benjii

Agreed. If Kevin Friend had reffed that match properly we would probably have won (in addition to at least one penalty they should have had at least one red card) and would quite possibly have finished 5th or 6th as we would have punctured Liverpool's momentum and regained some of our own. Djuricic would then be remembered as someone who contributed well to our season.

Exactly. Good opportunity to pick up points throughout the season. If we can get off to a good start again then no reason not to do as well as last year IMO. It will be important to manage the European matches sensibly though.

Much more even spread this year. Home on Boxing Day and last day, a few "winnable" looking games early on and a match against mid table to start. Can't complain with that at all. Fairly tricky run in but by no means a nightmare.

I have a feeling that he will not sign a new deal but we will not receive an acceptable bid either. I would like to think we would keep him for the final year rather than accept a low-ball bid from the likes of Liverpool. Even if Cedric is joining it would be good to have them both for a year.

I am in Newcastle right now. Literally NOW. It has been warm today but me *****, in Soton, said it was proper muggy there and hit and ting. Some locals told me it is never got enough as to constitute "muggy" oooop here.

We kept paying Adkins because we had no fair reason to dismiss him. He wasn't sacked for misconduct or for any other fair reason, he was just replaced. Had he brought a claim against the club he would have won. Therefore we made a settlement with him. Standard practice when dismissing anyone without fair grounds and even more so when they are on a large salary. It's also about market reputation - if we sack people and try to pay them the bare minimum legal entitlement we aren't going to be a very attractive employer in an industry like football. This is why players aren't sacked as well. There would rarely be a fair reason for doing so and even if there was it could get messy and make other people think twice about joining.

It's not complicated - we didn't sack Osvaldo because we didn't want to write-off £15million quid and we didn't want the publicity circus that would come with sacking an Italian international footballer. Clearly, if he was mincing round Staplewood like a dirty pirate and headbutting people, we could have sacked him but it would have been pointless.

I think the £9million - or whatever people keep quoting - figure was something erroneously reported on here and then repeated until becoming reasonably well accepted. Like you said, there is no way Benfica can reasonably expect a profit. They clearly don't want him and keep loaning him out. It would be like us expecting a profit on Gaston. We should be able to get him for more like £3 or £4million, if even that.

I think he's a decent player but he wants to play left wing. If Rodriguez and Tadic are fit next season then he is likely to be third choice. Although I think the price would be very reasonable for a player of his talents, I'm not sure we should be signing a third choice at the expense of giving Gallagher, Sims, McQueen etc a chance off the bench.

You lot are missing the point. Vardy "bullies" people. As anyone who watched the Champions League final last night or last summer's world cup will attest, the key to international success is to have a big bully up front. Two banks of four, nice and tight. Couple of speedy wingers who can sling it in. Two mean ****ers in the middle. Nippy little fox in the box and a bully up front. That's the England team we need to build if we're going to compete with the Spanish and the Germans. In the mixer! Don't fanny about with it!

Marco Almeida? Great!

If you were an uber billionaire why would you buy WBA and not Villa?

As a central midfielder? Yeah, I would say marginal, if at all.

James Milner is decent and versatile. But he is not worth anything near £200k per week. Absolute idiocy. Is he a better central midfielder than Jack Cork? Doubt it. Liverpool are going to continue providing laughs for a few seasons methinks.

I do find Dyke's ejaculations pretty hypocritical. The FA will have known for decades that FIFA is corrupt but has done precisely nothing about it. Just because a couple of legal authorities have now stepped in we seem to be desperate to assert a moral highround. We may not have given or taken any bribes overtly but we've been culpable by association and silent compliance.

