Mallagroth

Koeman and De Boer were both represented by Guido Albers. Koeman changed his agent to Rob Janssen 2/3 weeks ago. There is a slim chance the leak that 'agent on his way' has Chinese whispered into Ron Koemans agent is on his way.

Like i said earlier if it's happening its because Les has decided to let Koeman go. My gut feeling is that it may be worth trying to work out which other managers Rob Jansen represents and that might be worth a flutter whilst odds tumble towards Koeman. Edit: I also wouldn't be surprised if its actually De Boers agent and 'the leaking party' hasn't twigged that Ron changed agents about two weeks ago.

If it's Koemans choice he will be here next year hence arrangements. But Les could ask him to leave because no contract extension is negotiated.

I think this was already denied as genuine interest by Tottenham and Poch as well.

I think the stumbling blocks will be that Ron will want a Holland International Manager release clause and everyone but Wanyama has to stay no matter the cost. Ron will not abandon his final contracted year with us unless Les tells him to do one. Whilst I generally have complete faith in the board, especially with new signings etc. They do have a habit of embarrassing themselves in public negotiations when other prem clubs are involved although normally its Spurs. None sticks more in my mind than the whole Alderwiereld situation. 'We will 100% get our man we are legally entitled... Oh **** he has gone to spurs, we ****ed up a contract clause, we will ahve our revenge on the parent club... oh no we can't actually... nevermind.' Overly simplifying what really happened but I fear that the club is always a little too quick to put out statements in public 'We got this lads, don't you worry, he aint going anywhere.' - Only to then look like mugs because they actually don't have it in the bag and it backfires in their face.

Yup. Same with addressing someone with the word 'Pal' in any discussion.

He got his way and manager got fired.

Were just finishing the contract hence the holdup. Every page has to be carved from a freshly felled tree in the new forest as Zlatan commands. Les also has to eat the raw heart of a New forest Pony at the signing point to prove to Zlatan that he is the prince that was promised. Apparently theres some tedious animal rights issues to be circumvented first.

A lot of the humour in this thread appears to be going over heads.

Yeah I've got a feeling Long could be one of those standout players that captures a lot of attention. Like Shaqiri did in the WC.

I'm surprised there hasn't been a single mention of Bertrand as a LCB option. I thought he was solid for us in that position, disciplined and did a good defensive job, played enough games in the position for it not to be a fluke. Roy would never do it, but the best way to retain our attacking threat and shore up our defensive issue is to play with 5 at the back, 2 higher playing attacking fullbacks and 3 defensive minded CB's. We maximise attacking play by lowering the pressure on the attacking fullbacks but when we need to we can plug the holes we currently have. Against the better teams we can play more defensively with Milner and the fullbacks playing deeper. On counter attacks we have overlaps or crossing options. I think something like a 5-1-3-1 would be effective working with what we have. --------------Hart----------------- ----Stones, Cahill, Bertrand,---- Clyne ----------------------- Rose --------------Milner--------------- -Rashford-----Alli------Sterling-- -------------- Kane---------------- Subs options: Kane for Vardy, Sterling for Lallana, Rashford for Barkley/Sturridge, Alli for Rooney, Milner for Dier. Smalling locked in a cupboard. Yes I'm probably talking **** but Saints did well against big attacking teams this season with 5 at the back.

Mane has the potential to be world class, we've seen enough flashes of it. I think in this case another season with him could be far more valuable to the club than what we could reap by selling him at his current value. Champions league and a top 4 finish is far more likely with him in the side having already gelled and knowing the way we play, rather than taking a 25-30million punt on another player (we probably would not spend that all on a replacement anyway). His potential next season is more valuable than his current worth imo.

I think the magic that mourinho's self created PR and branding achieved has worn off in this country. I think his ego is now so big that he can't effectively manage superstars, he thinks he is the biggest star after all. He has a reliance on turning to older recognised name strikers that are a gamble. He sets up for 1-0 tidy games or 'boring footie' according to some and the thing man Utd fans were complaining about from Van Gaal. On top of that he blames everyone and everything else when results don't go his way, creating even more drama and pressure around poor results. I give Man Utd 6-8 months of new manager syndrome before the changing room starts to revolt, and Mourinho returns to crazy paranoid.

Lol said exactly the same thing. There's a man who always talks sense. Just pretend that I wasn't slagging him off two weeks ago for suggesting Koeman should go to Arsenal.

Yes he has scored a lot of goals but arguably in the least competitive professional league in Europe. I'm not arguing he isn't a great striker, I'm saying that team spirit is proven to be more valuableto teams like ours in the current climate than the contribution he 'could' bring. In a team of big name stars he would be at his best as he would have something to prove. In a team of hard working professionals (without glory brand names) he would bully the others and blame them for all shortcomings, he wouldn't need to work his socks off yet would expect every man and his dog to run around him like he was the second coming of the Messiah.

Reasonable request is new presenter PA. Its painful. Also stop playing/turn down music when the players are on the pitch directly before kick off so we can feel the atmosphere and get it going. Moving away fans would be great but as we know not likely to happen whilst we are at SMS.

Prediction: 'I have a year left on my contract with Southampton, I will talk about my situation with the board after Sunday.' Thats it simple as, been said a million times, but you are right they will still ask because there is **** all to talk about and silly season has to start somewhere. Thank **** there is a tournament to slow down the bull**** train this summer.

And so the narrative starts to change... 'De Boer is better than Koeman anyway' http://www.squawka.com/news/the-idealist-what-frank-de-boer-can-offer-everton-that-ronald-koeman-cant/669294?

Honestly even if he was by some bizarre turn of circumstance actually interested in coming to us, we should be steering well clear. It's guys like this who will stop a team from playing 'together'. With the competition and money in our league now, the difference has swung in favour of well functioning and bonded teams as opposed to bank breaking teams full or prima donnas. It's been going that way for last couple of seasons, Southampton, Leicester, West Ham are all examples of it. The trend will continue next season as well. We need to ship out the ego's (Pelle in my opinion) and get in honest, likeable team players like Bertrand, Schlong and Forster who will mix into the current setup.

I don't want to argue with you but I just still don't understand this mentality. Who cares whether a team is richer? Has more fans? and so on if they for the last couple of seasons been consistently ****ter in results and placement? If a managers average tenure is 1.29 years (and players must be about double that on average) then surely it is a hell of a lot more sensible to base their transfer destinations on a clubs current quality over last two seasons and not some made up calculation using nostalgia, fan numbers and past glory, that spans back 100 years into an age when the modern game of football is barely recognisable.

Netherlands papers have the inside track on Koeman stories, this is an overview of their take on it: http://sportwitness.ning.com/forum/topics/ronald-koeman-to-everton-is-big-news-in-the-netherlands

Ron is a man of integrity, he wont break his contract unless it's by mutual consent. The board has the power to offer him a big transfer kitty and ultimately deliver on the keeping of players if they want to get him to extend his contract slightly. There have been noises and enmity between the board and Ron during our bad run but none of us know how serious that will be in the grand scheme of things, most people don't like their boss but accept that they have the right to have a niggle when performance isn't good but this is THE Ron Koeman and may feel his pride was damaged by it. One question that there is no answer for though: If Koeman agrees to leave by mutual consent, why the **** would he go to Everton? Even Ajax is more likely... surely? Everton is sideways or backwards to anyone who isn't stuck in the mentality that the Prem hierarchy of 10 years ago is still valid.

Someone posted that they thought this story could be an article destabilising us on purpose before the game. I've provided additional evidence to support their theory. If you read back through the thread you can find out who who said it.