CB Fry

Net spend is only relevant if we are talking about balancing the books. We're not, we're talking about competing "with the big boys" - your words. So there are clubs, like Liverpool spending between 30-60m a season building their teams. And there is no sign that spending is going to reduce anytime soon. So what I said we need to do was right. Cheers for the info. Laughable you think Saints will at some point get to a summer where they say "actually the squad is fine, no major signings needed for our push to the Champions League". It's just fairyland.

Newcastle and Everton are unlikely to ever make the Champions League. Not sure where you are getting your numbers from but one look at one club shows Liverpool spending £50m, £59m, £50m, £85 and £38m over the last five seasons, so I question your factoids. And they ain't troubling the Champions League in recent times are they? And we are in year one of the New TV deal with spending by clubs like us and Cardiff at new levels. That's the level of spending we will need to keep pace with the big clubs. And we will have to overinvest as most normal players given the choice would pick a big club not us.

How many teams have broken into the Champions League and then made "smaller and smaller outlays"? In fact, how many have moved from mid-table, to eighth, to sixth to fourth by making "smaller and smaller outlays"? Jesus Christ I cannot believe I have even bothered to reply to such nonsense, Strawlock.

Pretty sure the ambition is more than just get to the Champions League. It's Champions League with half the team from the academy. So MP will be expected to deliver that with a squad not dissimilar to the one he has now. Not convinced we are going to be spending £30-50m in every single window. So MP has to step up from current levels of performance to achieve that ambition.

Being that you don't believe our current squad is capable of finishing top half of the table and competing in the FA Cup (a feat achieved with a far less lavish Saints squad not so long ago) gawd knows how you will react if we actually do get into the Europa League. Lee Barnard getting a run out in the group stages, presumably as you fret about the league. And, seriously, if we want to have a "real good go" at the top four next season, then where we finish this season will be irrelevent. To have a "real good go" at the top four, we will need to spend £200m next summer, and the players that come wouldn't give a toss whether we finished 10th or 6th. You are placing far, far too much value in league placings and their significance beyond the season it occurs in. Sorry, I will stop this train of thought here as it is supposed to be the build up thread. (I think this theme is probably unavoidable, though)

Without needing to mention 7th is unlikely to get us a European spot, and even sixth might not (it didn't last season). And we ain't finishing sixth. FA Cup should be a massive priority for clubs like us - with a decent draw we can get to Wembley.

Lighthouse is being deadly serious. Chief cheerleader of the "Saints cannot possibly compete in two whole competitions" refrain. Might get relegated see, just like we did under Strachan when we got to the final, remember?

What are you on about, Strawlock? Did you miss the first line of my post? I'll type it again for you. MP is in no danger of being sacked. I'll leave you to reflect on what is a simple statement. Take your time pal.

MP is in no danger of being sacked. If he was then Cortese would have already started briefing his chums in the press about his plans, it would be all over the Mail and The Daily Mirror just like it was this time last year. Of course, the poor saps on here wrote it off as speculation make up by lazy lying scumbag journalists. When it starts appearing in the papers, we'll know.

So we did't spend £35m to not finish bottom. We spent it to finish mid table bare minimum.

Someone will be along in a minute to say me and you are making this all up to create a devils advocate position to argue against things that noone has ever said. No one ever said "Champions League or nothing". No one ever said WBA and Swansea didn't go for it last season and we would be better than that this. No one started a thread about us being in the title race. No one ever called the League Cup small fry. No one said "there is no reason we can't finish 6th this season" No one ever said any of it. All made up by me, apparently. Apparently everyone all along said ninth would be great as we are a humble little team only on our second season back in the Prem. So that's okay then.

Speaking of things "that weren't ever posted..." why all this pretence that you were just articulating Cortese's target? This is what you wrote, quoted below. Note the phrase "personal view" and the killer phrase "I would look at a target of 6th..." "I would" (not Cortese) "Personal view" (not Cortese) "My opinion" (not Cortese's) So NickG, my advice would be to not accuse others about "things that weren't ever posted" until you face into what you did post, without trying to bulls hit out of it.

We're in a great position to have a real good go at a trip to Wembley, and as the game is on a Saturday then absolutely no need to rest players. A home draw against a team who will definitely have other things on their minds. Go for it Saints.

Err - plenty did. People on here were talking of Champions League with top six being realistic. And what fun we had saying we were in the title race. I remember plenty of people having a pop at Swansea and WBA for "not going for it" last season for 9/10th, and how we wouldn't settle for that.

This time last year a thread about sacking the manager would have had a very similar response - its trolling, typical impatient modern day football fans, mods should ban these people - as todays thread. Of course this was back in the days of Nige being the next Alex Ferguson and the greatest English manager of his generation. By February he was a washed up clueless idiot out of his depth and thank god Cortese bravely made the brave decision, which in no way was impatient. Or fickle.

Yeah, them impatient fans and their rapid dumping of managers who have been successful. Shameful. Thankfully our Chairman is nothing like that fickle generation of impatient modern day football fans.

What are you on about, Strawlock?

You've nicely summed up exactly what I was saying. "good business...get a replacement". Yep, just buying and selling lawnmower parts. Football supporting as lived through the lens of Sky Sports News. Thanks Rickie. Kerrching.

For a similar reason certain folk get ludicrously over excited about the difference between finding tenth or eighth. Because they can attach a spurious financial gain against it. And Saints fans are now desperate to see Saints to something else "brutal" that we can then prove people wrong about all over again. Selling Lambert will be another badge of honour for the unsentimental Southampton way.

Cody Cropper is well known at Staplewood for keeping abreast of city and county council planning issues. He loves a land registry document to pore over, he does.

Melanie Chisholm Melanie Brown Emma Bunton Geri Halliwell David Attenborough

Do you think teams play Newcastle thinking it's an easy win? I don't think we are any "harder to beat" than our league position suggests. And I don't want to think our defining characteristic as a team is being hard to beat: that sounds like Chelsea or Stoke.

It's like Groundhog Day on here.

That's funny as your responses talk about tummy tickled/rolling over/get hammered/being embarrassed and all manner of other nonsense. It's you typing this stuff not me.

So the choice are "hardest team to beat in the league" or "easy team to beat/get hammered/tummy tickled". Right you are then.