Crab Lungs

Was thinking the same... Truly horrific

Don't be a Praet mate.

Neither would be better, IMO. Don't think he'll calm down Jose's nerves. Nevermind! Still worth giving him a chance, likewise Clasie, but I think we'll still majorly flappy. Shame for Stekelenburg

Been done for about 2 weeks, allegedly.

Haven't seen that one... I'll go have a look!

It looks it.. rather sadly, I watched a few Youtube clips of that journey!

Watched documentary on that the other day! Incredible feat of engineering!

No, they've done magnificent and I don't think there is one person who can knock them for what they've done. That aside, if we do, as a club, have any intention of "breaking the glass ceiling" (Les Reed's words, not mine), then we cannot continue to turn over the number of quality players year in, year out. You mention the Liebherr's don't run the club in that way, fair enough, but Kenwright, with significantly less resources at Everton, hasn't sold off their coveted players in bulk floggings. I think the main thing people are concerned about - and the fans aren't stupid - is that sure, clubs can want our players but are we (a) doing enough to keep them here in the first place (If it's money, can we do more - most people cite that it's money that is the allure, the glamour of playing for a big club, personally, I think it's a mesh of both) (b) investing enough in their replacements. We did the previous close season after huge outcry, but we've tried to go under the radar and do it cheaply this time. We, as fans and the players currently in the squad aren't stupid - some of them from last year's successful campaign must be thinking "Where is the club going exactly?" and you can't blame them, either. I hope we aren't selling the club to prospective players as a "stepping stone" to greater riches. Sure, we'll always have our place in the food chain but it's f()cking agonising to watch the squad, year after year, be torn apart because we possibly aren't doing as much as we could to keep those players - and putting our owners wealth aside, this is also despite all the new Premier League riches we have. So, is it a fair question to ask "Where are Southampton FC going?" then I believe yes, yes it is. Whether you'll get an honest, sincere and frank answer from Ralph or Les or just a fan-friendly soundbite prior to season ticket renewals is another thing altogether.

---------------------------------Boruc ---Clyne---------------Fonte-----------Alderweireld---------Bertrand ---------------------Wanyama------Schneiderlin ----Mane---------------------Lallana-----------------Rodriguez ------------------------------Lambert Subs: Stekelenburg, Shaw, Lovren, Cork, Davis, Puncheon, Pelle.

They're only getting 15,000+ crowds at the moment 'cos of their relative success. That's them all over, delusional glory hunters. They were struggling to get 12,000 with their innovative "Pack The Pack" scheme in the Championship when they down the bottom, so it's got nothing to do with how big they are, more to do with a load of fanboys wanting to jump on the... ahem, League Two success bandwagon. ()

And there it is...

Id have taken a point at Watford but the performance was utterly terrible.

I challenged Crook a couple of years back and had hundreds of Saints fans abusing me telling me to "leave him alone". I wasn't rude, just told him he was talking rubbish and doesn't have any credible sources. He insulted me then deleted me. If only I could get on there now....

#wemarchon

This x100

Danish B-Rabbit's found Don't forget to hook up with your brahs Rabbit....

Targetts positional sense is absolutely terrible as well

Yup.

Caulker is painfully slow. Only slower thing on the pitch tonight was our build up play in the 1st half. Too many last ditch saving challenges by fonte for my liking, we really do need a composed cb alongside him. As for their goal, terrible defending, dare I say Tim Sparv waltzed into the Morgan shaped hole and pretty much had all the time in the world to get his shot away. Happy enough were score goals this season, we'll just concede by the bucket load unless we sort our def mid and centre back position.

Bullied by Deeney, Behrami to run the show... Two or three nil reverse

I used to enjoy his posts, they were funny. They were still funny when they were taking this p1ss out of me. But now he seems... a bit vitriolic, a bit unstable. Hope he's OK.

Ha, whatever. Thing is, all the people who "played it cool" over the summer probably acted like that to appear so because for some reason, a reputation means something to them. On an internet forum. Reality is, they were probably not so confident it'd work out. As it happened, everything did go swimmingly but I think there were plenty more fans concerned than unconcerned in some of the bad weeks last year.

It's a big if, and I don't think we should panic at all but can understand people's worries and frustrations. If we've got replacement players in mind, I do think it's time the club stumped up a bit of that cash and had a bit of a "balls out" incoming transfer sesh ourselves.

Obviously, we should treat this caution until anything formal is said from both sides but I can totally understand people's frustrations and worries if we do sell Mane. We lost five first-team regulars the previous season and in some ways, got very lucky that all of the players recruited to replace them bedded in so quickly and were of mostly a similar or higher standard. This year we've lost three and haven't replace them like-for-like, with the exception of Cedric who looks to have a few similar attributes to Clyne. Other than that, Clasie isn't really a replacement for Schneiderlin, more a different option; probably better suited to replace Davis. Romeu isn't really a replacement of significant calibre for Schneiderlin, though they may play in a similar position. Once again, a different proposition slightly and a slightly underwhelming one (though obviously will reserve judgement until he's played a season or so). As for Alderweireld, Yoshida "filling in" isn't good enough and whilst I do like Yoshida, he's not of the same quality. We haven't replaced him either and we really do need to step that up; Toby left us a long, long time ago now and we've gone into the season completely understaffed for that area. I do feel sorry for the fans who've bought season tickets at the moment as they've been sold a bit of a dud on the back of an excellent season last year, likewise players like Fonte, who would definitely be feeling a sense of deja vu after last year's exodus. Les talks of breaking the glass ceiling; that's all well and good but he must realise we will never get there with such massive disruption to our first team, season after season. At some point, they're going to have make either learn to say no and prove to the existing players and potential ones that we're not just a selling club, but a progressive club as well. People, players and fans alike aren't stupid; everyone knows there is a food chain in football and let's face it, we do sit just above the middle in that - but that doesn't mean we should accept the fact we will be raided every season for our best players. Those same people also know that whilst we can't keep every player at the club long-term, this strategy is completely unsustainable and if we do want to have regular forays into Europe and achieve Les' dream of Champions League football, we need to act like one of the aspirants of that (Spurs, Liverpool etc), not one of the happy-go-lucky-just-glad-to-be-here competitors of the Premier League. After working so, so hard to get back to the Premier League and establish ourselves as a recognisable force and flagship role-model club, it doesn't make any sense to then undo it every season. Big money is all well and good but it's not a computer game; money is no guarantee of an excellent footballer or ideal replacement (Osvaldo, Veron, Rebrov, many of Liverpool's signings in the past twenty years etc). The board say we've always had a plan and there is no reason to panic.... the question is, if Mane goes as well and with only 2 weeks left until the transfer window closes, what trust will YOU have left?

This, x 1000