Wes Tender

Being impressed with the calibre of candidate he is doesn't mean that people are getting carried away with the possibilities he brings us. Although he is the highest profile manager the club have ever appointed, people do realise that every manager in the game is a gamble to a greater or lesser extent. Nobody guarantees to bring success. The big plus with Koeman is that because of his playing career and his subsequent record as a manager, he commands respect and attention when we are looking to bring in new players. Naturally conclusions about his abilities with us can only be measured by the results he achieves with the resources that are currently here, or will be brought in by him. But there is still cause for celebration that on the face of it, his signing is a bit of a coup for a club like us, so a degree of optimism is understandable. And his record before his arrival here is certainly much better than Pochettino's was. At least nobody asked "who" when he was announced.

What's your position on disability then? In particular mongolism?

And as for fortune and as for fame White Hart Lane invited you in Though it seemed to the world They were all you desired They are illusionists They're not the solutions Levy promised them to be The answer was here all the time Spurs aren't what they first seemed to be

What a great response from the club to all the tales of woe in the media about how we were on the brink of a meltdown after Cortese left and then the same reaction from them when Pochettino left. All of our best players had apparently all decided which clubs they were going to go to and even their salaries were all agreed, their signatures a mere formality. Katharina was preparing to sell the club off piecemeal as she had no further interest in us and Les Reed was hated by all and sundry and just not up to the job. Now here we are having appointed the highest profile manager in our history, a man known throughout World football as a player and one who had also made a name for himself in management at some of Europe's big clubs, having won some silverware along the way. His reputation for attacking football, his high scoring teams and development of promising youngsters is a perfect fit with the infrastructure we have here. If those players who had allegedly wished to leave still want to, then there is reason for confidence that a man of his calibre and connections, will be able to replace them with players at least as good. But it might be that those players of ours will be pursuaded that their own ambitions might yet be fulfilled here under Koeman, or at least they ought to give him a chance before they act too hastily. Like Pochettino, Koeman is an unknown quantity in English football, but whatever happens, the next season is going to be an exciting prospect, with the possibility that losing Pochettino to gain Koeman might turn out to be a blessing in surprise. If Koeman uses us as a stepping stone to even greater things like the management of one of the European super teams or the Dutch national team, that is the likely result of him having a very successful time here. So well done Les Reed and heartfelt thanks to Katharina.

It was blatantly obvious to the commentators and everybody else watching the game that despite the hapless Johnson playing, the Italians correctly identified our left flank as another weak spot and attacked it all evening. Rooney hardly ever provided the cover that Baines needed and having watched Saints as virtually a season ticket holder, Hodgson should have seen how effective Shaw was with a player like Rodriguez in front of him. So why not Shaw with Wellbeck ahead of him, allowing Rooney to get central from the off? As for Johnston, just how bad does he have to be before Hodgson realises that either Clyne or Chambers would be better options? When Sturridge came off, it was crying out for Sir Rickie to come on and he would have added a damned sight more than Willshire who just ran into blind alleys every time he got the ball. Willshire is vastly overated and thought that he could do what he does for Arsenal against arguably the best defensive team in the World when they are protecting a lead. Ricky would have provided a big target man, as well as the ability to hold up the ball and play some penetrating passes into the box. As for Italy's two goals, both were down to poor defending, but well taken by them. Following the performance of Costa Rica and the expectation that Uruguay surely can't be as bad again, especially if they have a fit Suarez playing, it begins to look as if we are already facing an ignominous return home after just three matches.

I'm really surprised that somebody of your intelligence cannot see the difference. Liverpool's candidates for purchase from us have been clearly identified and the amounts that they are prepared to pay for them and even details of the payment plans proposed have been released in the media. Now, it might be that all of this information is p*ssing in the wind without solid foundations, but as I say, if you think that we have had anything like this detail about our prospective purchases released through the media, then I think that you must be seeing things that are hidden from most others. Statements released by the club about the policy regarding signings have been about generalisations of policy, not specifics about individual targets. The difference is easy to ascertain; nobody is seriously questioning whether Liverpool or United are after Shaw or Lallana, whereas can you definitely place any credence on the speculation as to who we might be targetting as replacements? As usual, we are doing our business behind closed doors with no information being released by the club until the players or manager are signed.

