itchen_dan

From the guy who originally broke the news of the deal. dankiz1: @tancredipalmeri iyo, will he be a Saint this week? tancredipalmeri: @dankiz1 yes

Clyne. Superb. Great passing, fast enough to recover, brilliant going forward. Linked with Puncheon well I must add.

Totally agree. Didnt think the 4-5-1 would suit us but after that organised, attacking performance today, he would be a perfect fit for the RW position. Absolutely perfect. Get the ball, drive at the defender, cut in, shoot. Perfect.

So so proud! Over the moon! Never been so happy and chuffed after a defeat!! Bring on the rest of the season! It's gonna be a hell of a ride!

Wow! According to this he's signing for Man United on Monday on a 5 year deal! http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&tl=en&twu=1&u=http://www.gelderlander.nl/sport/vitesse/11555363/B%25C3%25BCttner-van-Vitesse-naar-Manchester-United.ece&usg=ALkJrhgmSb69bNCeGS8F7xVg6EOxpB9Qlg

Look. I'm 90% sure the team v Wigan will look so much stronger than the one playing today. No one is expecting a victory. We may as well wait until S. Davis is fully fit before playing him, we may aswell give Jay a go, same with Guly, Punch and Prowse. Next week we could have Ramirez, we could have Phillips, we could have a new CB, we could have S. Davis starting. No panic today no matter what the result is IMO.

Lallana is captain! Fair play to him!

officialsaints: #SaintsFC team vs Manchester City: Davis, Clyne, Fonte, Hooiveld, Fox, Ward-Prowse, Schneiderlin, Lallana, Puncheon, Guly, Rodriguez.

Prowse starts!!!

Interesting that they have gone away from the 3-5-2 they've been working on?

TEAM NEWS (CITY): Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy, Y Toure, Rodwell, Silva, Nasri, Tevez, Aguero #MCFC

I think the aim is for Jay to chase down everything and use his bit of pace in behind when we have the chance. It's a great option to have Lambert come off the bench though at some point if we need to start being more direct!

Possibly although I see Lallana as a key CM for us. He needs to break from the 3 and push up and support the striker at every opportunity. I'm expecting Puncheon on the right and Guly on the left. That's how I'd personally play it. Guly gets stick but he does get back and support the defence.

Right, as far as I was told, unless anything has changed since 10am this morning, Lambert is on the bench and Jay is the lone striker. I dont know who is on the wings but we have gone for pace so could be anyone from Puncheon, Guly, De Ridder, Lee etc. If its wrong then i apologise but in a way I hope I'm wrong!

Yeah. Turned out to be one of their key players at end of last season. Hopefully puts him out of next week!

Yeah but in total we are saving ourselves about 5m-6m euros still, as rather than 20m to Bologna and 6m euros to Penarol (26m in total), it'd be 15m to Bologna + 4.5m to Penarol (19.5m). This total is still lower than Bologna's initial 20m valuation for 70%.

See... patience and haggling gets the rewards in the end. Bargain price. From 20m initially euros to 15m euros in little over 2 days. Going by this and other reports, our initial fee will now be accepted but rather than spread over 3 years, it needs to be 2/3's upfront (10m) with the final 1/3 (5m) over the next year. As I said the other day, the main sticking point was that Bologna need to reinvest in the team and replace Ramirez and that would've been very difficult with only 5m euros upfront. http://www.football-italia.net/23585/bologna-set-new-ramirez-terms? Bologna set new Ramirez terms By Football Italia staff Bologna have reportedly set the price-tag for Southampton to sign Gaston Ramirez - €15m in two instalments. The Uruguayan declared there were “just details” separating him from the Saints this week, but that was quickly quashed by the furious reaction of his club. According to Il Resto del Carlino newspaper, Southampton rang up Bologna President Albano Guaraldi over the weekend and offered to start from scratch. The initial offer was considered to be insufficient, especially as it involved being paid over several instalments. However, it now seems as if Bologna are willing to accept the spread of payments if they receive €10m upfront and a further €5m within a year. This would only be to pay for the Rossoblu’s portion of the player’s contract, so not including the 30 per cent owned by Penarol or his agent’s commission

Doesn't surprise me. Cortese wants the best in all fields. Adkins needs to prove himself. If he grows with the club and makes the step up, he'll stay for many more years. If we don't make any progress over the next 1 or 2 seasons, he'll be gone, unfortunately. Thats just the way football goes, and especially Southampton Football Club at the moment.

Stop guessing guys. Relax, enjoy the build up, keep the blood pressure down! i'll post it before the team sheets are out.

I'll say closer to Kick off. Don't want to say too much at the moment but as i said, you can understand the reasoning behind it when you know it. If it's wrong, I apologise but I've got no reason to doubt this.

No something much more surprising than that! Just been told. Big gamble IMO but totally understandable.

I've been told to be surprised at the team news but I honestly know no more than that. I was told to 'judge it for myself'? Sounds exciting? Now been told we're going for pace so.... De Ridder possibly??

That'd be the one Nixon was on about! He never mentioned it was a CB so I don't know where people got that from. Seems its either Tello or Phillips for this role then. I'll be honest, I know nothing about him.

See another article on the web and this one has quotes from Ramirez saying that Bologna want €15m for him? We offered that and got rejected! http://www.calcionapoli24.it/?action=read&idnotizia=75626 Ramirez greets Italy: "There is a crisis, I go to Premier. Cavani will come away with me? It 'a friend, if you knew ..." Four-year from 2.5 net per year and the number 10 shirt. So the Southampton has convinced him and his agent Oscar Betancourt 18/08/2012 05:30 Editorial Calcionapoli24.it Source: Journal of Sports Out another, even outside Gaston. Gaston Ramirez, potentially one of the strongest players of A, in a few hours will not be over Bologna today will fly to England to close with Southampton, which will pay 15 million for 70% of the possession of the card in red and blue. A Ramirez a four-year from 2.5 net per year and the number 10 shirt. So the Southampton has convinced him and his agent Oscar Betancourt to sign lacks only the ok Penarol, which controls the remaining 30%. And Gaston confirms everything, or almost. This is a surprise. Better Southampton, newly promoted to the Premier, Inter, Juventus, Liverpool and Tottenham? "Yes, the Southampton I tried it for real. They always wanted me to play, not to be one of many. I need to grow, and to grow you have to play. " Never spoken to Count or Stramaccioni? "No, but it was also an economic problem. In Italy there is a crisis and the Bologna wanted 15 million. In Italy there are not that much money. " Italy And what will be left? "Bologna, the memories of Ronaldinho and Pirlo opponents, the Juventus Stadium: the most beautiful of A. Then Cavani, a friend, but I do not know if time will be away too. And if you knew ... no, I could just say "

Agree but we didnt exactly chant about it for a whole game did we! That club will erupt if their chairman sells him, especially for less than the 20m euros they want for him.