angelman

Last season in the PL he made 32 appearances, totalling 2057 minutes, 5 goals and 6 assists.

Our midfield is pretty packed. MP seems to prefer SD to JP. I like JP and always thought it a shame he didn't play more last season.

I found the bit about being taken to Juve to escape to a quieter life very interesting ("he was desperate to escape the temptations found in a big city and to just feel normal in a quieter location."). If that is the case, then Saints is well placed, especially with it's proximity to London should he wish to blow off some steam, as well as having MP here to give him that "love". Not all football players want to live in the bright lights, and who knows, maybe he just wants to be able to get a horse or a dog and go into the New Forest. Having moved up to live in London for the best part of 20 years, this part of the world has a certain appeal. Certainly if the fans aren't happy, we aren't going to behave quite like the (Roma) Ultras do. Not sure what the Espanyol supporters behave like when they get the hump, but the Italians are renowned for being aggressive towards players.

Seeing PdC banning more people, I wouldn't be surprised if at some stage the players go to the chairman and give him an ultimatum - them or him. Wenger - depends on tomorrow. He did well to start off with, but in recent years the gloss has been wearing off, and this year it has completely gone. Pardew - I feel sorry for him as I am not sure that it is really him. The owner and DoF are seemingly as idiotic as each other. Jol - I think he'll do OK. Bruce/Mackay - I think it tough on promoted sides. Bruce certainly doesn't have the financial backing that we did, so not sure what would be gained by sacking him, same with Holloway. Mackay does potentially have some financial clout behind him. He has spent £28m compared to Hull's £13. We all know that money has to be spent, and Hull probably need to spend more to be competitive. At least up to Cardiff's level. So to me, Bruce and Holloway will be safer than Mackay. Palace have "only" spent £8m. Managers of course would be happy spending ten times that much, but have to work within the wishes of the Chairman, so it's a little tough to sack them for poor performances when they haven't been able to strengthen the side. But as we all know from NA's sacking, there's no room for sentiment.

I see PDC is keeping moral up in the camp. He's suspended Phil Bardsley and banned him from the training ground for posting some Instagram message.

Carra - annoying squeak

Sack or leave on their own accord - Pardew. Currently 3-0, with 35 to go, but can see this being at least 5

I've been reading various comments and I do find the reaction quite interesting. Forums of other clubs are generally populated by those with some knowledge, while those commenting on news paper articles come across as definite arm chair supporters who think that the top six is a closed shop and woe betide any little provincial club that think otherwise. Sure there are plenty of posters who look at us being like petulant children, when in reality they themselves aren't too different - I find the one poster on the Fulham board a classic example. But I find it a really sad and depressing situation that there are so many people (who might only see football on TV) who really think that the PL has come to the top 6 vs the rest. While the chances are that the top 6 will be populated by the usual suspects (although one has to seriously look whether Arsenal will be there!), it shows the state of the league and how uneven it is. Why are people so happy with that? I hate it and not just because I support Saints. I would love us, Villa, WHU etc to take a CL spot. The top of the table has become too staid and predictable and clubs have become arrogant in thinking that it is there right to finish there.

Personally speaking, I would rather Punch than Gaston. I didn't see the game on Saturday, but last season I thought that he got knocked off the ball too easily. Oh he is skillful, no doubt, but there weren't enough flashes of it for me to prefer him to Punch. And let's not mention his dead ball delivery.....can't remember which game it was, but it was woeful - think it might have been the home QPR game. Here are his stats last season: http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/gaston-ramirez/leistungsdaten/spieler_123742_2012.html

