mitch01

'Another nail in Luke Shaw's coffin?' He's going to be a fantastic player for them for a very long time.

Boney M, no?

Boney M, no?

I thought JWP and Wanyama were both excellent. Pelle didn't get a kick, disappointing. Yoshida far too passive for the second goal. Overall we looked pretty good, but we should definitely have taken something from it!

I thought JWP and Wanyama were both excellent. Pelle didn't get a kick, disappointing. Yoshida far too passive for the second goal. Overall we looked pretty good, but we should definitely have taken something from it!

Anyone who now decides they don't like Rickie Lambert after what he did for us is surely incapable of taking any joy from the best parts of football. Legend.

Nope, he actually retains the ball incredibly well. He does a specific job very efficiently. Win the ball, hassle, and pass it on. Be available as an option for others. A very accomplished PL performer, as seen in the past two seasons. He doesn't possess the goal threat or dynamism to play for England, but he's a super player to have around our squad. Steady? Yes. Average? No. Wanyama probably possesses greater potential with his physical attributes, but with the uncertainty around the club at the moment I do feel it's a poor decision to let such a consistent player leave. Perhaps RK is confident that Reed can step up.

Good player, shocking price. I'd rather we spent the money more wisely in January than pay £4m over the odds now.

Yep, and I feel the same about Lallana. Feel for Morgan to some extent (as much as you can feel for someone being paid to take part in what we all pay money to obsess about) as he will no doubt want to do as much with his short career as he can and could conceivably win major honours, but as a serious business with an absolute need to stay in this division we have to say no for now.

It's unfortunate for Morgan as he is one who you might usually class as 'deserving his move', but the fact is that as a football club we can't afford to let him go. Too many others have got out the door first and now he's left holding the baby, but that's the situation and he'll have to get on with it. The board have undoubtedly managed this summer particularly badly, but Ralph's interview with Blackmore yesterday gave me some hope they have at least some notion of what they want to do from this point forward, and I support our stance of 'the sale ends here.'

He's going to be a very good player. Technically he is already extremely good, just how good he can get depends upon how he develops physically in my opinion.

I like to think of myself as quite a level-headed, stoical individual - but I haven't felt this disappointed with our club since 2009. It's been clear for a while that the ambition which helped drive our excellent recent successes had lessened post-Cortese which I suppose was to be expected, but until very recently I didn't know quite how much. I sympathise with Reed and co to some extent, but the simple fact is that we have singularly failed to convince ANY of our key men from last season that it's worth sticking around for any longer. It's simply very poor situation management from those at the head of the club, and I am very worried now that all of the good work from the last few seasons has been undone - and astonishingly quickly. Everything that made us an attractive proposition has been decimated, and I think we've wasted a brilliant opportunity to make long-lasting strides in English football. Hoping it's a case of things not looking so bad in a few weeks with a few signings but - and I hate to lionise like this - I just cannot imagine this happening under Cortese. I suspected in January we had lost our 'X-factor', but was hopeful the alternative was still very good. Hard to see it that way at the moment.

Strikes me as a bold roll of the dice from the board. If he signs it will signal good times to come and demonstrate our continued attraction to top players as a good place to be. If he refuses it will make explicit a desire to follow others out the door that could be extremely damaging to how we are perceived. In purely football terms, he's absolutely vital for us now; his form in some of the home games I saw last season was sensational - Norwich and Newcastle at home in particular he was superb. His touch, pace and variety of finishing were scary.

So your suggesting that Lallana, having spent 14 years of his life at this football club, regards the fans with complete contempt, no respect whatsoever, thereby his message in the Echo was a self-serving PR stunt to boost his career? An alternative hypothesis might be that he spent those 14 years training and living at Southampton FC - probably building far more affiliation with the club than many of us can claim to have - and upon making a career-defining move to one of the biggest clubs in England was still sad to leave the place but wrote a slightly underwhelming message in the Echo while arranging to relocate his family to the other side of the country. His actions weren't entirely professional, but given his incredible service I find it decidedly easy to shrug it off.

It's bizarre. Appreciate they were great for us and wanted to move on. Disappointing but not a lot to be hateful about, it's wasted energy.

Absolutely ridiculous. He was nothing but top drawer for us. The good he did for us outweighs the bad at the end by an enormous amount.

I remember a home game to Reading in perhaps December 2008 that we really desperately needed to win. Big crowd, uncharacteristically noisy for that season. Kayne McLaggon played, Cork was absolutely superb at CB. With about ten minutes to go we finally broke through and McGoldrick scored from a quick breakaway. Could we hang on for a vital and morale-boosting win? No. Late Reading free-kick was bundled in infront of the Northam. I remember Davis screaming into his gloves in frustration at FT. We really were serial offenders when it came to conceding late goals between 2004 and 2009, a mentality that Nigel Adkins did a massive amount to turn on its head.

