alehouseboys

That was eventually a good pre-season performance against reasonably strong opposition. Still about match fitness and giving all players that could feature game time. We've stepped it up and the manager addressed formation issues second half. Sevilla will be a test next Saturday depending on what side they send out at St Mary's as they also play Everton the following day. And they're playing 2 games in 2 days in the Emirates Tournament this weekend including facing Arsenal, so will be interesting to see how get on in that one. La Liga kicks-off a week later than the PL.

https://southamptonfc.com/news/2017-07-29/live-saint-etienne-southampton-pre-season-friendly

£4m to £20m is some price inflation in just 2 years, particularly for a supposed dud...and when I say "quadrupled" it's even more than that, just didn't know how to express 5x!

Spurs bought Wimmer for £4m, he's made 15 appearances, been accused as being the worst CB ever to play for them but he's miraculously gone up in value to a reported £20m. http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2017/07/26/tottenham-hotspur-fans-react-on-twitter-to-kevin-wimmers-display/ We signed Gardos for around £6m, he's made 18 appearances, how much must he be worth now? I've no idea if Wimmer is a good fit for us or not, just crazy that underperforming players that can't even get in their side can quadruple in value in such a short unsuccessful space of time.

Absolutely. The club wouldn't have offered him a lucrative contract extension just a year ago if they really believed he would then demand a move a few months later (January I understand this all started). If they thought this was still a possibility after the new terms were agreed they wouldn't have bothered and saved themselves a small fortune in 12 months of vastly increased wages for the ungrateful fella (6 months of which he hasn't even played). Van Dijk happily took the money, the commitment and the responsibility of captain (a fine example that's turned out) - the player and his agent are the only villains here, imo. https://southamptonfc.com/news/2016-05-07/van-dijk-signs-new-six-year-contract-with-saints

I've read elsewhere he's also linked with a loan move to Newcastle.

That's a bit strange, Swansea only took around 2,500 tickets and Block 43 was on sale (and a number of seats already sold) to home fans a couple of days ago but now showing on the OS as unavailable. If they've now offered the visitors more they'll have to relocate Saints fans who've already purchased in that section.

They are dividing the visitors stand behind the goal this season but Newcastle got just over 2,300 https://www.nufc.co.uk/news/latest-news/ticket-alert-100-points-for-huddersfield-tickets Hopefully we haven't done our usual trick of taking the first allocation and not even having the option for a second batch but I reckon 1,500 is probably all we'll get. Think this will be a popular trip.

'...and Mr Klopp, do you think Southampton should take the same stance as yourself and insist they need to "keep our key players" and “I can say 20 times, he is not for sale", no doubt you would say that is equally important for SFC?"

Nutshell. Now if you've changed your mind Virgil (a fine example of a captain), slap in a transfer request and we'll go from there...

Not a chance, no comparison in the slightest. One a big club that's really only p*ssed us off a bit in the past few years (like Spurs and Everton before) but no real rivalry. The other, a little club but due to geography and antics of their gobby fans a lifelong "hatred" is understandable.

Just corrected that, then we can still tell them to just fook off. Then sell him to Chelsea for £5m less for the chuckles.

That's all you needed to put Trousers. It's a f'kin training kit, don't anyone lose sleep over it.

English football in general, but I agree, the Premier League is shocking. Long overdue, absolutely ridiculous why it hasn't happened yet and as it stands (no pun intended) an accident waiting to happen with persistent standing in unsuitable seating areas, that they'll never stop.

I would say there's a good chance we could see his return, and probably a very good move, if it is Pellegrino. As far as I know, Lee never left under a cloud, just a natural progression following Koeman's departure. By all accounts a top geezer to have around in the dressing room and on the training ground and a welcome familiar face for some of the players. But aint he heavily involved in the England set-up now?

Yeah, seems a good fella, and despite his 2 spells down in the land of the deluded, only have fond memories of him and his time here. My jaw dropped when we first signed him tho!

As the club are clearly listening to the fans about the kit at last, can I get my request in early for 2018/19 please Mr SFC? The new gear is great and a shame it will only last a year, so as we'll no doubt go back to stripes next time, how about the colours we wore for the first half century as a team playing in stripes?

Looks like that's probably the new training gear to me. No Virgin logo and have heard it's a far classier affair than last season's cheap-1980s-look.

Who wants to tell 'em, it's already here? And we've all seen it.

I'd suggest the away colours are the same as the change strip back in the Keegan era but with a twist to keep stripes involved. Not a shirt wearer myself but both kits look pretty good to me...if correct.

"The Churchyard" who came up with that one? Sounds like a skate p*sstake. Second thoughts, actually ties in quite nicely with all those quiet-as-mice gatherings that get in the Chapel.

There was a very genuine reason it wasn't available for the cup final, there wasn't any stock. We were set to play in the black kit but the players requested the white. There was never enough time to get it manufactured and distributed in time. It was only ever planned to be used for the Bournemouth away game so never mass produced.

No they don't, they just see us finishing 8th as an acceptable and realistic position for a middle sized club like us. Only 2 bigger clubs than SFC finished below us in the Premier League, West Ham and Sunderland. Outside of the top flight I'd say only Newcastle, Leeds, Sheff Wed and Aston Villa are seen as bigger clubs. Forest, Brum, Wolves and a couple of others in the Championship could potentially be on our level. If all those clubs were in the PL at the same time SFC would still be in there with them, probably regularly fighting it out for a top half finish with an occasional very good/bad season. What most in the press don't see, or care about really, is the mostly dull football we've sat through for 9 months, just the finishing stats.

16 years ago today...and what a fantastic, memorable moment that was [video=youtube;ZX9EurbX-W8]

Play a system that will best suit Gabbiadini and give him the kind of service that his exceptional talents demand and we'll hurt them. Now, if the fans could just do their bit for a change and create an atmosphere, that may help to. Good opportunity to give those Cup Final scarves an airing and get them swinging again.