Lallana's Left Peg

He is a fantastic talent, and his family and representatives know it as well. They are aware of interest from other clubs and I've been told they are constantly pushing Saints in order to keep him there. He is already playing regularly for the U18's and I believe made an appearance for the U21's (off the bench) already. I think the club are pushing him a little quicker than they'd like but they have people to keep happy and apparently such is his talent it is a compromise they are willing to make. His talent will either take him to a bigger club soon or fast track him to the U21's within 18 months and then who knows.

Van Gaal has been an absolute clown this season. I can't believe the lack of criticism. Man Utd playing a diamond which means that Shaw and Valencia (both attacking full backs) are getting forward well but Man Utd are not using the width at all. It's hilarious. That said, neither of them can cross a ball anyway so its all round.

I'd like to think that is the case but with the likes of Man City, Liverpool, and Spurs all at least interested in him (though to what degree I am not sure), I do not believe he will let his medical status influence whether or not he signs a new deal. I'd surprised (and delighted) if he did. But if you're receiving a 5 year contract offer in the middle of cruciate ligament rehabilitation and you don't sign it...I think that speaks volumes. Don't think he'll give anything other than 100% for us while he is here, but for how long will be a matter of how much of a gamble the aforementioned teams want to take in the summer.

Squad is nowhere near big or good enough to compete effectively in Europe and do well in the league. Every year the Premier League becomes more physically demanding and only those with the best squads can do well on two fronts. Take a look at Spurs - they play a different team in Europe and even then their league form hasn't been great for a while because even playing a different team impacts league form because of lack of preparation etc. Getting back from games early Friday morning and the playing on Sunday screws you completely. Liverpool's form has a relationship with their European games as well (it's not the only factor but it is a factor at least). That said, none of this scares me - I'd be happy enough to see us play kids in Europe. It's all a part of the adventure - and I'd rather play Academy players than see us fill out the squad with filler just because of the amount of games we've got to play. As the squad stands, and assuming no-one leaves (or is adequately replaced) and we play a different 11 in Europe (presuming it is the Europa league here!) then we have issues at right-back, keeper, central midfield, and winger. But then if players are injured we have issues again. It's tough.

I think West Ham will be trying to do to us what Palace did - attack and be direct and take their chances at the other end defensively.

So on the premise that Clyne and Schneiderlin seem likely to go, and looking at existing playing staff: Players leaving this summer: Clyne - sold for £15m Scheniderlin - sold for £25m Boruc - out of contract Jos Hooiveld - out of contract Contracts worth considering this summer: Victor Wanyama (expires Summer 2017) Jay Rodriguez (expires Summer 2016) - believed to be sitting on a 5 year deal. I can't think of anyone else important (or of sellable age) that has a deal expiring in 2016 or 2017. Any ideas? So that would be an extra £40m in the coffers and an immediate first team need for a right-back and central-midfielder with no heir apparent internally for either role (Reed I like but he has a way to go still). I doubt Alderweireld will stay so we'll need another centre-half too unless Gardos improves significantly and / or the club have earmarked one of Turnbull or Stephens to make the step up, but whatever none will be as good as Alderweireld . Elia seems an easy decision to make based on his contribution thus far. A potential European campaign may change the way we think about the balance and depth of the squad (and obviously whether that is Champions League or Europa League impacts financial status as well). I also make that we're going to be at least £10m 'up' on last seasons TV money based on expected league position and the number of times we've been on TV. Whether or not that (along with the Cork money) was already accounted for in the Bertrand deal I don't know. I presume we'll look to shift Osvaldo and Ramirez. So contract wise this summer we're not in a bad place (in part because of so many new players this summer), but with potentially lots of money to spend I can see Koeman continuing to build a squad in his image.

The amount of money that Premier League clubs will receive now is crazy - regardless of how good they are, they will be nudging close to £100m of income. I've no doubt most of the money will find its way to the players, which also means that the league will continue to attract most of the best players in the world. I think the national game owes it to itself to distribute some of this money down the pyramid, specifically to safeguard the national game really in terms of player development and overall welfare of the game. I don't think it matters whether or not Championship downwards contribute directly to the Premier League, they do so indirectly in so many ways that if they were to disappear then the national game would suffer massively. This money also screws the English national team a bit more, but that is an argument for another day.

Morgan and his dodgy groin. Keeps flaring up and not good news that on his comeback at the weekend there is another problem (though to be fair, it may not be his groin). Lets hope another 10 days of rest and he is ready for Liverpool.

The statistics show they are as direct and long ball as they ever have been - the difference is that they now have better players / more quality on the ball in playing that way so are having more success. I don't think there is a wrong or right way to play football personally, and that teams should give themselves the best chance they have of winning a game - I don't mind the way West Ham play at all but they don't set-up to pass the ball. They are direct and strong.

I'd find that hard to believe given we started the season with a loss and then a draw. And then I think we dipped out of it a little while ago too. Two sounds far fetched.

Dave Watson is Uber Serious. I love that he is a GK coach but that isn't enough for him. He wants in on the substitutions. He wants in on the tactics and briefing players on set piece responsibilities. He wants in on doing the whole handshake thing on the pitch at the end of the game. And I wouldn't be surprised if that earpiece he has on doesn't even work. He wants to complete football and will not sleep until he does. Also, regarding the goal celebrations, I love the **** eating grin on Harrison Reed's face as he passed the QPR bench on his way to warm up

West Ham look very tired to me, there was nothing in the tank for the last 20mins. If we start brightly and get the first goal I think we can win this one without too much drama. Get dragged down into playing the sort of game that West Ham want and they are a real danger. All down to us I think.

