Premier League nieuwe jongens Wolverhampton Wanderers hebben zich bij de jacht op Southampton starlet Andrew Surman.
Surman, 22, has been linked with moves to Sheffield United, Reading, Newcastle and Fulham and it seems that the cash-strapped Saints will have to let the highly rated midfielder go. Surman, 22, is in verband met verhuist naar Sheffield United, Reading, Newcastle en Fulham en het lijkt erop dat de cash-vastgebonden Heiligen zullen hebben om de best gewaardeerde middenvelder gaan.
Wolves boss Mick McCarthy is preparing to make a bid for the England Under-21 international. Wolven baas Mick McCarthy is bezig om een bod voor Engeland Onder-21 international.
Southampton squad leden worden terug in de training op maandag tot en fitness-test ondergaan om te bewijzen dat ze nog steeds in vorm.
Although the players are not scheduled to play a competitive match until June 22nd, Head Coach Mark Wotte feels that this process is essential preparation for the tough season that awaits them. Hoewel de spelers zijn niet gepland om een concurrerende match tot 22 jun, Hoofd Coach Mark Wotte van mening dat dit proces van essentieel belang is de voorbereiding van de moeilijke seizoen dat wacht op hen.
Wotte told the official website: 'On Monday it's not the start of pre-season, but it's more like a test day so that the boys can show their fitness after five weeks off. Wotte vertelde de officiële website: "Op maandag is het niet de start van de pre-seizoen, maar het is meer een dag testen, zodat de jongens kunnen hun geschiktheid na vijf weken uitgeschakeld.
'I will be there to oversee the session and hopefully update the boys on the situation with the club too, although nothing is finalised yet. 'Ik zal er zijn te zien op de zitting en hopelijk update de jongens over de situatie met de club ook maar niets is nog niet afgerond.I will be overseeing it, but our First Team Fitness Coach Nick Harvey will be in charge of the physical side of the programme.' Ik zal het toezicht op, maar onze eerste team Fitnesstrainer Nick Harvey wordt belast met de fysieke kant van het programma. "
Every squad member was given a fitness programme over the summer and Monday's gruelling tests will assess the players fitness levels. Elk team lid kreeg een fitness-programma in de zomer en maandag afmattend tests beoordelen de spelers fitness niveau.
'We will check to see if the players are in the shape that we want them to be and if they are they can have the rest of the week off before returning for pre-season on the 22nd.' "Wij zullen controleren om te zien of de spelers zijn in de vorm die wij willen dat ze zijn en wanneer zij kunnen beschikken over de rest van de week af voordat ze weer voor pre-seizoen op de 22e."
Southampton head coach Mark Wotte has backed Saints legend Matt Le Tissier to become the next chairman of the club.
Former midfielder Le Tissier is set to play a key role at St Mary's if the club is taken over by Pinnacle Group.
Wotte said: "If Matt Le Tissier wants to help the club for a better future we have to open the doors and invite him.
"It's so much better to speak with an ex-player, a great player, a superb player, than with a chairman that doesn't have any football background."
The administrators of Southampton Leisure Holdings PLC remain locked in talks with the Pinnacle Group.
Le Tissier has publically backed the consortium fronted by businessman Tony Lynam, but the identity of the main investor remains a closely guarded secret. A period of exclusivity ends on Friday 19 June 2009.
Wotte is scheduled to return to St Mary's on Monday 15 June to oversee fitness tests as the players return from holiday. Pre-season training starts the following week.
The Dutch coach failed to keep Southampton in the Championship last season after taking over from Jan Poortvliet in January. Saints won only four out of 18 matches with Wotte at the helm, but the club faced multiple setbacks off the pitch.
And Southampton are preparing for life in League One with a 10-point penalty after entering administration in February.
Saints problems have been compounded by several changes in the boardroom and the managerial hot-seat over the past six years.
Wotte said: "I think this club needs stability and continuity and one good chairman to take the club forward, and the rest working their socks off for a better future."
Met ingang van 23 januari 2009 is Mark Wotte de manager van Southampton. Dean Gorré is zijn assistent. Southampton had in april 2009 een schuld van 30 miljoen pond, waarmee ze door de FA beboet werden met 10 punten aftrek in het daaropvolgende seizoen. Dat zal in de League One zijn na een nieuwe degradatie. Geruchten gaan dat er verschillende partijen zijn die de club op willen kopen en flink willen investeren.
Saints legend Le Tissier is backing the Pinnacle Consortium
Southampton's administrators have announced the club is entering into a period of exclusivity with the Pinnacle Consortium over a possible takeover.
The group, backed by club legend Matt Le Tissier, will have exclusive rights for 21 days to try to complete a deal.
The deal ensures the club can now pay its staff wages in full for May.
Southampton were recently relegated to League One and will start next season on -10 points next season after their parent company went into adminstration.
Administrator Mark Fry, who has helped manage the club's finances since Southampton Leisure Holdings plc went into administration on April 23, describe the announcement as a "significant development in the sale process."
Prior to the announcement about the Pinnacle Group, Fry had said he was in "deep talks" with four groups about the possible purchase of the club.
David McGoldrick's second-half strike sealed a vital victory for Southampton and kept their hopes of Championship survival alive.
McGoldrick found the top corner of the net with a superb strike from outside of the area to secure the points.
Palace keeper Julian Speroni had kept Southampton at bay denying Bradley Wright-Phillips on several occasions.
