CB Fry

We will not win or fail to win the Euros as a result of JWP being chosen or not but still a shame to not have a SFC player in the squad. Would have ben nice to have that set piece option coming off the bench as we fail to beat Turkey in our disappointing second round exit.

Feels unlikely that anyone is going to take him off our hands.

What a load of old shit. Koeman said Mane was on our list when we signed him.

Still, everyone knows that chopping and changing managers never leads to success. That's right, isn't it?

I don't believe the leadership of a professional football club would ever, ever be as idiotic as that.

I think they will hold back on "Denmark style". I am certain we will get a kit like that during the course of the contract, but they'd be mad to do it in year one. Next season I think very likely.

Yes, and this combined with Sir Clive's eye-gym means we are the most spacially aware team in Europe. #marginalgains

Blimey. I think it harks back to every good striped kit we've ever had since the 1980s, including the Air Florida one. I am the complete opposite - I hate it when we just have red and white with no black between. That's when I think we just look like Brentford or Stoke or whoever. The black makes it Saints. So I think we are definitely on opposite sides here!

Absolutely conspicuously not in the promo video, which makes sense. He was probably injured at the time anyway.

Video quite fun as well. Franny Benali has an acting future on Hollyoaks.

We were never going to get that in year one of the Hummel deal and not straightafter a non-stripes season. Maybe in future seasons. I think it's really good, lots of nice black trim which I think is integral to our look (what differentiates us vs Stoke etc). Nice one Saints.

I'm glad that you have 100% clarified that your position is the same as ours. You didn't want us to sign Adam Lallana and you don't want him at Southampton Football Club. We're all agreed on that so that's great 👍

Must have been someone else comparing people rejecting the idea of signing Lallana to people rejecting the idea of signing Kante. And someone else linking up comments from the Brighton forum. Must have been someone else sneering about how he ran rings around James Ward Prowse. Must have been someone else because you're not fussed about Lallana either way. Absolutely crystal clear.

How would he improve us if we don't sign him and pay him?

So after two pages of this nonsense you are now laying the groundwork to make out that no no no I never ever said actually sign him. So we all agree, all of us, it is fucking great that we never signed Adam Lallana. All settled. Absolute forum gold.

If you are saying we should have signed Lallana, isn't paying him £100k implicit in that? Or you're saying sign him but magically pay him less? You've enjoyed calling everyone else a genius so you must realise that.

16 starts in a full league season.

Obviously he would yes. I never, ever understand this dopey notion of "even Sir Alex/Jose/Pep/whoever couldn't do any better". Well, of course they could. That's why they get huge salaries and the biggest jobs. They are better. Absolute madness.

Do another one of your lists of midfielders and their goals and assists.

I've read some unspeakable shite on this forum but come on this is insane.

Look you think the solution to our problems is a veteran midfielder who couldn't hold down a place in the side for a team that finished below us in the league. And we should have stumped up 100 grand a week for the privilege of his 17 first team starts. Thank fuck you're not in charge.

And yet for most of the season he was on the bench. What an absolute megastar. Please take our 100k a week Adam please please please.

You forgot the one assist as well. Crappy old useless Nathan Redmond could only scrape together four goals and three assists so you can really see the contribution Adam Lallana really could have made.

Exactly- "ten games" is more than just ten games, it's an entire pre season, its all the outgoings and incomings, it's all the pre-season. 10 games and still in the shit is fat harder to fix than a clean break now. Especially as the 10-more-gamers will cling to "but we got a good point at the Etihad last month" or whatever happens in the new season and they'll push for another 10 games for him to "turn it round". And if the replacement is duff, it happens. But it still won't mean that sacking Ralph was the wrong call - we have a sustained period of dreadful form and performances that would typically get every manager sacked no question. To me he looks gone.

Except that is equally a Saints tinted perspective, incredibly common on this forum. The ones that see every other club as faultlessly excellent and us as terrible. (The ones that see the team in 18th as destined for guaranteed safety but ten points ahead Saints as doomed to relegation). The last manager before Hodgson took Palace to five straight defeats, which I think once Roy had took over was seven straight defeats at the start of the season. Palace could easily be in the mix if they pick the wrong manager and their rebuild goes wrong. They are incredibly similar to us. If we were in Palace's position this forum would be shitting itself.