Originally posted by @Fowllyd
Originally posted by @old-ottery
Originally posted by @Jack-Schitt
Iāve just got in, and donāt have time to read everything properly before off to dadās, but from a brief scroll through, I gather that some reports have come out to contradict my sourceās last update.
As for āwhat is going on?ā ā I have no idea, only what I was last given.
Iāll be right on the phone to try and get an answer once Iāve posted.
If it is true that the last post was wrong, I said I would not hide, and here I am. So feel free to dish out whatever you feel is due to me.
I promise Iāll go back through in more detail and read and reply to posts when I get in tonight, and hopefully come armed with a reply from my friend.
In the meantime, Iāll take whatever comes my way.
More importantlyā¦Hope your Father is ok?
Information re prospective
Manager/Coach can change by the minute
Please find out why I did not get a call from Sir Les
Do your best
If theyāve overlooked you again Iām handing back my season ticket. How many times, how many times?
I have learnt the trade from block 37 over many yearsā¦The Dell back in the good old days
If Sir Les is not able to see the talent that is staring him in the face
Jack may have to speak to his mate
waste of dosh these so called big names
I am ready
Seriously, have I lost the ability to read and understand words? This evening on here has been rather perplexing for me. I might ditch it all for a bit of self love.
Originally posted by @KRG
Originally posted by @Smirking_saint
Still plumping for the lack of ambition card, or lack of any real player funding to push on. Managers of course want to push on, not settle for the good of their career
I wonder on the terms we offer, for instance, are we looking for a maximum return for medium or minimal outlay ? It sometimes feels that way, and the more and more its going on it makes me more pessimistic
Ive no doubt we have our targets, but securing them has never been our strength. It seems our top targets have pulled out of the running after speaking to us, the latest potentially being pellegrini
After all we struggle to hold onto top talents or coaches for long at all
Maybe Im being unnecessarily pessimistic, but its an unfortunate reoccuring theme
Good to see you back Smirks!
Not so good to see this though, I think you are being overly pessimistic here though.
p.s. I wrecked my sodding knee again
Thanks guys, much better set up here
bad times bud, how did you manage that ? Did you rehab properly ?
yeah maybe, just a worrying trend for me
Hi Jack, first I hope that your Dad is ok? Good health is always more important than this stuff! Now back to this stuff (when and if you have the time). There was one bit that bothered me about what your friend said earlier. He said he enjoyed the meltdown. A bit worried that someone at the club would get enjoyment about seeing their own fans in full bed wetting mode! What do you think? Cheers matey.
Originally posted by @Smirking_saint
Thanks guys, much better set up here
bad times bud, how did you manage that ? Did you rehab properly ?
yeah maybe, just a worrying trend for me
I can see what you are coming from. But I think thereās a fair bit going on.
If, as seems to be the case from the media and Jack, we have only just offered MP a contract - I donāt think him waiting a couple of days is all that bad a sign. It does appear he has also been offered Ā£10m to take on the Russia job. I doubt we can come close to matching that, and nor would I want us to try to keep him out of their clutches. That wouldnāt be ambition, that would be wreckless.
Obviously, parts of this may be a bit wide of the truth, but itās all we have to work on.
I donāt see it as a worrying trend. Itās a sign that we are doing something right. The coaches and players that we lose go to massive clubs*, for vast sums (with the exception of Big Vic - usually at a tidy profit too) and on wages we canāt match. Iād be far more concerned if we were losing players to clubs of our size or smaller. Ambition seems a kind of nebulous term now. We have been getting consistently better for 7 years, spent a truckload on making our facilities some of the best in country and have established ourselves as a Top Half team, knocking on the door of Europe consistently. Itās not as if there arenāt replacements for when players do want to leave. As is oft repeated, there are about 2/3 teams in the world that can keep hold of their best players.
Weāll be fine, we always are 
I did it playing football, in a charity tournament - for a charity that deals with disability, no less. Yep, had been signed off by the physio and was still doing my exercises regularly. Just unlucky, or plain old fucked. Take your pick.
Maybe we could organise a sotonians charity match to raise money for KRG?
Would you rather have an electric wheelchair or a bionic foot that only worked for an hour an day?
This is actually a pretty good idea. Obviously, for someone/a charity that actually needs it.
A bionic foot isnāt cheap.
