saint1977

Blimey, wow, Les really did surpass himself there. The Long extension I kind of got because he’d just had the best top flight season of his career (still not prolific but good) under Ronald. 4 years was too long at Shane’s age (no pun intended) and also Les then hired two managers who were never going to play to his strengths. The Fraser extension was very strange, he’d had a poor season and had already been awarded a long contract along with VVD the year before. I think the club should be taking a closer look there, something doesn’t add up. That is before the Carrillo disaster. Some track record Les has in the last 2 years.

The way I read Hughes' comments is that wages have to come off the wage bill rather than transfer funds being the issue per se. So the crazy rises to Fraser amongst others are an issue, Celta may be paying a lesser % of Boufal's etc and probably ditto when Clasie re-joins Feyenoord. Plus there's lots of ex-academy players probably on too much. I dare not even mention Carrillo, more like Carillion... Les had such a disasterous time 2016 onwards with his 'new direction' that it can't all be put right in one window. The club is where it is, staying up with a few more points to spare and rebuilding the squad over a few windows going back to quality over quantity is the order of the day until some of these contracts are off the books.

Loaning Hoedt out would be a good start. I've seen winos in Hoglands Park with more mobility than him. Thanks Les you genius.

Tbh, it was going to take more than one transfer window to sort out several disaster ones by Reed. Two of his disasters were culpable today - Stephens (that big new contract) and Hoedt. Feel sorry for Vestergaard having to debut alongside those two who are close to worst XI territory. Aim has to be staying up with slightly more comfort and weeding out Reed's garbage over the next couple of years. Hughes has done well if that is achieved.

I do agree with you overall, but you have to pick and choose player by player. Aguero, Suarez and someone like Juninho at Boro were great successes because they had not the technical ability but right approach and personalities to thrive. They were bought at the top of the market plus two of then were already playing in Europe. Didn't help us with Gaston, but I think it hindered Delgado who also had a shocking attitude. Gaston had a decent attitude but the speed of the game coming from Serie A was too much. Forlan did flop though at Man U - legend at A Madrid and won a bucketload of medals, but just didn't pan out at Man U although Fergie said he was very well regarded within the club. Worst was Veron, don't know what happened there! I would look at South Amerian options player by player.

As K Billy said, if someone wants to truple what we paid, when he's barely had half a season here (in between injuries and loss of confidence), snap their hand off, reinvest in a couple of positions (strong DM and express winger) with a bit left to offset Carrillo/Forster disasters. Bertrand would be a far bigger loss - poor for much if last season but picked up when Hughes arrived and the buffoon had gone. Tried and tested at the level and this league. Man City may be keeping longer term tabs - fine, suits us, means he has to be a million times better and fitter next season.

Cracking post. Trump isn't a right/left issue, Bush Snr voted Hillary, George W abstained and IIRC Jeb voted Hillary as they find Trump and his followers so repugnant. And the Republicans hate the Clintons. He and Bannon (although Trump still isn't far enough right for Bannon...) really have hijacked that party. Tea Baggers won't like him as he spends (their worst nightmare), Republican moderates definately not, I'm amazed the evanlegicals are supporting him after all of the appalling things he's said and done and I think even they are far from united in supporting. He's literally opened up a new political area with the far right and disempowered blue collar communities left behind by economic migration and changes in fuel uses etc who are being shamelessly played - he isn't going to be opening dozens of new coal mines. A future President will need a Superfund on speed to sort out the mess - and that cost Reagan billions and is still costing billions. What's happened in a UK context is that Farage and Johnson have used his visit to gang up on May to force a no-deal Brexit along with their mates in the Sun, Mail and Express. I think this is starting to backfire and whatever limitations May's plan has, I think they've actually strengthened slightly a weak hand. The hard-Brexit brigade have then jumped in and this gives a false impression of left/right fracture. Actually, Corbyn has only come around because he realises his Marxist programme of lunatic spending is only possible by having a deal in place, at very worst. I don't think he supports being part of the EU at all. I can't stand Trump because I don't - and won't - allow knuckledraggers to regress the world to a pre-civil rights, non-diverse, white, 1950s world that never really exisited anyway with massive social change bubbling underneath.

