Yesterday afternoon at 15.25 all was quiet on the Southampton Football Club front, within an hour it was chaos on the internet.

If you had been looking at one of the internet's news gathering outlets yesterday afternoon you would have thought that it was a very quiet day in terms of Saints news, in the 7 hours prior to 15.25 there had been a total of around 20 stories connected to Southampton Football Club, most were fairly mundane and four of them were written on this site alone, nothing much to get the blood flowing.

Then at 15.27 there was a headline coming up from the telegraph claiming that "Manchester United launch shock bid for Sadio Mane" it was a fairly innocuous story in effect amounting to a few lines from their chief football correspondent Jason Burt that United had put in a bid for Mane a week ago and presumably (and it doesnt mention this) it was turned down as Mane was still with Saints.

But the effect on the internet was instantaneous, within 8 minutes the Daily Star had responed with a story of their own, within an hour 25 media outlets had produced their own stories and by the end of the day over 100 stories had been published via various bona fida media outlets plus god knows how much more on social media.

Today has seen yet more stories claiming everything from a claim that Sadio Mane wants a move to Manchester United to the fact that Saints themselves have denied that there was a bid from United and that they have stated that he is not for sale, strangely these stories are not as widely spread as the "Mane to United" ones still persisting some 20 hours after the original rumour.

What this emphasises is how easy it is for someone to start a rumour with very little substance and how quickly it can develop and cause mass panic amongst Southampton supporters.

So why did Jason Burt put out this story, well presumably it wasn't because he had made it up on the spot for a laugh, someone must have told him they had heard that United had bid for Mane, now I don't know much about Burt so I don't know how good his sourcs where, but given how small the actual story was I would assume that he wasn't hearing it direct from Luis Van Gaal.

Someone with an interest would have whispered in his ear, perhaps it was from United themselves keen to use the media to stir up Mane and his agent, after all United used this tactic to try and lure Nathaniel Clyne to Old Trafford earlier this summer, even using their own TV Station to claim a deal was imminent.

Perhaps it was Mane's agent trying to get interest in his client, this could be for one of two reasons, firstly he could be angling for a move for his client to a big club for the obvious reason it would make he, the agent money. Secondly it could be to stir Saints up into offering Mane a better contract, again something that could make him money.

Thirdly it could be a third party trying to stir up interest, its common for these third parties to go to football clubs and players and try to broker deals and that could be the case, indeed Mane and his agent may not even have been contacted at this stage.

Lastly it could have been a source close to Saints themselves, although this is highly unlikely unless we were desperate for money, something I can only presume we are not.

The end result was a media feeding frenzy with headlines all over the place with none of them saying much different than Burt did in his initial piece, although most used artisic licence to try and grab attention.

Social media went mad and some Saints supporters could not have reacted with a more bedwetting attitude had Mane been photographed on the pitch at Old Trafford wearing a Manchester United shirt, it seems some have little confidence in what we are trying to do as a club.

The reality is that nothing much has changed at St Mary's from 15.24 yesterday afternoon, a dozen or so years ago a story such as his would not have provoked much reaction, but the likes of twitter and facebook and the like have enabled football supporters to work themselves nto a lather at stories that have little substance but suddenly appear to, I can see why, over 100 headlines plus millions of social media comments ead people to believe that its the truth.

The reality is that like the popular headline from WW2 and teatowels these days we need to keep calm and carry on, if someone shouts it enough times it may feel like its the truth, but that doesn't mean that it is.

Photo: Action Images

1970 added 12:58 - Aug 20 I'm not sure what the motives of these so called big teams trying to unsettle our players, the whole thing is a total wind-up just before a crucial European game, maybe Man spew are scared we will take 4th place from them like we nearly did last season, and the latest is that a security guard has told everyone Mane is expected at the training ground today lol so I ask you Nick is Mane playing for us tonight or having a medical at Manure it would surely clear that one up lol, and not to be out done the express have woken up to what Toby has said after the weekends poor performance for 'spuds' and are tabling a bid for Wanyama , I suppose we will have to brace ourselves for when Brenda gets fired from shitepool and they come knocking for Ronko lol good luck to the mighty Saints tonight I shall be there coyr.

