Chez

except he has a EURO60m release clause. Dortmund had to include one (going against their own policy) in order to sign him. He might jump ship for Real, but I'd expect him to stay loyal to Dortmund for another season at least if anyone else comes calling.

the quality of design isn't.

He looks strong on his youtube showreel, but seems to spend a lot of time on his arse.

I really like his showreel. Obviously he can dribble, but he seems to strikes the ball well and gets his head up to pick a man out with a cross. If you had to make a decision only based on youtube video then its a yes from me. Anyone actually watched him at Bremen? He played for Vitesse in the UEFA game against us, but I don't remember anyone in their side other than Izzy Brown.

Equally I have watched so many games where we have turned the ball over cheaply because we have lacked composure or not had the players willing to risk passing it out from the back, eventually we got tired trying to win the ball back, the space opened up and we conceded a late goal. You might not be able to remember the specific hoofed clearance that caused the goal like you can with the examples above, but the end result is the same. We will have to agree to disagree with how we want the side to play. Hoof ball certainly isn't my idea of utopia.

You are basically describing Burnley. Safety first, second third, fourth...quickly, hoof it down the line, then chase it, pick the pieces, get it into the mixer and let strong forwards do the rest. It works, to a degree, but I simply don't want to see my £120m a year wage bill spent on a team that is coached to do this. I want defenders that get the ball down and keep possession not just turn it over. When you relieve pressure in this way (hoofing it), its amazing how quickly the ball comes back at you and you are stretched again. You won't hear a larger moan at SMS than when a defender hacks the ball away straight back to our opponents rather than show composure and keep the thing. We do have players like Bertrand, Stephens (and Cedric until recently) that are comfortable on the ball and can play it out from the back. I get it, you can over play, but its all about good decision making. I want my side to pass short, then get players between the lines with ability and pace and hopefully witness goals likes we saw at Spurs.

He got done all ends up by Saint-Maximim in the first half, who then put a chance on an absolute plate for Gayle. For me that was more worrying than the mistake for the goal. He was simply too slow to stay with him. Hopefully that is just down to match sharpness, but IMO he another that perhaps has needed half a season in the championship to hone his skills. I am not convinced KWP is the answer at that position, so we may need to look again in the summer.

I think Ashley has been leading potential buyers on a merry dance for years and maybe trying to to get £400m, which is why he's still at the helm. The shape of our squad and finances doesn't make us the most attractive club to buy at the moment, but there is always a buyer somewhere if the price is right.

hard to argue with that. He gets round the pitch so quickly and when in possession drives into space making things happen. We always seem a little flat and ponderous in attack when he doesn't play . I am not sure our press is all that without him either.

I'm not a big PEH fan, gives the ball away too cheaply too often, but if this clip is anything to go by, Ndombele isn't much of a defensive midfielder

yeah, they were beating Bournemouth at nottarfkrap in the FA cup a few years ago. It didn't last.

punch the ****ing thing. As soon as you saw it was a looping cross you knew Haller would be in with a chance. Very poor decision making. We all make mistakes, but that should be a fundamental. Apart from that, I thought we didnt look too bad, especially after drawing level. A little ragged when caught on the break, but what's new.

I agree. Rory Smith on the Monday night club (5Live) is decent. Mina Rzouki, Julien Laurens, Raphael Honigstein on the European football show provide excellent insight. As does Guillem Balagué. They make it their business to find stuff out, learn stuff and provide opinion. The ex pros just offer opinion and because they have played before they think they are right all the time...usually they don't know their arse from the elbow and it is rare they offer any insight that only a pro could provide.

Savage makes my ears bleed to such a degree that, despite being a huge football fan, I simply wont/can't listen to a half hour football show on the radio on my drive to work. I can't stand listening to Clinton Morrison struggling to find the words an average five yer old could muster. If you can't form sentences you shouldn't be paid to do so by the BBC, no matter how much you want to appeal to the yoof. Danny Higginbottom provides the most detailed (long winded) explanations about every aspect of the game, but in doing so, he just reveals that, despite being a professionally footballer most of his life, he knows absolutely nothing about the game. Garth Crooks brain works so slowly that you have to wait an eternity for him to get the words out of his mouth that tell us all what we already knew about five minutes ago. I just don't have the patience. I like Steve Claridge and Jemaine Jenas. They both seem to understand the game, do some research (watch a few games), articulate their opinion well and never simply repeat what the commentator has just said 5 second before.

Yeah, we're not exactly signing the Scottish Premier/Eredivisie player of the year, as we did with VVD/Tadic these days, but I guess it doesn't matter what level the come from, only the level they play at when they get here. Chamberlain was League 1 and if we sign Jude Bellingham from Brum this summer, that would be fine by me. We won't though, will we.

He was and still is quality. I absolutely loved watching him play for us. Signing that five year deal, when he could have moved to a championship club, all be it on monstrous wages, was such a massive factor in our rise from the ashes. For that alone he should be a club legend, but he acted like a ****, so **** him. Southampton FC is meant to be a club. Who on earth would want a `member' like him back here? I want us to win like everyone else, but not at any costs, and for me, it would be selling my soul to welcome back someone who acted like a complete ***** to the club. I completely understand him wanting to join Liverpool, but to threaten never to play for the club if he didn't get his move is something as a fan I can't forgive and forget. If he didn't do that, despite it being widely reported (maybe it was SFC officials putting false stories out in the press to make them look better, as some posters on here suggests happens) then everything I just typed is null and void, apart from enjoying his talent - one of my favourite Saints players to watch. He's no Jimmy Case or Henri Camera I must point out, but what a bloody great Cruyff turn he had.

Isn't BBC 2 where great comedy is first launched? I think Faulty Towers, Red Dwarf, Fast Show, The Royle Family, Blackadder, The Office and League of Gentlemen all debuted on that channel. They've obviously got a huge blind spot with Mrs Browns Boys, but Phoenix Nights, Spaced, Father Ted and the Inbetweeners apart, is any decent comedy actually made by anyone other than BBC?

"I'll never play for the club again" Nivea boy, 2014.

for clarity, he's a ****

He is on good money, but with wages always increasing, I wonder if he looks better value now than before (assuming the new contract is for the money)? I've never been a big fan (I certainly wasn't saying that when watching him score at Anfield). I just struggle to see how a forward can be so poor at finishing yet get games in the top flight. However, he certainly offers much more than meets the eye in terms of an out ball. He turns so many over hit/**** balls he turns into good ones because of his pace. That often goes unnoticed. If he left, we'd need to replace. Could we do better? - with what money and on who? I guess it doesnt matter now.

This seems like a very measured post.

the largest earner at Celtic is Scott Sinclair on £32.5k a week.

the only way that is going to be resolved is we allow him to leave for free, which would enable a club like Celtic to get close to his current wages. Even then he would need to take a cut too to make it work and Saints to send him on his way with a nice fat 'loyalty' bonus. One thing's for sure, SFC wont come out of it winning, financially.

how big is big? Everyone knows they are unwanted players on big contracts. There aren't buyers out there. There is little incentive to offer a transfer fee when they can not only get them on loan for free but have a percentage of their wages paid too. We want to sell, but the five will go out on loan again. We are already taking a hit, so to speak.

Bertrand dived. End of.