The OP asked if Koeman would be an upgrade on Pochettino. Of course, until he is appointed and has a record for managing us over a similar period, then it is impossible to say. Therefore it is opinions about the perception of both managers that are being sought. In that respect, there will be very few who could realistically feel with much justification that Pochettino is anywhere near the same standard of manager as Koeman at the moment.

Only the evidence of our own eyes. I would say that the media's coverage of any story regarding Liverpool's interest in several of our players could reasonably be described as at frenzy level. If you wish to kid yourself that we have conducted our business through the media to anything like the same extent, then go ahead. I suspect that you are in a small minority who think that.

This is exactly my position, apart from ever considering to not renew my ST. Like you, I loved the journey upwards from the third division, but since the Markus Liebherr takeover, I have never had any real cause to be disgruntled about the direction that the club has been going in. The experience of seeing how things have turned out during the past few years has taught me that when on the face of it things were about to take a turn for the worst, the best position is to adopt is to wait and see. It is interesting to note that whenever there has been talk that we might have reached a glass ceiling, it is stated as a fact that we would need to spend £100 million or so to reach the next level. Well, as you point out, there is the potential to have those funds available if we sold those three players, so it is ironic that some would see it as such a disaster. Also as you indicate, we can't be that far away from the top teams if they wish to buy so many of our players. We gain a measure of success under our manager and another top club take him off us. We could have had 4 or 5 players in the England World Cup team and so the top clubs try and take them away from us. But we are hoping to sign a manager with a much higher profile of success than Pochettino and say that we are going to invest any funds received from the sale of players into new players, who ought to be of at least the same calibre of those we lose, if our scouting system is as good as it is reported to be. And then the academy production line should produce more talent the equal of those we have currently produced. So despite the efforts of the top team hierarchy to keep us in our place, it isn't going to be as easy as they believe.

Of course Koeman would be an upgrade on Pochettino. Hardly anybody in English football had even heard of Pochettino before he came here. Even as a footballer he was better known than the Argentinian Centre Back. His managerial record is vastly superior to Poch's too. Whether that all translates into him bringing better success to the club remains to be seen. But if we do get him, it be seen as us putting down a significant marker to our ambitions.

Milliband not left-wing? He's got one hell of a job to do to change people's perceptions of him, as he's known in the media as "Red-Ed." It's his brother who is less left-wing. Perhaps you're confusing the two of them. His father was a Marxist, but you can water that down to Socialist if you like. He could be massively further removed from his father's beliefs. He isn't even to the right of the Labour Party, let alone comparable to anybody on the right of right-wing parties.

Let's sell to Liverpool or any club who wants to buy our players provided that the we are happy to sell them, that the players want to leave and then we only sell them for astronomical fees, money up front, or nothing. Re-investing that money wisely in replacements ought to ensure that we are at least as strong if not stronger than we started. It's a shame that the products of our academy are being courted in this way, but it is a clear sign that we are able to produce the very best players and there is no reason that we cannot continue to do so. There will come a time when these youngsters realise that their colleagues who left for the so called big clubs will spend less time playing for them than they would have with us, and sooner or later if we keep the team strong with good players bought in, we will ourselves become good enough to keep them. But why don't we make the point through the media that we have half a team that is better than much of Liverpool's and Manchester United's, or else why would they be wishing to take so many of our players? There should be an element of us crowing about these players, cheeekily asking whether they can afford them and questioning why these so called top clubs cannot produce their own players to this standard.

Bernard Anício Caldeira Duarte looked pretty decent when he came on.

