sotonjoe

The biggest cock up here is not the way in which they chose to allocate tickets, but the fact that the systems for purchasing proved incapable of actually working. People buying tickets online beforehand they're not entitled to is not good news for the majority. The bottom line is that the club simply don't care what happens as long as tickets sell.

Anyway, has anyone got any pics of his wife or girlfriend for us to eye-up whist we wait for something to happen?

Yeh, reports of Spurs having other high profile targets make things seem positive at the moment, but as I'm sure we're all aware there's always a chance that the press have got it wrong or that they simply change their mind etc etc. I'm just keen for Saints to push it through if they've got this close without being gazumped by the 'big boys' at the last moment, and am aware that we should be aware that Spurs have just received a big sum of cash which could change their ability to do a deal if they decide to give it another go.

Reading between the lines, it sounds as if the agent has been over for a few days in an attempt to broker a deal. He would have been doing his best to get Saints to increase their offer to what Bologna had deemed would be acceptable, and if the 14m euro rumours coming out this morning are true, he may have got Saints close enough. The Italian journos on Twitter this morning are expecting that Saints have managed to increase their bid to the figure quoted above by giving nothing to Penarol in terms of a fee, but leaving them with a 30% sell-on clause. Ramirez is expected in the UK soon for a medical and the deal should be announced comfortably before the deadline. My personal concern now is the £33m burning a hole in Spurs' pocket. If they want Ramirez, their ability to deal the deal has just significantly increased, and Saints should act quickly to capture Ramirez's signature if he remains our key target.

Stranger things have happened than Cortese replacing Adkins with Redknapp.

not bad in northam first half, but dead in the second. Too many teenagers more worried about playing on their phones than supporting the team.

fanboys

Oh God. Another sponsorship deal designed to give the players discounts they don't need on luxury products.

Yes and no. The article isn't about "best restaurants" though, it's about budget eating. I think there are some good budget options in Southampton and have already mentioned Kara. Southampton's problem if anything is that it has too many places which think they're top restaurants, with the attitude and prices that come with that, but without the quality to back it up. Most of the restaurants on Oxford Street can be lumped into that category. If I want nice, but not pretentious, dining I like to go to Hotel Terravina near Ashurst which is Nina and Gerard Bassett's current place.

Try it and see what you think, but here's my opinion. First off, it claims to be an upmarket Indian which actively tries to distance itself from the typical curry house. This is all well and good but the fact it that the food is poor and the manager a right pretentious and overbearing idiot. I've eaten up market Indian food including Atul Kochhar so I'm not a beer swilling, vindaloo slurping meathead, but I was still subjected to a 10minute introduction to the restaurant, the menu and the owner's personal philosophy when he sat down at my table. He recommended several dishes which all ended up being generally expensive in terms of what the menu with very crude and or unpleasant and or bland flavours. I left thinking it thought it was far too good for its own good but that the food was some of the most disappointing Indian food I've ever had. Good luck trying it though ;-) For reference - my current favourite Indian in Southampton is currently Sanjha on Shirley High Street which has just opened a small restaurant. Their food is tasty, seems traditional and not at all pretentious. The owner however, does know how to run a restaurant and is the chap who originally started Poppadom Express before selling it to someone else if I remember correctly I'm sure someone will be along to tell you they love Indian Melody in a moment.

Indian Melody is a monstrosity. Ennio's is a cruel shadow of its former self. If you want budget but good then try Kara, which is a Turkish charcoal grill place just down from From Your Eyes Only. It does great grilled kebabs, fish and meze etc.

Does anyone know yet why we've got less than 3000 tickets in a 60k seater stadium (less than 5%)?

The twice a year thread on the mongboard demanding that Saints keep us all more updated about their transfer negotiations.

What an utterly ridiculous thread.

Always had great service and prices from UDrive and you CAN drop the van off overnight etc as others have said re Pitter. Pitter have always quoted me higher prices than UDrive unless it's all changed in the last 12 months. At the end of the day, I guess the closest one to you is also a big draw!

£5m plus Puncheon would represent good business for both clubs I reckon.

How would failing to sell out our 1st game back in the Premier League affect our stadium expansion plans as revealed on the season ticket dvd?

The top tiers stayed seated for the vast majority of the match. I think a few stood or tried to for a bit when saints started scoring.

Attacking midfielders that can't seem to shoot anymore aside?

Makes the ropey old BnB on Hill Lane sound rather grand!

TBH, I will be mightily disappointed if he is unveiled as a Liverpool player in a few day's time after they agree a deal for a million euro more.

A translation of that article would be good. I for one am unsure why Buttner, his Dad, agent and Vitesse apparently made a mess out of our potential deal, but the Utd deal has apparently moved seamlessly within a few days. Perhaps all the parties are just much keener to get a deal done with Utd and the reported 5m euro fee is above our reported 4m euro fee.

Could you explain this clearer as I'm not sure I understand. Are you saying Utd were on the scene before us anyway or that they came in after?

You need to cut through the hyperbole, positive and negative, and be realistic about it. We would never have actually expected to get anything from the game and would have hoped to be able to walk away from the game afterwards without a huge amount of self-coubt about our ability to compete in this league. The fact that that actually happened and we didn't get absolutely stuffed is a huge relief for everybody, and this outcome is just about the best we could realistically have hoped for.

Incidentally, and seeing as the thread has been closed, I'm not sure why we lost interest in Buttner. I thought reports in the week suggested we were back in for him so to heart he's on the verge of signing for Utd is a bit of a disappointment. I can only guess Utd just got on with it whilst we had our backs turned.