John B

Yes that is true but there are other things to consider such as https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/may/25/premier-league-finances-club-by-club-breakdown-david-conn Turnover 11th highest in League £114m, up from £106m in 2014 • Income Match-day income £18m; Premier League and broadcasting £84m; Commercial £10m; Other £1m • Wage bill 9th highest in League £80m, up from £63m in 2014 • Wages as proportion of turnover 70% • Profit before tax £15m, following £29m profit in 2014 • Net debt £48m

Why do you think it is not particularly clever have you looked at the accounts of the club ? or is it a gut feeling

Ronald Koeman: Everton boss demands new signings after FA Cup exit http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38543677 Everton manager Ronald Koeman fiercely criticised his players and demanded action from the club's hierarchy in the transfer market after the FA Cup exit at home to Leicester City.

I have absolutely no idea why you are Saints supporter if you do not want to get involved when things go wrong The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. (Martin Luther King, Jr.) To me you are a failure as a Saints supporter and as someone wrote perhaps we're better off without your negativity . We are not a ****e team but a young team going through a bad patch and like all bad patches will end with success that is football it is a funny old gamete

I went to Villa Park in 1963 I think it was for a FA Cup Semi Final v Man U who were crap just like us. But Denis Law had a touch of brilliance and we lost was not happy but always remember the goal from one of Scotland's all time greats. Football is not always about winning it is about the occasion the ground I have been to all of the top grounds but never Anfield and heard the KOP I would go you will remember the game for the rest of your life especially if we win

Obviously as you realise having an ambition to succeed at the football club does not mean that the ambition will result in unqualified success especially as our ambition is similar to other clubs in the PL no doubt who are putting together better teams. Success happens on the field and today we dont have any excellent and outstanding attacking and midfield players that we have had in the past they are all of a muchness. The team would obviously much better if it had a Paine MLT Channon Chivers Lambert Mane Stevie Williams Lallana Ball Wallace etc playing but it does not as these type of players are recruited by the top 6. We have been lucky we have seen great players in the Saints teams of the past but I feel the club is doing pretty well has a good plan and is well respected in the outside football world but not every season is going to be a complete success but there is a chance that some of the current young players can develop into top class players that we have seen in the past. Ten years ago when we were in the Championship things were absolutely awful and I never thought we would be where we are now

Any countries that are not subject to trade sanctions can trade with members of the single market. But there is a big difference between being able to trade with the single market and being a member of it. For instance, the United States sells into the single market but there are no common safety standards for goods such as fridges or cars and tariffs and quotas may be imposed on its products. The 28 members of the European Union are full members of the European Economic Area - the single market. But there are other members of the club too. The four members of the European Free Trade Association also participate in the single market - but to different degrees. Take Norway for instance. Norway has full access to the single market but is not in the EU. It pays a contribution to the EU Budget to gain that access and has to sign up to all the rules of the club - including its common regulations and standards. People from across the EU are free to live and work in Norway too, but the country is exempt from EU rules on agriculture, fisheries, justice and home affairs. The downside for Norway is that it has no say over how the rules of the Single Market are created. Another example is Switzerland. It has a free trade agreement with the EU and a number of bilateral agreements, which give it access to the Single Market for most of its industries. However, it does not have full access to the single market for its banking sector.

What evidence do you have for this? Nothing in this to support your claim Southampton's director of football Les Reed says the player has had the chance to sign an improved deal, but Fonte has now asked to leave the club. "He's had several opportunities to improve the contract situation. He's reserved his right not to do that," Reed told BBC Radio Solent. "He's made it very clear he would like to explore the opportunities for a transfer. "That's where we are at the moment, Jose wants to leave the club. He's formally asked for a transfer." Reed went on to confirm the club have not yet received any formal bid for the player,*who joined Saints from Crystal Palace*in January 2010, and has made 288 appearances. Fonte was linked with a move to*Manchester United*in the summer after helping his country win Euro 2016, and he wrote on Instagram last month: "Just to set the record straight I did not reject a new contract. In fact, I have been informed by Southampton that they are not offering me a new contract." However, Reed insists new terms have been offered to the former Benfica player: "What was offered to Jose was, in my view, quite significant off the back of the contract he signed in October 2015. "Six months later we were prepared to improve that contract and extend it. He has turned down the opportunity to increase his salary, and he's turned down the opportunity to get another permanent year on his contract." Not sure the Club has ever said that a player has no concerns for fans/club/city but players usually do go for more money which in itself is not a bad thing as if I moved to a better job I would want more money. But yes some posters may said that footballers playing for Southampton are doing it mostly for money if they want success they need to move away

