Daft Kerplunk

Incorrect. With a vision of success to maintain his interest, he'd likely stay. Any quarter wit could see that so i guess you wouldn't see that in a mirror

no blame to Poch if he goes. if there's no big ambition and you are clearly a talented coach, why stay? won't stop anyone supporting Saints but says a lot about the 'leadership' and 'project' that comes next.

The only people to blame if Poch goes are the board. If, and I say this as it is as yet unconfirmed that he has gone, they had a 'vision' that embraced the potential, he might give it a bit longer, but if they have not convinced him that we are where he should build a great team, then they've dropped a massive clanger. Key players will leave, and the team that could achieve so much will be broken up and this will represent a massive fail. The warning to the board is that financial success will not come unless you have a team on the football side capable of giving you the platform to capitalise on. The best commercial team in the world could not sell ice to Eskimos so ours will not be able to sell the Saints 'brand' to the world if they don't have success or even a dream of success on the football side. That is the reality. If you are reading, be warned that your job will become a great deal harder unless this 'leadership' has a very good plan.

My post wasn't a dig at the current board as I am sure they are still making plans. It's more of a hope that, unlike in 2003 when our last opportunity to push on was there, we failed and ended up failing in big way. I am hopeful that internationally respected leaders and business-people will have more of a grasp of the opportunity before them, and that the investment can be recouped - £50m would be covered by one year of TV alone now, and am happy to give them time to demonstrate this. Players looking at us now will also see an opportunity if we keep the players, and keep Poch. With regard to the players, i think we only really need: A back-up or challenging GK (£5m perhaps) A centre-back (£10m tops) An attacking/creative midfielder - and only if Gaston starts performing and AL doesn't leave (£15m) A forward or two (£20m)

So, here we are apparently at a big moment, and this summer to me, is the biggest moment we've had as a football club for 5 years. I think we are genuinely 4 players from being able to compete for Champion's League football and that this does not need to cost a massive amount of money (in football transfer terms) so long as we keep our best players. This is the opportunity before the current regime. There is talk of maximising commercial opportunity and this needs to happen for certain. Cortese was not at all good here from reports and anecdotes, and so far, this board is unproven but one thing is abundantly clear and that success generates revenue and opens doors to international markets, as well as at home. Therefore, if this new board is going to generate more money, then the vision has to be for success, and given that we are so close to even bigger success with a great, and importantly, young team with great team spirit led by a brilliant young manager, this should make sense to everyone at the club. Are our leadership team going to squander this once in a generation opportunity to create something truly special or are they going to embrace it, and invest in the next stage knowing that a return is as good as guaranteed in football terms? Obviously, we have no idea what is going on, and this is not a demand for more information but I hope, as a fan, that we do choose to do something different and change the face of British football in this era by becoming a great team that isn't just built by spending lots of money. Surely, the football public globally will have massive respect for that if we were to pull it off. The money will then follow, and given the huge TV deals nationally and globally, the return on investment would be quick and sustainable. I for one can't believe that bright and leading business individuals would miss the open goal that is staring them in the face. This is their time to lead and earn their crust. Anyone can cut costs, it takes more to do build. Fingers crossed that there things are being put in place that mean we sit at the top table for quite a few years to come.

Players who have been rumoured to be on the move and our head coach are under contract, and we've said we don't need to sell, and actually, that we are looking at players to come in. Therefore, until anything changes, nothing needs to be said. Players might leave, the manager might leave and I' like many, will be gutted if that happens but some of the over-reaction to nothing being said when nothing needs to be said is hilarious, and also annoying as you can, if you're not careful, get dragged into it. Please go and cut your grass, have a gin and tonic, or get back to work instead of worrying over nothing

we are 4 days into the post-season yet everyone is now on twitterspeed, meaning that every minute becomes an hour and so on, then people seem to need answers and comments so quickly on stuff there might not even be the need to comment upon yet. Hopefully we will keep everyone, and Poch stays and we go to new heights but for goodness sake internet people, it has been 4 days since the close of the season, not 4 weeks! que sera sera...and so on

to me, the 'wait for the summer' where and if it refers to Saints and not England is that the players need to see what the overall objectives are for the football club. Build upon the special thing we have and no-one has a problem staying because they, and many believe this team plus a few more can achieve special things. If a decision is made to stay how we are and see how things go with the current playing squad minus a few players, then I wouldn't blame our best players to want to go elsewhere and compete at the highest level they can outside International level i.e UEFA competitions. the board probably are also very aware of the unique opportunity they have, and the commercial advantages that come with success on the pitch. I would imagine if they've got their heads screwed on, things will be ok and building will happen. It's much easier to get better national and global commercial deals when you are successful after all.

if there is stupid money on the table for Shaw, and for him, then chances are he will be sold just as Ronaldo got sold by the biggest club in the world to one of the actual biggest clubs in the world. I absolutely do not see this as the board lying about wanting to keep players, as this is a genuine position but football business is football business. what is clear is that players won't be sold unless stupid money is offered, and reports that all our best players and MoPo are leaving are very wide of the mark as it stands. muppets can sit here and debate the FACTS or read between the lines because they have sod all else to do but it's not all doom and gloom, and it isn't 'we're going to win the Champion's league in 2016' either.

