Lallana's Left Peg

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?

I know we have a few on here who have relations in the Academy and / or links to it - any word on who has and has not got a scholarship for next season from the U16's and if any of the existing scholars who haven't already done so will get Pro deals? I have been told the U16's are decent with a few really good prospects. In the last few years we've had to supplement our intake with players released from elsewhere and it's shown in U18 performances. There was talk from Les Reed earlier this season about perhaps buying some players for the Academy to make up for that delta in talent level so we'll have to see what happens there. For reference the takeover occurred nearly 7 years ago so around next year (or maybe the start of next season) we'll start to see the fruits in the U18 team of any recruitment done under the current regime assuming we target 8 - 10 year olds (if not younger) as most other clubs do.

Points away from home Aug - Dec last season: 13 Points away from home Jan - May last season: 10 Points away from home Aug - Dec this season: 10 Points away from home Jan - May this season (thus far): 11 It's definitely an issue for us if we want to push on.

I am - we messed up Europe big time. Only thing that would make up for it is qualifying again.

You know, if Everton weren't in an FA Cup Semi-Final I think Martinez would be a goner.

It's not pointless as it provokes discussion around perceived team needs, ambition and means. It affects public perception of a club and can influence supporter opinions. You can of course dismiss that it has any semblance of truth until it is proven as fact because there is so much nonsense published in the media but it's worth discussion in my opinion.

VVD. No-one else has come near to his level of performance.

Our conversion rate per chances created ratio continues to plague us. I think Austin was the remedy to this but his fitness is an issue. We're in good shape and so nearly there but we're too often just missing that killer instinct in big games. Nothing too much to moan about though.

I suppose we haven't got room for that when we've got Pelle going through his flicking fit stage in every game.

Think we could do with him for a handful of games a season but for the 60k a week he's costing us it's not worth it and he hasn't been fit enough or consistent enough to justify a place in the starting 11. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that he can still make a contribution for a team in the Premier League and it wouldn't surprise me if he does - he is clearly a very talented footballer. I know one thing though - we'd be nicer to watch in the final third if he was still about.

Great distribution, diligent tackler and got a got head for the game on him but the way the league is going that lack of pace is going to cost him long-term. Glad he is in our squad and happy that he is a squad player.

When your strongest team doesn't pick itself you have a bit of a problem each game. When you are more concerned with how the opposition play than how you can impose yourself as a team on them then you also have a problem. I think Saints have done ok this season (no better) but something that has definitely hamstrung us is the constant chopping and changing because it doesn't seem Koeman knows his best team or best formation. I don't blame Koeman for this either because I think it is clear that he would like to play 4-2-3-1 but our team isn't strong enough to do this any more. So we have to find other ways to play and win (which I think Koeman has done very well with). But ultimately it comes down to players. We replaced Schneiderlin with Clasie / Romeu and Clyne with Cedric / Martina. Downgrades in both positions and it has caused issues with our team to the point I think we've won more games not playing 4-2-3-1 this season than we have playing that formation.

Do we think Jay Rod makes the bench?

That's going to look horrendous on anyone without 6% body fat