Matthew Le God

It is ridiculous to think a club in the top tier is going to sell 10+ players in a single summer. It just doesn't happen. The **** up of the managerial appointment was the main problem last season, not the squad quality. Hughes showed this squad if managed well is capable of performing to a good level, Pellegrino however was completely out of his depth. Pellegrino stifled the squad, Hughes has shown it is possible to get a lot more out of them, mass changes are not required, 3 or 4 new players will do.

Based on what is it 'very likely'?

I don't see how anyone can be so definitive about it, we don't know what their options are. Plus they did get one managerial appointment very right.

Can you really say that with confidence without knowing who else may have applied for the role or been approached?

Do they? His work at West Brom led to him getting the England job, he finished 11th and 10th with them... WBA's highest league finishes since the early 1980s. He left for the England job so was hardly going to turn it down. Why would the West Brom fans think he is the "worst manager ever"?

Yoshida & Cedric will definitely go unless injured. Boufal possibly will, plus... Hojbjerg https://southamptonfc.com/news/2018-05-14/pierre-emile-hojbjerg-denmark-world-cup-preliminary-squad-russia-2018 Bednarek https://southamptonfc.com/news/2018-05-11/jan-bednarek-poland-provisional-world-cup-squad

- Butland is more established within the England setup - has 2 years longer left on his contract than McCarthy - Butland is 3 years younger than McCarthy

I don't have a lot of problem with the vast majority of the squad in terms of quality of player. I put our poor season largely down to a very poor managerial appointment. If this squad had a competent manager from the beginning of the season I think they would have been challenging for the top half of the table again. I'd prefer our squad to that of Burnley or Newcastle, both finished in the top half not due to player quality but being managed extremely well. Benitez & Dyche wouldn't have had Saints in a relegation battle if they were in charge from day one.

How many top flight teams can you name that have sold as many players in a summer as you are suggesting? Simply doesn't happen.

Billy Davies had a significantly less talented squad to work with. Derby were expected to go down, this Saints squad for all its problems shouldn't have been near the relegation battle if managed correctly. Mark Hughes has highlighted that if managed well it is far better than it looked under Pellegrino. The manager was a huge part of the problem, not the quality of player in the squad. If Sean Dyche or Rafa Benitez managed us this season, we'd probably have been top half again. I'd rather our squad than Burnley's or Newcastle's, but good mangers got them to perform.

How is him eventually leaving relevant in any way? It was obvious he was going to leave at some point, but yet the Mirror showed themselves up by making up a story about a fictional £25m release clause. Which makes them as I started earlier... hard to take seriously.

Is that a no then?

Based on what?

The burden of proof is on the person making the assertion. Plus, in any case for what reason would Reed want it to happen?

Do you have anything remotely approaching good evidence for that?

I doubt it, they'll look at the £30m fee for Pickford from a relegated Sunderland team and want similar, if not more.

Why do you think Reed would want it to happen? Any evidence? Saying we've sold lots of players to Liverpool recently is not evidence Reed wants it to happen.

"Bent over"? The club can earn a world record for a defender £75m from the deal. Of course it would have been nice if some of the money was spent on a top centre back in Janaury rather than a portion of it seemingly wasted on Carrillo. Let's see what the summer wiindow brings in.

Saints fans can dance if they want to, We can leave Pompey behind, Cause the Skates don't dance and if they don't dance Well they're no friends of mine! Hopefully this dreadful season will be the kick up the arse the Southampton board need for a positive summer of improvement. Starting with the appointment of Mark Hughes next week & then player recruitment with some ambition shown!

It is from the same newspaper that made up the story van Dijk had a £25m minimum fee release clause... https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/virgil-van-dijks-35m-buy-9385313 Hard to take them seriously!

They've already had one, they don't need one at every remaining game.

That isn't what Hughes said today about Bednarek... https://southamptonfc.com/news/2018-05-11/team-news-mark-hughes-pre-southampton-manchester-city-1718