ericb

We didn't flounder at all, we spoke to Silva at least two weeks before the end of the season and to his representatives before that. We just took a gamble on someone else and it went wrong leaving us in a hole.

Simple reply to the dippers, "they left cause of cash, they left cause of cash, you're not f*cking special, they left cause of cash"

Shane Long is the modern day Brett Omerod, runs around a lot, doesn't really score goals and is apparently a lovely bloke off the pitch

Why do people keep mentioning Tuchel as a replacement? He's rejected us twice before he's not going to change that now. Likewise Blanc and Enrique would never come to us, and i think Bielsa is debatable too.

Yup that’s exactly the point I’m making. They haven’t yet released his funds. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

this is exactly what he's done, also don't people find it interesting that a person who can't move his companies money outside of the country it's based in, buys a company that has a world renowned brand for youth training in an area that the government of the country that's in control of the release of his funds has a stated aim of improving. It's almost like having a Chinese "Saints" academy could curry favours with the government isn't it.

I was led to believe we no longer had to service that debt that was historically left by Cortese, and that this summer just gone was supposed to be the first where we had "the upper hand" in terms of being forced to sell. Which then beggars the question, why the hell are we not signing anyone now we have the VVD money? Because if we finally didn't need to sell to cover historic debts then in theory we should be able to spend... Maybe Guan can answer this question, but i'm really confused as to where the money is now going?

i can't share because it directly references people i know, some of whom are still at the club, if they said they were happy for me to share i would but they're not so i won't. That said those on here that know me know i'll share it in the pub (in fact most likely those people would be there and share it themselves) but not on a public forum.

There is so much many of us that know about what was going on at the time would love to share about that mad midget, but can't. Anyone, and i mean anyone, working in or around the club at the time can tell you his sacking was absolutely spot on, he was sending us down a horrendous financial path and pretty much all the player sales were a direct result of how he ran the club. Yes he was ruthless in places, sometimes to our benefit but many times not (screwing over local businesses and using the clubs money as his own comes to mind), but the long term damage he was inflicting WAS at pompey levels and would've bitten us in the arse badly in the long run.

It's almost like some of us were saying that Puel being sacked was because he'd lost the players isn't it?

But that's not how the world works apparently...

I was in the archers block four. Can still shut my eyes and see Matty putting the ball in the net Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Would be very interested to know why we have the Limehouse hotel booked out for a week of meetings personally, normally that means transfers in coming.

Don't feel comfortable sharing mate sorry, i don't know how many they've spoken too and as you know the club are known for putting names out to catch leaks.

Who knows if it's hope or not to be honest? All i know are those little facts, it could just be contingency management from Saints, it could be that we're trying to change. I don't want to get people's hopes up when i don't know the full story.

I don’t think it’s a fact he’s not being given the boot. If it was we wouldn’t be talking to agents of other managers (which is a fact) and have actually spoken to at least one manager in person (again a fact). What I don’t expect is for him to be sacked without the “right” person being lined up. Truth is that could mean he stays, but these things take time so we’ll have to wait and see Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

To be fair to Fonte he wasn't a bellend most of the time, in fact he was a really nice down to earth guy and genuinely cared about the club. The problem he had was someone (his agent) told him he could get a move that wasn't going to happen so he acted like the big i am, disrupted the squad, walked into board meetings and generally ruined his name. In many ways i actually feel sorry for Fonte, he was badly advised, and if he hadn't listened i'd hazard a guess he'd be on the bench where Kelvin is now.

This article is very good by the way https://www.policyforum.net/the-guanxi-of-football/

Perhaps i was being to obtuse here but i really do have to be careful (and i think Guan got what i was on about) but lets just say you're being a bit insular in where the leverage is applied when talking investments in the city. If you want more information look into the reasons why Championship clubs are getting investments from China, there's a hell of a lot of information out there and we're not much different to be honest.

I'm really not sure what people were expecting re:Gao's investment into the club? Many of us that have been close to the buy out have been repeating for a long time (even pre buyout) that's it's not a good thing. Gao isn't interested in the football side of things and that this is an investment about bringing his company into Southampton to do building work and infrastructure work. We're just an easy in to the city, and a relatively cheap buy for getting influence and leverage in Southampton. Obviously most people have ignored this because they don't want to believe it, but it's the truth, hence why i warned before the buyout it was a bad thing. My only hope is that the club having premier league status is of importance to the way he's seen in China which forces him to act, but i'm not holding my breath, and i'm definitely not expecting anything in terms of investment on the football side of things. What Guan has been saying about things taking backwards steps rings true about many things, although Guan if i can address you directly there are a couple of things that i'm interested in, firstly i know that non playing staff have had "issues" with getting pay rises, is that one of the things that's causing the leavers? And i assume new hires are being taken on at a lower rate? The other part is something you said about Krueger flying in, i'm sorry but that doesn't ring true to me (i need to be careful here) but I know for a fact he's had meetings in Southampton pre xmas (semi regularly) as has Gao as i know someone involved in those meetings. I also know that those meetings stopped for two weeks because "football business" (translation VVD) had taken precedence. Of course the board etc. do conferences, and from what i understand some of the senior members have been setting up something along the lines of our academy in China recently, but they're also actively working with people in Southampton Football club and in the city, particularly around the integration of the board and Gao's. So i'm interested to know Guan if that's what you're alluding to? Or are you speaking longer term/historically. Last post of the day from me sorry.

Can't say i really disagreed with a lot of what he said to be honest, have said for a while that i don't expect MP to be sacked unless something goes disastrously wrong. The small club stuff is true, it always has been, the problem is that we've had some stupid idea that we can break the top four feed to our support for a while and the slightly deluded spreadsheet masquerading as a game lot believed it. Now they're disappointed when someone tells them the truth. Personally i think most people know we've just coming out of a golden era for Saints, and the reality is we'll now drift to our "natural" level, which is somewhere between 9th and 15th in the top flight, with occasional higher and lower finishes.

Possibly but both Gao and his wife were in Southampton the other week and met with people loosely connected to the club, and it's true his wife does speak ok english, plus it's true Gao is taking lessons.

If you're chatting to him i assume you speak fluent mandarin or cantonese? Since he doesn't speak any english currently (although is taking lessons). Of course you could've been speaking to his wife who speaks better english (albeit it not fluent)

The best center back i've seen at Saints except for Mark Wright. And like Mark Wright he did the simple things brilliantly so nothing stood out as spectacular. His reading of the game is phenomenal and he's classy on the ball, at points last season he dragged us through games and got us results we shouldn't have got. That from a center back is incredible. As a person though he's an utter d*ck, his attitude, his agent, the money, the lack of professionalism and the snidey way he went about everything (and the way he acted after) has actually chipped a bit off my enjoyment of the sport as a whole, and makes me dislike most professional footballers just a little more.

everything i know has already been said in here and other places to be honest.