How does he measure whether or not the cost of the sponsorship of the club is an investment that has provided profit for Veho?# I have no idea how any sponsor can do this as so many other things impact business. Do they just write it off as some sort of investment without knowing whether or not it is worth it?

Clubs aren't going to forget about a player just because he isn't in the press. It's not like the scouting teams of Spurs, Liverpool, and Man City base their work around what players they hear about in the papers and write online blogs. However, you have a point to a degree, even if you have expressed it a little silly. Jay's blog, and his twitter account, are jointly run by his management company. It is their business - no matter what his form or playing status - to promote him in a positive light. Koeman's statement yesterday may well have prompted them to want to put something out there more positively around Jay Rod - but it certainly wasn't done for other clubs benefit in case they'd forget about him. I don't know if Jay's contract offer is still on the table but rejecting a 5 year deal in the middle of coming back from a cruciate ligament injury is a pretty big statement of intention as far as I am concerned. Come this summer he'll claim he is fit and that is going to be the biggest window of opportunity for him - and Saints - if he is to be sold. Then we'll see how serious the interest from the aforementioned three clubs are.

The offer does sound low and I don't know much about the player but I do know a bit about Karim El Ahmadi and I'm glad Saints don't want to pay too much for anyone being kept out of the team by him.

What a coward.

I don't think we lack creativity or a killer final ball - with Tadic, Mane, Davis, and Elia we have different types of player who play in the same position as this new chap, who eerily appears to have the same qualities as a footballer as the man we decided wasn't good enough for us at the start of the season and we shipped him off to Hull. We don't play with creativity through the middle, I don't see where he has a natural home in our formation either. I am sure there is a plan, I just don't see the need for this sort of signing when we need a striker - desperately.

Wow, sign an attacking midfielder we don't need and lose Jack Cork for a packet of peanuts. Not a strong finish to a transfer window that started so well with Elia. Can't win them all I suppose!

The mistake was not sorting his new deal in the summer. At the end of last season he mentioned a new deal and said he wanted to stay. Even if the club was unsure about him, why not protect the asset? It was more risky to take this approach in my opinion and now we've sold our backup defensive midfielder for a pittance. Cork would have had a very important role to play in the final half of the season and as good as Schneiderlin and Wanyama are, they do pick up a lot of injuries. Davis dropping back, or even Reed, are not half as good as Cork in that role in my opinion. Don't really see how this can be dressed up as anything other than a bit of a balls up. Not a massive one, but Saints haven't really got anything out of this other than selling a good player for dirt cheap and 2 days to source a replacement.

Except to make your analogy more reflective of the situation the person at work who didn't know whether he was wanted or not saw other employees told they were wanted before the new boss came in, and then other employees told they were wanted straight away while you waited. And then at the last minute you are told you are wanted. How would that make you feel? Like you were a last resort? Like you were being treated differently? At the end of the day Cork hasn't acted unprofessionally but what did he have to prove to Koeman over and above anyone else? He has always been a steady performer for us. Last summer loads of fans got upset with the players that wanted to leave, and now we have a situation where in the summer a player clearly wanted to stay and has been messed about (in my opinion). Loyalty, if it does exist in football, works both ways for me. I would be annoyed if I were Cork - and no wonder players decide to take matters in their own hands like some of ours did last summer.

Would be very disappointed to hear that Cork is leaving because of the way he has been treated rather than anything else. Why **** about all this time. Lad wasn't first choice last season but still made 28 appearances. Absolutely no reason to delay giving him a new deal.

A peculiar signing if true - sounds quite similar to Ramirez in ability? In the first half of the season Koeman clearly wanted his creativity to come from out wide, and we definitely played that way, and we have Mane, Elia, and Tadic already competing for two roles. I know Long is out for 6 weeks but a backup to Pelle would be preferable. Am sure there is a plan somewhere but just surprised to us go after a player like this - if indeed it is true.

My Dad claims to have been there. I have no idea if he really was or not. Probably one of those ones where people claim to be there when they weren't.

Going into the summer we owed ~£27m in unpaid transfer fees. So I think that covers much of the difference between the transfer fees we received compared to what we spent, even if every transfer will be paid over a different period of time. In addition I suspect that our wage bill would have increased this summer too - whilst Lallana, Lambert, and Lovren would all earn good money I doubt Chambers or Shaw earn a massive amount (relatively speaking). I would imagine Forster, Bertrand, Long, Elia, and Alderweireld all earn very good money, whilst Tadic, Mane, and Gardos are all senior players who will have decent deals too. Plus many of our younger players will have accelerators in their deals which mean they earn more money for each year of their contract (assuming we follow standard practice). That said, we did also clear some bad contracts in the summer (Sharp, Bernard, etc.). To offset this I think our increased revenue this season from league position and TV appearances would be ~£7.5m (and that is conservative), and I doubt that was accounted or budgeted for therefore I suspect there would be some wriggle room for a loan but not a big transfer, especially if we didn't want to compromise the potential permanent deals for our three loan players. However, I still think finding a striker who will fit the profile of what we need and be comfortable to be backup will be hard and we'll sit tight.

Nothing.