Professor

Absolutely but it is also a real job. Kelvin knows the club and the players so well that both players and management will see him as a reliable source of information. If players have any doubts about what the management and coaches are telling them they will receive it with far more confidence from KD and equally, he can give the coaches the dressing room opinions without being biased. It's an excellent move for continuity in a business where change happens very quickly

You don't have to feel sorry for him but however you look at it, the injury has changed the balance of the game but to suggest he faked the severity for the attention is not the most sensible comment I've seen so far. The decision on the stretcher would have been taken by the coaches and officials, not by the player.

BBC managed to introduce the Portugal team with a few words about every player, plus the two left out of the back four, except........no mention of Cedric or Jose. Might not have happened if it had been two of the Man U back four but ours is a club that doesn't rate very high on the media's radar. Ronaldo's injury a major blow to Portugal but if he does have to come off, or can't play at his normal level, it would be nice to see Portugal prove they aren't the one-man team that the media would have the viewers believe. So far, have been impressed by how solid Jose Fonte looks.

Well said, Thorpie! So often these discussions are Optimists v Pessimists.......and a few in the middle. Not sure what the pessimists get out of sharing their fears but sadly for some people, that is the way they look at the world, peering over the brim of a half empty glass. Especially sad when you've got a great football club like Southampton to support. It seems reasonable to assume that the people running the club, from the Board to the coaching staff, know as much about football as the average fan, and possibly, a little bit more. If you think that, it's easier to be cheerful about your supporting.

If this is a dedicated thread on a random player just because he's been in a team in the Euro 16 competition maybe we'll soon have threads on all the Iceland squad, one of whom I see is linked with the mighty Norwich. It's interesting to speculate about signings but shouldn't the focus be on players who would fill a gap in the squad or are an improvement on someone we already have. Not sure I can see a reason for picking this player out for discussion.

Generally I feel that fans have welcomed Claude Puel's appointment and much of what we've heard since he was announced is very positive. On the other hand, the comments in his interview suggested he might have pulled back on the club's ambition - the very thing that Koeman cited as his concern for the future. Puel talks about the difficulty of playing games every 3 days in the Premier League and the Europa League whilst reaching the Champions League is a possibility during the 3 years of his contract if everyone works very, very, well. He says the target this year is to learn to play every three days. That seems to be a lower objective than further improvement on last year's 6th place. You could take the interview as being realistic, given the club's resources. Although he maintains the ultimate objective of the Champions League, he seems to think we shouldn't expect it this year.

Sorry to read another jibe about the club appointing Aston Villa failures. Presumably that is aimed at Eric Black who has an excellent CV to support his appointment as Assistant Manager at Southampton. Being a coach at Villa for about 3 and a half months when relegation was already as certain as it could be, is like blaming a shop assistant at BHS for the company going broke. Pleased to see lot of people are far more positive about the new Saints' management team. The last two Assistant Managers, Jesus and Erwin, were both very much in the shadow of their bosses. I have a feeling we will see more of Eric Black than we did of his predecessors and that we will like what we see.

A lot of Saints' fans will have had a great deal of pleasure watching how well Graziano has performed for Italy in the Euros. I really feel for him this morning as he will be devastated by that penalty miss, which if scored, would have taken Italy past Germany into the Semi-Finals. There is an element of luck with penalties as the keeper has to make a decision, whether to dive and if so which way, so that sometimes luck will be with the keeper. But this miss by Pellé was a real miss, beyond the post, which is worse than having your kick saved. Good reasons of course - the pressure of the occasion and the exhaustion after 120 minutes of football - I don't think he deserves to be blamed and he was far from being the only player to fail to score in the penalty competition, but I do think it highlights how exceptional both Matt Le Tiss and Rickie Lambert were, as penalty takers. Although I was rooting for Italy, I'm also quite pleased that we will have Graziano back for pre-season earlier than might have been the case. As always for some of us, it's club before country.

Wasn't it all said about Koeman when he cleared out his desk? Someone who fans thought was honest and reliable did a U-turn but for an understandable reason - lots of money. His comments about not wanting a 'fight' with Southampton over players suggest he is well aware that people here felt cheated but that doesn't mean no one wanted him to go. OK, so he turned out to be a hypocrite lacking integrity but that doesn't make him a bad manager. Dishonesty in football management seems fairly common but a few Saints' fans weren't as committed to Koeman as it might have appeared. Could be why some people have no interest in apportioning 'blame'. Words like 'water' and 'bridge' come to mind.

Sorry I didn't make the point clear enough for you to understand, but you'd have had to be watching the penalty kick to see what I meant. What I am questioning is whether referees should be taking a stronger line with contraventions against the rules of the game to try to reduce the amount of unfair play.

Wondering about the refereeing in this competition with defenders grappling with and holding attacking players during corner kicks without being penalised. Now we've just had the Italy penalty with the German goalkeeper jumping up and down as the kick was being taken. The Laws of the game say that during a penalty kick, the defending goalkeeper must remain on his goal line. Jumping off the ground is not staying on the goal line. Perhaps the ref would have required the kick to be taken again if Italy hadn't scored but that could have caused a lot of anger among the Germany players. Just surprised he didn't warn the Keeper about his antics, before the kick was taken.

