Forester

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...

Sean Dyche.....

Funnily enough I wouldn't have a problem with Poyet. Did a great job at Brighton, kept a very poor Sunderland team up and was harshly sacked

You realise he got Watford promoted, yes?

Sad for Puel, was a long term appointment and 8th and a cup final is far from a disaster despite some poor home performances. If it had to happen then it's good to get it done. However we are gambling and the downsides are significant. Life gets much worse than this as a Saints fan. Finally the club have shown, along with most others, that loyalty is a thing of the past so we should not bleat if a manager or player does well and wants to break their contract and leave early. It cuts both ways.....

As other have said, a very good opportunity to get lots of points on the board before November. We will be in big trouble if not top half at least by end of October. But let's be positive, could really set the tone for a great campaign if we go well. I always look to avoid the big squad clubs over Xmas who rotate with more success so am disappointed to see away trips to Spurs and Manure in such quick succession

No I disagree, given multiple opportunities and rarely taken them. In addition, assuming we want to bring in additional quality which is badly needed still to replace Vic, Pelle and Mane from a year ago, you have to move some people on. Otherwise you end up with a bloated squad which breeds discontented little cliques and unhelpful newspaper articles.....

I agree with you about not wanting him to go, albeit with the events of the last two weeks I think it is sadly inevitable. But he is supposed to be on £3 million per year. It's mad to fork out £6 million for two remaining years if someone else will take him on with only the difference to pay, if that. It's worth waiting a week or two for that. If it went on until July I would agree with you, but I cannot imagine it will

This comment is beyond stupid. While you go and get the money to pay him off from your own bank account, could you also use the travelling time to work out which other club had an offer on the table for Adkins to takeover on the day we sacked him? Keep us posted....

I for one am very happy for Puel to stay. It's looking less likely by the minute. Am I the only one doubting that, should we pull the trigger on Puel, we could attract a top manager while the question of a takeover still hangs over us? I guess if you had someone truly from the A list (Emery, Simeone etc) they may be fire proof. But the very good managers just below that level I think would be very cautious until ownership is clear, and consequently finances...