Saint 76er

Yeah, would love to see this kit as Saints own unique style as it was back in the 80's when it gave us an unmistakeable identity, which stripes can never do due to similarity with others.... HOWEVER, due to yearly kit rotation presumably next year we will have some totally different shirts and we may not see the Keegan era ones return for a long time, if ever. I hope the club will take the majority fans views on board to closely base future kits on this style of shirt so that we can develop our own unique visual identity.

Does anybody know if there would be any copyright issues if new kit was fundamentally the same as original Patrick kit?

Mawson looks a good prospect, but just hope our valuation and Swansea's aren't poles apart ...

Well, that clears the decks for a takeover to proceed ASAP, now that Kat still has a PL team to sell.

Why on earth are they"restructuring leadership" immediately before a universally expected takeover? Surely the expected new owners would want to make these kind of decisions themselves? Unless they are already pulling the strings it seems a strange time for the club to be making executive moves. Presuming, of course, that GR didn't actually resign of his own volition.

Marco Silva will not struggle in his first year, he has already proved at Hull what he can do in his first year in English football, goodness knows what he could do with a good squad like ours. If Puel had learnt so much in his first year he would be displaying it already, instead he is actually getting worse as time goes on. If you really do still think that Puel is probably right for Saints, then I just happen to have a very large bridge in Sydney that you might like to buy on the cheap ....

You are correct in your, admittedly, somewhat colourful appraisal of Puel and it is clear he is totally unsuited to English football and it is imperative he is replaced in order for the club to progress, not regress which is happening at present. The obvious replacement candidate is Marco Silva. He has already proved himself in the PL, something Puel isn't remotely close to and Silva clearly has the motivational skills so lacking in our own leader. We have some roster issues but even so our squad is way better than Hull and our blokes have clearly given up on Puel but Hull's look as if they would run through brick walls for Silva. You tell me who you would rather have, I know what my answer is. So, over to you Les Reed ....

Hard to defend him after that, it really was dreadful. Almost indescribably bad tactics and the players looked bemused at what they had to do. Said it before and say it again, Puel looks hopelessly out of his depth and, if at all possible, we are regressing even further. Can't believe many of our players will want to be around next season to continue with Puel's revolution, they haven't remotely looked like they were playing for him all season. Consequently our best players will probably want to leave and any replacements unlikely to be anywhere near the same quality. With Puel's idea of tactics and a diminished roster we could be in serious trouble next season, and giving him until Christmas is dangerous as it could be almost too late by then. However, can't see Les Reed sacking him as Les picked him and wants a manager who will play academy graduates. The wild card here is a possible takeover and what any new owner might want to do. Hopefully standing up to Les Reed will be high on the agenda.

This club is currently just marking time waiting for a takeover and only when it happens can we have an insight into the future direction. Kat has clearly taken things as far as she is able or willing to and wants out. We saw from Man City the effects of mucho dinero, their players were simply different class. We can't seriously challenge the top four without spending power way beyond our present level. Therefore everything depends on the next owner, the depth of their pockets and their willingness to reach deeply into them. Of course, FFP will need to be considered but we have just announced a new Chinese betting sponsor which may be an indicator of the commercial power that could be generated if we do indeed become Chinese owned. If this does happen we can only hope they are investing for success not mid table mediocrity. This will be an important summer in the history of SFC.

This 100% ^. We are going backwards under Puel, yes some mitigating circumstances, but his tactics have been a nightmare for much of the season and far too many players have regressed under him. TBH, I'm not sure many players have bought what Puel is selling from day one. Not sure many of them liked Koeman but look how they played last season. We need tactics, we need passion and man management. We are so much better than what Puel and a nondescript back room staff have managed to get out of the team and it is hard not to think that Puel is simply out of his depth in the PL. Maybe it all clicks for him in a second season and it all ends well, although nothing so far suggests this. As Qwertyell says, Marco Silva is a no brainer, just do whatever and get him in. The work he has done at Hull is simply outstanding given their circumstances and, unlike Puel, he has adapted instantly and brilliantly to the PL and instilled passion and desire and a winning attitude into probably the leagues worst squad. What could he do with a good side like Saints?

