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Nice one, ta. Looks like there's a bar and cellar near where I'll be staying called Chaplin's - will probably check that out as well.

Looks like my girlfriend and I will be making a short break out of this - would be nice if the weather could hold up... Anybody know of any places in Bournemouth that specialise in ale/craft beer? Would be surprised if it doesn't get to general sale, though I'd jump on quickly tomorrow morning to make sure.

As a student throughout that period I could only make it to about 1 match in 5 or 6. Almost felt guilty about not suffering every painful moment first-hand. In some ways I guess it was better that online streams weren't widely available in those days. One enduring memory was getting my mates 'round to watch the 2008 FA Cup match against Bristol Rovers as it was shown on the BBC. I was convinced we were on the verge of a cup run to give the season some credibility! Ended up utterly dismayed with our lacklustre, toothless performance; Lambert's free kick deflecting in off Wright was crushing.

Feels like an age since season tickets were just bits of paper even though it's really only a few years. Think I've still got a 2011/12 book of tickets for matches 7-23 somewhere (quite a few were accidentally sent out to non-finance ST holders).

Not personally! Point taken though - only a bit of petulant fun.

As posted in the other Lallana thread.

So I was going on what you guys were saying last night and threw this together: But now I'm thinking something like this may be a little more appropriate: Can replace my name with 'Saints Fans', I just didn't want some toerag nicking my work and pasting it all over Twitter.

True, but you lose the correct 'left' and 'right' placement then!

Kissed the badge then left, Mark Clattenburg's right, Adam Lallana, He changed overnight.

If there is to be one, "WE'RE NOT FOR SALE" with an arrow pointing down to the fans might be OK. Or "TRUE SAINTS AREN'T FOR SALE"? The sentiment doesn't quite work though. All said, "CLATTENBURG WAS RIGHT" is probably the best option.

All fair comment. Alternatively you could look at it from the POV that Reed has earned his stripes and deserves a chance at the next level, rather than simply seeing it as him never having had this level of responsibility. How do you prove your worth a step up if never promoted thus? I tend to agree in terms of Les being the only footballing man on the board. That said, many day-to-day processes in a football club will be little different to those of any other company and you'd hope that the likes of the Koemans and Sammy Lee will have influence through working with Reed, if not a direct say at board level.

In answer to the question posed: empirical evidence. Content of the OP is massively disingenuous.

This thread will be worth digging up if we secure another solid mid table position next season.

Five seems to be the magic number at present, pending further outgoing transfers of course. Perhaps I've lost the plot but I'm genuinely excited for the forthcoming season.

It's testament to the influence of the matchday threads that they sprung to mind instantly after reading Koeman's tweet. On a semi-related note, I found an interesting article on Chile's coach Jorge Sampaoli, who has been credited with building on Marcelo Bielsa's tactical influence (Bielsa having also heavily influenced Pochettino). I believe Koeman has already tinkered with a dynamic 3-5-2/5-3-2 formation, so we could be seeing something similar in action come August. http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/2014-fifa-world-cup-jorge-sampaoli-chile-marcelo-bielsa/

Having actually filled the survey in now, I can only hope most of their suggestions don't come to pass. Visions of 32,000 people sat in silence, staring at their smartdevice for 90% of the match, watching replays and highlights rather than the live action and discussing the match with strangers online rather than the people next to them.

It's symptomatic of a wider societal plague; same sort of mentality as the people that would rather live a match or a gig through a viewfinder. Filming a set piece on an iPad, what the hell? Each to their own I guess but I'd rather form memories by actually experiencing an event. Admittedly day-to-day I'm pretty keen on Twitter, but on matchday my phone's used for a quick comment on the way back to the car, not for anything other than watching the bloody game. TL;DR - I'm sure there's demand for Wi-Fi, but not need.

The fluid Chilean 3-5-2/5-3-2 (complete with high tempo pressing) looked pretty tasty against Spain tonight and certainly asks questions of teams that like to hold onto the ball. It's a system that Koeman dabbled with towards the end of last season.

I've mentioned it before, but this is built-in functionality with Google Calendars: https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/37098?hl=en Benefit of using their one is that it automatically updates if fixtures are moved and also populates the calendar entry with the score after the event. Be nice to see the Premier League trophy lifted on the final day, especially since we'll be inheriting it from City. Forget "AGUEROOOOOO!" - it'll be all about "OSVALDOOOOOO!"

I was in the Chilworth Arms' beer garden an hour ago when none other than Pochettino swanned in. Sacked already?

Aaron Martin was a local boy and a Southampton fan. Just seen he's at Yeovil now.

Proof will of course be in the pudding, but that's a promising interview. If everything he says is true we could be looking at a much smoother transition than looked likely in the wake of MP's departure. Good to know we have proper contingency plans and that the club's staff have been busying themselves while everyone externally has been having their little meltdowns. Thank goodness we don't have a fan on the board.

Haha. Even more remarkably I just realised I had Curtis Davies on at CB due to injuries.

Turns out that Champions League dream isn't so ridiculous after all. First group match, boom.

Had a bottle of that last night - quite a kick at 8.5%. Seem to be visiting Bitter Virtue every week of late. Gradually working through their entire collection of stouts and porters.