scotty

Late addition to the Commonwealth Games; the Southampton to Liverpool sprint. The new marathon takes in White Hart Lane as well.

If that is really what it was, sooner or later it would have come down anyway. Koeman now has, in Saints terms, practically unlimited funds to build his own squad. Lets see what he does with it, eh? I'm guessing he has probably thought about that, if only in passing.

+1. The attitude of some regular posters here is unbelievable. Calm down and wait to see the incoming transfers. If there are none, as the bedwetters would have us believe, then we can proclaim the window to have been a disaster. Until then, keep your f*cking hair on and judge the management when the season kicks off. Koeman is a proven manager in the Dutch league, was wanted by spurs, and turned them down because he thought he might have a chance of getting the Barca job. He has decamped from Feyenoord to us, together with his brother and backroom staff, does anyone here seriously believe that he doesnt have any sort of plan for the squad, any kind of input into transfers, or any belief in what the club are capable of achieving? ffs, I've seen spurs blogs complaining bitterly that they got pochettino and we got koeman. As to the les reed hate-a-thon, as others have already pointed out, he's been here since Markus took over. Enough said, imho. And I'm getting sick of hearing the same f*cking mantra trotted out: "we wont sell any players". Which is not what he said. The statement added "unless it is our wish to sell them, and then on our terms." They have got what is generally agrred to have been over-inflated prices for every player sold so far, even the dippers were howling in grief at what they forked out for lallana, and mourinho stated that chelsea (chelsea!!!!) simply could not have afforded to pay luke shaws wages. Think about that for a moment; the king of overpayers, abramovich, couldn't pay shaw what he required.... the mind boggles. How the hell could we have kept him, on 100k a week? We now have a new manager, in a better position to recruit the players he wants than any Saints manager I can recall. If it all goes tits-up and we end up as relegation fodder, I'll eat every word I've said, but in the meantime give it a f*cking rest until the season starts and the window closes. Rant over.

"A decent part of the world", coming from an Eastleigh dweller, that's priceless But I'd agree with grantys other sentiments.

Not any sort of assertation. I asked whether anybody else had considered the possibility. I have no inside information about the club, but it seems unlikely to me that Koeman would have come here and had no influence whatsoever on the outgoing transfers.

Why did they get Koeman in then, instead of someone like sherwood? And how did they persuade him? He can't have come cheap, and having finished 2nd, 3rd and 2nd in the Eredivisie I cant see why he'd come here to oversee an asset-stripping exercise. At one point Spurs were after him before they signed Poch, but he turned them down. Why would he then agree to come here to conduct a fire sale?

Jacqueline Bissett.

It wasn't a remark, it was a clear statement. How many players were actually sold before Koemans appointment? All I'm saying is that we're all assuming the exodus is just top sides pillaging defenceless little Saints for the cream of our players, and that we're therefore f*cked and getting relegated. It is just possible that as Paul.Studio suggests, the player sales might have been approved or even initiated by Koeman. Maybe he doesn't think the players shipped out would fit with the tactics or formation he plans to play, or work with the type of side he wants to build. There seemed to be a general consensus that getting Koeman in was a hell of a coup after Poch left.

See, that's another point. Reed said that money from player sales would be reinvested in the squad, but didn't actually say how. It might have been on higher wages for incoming players as well as transfer fees. Mourinho was quoted earlier as saying Chelsea (who presumably would have been Shaws preferred club, being a fan) couldn't afford his wages of 100k per week. I tend to the view that panic time, should it arrive, comes at the end of the window and not before.

No, you haven't considered it, or no, you believe that scenario to be impossible?

Has anyone else on here considered the possibility that Les Reeds words about no players leaving, except on our own terms and because we wished them to leave, might have been accurate? And that the slew of players being shipped out at very high prices may have been initiated by RK, in order to allow him to build his own squad rather than work with what he was bequeathed?

The "transfer rumours only" thread is going well, no off-topic comments or bickering happening at all. Looks like a good move by Jimmy D to lock the last thread, credit where its due.

You are missing the point, VW. The new all-transfer-rumours thread is packed with 34 fascinating comments about.......errm....nothing. I'm sticking around here until something noteworthy happens, at which stage a new thread about the new signing will be started anyway.

Has it occurred to you that after 90 pages of solid bickering, the mods might be relieved by the calming down over the last few pages, off-topic comments notwithstanding? I'd say it was a welcome change in tone myself. ...oh, that bird off the gold blend ads. Cant remember her name.

*like* Prunella Scales. Absolutely gorgeous.

You mean this? :) http://www.bapwatch.com/Good%20Life/felicity_kendal_good_life__2.jpg

Body Heat. Got to be one of the sexiest films ever made. She wasn't too shabby in wars of the roses either. Incidentally, have we signed anyone else yet? I'm not too bothered, rather enjoying the totty nostalgia tbh.

Quality. This thread should be retitled "transfer rumours/70's totty". Takes our minds off the lack of transfer news.

Lesley-Anne Down in the pink panther....

True. But there was only one Barbarella.

I never really got her at all, never found her particularly attractive.

I could live with that.

Not quite sure about that. If the owners are wealthy enough, surely all they have to do is cough up the fines as well (?) Can the club actually be banned from competitions, or somehow prevented from paying whatever they wish in terms of transfer fees/wages in the first place? I thought it was the same "punitive" system the banks had with PPI etc, just a fine which then gets passed on to the customer anyway.

Jesus christ, how long did that take to type out on an iphone???

Not sure about that myself, but who can tell.