Daft Kerplunk

He can do it but he often hold s on to the ball for too long. But maybe the new coach will encourage him to release the ball earier as Gabbiadini begins to make his runs.

We could do with signing a midfielder who can pick out the runs of Gabbiadini far earlier than we did last season. That was my main hopes for signing this summer but they are few and far between and expensive. If we don't sign anyone of note, but don't sell anyone then perhaps we've done better than recent windows but not to buy anyone of note would be an interesting choice for the club to make.

I agree on not having sleepless nights over it but I don't feel as confident as you that he won't go this summer but I'll be delighted if he doesn't.

It could just be the transfer of money from Chinese to Swiss banks. The thought is that it would be easy but there's probably a fair bit of paperwork to do for someone/a company to pay an individual for an asset of this type from a Chinese point of view.

It could just be the transfer of money from Chinese to Swiss banks. The thought is that it would be easy but there's probably a fair bit of paperwork to do for someone/a company to pay an individual for an asset of this type from a Chinese point of view.

Everton are benefitting from the fella who moved there from Leicester and Ronald's status in the game. They are certainly signing first team or those challenging for a place players. Looking forward to our signings who will make a quick impact when they come on board the good ship.

Nothing in the text says that top players won't be leaving. It is carefully worded so it can't be used back saying that with any accuracy. Nothing different than usual.

With VVD, J-Rod and maybe Bertrand and Cedric all leaving, there could be a bumper kitty available for Les and co.

When it comes to the time taken to announce pre-season friendlies we are pretty sh!t really. Why is every other club able to announce theirs early and we bumble along and wait until what seems like the last minute? And still no proper international matches like other premier league teams and it looks like the US has been forgotten about now too after going there last summer. Maybe the Chinese takeover will make us so wealthy we won't have to bother with them to make more revenue or increase our fan base ��

When it comes to 'The Southampton Way' not working with all managers, I would imagine the problem with Ronald and Les was a clash of egos. Les is the football king at Saints but RK was clearly head and shoulders above when it came to his status in football. He also worked under Cruyff who was the manager who had overseen Barcelona's transformation to a club producing talent on a regular basis therefore had an example of where the manager was in charge of everything football related. Ronald was a great appointment at the time and this new appointment could do with being of the same calibre, or a brilliant young coach like Poch who can get in and galvanise the players and doesn't mind working within a defined structure. This will be hard as there aren't many coaches like him around.

I am sure I read/heard that Howe likes to have control of all the football matters so that probably rules him out for The 'current' Southampton Way. All managerial appointments are important, but we are just getting used to the idea that each one each one or two seasons is the most important ever! Which this one is of course.

Good luck Claude. Decent man. Not given the tools to play the way he set out to play really but you can only work with the tools you have. When Les said he thought we had the best midfield options in the league, the fella was always on a hiding to nothing. Anyway, we can only hope that the 'looking for a new coach' corporate message is similar to the takeover where it is actually probably imminent and the deal is all but sewn up.

I don't recall us being that good against Everton, although there was plenty of excitement from fans about beating RK. But I'm pretty sure I recall it being a fairly average game after our early goal. I could be wrong though but the rest has been pretty dire. One thing I do think though having watched the u23s a couple of times when Martin Hunter has been coaching is that their play is very similar to that if the first team so maybe the style of play is more a reflection on how Les sees this as a way to play. If he's happy with Puel, you can only guess that it is matching how we as a club are supposed to play under The Southampton Way message.

We will always be a selling club just like everyone apart from Real Madrid and Barcelona to a lesser extent as they have players that simply want to play there as they could earn more elsewhere. The key thing for saints is the academy and is probably where we need to put more money to compete with the likes of Chelsea who apparently offer 'fake' jobs to parents to get kids to sign for them and Hoover up talent in the south. Because of clubs like Chelsea and Man City, it is a dirty game but the only way we can sustain a top 8 position long term is have the best possible academy players coming through on a very regular basis. Difficult but with the best young players and coaches, possible in the long term. This would make us more like Monaco and other teams who punch above their weight for periods.

Bless you sir. Your optimism is commendable but the media know more than we do. There is no smoke without fire. Never.

Ariana Grande is very hot. This is my statement

Which is the corporate line so 'she' is very much on message.

VVD could go to one of the more currently successful clubs in European football right now but Liverpool remain one of the biggest clubs in the world, regardless of their lack of success in recent times. This is a reality that some clearly need to grasp. Liverpool play world tours where thousands turn up, they get big sponsorship deals etc. I know people still think the world begins and ends on the shores of Britain but the world sees things differently. We just need to make sure we get a minimum of £50m for him when we sell him to enable us to get a couple of other players in.

It'll certainly help secure a much larger fee if some persuading is needed first.

The SFC business needs to be decisive here whatever happens. Back him this week and signal to players wanting to leave that they can go and that money will be reinvested. Some fans may not renew season tickets but the business will then need to rebuild a relationship with the lost ticket purchasers and show intent in the transfer market to repay the faith shown by customers who have purchased tickets. Or Get rid of Puel immediately and then get a new head coach in rapidly so the situation doesn't fester and players get unsettled, customers don't purchase season tickets whilst they await an outcome. Decisions decision SFC board members. Over to you for whatever action you deem fit and appropriate to your long term strategy.

Bang on target. I would suggest that the fans who don't think moaning or booing or slow hand clapping is acceptable in a stadium would not have had the mental strength to survive in a football ground anywhere in the country/probably world before 1996 or when the Premier League was invented and football went all fluffy and marketing slogan led.

If you have a good team spirit it means quite a lot. I'm not talking about players leaving, just that it is not a group of players and coaches that is together. That may not mean everything but to say it means nothing is probably naive.

Anyone thinking the dressing room wasn't split only had to see the end of season walk around the pitch. Two different groups totally separate, one with Puel and a couple of players as another with the core of the players from previous years by the looks of it. Then Bertrand on his own with his family so he's off regardless. Ralph probably places a massive amount of importance on team spirit and in that end of season lap of honour would have seen all he needed to know about the feeling in the camp. The board probably have a clear choice. Keep Claude and lose quite a few key players who they then need to replace or be very decisive, let Claude go asap and get a replacement in rapidly who will galvanise the squad and give them belief in the we match on mantra. Oh, and maybe 5,000 people left in the stadium for the lap of honour. This board and other platforms may not indicate the feelings of supporters but that was a telling image of how fans feel about this season.

8th place polishes a turd of a league season. But plenty of things to learn from this season for Ralph and his merry men.

It's more about acting fast to avoid any speculation and get into the planning phase for me. The last two manager appointments haven't been optimal in a football sense. We can kind of forgive the first one as Koeman was a success and here had been semi upheaval with Cortese, then Poch and group of key players leaving. A good bit of swift decision making probably wouldn't be a bad thing if it's going to happen of course.