Lallana's Left Peg

If we presume that Jay Rod is a starter for us, where does he fit in our team? Mane is on the left, and Pelle is up front. Can't see either one of them missing out?

Still after this Duda chap apparently - and have increased our bid to £5m in order to starve off competition from Inter Milan: http://eurosport.onet.pl/pilka-nozna/transfery/southampton-podbija-oferte-za-ondreja-dude/d0kmq6

A reported £200k a week (including signing on fee) and he'll play centrally. I think he's a decent player but I don't think he's going to make a difference for them getting into the Top 4. And £200k a week...but they won't give Sterling £150k a week. A bit silly.

Yep - them as well. And more recently Palace.

The agents acting on behalf of French clubs / French based players love to link their players to Saints and West Ham. We're pretty much the default clubs for them in most stories

To be fair, the article opens up with that comparison and then the rest of it dispels it thoroughly. Hardly lazy journalism.

I know a plan guaranteed to stop it: Lets start buying crap players

Whilst there is no doubting Fulham as a team were terrible that season, when he came back from injury he couldn't displace David Stockdale (now at Brighton) from the team. Anyone know why that is? As I said, I have some reservations about him but understand that our criteria for a stop-gap keeper does reduce our number of options in the market. I'm hopeful that he can do a job for us, and whilst I do trust Koeman's judgement lets not just blindly assume everyone he brings in works - Elia is an example.

He still has a fair bit of seasoning to go as a player before the big boys will be seriously interested.

Goalkeeper aside (because we know that is something that needs to be addressed regardless), I can't see us being protagonists in the market until we know what is happening with Osvaldo, Ramirez, Schneiderlin, Clyne, and Alderweireld (or at least a few of them to set off the wheels in motion of replacements / using the budget they free up / funds raised).

Accidently clicked on the banner and there was a link to this on the SaintsWeb homepage: http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/content.php?616-NUMBER-CRUNCHING-Europa-League-Seeding-Prospects Seems fairly comprehensive!

Well I think it is more of a case of availability? How many good goalkeepers are out there and available for loan for a season?

Hasn't played a full season since 2010/11, didn't have the best of times at his last three clubs, but I suppose given the circumstance its hard to find a keeper to fit our criteria and he'll definitely be an upgrade on our current keeper options despite his recent history / form.

I think JWP will be a starter but Targett will be Garbutt's understudy.

He's coming back http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/daniel-osvaldo-heading-back-southampton-5809413

He has a lot of talent, which is why he keeps getting chances in the game despite being a prize idiot, but he doesn't apply it enough and I am pretty confident in saying that Pelle has contributed significantly more this season than Osvaldo would have.

That's good news then - how do they work out the distribution of that?

It's awkward because it appears that he is attractive to other clubs but he is not the first name on their list. So other clubs go after the marquee players and then when the dust settles he'll either still have a suitor or interest will cool. If a club remains seriously interested we then have the challenge of only negotiating with one interested party and the deal being done late so we then also potentially miss out on our first choice targets who have moved on earlier in the window. Frustrating!

I've presumed the prize money includes the TV money - all TV money is paid to UEFA and they incorporate it into the prize money unless I've misinterpreted something. But match-day revenue, commercial revenue, and ticket revenue is all Saints' on top of that (of course, there are operational costs that will take a lot off that). If anything, participation in the Europa League for the club brings a lot of benefits that we could turn into money in time (raising our profile, attracting better players etc.) but in terms of direct money for playing in it I don't think it makes a significant impact to us at all. Here are a list of teams in the Europa League this season:

Reasonably sure that the TV rights are wrapped into the prize money. The only thing I'm not sure about is when the BT rights kick in - if it is just for the league stage or if they can also show qualifying games. If there are no TV rights for the qualifiers, I *think* Saints can sell to anyone interested (someone may know better though!).

Not a very lucrative competition, but I suppose if we sell tickets for home games at £20 a pop that's about £600k a game before operating costs. Can't see our participation in the competition meaning we spend more money this summer, though it makes us a more attractive proposition for players.

I think he should manage the squad in a way that gives him a chance to win the game - that may not always be naming our strongest team possible.

I am not sure that would be wise as it doesn't really address the future of the player - it basically says that he doesn't have a very appealing offer now so he'll wait and see. It won't reflect well on him nor Saints to be honest. I would rather a new 4 year deal signed with some clauses in relating to Champions League clubs etc. Of course, those clauses don't need to be revealed and the contract protects the players value without him appearing to be undecided about things.

Cleverley is awful. Shambles of a footballer.