S-Clarke

Ok, I reckon the league won't have such a big gap between 7th and the rest. I think Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton will suffer slightly with the extra games - so that will bring them closer to the rest. I think City will probably win the league. Their attack will be to die for. They still need a CB though...(hands off..)

Threads like this always come to bite people in the arse, especially before July! Best wait until at least November before making these sort of calls imo.... I remember the summer when Norwich had signed better and climbed 'above us' - not that they actually did end up above us in the real world.

That's fair enough, but he's not here anymore and we can't sign him. So - who - realistically, would you suggest we get who is better than Cedric?

Is this where we all start to ''Wish we were Bournemouth''? Just trying to keep on track.

Is there really anything massively technical to it? Just hit it on target as hard as you can. These dinked efforts or soft side foots are asking for trouble. Lambert's pens were just sheer power, it didn't matter where they went, the keeper just couldn't react quick enough.

His performance against Liverpool was one of the worst I have ever witnessed. Right up their with Alan Bennett on his debut against Palace. Hope he can get back to a decent level though.

Our most consistent run of the season was between September > November, after that it was a turgid affair. Wins followed by defeats, heavy ones away to Palace etc. We actually started the season pretty well, but it's the alarming rate we tailed off from November on wards which made his position pretty difficult. Injuries were a pretty big part of the tail off you'd have to say, as Austin started the season in blazing form - but Puel didn't really remedy it. We just had a period of Jay and Long rotating, if one scored, he was dropped for the next week etc. He didn't do himself any favors, but you can also say he was unlucky at what was presented to him during periods of the season. He didn't seem to have the personality to galvanize the squad when morale had dipped, and that's where you often see a manager make his mark...

In that case....then yeah, get a flaming life!

Don't feel that at all. I feel quite excited about the season ahead. I'm of the view of most at the club in that we have a decent squad, some really good players. We need a tiny bit of fine tuning which I'm sure we'll do and a decent coaching plan put together. There's a lot of potential in this squad and I think we may have appointed the manager with the ability to extract that out of them. I don't envisage a struggle at all. I was a little apprehensive last season, but my mood is totally opposite this year. Bring it on.

Not too sure on that training range at all. But I think we'll let them have that one, as they've produced two awesome kits...

Think that's a bit harsh on Jay...and fords! He's not been particularly injury prone over the last 12 months, it's just that he hasn't been given a run in the side. He's been available most weeks, but there have been weeks where he's not even made the bench. I think fitness wise/injury wise he's been clear now for a good year, it's just the long-term damage those injuries a few years ago have done to him. He's lost a yard for sure. We've evolved as a squad, we've got better players to choose from who have more attributes than him. Makes sense for him to join a team who don't have as many good options up front where he'll get a game.

Bit OTT. calm down. You should reserve those sort of replies for people who actually warrant it. I.e glasgow.

Well, they try.

He would cost £35m+. Which is why we're going for the Sassulo striker. Much more value.

I think they're playing on the angle that he was the VVD replacement when he was injured...

But it's not just the pull of the Champions League. It's getting the opportunity to run and hug Klopp. That's what any player dreams of.

I bet Les gets all warm and fuzzy inside now he's able to say 'Mauricio' again!

Because he's a WUM.

As predicted....didn't think it would be that quick though.

I'd say Arnold is already above our station, he's got the likes of Arsenal/Barca watching him. Quality player. Will leave Wolfsburg for a big club sooner rather than later.

Sill not particularly hilariously high. Standard price for a PL international, but due to his age I'd want more if we were going to sell.

Yeah, pretty sure he'd be included in that statement. Hopefully. I don't see where he's going to end up anyway, not many clubs available for him south of london (given the work he's just done on his Surrey place, not sure he'd want to ditch that to move north)

Also, does anyone get the feeling we're slowly building towards a Les Reed interview? Little bit later this year....

Why the hell did Puel come in and compare Redmond to Henry? that totally threw him and us as fans - in my opinion. It's given us all ****ty expectations of someone who is a decent player, but isn't 'henry'. Reminds me of the days when Jan Portwhatisname can in and said BWP is our Torres, Ryan Smith is our Robben etc. Glad he's gone with all that jibberish.

Depends if we get £75m for VVD.....but yeah, that's unlikely. So they'll all need to knuckle down and carry on in the horrendous boot camp which is Southampton football club. I feel for them.