Forester

I think this is right with possible change of Targett for McQueen. I don't get the negativity from some fans about the changes. These are vital players in our squad who should be itching to prove a point. And rotating helped get us to Wembley last year. I am all for it. Be interesting to see what Wolves do as they have spent big on promotion bid...

I agree with all of this. I think Fraser has started the season well looking fitter and more proactive. Did well Saturday and very unlucky that they were quicker to react to second ball than our defenders

I thought we were much better against eleven men than ten. Second half very disappointing in all honesty and we got out of jail in the end. Puel would have got dogs abuse for the insipid second half performance against ten men. Still it makes up for our bad luck last week. Was impressed by Lamina given it was his first Premier League appearance. Reminds me a lot of Schneiderlin, a good physical presence (stronger if anything), energy and wants to be positive on the ball. Will only get better. It's rare I say this but Fraser had a good game with decent saves for both goals but we weren't able to react as quickly for the rebounds

I sit pretty close to Kat and anyone who saw her watch the ML tribute on Saturday could see she was visibly very emotional. The family took a gamble many years ago, have made some excellent hiring decisions in Cortese, Reed and Krueger and leave a fantastic legacy that has given many people huge pleasure including two cup finals, two promotions and four consecutive top eight finishes. With the exception of Chelsea and Man City I cannot think of any other club for whom a takeover has had such a sustainable impact (the word sustainable means Blackburn are excluded!). Every Saints fan should be saying a huge thank you

Just a I wasn't in the "Puel is clueless" camp I don't expect to see any sustained changes in style for a few weeks under MP. However, with the exception of the very poor Hull match, I didn't think today was very much different to most (not all) home games last season. We passed the ball pretty well, looked solid at the back and lacked a cutting edge around the box. There were many games under Puel where the stats showed we DESERVED to win. Today was the same. So the world is not about to end now, just as it wasn't about to in May. I thought Boufak looked good when he came on and would like to see him start next week

Agree with lineup suggested but would have Davis number 10 over JWP

I have just seen us beat Seville, and we have finished in the top eight for four consecutive seasons, qualified for Europe twice and enjoyed a cup final. Feeling pretty relaxed personally. Shambkes, what shambles? Feels like an article written by someone approaching puberty....

I trust you saw the second goal coming from Davis pressing?

Another top ten finish would be pleasing, and I expect an improvement in points not least because MP has a better hand to play than poor Claude did, with no European football and three teams that finished above us without the extra challenge of European football returning to Europe this year. I think the key to us this season is keeping the front players fit. Am less concerned about the defence as we have a good second string back line compared to our competitors. But early injuries to Austin and Gabby would hit us hard. That is why I would still like to bring in another striker.

Yes this must explain the appalling collapse of a club playing league one football seven years ago. I mean four consecutive finishes in the top eight, European football and a cup final really does represent failure on his part. I was saying this stood watching us at Dagenham and Redbridge few years back when your club down the road was crashing out of the Premier League under Avram Grant.....

Martins Indi was heavily linked to us a year or two ago and did well on loan at Stoke last year. Was terrific as part of the ten men who held out against us at their place. If VVD goes then he would be a good acquisition

I get it now, you have cut through the argument with precision and intelligence. So presumably managers should actively plan on being crap, get sacked with consequential hit to reputation, as it's a good outcome because they get compensation? And there was me thinking that in fact the two situations were remarkably similar, namely that one of the two parties in a contract offer a multi year commitment to the other and then change their mind. You are quite right, how foolish of me

Yes I mentioned this when we fired Puel. Rightly or wrongly we surrendered the moral high ground and showed that the "long term project" was just hyperbole and that we wouldn't respect a contract either if we thought we would be better off to terminate it. That said the behaviour is reprehensible from VVD. I mean a six year contract one year ago, then injured for half of the year. Really?

I would dearly love this rumour to be true, but the analogy of "no different to three £15 million players" is flawed for the simple fact that it ignores wages. I imagine that GS could get well in excess of £100K per week elsewhere and once you start bringing one player in on considerably more than his team mates you either kick off huge wage inflation or breed resentment

It depends, if there is a player who a club are keen to move on then sometimes yes. However the more compelling argument is that if you were the new manager I would hope that you may want to actually work with and see your current squad play before you make knee jerk decisions on who you need. No?

I thought Fraser was poor in the first half of last season, but to be fair finished strongly and appeared fitter. The bigger picture I think is a senior player wanting to extend his contract which is a good sign and may rub off on others in the squad

You saying five centre backs aren't enough?

If we are to "keep what we have" why do we need a sixth centre back? Our squad is too large right now, too many disenchanted figures start to talk to journos and agents, we need to trim some more fringe players. I do agree that we need another beast of a defensive midfielder if we are playing 4231

At his best before the injury he had great feet, quick turn of speed and an eye for goal. Sadly much of that has gone. Also I think Gabby is a similar style of player but younger and, fingers crossed, not crocked. I am genuinely shocked at the fee paid as, given the gamble on fitness, I would have expected half of that fee. Good deal Les

If, and that is a big if, we keep VVD and Cedric then I think Pellegrino has a better deck of cards to play than poor Puel did. Specifically: - no European games means less rotation needed before Xmas - Chelsea, Liverpool and Everton facing European football which they didn't have last season. Chelsea probably not so relevant for us, the other two may be - Gabbi here from the start - only Davis and Long at an age where they may begin to decline - Stephens, Boufal, PEH all likely to improve second season For these reasons alone I would expect us to gain more points than last season without any real magic applied. Five to ten points perhaps? So I think we could improve our league position, particularly if we have better luck with injuries than last season in the case of VVD and Austin.

Possibly one of the most brainless posts of all time. You want him to spell out not only so he wants to sell, but also the amount? Have you ever negotiated anything in your life? Ever?

A very strange time in the UK to be downplaying Heath and Safety? Still, back to the football. Sounds like a very good appointment having read many of the articles. Let's get behind him and the club. One thing that did make me raise an eyebrow was this mention of long term project. Having moaned when the two previous managers left before the end of their contracts it's a bit rich to keep banging on about long term project when we have shown we are quite prepared to fire a manager after one season. So I think a more realistic ambition is to appoint a good manager, enjoy a couple of strong seasons and then be prepared when he leaves to find another one. Occasionally, like Puel, it won't work out but we need to buy in as fans to this approach and not moan like f!ck when a player or manager moves on. Will we as fans be capable of taking this lesson on board?

I have had a little read of your previous posts AR10. I don't think you are on very strong ground!

I did. And he was. Read my post that commented on a lack of knowledge of other candidates. So read into this interview what you wish...

What I know for certain is that Vierra has been interviewed and was at Staplewood monday. It may be that others on short list have made a similar visit, but I don't know that for sure...