NewYorkSaint

What none of us knows is just how clear the legal language of the contract is. If it's crystal clear that they missed the buy-back deadline, then our negotiating positions remains strong. Toby's presence in London could simply be that as far as he was told yesterday, the Spurs deal was on and he booked his flight in. Sky are reporting that he'd be happy to sign for either club. AM will not want to face a months long legal dispute that could cost them all the Spurs premium and more. More likely, there is some legal ambiguity, and the route to a deal for us is to offer a part-way match to the Spurs premium.... But let's see. I think it's still at least 50/50 that he ends up staying.

I'm shocked if we paid him anything to terminate. I would have thought the negotiation would go: - Us: "Look, you want out, we want out, so let's see. Your value maybe not quite what it was, so you won't get the same wages at another club. On the other hand, if we release you you will be able to claim whatever a club would have paid for you as your personal signing bonus. Maybe you'll lose £3m in wages over next two years... but you can more than make that up in a signing bonus. You're not claiming your value has plummeted by more than 75% are you? Are you??? And if that doesn't appeal, last time we checked head butting a team mate is cause for contract cancellation plus a lawsuit for damages. So we can go that route if you prefer. But why feed the lawyers? Just go." - Osvaldo's agent, who now has complete flexibility on stiffing some other club. "If you insist..."

C'mon guys, I think some of our players deserve a little more love. Here are my ratings.... Forster - 9 Davis - 7 Gaza - 5 Clyne - 8 (9-10 in first half of season) Fonte - 8 (that's player rating...great, but he got away w a few this year. As a captain I'd put him at 9 or 10) Toby - 9 Bertrand - 8 Gardos - 6 Yoshida - 7 Targett - 6 Davis - 7 Wanyama - 10 (my player of the season. utterly dominant) Reed - 7 JWP - 7 Morgan - 9 (hoping the big boys underbid) Tadic - 7 (10 on a good day, but not enough of those) Djuricic - 7 (better than most people seem to think) Pelle - 8 (can be frustrating, but incredible combination of physique and skill) Mane - 9 (and 10 based on his second half of season. incredible player.) Long - 8 (improving all season)

I mean.... that has to be the most astonishing 48 mins of football I've ever witnessed. Shane Long has been electrifying. Just electrifying. Even before his goals.

I think criticism of Mane 'diving' may be overdone. Part of the issue is that his acceleration is incredible. He's constantly surprising defenders. And the speed he's moving a relatively small tap can still take him out. Several times in the game he took a tumble but raced to get to his feet. One thing's clear. He's an incredible player w unique skills. Kind of an uber-Lallana.

Thrilling game. Bit of a heartbreaker at the end. We did enough to win. Best attacking in ages. Fantastic to see Pelle's confidence back. Mane MoM for me, though. Tadic for Davis next time out..?

heartbreaking.... but we can still win this. we are so much the better side this second half. Tadic on for Davis, pls!

Saints definitely playing the more exciting football. The JWP Schneiderlin corner move wd have been sensational goal. Mane has been spectacular. Wonderful seeing Pelle score again... he was ruthless there. And on US TV they're saying clear hand-ball for the Tottenham goal. We can do this!

Spectacular play by Saints. on another day wd be 1-0 the other way. their goal really lucky. Toby, big-Vic, Morgan superb. Pelle's been good too, imo. Chances are we'll come back second half. But yes, Mane and/or Tadic needed.

No Mane: I would guess it's part a man-management thing. I bet there's been something behind scenes this week. Maybe he held up yesterday's flight up north!

we have enough great attackers to try a system w/o Pelle for a few games. i love the guy... but he mgiht just need a break. having said that his ball in the opening 15 seconds could and should have won the game for us another day...

Electrifying half. Will feel like gross injustice if we don't win this... US commentators and analysts say both early claims probably penalties, esp the second. stone cold. not to mention their keeper should be off. Djuricic exciting. Wanyama, Clyne fantastic. I'd keep on JWP but bring on Morgan for Davis and Mane for Ellia.

