Lallana's Left Peg

Don't have an issue with losing Mane. Don't have an issue with losing Mane to Liverpool. Do have an issue with losing Mane to Liverpool for £30m. We don't need the money so that should drive the fee higher. We are a Premier League club selling to another Premier League club so that should drive the fee higher. The only thing that would impact the fee is two years left on his deal but if he were to depreciate by £15m a season and we 'only' sold him for £15m next summer I'd happily take that hit. We've just sold one of our best players for relatively cheap and I don't understand why. Hopefully more details emerge. At least it is happening quickly and then once he is gone we get the new Manager in and a few signings and we can have a quiet August.

Unless the club have a player (or players) lined up that it is absolutely convinced make us a better team than we are with Mane then there is no reason to sell him for £30m. We don't need the money, the new TV deal means signing a player from another Premier League club should cost an arm and a leg, and buying abroad just got more expensive for replacements due to the referendum. £30m is nothing - £40m at least. Otherwise what is the point?

If we sell him for £30m I'll be ****ing raging.

Apparently Marco Silva has just resigned from his job of Greek side Olympiacos.

I think Man City would allow him to join Saints before 1st July without him having to forego any bonuses. I'm still not convinced he is the guy we want - there is no doubting his pedigree from his CV and he has a profile that will command respect in the dressing room. However, presuming our 5 year plan is closely aligned to previous versions there are some aspects of his management that don't appear to align well to it: 1. His tactical preference is 4-4-2 and we have players at the club for 4-2-3-1. 2. He comfortably prefers seasoned pros to giving youth players a chance They are pretty big things for a club like us to change our stance on - or indeed a Manager of his standing to compromise on. It doesn't add up to me.

I don't think Saints have sold any player who wanted to stay. We've got pretty good money for all the players we've sold in the circumstances they were sold. We've invested lots of money back into the team too. Only complaints I have, and they are small really: 1. I wish we wouldn't be so easy to target in the media - there may be dignity in silence but the media are a part of the game and I'd wish we'd fight back more. Whether or not we are, the media portray us as weak and that does impact perceptions of the club. 2. I wish we wouldn't talk about ambition on one hand and then on the other talk about us being a 'showcase' club etc. State your ambition by all means but don't undermine it by then acknowledging you are a stepping stone club for talent. It doesn't sit well.

Of the four central midfielders that Spurs have they are buying a player who has proven himself in the Premier League for £11m and who will be better than two of the existing options. They are getting a great deal. We can replace Wanyma for the fee we're getting for him but you always run the risk of a transfer bust. I also think we could have got a better fee given all the money floating about but I suppose if Wanyama had his heart set on Spurs and would have happily sat out the final year of his contract to get it the club had to act. He will need replacing though - Romeu is ok but he is no Wanyama.

Anyone have a view as to why we look for out of work Managers? It does somewhat decrease the pool we can choose from.

From the looks of that he sounds perfect of us. No Premier League experience and appears to be used to working with young players more than seasoned professionals but in our circumstance he looks like a good fit.

Twitter suggesting FdB has rejected Lazio (either talking with them or joining them) and wants to come to the Premier League. Don't know if he is any good or not but we may be his only option in that case...

The above sounds very sensible to me. Not attempting to be negative here but just expanding on the 'stepping stone' Manager or long-term Manager approach say AVB, FdB, Pellegrini and Emery went elsewhere and Howe stayed at Bournemouth - who do people think we'll be after? Not who do you want but who fits the profile of what we want? We need that balance between someone who commands respect from our senior players but also someone who fits the fabric of the club in terms of understanding how we progress (and that we sell players) and providing a pathway to the first team. It's a very hard criteria to fill.

When Guan made reference to a change of direction towards the back end of the season I'd be interested to see if he can expand on that and / or if the change of direction he mentioned refers to a Manager that he thinks we may not be able to get now.

If someone wants to make you one of the best paid Managers in the world and you are clearly not one of the best Managers in the world I suppose it makes complete sense to pursue the offer. There is no way Saints could (or should) offer him £7m a year and a £100m transfer kitty. He will find it tough there, there is a different set of expectations to Saints with that sort of money being thrown at him and it hasn't gone too well for him at other clubs with bigger pressures but he should always try and better himself. Saints need to act decisively with his replacement and we'll only know how much it matters losing Koeman based on how good his replacement is. I am a little worried about the message this sends out to the players we want to keep though. Lets hope for no clauses in the contract of VvD as well.

When Koeman leaves us it will be for a far better club than Everton. Don't blame them for going for him, but they really didn't react well when he laughed in that press conference and Saints fans joined in.

Rumours in Dutch press that the attacking midfielder from Twente that a few on here like is off to Dortmund for 15m Euros.

Yes I think it has fundamentally changed - however that has been helped by a) the standard required to get into the first team has never been higher, and b) a lack of talent right now. The hard part is finding the right club with the right amount of gametime for the young player. When it works it is very beneficial. When it doesn't it's a massive waste of time.

Do we know who represents Clasie, VvD Martina and Stekelenburg? I believe in one of the #TheMarch episodes earlier this season Les Reed said the Stekelenburg deal was very easy as he had worked with the agent before - so just looking to see if he (or any of our other Dutch contingent) are represented by the same people that Koeman has moved to.

I think it matters because going into a season knowing it may be your Managers last never ends well. It affects the club and it affects the players. I can't think of any time in England where speculation over a Managers future when he has a year left on his deal has not negatively impacted a club. I have no doubts that Koeman would try has hard in Year 3 as he did in Year 1 and 2 of his contract. But it is not a healthy situation to be in - which is why the club and Koeman are sitting down to discuss it.

Club said Koeman would be doing a Twitter Q&A earlier today and asked people to submit their questions. It's gone quiet - I assume it isn't happening. How do we think that chat after the Palace game went with the Board? Let the conspiracy theories start

No surprise if indeed he is off. I was genuinely surprised however to learn he had made 12 Premier League appearances for us, even if many were off the bench.

How are they going to offer the latter with FFP?

He'll go for more than £10m with all the new money flying about. A shame if he leaves. He's had some good moments and some bad moments but when he starts trucking through the middle of the park and players fly off him I can't help but smile. He will be hard to replace but I am sure we can do it.

Spurs have got away with that somewhat but no Alli and no Dembele is a blow to them.

Under a certain set of circumstances all may leave their current clubs in the summer. All have been linked with us. On footballing matters only (based on ability and fit for our team) who would you prefer to take out of those three and why?