Lallana's Left Peg

This guy? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Krueger

Aha - so that is important then. So if we sold someone for £30m and didn't buy a replacement then the accounts could show a profit of £30m+ for that year. If we then spent some money the next year and made a loss of £15m for the period, we'd still be £15m in the black as far as FFP is concerned (which even allows for losses anyway I think). I was just trying to see if there was a spending strategy to be best adhered to if you sold someone for a lot of money but it seems like there is no rush to spend so that is good.

Thanks. So basically, if you get £30m for a player then FFP practices make it highly advisable to spend it all in that accounting period (if indeed you want to)?

I've no doubt it was painful but if what Turkish said is true and he is back in a week (or even two) then he'll get an absolute roasting in training over that

I'm aware of the purpose of FFP and general principles, but not the finer details. Can anyone help me with this scenario: You have a player earning £20k a week who was brought up through the Youth System. In the summer you sell him for £30m. You receive yearly instalments of £7.5m over 4 years. You have saved £1m a year in wages which can be used pay other / new players (as long as qualified FFP income remains the same and the wage budget doesn't decrease). However, you now have £30m to play with. Can you spend that on players and wages because the transfer fee qualifies as FFP eligible income or are the wages you can pay above any transfer fee dependent on other income on the commercial side growing as that is what really enables wages to be increased according to FFP? I've probably not explained that too well but hopefully someone will understand where I am coming from. I am just trying to understand whether or not a large transfer fee can be spent on new players wages or whether it doesn't count as proper income in terms of FFP. This may be one of the most boring threads on here ever as well

If my mate went down with an ankle sprain and got carried off on a stretcher with oxygen he'd get an absolute hammering in training and I hope Lovren does too However, fantastic news for both of them as it could have been far far worse.

Maybe you could give this away - are all three English? I'm specifically thinking in terms of the man / woman involved at the Winter Olympics - and whether or not he / she could be Swiss...

John Williams and Les Reed innit

In football when have clubs ever come out and said 'we've got loads of money to spend on players so anyone we speak to just remember we're loaded ok lol'? Why would any club show their hand? For what it is worth I think the club won't be spending ****loads but will still spend to keep on trying to improve the squad as it naturally evolves after the last 5 years and there is still plenty of growth to come from one of the youngest squads in the league.

Did they say they wouldn't?

I reckon it's the one we've been on where we've gone from bottom in League 1 to 9th in the Premier League in 5 years whilst building a great first team made up of astute signings and exciting youth team products. But I could be wrong.

Chambers has been great this season. I think he'll mature into a great player and his frame is going to afford him the capability of playing in many different positions if we need him to.

The Express suggest he left Man City due to the health of his Wife.

It depends on what structure he implements below him. He may not be as involved as Cortese was and may delegate responsibility as appropriate. Given the level of control we hear Cortese had over many departments, that may not be a bad thing.

Adam Blackmore stated that the his source was in touch with the club hierarchy where he has been given the impression that a takeover has not been discussed. This doesn't mean they will or won't sell, nor that there isn't an interested party. So really it doesn't tell us much other than perhaps that if a takeover is potentially in the offing, that it isn't something that the club is aware of or working towards at the moment.

So do you think a member of the media team told him a new Chief Exec could be appointed as soon as tomorrow? Why have they told him that and not published the information on the website for us all if it is the official line? And why would they know anyway? I think if the last few years have taught us anything it is not to dismiss or not believe anything you hear in the media. I'm neutral on the takeover story but I do strongly believe Adam Blackmore does not rely on his information from the clubs media team. What's more, I also believe they are the last to be told of many things that would go on at board level around subjects like takeovers (as they should be).

Do you think a BBC journalist would solely rely the 'official' line from the club being his source for all Saints information?

I wanna call BS but Peter White is based on the IOW I think and is familiar with the club. So that tiny link makes me wonder (plus how awesome would it be...).

Quite right - the only time Johnson got space in the second half was when Shaw was tucked inside to deal with the Sunderland counter attacks. I thought Shaw handled him very well considering the form Johnson is in and that Jay Rod often comes inside leaving our left flank very exposed.

I am encouraged by the profile of the candidates we're being linked with. If whomever comes in can extend Pochettino's contract they'd make quite a statement.

It is his hips. Quite common for any sportsmen to have hip problems, including footballers, but you are right - we have had to nurse Lambert through the second half of most seasons he has been with us.

Lallana looked leggy, lacked sharpness, and was giving the ball away. Ramirez came on and looked good. What more do you want?

We have Osvaldo. But even he - a £12m signing - isn't settled enough yet to oust Lambert from the team. And in terms of better strikers, it would be nice - but how realistically could we both attract them and be able to afford the wages?

While everyone is pointing out the things he can't do, lets remember the things he can do are good enough to see us sitting comfortably 9th in the table. For reference, lets take a look at the main strikers of every team above us in the league: 1. Arsenal - Giroud 2. Man City - Aguero, Negredo 3. Chelsea - Torres, Eto'o 4. Liverpool - Suarez, Sturridge 5. Everton - Lukaku 6. Spurs - Soldado, Adebayor 7. Man Utd - Rooney, Van Persie 8. Newcastle - Remy Lambert is doing incredibly well in my opinion, and whilst he is having some bad games he is still performing at an incredible level overall to help us to this position in the table. We should be proud, not belittling him.

Hmm so it was. It looked in the box from the other end. In which case I agree that Foy bottled it.