Ivan Katalinic's 'tache

Haven't we moved forward with any deals this evening? It's not like we had anything else on...

F*cking phenomenal. Brilliant & well deserved over the 2 legs. Beaten Prem opposition all the way through. Some stellar performances tonight but Romeu, Stephens & Yoshida were stand outs for me.

That Mariano looks promising...

Molla Wague? http://www.croydonadvertiser.co.uk/crystal-palace-and-southampton-go-head-to-head-in-battle-for-international-defender/story-30079900-detail/story.html Head to head with Palace apparently.

Molla Wague? http://www.croydonadvertiser.co.uk/crystal-palace-and-southampton-go-head-to-head-in-battle-for-international-defender/story-30079900-detail/story.html Head to head with Palace apparently.

Not a typical Southampton signing but maybe a stop gap on loan to tide us over until summer? Or a remark on a neatly timed leak to push another deal forwards?

Darren Powell! I used to love watching Darren Powell play for us! The thrill of never knowing in which direction the next header was going...

Best is a personal one in that he will always be the skipper who led my son out with the team, as mascot, vs West Brom last Jan. Worst is how it appears he left us, if the speculation & rumour was true.

He was coming to the end of his shelf life with us but, I feel, deserves massive respect for what he did for us. All good things come to an end & it's a bit of shame that his time end didn't end perfectly but we go on & hopefully that replacement Lies Reed said we'd have before we let him go, is still around the corner.

What's going through the minds of these two gentlemen as they enjoy a chuckle together? Any thoughts, witty or otherwise???

According to Sky, West Brom have opened talks with Watford for Odion Ighalo. Whilst he's not been as successful this season, as he was last, is he someone we should be looking at too?

I'm not sure how regularly she goes but she was most definitely there as recently as December for the Boro game because I saw her leave the ground! Clearly, she's not as dedicated to our club as Markus but she has still ensured our survival by retaining her ownership. If she's now exploring potential new owners because she's decided she's done enough then fair enough, I say. We need our owner to have a tangible interest in seeing us continue to progress for us to kick on any further then where we are now. Whether that person or group exists out there, who knows.

I'd agree. We need someone to grab hold of the ball, retain it and then look to bring others into attack, as they join him, rather someone else who will flit in and out of the game. We have enough of those already! Still, if he does sign, let's hope it works for both us and the player.

I seem to recall he plays on the left like a left sided Nathan Redmond. With him & Redmond, I could see us returning to a diamond with split forwards again...

So Gabbiadini on loan with a permanent deal to follow, if it all works out? Hopefully, he'll have an Alderweireld like impact here rather than a Zaza like impact at West Ham (& we actually manage to seal the deal at the end, if he does do well).

I seem to recall us being linked with him when Koeman was here. Will be one we missed out, unfortunately, IMO.

Is he well connected at the club or a talented soothsayer? If so, that would be good news!

I agree. I loved those days when you found a nugget in the lower leagues, even if they didn't always turn out to be good over the longer term. Brett Ormerod; Mickey Evans, anyone?

As I said on another thread yesterday, I'm finding it quite amusing watching what mega money can do to unsettle even our own biggest clubs and their star players. It's what's always happened to most so-called lesser clubs in the league and it's nice to see them get their turn now and to see how they react. It's also interesting to see which of their badge kissing stars are the first to want away when mega money is waved under their nose. It'll always happen to us; it's nice to know it may start to happen to the Uniteds & Chelseas of the world soon, too. Anyways, during the course of this post, I've received an uber money offer to spout nonsense on a Chinese forum, so I'll be seeing ya...

Even though today's snippets are potentially positive, I always open this thread thinking "oh b*gger, what's happened now" when I see there are new posts. For me, it gives a sense of just how important a player he is for us now. Definitely one of the top 2 or 3 centre halves I've seen play for us in the past 40 years.

I think it's quite funny seeing the big clubs starting to get picked off by the super rich Chinese, in the way they've traditionally done it to other sides. Doesn't really affect us, we already get picked off each year...

Oriol: "...and this is for that f**king Nivea advert!"

5 goals in 18 games for Monaco so far this season, according to Transfermarkt, & I imagine he's been playing second fiddle to Falcao for much of the season so far. Plays centrally or wide left so I can see how he'd fit Puel's philosophy.

Could've been more, should've been more but the performance was far more like what we've been hoping for. Some excellent individual performances as well. It's a lead, albeit slim, but I'm sure most of us would've taken that Bertie the match kicked off. A clean sheet at Anfield & we're off to Wembley...

Les Reed sold them. On the plus side, he has a new TV and has booked a nice cruise in the summer with the proceeds. We'll be buying some cheaper overseas ITKs soon to replace them, in the hope they develop into new saleable assets. We'll also look to develop our own youth ITKs for the longer term. It's the Southampton Way.