S-Clarke

Really good post Pap. It does seem that some odd characters are coming out of the woodwork on the back of all this. 'Plants' come to mind for some reason.

Yes, this is also something that is very possible, but we'll never know for sure.

It certainly doesn't read as ''corporate waffle'' to me, seems very genuine and honest. The next step will be to establish the core structure at the top, which may help us a lot. Not trying to create a Cortese debate here, he did a great job. But he took on everything, so if he wasn't around, nothing ever happened. Having a structure like this ensures that everyone is accountable and more flexible. The general tone from people over the last 5 years is that we're almost impossible to deal with, that was to be seen as a negative. Hopefully that changes from here.

Also interesting that she also closes it with 'The Southampton way'', which I think we all assumed was a Cortese brand and gimmick. Maybe the Liebherrs have had more involvement in the past few years than we actually realise.

Will be ignored hopefully. But it's a really good statement, and she does sound really committed. We are so lucky to have fallen into Markus lap and be linked to such a great family.

She means business. Very impressed. Do I notice a couple of hidden digs at Cortese in there as well?

Or we could just bring in a CB! Wanyama is a midfidler exclusively if we're honest, not really a fan of square pegs in round holes. We had that for years under the likes of Burley etc.

At least it's not season ending, could have been bad. But yeah, we now need a CB pretty sharpish in order to stop our season petering out pointlessly.

It's hard to say with Martin to be honest, he didn't really get much of a chance to show himself at Championship level - so who knows, he may be ok there. He's still young, and I imagine at the same age people were saying that Lambert is no where near premiership quality. Who knows what will happen.

They won't be buying us, he won't be buying us. Thread is pretty much closed to be honest.

They were actually pretty good under him. European football, mid-table finishes, players coming through the academy. No disrespect, but I'd take the views of people who have worked with him over yours. And they are all amazingly positive.

Yeah, and of course that will happen.

I don't think you'll get much more than what you're hearing at the moment. To me, it suggests that she will continue to invest into us. Not a great deal, but enough to allow us to continue a stable path whilst being a sustainable outfit. You also need to remember that the TV Deals change the goal-posts for a lot of clubs. Teams like Swansea and Norwich were able to spend upwards of £20m in the summer because of that, they don't have g investment at either club. So, whilst we may not be able to sign £100m worth of players, we will still be able to attract and bring in decent players in the 10-15m price bracket which we will continue to operate in.

The apparent decision to appoint John Williams as Chairman did suggest she's actually interested in retaining the club, as opposed to shifting it on. I alluded to it last week, we'll know the plans for the club once the new CEO is in place - i.e. if we're to be sold, or if we're to carry on. And it seems as if she's keen to continue on. One thing that is interesting is that it suggests the KL will continue to fund the club in a sense, as there will still be some payments required for the training ground and also additional players in the not so distant future. Would imagine this quashes any plans to get into the CL or to win the league though (not that it was ever really likely, anyway). But the long-term realistic path we're on is to become a stable, self sustaining, youth driven premiership club. To me, that's a pretty good situation to be in.

Yeah, Jose pretty much said Ba is going no where - they need him.

Here is a good writeup: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/smooth-operator-new-manchester-city-864038

Of the names linked, by far the best candidate. Didn't expect it if I'm honest, I thought it would be one of their guys who would oversea a takeover, but perhaps she does have different plans after-all.

By far the best of the linked candidates, without a doubt.

The 2nd utterly bizarre thread you've created in the last 24 hours.

It's not like he's not worth it. I think he's excellent, and if you have a look at what £12m buys you these days...then he's a really good signing for that price, given his age, potential and actual ability. Looking forward to having him back.

That's not really how it works, as it's all so fluid. A potential fee for a player isn't ever set in stone, so why would anyone pay a set fee for a club based on the fact that they MAY get certain $$$ for a player at some point in the future. And if.....we don't sell them, then they are never actually worth anything in that sense. A takeover price is usually based upon the facilities and potential, any land ties etc. The development of Staplewood will add a hell of a lot to the price of the club, and so will all the renovation work to St Mary's that has been done over the years. And, knock about 5m off Gaston's price and 5m off JWP to make that a little more realisitc. Wouldn't say JWP is worth more than Cork....at the moment.

He didn't sound convincing what so ever to be honest, which is a shame. It just sounded like a load of waffle as per the Paul Allen days. Being fed by someone I imagine just to keep the interest ticking over.

Man Utd are so far away from the top side's it's untrue. Chelsea haven't even played well, yet Utd look so short in every area. Sir Alex was more than a manager for them, he was a magician. How he managed to make the likes of Cleverley, Jones, Smalling, Evans title winners is beyond me. They're bog standard mid-table PL players, so in that sense they're in a true position!

Give it a break CB Fry. You're making yourself look more silly by the minute.

Probably just the process of appointing a new CEO.