Astra Giurgiu are lower than Saints - that one will be for UEFA to decide but ideally an Astra win. So we need another 7 (or possibly 8 ) results to go in our favour. They need to come from the following matches: CL 3QR - losers into (ELPOR) - in these 7 matches we need results to go with form as we don't want high ranked teams dropping into the ELPOR. Qarabağ if they lose to Celtic Partizan if they lose to Steaua Midtjylland if they lose to APOEL Molde if they lose to Dinamo Zagreb Videoton if they lose to BATE Borisov Malmö if they lose to RB Salzburg Rapid Wien if they lose to Ajax Europa League 3rd Qualifying Round (winners into ELPOR) - IF the 7 matches above go with form, we only need ONE of these games to go against form for us to be seeded. However, for every match above that doesn't go to form, we need an additional team from the left column in the list below to win as well. Dinamo Minsk if they beat FC Zurich İstanbul Başakşehir if they beat AZ Alkmaar AEK Larnaca if they beat Bordeaux Spartak Trnava if they beat PAOK Târgu Mureș if they beat St Etienne Jablonec if they beat FC Copenhagen Vojvodina if they beat Sampdoria Kukësi if they beat Legia Warsaw Sturm Graz if they beat Rubin Kazan Ironi Kiryat Shmona if they beat Slovan Liberec Wolfsberger if they beat Borussia Dortmund Željezničar if they beat Standard Liege Inter Baku if they beat Athletic Bilbao Rabotnički if they beat Trabzonspor Rheindorf Altach if they beat Vitoria Guimaraes So basically as it stands, there are 14 teams definitely below Saints, and another 7 Champions League underdogs who if they lose will be below Saints. That's 21 of the 22 needed for Saints to be seeded. Plus West Ham or Astra MIGHT be below Saints depending on how they split us and West Ham when we have the same coefficient (the coefficient tiebreaker rules will be online somewhere, I'll check). So actually, if all results go to form, we'll be waiting on a UEFA ruling to confirm if we're seeded or not as either us or West Ham could be the 22nd seed. However, any upsets in CL matches drops a higher coefficient team into the EL and will need to be offset by an upset in EL matches removing a potential seed from above Saints in the list. Lots of EL upsets is good news for Saints (provided none of them is Vitesse winning!). I've removed all mention of CL ties where either loser will be ranked above Saints (there are 6 of those) because they're irrelevant to us. Is that easier to understand?

