VectisSaint

You always have to get international clearance for a transfer between 2 countries, whatever level, standard practice. It is normally a formality, and is not affected by the quality of the player. It was only complicated a little with Steve Davis because of the Rangers situation, in that effectively he was not registered with a team affiliated to the Scottish FA.

Feck, apart for 10 minutes their level of skill and control was bloody awful, though still seriously better than ours. I think this is part of the problem, some people, including Adkins it seems. believe the hype that skill and control in the lower reaches of the PL is so good. The only thing that really separates these poor PL teams and the best of the FL is ruthlessness in front of goal. But you are right, he didn't seem to know what to do to change things, and with due respect to JWP, replacing Steve Davis with Prowse was not a stroke of tactical genius, it was simply that Davis was ****ged out because he is not fully fit. We were a bit bereft of options on the bench yesterday, only Sharp and maybe Puncheon looked like game-changing options.

Lee is not a winger. He may play left or right of a front 3, but that does not and never will make him a winger. He is a striker. And the sooner he is available again the better.

Problem for anyone would be wages, not the fee.

He's 17, nearly 18 actually (1 November). The number on the back of his shirt does not represent his age. Hammond was struggling in the Championship to be fair, but he has been very important to us, but think he will probably move on. Strangely, if he had been on the bench yesterday I might have brought him on for 15 minutes to try to drive things on a bit, and wake up some of the other dozy players we had on the pitch.

No it isn't, in fact it is very much more than 6 days, if 2 hours and 50 minutes can be considered "very much more". I always assumed that maths was not an issue for you Alps, seems I was wrong. I guess you are trying to make the point that it is a bank holiday on Monday and that tomorrow is a Sunday, well here's a shock for you, people these days work on Sunday and even sign players (except for the actual business of signing the contract), **** sake even Mick Channon was signed on a Sunday. And as for Bank Holiday Monday, so you seriously believe that everyone will have their feet up because its a supposed holiday, its not a holiday in Europe, and millions will be working like any other day.

I know the OP was trying to be funny, and remind a lot of people about the rubbish they had spouted, but when I read the thread title before reading the bull**** accompnaying it, I agreed. The PL is average, the quality of football so far displayed, admittedly in 2 games, is shockingly poor. Wigan today were a complete crock of ****e, I remember seeing many teams playing better, and certainly more entertaining football in the Championship and even in some cases L1. Man City were really really average last week, and a half decent team would have got something from that game. The shock to me is that Saints management and players have seriously OVERestimated the standard, something I never thought would happen. They have tried to change the way we play to deal with the frighteningly impressive premier league teams, when sticking to what we used to be good at would actually have been a better option. Last week we saw 9 or 10 players who were clearly overawed, even scared of what was happening, only a 10-15 minute spell in the 2nd half showed what could be done with a different approach, being brave. Today was mind-numbingly awful, OK we hit the bar twice and had a few good efforts, but some players were clearly afraid to attack, and were apparently over-awed by their illustrious opponents. I have said all along that the PL is over-rated, other than the Top 4 or 5 the standard is actually no better than the top 6/7 in the Championship. Today was proof if it were needed, the sad fact is that NA and his team have misunderstood and hence we looked absolutely shocking against a very, very poor team. I know we will improve, hopefully we will bring in a few, it is quite clear a new GK, LB and 2 CBs are necessary, but we really do need the spark in midfield that is currently sadly lacking. I also look forward to Chun being fully fit again, I can see him doing well, and know that he will not be overawed like some of our players seem to be.

No, they aren't, they are a complete crock of ****e.

If Wigan were representative of "the best league in the world" then I'm a Martian. They were utterly appalling, we played much better teams in L1. The difference was we were even worse. This would have been a home banker if we had 11 players on the pitch who wanted to win and were up for it.

Oh dear, someone else who doesn't watch the game but just trots out what may be a popular remark. I agree with you on Fonte and Rod, although to be fair Fonte made one awful mistake, otherwise was not troubled by the worst attack in the PL). Guly, though was probably contender for best player on our side today, along with Lallana and Morgan. Everyone else (possibly except Jos and Clyne) was total pants. Not saying Guly was world-beating, but in terms of today's game along with AL he was the only one who you felt might make something happen. Very, very poor performance all round today, no fight, no spirit, no pace, no ideas.

Is this a FACT? I recall reading some time back that the fee was not the sticking point, only the terms of payment, and that there was a significant difference between what Bologna wanted and what we were prepared to do in terms of payment terms. I know I haven't read every single post on this thread but I don't recall the fee itself being much of an issue, 15m euros I believe (net to Bologna).

Sorry but Richmond is right, the deal with us went wrong at the same time Manure first expressed an interest just over a month ago. The timing was reported by Manure just before he signed, and IMHO is far more reliable than a dodgy Dutch journo.

Penarol may not be too happy either if we walk away, especially if Bologna chairman has effectively talked down Gaston's value.

Not convinced by the picture, looks like AL and Guly have been badly photoshopped in.

High profile, club related, manure = high profile, Southampton= who?

Buttner to Manure?

Who said anything about replacing? We need 4 top class CBs in the PL, at the moment we have 2 effectively. I think its quite clear that what we are looking for is options, not necessarily replacements, it has always seemed clear to me that NA thinks Jos & Jose are first choice, but clearly with injuries and suspensions we need able options, no disrespect to Seaborne and Stephens, but they are not the answer. And despite what others may say, we need a left and right option, not all CBs are the same, at least not when playing 4 at the back.

But its only Scotland U19s. Would struggle in the Wiltshire Under 14s league in my opinion. :-)

Don't know but he could speak Portuguese to Jose, Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese are about as close as British and American English.

Were there any empty seats in the away end at The Bridge last night?

Davis, S

Why are there only 6 working days? Is Monday a public holiday in Italy or Uruguay? Saturdays are working days in football aren't they? Even Sunday, maybe you can't still finalise a contract legally, but doesn't stop negotiations continuing, it would only be an issue if Sunday was last day of the window, which it isn't. There are still 9 and a bit days to go until the window slams shut.

My point really was why this was felt worthy of a report by a hack in a red top rag. Will he likewise report when WetSham and Reading fail to fill the away sections of Etihad, Old Trafford and Emirates, or when Wigan fail to take their allocation at SMS? Did Wet Sham or Reading sell out their first matches back in the PL? Frankly I think a lot of people will see this season a drop in attendances for many and varied reasons, not just cost. I just feel it is a bit odd to pick on Saints, as if we should have been greatful to Man City for providing us with the opportunity to come and watch their superstars struggle to beat us 3-2.

I wonder if it was us that made a bid for Ince: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19322766 Pity Oxo's dad did not provide similar advice to his son. Have to say I would have preferred Ince to Phillips on the evidence of what I've seen, but maybe the family influence would have been bad news.

Did anyone else see a short piece in the Daily Express rag today (sorry, I don't buy it, but I had opportunity to "read" it). Bizarre little piece on page 77 by Mick Dennis "Football Correspondent" (aka 3rd rate hack): " Strange that Southampton fans couldn't fill the away section at their first top-flight game for seven years. There weren't many gaps in Saints' defence but there were in the seats" That's it. What a strange thing to write, were there no other games where there were empty seats? Assume he doesn't know about the average home attendances we have been getting while in the 2nd/3rd tier which put several PL teams to shame. What is this guys agenda? According to Wiki he is a referee and a magistrate and "he has written a book about football, The Team, which is part of the Quick Reads Initiative series of books, aimed at readers who lack confidence."