Saint-Armstrong

Yep.

At the close of play this Sunday...

To be honest, I'm not arsed. If they don't want to stay anymore and their heart isn't in it, they can go, we can bank the money and give someone else a break. And the club keeps ticking on and improving. I don't get attached to players - Rickie, Jose aside - and so long as what happens turns into a positive for Saints then I won't care.

Genuinely don't get this attitude. I wonder if fans of clubs like Porto, Dortmund, Sevilla, Ajax (the list goes on) always trot this out when the club continually sells players? We support and watch Saints because we love the club. Aside from ourselves, everyone else is just passing through. Enjoy the ride, there's been so many reasons to so far.

Cool. Bank the money, back the manager and we go again. Looking forward to seeing who else we can unearth. Loads to be excited about this season.

Just caught up with someone I worked with briefly at one point, who is a French football writer and a Lille fan. Here's what he's sent me... I really like Puel. It was his Lille team that I fell in love with. He brought through Cabaye and Debuchy. Likes to play on the counter, has always tried to attack on some level. Defence hasn't always been great, but more down to the players he's had. Develops youth well. Just look at that Nice team, and also the way he's tamed Ben Arfa. His face just didn't fit at Lyon. Great track record everywhere else in France. Obviously impossible to say how well he'd do in England. That's the hard part. If he is confirmed, you'd want him to hijack the move for Nampalys Mendy to Leicester. Brilliant holding mid.

Boring?! It's anything but boring being a Saints fan.

Boris has surfaced again.

Corbyn has spoken... Anyone wanting to oust him as lead must stand against him in a leadership election for him to accept defeat.

Shadow leader of the House of Commons, Chris Bryant, has resigned.

I understand, it's the same as playing in Holland. Pellè's managed 15 in both seasons here, Tadić managed to still be our most creative player and Koeman managed to forge an attacking team too.

Mauricio's win percentage in two years here was 38%, so not too big a concern. Nice aren't a big club expected to ride high in the French league so 39% seems decent.

Here's his team's goals from last season.

Karl Turner has resigned from the shadow cabinet now too.

Does anyone really give a flying **** about what other fans think? I remember them all absolutely caning us for ages over the Pochettino appointment and Koeman's appointment didn't really register with neutrals either.

Telegraph update: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/06/26/southampton-ready-to-appoint-frenchman-claude-puel-as-new-manage/ - Saints plan to appoint Puel in the coming days - Held talks with Puel, Pellegrini, Garcia and Pereira - Positive talks with Puel for the past week or so - Puel has outlined a desire to stay for the long-term, but will be given an initial three-year deal - Puel wants to play attacking, pressing football and give opportunities to academy players - Saints seriously looked into appointing Pellegrini, but felt he wasn't enough of a 'coach' and that he didn't fit the club's structure and ideas

Summary - Saints plan to appoint Puel in the coming days - Held talks with Puel, Pellegrini, Garcia and Pereira - Positive talks with Puel for the past week or so - Puel has outlined a desire to stay for the long-term, but will be given an initial three-year deal - Puel wants to play attacking, pressing football and give opportunities to academy players - Saints seriously looked into appointing Pellegrini, but felt he wasn't enough of a 'coach' and as such didn't fit the structure

Lord Falconer has resigned.

Not mocking you. I replied and discussed with you earlier. Time will tell, I can see why people are disappointed after some names linked. Equally, he wasn't my choice. But to suggest he's a disaster/awful/Gray/Wigley this early on is a bit daft. We'll see what happens but I think trust is deserved when it comes to managerial appointments. If he's crap, then I'll cede that he's crap and might have to change that stance.

Good job we're not appointing Alain Perrin then.

And took Lyon to the Champions League semi-final stage and managed Lille in the Champions League.

Pochettino only managed in Spain and got sacked from his first and only job with his team rock-bottom in 20th. Koeman went out of Holland twice, got sacked in his first season with Valencia and walked out on Benfica, and got knocked back by other PL clubs. (he wanted the Swansea job...) I don't see how Pellegrini would fit the club or fit the club's long-term aims. He's not a 'coach', he's right at the end of his career. Yes, he was worth speaking to because of his standing but clearly the board didn't think he was right for us. I'm willing to trust that, in light of previous appointments.

None of us were in on the talks. If it was a choice of 'abandon the policies and philosophy and get Pellegrini in' or 'hey, this guy really suits us and would fit well here, we're on the same page and he's in it for the long-haul' - then I'd rather we went with the latter.

Fair enough if that's how you see it. I see it as... 'Can't see that Southampton will be a big enough name (with high enough pay structure) to keep hold of Mane etc.'