Pelle, Cedric and Jose should all come back from the Euros feeling positive, seeing how far their national teams have gone in the competition. Even if they don't make the final, which at the moment is still possible, they've had a really good summer. Will have done their reputations with CP no harm at all, Pelle especially. Jose has continued his solid form, while Cedric really seems to have grabbed his opportunity. Unlike the 2014 World Cup, when Southampton players who went to Brazil mostly left the club soon afterwards, the six outfield players who played in France provide a good base for the Saints' team in the coming season.

Very much in agreement but Stek was preferred over Gazzaniga last term as back up so you have to wonder whether Dave Watson now has more confidence in him. It's hard to see 18-year old Harry Lewis being in contention for a place on the bench for a premier League match until he's had a lot more experience so maybe another signing or a loan might be on the cards.

Erwin was Assistant Manager and Jan Kluitenburg was First Team Coach, with Sammy Lee as First Team Assistant Coach. Eric Black has now replaced Erwin as Assistant Manager but according the the OS, Pascal Planque is to be the First Team Assistant Coach, so it seems he is replacing Sammy. Whether Sammy was asked to leave or whether he resigned isn't clear, It seems that Jan Kluitenburg's job as First Team Coach hasn't been filled, so unless responsibilities have been changed around, it is possible there may be another appointment because at the moment 4 staff have left but only 3 have come in.

Seem to remember that Burley a had tendency to prefer players who had been with him at previous clubs. Koeman adds Dutch nationality to that. Stek ticks both boxes so he must be a dream signing for Ron but its good of him to give some of us a bit of a laugh.

It's very clear that the club did a solid job on checking out the candidates and that they had strong Short List. For Puel to come through that process says all that I need to know. My overall impression of him, and the new coaching team is very positive. I'll be interested to see Claude's style in the technical area, where Koeman was usually rather laid back. We're told Puel is 'quiet' so perhaps there won't be any climbing onto the dugout roof, which might happen at Chelsea. I like the fact that the coaching team seems to have been assembled on their merit it's been put together without just bringing a new manager's usual sidekicks or mates. I haven't seen confirmation that Sammy Lee has gone, although someone mentioned a job in the North East. Lee's job has been assistant first team coach so is that a role that one of the new guy's now has? Sorry to see Sammy go as he impressed me with his enthusiasm but I like what I see of the new team, espacially the appointment of Eric Black. His record looks very strong and I can see him being a step up on Erwin.

This should be passed on to Les Reed. Such an astute opinion is bound to trump any of the due diligence being carried out by the appointment panel.

I'm with Heisenburg. If Puel has been picked by Les Reed and the appointment panel it will be because the assessment they've made makes him the best applicant for the job AND, that places him above Pellegrini for what is wanted at Southampton. Those involved in the selection process have all the information that onlookers don't have, so their decision should be respected and the new manager given massive support.

Berahino is almost a Mané look-alike and even his first name is almost the same. Makes him a good replacement all round. Says he still feels Burundian, as that is is homeland but has English nationality so wouldn't be lost for overseas competitions such as the African Nations Cup. Even with Pelle, Long, Austin and Rodrigeuz he would be a good addition but seeing what fees have been mentioned before, Stoke's bid looks a bit light. The doubt is about attitude which Les will have thought about hard if considering a bid because it would probably be a club record fee.

It would be a surprise if Southampton let Pelle go after such a performance at the Euros. I'd like to think there will be a new contract waiting for him when he gets back. What a buy he's proved to be for £8m, Compare his return on that fee to the £49m that Man City paid for Sterling.

Understand your frustration, Dave, but for a player, higher pay is likely to be a better option than a regular starting place. Mané is inconsistent and sometimes looks quite disinterested which is why I don't mind him going while at the same time, providing an opportunity to improve the squad. If the quoted fee of £34m + £4 addons is correct, Southampton should be prosecuted for constantly picking the pocket of the same victim.

Forster Cedric Fonte Van Dyke Bertrand Classie Romeu Long Davis Pelle Tadic Bench: Stekelenburg, Targett, Martina, Gardos, Yoshida, Ward-Prowse, Rodriguez, Austin, Redmond Just to illustrate a possible starting XI with 9 left over from which to choose a bench. Even before the money from selling Mané is spent there's a side packed with international players without either Mané or Wanyama. Time to worry not even on the horizon.

Absolutely right. The only surprise is that anyone should expect anything different because this is a fact of life, in football and outside. We shouldn't expect players to have the same emotional connections to their clubs that fans have. Mané has no particular links to this area so his only connection to Saints, and to his previous club, Saltzburg, has been his employer/employee relationship. Being an employee entails loyalty while you are working but not to the extent that an employee shouldn't contemplate changing jobs. Even though Mané is still a young player at 24, he may have only another 6 or 7 years to earn footballer's wages. Although the rewards can be massive, it is still a short career so it shouldn't surprise anyone that players want to make the most of it.

Not sorry to see Mané go for a fee of that size. Of course he has made some tremendous contributions to the team, such as the record hat-trick and some of his important goals but there was his lengthy goal drought last season and he wasn't always a certain starter for the team. Sometimes he gave the impression that he had no enthusiasm for the club, which may have affected his performance. Being a gifted player is one thing but good players also need to have a motivation that at times, Mané appeared to lack. The club's record in spending transfer income, is that players are recruited who are as good or better than those who have gone so this may well be a forward step. Not every transfer in is successful but the majority have been. A keen and eager Mané would have continued to be an asset to the side but with the apathy he sometimes shown, he had become replaceable.

We have been extremely fortunate to have Les Reed. After all he has achieved this quite a distasteful thread and only adding to it to say I'm sorry it was started.