SaintBobby

Shame he's been so injury prone. I do wonder the maximum number of games we could expect him to play next season if he stays. If we push him too hard, we risk more - and worse - injuries.

I'd love Gaston to stay and make a success of things here. I'm less worried about his mediocre first season than if he has failed to settle here and wants away...

So, they consider 5 "what ifs" and basically decide that they would have made very little difference indeed. Brilliant.

Echo says there will be a big clearout (no surprise or even news there, really) http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/news/10441054.Saints_set_for_big_clear_out/?ref=twt&utm_content=Southampton,+Saints,

In terms of high managerial turnover, Alan Pardew is now the second longest serving manager in the top flight with just 2 seasons under his belt. Were Pardew to be sacked, Arsene Wenger would then have been in post for longer than all the other Premier League managers put together.

Certainly, very few of those most expensive 25 players would make it into a list of Saint's best 25 players - or even our best 50. That said, I think our recent signings haven't been too bad - with the jury still out on a few of them (I'm not writing off Ramirez, Mayuka, Gazzanigga or the mysterious Forren) and a couple of truly excellent signings (Clyne and Yoshida)

I'm not aware of any domestic competition in which away goals count. Why show a league table which replicates European competitions rather than the League Cup/playoffs? Bizarre.

Really? I thought we drew with Stoke and Fulham "over 2 legs"

Boruc was the guest speaker in the Channon suite. So, it's unlikely to have been a disciplinary issue.

Terrible news. RIP.

As was wholly unsurprising from the outset, a point a game is about enough to stay up. As it happens, we now know in retrospect that Saints would have stayed up on 36 points due to GD. Not 39. Just 36.

Classic. Saints 20th. Arsenal 6th. Swansea to get relegated. Man City certain to retain the title. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4493024/Premier-League-Terry-Venables-club-by-club-guide.html

Aye. Except those things are basically scheduled. Having to suddenly organise a 3 or 4 way tourney between, say, Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal or Villa, Sunderland, Wigan and Newcastle would be a sight to see.

Excellent signing (c£2m?) and a great season. Oddly, although this is really for a different thread, very few of our pricey transfer signings made a huge impact this season. (£12m Ramirez, £4m Mayuka, £4m Forren, £3m Yoshida, £7m J-Rod?). Am NOT saying all these players have been useless - not at all. But we got more out of our existing squad than these c.£30m worth of signings. Clyne is the standout exception - pretty cheap and utterly exceptional value for money from start to end.

Quoted for truth....

I'd be surprised. You're right about KD's kicking, but Kelv and Gaz are on long term contracts. They are fine for no.2 and 3.

Like the 1950 World Cup final then? Sweet. Wish that had happened!

What happens is 3+ teams are exactly tied for 4th place? (or 17th place?)

As stated above, we would have "tied". Play-offs do take place for position (as was possible between Chelsea and Arsenal), but are only actioned if they are "meaningful" (race for 1st, 3rd and 17th, always, I think.....plus maybe for a Europa spot had that kicked in?).

Agreed. All on 2 words. Squad depth.

Aye. I think they've sorted out this weird thing by which most Italian-based players are co-owned. Not sure if that applies to Astori, but if it did, it's squared. Only issue will be salary, I think. I think he'll be our first signing. (if he isn't, I think something may have gone badly wrong!)

Fair play. But that's surely a "Who is our starting XI" thread. Not a "CDAJFU" thread?

Yep :-) Deal done for about £9m. Contractual terms TBD. I reckon he's in, but that last hurdle or two could still trip it.

I'd shift S Davis to "undecided" and Kelvin to "def" (as no. 2 keeper). I think Fonte is also leaning towards "def". Lallana is clearly a def (if he question really is CDAJFU?) Astori, if we nail it, is also a def for next year. (I accept he's not a current Saint, but should be soon)

No idea on date. But the first signing will probably be Astori for c. £9m. It may unravel, but he's pretty much "first in" barring a clusterf*ck (which is possible)