I seem to remember us being in a similar situation when over Christmas and the New Year where we were playing badly and losing regularly. Yes we recovered and probably over performed but the three main players in that success Mane Pelle and Wanyama have left Bertrand has been iffy perhaps due to injury and Forster Fonte Tadic and Long have not performed to the same level because of lack of form. I followed Saints for nearly 60 years seen great matches but most have been average and some pretty dire the last few years have been great but nothing continues forever so we will have to be patient and see what happens but we do of course need a quality striker and a bit more rub of the green

Great but most fans know **** all all about football including me But I do know the team is not getting the ball into the oppositions goal very often despite lots of chances surely it must be a bit down to the players

Chris Giles in the Financial Times say the main reason economists were wrong about the immediate economic impact of Brexit was that they expected household spending to go down when instead it went up. In fact, we know the predominant source of error. It stemmed from underestimating the strength of household consumption after the vote for Brexit. Economists expected a vote to leave would increase household savings in the short term, both as precautionary insurance against uncertainty and to begin an adjustment to a less prosperous future. These were reasonable guesses, based on recent household behaviour — for example, at the time of huge banking uncertainty early in 2008. But rather than rising, household savings fell throughout 2016. The savings ratio dropped to an exceptionally low level in the third quarter as consumers went on a borrowing and spending binge not seen since before the financial crisis. The interesting question is why households acted in this way. There are three plausible reasons. First, households correctly thought Brexit would improve their personal finances and borrowed and spent accordingly. Second, they were deceived into expecting economic gains from Brexit and still went out to spend. And, third, households watched sterling tumble, understood the likely effect on prices and brought forward their consumption, so they were spending in the knowledge their money would buy less in future. Economic analysis allows us to set out these possibilities; it tells us only the last of the three options is sustainable; but it does not yet inform us which is correct. By the end of 2017, we will know whether historically low levels of saving have persisted through the year, and this will provide a pretty good answer to the question of why spending held up so well after the EU referendum. If spending was merely brought forward, there will be a nasty jolt in the economy. Yes Good at the moment but may not be so when inflation rises in 2017 https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/04/uk-shoppers-happy-borrowing-money-danger-ahead-credit

I think Long has a ****ing cheek if what you say is true 1 PL league goal all season I hope he goes soon and we can get in a decent consistent striker

If you've watched Question Time lately you'll know that the ordinary people love it when a Brexiteer simply says things will be brilliant in the future. Scrap red tape, trade with the world, the EU is finished, Bahrain and India are waiting for us with open arms... No specific details, just "This will be ****ing great - you wait and see. We'll show the Germans." The real traitors are, of course, the venal Tories who go along with it in the hope of seeing off UKIP. No matter how you try to paint it Brexit is a turd and always looks like one.

Really how about the back 4 Soares Fonte VVD Bertrand a central midfielder playing from the back Romeu 2 wide midfielders outside him pushing forward Davis Claisie One striker playing deep or up front Jrod 2 attackers on the wings Redmond Boufal.

As we were in the Europa League and lost key players I thought we would finish in the top 10 It was not really realistic that we would do as well as last year with both Liverpool and Chelsea bound to perform better I dont really understand under at the moment why Puel is really under performing especially as Jrod and Long have missed so many chances. I know the game against Spurs was not good but they are a pretty good team and unfortunately we had Redmond sent off. Against WBA we were doing OK until a couple of outstanding goals underminded us in a game we had to play very soon after the previous one I am convinced that the team is bound to improve with time and when a settled team is played results will eventually improve. We do however need another top class striker and the lack one I still think would make a great deal of difference

Well I am not keen on some of the players myself surely not everything is down to Puel.

At what point are you going to stop being hysterical and read what was posted 7 odd years of excellent growth and stability, followed by some less than satisfying performances all be it we're still top half etc and all of a sudden it's thread after thread and post after post of utter mongness! At what point are you f***tards gonna trust the OWNERS?