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bstokesaint added 13:25 - Aug 20 "Bedwetting" infers our fans our babies/children. Whilst I prefer to be as pragmatic as possible and stay on a level keel about these these rumours, it's perfectly understandable why fans get upset. Twitter is a perfect example of rival fans shamelessly courting our players. I hate it and would never even think about doing the same to a targeted player of ours. It's disrespecful and incites bad feeling. That's the flipside of conducting your transfers in a quiet and professional manner. The big clubs have very little class in this respect. They simply don't care. As I have posted elsewhere today I would like to see a big statement from the club, maybe in tonight's programme categorically stating we will not be selling any more players. Something along the lines of last season when Ralph said Morgan was going nowhere and neither was anyone else. We can then stick two fingers up to rival clubs and settle the team and the fans. It shouldn't be necessary but we set a precedent for ourselves last summer. A lot of fans are unable to trust the club now despite the increased success.

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ItchenNorth added 13:35 - Aug 20 That's a bit 'high horse' Nick. This site has run endless articles about rumoured transfers all summer and since the season has started and seemingly will do until the window closes. Do an Internet search and TUI articles are there equally adding to the column inches.
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BaselSaint added 13:43 - Aug 20 There`s a vacuum of positive news from a Saints perspective and in that vacuum these stories get legs. We really need good news about a CB asap to settle the nerves. Maybe it will be another 7-10 days though.... it`s not easy at the moment.
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legod7 added 13:45 - Aug 20 The RUMOUR about Mane only started after Pedro decided to go to Chelsea instead of Man Utd. The Telegraph looked around the Premiership at a Pedro type player and decided that Mane fitted the bill. The Vic RUMOUR came about because at the weekend Toby said when he was here last season he had 2 defensive midfielders in front of him. All the media picked up on that and as Shneiderlin has already gone then Spuds must be after Vic. It must be very easy to be sports reporter in a national newspaper.

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BoondockSaint added 13:48 - Aug 20 Unfortunately this is football today, amplified by the lynch mob mentality of twitter and other "Anti"-Social media. The trouble is supporters of teams like us are worried because we like to keep our players off the radar of the big clubs. So we don't want rumours gathering enough steam that reporters ask LVG or Jose "Have you made a bid for (fill in name)?", and he goes back to his staff and says "Who's this player everyone is asking me about? Why don't you take a look at him for me?" Also, unfortunately, the player starts thinking about the rise in pay he can get and tells his agent to look into the rumours which is basically approaching the clubs and asking "innocently" if they are interested. We can say "We're not selling" all we want, but if the player wants to go, he's going. He'll just go on work slow down until he gets what he wants. It's not like you can fine him for laziness.

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BaselSaint added 13:49 - Aug 20 Yes, legod7 I know it`s 99% boll*cks but nevertheless lets have some positive news from SFC pronto and cool things down.
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Olley added 13:49 - Aug 20 I do not mind people making expression on their concerns about constant news items but, we need to remember we are a selling club, last 2 years no exception but maybe the price / profit we have got in the past 2 years has been better [Cork being the exception], that said if we want to make top 10 and try and win a trophy, we need to have good replacements for any departure, which to be honest we have struggled a little so far this year and I still hope that the management team have the right plan to make this happen before the window closes. I will be there tonight, COYRS!!!

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Bazz added 14:05 - Aug 20 The fans just to need to know more about the long term planning of the club , it's all very well making money from the players that are sold on but how will that money be used in making sure that the club is in a position to take on the so called bigger clubs that we feed our players to...... every season it's another throw of the dice in deciding how the club will do , I see Saints in the same financial position as Everton and yet they manage to keep their players for the most part......the players that do want to go also unsettles the players that are left, I thought the idea of spending in excess of £30 million for the training academy was to benefit saints on the playing field and not as a spring board for the likes of the top four (even spuds) sooner or later we will do a Newcastle and end up fighting relegation!!!

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schatfield added 14:13 - Aug 20 how can you run an article like this nick, when your site publishes some of the craziest rumour stories going! you always do it speculating this and that.....pot kettle black
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DPeps added 15:08 - Aug 20 As a couple of people have pointed out, we are a selling club. Our business model is to sell players who we develop - either players we've nurtured through the academy or ones we've bought from the bargain bin. As a result our teams and the media know that we are very likely to sell at the right price, so rumours will always follow us. We're fair game. By the way, I'm not criticising our transfer policy - it worked last year, don't know if it's sustainable, time will tell. As others have said, I'd like a statement from the club categorically stating that we're not selling Mane AT ANY PRICE. As long as we don't make that statement, I'll assume we'd sell if the right offer came in.