I just can't believe no-one has mentioned this yet but right-footed players just really don't seem to have flourished under MoPo. Shaw, Boruc and Lovren have moved on, and Lallana and Schneiderlin being decent two-footed players have done alright but players like Lambert with his strong right-foot just haven't moved on under MoPo. Some of our better right-footed players have often been injured too which can only be ascribed to MoPo using them incorrectly. I think in the interest of balance, we should probably be looking for a coach who is able to bring out the best in both left and right-footed players.

This is utterly boring...we got knocked out. We will play in the FA Cup next season. There is 100% ZERO rational argument that we would definitely have beat Sunderland with another team on the day, or got to Wembley thereafter. Also, Rickie Lambert, our most prolific centre forward of recent times quite clearly missed a golden opportunity. Having a different centre-back had ZERO affect on this. The discussion on this season's FA Cup competition and our performance in it is a poison upon reality. It is genuinely surely time to move on!

so, these comments seem totally fair to me, and don't think he is thinking he sees himself as 'bigger than the club' or definitely leaving. to me, it seems like he is saying we have what is essentially a once in a generation opportunity to break into the top echelon and he hopes we make it happen. I also read this as 'playing for a great club' desire as well. No reason it can't happen for Saints, just that it will rely on some solid action from the new leadership, which, with a massive amount coming in from TV revenue, is entirely plausible. if i was a top player, surrounded by other top future players, I'd want to see the same activity from the leadership whose team I played for. Saying it just shows that there is a desire to make it happen here. Nowt wrong with that. Hopefully the leadership are on that track anyway, which we won't know until the summer.

have to say watching Atletico Madrid the other night, the blue shorts looked good and if they are the colours we'd used in the past, then maybe we should return that way. Plus, I liked watching a red and white striped team make the semis of the Champions league very much

the problem is that treading water will potentially lead to going backwards. I am sure that the current regime will know that the playing side must be good enough to generate additional commercial revenue so we should be hopeful that this will be the case. Younger players will be much better next season, and with a few key additions, we can still climb, and build revenues. Cortese had the right vision for the club to climb as high as possible, just not necessarily the right way of communicating it to us as fans, apart from with results on the pitch (which were pretty bloody good, let's face facts on that) and I've always preferred over fluffy press releases

So, TV money and future TV money guaranteed by us staying in the PL, investment in playing squad and training ground was needed to make this a reality (sign better players, increase overall standards in squad and competitiveness). Need to generate greater commercial revenue. Err, definitely, and realise it is a global environment that we can benefit from. See Ralph (never ever going to call him Freddy) Krueger's ambition to make more revenue globally. Better sponsorship deals, will be helped by not having the person at the top be difficult to work with (as some suggest) Current position is that we owe some money, but who doesn't. I don't read any of this as needing to sell, or that we won't buy new talent, just that it will be done in a measured and calculated way, and that we will generate greater revenue. Also, it is, as others have pointed out, in the best interests of everyone at the club to suggest we don't have as much money as they might think (works for transfers in as well as out), and that there were things not done in the best way under previous regime; hardly a new development in new structural announcements. Essentially, very little to see here until we know how things are going to pan out

sad face, he was doing a terrific job

yes

Looking at it objectively, and considering we are actually not that far from being a very good top side, and closer than the likes of Man Utd, especially considering our young players are a long way from their peak and may defy media logic and want to do something special here, where should we strengthen in the summer given below players in the squad? GK - Boruc, Davies, Gazzaniga (need another new experienced keeper ideally) RB - Clyne and Chambers (covered) LB - Shaw and Targett (covered) CB - Lovren, Fonte, Yoshida and Hooiveld (need another top class CB) DM - Schneiderlin, Cork, Wanyama and JWP (covered) AM - Lallana, Ramirez, Davis, Isgrove, Reed (covered) F - Rodriguez, Lambert, Guly, Gallagher (the key area to strengthen, but the same for every team) Can't think there would be disagreement over needing to strengthen GK, CB and CF. I can only see Ramirez and Wanyama getting better as they're still really quite young. I'd like to see an experienced head in there someone, someone who has won a decent championship (preferably premier league) to help guide the young players to success, a Cantona-like figure but who could that be? Hopefully the scouts are out there and they can be found.

stronger language used to hopefully encourage people to move on from this topic

thought that was a fairly reasoned post

crikey, long-time lurker on here but this one is one of those posts that seems to be going way too far. as far as i can tell, the following is true about the weekend: We weren't significantly weakened, many fully capable first-team players played We didn't lose to a horrendous error by any supposed weaker player There was no guarantee that we would have won with some first-team players involved who were clearly injured (Fonte) and most importantly: We were not guaranteed to go the whole way and win the FA Cup as seems to be implied by the anger resulting from this one match. Everyone would love a great cup run resulting in winning but there's only one team each year that can do this and it wasn't in any way guaranteed for us. Just as finishing higher up in the league isn't but that is very achievable over the remaining games whereas the cup is always a bit of a lottery. I am afraid that once again, Saints fans are ripping in to each other over a potential outcome that was totally hypothetical. Very much time to move on and forget about it, hope we strengthen in the summer, keep our existing young talent and have a squad next season genuinely capable of competing in a couple of trophies. The response to a result that was not a forgone conclusion all is somewhat crazy