angelman

So nice to see that the England fans didn't boo the national anthem of the opposing country.

No, just Italian.

But WC, it works the other way too. LFC aren't going to say that they have paid £34.5m upfront with a potential to rise to £38.5m

£34.5m upfront is pretty good as well.

Nice club = stepping stone. That's how we can get good players in. Hope to stay 3 years.

At least we have (so far) kept Lee and Watson. They will be invaluable with an incoming manager.

The more I read of Martin Samuel, the more I realise that he believes his own pomp and is in fact a very poor and overly opinionated "journalist" [sic].

Spot on. Happy to do that if we only let one key player go, not 2 or 3 each season.

I find it amazing people's view on him. I listend to Micky Quim who said he was very under whelmed by it and that he was inconsistent and could hardly get in a side that was relegated. Why do people think that? He played 35 league games last season. He played 34 PL games in the 2013/14 season as well. It's similar to Charlie Austin when people say he hardly plays. OK, last season wasn't great, but the 3 season prior to that were pretty full on for him.

We say we want £40m but tell me, when people say that, that is what they want but not what they expect. We probably would have settled for £30m maybe even £27m. So £34-36m is pretty good if you ask me. £40m is ridiculous. Oh you can go on about the new TV deals, but that is a bit of a non-sequitur.

Me, I am more than happy to sell a player to fund further progress. However, I would like it to be limited to ONE per season at the £25-35m bracket. I know the situation with VW meant he best go, but that means that with Mané, that is 2 key players gone. You might add Pellè to that and say it could be 3 key players (plus anyone else) although you might also say Pellè isn't a key player.

FF, with managers, you aren't totally right. Most teams have them come and go with just as much frequency and seem to do OK. As for pessimistic, there is part of me that wants relegation as then I can give up on football completely. We March On (supposedly). I've got the Monday morning blues. .

Sure, but no one takes much notice of what you think.

I don't really care about the transfer fee we get. It's not my money. I don't really care if our best players see out their contracts and go on a free - it's not my money. Yes, I know that that is bad governance and in the long run is unsustainable (and yes, I know that I said I was pragmatic - I lied in this instance any way). Actually, I have no problem with players going, it is more the fact that other clubs come and think that they can have free reign over us and our players regardless of fee. I realise that that is somewhat contradictory but I am being a football fan at the moment. Tomorrow will be another day, and no doubt I will view things differently.

I really don't care what the supporters of Porto et al feel like. Would you not like Saints to keep some of the better players without selling them all on? As I said, I am a customer of SFC, which is expensive even in the day of increasing revenues so selling off the best players to replace with inferior players isn't the most enticing way to get me to part with my money. I guess we should be grateful that we have Europa League this season. But hey, maybe you and I see football differently. I hate it and am looking for an excuse to give it up - the pull of SFC still wins, but only just.

Now I like to think of myself as pragmatic. So yes, bank the money and back the manager. But if the club is continually going to ask me to spend £744 for a season ticket yet cashes in on the best assets, then there is a certain disconnect that is getting increasingly difficult to justify.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3661054/Sadio-Mane-set-sign-Liverpool-attend-medical-Southampton-agree-sell-striker-30m.html

Poor from Hungary for the 3rd goal. You don';t let Hazard cut in from the left and take a shot on his right foot. Everyone should know that by now.

The World Cup is going to go this way as well. ****, who knows, if it goes on any more, you might get leagues of nations with promotion and relegation!!!

Wow, I wasn't sure which moronic poster took the crown of being the biggest tool on the board, but this is hard to beat. So chapeau mon vieux, chapeau.

In the excitement of it all, I seem to have missed the reason for yet another thread of speculation and conjecture replacing a thread speculating and full of conjecture on exactly the same topic.

Bale is a nasty whinging, diving cheat.

4 year deal @ £100k per week. He'll be 33½ when his contract runs out. Would Arsenal offer that much to someone of that age (plus £20m transfer, plus signing on fee) with no sell on value? Seems very un-Arsenal that.

Tasty

Now I am a little confused, so maybe the OP could explain it to me. I was under the impression that Rk had 1 year left on his contract. I was under the impression that he resigned. Was that the case or not?