Originally posted by @Fatso
A bionic foot isnāt cheap.
I wouldnāt imagine it is. I just spent a small fortune on a fucking knee-brace.
Originally posted by @KRG
I donāt see it as a worrying trend. Itās a sign that we are doing something right. The coaches and players that we lose go to massive clubs*, for vast sums (with the exception of Big Vic - usually at a tidy profit too) and on wages we canāt match. Iād be far more concerned if we were losing players to clubs of our size or smaller. Ambition seems a kind of nebulous term now. We have been getting consistently better for 7 years, spent a truckload on making our facilities some of the best in country and have established ourselves as a Top Half team, knocking on the door of Europe consistently. Itās not as if there arenāt replacements for when players do want to leave. As is oft repeated, there are about 2/3 teams in the world that can keep hold of their best players.
Not in betwetting mode yet, but losing wanyama, mane, and perhaps tadic in one window will set us back some really exceptional (for us) talents, leaving us with Van Dijk, Forster, and maybe Long as our star turns. weāve added on average one or two exceptional players a year really, havenāt we? Slight concern weāll regress next season?
Iām really not worried about Wanyama. Whilst I donāt doubt his quality (Iāve said many times I think he is fantastic when on song), he did pretty much fuck all last season. Personally felt Romeu deserved a place in the team on merit. So yes, I agree he is a loss, I donāt fear it will be a totally devastating loss. We showed we are fine without him last season, thanks to him getting sent off ALL THE FUCKING TIME 
. Plus, whilst not having a great season, Clasie looked to be finding his feet towards the tail end of proceedings. Hopefully he can contribute a bit more this season.
We still donāt know about Tadic & Mane. They may well go, but weāll survive.
I still donāt really see what else the club can realistically do. We threw silly money around before (for us), and it worked out pretty badly. What really does forcing players to stay achieve? Vic was a disruption last season, and weāve now got less in fees than we would/should have done due to his contract situation. As I said to Smirks, if teams like Liverpool and Manchester United canāt keep their best players with all their wealth - I donāt see how we can. There are, of course, exceptions. Vardy perhaps a very obvious, and topical, one. But even there, heās been offered Ā£100k p/w, is playing for the PL Champions, has Champions League football and plays for a team that is set up to get the best out of him.
Thereās a chance we might regress next season. There always is. Plus, on the back of 7 years of continual progress - there will come a point where we plateau or drop back a bit. Thatās probably natural. But weāll still have a good foundation to rebuild on from there. Iāve gone into the last 2 seasons thinking weād go back a bit, but that doesnāt mean we are going to get relegated - I highly doubt that! A slightly worse season than what weāve had of late isnāt the end of the world. I think weāre becoming spoilt tbh.
Some Saints fans are in meltdownā¦ they think its Puel overā¦ it is nowā¦
Not sure if posted. Claude Puel:
Oh no doubt we canāt do a lot about it. It just looks weāve dragged out the losses for as long as we could and it might just catch up with us now.
I like Romeu, I would have given him mores starts tbh. Clasieā¦ not impressed yet. Wonāt write him off, but his passing was below expectations and he looked physically outmatched. I wouldnāt have been too upset to see him follow his mentor to Everton if the remaining options were more exciting.
Originally posted by @Sotonist
Not in betwetting mode yet, but losing wanyama, mane, and perhaps tadic in one window will set us back some really exceptional (for us) talents, leaving us with Van Dijk, Forster, and maybe Long as our star turns. weāve added on average one or two exceptional players a year really, havenāt we? Slight concern weāll regress next season?
Iām glad to hear that. Bookies can be quite difficult when it comes to paying out on a piss-soaked betting slip. Take it from one who knows.
Originally posted by @Saint-or-sinner
Originally posted by @Goatboy
Not sure if posted. Claude Puel:
http://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2016/ogc-nice-the-alternative-football-success-story/
Originally posted by @Goatboy
Not sure if posted. Claude Puel:
http://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2016/ogc-nice-the-alternative-football-success-story/
interesting. The Telegraph reporting about Puel, Wanyama, and Redmondā¦
Anyone know why Puel fell out with Lyon so badly?
Glad I hedged my bets and put a little on Pellegrini as well as Puel. Wish Iād also put some down on gangsta rodent or kanga bro as thereās just as much chance of one of them getting it at this stage.