The Kraken

And the reason they have a big following of plastic fans? Has it got anything to do with the quality of their players being generally higher than that of a team in 14th? Personally I think it might have.

I'm pretty sure he can answer for himself Colin. But no, it quite clearly doesn't do that, as Jimmy admits himself. His post also further qualified that Man United would like to buy our midfield players, and I can't say with any certainty that they would do. Schneiderlin maybe although I rate Carrick slightly higher. Cork, Cleverley is probably rated higher by all but Saints fans. And Wagamama, well I just don't know, I've not yet seen enough of him at this level to call it.

Erm, pardon me?

That's true, I may have to retract it; I don't want to stamp on anyone's dreams.

Only an idiot would claim Man United are "weak" in central midfield. Dear me. Carrick is a superb player, Phil Jones does a very good job in there when called upon. Cleverley is a better player than Cork IMO, fletcher is superb but made of glass, Kagawa is decent too. If that's a "weak" midfield then blow me down.

I'm pretty sure I'm right in saying that one good reason they get a lot of media exposure is that their players are predominantly better than ours.

Some good contenders so far, hard to argue with those. Although Pahars' goal against the skates at St. Mary's was pretty special.

The irony of taking someone off ignore just to abuse them.

Sadly this is true! The circle is complete.

I remember when some WUMs on here were halfway decent. The beige 2013 versions of Bazza, Glasgow, Dalek et al are a pale imitation and really quite dull.

Nick G's writing is even worse than Neil Allen's. Sadly he takes the Frank's Cousin approach of "more is less".

If he's significantly better than Lambert then yes, that's exactly what I would like.

A very good point. Fans may set their own benchmark on their own but the club have very publicly stated (on numerous occasions) their own level of expectation; so its kind of natural that fans' expectations may be based against that. When we were getting promoted from the championship, if you'd have offered me 14th place then, say 11th or 12th the following season, I'd have said that was a really good achievement and showed impressive progress. And that our current signings put us in a great place to achieve that. With the rhetoric from the club since promotion and the expectations they've created for themselves, I would think it could be 50/50 on MP keeping his job if he "only" finishes 12th this season.

While I'd tend to agree with some of that, there's also the factor that other clubs have also strengthened around us without losing too many key players, so there's an element of all clubs having made use of the vast PL monies to improve their squads. The improvements we've made can only truly be judged in comparison to those around us. We're likely no worse off than the others but I wouldn't say we've taken great strides forward over others with teh work we've done to date.

I personally don't think we'll see any more big signings; I get the feeling that our big signings are done. Maybe a couple of minor additions but that's the lot. I'd definitely like a winger or wide player but I've seen little evidence to suggest the club want to lash out for one. And as for a striker there have been some minor leaks but nothing substantial. Also, whether it be as striker or/wide player I saw a quote a month or so back from either Cortese or Pochettino which stated that Rodriguez will have a major role to play next season, so that would suggest to me that we're looking for him to step up rather than bring someone else in. So while new signings would be nice, I'm not expecting the arrival of a "winger" and/or "second striker".

It says the tree is for the nearby New Forest; I always thought it was a nod to the city centre parks and/or the Common.

Don't agree about RB, Clyne is quality there and needs to be the first choice, and we have enough cover there IMO. I would like another CB as I don't think Yoshida, Hooiveld and Fonte are top 8-10 starting quality players. Don't think it'll happen though.

Correct. I get the feeling that a lot of defences will have worked Lambert out and we also need another more mobile option up front. A new striker is still a priority for me, and if we could add a pacy wide player that would be a very good summer window.

Can't see much wrong with reserving judgement about our transfer activity right now. Firstly the window is still open and we'll probably bring in more players. Secondly, most of us haven't seen much of our acquisitions in action on the pitch. Making a snap judgement about them now rather than after seeing them over a course of games would be premature. So a slightly strange criticism to make, I feel.

Seething.

So where are Boruc, Yoshida, Gazzaniga, Steven Davis? Were they early or late? I need to know so i can decide if they were utterly sh*t last term or otherwise fabulous, I'm taking a strictly black and white approach to next season's thinking.

Season 2014-15 it is then.

Depends what your definition of "world class" is; but Ramirez doesn't get close to any of my benchmarks for the description, that's for sure.

Opinions Garrett. I don't particularly love Lallana, in fact I think he had a poor season last season. But in the PL I think he's wasted out wide but just the player we need in the number 10 role. Whereas I don't see a huge amount of improvement from Ramirez, he didn't have a great season either but I think Lallana suits our need much better. Different types of players, Gaston is a bit more direct whereas Lallana is a bit more tricky. If nothing else I'd like to see Lallana be given the chance he was being primed for before we signed Ramirez, just to see if I'm right or wrong.

Sorry Charlie, but I don't believe he is. And I certainly don't think we're as good a side with both of them playing.