Update on the Play-Off Round potential seeding (teams with higher coefficient than Saints in bold): We're currently 16th ranked of the EL seeds in the 3rd Qualifying Round. Top 22 teams will be seeded for PlayOff Round. 15 CL 3rd Q losers and 29 EL 3rd Q winners. Champions League 3QR (losers into Europa League PlayOff Round) Champions Route Lech Poznań Poland Switzerland Basel Above Saints (1). Milsami Orhei Moldova Albania Skënderbeu Korçë Below Saints (1) HJK Finland Kazakhstan Astana Below Saints (2) Celtic Scotland Azerbaijan Qarabağ Above Saints if Celtic lose (+1) Steaua București Romania Serbia Partizan Above Saints if Steaua lose (+2) Midtjylland Denmark Cyprus APOEL Above Saints if APOEL lose (+3) Maccabi Tel Aviv Israel Czech Republic Viktoria Plzeň Above Saints (2) Dinamo Zagreb Croatia Norway Molde Above Saints if D Zagreb lose (+4) Videoton Hungary Belarus BATE Borisov Above Saints if BATE lose (+5) Red Bull Salzburg Austria Sweden Malmö FF Above Saints if RB Salzburg lose (+6) League Route Panathinaikos Greece Belgium Club Brugge Above Saints (3) Young Boys Switzerland France Monaco Above Saints (4) CSKA Moscow Russia Czech Republic Sparta Prague Above Saints (5) Rapid Wien Austria Netherlands Ajax Above Saints if Ajax lose (+7) Fenerbahçe Turkey Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk Above Saints (6) Europa League 3rd Qualifying Round (winners into EL PO Round) Zürich Switzerland Belarus Dinamo Minsk (Above Saints if Zurich win +8 ) Kairat Kazakhstan Scotland Aberdeen Below Saints (3) Žilina Slovakia Ukraine Vorskla Poltava Below Saints (4) AZ Netherlands Turkey İstanbul Başakşehir Above Saints if AZ Alkmaar win (+9) Bordeaux France Cyprus AEK Larnaca Above Saints if Bordeaux win (+10) PAOK Greece Slovakia Spartak Trnava Above Saints if PAOK win (+11) Târgu Mureș Romania France Saint-Étienne Above Saints if St Etienne win (+12) Debrecen Hungary Norway Rosenborg Below Saints (5) Jablonec Czech Republic Denmark Copenhagen Above Saints if FC Copenhagen win (+13) Thun Switzerland Liechtenstein Vaduz Below Saints (6) Belenenses Portugal Sweden IFK Göteborg Below Saints (7) Sampdoria Italy Serbia Vojvodina Above Saints if Sampdoria win (+14) Kukësi Albania Poland Legia Warsaw Above Saints if Legia win (+15) Charleroi Belgium Ukraine Zorya Luhansk Below Saints (8 ) Sturm Graz Austria Russia Rubin Kazan Above Saints if Rubin Kazan win (+16) Elfsborg Sweden Norway Odd Below Saints (9) Southampton England Netherlands Vitesse Slovan Liberec Czech Republic Israel Ironi Kiryat Shmona Above Saints if Slovan Liberec win (+17) Apollon Limassol Cyprus Azerbaijan Gabala Below Saints (10) Wolfsberger AC Austria Germany Borussia Dortmund Above Saints if Dortmund win (+18 ) AIK Sweden Greece Atromitos Below Saints (11) Standard Liège Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Željezničar Above Saints if Standard Liege win (+19) West Ham United England Romania Astra Giurgiu - West Ham have same rating as Saints if they win (?) Athletic Bilbao Spain Azerbaijan Inter Baku Above Saints if Athletic Bilbao win (+20) Rabotnički Republic of Macedonia Turkey Trabzonspor Above Saints if Trabzonspor win (+21) Brøndby Denmark Cyprus Omonia Below Saints (12) Rheindorf Altach Austria Portugal Vitória de Guimarães Above Saints if Trabzonspor win (+22) Hajduk Split Croatia Norway Strømsgodset Below Saints (13) Krasnodar Russia Slovakia Slovan Bratislava Below Saints (14) There are no direct qualifiers for the EL Play Off Round. So, there are 15 (losing) CL qualifiers and 29 winners - that's 44 in all. 22 will be seeded. As it stands at the moment: 6 ties are guaranteed to deliver a seed above Saints no matter who wins. An additional 7 ties will deliver a seed above Saints IF the favourite loses in the Champions League 3rd Qualifying Round tie. An additional 15 ties will deliver a seed above Saints IF the favourite wins in the Europa League 3rd Qualifying Round tie. (So potentially 28 ties could deliver seeds above Saints, if more than 22 do, Saints will NOT be seeded in the Play-Off Round and will face a seeded team). 14 ties are guaranteed to deliver a team with a lower coefficient than Saints. Don't ask me what happens if West Ham and us straddle the seeding or not as they have the exact same coefficient as us - I assume we take the seeding as they are a Fair Play qualifier. That's the other 43 ties taken care of. All this is irrelevant if we lose to Vitesse of course. In effect (as Steve Grant said weeks ago), we need to hope for form results in the CL and upsets in the EL. More than 6 ties going in this manner will see Saints seeded.

Unfortunately for Charlie, Forster's contract and wages definitely do, even if he's not able to add to the on-pitch performances for now. I think having an absolutely class act like Stekelenburg around won't hurt Forster's development, never mind Gazzaniga's.

If Virgil Van Dijk is Saints "big signing of the summer" I'll still be waiting for a big signing. He might be decent, as might Chester - but neither of them are remotely near the scale of the Alderweireld loan deal, the guy had just played in a Champions League Final!

It's because they've not achieved any success in the past 60 years without accumulating so much debt they've had to have 2 administrations to write it all off, so they assume all levels of debt are unsustainable because they've never managed to pay a debt back. Oh, except the ones they have been forced to by the football authorities by the enforced ringfencing of money they haven't been allowed to spend on anything else. I can't believe there are actually still people out there who think they're a better investment than us. I mean maybe for them, with a loan of £1000 each to pay back to own... something or other... or a bargain basement investor who doesn't intend on putting any money in for the long term, but for anyone with enough money to buy them outright and actually invest to give them the infrastructure they don't have, there are probably 30 other clubs with a bigger upside and no money pit stadium (and no site for development) who could actually be sustainable.

Not very, we were only 6 years removed from the previous occurrence even then.

Stekelenburg and Forster are better than 95% of Prem sides' keepers and Davis are better 3rd and 4th choices than practically anyone else as well. We have no way of adding another keeper without just wasting money which could be better spent elsewhere.

Just like every season.

I haven't, and no-one, respectively.

I'll check the planner and tell you on Facebook.