No, not 'happy'. As I said, I'm disappointed with how he left, it was not done in the right way - he may well have weakened our position. The point I was trying to make was that his service to us over the years is more than enough for me to forgive the manner of his exit. Not happy with how he left, yet still remarkably happy with his overwhelmingly positive contribution overall. Observe how the two sentiments can exist in tandem. To address your other points: The simple fact that he was 'dreaming' of playing for someone else is irrelevant; the guy wants what he wants, it's hard to condemn someone for 'wanting'. What is important are his actions and I personally watched him continue to attack every game for us with as much intensity as ever. Whether or not you think that merits respect, I for one appreciate it. Agree he was foolish to disclose the information, but in this case I really feel the offence is being taken not given. I thought sources close to Lallana dismissed the notion he would have gone on strike? I certainly found it hard to believe given everything else I have seen from him. Either way, that stuff has always come through the filter of media sources and I prefer not to make hard and fast judgments based on what is essentially rumour. It would surprise me massively if you really felt like Lovren and Lallana's situations were comparable. He is somebody I am genuinely disappointed by. Viking: I agree he went about it badly. Can see why other actions would be interpreted as disrespectful, but that won't have been his intention (much like the Echo page) - as I wrote above, it is not hard to see why he would see this chance of a move as one of the pivotal moments in his career and life, therefore I find it hard to criticise him too much especially given how much he has done for us. Compare and contrast with Rickie and Luke is not a fair exercise. Luke has years and years to play at the top and would inevitably have arrived at one of Europe's elite clubs while still in his teens anyway, he had little to gain from forcing the issue and probably never felt like he needed to. Rickie's move was incredibly swift and it sounds like we didn't put up much of a fight; something tells me he would have put pressure on us to let him go if he had been the key player worth £25m we were trying to cling on to. Lallana was at a crossroads, conceivably playing the rest of his career at major international tournaments and the CL, or alternatively mid-table in the PL. He didn't leave with dignity, but if he wanted the move I'm not sure his circumstances allowed him to. Hence my disappointment, not fury.

I don't have a problem with a player wanting to play somewhere else as long as his application for us doesn't change and Lallana's form was exemplary right up to the end. As I said, I'm disappointed with how he left but it doesn't warrant the bile seen on here and likely to be seen at Anfield on the first day - he had more than enough in the bank with us not to be villainised.

Come on, let's get some perspective - it helps. When a player signs a deal with us they don't sign their soul away and vow never to move to another club, they don't vow never to secretly wish they could be somewhere else or to dream about lifting the PL trophy at Anfield. They sign as a footballer, and their obligations include conducting themselves professionally off the pitch and applying themselves fully on it to maximise their club's chances of being prosperous and successful. We've had 14 years of that from Adam Lallana. That and way, way more. I can't be bothered to try to describe how many tight games he's turned in our favour and consequently expediated our rise as a club, but anyone who can't see it or forgets this easily should ask themselves what it is they actually enjoy about football. A youth academy product with dazzling feet, who helped us to some of most memorable wins and performances in the modern era, and worked damn hard to boot; I have absolutely loved watching him play since 2008. But yeah, you're right, **** him because he should be a Southampton FC employee first and a human being second. He signed a deal with us a few years ago and at one time held the opinion that he'd like to end his career at this club he loves, therefore he is not permitted to change his mind under significantly altered circumstances, when his stock has risen dramatically, ours is perceived to be in decline and one of the most ambitious clubs in world football want you to help them attack the Champions League. He's done more for SFC than almost anybody else I can remember, but wants to see if he can do something really special now. That's not brilliant news for the club but, as I said, he doesn't owe us his undying loyalty for ever more just because he signed a deal with the club a few years ago. He could have handled the situation better towards the end but he clearly felt this was his real chance to throw his hat in the ring at the very top end of his profession - at 26 he might not get another chance. He did himself no favours with his first interview at Liverpool but I'd only be upset if I saw anything in his conduct or performances that suggested to me his heart wasn't in it as the season wound down. In reality it was the opposite, he played with his typical intensity until the end. Does his admittedly ugly transfer wipe out everything that happened between that first great goal away at WBA and now? Does it ********.

That's a great shot. This with 'Forever Southampton's Goal Machine'

+1 vote for a celebratory Lambert banner rather than a petty Lallana one.

No idea why Adam isn't allowed to kiss the badge of the team he's been at for 14 years before later making a decision to join one of the biggest clubs in Europe. The two don't seem mutually exclusive to me. Would much prefer us to give both Lambert and Lallana heroes' welcomes but it appears many feel that years and years of dedication, quality and contribution is wiped out by one interview for his new team. Not delighted to hear him say those things, but did I pick up even a suggestion of diminished commitment or desire in his performances late in the season? No, he was excellent until the end. His private thoughts at the time were just that - private. Divulging them now might leave a bitter taste but we shared some unbelievable times - he's still one of my all-time favourite SFC players.

Yes to all of this. Absolutely loved watching the team last season, I don't think I'll feel quite the same affinity with the squad next season as its something that builds with time and shared experiences but I'm hopeful we still have good times ahead. We've lost some stars, time for others to step up in their place.

Rile me? Why waste the energy. Rickie's circumstances are different, we have no idea how he would have acted under Adam's. I'd much prefer to appreciate AL's brilliant contribution to our club, even if he has left under something of a cloud, than dismiss him as a classless primadona (something I have seen absolutely zero evidence for in his displays on the pitch since 2008). He's a 26 y/o facing what is probably his best opportunity to do something amazing with his career, I really don't think it makes him a terrible person for trying to force the issue. It's not inconceivable that he could win a few medals in the next few seasons rather than sit in midtable with us, why does it surprise people so much that he'd be desperate to go?