Do you remember New Years Day 1970 which was not a public holiday and this sequence of games 30/08/1969 A Stoke City 1:2 06/09/1969 H Burnley FC 1:1 10/09/1969 A Derby County 0:3 13/09/1969 A Nottingham Forest 1:2 20/09/1969 H Newcastle United 1:1 27/09/1969 A Everton FC 2:4 04/10/1969 H Tottenham Hotspur 2:2 08/10/1969 H Manchester United 0:3 11/10/1969 A Sheffield Wednesday 1:1 18/10/1969 H Coventry City 0:0 25/10/1969 A Liverpool FC 1:4 01/11/1969 H West Ham United 1:1 08/11/1969 A Manchester City 0:1 15/11/1969 H Leeds United 1:1 22/11/1969 A Sunderland AFC 2:2 29/11/1969 H Crystal Palace 1:1 06/12/1969 A Arsenal FC 2:2 13/12/1969 H Nottingham Forest 1:2 26/12/1969 A Chelsea FC 1:3 27/12/1969 H Stoke City 0:0 20 games 11 draws no wins followed by beating Everton 2 0 Things have been a lot worse than today but we are not playing well which is hardly surprising with the team continually changing but the sheer number of games including those during the International is not helping a young and relatively inexperienced team with little physical presence But yes you are correct we have had relatively good results for six years and only a fool would expect it to continue if we lose player like Wanyama Mane Pelle every year but lets see what happens just like when Lowe was here we really dont have the financial muscle to successfully compete with the top teams

I agree with what you are saying but the main reason I think is the sheer number of games we have had to play plus the games that our internationals have had to play as well has caused the problem There has been little time for preparation and full recovery other PL clubs have struggled when they have been in the Europa Cup We have four games in what ten days or so it is not easy to have the same team out is it. Lets hope things improve next season when we will not be in Europe and will only lose VVD in the summer I know he is a very good player but players like Wanyama Mane and Pelle are much more difficult to replace than a CB and perhaps we can add to the squad instead of just replacing players. The team in my opinion is light weight and lacks a top class striker is young but will improve but is inconsistent but that is the story of SFC over the last 50 years or so.

Because you have no idea as your biased with an agenda.sometimes the opposition do well as the BBC suggest 'Matt Phillips levelled to cap a slick move' Matt Phillips has taken that so well it’s a moment of magic from Phillips and he’s placed it ever so brilliantly in the corner.”

As a matter of interest what clubs outside the top 6 in the PL are regularly serving up entertaining football on a regular basis and are above us in the table. It is results that count and league position at the end of the day. Pretty sure our football would have been better if we had not been in Europe but we were and fans will remember their trips for ever

I agree but playing in Europe has not helped us and lots of other English clubs who have played in the Europa League over the years with regard to playing in the PL

Further investment I dont think will help much it is more revenue that we need not just TV revenue which other clubs get but ticket revenue and from hospitality shirts etc but that is unlikely to happen as we have a relatively small fanbase compared to the clubs above us in the League. Transfer fees and agent's fees associated with them probably attract VAT so Man U may have paid £25m for Morgan but we would not have received that much

Currently about 70% of our income goes on wages The Big Five Clubs have turnovers of a least three times ours whilst Spurs is about double ours. I think that the reason SFC does not spend mega bucks on players is they just cannot afford the wages . Of course it would be great to sign top class players but it is not going to happen that is why I accept that the way the club is being run at the moment is the correct one and accept that we will be beaten often by clubs like Spurs with better resources. I think our average position in the Top Division until our relegation in 2005 was roughly 12th so since our return we are doing better but to improve our position further we need an extra £100m or so income per year

Chelsea Man U Man C Arsenal Liverpool and Spurs are top teams with loads of money who can pay for the best players and for some reason usually have success and win things. Southampton FC who I have been supporting since the late 1950s are not a top team with unlimited resources and have only won one major trophy in that time helped by a getting to Wembley by beating Bradford and Crystal Palace. During that time we have had some great results but mostly we have been pretty average like between 1990 and 2005 and sometimes dire However I am quite happy at the moment to see them 8th in the PL after finishing in similar positions in previous seasons and in the SF of the League CUP and we have a plan to succeed in the Top 10 of the League which seems to be a great deal better than the other clubs of a similar size We will sometimes perform well against a top team but will usually will get beaten that is how the PL works What you write is very true if we had better players than say JWP Romeu and Redmond we would probably get better results but we can only get the best that we can afford. I do remember in 1974 SFC buying Peter Osgood who was one of the best players I have ever seen to improve our team with some goals but after fifteen or so games he finally scored a goal at Everton as we were relegated so getting in players with a top class pedigree does not guarantee success but it usually does like with Rickie Lambert in League 1 when we were a really top club in that League and could buy the best . There are of course other teams in the PL and they are trying to be successful too so it is not easy for a club like Southampton to be successful but our future seems brighter to me than most of the others below us in the PL but maybe affected if Newcastle get back to the PL and are run properly Happy New Year