10 Jul 2014 07:21:11
Ronald Koeman is plotting an £8m swoop to bring Celtic's England goalkeeper Fraser Forster to St Mary's according the the Mirror.
This story is also in the Daily Record saying Southampton boss Ronald Koeman is set to battle it out with Benfica for Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster for £8m. Hoops' Dutch centre-defender Virgil van Dijk is also on Koeman's radar as a potential replacement for wantaway defender Dejan Lovren.

1.) 10 Jul 2014
Asmir bergovic is the keeper we should sign not some 2 bob amateur league player that plays in Scotland. Bony AND benteke we need them both we don't have any decent strikers at the min

2.) 10 Jul 2014
I think Koeman could be being very crafty over the goalkeeper business. I think he wants Marshall ( and I do) but they want too much money for him, if we show interest in Forster they (Cardiff) may have a re-think. Marshall is far too good for the Championship and let's face it Forster played in the Mickey Mouse league last season so how do you really know how good he is.

3.) 10 Jul 2014
I'd take Forster and Van Dijk in a heartbeat.

Much better options than some of the names Saints have been linked with in the same positions: Marshall, Gulacsi, Ruddy; Caulker, Manga, Hangeland.

Can't see Celtic selling their two (three if you include Wanyama) best players to Saints though.

4.) 10 Jul 2014
I think Forster would be a great signing for us. I can see this link gaining momentum with Watson in place as gk coach too. As for signing Benteke, I agree we need a striker of his ilk but, would Saints really splash multi millions on a striker still recovering from an achilles injury? I don't think so.

5.) 10 Jul 2014
Deko or whatever your name is, - sort yourself out. What has Scotland/the league got to do with anything? Forster will become one of the greatest keepers ever if he keeps progressing the way he has. He was a late starter because as a kid he concentrated on Rugby, so he has at least 15 years in him. In the champions league the last 2 years he was sensational - over in Spain he is referred to as the wall, because of his displays against Barca. I like Begovic, but he is overpriced, Forster will be a bargain for whoever gets him at under £10 million. There is much more happening outwith the Barclays Premier League you, - Englands national team are that good that they got humbled as usual during the world cup. That's with players on 200k per week, compared with the Costa Rica lads who are on 100,000 dollars per year. You never have been/will be as good as you think you are! When you realize that then you might start to learn something! Oh and by the way you took big Jos Hoiveld of Celtic and he walked straight into your team, he wasn't even good enough for the Celtic reserve team. Enjoy your day.

6.) 10 Jul 2014
We can all be saying who we would like and who we would not like but let's remember this Koeman is skilled technician and has a proven record in making great signings and bringing the young up through the ranks. Have no fear as to who he brings in as he will not bring in rubbish. Back the manager and back the great club which is Southampton fc

7.) 10 Jul 2014
10 Jul 2014 11:04:41
Boruc played for Celtic for 5 years and other than some dodgy kicking he is damn good. I don't think you can discredit Forster too much. Wanyama played for Celtic he is also good. I don't see the problem with Forster at all. Admittedly would still prefer Marshall.
Also Van Dijk or any of the dutch defenders for that matter (Vlaar, Kongolo etc) would be quality signings.

8.) 10 Jul 2014
I think Forster could be a good appointment. You never know, Watson might have had quite a say in this as he worked with him in brazil. I feel if Forster was useless, Watson would say something to koeman.
He isn't the finished article but has bags of potential, the type of player I would like to see at saints.

9.) 10 Jul 2014
Eds. Was there anything wrong with my post that's not showing (other than it being a bit long)? Just so I know for next time.

{Ed001's Note - sorry mate I have no idea, have you checked all the pages? Or it could simply be your connection. Or it could have been deemed unsuitable, I have no idea and no way of knowing. I certainly have not deleted anything from you.}

10.) 10 Jul 2014
Don't want to turn this into a Scots v English football debate but just thought I'd pull Paul 1 up on a few things. Firstly Hooiveld joined us when we were in the 2nd tier! How many squad players for a top 4 English club would leave to join a 2nd tier scottish side? I'll help you out. None at all. Also he made 7 starts in his one season with you so I'm not sure how that equates to him not being good enough for your reserves?!
"Never have been/will be as good as you think you are" reminds me of a side in green and white hoops that! Free pass into the CL each year and plucky performances against giants is literally all you have in your locker. There is probably no club on earth with ideas above it's station like Celtic. The ultimate big fish in a minute pond. In European football you are just plucky chancers/ also rans at best.
Anyway Forster would be a great signing but he will cost us, I would prefer we splashed out on van Dijk to be honest, could be an ideal replacement for Lovren.

11.) 10 Jul 2014
10 Jul 2014 14:01:11
read in the paper caulker wants a move to liverpool
why would he want to go there
brenda is buying everyone on two legs so a lot of his new signings will be bench warmers
lallana lambert and a few more will not be happy
but who cares
the grass is not always greener as they say
forestsaint

{Ed001's Note - don't believe what you read in the papers.}

12.) 10 Jul 2014
10 Jul 2014 14:25:32
yeah I know that but I also saw it on newsnow saints
but I don't know if that is the same as reading the papers what do you think ed
forestsaint

13.) 10 Jul 2014
10 Jul 2014 14:51:02
My personal opinion is wickham would be an immense signing, young, quick, two good feet and best of all english! Koeman will turn him into an England regualr. As for van dijk definitely strong, good in the air and young. Marshall for our new keeper to put a little pressure on borus to perform even better. And let's not forget Pelle, what a player he's going to be!