Late on Shefki Kuqi's last-gasp effort was blocked on the line as Southampton held on for the three points.
Southampton boss Mark Wotte:
"The boys showed 100% commitment and are fighting for their lives.
"The players do not deserve to go down and nor do the supporters.
"We are two points from safety with three games to go and we still have Nottingham Forest to play so it is in our own hands. Three wins will keep us up."
Crystal Palace boss Neil Warnock:
"We could have been playing all night and not scored. We did not have enough quality.
"The fans know how hard I work to get the points, and I think we have done really well with the squad we have.
Sam Vokes, Jody Craddock and David Jones scored in the first 19 minutes as Wolves secured an easy win to edge closer to Premier League promotion.
Struggling Southampton, needing a win to move out of the relegation places, went behind after 32 seconds when Vokes headed home Jones' corner.
Wolves extended their lead five minutes later with Craddock heading Jones' cross into the back of the net.
Jones then converted from the spot for 3-0 after David Edwards was fouled.
Vokes, Andy Keogh and substitute Marlon Harewood all went close to netting a fourth.
Wolves' victory - their first at home to Southampton since 1979 - extended their lead at the top of the Championship to five points.
Wolves manager Mick McCarthy: "It's three points. It means I can enjoy a bottle of beer tonight and watch everybody else.
"For today, for this evening, it's taken the pressure off me and my players and it's heaped it somewhere else - whoever fancies it they can have it.
"It could have been really over and done with in the first half. We broke on a number of times but we weren't really clinical."
Southampton coach Mark Wotte on his team's start: "It throws away all the preparations. We knew that Wolves would be on fire after their performance against Birmingham so we told them to be very aggressive at the beginning of the match.
"We expected Wolves like they came, but if you don't win your headers and don't attack the ball then it's already a very difficult game.
"After 20 minutes they get the penalty and it's 3-0, and it's more or less game over.
"I'm just blaming my team for not dealing with set-pieces better than they did."
Southampton moved to the St Mary's Stadium in 2001
Southampton's future is seriously under threat, according to the man appointed to run the club's owners.
Southampton's parent company was placed in administration on Thursday and chief executive Rupert Lowe has resigned.
Trading in Southampton Leisure Holding (SLH) plc's shares was suspended on Wednesday after the company admitted it needed extra money to have a future.
"The finances are interlinked therefore the future of the club is in serious jeopardy," said administrator Mark Fry.
"The holding company owns the football club. The football club is an asset."
The holding company has been put into administration with debts of £27.5m, reportedly made up of financial liabilities of £23.1m and an overdraft of £4.4m.
It is possible that putting the parent company into administration - thus wiping out a significant proportion of the club's debt - could save the club from a 10-point deduction.
Fans' reaction to financial news
The Football League has a monthly board meeting next Tuesday, and the Southampton situation will be one of the key items on the agenda.
A spokesman told BBC Sport said it would not comment until after that meeting, and he added it was not certain the club's fate would be decided once it finished.
Clubs such as Leeds and Luton, who were hit with points deductions themselves after going into administration, would be angry if Southampton avoided such a fate.
Lowe, Saints chairman Michael Wilde and director Andrew Cowen have resigned from the company with immediate effect, although a statement from SLH said the club is "unaffected by these insolvency proceedings".
The business is heavily in debt after spending more than £30m on the 32,000-seat St Mary's Stadium, which they moved to from The Dell in 2001, before being relegated from the Premier League in 2005.
The administrators will now try and find a buyer for the club although Fry, who is joint administrator, admitted that has been an-on going process for the directors.
"The directors have tried to sell or seek investment for a considerable amount of time, which they have been unsuccessful in doing," Fry said.
The controversial Lowe was chairman at the club for 10 years until his removal in 2006 but linked up with Wilde, the man who initially replaced him, to return to the boardroom last summer.
But despite introducing a number of cost-cutting measures, including loaning out big earners and closing parts of St Mary's on match days, the south-coast club remain in desperate financial trouble.
In an earlier statement Fry insisted the club "could be an extremely attractive investment for the right buyer".
He added: "We are working hard to preserve the value of the football club and produce a positive outcome for all stakeholders.
"I ask that fans continue to show their support for the team for the remainder of the season as we seek to show the best face possible to potential investors."
Last October, SLH's bank Barclays significantly reduced the company's overdraft facility.
The Saints are second from bottom of the Championship, three points adrift of safety.
And it means they are now threatened by liquidation and could drop out of the Football League, if SLH fails to attract new investment by the end of the summer.
Former Southampton chairman Leon Crouch has admitted some responsibility for the club's financial plight.
The club's holding company has entered administration and Southampton plc chairman Rupert Lowe and football club chairman Michael Wilde have resigned.
Crouch told BBC South: "I backed Michael Wilde when he came to the club.
"He gave us promises of new investment and getting rid of Rupert Lowe, but it didn't happen, and I have to take some blame because of that."
Crouch, who was the second-largest shareholder at St Mary's until he stepped down in May 2008, lost his investment when Saints' holding company - Southampton Leisure Holding - entered administration on Thursday.
He had taken over as non-executive chairman in March 2007, after Wilde stepped down from the role, and held the post for more than a year.
But Crouch hopes the move into administration will help to safeguard the future of the struggling Championship club.
"At the moment I'm right behind the administrators," he added. "I'm a passionate Saints fan, and it's a new beginning for the club."
Crouch declined to comment on whether he would consider a bid to take on the club.
