CanadaSaint

Not just two games in a row but almost twice today. Targett's booking - before the goal - came after Davis failed to clear the front defender with his corner. Yet again. The Romeu introduction shows that RK realizes he got it wrong.

Yep, we dodged a bullet with last week's set up but not this week. I really thought Romeu would start - he may be unfamiliar with us but he plays a role that's absolutely vital to us and the way we play, especially the way we defend. For that second, Yoshida felt the need to push up to make (and miss) the tackle that Schneiderlin made countless times every week.

Was that Davis's right wing corner? If so, it's the third time in two games (one at Newcastle, two today) that he's failed to clear a front man, and ended up giving the opposition a dangerous counter.

Wrong thread

Jeez, if criteria like that make their way into pro sports, the PL will be down to five-a-side, NFL football will be played without quarterbacks, and NBA basketball is completely finished. A large amount of nooky always has been, is, and always will be one of the unofficial perks.

Art, he wasn't "clobbered" - he suffered a hamstring strain, which is far from unusual at this end of the season. This might provide some reassurance about his durability: http://www.transfermarkt.com/jordy-clasie/verletzungen/spieler/104223

Fair comment, but there's a balance to be struck between paying for the (possible) excesses of the past, investing in the longer-term future, and being as strong as we can be in the present - all while remaining sustainable and compliant with FFP. FWIW I think the Board are doing a cracking job, and - regardless of whether Katharina, Ralph and Koeman stay for the longer term - I believe that we are better-placed than the Club has been at any time in its history, and much better placed than most of our peers. To fault people who have done that for us would be churlish in the extreme. But I'm also a fan, and I think we're very close to rock-solid Top 6 status - perhaps two very good players away. It seems from other threads that those two players could soon be on their way, and I hope we'll be willing and able to pay what it (reasonably) takes to get them here.

I'm not agreeing with the OP but there is a point in there which has been lost in the rather hysterical reaction. Most clubs with significant aspirations have a transfer budget over and above break-even on the ins and out of last season's squad. The television money funds it - and the associated increases in the wage budget. Unless I'm mistaken, in the past two seasons we haven't spent any money above the net on player ins and outs, which would mean that we don't have such an "aspiration budget" - or at least haven't used it yet. I like our squad, too, but I'd like it a hell of a lot more with two or more quality acquisitions. We were so close to Top 6 status last year, or even Top 5, and those additional acquisitions could make the difference between getting there this year or falling away to 8-10 - especially in a Europa season, and especially with some of our peer clubs being quite active. And I'm not talking about relinquishing our commitment to self-sustainability. I really like that. Hopefully those players will arrive in the next few weeks.

Just as we would expect, at least for VvD - it can all be negotiated and agreed in advance of the point at which the selling club is ready to sell. The tantalizing part is the plural.

Probably, but the two of us are the most-linked - for good reason. It's a little surprising to me that Newcastle aren't linked more, but they have Ashley running the show. Mind you, he's linked to Rangers, which probably wouldn't go in his favour.

It rather looks that way, what with some surprisingly direct comments from inside the club (Fonte, Koemans), but the outcome will provide important insight. Everton are in our peer group (5-10) and we both badly need this kind of player - well, Everton will if Stones goes. Both our seasons could hinge on it. Whether he comes to us or goes to Everton, it will make a fairly clear statement about our respective ambitions - unless, of course, we have someone of similar calibre lined up.

There's a bipolarity about Mané that has you on the edge of your seat, one way or the other. In the space of a minute he can go from a headless, possession-surrendering chicken lacking in concentration and awareness to one of the most electrifying, unplayable players in the PL. Weird game today. On the one hand I'm happy with the point because we over-exposed our back four, but on the other hand we had way more clear-cut chances than Newcastle and should have won by two or more.

There's no clear tactical shield in front of the back four, just midfielders reacting to situations - often a little too late. If we don't address that, and it means a substitution, our defence will continue to struggle. I don't think they had JayRod pegged for the full ninety, so it might be him.

