sydneysaint17

If we don't get CL football he has every right to go in my opinion

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2874551/Manchester-United-Southampton-alert-Wesley-Sneijder-seeks-Galatasaray-exit.html hmm...

I go to the uni at Exeter and went to watch them the other day. By far the stand out player on the pitch - looked very creative, technically good and quite strong too. At half time I said to my friend that he reminded me a lot of Lallana (although he plays slightly deeper) in terms of both looks and playing style! Heard about 5 others say the same thing after that. Would be very happy if we signed him - seems like a good deal for both parties.

This.

I don't think I said anything incredibly unrealistic? If we were to finish 7th or 8th it would be another good season, with some star performers. Those players, probably the likes of Tadic, Alderweireld, Clyne etc. would therefore attract a certain amount of interest from bigger clubs. I'm saying that the higher we finish in the league, the more likely it is that we will be able to persuade those sorts of players to stay, hence why I would prioritise the league over the cup at this time. Can't really think what else you'd take issue with other than the fact that I mentioned player turnover isn't a good thing. In some cases it is, but in my opinion this is rare. It's not often that clubs have 6/7 players all fit in seamlessly as we have done this summer. Clearly that is a positive reflection on the Koeman and the club's ability to integrate new players however we would however be naive to assume that we will get it right everytime.

If we finish 7th/8th, I think were likely to lose 3/4 key players again. Of course we all know that that wouldn't necessarily spell disaster, but the turnover in players is always a risk and I think if we were to finish 5th or 6th, we would have done enough to convince Morgan, Tadic, Alderweireld, Clyne etc. that the club was progressing. Winning the League Cup would be great don't get me wrong, but it's not going to convince players that we're a club looking for CL football. I'd much rather finish higher, not win a trophy and as a consequence, put ourselves in a great position to keep the current group together.

People remember FA cup winners. Pleased we're taking it seriously, but would take 5th/6th and out next round over 7th/8th and winning it.

Long..

He'd be filling the exact same role at Saints...

Yeah I noticed this, the fans certainly took JWP's side! In a way I was impressed by Tadic's passion and determination (kept geeing up fans throughout) - he clearly wanted to be the one to make the difference. Was Ward Prowses kick though and I can imagine it was very frustrating for him, particularly given his obvious ability with a dead ball.

Given how gutted he was to miss out on the WC, surely he will realise that by going to any top 4 club he would say goodbye to any chance of featuring in the next one.

Source?

Not concerned that we've lost him, if RK thinks we need a replacement then we have time to get one. More interested in the reasons why is going...Seems like a combination of him not liking the city of Southampton as much as Milan (utter shock), not fitting in with the squad due to language/cultural barriers, Morgan now staying and Cork proving himself to Koeman. If it makes sense for all parties then I haven't got a problem with it - does seem unlikely that we'd have a contingency plan for this situation though given that, as far I'm aware, its unprecedented. Fear not though, Les Reed will be on the first plane back from Benidorm to sort it all out

Brilliant, cheers for that

Got tickets from the stadium earlier today, definitely haven't sold out allocation. Any good pubs near Upton Park?

Have we not? I logged onto the ticket section of the site but it was saying that there were none available..

Anyone selling a couple of tickets to this one??

Predicted team: ....................................Forster............................................ ...Clyne............Fonte...................Yoshida/Gardos..........Bertrand ......................Morgan.................Wanyama................................. ......................................JWP.................................................. ...Tadic....................................................................Long........... ..................................... Pelle..................................

Have to bear in mind that a) he is physique and existing fitness levels should help to facilitate a speedier recovery than for most. b) he has world class support/advice that is not available for most people and very high motivation to get back. I don't know an awful lot about it, but Id assume the above factors must have an, albiet minor, influence on his return to full fitness. He got the injury on April 5th, so hes currently been "out" for 4 and a half months - I personally think he'll be back around late December.

Any info on who the signings might be from Guan/KBilly etc.?

Would be a very good signing imo. Good goalscorer

Someone on twitter was asking Alex Crook if there is anything in the Volland rumours....There's Volland rumours!?!

Think VW might comprise one of those back 3. At times last season we played with Fonte, Lovren, then Wanyama sat just in front with Shaw/Clyne/Chambers as wing backs. For the few players we have left from that system, it shouldn't be a massive shift in formation to deal with imo. The fact that a) Gaston started after just a couple of days of preseason (i think?) b) Was clearly instructed to get on the ball at every available opportunity, makes me think Koeman might want to build the team around him. Taider would therefore make sense due to Bologna link, as would Ings/Redmond plus wing backs playing as pacy runners ahead of Gaston in a slightly deeper position. I think hes best when hes got time to get his head up, see a clever pass and then play it. Too often last season he was ready to play a ball but was either too advanced, too slow on the ball or not getting the right runs. Id like to see us line up like this; ...........................Forster....................... ...............Fonte...................Van Dyjk.............. Clyne..................Wanyama....................Rojo......... ..............Morgan..............Gaston.......................... Tadic...................................................Redmond...... ............................Pelle....................................... Taider/Davis/Cork/JWP as centre mid replacements Ings/Isgrove/Mayuka and then obviously Rodriguez when hes back on the wings Ings, Gallagher as Pelle replacements. Could be way off the mark as Im only basing that on what Ive read about Koemans playing style, the links to signings in the press and the wifi affected version of the Bournemouth game that I watched in a hotel room, but thoughts? Also, from what Guan said, Chamberlain?........Theo?.......Gareth?!

I have a dream....

Try Forward Drive Coaching - think they do one to one stuff thats meant to good.