Junior Mullet

Anyone else think MP is just here on a scouting mission for his old club Liverpool?

Interesting that. I was thinking about momentum earlier and how important it is in football. Both during the course of a game and longer term such as a month, a season, several years etc. MP has been slow to react to downward momentum in games this season. On a larger scale, the club have failed to stop the rot since Koeman left.

So what are we going to do about it? We should be going bat **** crazy! St Marys should be a couldron of hate tomorrow, directed at the Board. We won’t get anything vs Spurs anyway, so use the day for something useful. Guan was right, club are sarisfied all the time the peasants are quiet.

Thanks for the image mate! Literally made my lunchtime. The thought of Alpine and Turkish 'duelling'..... The club really should care about that.

Why are people banging on about debt as a bad thing? Yes, in football you run up debt to create something of great value. Which is what happened and why KL sold a majority stake to Gao last year, when the investment had probably peaked. That looks like a bloody great deal for KL, in no small part thanks to the part played by her father in the first instance, Cortese and the current board latterly. Whatever we think about Cortese and the current board, you have to say that KL has played an absolute blinder here. She's gone about her business quietly and carefully and with fine timing. Problem is, I think it means a period of disappointment now for the fans. Don't expect Cortese back any time soon, don't expect MP to be sacked this Jan, don't expect the current board to be sacked either and sadly don't expect big signings this Jan.

Made me laugh

Were you surprised though? Your last sentence is spot on and why would it be any different. He isn't a Saints fan. To footballers it is just a job, and their attitude is much the same as most people with a job. Bear in mind most footballers are millennials, that tells you everything you need to know. Loyalty is key to the baby boomers and to a lesser extent to generation X's, but it pretty much dies out thereafter. I think fans need a dose of reality.

Remember, accounts are prepared in arrears so this is old data now: http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/10945892/premier-league-and-efl-wage-rises-analysed-in-deloitte-study 2016/17 figures - puts us 9th, slightly behind West Ham: https://talksport.com/football/every-premier-league-club-ranked-their-total-wage-bill-2016-17-171109261432?p=13

Pretty sure that's public info accessible from Companies House accounts or pulled from info the clubs have to present to the association. I remember reading the figures and a report last year which indeed showed us as 8th highest spending. The report showed how much each club pays in wages against its turnover, thus giving a percentage of income used as wages. Interesting stuff. I'll see if I can dig it out. The last set of accounts showed that pretty much all income from transfers out has been reinvested in transfers in. The figures pretty much balanced which shows that until that point the owners hadn't been taking money out from transfers. That may of course all change now that Gao is involved. KL's strategy was therefore one of capital growth rather than income, and proved to be a success when she sold a large chunk to Gao. I imagine the new business plan also envisages capital growth rather than asset-stripping/income in which case the board and owners will be desperate to stay in the Prem. Interesting to see what action they decide to take. Personally, if I were Gao I would be talking to Cortese with a view to replacing Les Read assuming of course KL has veto'd that. I would also want to replace the manager pronto. It'll be an interesting January.

I agree with you.

Sack. He got lucky with Koeman. Last two managers have seen the good work started by Cortese eroded. He was never the man to fulfil the ‘Southampton way’ philosophy. Get Cortese back!!

At home to Woking. My old home team. Grew up watching them and they were unlucky yesterday to only draw with Peterborough. Woking would bring a lot of fans down too. I remember being at Goodison in the 90's after Woking beat West Brom 4-2 at the Hawthorns - great day.

Forster VVD Yoshi Hoedt Cedric Romeu Lemina Bertrand Davis Long Gabbiadini

Sort of thing you'd do with an ex

Ah now as much as I'd be first in line for a standing area option, I bloody hate those chants of stand up if you love/hate the saints/Pompey. They are only of use in the Northam when the stewards seat the rows in front and they get to your row or to make a poignant gesture, like a season or two ago when everyone stood up for Markus.

http://www.fsf.org.uk/campaigns/safe-standing/the-legalities-of-standing/ Anyone who doesn't stand at a moment of excitement to me is either unable (fair enough) or not really that into a game.

Made me laugh Seeing a lot of soppy lemons in the gym these days as well - working out together and quite often the female will do heavier weights than her SL, as if to drum home the point. ****s

People were underwhelmed when Bertrand signed. It's fair to say he's been excellent for Saints and one of our best modern-day signings.

The best of us do.

The first half-decent Chinese footballer is going to be in such demand! He'll be worth a fortune. Back to Lander - has anything been confirmed about the form of investment? ie. whether Kat is selling part of her share in the club (in which case she would be cashing in) or whether Lander would be taking newly issued shares, in which case it would represent new funding for the club? There are many different shapes a potential 'investment' might take. Until the facts are known it's probably best to enjoy the fact that we have got to a cup final and the rest of the season.

Eh, that wasn't Puel???

Pochetino is very good at improving players. Good coaches improve players.

The stats quote the mean average. As Heisenberg infers, the average would look different if you consider the median or mode average. He has a point.

I really like what I'm seeing now. The blip at the start of the season was just down to settling in rather than anything more worrying fortunately. Good times ahead, especially bearing in mind CP is doing what he's doing with players that he inherited rather than his own players.

Saw him after the game too - being consoled like a teenager who'd just been dumped. He was wrecked! lol