Badger

I can see Austin being the sort of player that 'Arry might try and take to Brum (worked with im before, 'triffic lad... paid an extortionate amount to play in the Championship and way more than the club can afford, but 'arry doesn't give a sh!t about that...). Depends on whether he can convince Pellegrino that he has a role to play here, and is fit enough.

I was referring to the changes being made at a time a takeover is widely speculated. Perhaps of course the speculation is running ahead of itself and it's 'business as usual' under KL's ownership. Which is fine by me.

Nothing changed ? But strange that such a flurry of activity should take place now.

An improvement on the earlier report on him. He seems to have gone from the 'Polish Aaron Martin' to the 'Polish Jack Stephens' (as JS was in January perhaps).

£12m appears to be the going rate for a Long or a post-injury Rodriguez. So you can't expect much for that, unless the Black Box strikes lucky. And to the last bit of the conundrum it is probably worth adding that the named player is subject to a joint ownership deal involving at least one Italian club whose chairman likes to be obstructive to any deal running smoothly.

Don't see that coming soon though, do you?

Ake now confirmed as signing for Bournemouth. Good signing for them. Wonder what Les , and his jock apprentice are doing today.

Nice to see they are discreet in their dealings and negotiations. Not the Saints way.

Against which Bertrand looks a bargain at £35m. Job done.

Reassuring to see that they are playing the same tactics as the first team then.

Andrew Robertson likely to leave Hull at £8-10m.

Luke Shaw would probably cost less now as well.

I wonder if age is a factor in Saints considering letting RB go, as at 28 in August he is probably at the peak of his game and value if we are going to cash in on him. Think he should be in the £30-35m bracket. Just don't sell him to Liverpool or Spurs unless its £40-45m (which it won't be).

Bournemouth linked with Ake for £20m.

£65m plus Christensen, or possibly Ake might be tempting. Troble with Ake is that he is seen as a potential Ruud Gullit by some, but he could also turn out to be a Dutch Jacob Mellis.

Someone on here mentioned Sammy Lee and the prospect of his return. My recollection is of a rumour that he left after a fall out with other coaches, either Dave Watson, or one of the Koemans. It may only have been a rumble on here without any foundation to it. So I suppose the prospect of his return might be governed by who he fell out with, and the manner of it, especially if Les Reed was caught up in the crossfire of it. And of course how many back up team MP is allowed to bring in. I think RK had three including Lee, and Puel had a team of two, (both excluding GK coach).

Thanks for the research and insight about the coaches, interesting read and shows the benefit of the Forum (as opposed to mongboard willie waving antics of some...). This article also contains reference to his coaching staff at Alaves. The GK coach is a new name to those Pamplemousse gave us. So will be interesting to see what this means for Dave Watson. Forster too.

Very promising from someone who seems to know his stuff. Bit disappointed that we didn't bring Tuchel in, and slight concern over Pellegrino's limited track record, so its wait and see for me. But listening to that interview bodes well. Welcome MoPo II/Mr Pilgrim or whatever his name will be. Hope Reed & Co give you the tools to do the job and don't look to sell them from under your nose.

boast

Bayern Munich have worn r/w stripes before.

Tuchel, and ??? Any idea who the other one was ?

Coaching team, or say in the running of things might have been a sticking point, but I can't see the contract situation being so black and white. Sign for 3, we won't let you enter the last year winding it down so you'll only do 2 anyway. Unless he wanted a 2 year deal to p!ss off after one.

On what I read about last nights performance against England U21's, no. Sounded like more of a direct replacement for Gardos from that.

i read somewhere that Bristol Rovers had r/w stripes, black shorts as an away kit during the 1960's. (Hows that for an anorak fact ?).

Apologies, I bow to your greater knowledge. (Why do they speak Spanish, but have Italian names though?)