CanadaSaint

After our dealings in the window I wouldn't rule anything out. When you spend $20 million+ on upgrading the squad, probably with more to come in January because we missed out on some targets, a top-priced manager isn't that big a deal. Especially if you've been very public about wanting style as well as results.

Has anyone definitively said that Ramirez is ineligible? Our Nigel couldn't be playing a little head game with Fergie, could he?

AVB will probably be looking for work soon as well, so we'll probably be linked with him. God forbid.

Thanks for that. We certainly seem to have signed players made for that 4-2-3-1, so I'd say it's going to be a lot more than an experiment.

I'm not sure you have to be at the games to make the judgment call but it certainly helps. His biggest weakness for me was one I hoped would be resolved in pre-season training - his pace over the first ten yards, which is crucial for a "predatory striker." I noticed it on the TV coverage but it was even more apparent that he was lacking in this regard when I went to some games last year. From what I've seen of him this year, the problem is still there, and it's one of those things that will stop him from making the step up to PL standard.

True, but if there's anything crazier than the idea of Harry working harmoniously with Rupert, it's the idea of Harry working harmoniously with Nicola. I'm not sure I would bet against it, though.

No, Alpine, because I've truly had enough of the negative impact you have on this forum - day in and day out. You're not alone but you really are a league apart. You whine constantly about the abuse you take and then turn around and call me an "arsewipe" for daring to disagree with you - and I've defended you in the past, including yesterday. To be brutally honest, I think you need some professional help. You endlessly invite criticism and even contempt, and when it inevitably comes you go running for cover behind your pathetic persecution complex.

We're all "emotionally attached to this club" and we all "have an emotional investment in it" but we don't all keep wading in here with batsh*t-crazy overreactions on just about everything that happens here. If you're not responsible in what you post, and you certainly aren't, don't bleat when it comes back to haunt you. That's why he's managing a Premier League club, after two successive promotions, and you're sitting on a mountain in Austria or wherever the hell you are.

Exactly, and we should be used to it by now. I just hope we're not going to have whinefests about people like Merson and Lawrenson all season long because it's not going to change until we establish ourselves as a Top 8 side.

"Awful" and "woeful"? I don't think so, and I watched the match twice. They took 23 out of 33 points at the end of last season for good reason. IMO they are well organized and very well managed. They may be unfashionable, they may not have a big budget, and they may not have any real "stars", but they are not the crap team that some people are so quick to accuse them of being. And we actually played much better than some would have us believe in the post-match discussion. Still, that's just my opinion.

Good post, David. One of the things I can't wait to see is the degree to which our new signings help the players around them to look better. It's a potentially big plus that goes beyond getting the players we've signed. One example, for me, is Danny Fox. If we can be fast and skillful attacking down our left side, opposing teams won't be quite so quick to take the risk of throwing their defensive players forward when they are attacking us down that side. That would help to minimize the impact of some of Fox's weaknesses. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that this could also benefit our middle two at the back, because they won't be drawn out of the middle to cover Fox quite as often. So, I'm looking for some of our longer term players to improve (or seem to have improved) as they play with better players.

Even though they only drew, Wigan "out-possessioned" Stoke 68/32. IMO they are a much better side than people on here were giving them credit for last week, so our loss - though really disappointing - wasn't quite that bad. Fulham look to be in big trouble. AVB has a good chance of being paid more not to manage teams than he was ever paid to manage them.

I remember plenty of people on here, not necessarily you, saying the same thing when we were promoted to the Championship. We have added people with youth, skill and a ton of potential on their side - in the opinion of others far away from this Club. The addition of width and pace is huge. I'm delighted that we've moved well beyond this "sign experienced players and hang on for grim death" concept. When we see this lot dovetail together, which won't happen right away, I think we'll all be very pleased.

So are some of ours:

I, too, would like to thank Deano for everything he did for us while he was here (and it was a lot), but if he had any sense he stopped looking at this forum a long time ago.

I think Fox might look better this season because our addition of pace and width (the critical factor, and on both flanks) means that teams won't be so quick to take liberties down our left side. Sure, that doesn't make Fox a better player but it could well mean that his weaknesses will be less exposed. Ditto, really, for our centre backs, who hopefully won't be sucked out of position quite so easily. I love the business we've done in the window.

Our attack was far from certain to cut the mustard at PL level, and your "they got us here" logic means that we should be sticking with players like Hammond as well. And then we should strengthen our defence and hang on for grim death, hoping that we can finish above the bottom three. No thanks. But that's all besides the point because it's clear from our transfer dealings that we're aiming for a different kind of football - presumably the "Southampton way" much touted by NC. And I, for one, am very happy and excited to see it. Alpine, I sometimes think that the only value of a silver lining, for you, is the fact that there's a cloud attached to it.

I'm more concerned for the dog.

Given our transfer activity, Guly couldn't have chosen a worse time to sh*t in his own nest.

I wouldn't underestimate the positive affect that these signings might have on some current players. The potential for natural width and pace on both flanks is a really key upgrade. It'll make us much better and quicker going forward, but it should help defensively as well. Fox should benefit because opposing overlaps down his side will become more risky and therefore less common; our CBs won't be sucked out of the middle so often. What's going to be really interesting is to see which of our midfield players will find it hard to keep their place. I have a feeling that (other than Guly) Schneiderlin might be the first to sit on the bench rather than start, but Lallana needs to find a consistent role or else he could end up "on the bubble" for starting selection.

That sounds like Harry maths to me.

Stop it. You'll give Dune ideas. He'll get an account next, along with 27 more with different identities so that he can follow himself in a kind of electronic masturbation.

Wow, that's so "out of left field" that I actually believe it. If that lot happens we will have completely transformed our squad in three days. Jeez, we must have an amazing network and some pretty solid relationhips in Europe.

So has NineteenCanteen.