Dan Johnson

With the Sticky thread on his move to Liverpool descending into an argument over the board & his fee, I thought I would create this thread where we won’t argue, we simply show our appreciation for one of the best Southampton signings off all time. Let’s try and keep this thread clear of *****ing, arguing, agendas & focus on the big man’s contribution to what was a golden era as a Southampton supporter! According to wiki 117 goals in 235 games! My favourite moments… His Penalty in the Johnston’s paint final when he was just little old League 1 Rickie Lambert His double Penalties against Millwall in the last 5 minutes when we simply could not lose The countless freekicks and this against Man City when everyone thought we’d be eaten alive in the Premier League… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5w1viK3zf4 I never celebrated a goal like I did that one, until Steve Davies scored a few minutes later 

From the sky article on why they suspended betting "As yet, we're unsure why it's proved so popular, but we had no choice but to shut up shop as the market became too one sided." Suggests to me people are just jumping on the bandwagon

There's nothing on the BBC website yet & the Sky piece mentions only about the run on the betting & subsequent suspension of betting. I struggle to believe this one at this stage, despite the fact it's being reported by SSN... they've got stuff wrong before.

SSN reporting fee is £8 Million

Thanks for that btw, good listen. Although the fans calling in... bloody hell, i thought this forum was bad!!!

Ditto

Ronald Koeman for me Look at his manager stats! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Koeman#Managerial_career 55% win ratio in 483 games!! Thats pretty impressive, 877 goals in those games to, thats nearly as good as 2 goals a game. 3 league titles as a manager, 5 cups. Huge reputation in the game, speaks english and his agent said in March he wants to manage in england... according to the same artical he is also leaving feyenoord this summer! http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11731/9209131/ronald-koeman-keen-on-swansea-job-according-to-director-john-van-zweden Just look at some of the players that have played under him in the last 13 years!!! At Ajax Zlatan Ibrahimovic Rafael van der vaart Maxwell Wesley Sneijder Jari Litmanen Nigel De Jong At Benfica Nuno Gomes Luisao At PSV Phillip Cocu Patrick Kluivert Ibrahim Afellay Alex Jeferson Farfan Valencia Raul Albiol Santiago Canizares David Villa David Albelda Fernando Morientes Ever Banega Juan Mata Joaquin David Silva Edu Feyenoord John Guidetti

They're also all *****ing about the lack of communication from the Tottenham board to the fans... "it just seemed odd that you think that a company like a premier league football team has no corporate responsibility to keep its customer base informed" Maybe it's not just this forum, maybe its football forums in general!

This. Any statement now wouldnt really say much. Maybe they're optimistic that he'll stay, and feel a statement could be counter productive. If he leaves I'm sure we'll see a clear statement from the board. For instance if it said something along these lines "Southampton FC is saddened to annouce that a deal has been reached for MP to join Tottenham, we would like to place on record that despite reassurances over the future direction of the football club & player sales, along with an improved contract offer, Mauricio felt that he has taken the club as far as he could. We would like to thank Mauricio for his great work over the last 18 months" Would people still feel the board are inept?! short of chaining him to a chair I dont know what else they could do. Secondly, allot have said they wouldnt welcome MP back after speaking with Spurs. What if the club made a statement and he turned them down?

Keep in mind that it's still, at this point, only speculation. There may not have been an offcial approach as yet, if the club comment they're potentially making MPs role here untenable.

They flew back on Friday

The reports must be hiding behind one of the cars or something...

If players leave, my feeling towards that defeat will sour as I tend to agree with you, if players stay of course then we have the same chance this year.

