SNSUN

I don't understand the logic of wanting to pay compensation to a team, probably quite high compensation even though Koeman has one year left on his contract, when there are plenty of top managers out there that are unemployed. De Boer, Pellegrini, Hiddink, even van Gaal, all are available for no compensation, and there are plenty more besides.

An impressive Isgrove just scored a potential winner for Barnsley at Wembley. Good for him.

From the BBC Gossip column... But Ibrahimovic's agent has cast doubt over his move to the club (Man Utd saying where the Sweden forward ends up may be a surprise. (Expressen, via Daily Star) He's off to Portsmouth.

In the 90's with our relegation struggles, I was always excited by players we signed from bigger clubs as I never knew what to expect, but hoped for good things. Some came off, like Beattie and Shipperley, but some didn't, like Kanchelskis, Marshall and Boa Morte. One who hasn't been mentioned that falls in that bracket was Mark Walters. Great pedigree but hardly played for us.

Following a corner conceded by VVD. Interesting battle that one.

I'd have thought he'd be after La Gran Muralla, had he not signed the new contract of course... Wanyama leaving is expected. I'd rather we went all out to keep Mané anyway. Wanyama is replaceable, though I hope the club has learned the importance of replacing top players correctly - after struggling to find a decent replacement for Morgan. (Though I still think Clasie will come good.) I do think Wanyama to Leicester will be a strange move for him. Yes they have six games in the Champions League, but it's highly unlikely they'll be there the season after - and so it'll only be a matter of time before Vic has a strop again and wants to move to a bigger club. I hate to say it but Spurs is a good fit for him, but they have Dier and Dembelé...

Granted Ramirez did very little for us since that first half season in the Prem, but has he ever really thrown a paddy whilst he was here? I can't remember one.

Ziyech? Shame. Tough to rival Dortmund though.

If Jesus says he's coming, I think that's pretty much nailed on.

I'm surprised England fans haven't adapted "Oh when the Saints" somehow. Maybe "Oh when the Lions, go roaring in" or something. Unless they have... My attention to England waned a long time ago.

If people are worried about Koeman leaving, perhaps time to bump this thread... Anyway I was thinking, dangerous I know, but rumour has it Giggs may end his association with United under their new regime. If that is the case, would he be worth a punt as manager? Too risky?

Looks a bit too much like Dani Osvaldo to me. For that reason, I'm out. Now if we could find an Iain Dowie lookalike...

This is gonna be a looooooooooooooooooooooooooong summer....

PUNCHEON!!!!! What a finish!!! Qualifiers here we come!

I always expect tit. I hope Koeman stays long term, he seems to be a decent fit for this football team and I feel in good hands with him here.

A United win please, as it gives our players extra recovery time after the Euros to be fully fit, holidayed and rested, ready for the group stages. If I were a true neutral (as in not relying on a score for Saints benefit), I'd be rooting for a Palace win, as I don't mind them and Pardew, and have a couple of mates passionate about them. I suppose if Palace do win, we can still console ourselves that we're still in the Europa anyway, just will need to qualify, but have the added silver lining that West Ham and their lovely free stadium will be Europeless in their first season there.

That was the year they stayed up, indicating they had weapons at their disposal good enough to be in this League, and besides Bertrand shared the left back spot with Luna. Their team this year has been utter turd, quite possibly a lower Championship-class side at best. There may be the odd gem amongst them (Ayew perhaps), but their confidence will have taken a whopping bashing from only bringing in 17 points over the course of a season. At least Newcastle made a decent fight of things in the last few weeks, that will have given them some confidence. Mind you, I can't see many wanting to leave if Benitez stays put. That's Newcastle's best chance of bouncing straight back up.

Townsend has improved a lot in the last few games and has started influencing games more. For his £8 million release clause he'd be a brilliant risk at that price, even if he didn't work out. Sissoko, Wijnaldum and Perez would be worth punts if they were cheap enough, though Newcastle fans berated Wijnaldum for laziness before the last few games of the season. Krul would be a decent keeper but would want first team football and question marks are still there over his fitness. I wouldn't touch Ruddy anymore, he wasn't even Norwich's first choice for some of the season after punching some guy repeatedly on a night out. Krul would be the only keeper I'd have from the relegated lot. Redmond still has talent, and would be a decent wild card signing. His not being first choice was more to do with his manager playing a different way and fitting Hoolahan in instead. Thats about it. I wouldn't touch Villa's players with a barge pole, although Amavi looked a decent left back briefly last year.

How much would Liverpool pay for our Europa spot next year? Bids start at £100 million.

Looking at the team we played against Midjtylland, it was very disjointed and un-unified. It consisted of a back 5, only one of which finished the season just gone as a regular (although in the second leg we had Martina playing but he was raw early on) (oh, and contained effing Caulker to boot), a Mane and Wanyama who were heavily under transfer speculation and unhappy at the time, and an unfit Rodriguez. It's actually no wonder we lost in the second leg. I'd be more confident of qualifying next season, so long as we get our transfer business (both in's and out's) sorted by the end of July, and have our players fully fit, however with the Euro's taking place, I'm guessing this is not the best time to be in a qualifying situation, as some of our players may be given extra time off for holidays and thus won't be fully fit. Still we'll have learned from this season's mistakes. United winning the cup and us going straight into the group stages does make more sense, both in terms of preparation and enticing players to us. Still, be funny if West Ham didn't qualify. Finishing 7th and 2 points better off than us last season and they miss out on Europa when we got it. Whatever they say, they'd be a bit miffed about it...

Apparently LVG won't rest players tomorrow and will name the same team that would have played on Sunday. Shame, I was hoping with the cup final ahead they'd concentrate on that and play the youth tomorrow. While I wouldn't rule Bournemouth out of winning tomorrow (they could get an extra 2 places prize money by winning) it looks unlikely. I'd quite like to have the luxury of cheering Palace on on Saturday knowing we've finished 5th and are in the Group Stages.

Additionally Palace and Sevilla winning means West Ham and Liverpool miss out on Europe next season. Be funny.

Steve Cook anyone? Looked good when I've seen him, decent first Prem season, can score goals, and only just turned 25. Would he be enticed into a move down the road? Is he actually good enough? I was thinking as a long term replacement for Fonte/good back-up.

So for clarification, Bournemouth win against United and we finish 5th with guaranteed Europa League group stages, no qualification; United win or draw against BOurnemouth and we finish 6th, putting us into the qualifying rounds (unless United win the cup where we go straight into the group stages...) We're still supporting United in the cup then...