Spurs are the poison chalice club, as Pochettino is going to find out by Christmas if they aren't in the top four. We are one of the best club prospects for a manager in the Premier League. Ridiculous of the OP to even think along these lines.

What is sickening is hearing him talk about his three sidekicks and praising their loyalty. What a shame that personal greed counts for more than loyalty to you, Poch

So you've got a short attention span then? Or just incapable of responding with anything else coherent by way of constructive criticism?

http://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2014/rene-girard-held-unsuccessful-west-brom-talks/ Girard apparently interviewed by West Brom, and the reference to them preferring to go with a young British manager is presumably Sherwood. So he seems to be available and amenable to come to England, despite his success in France.

Surely a bit too long in the tooth and lacking in any football background? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Girard

I'm liking what I read about Tuchel and wouldn't mind him at all. What were the reasons he left Mainz though? Knew that Pochettino was leaving us and that we wanted him as a replacement?

So when did this agreement of Shaw's wages come about? Was this from a month ago, when Shaw allegedly said that he wanted to leave us and join them, or was it just recently, at a time when we have said that we won't consider any player leaving until after our new manager has been appointed and United have subsequently made noises about signing other players instead of Shaw? Is it just United indulging in a bit of cock waving to scare off Chelski, not that they are short of a bob or two if they wished to sign him, or is it to impress their own fans? And in any event, all well and good to let the World know how much they are prepared to pay an 18 year old, and risk antagonising several of their other players on much lower wages, but the bottom line for us has nothing at all to do with what they are prepared to pay him, but everything to do with what they are prepared to pay us. As far as I know, that will be £30 million, so if they're serious, then cough up or go and get lost.

Good old Beeb though, cannot spell Buenos Aires correctly.

Personally I think we should just laugh at this pathetic show of bravado from these grown men who earn their living kicking a ball about. It isn't as if these are intellectual heavyweights whose opinion means much to anybody sensible; they're only footballers.

There was no way that we would go out of existence, no matter what Fry said. Look at the Skates and how a basket case like them hung on by their fingernails time and time again. Our infrastructure assets meant that we were too good an opportunity for some investor to pass over and it's a shame that Fry wasted so much time with tyre-kickers before he eventually identified a serious player like Markus.

Blackmore being local can hope to have more kudos regarding stories that concern the players of the local club. But he begins to look like an idiot when he all of a sudden resurrects stories that are a month old. Perhaps he's not happy that his media exposure had died down because Saints have put the brake on player sales until the new manager has cast an eye over the players and feels neglected and needed to shout out "hey look at me". I'm fed up with the media hysteria, which originated since that naive press release that the new board had inherited a difficult financial situation when Cortese left, so that is their fault. But if Blackmore had any goodwill towards us, he would have put a more positive slant on that story and reflected the views of most of our fans, that the financial situation was not really anything to be that worried about, instead of contributing to the hysteria himself.

This has taken a long time to surface, considering that the last match against Man Utd was a month ago. And typically of the merry-go-round journos, it gets repeated everywhere as if it is worthy of attention. They don't seem to have realised that this just makes them all look ridiculous as the time frame since then has the red top rags telling us that Shaw to United is 99% a done deal. That is followed by suggestions that United are since considering buying an alternative left back, Jordi Alba from Barcelona. Now, this all might be a ploy to scare Southampton into selling him to them before they change their minds, but the message doesn't seem to have penetrated that firstly we do not need to sell and secondly that we will not sell before we appoint our new manager and run it past him. Much the same scenario has been played out by Liverpool with Lallana and yet despite the frenzy whipped up in the media, both players are still with us. Both might yet go, but if Man United and Liverpool have their bluffs called and refuse to stump up the lolly that we demand for Shaw and Lallana, then they might still be with us until at least the January transfer window. If they both have a good World Cup and we get off to a flying start with our new manager and our new players, either their prices will rise further, or they might consider that it is worthwhile staying with us a further year.