Ivan Katalinic's 'tache

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.

Had a feeling that wasn't Claude. The article wasn't "interesting" enough.

Has Tim Robinson, the ref who yesterday booked Luton player Cameron McGeehan for pounding the ground in pain/frustration after having his leg broken by Michael Doyle of Pompey, put himself in pole position for the worst refereeing decision of the season, so far? http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38495434 Or has one of the preening Premier League posers, like Mike Dean or Mark Clattenburg, come up with a more baffling decision which (scene) steals it for you?

Arsene Wenger has flagged how unfair the lack of rest between games has been for some teams, from Boxing Day, and called it the worst he's seen in 20 years. Unsurprisingly, we come off a clear worst but having nearly half the amount of rest time Chelsea had is ludicrous. I wonder if it's time the Premier League started pushing back at Sky regarding some of the ridiculous scheduling of their televised games? http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38491151

Has the Ferrari F50 reference Jose makes got any relevance? Maybe they're simply off buying matching cars as they're such close brothers?

Good old Gaston. Frequently injured when he was here & now even injured when he is due to play here against us. #consistent

I was there. Away end went crazy when it went in. Unsurprisingly! There was a steward right in front of the away end who had been holding his fingers up to indicate it was 2-0 to Rovers, to wind up the away fans, and, although it didn't bring us level, it did shut him up for a bit. Brilliant goal.

Devastated by that result. A real waste of last year's hard work. Only plus point, apart from VvD, is that there's no way on earth Claude could use the word 'interesting' to describe tonight's performance.

Couldn't give a toss about Puel and the players this evening. That really was a turgid, uninspiring display. My thoughts are with the poor s*ds who have attended some or all of the away games without having a goal to cheer. They have done our club proud.

As our latest record signing, he must've headbutted Fonte and been booted out of the club. Can't have him butting supporters at a PR event, too.