14.) 10 Jul 2014
Well we still managed to win the European Cup before any club in England. We have also been in three other semi-finals/lost to Feyenoord in a final. We can't help the league we are in. Regarding Hoiveld - he played a few games after we signed him, then we realized he was rotten. Go and check your stats legod - Celtic are globally in the top 5 supported clubs in the world. So if anything we down play things, until one of you mob come on shouting the odds. I've never known a nation so ordinary at football to have so many dillusions. You have a fantastic youth academy at Southampton, and your man Le Tissier eas a genius, he was also humble, and a real gentleman. Maybe you could learn a thing or two from him!

15.) 10 Jul 2014
Afternoon Gents. Long time visitor to the site now first time poster (maybe 2nd I forgot old login). Some of you may know me as Halobethyname.

Anyways as far as the goalkeeper debate I'd be happy with Marshall, Foster or Begovic. All three have their pros and cons. Marshall is overpriced as it stands and we may get a few years service out of him but due to age won't hold value for long.

Foster and Begovic are both relatively good only trouble with the latter is I believe our fishy friends down the rd get a slice of any future fee. (Don't want to help them out too much)

Fosters price is also inflated as most players are when being sold on from the Scots big 2. That said I'm not knocking Celtic or the league and as disrespectful as some premier league fans can be and not remembering that there are other decent leagues out there.

the Scots must remember that through no fault of their own the league is weaker and that not every stand out player is £10m + and automatically going to become a world beater.

And the champs league argument is ridiculous as by that logic any player playing for Skonto in Latvia or BATE in Belarus must also be 10m+ players due to them once having a good game against a top team.

16.) 10 Jul 2014
I like Celtic, I'll never have a bad word to say about them, some of my best mates support Celtic but even they admit they wouldn't make it past being a low-mid table prem team. Same thing happened here with hooiveld funnily enough

I'd love to have Forster here, much prefer him to Marshall, not that Marshall isn't good but Forster's done it at a higher level in the CL and has the potential to get much better than he already is.

van Dijk would be great too, everyone who's seen him play raves about him but tbh I'd be just as happy with any of the dutch CB's that have been linked to saints

17.) 10 Jul 2014
Celtic do have a fairly rich history in the European cup but that's all it is. History. They haven't been competitive in Europe in the living memories of most of their fans. Our national side are currently very underwhelming nobody is unaware of that down here. If you want to delve into history then you might recall that England have reached a QF a SF and yes dare I mention it again. We won the thing. When did Scotland even last appear in the finals??
As for being in the top 5 supported clubs on the planet? This is largely based on an ageing myth that Irish Americans all follow Celtic ( they don't) in the states football is followed largely by the Hispanic demographic who are likely to follow la liga, serie A or premier league sides. There are even huge support bases in Ireland itself for clubs like Liverpool and Man Utd. The biggest clubs in England also have massive followings in Africa, the Far East and beyond which Celtic clearly don't. It's an inaccurate statement to suggest they are anywhere near as globally popular as you suggest.

18.) 10 Jul 2014
Thanks for finding and publishing my comment. Think I mentioned an old now defunct website. (Duly noted, won't happen again).

{Ed001's Note - it can be a number of things, like a link with http:// at the beginning. The spam filter removes those as they are 99% of the time just spam.
As for newsnow, which was asked about earlier in the thread, it just collects up news articles, it doesn't check their accuracy or authenticity, just puts them in one place.}

19.) 10 Jul 2014
Paul1 - I think he actually joined when we were in league one and a lot has changed. Celtic have proud history but again things change. No really English fan believes we are better than we are but we do at least go to compete at the world cups and euros. I don't think any one meant any offence but coming on here saying "or what ever your name is" is going to get peoples back up. Forster for the record is a top keeper no doubt but everyone's view may not be the same and we can all have our wish list. Wanyama and co clearly think a top 10 prem team is a step up from being top of the Scottish league and I am afraid many players see Celtic as a stepping stone and I regret we are too. Good luck for the season

20.) 10 Jul 2014
10 Jul 2014 20:31:32
thanks for replying ed now a bit more wiser
forestsaint

{Ed001's Note - no worries, newsnow is an excellent site, it is damn good for keeping up with what is written on the net, but it does need to be used with caution.}

21.) 10 Jul 2014
Look legod this is the last I'm going to say on the matter - you gave me a good laugh earlier, so cheers. You always give me a good laugh with the nonsense you come away with. Anyone that truly knows the game, knows Celtic are a huge club. We have supporters clubs in practically every country in the world, we are playing a team in Iceland next week in the Champions league and there are Celtic fans who live there putting on a big do for the travelling fans, so it ain't no myth - after R Madrid/M utd , Celtic have as big a global support as any club. Oh and by the way I can remember Celtic losing to Mourinho's Porto in the Uefa Cup final not so long ago, and we beat Blackburn and Liverpool on the way. At least your fellow Southampton fans have a bit of class and have wished Celtic well, and I wish your club well, and them all the best. As for your good self, you sound like a bitter closet Sevco fan to me!

22.) 10 Jul 2014
Oh I forgot to add legod that I'm not that interested in Scotland, I may live in Glasgow but I have as much Italian and Irish blood as Scottish. The initial point I was really trying to make was the world doesn't revolve around you! I suppose it's a good job!

23.) 11 Jul 2014
Paul1 Celtic are of course a big club in terms of the support globally - most would not question it but in terms of quality in the squad purely because of the league your in not so big nowadays. You can only beat what is put in front of you.