I like the line-up - for this game, at least. What else should we do but target their weakness full-on if we have the players to do it? It needn't make us that vulnerable because I would imagine that the full backs, especially Targett, will have more of a "stay at home" brief.

We might find out a little more about our defence because Vitesse now know they need to score at least one. Cedic hasn't been challenged defensively because Vitesse have tended to focus on the space around Yoshida and Targett. Clasie seems to be searching for his role - trying not to get in anyone's way and ending up doing little as a result. I'm sure he'll be fine.

Indeed. It's fascinating that, for all the fear (supposedly) imposed on employees during Cortese's chairmanship, far less seems to leak out under the current administration. Is that down to the fact that some individuals are now elsewhere, or the fact that it's a tighter, warmer ship that doesn't spring leaks?

The Express is now reporting that FF could miss the entire season: http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/592053/Southampton-England-news-Fraser-Forster-knee-injury-summer-return

From what I've seen of van Dijk I think he would fit us very well - he ticks so many of the boxes that we need ticked. My concern is that we'll end up with too many players whose decision to come here is largely based on Koeman being our manager. Losing RK at the end of his contract would be an even bigger problem if it caused a bunch of core players to want to leave at the same time.

It has always been so. Whenever a player from a so-called smaller club links up with his national squad, he's exposed to a variety of head-turning conversations with "big club" players. I'm sure this happened with Lallana and Clyne, and I'm sure it happened with Toby and with Schneiderlin. A fact of life for clubs like us is that the very thing that makes us successful also makes us vulnerable. And there's not a damn thing that Reed and Koeman can do about it, other than try their best to keep them and - if that fails - replace them well. And they have done that very well, although you'd never know it from some of the childish whining on here.

Well, Spurs' transfer process appears to have stalled at the "Release picture of player smiling and holding up shirt" stage, which is very telling. Even if they try that one, I suspect that there's still a lot of legal wrangling ahead. Toby is an excellent player and dovetailed really well with Fonte and Bertrand, but he's not irreplaceable and I frankly don't think he's as durable as we need him to be. If we keep him, great. If we miss out, I have faith that management already has plans in place to sign a more than adequate replacement. The same goes for the Schneiderlin situation. I'm sure they have carefully considered plans for just about every contingency, so I'm happy to sit back and let them do their job. We, like most clubs, are in that period of mid-Summer uncertainty that comes along every year. The only certainty at this time of year is that there will be several posters on here competing for the "Biggest-ever waste of semen" award.

I hope we sign Toby but he's a player moving outside our corporate M.O. of "buy low, sell high." Following though on the loan deal arrangements made a ton of sense and represented real M.O.-value business. Paying twice that amount, and possibly more, especially for a player with possible durability issues when squad depth will always be an issue for us, doesn't. I have faith in the Black Box, so I'm fairly laid-back about this. I just hope it gets sorted soon, one way or the other. I'd rather he didn't go to WHL, though.

With United now (apparently) stalling on Schneiderlin and starting to talk about Jordy Clasie again, I can't help but wonder if the mutual dislike between Van Gaal and Ronald is at play here. Several of Koeman's critical next moves are held up pending a Van Gaal decision. Van Gaal knows he'll get who he wants in the end, and he's the sort of person to get a kick out of jerking Ronald around in the process.

Indeed. And I'm not sure there's anyone at the club who did more to stabilize things behind the scenes when we were in the midst of last Summer's firestorm. He shines like a beacon in a sport that has become depressingly self-centered, and I agree with Redslo's comment about his coaching potential - he certainly has a perfect mentor in Koeman.

This is why refereeing has become a joke. Same referee as we had against Sunderland, same situation, same scoreline, same tackle from the side. JWP gets a straight red and Terry doesn't even get a yellow. Jones is too stupid to even remember what he did two weeks ago. While I'm still seething I'm going out on a limb with an early prediction. The rotund, out of shape, always behind the play Jon Moss will go down with cramp during the Cup Final.

Distinctly possible. In fact it could have been the straw that broke the camel's back for Katharina and her advisors - IF Cortese requested an injection of funds, was denied, and went another route. After all, he was never a man to accept No when he wanted to hear Yes.