Surprising team. In Koemans we trust. Strong bench!!!

Some amazing touches by Wanyama ...and by REED. Exciting prospect. He just gets better every game. Otherwise an underwhelming first half, though our defense looks mighty strong.

I get the concern about all that extra money sloshing around, but there's one obvious way in which fans benefit. By being the richest league in the world, it can afford to recruit the world's best players. Would we have been able to recruit Pelle, Mane, etc if our league wasn't so rich? So a big reason the premier league offers pretty much the world's best football consistently is because of this. There's an upward spiral effect, because the presence of all those stars attracts more fans globally, etc. I don't like the fat-cat middlemen in football any more than anyone, but I do think it's awesome how big a phenomenon the premier league has become globally. And there's no question that the quality of play is far better than it was a couple of decades ago. Rising attendances at football grounds attest to that. So... it's not all bad, friends.

I back the bear, bringer of smiles.

Funny. If you'd asked this after 6 games this season, consensus would prob have been something like: Tadic, Pelle, Morgan, Clyne, Vic. If we could only refresh the Tadic/Pelle magic a little............. My favorite player currently is Big Vic. All that muscle and all that grace. Seems impossible. But I'd put Mane up there too. On his day. And yes... Morgan, Nathaniel, Toby.... ...and a plug for Bertrand. He's been involved in so many of our best attacks.

Soooo frustrating. Most of the game we're far the better team. Wish we'd had Mane from the start. Maybe instead of Tadic, who continues to frustrate. Ultimately, I put this down to the cruel gods of football lottery. We were a little lucky to win there... and really unlucky to lose here.

And another assist from JWP. Superb!

Great line-up. No injuries pls! Can't believe there's no stream. Are triple sure of that?

I'm impressed by Reed and his philosophy... but just a tad concerned at his apparent need for recognition. When you see that, you always worry about the potential ego clashes that may be going on behind the scenes. "“I’m basically responsible for everything to do with football at the club" is reminiscent of the slightly odd episode when Reed sought to upstage Poch at one of his final press interviews. There may just be a slight rewriting of history going on (Cortese who?). I hope that with the recent coverage of him here, and in the NBC documentary that he can now relax a bit. The last thing we want is for the Koemans to feel slighted and to leave. Having said that, it's definitely exciting to support the club that's leading English football's 'Moneyball' revolution.

They're the one team we've played this year that were clearly better than us on the day. I would think it's pretty unlikely we catch them. Certainly unlikely we'll be ahead at the end of the season.

Don't forget the huge luck element in football. Even with our squad intact and playing well, it's highly likely that there will be a couple of games where we dominate possession and chances, but still lose. - ball hits woodwork instead of going in - refs give odd decisions - strange in-the-moment combinations lead to something unexpected against the run of play - etc, etc, etc. As with all the other chasing teams, we're highly likely to drop at least some points at home. Expect it, and it won't hurt so much when it happens! But what's clear is we have a real shot at glory. My prediction (guess): win 9, lose 3, draw 4 for 31 more points. 73 may just be enough.

One of the key strategic improvements this year has been management of energy during the match. Last year Poch had the team unleashing at blitzkrieg speed and effort from the kickoff. We terrified teams, won a ton of possession, and often scored early. But halfway through the second half we became really vulnerable. Lallana would have to be subbed, others were knackered, and we lost a ton of points from winning positions. This year our high-press game is more carefully tuned. We pick our moments, often led by Pelle, but it's not crazy-like-a-fox from the get go. As a result we tend to score later... but then hold on to victories. I wrote about this last year. That the high-press strategy, although exciting to watch, was not working out well. The Koemans have fixed this. Brilliantly.

Kudos, OP, for opening this thread. It is indeed incredibly lucky to have Katrina as owner. It's pretty much a perfect situation. She's let huge resources stay in the club... invested in a long-term strategy... kept her ego out of it... and stayed calm. A beautiful way to carry her father's legacy.