Ultimatt

He's never been a regular at Liverpool, wouldn't want him to become 1st team here. We should be aiming higher for a Wanyama replacement.

Sad to see him go. Will be tough to replace. He made it pretty clear he was leaving this season so shame about the tiny transfer fee. Nice touch with the message. 5 year deal for Spurs would make him 29 at the end. A couple of lads I was talking to in Nairobi last year would suggest he'd be finishing that deal well in to his 30's after a longer than usual youth career.

City were 2nd, 3pts off Leicester at the end of January, then KdB got injured and it all went downhill. Once they were out of the title race the focus would've been CL; which they reached the semis for; and just doing enough to get top 4 in the league. IMO if City had the dream injury run Leicester had then they would've been challenging come gameweek 38. As for playing youth, he gave Sterling 50 games last season so obviously he has some inclination to play and develop kids at the expense of winning.

We won't get much more than £20m next season for Mane unless he has a blinder. Goetze has 1yr left on his contract and he's worth about that right now. If we get a 40m offer we should take it, but ideally we tie him down to a longer deal.

To be fair to Pellegrini City had some big injury problems this season. Took a quick look at the games played; Silva 25, KDB 25, Kompany 14, Aguero 30; Can't underestimate how key those 4 are to City.

Fairly unknown French Manager? Hubert Fournier? Lyon have a famous youth academy and he played a ton of kids. Finished 2nd in Ligue 1.

No money but i'd still be buzzing if we land him. We'd have taken Everton for mugs; upgraded our manager and they're effectively paying him.

Called Garcia back on page 14 and still a fan. Would be great news if we can get him. Definite step up from Koeman manager pedigree wise. Blooded 9 academy players in his 2.5 years at Roma, plays 4-3-3, took a club of similar stature in Lille up the table. My favourite stat is still him leading at halftime 51 times during his time at Roma, from there he won 46 times, drew 5 times, never lost. That suggests he breeds discipline and focus in the team and has the tactical nous to counter tactical counters. If we get him it's a coup imo.

If he wasn't going to a rival i'd wish him well. Can't blame him for saying yes to becoming the 7th highest paid manager in the world. If Everton are going to throw stupid money at him then our hands are tied. It's because we have a wage structure in place that's allowed us to continually build up our team each season and improve year on year. When we break the model we end up with Osvaldo/Ramirez. He got good results with us at the expense of our clubs ideals. Didn't play youth much, signed an old-for-our-standards player in Pelle who's our oldest signing since Boruc in 2012, Jos in 2011. IMHO the premier league is too competitive to be able blood youth and still perform well so it's something we need to get used to if we want to be finishing in the Europe places again. I actually hope this is part of the fabled "new direction" we've heard whispers of. The pathway from U21->seniors is unrealistic for a team aiming for Europe except for the truly elite talent. Copying the Chelsea model of loaning players around Europe is better and Les touched on this with a Dutch Affiliate team. Let's not rewrite history and say he was pushed. The club say they offered him a new contract, he showed himself a liar, a mercenary, and took the $$. It's not an ideal position but with a new manager comes new ideas to learn and grow, new doors get opened (from Koeman we now have a lot of Dutch knowledge and relationships). I'm going to be optimistic and am excited to see who the club appoint as his replacement. As for Everton I think we'll all have some shadenfreude if things don't work out. They talk about all their exciting academy prospects; I wonder how many of them get a shot. Koeman is under pressure now for results, he'll play ability over potential.

I'm not buying in to all this rewriting history and rumors. I think it's more likely our end that's holding up the deal. Get the feeling we're holding him until we have a replacement lined up. No rush from us to sign the deal when it seems Everton have played their cards and he's their only option now (their fans will melt if it falls through). I just hope we're getting traction with our new manager search.

He looked impressive. I couldn't imagine him costing more than £5m unless he has a breakout euros which is super-low risk given his age. He wouldn't even need to change his shirt. [ATTACH=CONFIG]2046[/ATTACH]

I think it comes down to the Senior team all the way down to U12 playing the same formation and style creating the "pathway" for players to come through.

Wasn't there talk that the club were unhappy Koeman wasn't playing the Saints formation (4-3-3). Long isn't as effective out wide, can't see Austin or Pelle playing wide. That's 3 players for 1 spot. At least JRod can play the wide role.

Rudi Garcia. Took Lille up from 7th to Ligue 1 Champions. Took Roma from 6th to 2nd two years running. Champions league football with both clubs. Gave 9 Roma academy players their debut in his 2.5 years at the club. Never lost at Roma after leading at halftime; 46 wins 5 draws 0 losses. Unemployed. Seems to tick a lot of boxes.

Rudi Garcia? Not sure how he fares with our club ideals but just throwing another name in the hat. Won a title in France, twice runner up in Italy. Unemployed. CL experience getting Roma to the knockout stages. Says he gave 9 Roma youth players their debut in his 2.5 years at the club.

He's gone. We're just waiting to lock in a replacement before we officially let him go.

Watford switched off in the league focusing on the FA cup.

All talk so far. Have they actually signed anyone? WHU talking about spending big money too, haven't landed anyone. It's easier said than done. Even if Everton spend big, so will other clubs. ManU missed CL and will go big this window, top 4 teams will strengthen, Chelsea will undoubtedly spend. No way can they expect CL next season. It's possible (Leicester) but incredibly unlikely. IMO realistic expectations will be them making top 7 Europa and playing more attractive football; They scored 21 goals in the 18 games of 2016, woeful.

Sure, in a couple of years they'd want CL, but that wouldn't be a plausible expectation next season. They'll likely be aiming for Europa (top 7) like we are, only they'll have double the money we have to go for it.

If there's really a £6m offer in front of him can anyone seriously blame him for taking that? While Ronald was a world class player it was a different era, an era where players earned nowhere near the money they do now. Surely £6m is way more than he ever earned as a player. The everton job is low risk. They finished 11th last season. 11 wins in 38 games. There's no expectations for them to challenge the top teams, he'd just need to improve on last season, not hard with a big transfer budget. I see people saying it's a shame that football has become about money but it's the whole world we live in. Headhunting with better offers happens in every job. If any of you had an offer to double your salary you'd take it. If other clubs want to pay massive overs for our staff or players then we can only shake their hand, wish them luck, and find a replacement. It's a credit to our club that we continue to find players (and managers) that other clubs become so desperate to have. Have some faith in Reed and the board to make the right call and keep the club moving forward.

It reeks of poor planning. You'd think in this day and age they'd have been scouting over the past year, know the qualities (thanks Ronald) they want in a striker and done their research on possible fees. Instead they're seemingly throwing a bid at every striker with a reputation. Everything we hear about the way Saints go about their business is calm and methodical. I know which way I prefer and I know which will work better.

Mourinho typically takes a year to build his team, succeeds in the 2nd, flops in the 3rd

This one gave me a laugh. Gotze turned down Liverpool apparently. 1 year left on his contract. “I don’t know whether there was indeed an offer from Liverpool, but why would he join a club that do not even play in the Champions League?" http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/mario-gotze-rejecting-liverpool-transfer-8047667

One of the benefits of playing Europa is that we'll always have Sunday games after Thursday night games. More chance to get a TV spot on Sunday with fewer games to choose from.

Wanting a ManU win. Guaranteed group stages gives Ron, Les and the board confidence in signing a full squad to handle 2 games a week next season. The fear of losing in qualifying again could stop them spending and make some players hesitate to sign.