You could ask Jo Johnson’s kids as they were there (source The Times today). Don’t think they and many others there would recognise your description. There’s always a few Trots that piggy back onto such events, same as a few far right clinging onto the Brexit movement. No different.

Liam Fox busy embarrassing himself this morning - people have a right to protest - the only embarrassment is when the Defence Minister has his ‘friend’ who has no security clearance or authorisation represents the UK at a high level all over the place in matters of national security. And Brexiteers reckon the EU is undemocractic. It’s also embarrassing when someone with an ego the size of Fox’s contributes zero in the way of fresh substantial alternative ideas on trade in nearly two years in post. Can’t wait to get him out of the cabinet and join Boris who is probably scoffing his face somewhere. Don’t mind Davis so much but he seems to have made little discernible impression on negotiations. Brexiteers are a busted flush in the cabinet, hence the desperation.

Looks a good signing and boy did we need some height and power at the back. Hopefully he'll provide some leadership in that area which we've not had since Fonte left and probably since before Euro 2016. Would like to see Boufal replaced with some raw pace and a striker with a few outs to lighten the wage bill such as Clasie, Forster (Grrr Les) and (with considerable regret) Davis.

And Boris, in fact that Sun article stinks of him. The thought of that corpulent, loafing oaf as PM is appalling, thankfully many Tory MPs seem to agree, including cabinet ministers. The fact that hard-line Brexiteers, and plenty of the muppets on the other thread here, actually think Trump would actually help the UK if there was a Brexit no deal is astonishing. Wakey wakey, a President elected on a 'America First' platform, who is ripping up every trade deal that doesn't overwhelmingly favour of the US, ignoring basic principles of balance of trade. Rees-Mogg and co are so obsessed with the Republican far right/Alt Right they can't see it and think Trump is a great bloke and an ally. How naive can you get? Would you trust Trump at all based on all the lunatic things he's said and done? He's as trustworthy as Hitler was in 1938. Whatever think of May, she's having to clear up the appalling mess and lies from Vote Leave. Boris had two years to come up with alternative Brexit deal proposals and wasn't up to it at all, even with a huge staff. None of the Brexteers have cut it in government at all (Davis, Fox, Johnson, Grayling) and the public just wants a economy doing OK and limits on freedom of movement which this deal might generate. The big losers would be the City of London, but then wasn't that an element of protest in the EU referendum e.g. 'it's the City of London's GDP'? The loss of tax yield will hurt though. Would have been best if the electorate had engaged it's brain in 2016, but we are where we are.

Trouble at mill with Juve and Fiat: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44807281 Still, can't see a similar problem arising with the workers going on a strike at Nissan in Sunderland....

Stones switched off, not for the the first time tonight. Ref has been poor and will be lenient on time wasting. Second half was the real killer, lost all the momentum of an excellent first half. SF was far more than we expected but bit like Saints in the League Cup, you start to dream

Their stadium isn’t actually theirs either, IIRC? Heard they were looking to build a new one but arguably harder to stay in the league than it was for us when the Dell went all seater in the 1990s. More to the point, at least we weren’t paying rent on our lovable old shed either! Could be a disgruntled ex employee but I’ve wondered how they’ve bought the players they have on a ground not much bigger than Exeter’s when it’s finished.

The referendum would have been 70/30 Remain if so, probably more in far of Remain. Very few bar SMEs and sole trades who are local scope only would have voted for economic suicide. Certainly if you export goods. Go and ask the international trade forums around the UK what they think (business led). I guess from your perspective you only need the local market. I’m both private (consultancy - national and international) and independent sector - so would I get 0.5 of a vote? Perhaps 0.5 also for the hundreds of thousands, probably far more, for those employed where their companies have received significant public subsidies or R&D support to create products and skilled jobs? As one of my favourite politicians Michael Heseltine said ‘my colleagues on the right were always vocal on how the world should work but had little understanding of how it actually does’.

Can't see Lemina going DT this summer, maybe next summer though but he'll need a storming season next year first. No-one is going to pay £35-50m for someone who had half-a-dozen good games (at best tbh). Bertrand I thought was a certainty but interest has died down and he seems happier with Huges as manager. Possibly still moving but not the racing certainty it seemed. Clasie, Davis, FF, McQueen/Targett, Stephens/Reed (loan), Hesketh (loan), Boufal all still outgoing I reckon.