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DPeps added 15:10 - Aug 20 *other teams, not our teams
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IWOZTHERE added 16:23 - Aug 20 The reason supporters panic over these 'rumours?' is because there are precedents. However much we love the club, not all of us are naive enough to believe every word of every official state ment and we are concerned that the current board may place more emphasis on profitability than building a top football team. It is generally accepted that we came out of last summer's exodus in a healthy financial position. We were also only a couple of quality players short of realistic top 6 expectations. No doubt Morgan was 'on a promise', but you can't tell me that we wouldn't have had a chance of keeping him, Nat and/or Toby, if they believed that the club were about to demonstrate their ambition by bringing in a couple of quality players.They were obviously not convinced of that and so the cycle started again. It is understandable that the best players we have left are also going to question this trend and are 'ripe for the picking.' THAT'S why we are moistening our mattresses! YOU can't seem to make your mind up whether we're rich or skint and I for one would love to see the next balance sheet. The Southampton way is highly regarded as a model but the board's obsession with 'selling high' and 'buying low' is being taken to excess. You can't get away with it all the time!

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leighsaint added 16:38 - Aug 20 In the last 2 seasons we have sold from our first team 2 international full backs 2 centre backs, all being Toby was only on loan, 2cental Midfielders and two forwards the only position we haven't sold is goalkeeper because we don't have other than Forster, who is injured, anyone that anyone wants. Now say we are not a selling club???
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A1079 added 16:38 - Aug 20 Spot on IWOZTHERE.
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Zambucco added 17:48 - Aug 20 Why should the club issue a statement? Just so you bed wetters can sleep better? Grow a pair! We let players leave that we could reasonably replace, we kept hold of Morgan because we didn't have that. Boss I'm pretty sure that we won't have a replacement for Mane, so he won't be going anywhere.
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SanMarco added 17:49 - Aug 20 Clyne was offered a generous new deal but he wanted to go and Toby chose Spurs. Of course it is a blow to lose the players we have over the past couple of years but if they want to go they want to go. My worry is not that we are a 'selling club' (in the negative sense of the term anyway) but that we are not replacing those leaving properly - IWOZTHERE's last paragraph is spot on.

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leighsaint added 19:23 - Aug 20 Why did Clyne chose Manure Toby Spurs and all the others that have left us over the past 2 years. 1 it can be for money. 2 Saints in their opinion do not want to progress to the top. 3 they do not think Saints want to get to the top 4 English players and other internationals do not believe Country Managers look at players who are not in thr so called TOP TEAMS
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bstokesaint added 19:37 - Aug 20 Zambucco, we're becoming the laughing stock of the Premier League, despite our continual progress. I personally don't class myself as a neggie, but I get Liverpool fans, Arsenal fans and other clueless chumps taking the p1ss daily. It's not even the fact that I think our players will necessarily go. It's the constant p1ss taking. Unless someone at the club shows more leadership and tells these clubs where to go we will constantly be targeted and labelled a selling club. I agree with the majority of sells over the past two seasons, pretty much of all them in fact, but it's just the feeling no one takes us seriously. I hope one day we can establish ourselves as a top 6-8 team and then start competing at the next level.

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BoondockSaint added 20:36 - Aug 20 If we are going to be stuck as a 'selling club' then we should have had the top six pay for our training facility! I don't want to be the minor league feeder of those stuck-up sons of bachelors! If talented players think we are a just a stepping stone, let's just sign a bunch of thugs who want to play and stay at Southampton-we will win games because our former players and others will be afraid of getting clattered. If we are not going to be respected, let's be feared!

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IWOZTHERE added 21:44 - Aug 20 OK it hasn't happened yet and I hope even this board won't be that stupid. San Marco: I know there are sometimes reasons outside the club's control (often money) but these aren't isolated instances, every year we sell the 'crown jewels' .You can't build a top team like that. I happen to believe that if we had got on the case quickly with Alderweireld and offered sensible money before his head was turned, he'd still be here. B'stoke is right, this policy/weakness is turning us into a laughing stock! Also,I'm surprised he responded to that literary genius Zambucco whose vocabulary doesn't extend much beyond the word 'bedwetters'. Going back to my tangled saturated sheets now.

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