eelpie

They won't sell Cork. Because the club has vowed it will not sell any more players this window. And they want to regain our trust.

He's more than that. We need him. Especially if Spiderman goes

It does annoy me when people hark on about Sharp never going to cut it in the Premiership when he only had a few minutes on the pitch. The truth is we'll never know. But good luck Billy. You deserve the break after being messed by Saints.

Have we got a sell on clause for our wentaways?

No. We have not strengthened by replacing Rodriguez who will not be fully fit and in form if he is back in October, and he wants off anyway. Then we know that a January replacement won't happen till June if the last few weeks are anything to go by. I'd like to be wrong.

Exactly

The fee apart, and also the question of why the board did not react earlier in this close season to signing a top striker, we are stronger with Shane Long than without. He has played well against us. He is a team player too, and that has to be good. Will we be a high scoring team this campaign? Not till Jay returns and recovers his best form (and hopefully does not leave us in January). Meanwhile much will depend on the strengths of our rebuilt defence (if new signings materialise) and our midfield, which is our strongest asset imo.. A very intriguing season ahead.

Ings would be more exciting.

I am now delighted that we have Koeman as manager instead of Poch, despite the shock of the player exodus. I'm feeling that with Pochetino in charge we might not have been able to do better than 8th place this season, even with a strengthened squad. Because he did have his faults - like sticking with one system ('we always play the same way' he frequently said - and don't mention Sunderland!). And other clubs were sussing his limited tactics out. Koeman is the more versatile and experienced manager, and the new signings are promising. Despite losing to Leverkusen on Saturday, there were some encouraging individual performances and smart play, and I can't wait to see how the team rebuilding develops. Given time - more than one season - I believe Big Ron can better Pochetino's successes. Let the season begin!

I wonder how good Pochetino might still have been had he been here as player manager?

He plays on the left He plays on the right Lionel Messi makes Adam look ****e

A good business model But i am a bit uneasy that we are establishing a conveyor belt for our talent to rival clubs. And the big five seem to be able to tap our young players up too easily.

Two Bob bit

Perhaps, but other clubs are also succeeding in getting targets in

Brilliant. We now have the beginnings of certainty in the defence to build on.

They could try telling the truth. After all Ralph pledged transparency.

Thanks to the god of sanity that Hofstetter has gone. It was his early statement referring to our 'difficult financial situation' that kick-started the unfortunate rumours that we needed to sell players. David Bence seems to have good experience in the Entertainments and Leisure industries, so hopefully we can improve our income from these sources. (Mind I wouldn't be impressed if his links with Sodexho meant they land catering contracts with SFC)

This. And I would add selling Chambers when our back four had become so deleted was not necessary. (Hs value would certainly have increased even further over the coming season too.) True, we got high prices for our Summer Sales, but we are being asked high prices for replacements as a result. We are pursuing an unsuccessful (so far) policy of trying to buy cheaply, but having to make do with loanees. Never the best way to rebuild a team and they seem like panic signings. We are bringing in seemingly lesser quality players (with the exception of Tadic and Pelle who were very good buys imo) Is this the new Southampton Way? The Board need to get real. We sold high but a consequence is that to get same-quality replacements we may well have to buy high. Because time is not now on our side.

It's easy to spend the money. Whether it is on like for like quality to replace Chambers, Lovren and all is another matter. That is how the Board will be judged.

Results will be the answer beginning in less a fortnight's time

er - isn't that the whole point?

I absolutely agree with you. This would be such a logical, common sense policy. Why can't the Board do this?

Sure, and on our terms - not on the terms of any player threatening to go on strike. When we have found as good or better, ok - but meanwhile that player should be out of the squad, not be able to train, nor be paid. The club is bigger than any player, and does not need to be held to ransom.

Glory, Glory Allelujah, Glory, Glory Allelujah, Glory Allelujah And the Saints Keep Marching In!

Please let it happen