Toon Saint

Who could fail to be seduced by talk of 'new models of leadership', unlocking our potential, and open communication?

"With the death of the patron, the chicken has lost its head. For a while it continued wandering around without a sense of direction, then it bled to death." http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jan/16/katharina-liebherr-southampton-football-owner-german-markus

Starting to feel like this. Would obviously love him to stay, but if he feels Spurs - who flit from one hairbrained managerial set-up to the next every 16 months or so - can offer him a better 'project' then by all means just stop directing questions towards the board and get on with it. A fifth place finish next season and he will be another one out of the revolving door.

Offer him the contract Monday. Set him a deadline of a week to sign the thing. Can't let this go on too much longer, it's becoming a bit of a side show. Not sure why he keeps referring to it being the board's decision, as its quite clear from Reed's statement that Poch wanted to wait til end of season and also from RK's interviews that he wants to keep him as manager. That discrepancy is very worrying.

Got quite a few friends who are Brighton S/T holders - would love to renew the rivalry next season. Horrid memories of the play-off semi-final at Pride Park. Great game, but Derby hacked us to pieces in the first leg and if weren't for the spectacular Leon Best OG we would have gone through. Their fans at the end were right ***ts as well.

We are already doing this to an extent - George Mells and Josh Debayo have both been signed up from the Chelsea academy. As you say, that pathway to the first team is an obvious advantage over some of the sides in the top 6.

Yep agreed, perhaps Hans Hoffstetter will sort out the particulars of contracts and transfer fees though? Agree again. Need to get this tied up as soon as possible along with J-Rod. Would be nice to carry a bit of positive momentum into what will be a very long summer as well, knowing that those players are signed up for the long-term.

Les Reed has been part of the transfer committee since he has been here, so he has always been involved in transfer negotiations. A lot was made of how NC, Poch and Reed were in total agreement with transfer targets last summer, so hoping that continues, though without Cortese's foibles in the Italian market. Not convinced that Fonte will have many suitors from teams above us in the league, and while I could see Cork at a team like Everton, I don't see them two as the sort to agitate for a move to a 'bigger' club.

No doubt that Ralph possesses some great qualities and he's clearly got a lot of experience in public and motivational speaking. I do wonder how well this sort of speech would go down with the first-team though? A bit cheesy and cod-philosophical in parts, and more generally about team-building than football. I know Cortese was hardly immune from using galvanizing mantras ('It's happening', 'Our Dream is Real' etc.) but you get the sense that he would be direct and target-orientated when speaking to players individually. Don't want to come across as too critical and I hope that he makes a great chairman, but it would be nice to hear a bit more specificity in terms of what he wants to achieve with the club. Hoping that the vagueness on targets is not unsettling players.

He's not a proper journalist but a shock-jock numpty. If anyone dares disagree with his inflammatory nonsense, they get shouted down, called 'deluded' and are thrown off the air. Gough is the submissive gimp who unfailingly agrees with everything Durham spews out, largely because he doesn't possess two brain cells.

This. Especially with that awkward clearing of the throat at the start.

Had the exact same thought. Dangling down by his knees as well.

My highlight as well

Phil Jones taken to hospital with a shoulder injury he picked up vs. Hull tonight. If he is ruled out then we'd be relying on Chris Smalling as back-up right back to Johnson. Wonder whether Clyne will get a chance?

Careful mate, he lifts.

1) Lallana: Captain and icon of the club, who has been with us through the worst times. He's been vital to how we've fared this season and we'd be stripped of so much creativity without him. The morale of many fans would nosedive if he left. I think he is irreplaceable. 2) Morgan: Again, he's been with us through relegation to League 1 and back up again. Although we have decent options in his position with Wanyama, Cork, and the likes of JWP, Davis, and Reed able to drop deeper, none possess his all-round qualities. He makes the midfield tick. 3) Shaw: Ridiculous ability, incredible potential and would be sad to see him go, but don't think the bond between him and the fans is quite as sentimental. He's a Chelsea fan and destined for a top 4 club. We've got Matty Targett coming through as well, whom big things are expected of, and at least the kid is a Saints fan. Although he is clearly level-headed, not always certain that Shaw shares the same appreciation of the club as the likes of Chambers and JWP, and his future has always been worryingly aligned with Cortese in media reports (remember when his Dad went ape sh*t on twitter with KL and the new board when he resigned?) If his sale meant keeping all of our other players this summer and providing Poch with a sizeable transfer kitty then I'd grudgingly accept.

1) Player of the season - J-Rod 2) Scholar of the season - Gallagher 3) Away Player of the Season - J-Rod 4) President's choice - Shaw 5) Goal of the season - Lallana vs Hull 6) Fans player of the season - Lallana

Ralph seems to like giving these radio show phone-ins for the Canadian stations. It's only a short interview, but some relatively interesting snippets especially with regard to how he was unveiled as Chairman - which now appears to be a lot more carefully stage-managed through the media. Seems as if KL and her PR team were putting the feelers out quite early on to gauge popular opinion. - We have best academy in country, we had 6 academy players playing in win against Swansea. Going to do everything possible to keep that group together and at the moment it looks good, but you never know...we are competing against the whole world. - Commented on amazing sport science/technical departments and that there are funds to invest at that level. - Talks about adding a bit of entertainment from N. America sports, but doesn't want to touch pureness/simplicity of EPL product - [On future] - who knows? I might come back into Hockey some day, or might stay here for a long time...no real set plans on that - [On reception from UK media based on his past in hockey] - Actually surprised at beginning, there were some questions thrown out [about his sporting background]. I went through a transition in Oct/Nov into the role. We first threw it out there that I was coming in as a consultant, and then that I was coming in as director of board, and then we told the whole story about where it evolved, becoming Chairman. Thinks that gold medal at Sochi helped silence some of the doubters. - Trying to speak with actions not words. Doing lots of things to get commercial side of things runnning. http://www.am650radio.com/Episodes.aspx?PID=3891 KIA Vancouver Soccer Talk - May 3rd 2014, Hour 2 - interview starts with about 14:00 to go.

Paul Watts. He is on twitter @Wattsy_SFCMedia

Mostly because Danny Fox was playing. Remember on the Guardian podcast one of the journo's called it the 'worst performance' they had ever seen from a player in the Premier League. He barely got out of our half but still seemed to be caught out of position everytime.

:lol: Cringe mate.

Context/intent is important. That is why you have to assess his use of the word with regard to his previous comments about Mexicans and the recent 'slope' joke. On its own this might seem insignificant, but he's got quite a history of making casually racist remarks for cheap laughs. Do I think that makes him a racist? Possibly not. Do I think that makes him an idiot? Yes.

This is his third offence. Get rid.

Do you think he was offered that salary, or as the only listed Executive Director did he just pay that to himself? Worrying that there seemed to be no accountability. I can't dispute the brilliant job that Cortese did but would be interesting to compare his salary to someone like David McNally at Norwich, who achieved double promotions in a similar time-frame.