The9

I would say it's clear that apart from a freakish 16 game 7 goal half season revival with Stoke in 2008/9 he hasn't done anything like as well in the Prem as he did in the last full season before we sold him - even the season we sold him he only scored 5 in 24 matches. His Championship stats are pretty much what you'd expect from a player dropping into the League below, but that was 5 years ago. His 35 games and 2 goals for Everton in 2006/7, and his 24 games and 2 goals for Stoke the season AFTER playing 16 games and getting 7 suggest it's not about the number of games he plays. 0 in 19 for Rangers is particularly unimpressive, I reckon I could beat that. Year Pld Goals Goal/Pld Pld/Goal Lge Team 2000/1 42 12 0.29 3.50 EPL Sot 2001/2 31 14 0.45 2.21 EPL Sot 2002/3 49 24 0.49 2.04 EPL Sot 2003/4 45 17 0.38 2.65 EPL Sot 2004/5 11 3 0.27 3.67 EPL Sot 2004/5 13 2 0.15 6.50 EPL Eve 2005/6 38 11 0.29 3.45 EPL Eve 2006/7 35 2 0.06 17.50 EPL Eve 2007/8 41 22 0.54 1.86 Chm ShU 2008/9 24 12 0.50 2.00 Chm ShU 2008/9 16 7 0.44 2.29 EPL Stk 2009/10 24 2 0.08 12.00 EPL Stk 2010/11 19 0 0.00 0.00 SPL Rng

Fair enough, but if you don't actually have the quality in the first place, you can't really complain that they're underachieving - and I think the effect of the 8 or 9 top-class foreigners usually around the minority Englishmen in the CL is usually understated when discussing their pedigrees and experience.

The FIFA World Rankings are mocked worldwide for their failure to address the ridiculous disparity in the rankings of teams on different continents due to the lack of intercontinental competitive matches, so in effect, if Mexico get a good World Cup draw, beat a couple of low ranking European sides in the early stages and bomb out to an Asian side in the Round of 16, in the next few years UEFA teams can get a shedload of points more than they should for beating CONCACAF and AFC representatives, because the World Cup results indicate European teams "aren't as good". That's a simplification, but it shows the problem. They're not such a bad measure of teams in the same confederation, but there's no better judge than a competitive head to head match in the World Cup (other than third group game dead rubbers) and that puts England (2010) on a par with both.

He most reminds me of Patrick Vieira in style, if not ability. It's difficult for many Saints fans to judge as he only ever played occasionally in a poor team and very rarely in a good one - his unexpected appearance at Withdean on the right of an equally rare 4-3-3 at the end of last season gave a glimpse of his potential, but he was never going to get a look in once we signed Cork as he was already behind Hammond, Chaplow and Schneiderlin in the pecking order. And Rickie Lambert ? Too slow, can't beat people on the ground and doesn't get on the end of enough low balls.

Has he feck, he was a has-been by the time we sold him.

What are the criteria for assuming that though ? Nation size ? Population ? Number of football coaches ? Number of professional players ? Number of amateur teams ? Grass roots coaching faciliites ? "Passion" ? Having pride in representing their nation ? Truly understanding what success means to the nation as motivation ? Players not living a privileged lifestyle and looking like they're bothered about winning ALL of the time ? Players not treating their position in the team as a right ? Tactical understanding ? Overconfidence ? Players understanding they're not automatically the best because of where you were born ? Not having a hundred other ways of passing the time as a kid ? Having the drive to drag yourself from the gutter ? Having the drive to give back to your community ? Realising that the game has moved on from the 1890s, the 1930s and that even in 1966 things weren't that great ? There are a myriad of ways other countries are able to beat England.

He used to have a place in Chilworth when he was playing for Saints, might still have that.

The response says quite clearly that the hold back itself was not regarded as the safest option, you're not in any position to be questioning that. I'm not sure what the definition of being between a rock and a hard place is if not given the choice between keeping Millwall fans from causing problems when released along with the home fans, or trying to placate defeated Millwall fans being held behind against their collective will.

What an excellent and comprehensive response to the matter from the Match Commander.

I'm not sure why we're not cloning inter-galacticos or breeding monkey chicken holding midfielders personally.

So was I, and you have to track the player for about 15 seconds before he shows his number - with some of his teammates congratulating the wrong person !

And Berbatov, Drogba and Anelka.

There's a quote in the current FourFourTwo to that effect from, I think, Dortmund's head coach (Klopp?) - with them having won the Bundesliga with a team of kids last season. He basically said "they're more grounded and not that interested in money" in so many words. I think the current German set up and depth of young talent looks like they'll dominate for the next 10 years, once Spain have peaked anyway. Their current crop of "kids" stuffed England in 2010, their U21s stuffed England the year before, and their champions are all young players too, once they get a bit of experience they'll be unstoppable, and they've already qualified for Euro 2012.

I'm from Monmouthshire, which has been part of both England and Wales in the last century or so, and a Saints ST holder, and frankly I couldn't give a toss who wins, or about international football generally. As for "come on Bale" over "come on Theo", what's the difference ?

...and as above with Kasey Keller.

Indeed.

Niemi Day at Charlton.

Undefeated in 6 matches suggests they're doing alright even if they're drawing too many, you can't win them all. The fee is about £25k more than I thought we'd get, based on previous tribunals.

Unless you're talking about Rickie Lambert, it wasn't.

No, he hasn't been sent off this season.

I found it far more insightful than some bloke posting cobblers about the team being Prem standard, when the defence at least looks decidedly non-League.

I think the point is that the 23yr old would pay, not the Prem player.

Dunno where he's been playing on the field, but Gobern has started 6 of 9 Huddersfield matches this season, been subbed in 2 and hasn't won a match in the League yet - featuring in 4 successive draws! He's actually been left out for the Carling Cup trip to Cardiff and their two home wins but seems to be an integral part of their team when they play away. That can't hurt our case. He's also got squad number 10.

Laptop has died with Photoshop on it, so you'll all be spared for a while...

My dad used to go and watch Liverpool sporadically from the 1960s to the early 1990s and took me to Anfield about once a season, and a few cup finals too, until my teens. He also took me to see Newport County every other Saturday from the 70s until the club's bankruptcy in 1989. He knew I was going to be a Saints fan when he came down to see Saints v Liverpool with me at the Dell in 1991/2 and discovered me supporting the home team (I took him in the Milton which must have been slightly awkward for him). To be fair to me, it wasn't like I had another "proper" team to support with Newport AFC reviving themselves down in the Hellenic League (though I saw a few low-level games nevertheless), and I was a student in Southampton by then. Weirdly he promptly gave up on following Liverpool entirely, but I suspect that was more due to Modern Football than them turning crap, as he still watches Newport County AFC every home match and has done all the way back up to the Conference over the past 20+ years. I only feel I've failed in MY duty when I see mates from Newport supporting Cardiff City. Luckwell and Keith, I'm looking at you. One former Liverpool fan from just outside Newport and one Midlands-born part-time Wolves fan who has lived in Newport a mile from their home ground for 15 years, was also in the South Wales Arsenal Supporters Club for a couple of years in the 90s; both now Cardiff City season ticket holders, FFS. Even when I worked in a sports shop in Newport in the mid-90s I used to hide the Cardiff shirts at the back of the rails...