Graffito

Someone who couldn't afford to buy a club in the top 8 with all it's star players in place. Managing relegation is a difficult one but those clubs going down are in a far stronger position than ever to come back the following season. Saints could be viewed as a value buy. For instance, you don't want to buy growth stocks at the top of the market or at the glass ceiling in Saints case.

And the lack of interest in the Europa League.

Yet higher investment would be the bigger risk but I think the club's ambition has to be a little more than survival. The academy is a big investment.

Bit high risk though isn't it?

You can make money by buying low and selling high. Championships clubs can be a good calculated bet. League 1 clubs of Saints calibre even better. Ein Schnäppchen as ML referred to his purchase of Saints. Of course you need some further investment, good coaches and acquisitions, a Cortese and luck but Saints prove it's feasible. The only surprise to me is why KL hasn't sold because the further investment and risk associated with breaking into the top 4 would be prohibitive to any but the oil rich and the like so why stick around?

It is a good league but parachute payments have gone up massively so Sky is infecting the Championship as well.

I find a bit of historical perspective and looking beyond the immediate helps a bit. The club's been around since 1885. "Projects", managers, players, "owners" come and go but the club and by and large the fans are constants. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the teams we've had over the past four years and I was especially proud of last season's performances and the number of English players in the side. It's a crying shame it's being dismantled so brutally but all,those that pass through are mere custodians and we the fans should remain proud of our club.

Take his point but the Board cannot be absolved of blame so easily. Either it's deliberately and wilfully cutting costs and raising revenue or it's lost any semblance of control. If we want a more level playing field, the Championship's a competitive league. Even that may change with the increased parachute payments.

Based on my believing he knows no more than rest of us. I'm not saying the club isn't up for sale, if I were her acting rationally I'd have sold it by now, but I don't believe it is up for sale, not formally anyway.

Chambers?

Fair chance they won't want to stay given the way things are going at the moment. If I were in their shoes I'd want to keep open my options, which is probably what Fonte has been doing with the reported Cardiff interest.

Except that your explanation doesn't explain the transfers of Chambers or Lambert.

Make of this what you will but I think you are talking out of what you have sat on for a while.

If you mean cliques are less of a problem with Dutch football than with French football, then aside from being a gross generalisation, and hypothetical in regard to Saints, there is evidence in a number of tournaments of Dutch squads forming cliques and failing.

Yes Chambers is different. The strategy seems to have been to buy young up and coming English talent to supplement what comes out of the Academy. In the case of Chambers we are selling it. Add to this the fact that it's yet one more sale of one of our better players and we reach a tipping point. The only thought I had in justification of selling Chambers is that maybe the club recognised that it couldn't keep both Chambers and Clyne happy for much longer and would have lost one of them at some point.

Ralph has a very important job which is to improve the club's commercial income. This is why Les had to take over PR and make an @rse of himself.

Using that logic you'd sell all eleven if the price were right.....and guarantee relegation.

Did he? I haven't read that. He's quoted here. Maybe things changed between then and now. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/transfers/liverpool-transfer-news-dejan-lovren-on-verge-of-switch-from-southampton-9629529.html

It's a concern that Koeman didn't want to lose Lovren and didn't want to lose any more than the three that had been sold but recognised it was a decision for the Board. Yet it would appear Lovren will be sold.

Mine watched Mama Mía.....again.

I believe with every drop of rain that falls a flower grows.

Are you a mod or a mouse?

Let's not forget Billy's English.

The advert that killed the brand. Whereas bellends never die.

Agree, though neither would I be like him to join Pochettino at Spurs. You are right about FFP in your earlier post. A point that does indeed kept getting overlooked.