The Longer this rumbles on, the more I think he'll stay. It’s been common knowledge since the beginning of March that Sherwood would be sacked at the end of the season so the Spurs board must have a candidate in mind by now. We’re all lead to believe that MP is first choice, if that’s true, I struggle to understand what the holdup would be, and why hasn’t there been an approach from Spurs yet? Quite frankly I expected an approach from Spurs almost immediately after Sherwood left, yet a week later nothing has materialised? I think it’s pretty obvious MP is holding out for Spurs. When the news breaks that Spurs have approached a manger, whether that’s MP or not, is when we will finally hear something, it’s quite obvious that it all hinges on their appointment. My gut is they’ll go with Frank De Boer, he’s been pretty vocal on his desire for the Spurs job. Ronald De Boer (Ajax Youth Coach) spoke with the Dutch media last night saying his brother is interested in the Spurs job & would still listen to what Spurs had to say & is “Desperate” to manage in England. Quoting Ronald “For Frank, he doesn’t have to go. Of course if clubs like Tottenham and other big teams come [in for him] he is willing to listen to them” The Spurs fans are hugely in favour of De Boer, who has a much better Win Ratio & CV than MP in terms of deliverables. The rumor on the Spurs form (the fighting cocks) is that De Boer went on holiday for 2 weeks after the Dutch season finished (3rd May) & only returned on Monday which is why there hasn’t been any movement on their new manager. A few ITKers also claiming they know it’ll be De Boer… http://www.thefightingcock.co.uk/forum/threads/new-manager.10456/page-23 Odds are also shortening on De Boer to spurs

No ones left or been sold yet

http://www.footballdirectnews.com/premier-league-news/49622-spurs-make-contact-with-mancini.php

Best of luck Guly. You'll always be welcomed back to St Marys as a fan, if I ever run into you I'll buy you a pint!

SSN reported that we're looking to activate a clause in Steven Caulkers contract, liked from the SUN apparently

Personally I think it's a little more complex than that, which is why very few clubs make these kind of statements. If the club demands a player honour his contract, it's quiet conceivable that a player could react badly to that demand and subsequently his effort\performance & of course value would fall as a result. No club (business) wants an asset to depreciate so if a player really does want out, i think overall it's in the best interest of both the club & the player to let them move on, providing the club adequately compensated. Of course there's an arguement that a player signed a 5 year deal so he shouldnt have an issue if the club demands he see that out. However, contracts work both ways, long term contracts are as much about the club protecting their assest as they are security for a player. We certainly wouldnt want to be in the posistion of losing someone like Lallana for free.

I agree, likely because no decision has been made on his future. However, playing Devils advocate, they could be delaying the news to announce at the same time a player departs to soften the blow.

3 in the running for the Spurs job rafa benitez Frank De Boer MoPo Of those I would say Mopo is the biggest gamble and with his track record levy needs to get this right because 1 more failed appointment and i think fans will demand his head.

He has been exceptional, don't get me wrong I'd be gutted if we lost him, but if someone said we'd get £20+ million for him at the start of the season they would probably have laughed in your face. True but he was allot younger than Lallana, almost 10 years so. Agreed, no one saw it coming either. Maybe I'm being harsh on Lallana, but when I think about £20million+ players I want to see proven consistency at the highest level, this season aside he's not shown that, granted for most of those seasons he was playing outside of the top flight. If MoPo agrees to their sales as long as he gets all the funds and we get £20m+ for him, £27m+ for shaw, £10m for Osvaldo and we're left with a £60million+ war chest I think we're be better off next season.

It depends how you look at it I suppose. We'd get near on £50 million for the pair & with the possibility of Osvaldo\Gaston & the TV money boosting the transfer kitty it may make sense to ship them out early to gurantee funds to MoPo. If the replacements for Lallana & Shaw are slightly weaker but we're able to buy additions that make the squad stronger overall, is it a 1 step back, 2 step forward approach?

Adam was terrrifc for 2 seasons in league 1 & in the Championship, he was OK last season. To pay £20+ million for a player who has had 1 very good season in the Premier League is a massive gamble on Liverpools part. I question his posistional sense as he drifts inside way to often when asked to play out wide, during our championship year & last season he left Danny Fox massively exposed on numerous occasions. He gets away with it a little more now as he had a world class left back behind him. He certainly fades massively in the second half of games, it's no coincidence he is the most subbed player in the premier league this season. £20+ Million is massive money for Lallana, make no mistake it's a gamble on Liverpools part. 1 good season does not a player make...