Leslie Charteris

Surely this makes it almost official: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27859958

OK, but, in truth, Oranjeboom isn't much cop either. Why are so many cr*p lagers so popular?

Time for some Oranjeboom?

I like this: "Mancini has reached at least a semi-final of a major national cup competition in every season he has been a manager", that should cheer up a few on here but surely his defence first style is contrary to The Southampton Way that Led Reed was bigging up.

Yep, I love the Pink Panther theme

Here's a link to his Wiki page for those too embarrassed to ask: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_William_Miller

Koeman, Ranieri - top quality coaches. Bruce - been there, done that candidate - would probably command respect from the players and certainly not a bad choice (but he is not from abroad, so unlikely). John Toshack - stick to radio punditry. We don't want any Cardiff, Brighton, etc rejects thank you! I really, really hope it's the Dutchman. That would be a serious statement of intent from the board. Will Friday be the day?

Sports Tonight Live? It seems that Gordon "Flash" Watson is one of their anchormen so perhaps he is ITK. I love this quote: "an effervescent,never-say-die forward, the sort the crowd always love and, although not the most skilful of front-runners, he had a swashbuckling style that unnerved defences." Thanks FF http://www.sportstonightlive.com/

Oh, and for younger posters, you might like to find out about Nick Faldo comparing American beer to making love in a boat a few years ago. It was a joke, but it cost him big time.

Fair play Graffito, I understand that you'd not be at your best after watching England and drinking American beer, as I may not be after indulging in some English cider ...but I am amazed that someone expressing their love for the club can evoke such a negative reaction from some. COME ON YOU LOT, HE IS ONE OF US even if he indulges in over elaborate prose.

What, the message or the way it is written? He's just a Saints fan articulating his emotions to those that may not understand. Ah, irony...

Indeed. If this is how it pans out then to the board.

Ah yes, missed that! 20 million Euros = about £16m, so that would be a good return on Spurs investment.

Funny, I can't see Walker in the top 60. But anyway, they seem to be close with Luke Shaw's value at around £27m.

Gerrard, Rooney, Suarez and others have all wanted away from their club during a summer break. They all returned and played pretty well for their clubs when it didn't happen. This excerpt from the CIES Football observatory annual review http://www.football-observatory.com/IMG/pdf/ar2014_excerpt.pdf would suggest that Lallana's value is no more than £20m. So the club are saying "You can go, but only if we get the full 20 million." Good on them for that.

Interesting report here: http://www.football-observatory.com/IMG/pdf/ar2014_excerpt.pdf Luke Shaw is the 46th most valuable player in Europe and it looks like we have our valuation about right. Lallana, however, is nowhere to be seen so our valuation seems to be telling a story to Adam and LFC.

Koeman with a three year contact and £50m to spend - I'd be happy with that.

Aha! So it is possible, but unlikely I'd have thought.

But he is halfway through a 4 year contract - surely that counts for something...

Koeman could be great for us inasmuch as he would probably settle any players fears about the club's ambition. Sean Dyche has done wonders at Burnley, was poorly treated by Watford and I think would do a good job but maybe he would not command the respect of our "big" players in the way Koeman could. He might get the Luggy treatment and so, on balance, I really hope we get the Dutchman.

Thanks for sharing Guan, I feel a little more optimistic about the future, even if it is without Luke, Lambert and Lallana.

I think it's more to do with talk of £100k+ wages on offer from "big" clubs rather than anything our board have or haven't said. Until we can offer such salaries this will continue to happen.

Sadly, I think you are right. Money talks and the Premier League have huge financial clout and therefore power. What are the chances of a European or even a World Super League happening soon with the World Cup and other tournaments being reduced to a late night niche on Eurosport? Looks like FIFA aren't doing themselves any favours with the breaking Qatar bribery stuff and would you trust Michel Platini to run anything bigger than a car boot sale stall?

"From Saints’ point of view, the obvious downside to retaining the two players for now is that, should they be sold later this summer, as seems increasingly likely, it would reduce the time the club has to buy replacements, which could impact on their own pre-season preparations." Don't see how this is true as if they are "done deals" like people say, we could have some all ready to go straight after the World Cup or whenever the new manager decides. Maybe we'll get the pick of the Dutch squad!