Journalist: I hear Arsenal are interested in signing you. That must be exciting? Victor: Of course, they are a great team. But I am a Southampton player and I am happy etc... * * * How else would you expect a player from a club who never finished in the top 4 to answer that? "No, I would not like to play for Arsenal. Boring, boring Arsenal." "As a massive Spurs fan, I can say that I will never sign for the Gooooners". The only other way to answer that is with some disengenous fluff about loving Southampton and being happy to stay here for the rest of your career..... As long as he is professional on the pitch and in the way he conducts himself (ie. he is not saying things which are openly crtical of the club) I have no problem with players answering questions like that truthfully. If he wouldn't rather double his money at Arsenal and have a much better chance of winning some major trophies then it would be a bit odd. It's also a bit odd if fans don't realise that and would rather listen to deceiftul Lallana-isms. To be honest, I would be surprised if there is any serious interest from Arsenal at this stage anyway.

Is his wife, Fanny, there?

If I've understood your post correctly..... let's say we get knocked out in the "round of 32" (perfectly realistic, I would say, if a tad pessimistic), so we progress through our group in second winning two matches, drawing two and losing two. That makes us: £934,000 (base fee for group) + £144,000 x 2 (group match wins) + £72,000 x 2 (group match draws) + £144,000 (group runner up) + £144,000 (round of 32 defeat) = £1,654,000 Not mega money but still useful. And that is just the prize money from UEFA, right? Some of that will be offset with travel costs etc but presumably more will also be added on top with match-day revenue and additional commercial sales. Are TV payments included in those figures or, more likely I would've thought, they are on top so we would get some more ££ from that as well? We should make at least a couple of million with the prospect of more if we manage to do better. Pays a reasonable player's wages for a year!

Not making plans for the qualifying rounds. We will stroll through that so I will save my time for more important games.

I was touting Januzaj earlier in the thread. Yes please.

Only one of those since 2005-06. Since Man City become flush with cash and Arsenal made a fortune with their property deals they've won a League Cup. They've been in decline since about 1990, with a brief bump of cup success between 2004 and 2006. They had a suprisingly good league performance last year, carried by the rarity of a world-class player signed for a bargain, whilst Chelsea and United were in transition but even then they won feck-all. If you disagree that they are destined for continued decline then I would be delighted to hear when you next expect them to win the league or if you think they will consistently qualify for the Champions League. I would argue that a player joining Liverpool from Southampton has a marginally better chance of winning a domestic cup but that's about it (although financially it may be attractive).

Sorry mate but I think, in footballing terms, it is a minor upgrade, if any upgrade at all. If Kevin Friend refereed that match properly I expect we would have finished above them with the additional reversal in momentum. I can't see Liverpool finishing in the Top 4 any time soon and I would suggest they will struggle over the next few years as their best players (Sterling, Coutinho) leave. They do not shop in the market for Hazards, Agueros, Sanchezs and I can't see them finishing above the current top 4 unless one of those implodes. I would expect Man City and Man Utd to be stronger next season, if anything. Chelsea will be fine unless Abramovich suffers some sort of personal catastrophe and Arsenal are probably too sensible to implode (although when Wenger eventually leaves they could have a difficult transition, like Man U, which opens the door for a season or two). They've won one major honour in the last ten seasons. Ok, that's one more major honour than us but it's no reason to expect them to win anything in the remainder of Clyne's career. Obviously they have a much more prestigious history and few clubs rival their trophy cabinet but as a player in the here-and-now, so what? Financially, it may be a major upgrade and - if so - fair enough if he wants that.

I agree on the GK point but not so sure about your other point. Assuming Clyne and Morgan go we will definitely be bringing in two replacements, plus at least one GK. We will sign another striker. We will sign Toby or another CB. We will sign at least one winger or number 10. So a minimum of six (unless Clyne or Morgan stay). Not so sure why you're adamant it will be less and six is near enough eight as not to merit such a stroppy reply (although I know that's your style). I think Saint Fan Cam is probably pretty accurate with his predictions.

I saw him in Hamburg in the season before last. He was gash and looked unfit and overweight.

I think Rowe has been injured for ages so it's sad for him. Sinclair, IMO would never realistically have had a first team chance. Seager and Gallagher are ahead of him as forwards and Sims is rated as a better prospect in the wide role. Good luck to all of them.