VectisSaint

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."

I hope this gets sorted soon, just beginning to get a little nervous that other deals that we need to complete may be impacted by this saga over-running the expected time scale. Hopefully we will still be able to wrap up Phillips as well, replacement for Buttner (looks like we were being strung along there once he knew Manure were sniffing), a CB and maybe even another keeper (an experienced one). Still 10 days to go, I know but it seems that a lot of work is still required, Nicola is going to be a busy Don.

It smells of fish...

Good follow up to the U18s who won 4-3 on Saturday against Sunderland. Never saw that mentioned at the weekend.

Well said. By the way, when do we get the old Alpine back? :-)

So to be consistent with yesterday's comments about Sky (Brian Woolnough), this guy is probably also a 3rd rate hack who knows nothing. Then again he may be ITK.

If they are part owners, then they have a say in how much the fee will be, i.e. they negotiate what the 30% is part of, Blogna cannot decie a fee in isolation. If its just a sell-on clause they just get what they are given. Very different. I suspect they also pay some of his wages so that aloso bear some of the risk of ownership.

If you could be bothered to actually read my post dulldays you would have noticed that I was not judging him on today's performance (alone). I watched him throughout last season and felt much the same against inferior opposition. He had some good games, but overall defensively he was often found wanting. But everyone put blinkers on and blamed the person in front of him for not providing adequate cover. Well now we have seen that he is the same whoever is in front of him, it is clear that he is not a great LB. Of course some of the dumb asses thought he was great because he replaced their pet scapegoat Dan Harding, well I know today that Harding would not have given away the 3rd goal (he may have screwed up elsewhere of course but thats not the point). As I said, it is quite clear that Fox is on borrowed time, there is a very good reason why the #3 shirt has not been taken and why we have been trying to sign a better LB. Unlike some I do not write off players after one performance, I take a longer term view, and based on that look at who is not up to the mark. By the way I also think Kelvin is not the answer for the GK position, but that's not based on one game either, just in case you think it is.

Who did you expect to be on the bench as defensive cover? Apart from Stephens there were not too many options. BTW it Seaborne. Thought he had been a Saints player long enough now that people could spell his name.

Sorry, just don't accept this argument. Fox's biggest calamity resulted in their winner, it had nothing to do with midfielders providing cover, it was just **** poor positioning and decision making. Fox was caught out before hand so many times, you cannot always blame that on the wide player in front of him. Sorry, but I thought it last year and I am not convinced that Fox is good enough. It seems like I am not the only one either, since we are clearly planning for a new first choice LB.

Yep, apparently. Take your pick from "the whole match" or "a brain". Only people who know nothing about football or were not watching the match would make such a stupid comment today. It really beggars belief that there are people who apparently support Saints who are so, well, dense.

To be fair, getting shot of the awful red shirt isn't a bad idea ;-) It almost felt like it was an away kit today, I keep expecting us to roll out with the stripes next weekend.

If that's the case why was Clyne probably our best player. Sorry, fact is that Fox was shown to be very poor today, hence why we have been trying to sign a LB, and left the #3 shirt vacant. He is OK going forward but lightweight in defence. The only other areas where we were shown up today sadly was with good old Kelvin, for the most experienced player on the pitch his nervousness was infectious. We really need to put sentiment aside and sign a proper #1. But well played to everyone, with Chun back and hopefully Ramirez and Phillips to come we look reasonably good, given we need a good CB as well. Fonte was good today, it was Jos who looked dodgy if anything.

Need a proper left back, think we may have hung on if Harding had played instead of Fox :-) May prove to have been a mistake. Well done Ricky and well done Steve Davis, debut goal, looked very good.

As we were this morning, so a good day really.