After all those years of Portsmyths they've now moved on to Fairytales! Still, that story was written by Factless Allen, so when that fella said he wanted to invest in a Mickey Mouse club he was likely referring to a remake of an Annette Funicello movie! They've already had Dumbo and Goofy running their club, so I suppose this is a natural progression. Anyway, come on everybody sing along with me now ... M.I.C.K.E.Y M.O.U.S.E .. Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse (etc). Well that's our song sorted if we ever play them again. :D:D

Why are all their players disabled? Or is the answer to that question a little too obvious! I must say, though, with a car park surrounded by such scenic splendor, it really is hard to see why players would prefer the likes of Barcelona over the skates!

CITIC Securities are the Chinese investment bank alleged to be interested in a takeover bid. They are apparently a division of the Chinese Dept of Finance, so presumably are state backed. It was an offshoot of CITIC that purchased 13 % of Man City, so technically a different company, but ultimately owned by the same people. Not sure what the authorities view of this would be.

It's still our shirt and we shouldn't have to be second best on our own shirt, for God's sake. Bet that coin toss was rigged too ...

WTF, why is'nt our name first? It's our shirt and we are playing MU, it should say Southampton vs Manchester United. Sort it, Les...

Especially if the news on VVD is not as good as hoped and experienced short term cover is required. Not easy to find such a player who is allegedly available in this window.

As far as I could judge, the translation someone posted above did appear to say that there was a Lander board meeting scheduled for 16 Jan to give final approval, as 17 Jan was the previously nominated date for the Chinese to make an official announcement that their asset purchase had successfully concluded (or not presumably). It sounded as though 17 Jan was always the date they were working to.

Can't help wondering if this company is acting as some kind of 'front' for some level of Chinese government to invest in the PL. Previous media reporting had alluded to them being funded by the Beijing Municipal Council to invest in sporting assets.

This might turn out to be one of our smallest crowds at SMS, maybe this will become a protest game. Les says everything is fine, managers great, players great, probably don't need any signings in, just carry on regardless. Well, this unwanted replay may give supporters a chance to demonstrate to Les their agreement with him or not, as the case may be. A near empty stadium would send a telling message.

Sam Gallagher starting for Blackburn today, which cup ties him, so likely won't expect to see him back until the summer.

But, do we really need a train station anyway? Once the takeover is complete, couldn't we just run a rickshaw service to the city centre?

You have to wonder if Puel has lost the dressing room. The players won't admit it publically, but the last two performances perhaps speak louder than words.

I've been worried all along that some ugly, overbearing, narcissistic megalomaniac with a history of dodgy dealings would win the White House ... Still, worked out okay in the end as Trump won!

What we want is a super wealthy individual who doesn't mind putting up lotsa cash to make us successful, whereas this sounds like, gulp, another reverse takeover . Apparently they lost $45 million last year so might want us as a cash cow. Selling players produced by the academy already gets a mention in the above links. It doesn't sound as if they would want to push us forward with investment and unfortunately the term asset strippers keeps coming to mind. Still, we have only limited info to go on right now but they don't really sound like a cashed up outfit and, of course, it would no doubt lead to an entirely new direction for the famous catering department ...

The major problem for the police is controlling away fans access to the stadium. They have determined the blocks allocated to away fans are best for the police to escort and shepherd fans into and out of the stadium and away from the area if necessary with the least interaction with home fans. Moving visiting fans to other areas would be to simply invite trouble as these fans would have to move through arriving home fans to get to these areas due to the footprint of the stadium with limited outside access on three sides. You can't compare this situation with other grounds which may be externally configured entirely differently. Furthermore the police observation post is set up to monitor away fans in their current location and the police really don't want any changes. From the clubs point of view they don't want away fans any closer to private boxes and corporate areas and also the away concourse areas would need reconfiguring if even a small move were made. Result of all this = no change... Answer = new stadium.