I'd agree, this is much more like 2014 and 2015 summer windows when we bought Tadic, Mane, VVD, Bertrand, Romeu et al, not every signing came off but you could see a rationale. Deals seem to be getting closed out faster and there's a crisper, more dynamic feeling to how the club is going about it's transfer business. There will need to be some departures now - Fraser, Jordi, S Davis, maybe one of the CBs - but hopefully the same extends there. Hopefully this is a lasting thing rather than the early finish to the window. The 'new direction' Guan referred to didn't pay off so back to what served us well previously. I think having a manager there who understands what the PL and England requires - Koeman hadn't played here before but understood it - now with Hughes is a big help. I just don't think CP and MP understood it (the former might now a bit more after 2 seasons., not sure the latter ever would). When you are signing players from huge clubs who are light on first team football, the intensity of the PL every week must have been one hell of a shock.

Very pleased if this comes through. We needed height, we needed a leading CB to organise, a player from a good league with the right experience (tick). OK, may not be blisteringly quickly but actually Yoshi/Stephens aren't slouches pace-wise and Hoedt isn't that slow (although looked at it times last year pre-Hughes). Big high quality CBs with genuine pace cost VVD money only a handful of clubs worldwide can pay that, and even then Liverpool sold Coutinho. Impressed with the enhanced urgency this transfer window, best since 2014 and 2015. I think that tells you a strong manager needs to be in the mix, don't know whether it means Ross Wilson has a greater role in getting deals over the line.

Gross misconduct offence by whoever approved this signing. Probably the same buffoon who kept someone totally unsuitable in post until March! Did it really did take them until Newcastle to realise the players weren’t responding and weren’t being trained or prepared with the required intensity? Might as well have sold VVD for £55m. We needed that money this summer and the person or persons need removing from the club.

Agree with this although of course Jack Stephens could be the competition for Cedric? Has played there for Saints before on a limited basis e.g. Everton away.

Yep, seconded. Vestergard has the attributes we urgently need, Marlon doesn't. Jack's future is looking uncertain either way and could be on his way out and I'd also sell Targett to Fulham to help fund Vestegard, if that's neccessary (I prefer McQueen as Bertrand's competition). Can't see them selling or loaning Bednarak whose value will be on the rise, nor Hoedt or seemingly Maya.

Henderson stupid there, let Kane score it and then rub it in their faces afterwards. Scuffing up the spot didn’t work - Harry was never missing that, strong boy mentally and physically. Stones silly as well, although Falcao is washed up and about the only way he would make an impact.

Was still a red card though and would be in any PL or FL game with a League 2 or above standard ref. This one isn’t great but Clattenburg is right (for a change, although was about Lallana as well to be fair!) the VAR ref should have re-showed him the incident. The Colombian coach was niggly in pushing Sterling but England have to keep their cool. Colombia without Rodriguez is a tidy but uncreative side, only really Quintero a threat.

Definately do not use Homebase! We did our kitchen and living room last year, buying the units and installation from Sparkworld in Newton Abbot. I don’t know if they go any further east than Yeovil but for less than Homebase wanted we got granite from Spain and system six units. Installation was excellent too.

Excellent team performance today, Rilee's innings was top notch, wasn't timing the ball perfectly to begin with but supported Alsop well, who looked quality, and then took over after Tom perished. Fielding was great, 4 run outs and Berg was so brave, getting rid of Kuhn whose record in this competition was stunning. Wood and Dawson bowled well and Steyn a great influence. Allan Donald is doing a good job as Kent's bowling coach but don't envy his raw materials. Podmore decent and Stevens canny as always. Denly actually the most dangerous bowler. Haggett though - please tell me he is a very good bat because that's the worst bowling I've ever seen in a final since that Leicestershire guy bowled a million wides in a limited overs final in the 1990s (sorry, can't recall the name!). Could have been nervous but take a leaf out of Stevens book if you have zero pace. Bowled all over the wicket in 3 overs, how he stopped us winning the group game is mind boggling.