Doctoroncall

Besides the odds on side of Cardiff, it gets difficult to choose the other two teams with just an injury, bit of bad form or something to knock a side down the table. Watford as I cannot see where the goals will come from and they finished last season on bad form. Huddersfield, Bournemouth or Newcastle for the last spot. Not many points will cover the bottom half of the table like the past couple of seasons.

Butts was one of the better ones but agree, either get some good quality coaches on or not bother as the pathway to first team gets harder to follow.

The only one I’ve seen is Kevin Mulcuit who plays for Lille in France.

I agree, he’s also got a great attitude. He needs game time otherwise he’ll be off. He’s a wanted man.

Getting it back on track: 1 Pep - just to see what he can do with an average squad. 2 Sarri - decent bloke and gets the most out of his players, making them believe in what he does. Balanced attacking football. I can see him getting Chelsea into the top four as long as the WC players come back and pick up the tactics straight away. 3 Klop - attack, attack, attack!

I’d bite your hand off if offered 12th. Brighton have had a decent window to build on last season so wouldn’t expect to see them relegated. Bournemouth need recruits, if it wasn’t for Benetiz I would say Newcastle are in a bit of trouble. Otherwise it’ll be close all the way up to 8th place again. Personally think 15th for Saints unless there are major recruits before the season starts.

What’s not to like going for 15th place in the league and watching a dysfunctional midfield trying to move forward when isolated from the attack?

I got the impression everyone thought it was wrong for some reason - quality, price, nepotism or type of player. Of course we have to remember other clubs do make mistakes as well- Jansen and Sissoko for Spurs for instance. But it seems Saints do excel at the dud buy in comparison to most other teams.

I think the point is the black box was supposed to make us some what better, not the same as most other teams when it came to transfers. If it’s not providing an advantage it’s not a benefit.

It’s looking like he will be joining Leeds... on loan!

What! No mention of the Asia cup?

Or sometimes a Sunday.... perhaps a Monday... could be a Friday as well.

I’ve heard Gunn is being lined up. He wouldn’t want to come being third choice but fighting for top spot with McCarthy would be of interest.

Willi Wood joined Accrington Stanley.

You’re been spending too much time on the skate thread... back away before you believe other portsmyths.

It would be nice if they could get some first team game time somewhere even if not at Saints. After all if the purpose of the academy is to raise money from sales, clubs need to know what they are getting!

It does seem odd at first but when you start to investigate a bit further it can make sense. It’s very much down to mental well-being of the individual and you’ll find examples of those that have had a trauma being drawn or have a connection to the very thing that has caused them pain: rape victim - promiscuous behaviour, alcoholic parents - binge drinking. This shouldn’t be taken as a general association for all but an individual case assessment as there could be other important influential factors.

I think that has been on the table for many a season without any evidence of actually happening. All talk, no action - it’s the Southampton way.

Lol. Good one.

BA or BSc? Could be either depending on the modules chosen with financial aspects or activities not adding up to consider.

We’ve seen it’s more about the character of the person than the stats of the team when it comes to management. It will be interesting to see now Saints have turned on the exit club pathway whether it has an impact on the calibre of player interested in the club and joins.

Well said. As a RK was a coach, he should have never been happy to sit back and not realise what was happening with Pellegrino. Did he not raise questions with Reed? Anyway. Didn’t learn from the Puel mistake and got lucky this time. He and Reed need to learn as the club cannot afford a repeat of their mistakes.

I cannot see many departures on top of those players who’s contract will expire next month. As the summer transfer window for PL teams close on the 8th August, Reed cannot dither with regards to the manager appointment and any player recruitment.

I don't know when all this occurred, if Hughes was there for some of it, but this is from the Guardian regarding Stoke players: Jesé – whose brilliant season-opening, match-winning debut against Arsenal predated months of mediocrity or complete invisibility – disappeared after being allowed to go back to Spain to care for his sick son, whose mother then accused him on Instagram of skipping hospital and spending time instead in a Madrid nightclub, “smoking, drinking and [enjoying the company of another woman] in the bathroom”. Goalless Saido Berahino arrived late for an Under-23 game and was fined and relegated to the reserves. Erik Pieters was fined two weeks’ wages for ignoring a club curfew to go to a nightclub the night before a match. Ibrahim Afellay’s attitude in training was so dismal Paul Lambert told him to stop turning up. After Stoke’s relegation was confirmed Jack Butland said their transfer dealings had been “farcical”, while Charlie Adam said “some players have been getting away with murder for a long time”. The cumulative effect of these stories was to suggest that part of the squad had experienced a total breakdown in discipline, while the remainder watched them and simmered with resentment.Future employers will want to consider this period of their careers very carefully, assuming they – unlike Stoke, it seems – do any due diligence at all. I think it highlights that unless the club is moneyed to buy known talent or winning there will be problems with so many large egos around regardless of manager and club. I wouldn't mind if Hughes does continue for the next couple of seasons at least we know what to expect.

A match day thread with no nuns! That must be a first of the season.