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Irresponsible spending? That depends if the **** hits the fan, we can off load for decent money. Gaston - £12m Wanyama - £12.5m Osvaldo - £12.9m Lovren - £8.5m Would we get £40m+ if selling those 4? I would have thought so. I know it's only a pundit commenting on one game, but Merson was saying that Wanyama is a £20m+ player. Gaston seems to have a lot of interest from Italy so maybe would get back what we paid or say £10m. So that there is £30m without taking into account Osvaldo and Lovren. Maybe some will think that that is unrealistic, but I don't think so. And what about say Cardiff? Their 3 big signings cost them £27m. Gary Medel £11.4m, Steven Caulker £8m, Andreas Cornelius £7.5m Our recent transfers income/expenditure paints a different picture.... 2007/8 = net income of £24.5m 2008/9 = net income of £1.2m 2009/10 = net income of £2m 2010/11 = net expenditure of £2.6m 2011/12 = net income of £7.7m 2012/13 = net expenditure of £36.5m 2013/14 = net expenditure of £33m This is taken from http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/southampton-fc/transfers/verein_180_2013_default_default_alle_a_default.html and includes figures of spending £2.5m on Gazza which I don't think is right and also that we sold Forren for £1.8m which I think might be a little light. So from relegation down to L1 and back to PL, we have done it bloody cheaply. I think it naive to think that you can then push on when back in PL without spending anything. So those saying that we shouldn't be spending a net £60m+, do they expect us to try and step up to the European places with a L1 team? And then, looking at the starting 11, there were 4 academy players. What is the average that people would want to spend on players - £5m? Well, apply that to the academy players and you have "saved" (i know it's simplistic) yourself £20m (and Shaw might be worth that by himself). As I started off, if we hit financial strife, would it be possible to realise a lot from player sales?

Find this site quite useful: http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/fc-southampton/startseite/verein_180.html although not always sure how accurate. For example it says Gazza cost £2.7m when I thought he was £250k

MOTD2 just said he cost £12.9m rising to a potential £14.6m

Osvaldo is a striker, Punch is midfield/right wing so is it really pressure on Punch? I would love for Punch to stay as I like him a lot. Puts Mayuyka's position more under the spot light.

Looked into TV money, and couldn't fin break downs (although didn't look too hard) save that the least to be paid out (ie bottom club) is £65m

And as for WHU, £15m for Carroll or the same for Osvaldo. Time will tell, but given the choice I am happy the way it is.

How do you think Fulham compare our £15m signing of Osvaldo to their record signing - 2001 Steve Marlet £15.5m? Not sure 11 goals in 55 games for a centre forward is that great, and one would hope that Osvaldo does somewhat better.

Hmm Monaco got a few tax problems so might be Falcao

One thing I want to know (or be reassured about) is whether we can afford these signings and their wages? I do have faith that NC can run the books properly but I would hate to do a Pompey. I am presuming that TV money is paying for this, and that FFP is there to stop Pompey Mk2, but it would be good to get some reassurance that all is ok.

Maybe one has to give Gaston the benefit of the doubt, as he has racked up the air miles this summer (this week).

Players only going to clubs for the money does not mean that they aren't going to give their all, and to be honest I don't have a problem with that. Some might see it as a stepping stone to greater things, and I am fine with that too. Actually most probably see Saints as a stepping stone and their aim is to play for the ManUs, Real Madrids, Bayerns etc etc of this world, which we aren't. This season is a little different what with the World Cup coming up, and with Osvaldo, he is in and out of the team so really needs to demonstrate that he can be an indispensable part of the Italian WC team. He may well be right in thinking that Saints aren't the best option for him to shine, and this is most likely his last chance of going to a WC so it is fully understandable that he is looking for "better options". If it comes down to us being his 3rd or 4th choice and him actually ending up here because those clubs ahead of us not wanting him, then I am sure that he will still give 100%. In the scheme of things, we aren't a woeful option, just not the best. Of course I am biased (like most all on here) and think that anyone who doesn't want to play for Saints doesn't have our ambition, vision and passion, but that really is looking through rose tinted glasses. We all think Saints is a wonderful club with a lot to offer, but in the scheme of things, there are much more attractive clubs than us (AT THE PRESENT TIME).

Here's a house he could buy....http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-26883036.html

What happens to Spurs if they don't sell Bale for the amount they want? If they sign Osvaldo, what's that take their spending to - £75m?

OK fair enough, a slight embellishment, but the point was that it wasn't being reported in the press as going backwards and forwards for weeks and weeks, as this (and the Wnayama bid) has done.

In fairness to the club, they do all their business behind closed doors so we have no idea what is going on (just look at the Lovren signing - first thing I knew about it was the announcement of his signing). I don't think that it takes too much time to send in an offer and have a meeting and I don't think that the club are so naive to think that they are going to get every target that they want. If we don't sign a new forward, then are we really up **** creek? We seem to have RL JRod Mayuka Isgrove It's risky going into the season presuming that Mayuka and Isgrove can bang them in on a regular basis, but maybe the coaching staff think that they can. JRod might also be thought of as being a risk, but we aren't completely toothless. At least they all want to play for Saints, which to me is important.