Chez

that money is going to help a great deal in getting hot water to those that need it most.

Agreed. Losing Toby, Clyne, Forster and Morgan will impact our solidity at the back, which has been the foundation of our recent success.

good point. Morgan's own electric page that enabled him to track breaking wingers was also a huge factor in us conceding so few goals. It's easy for fans to see what players can do with the ball, but off the ball work and positioning, that often goes unnoticed, makes the difference defensively. Going back to Clyne, it wasn't just his pace that made him so effective, it was his positioning, judging of distances (that are important when deciding when to leap into a tackle and when to drop off) and his decision making. When to go, when not. Soares looks good on the ball. I hope he has these off the ball elements too.

Not sure I'm `happy enough', but agree there ws very little the club could do. Clyne held (holds) all the cards.

hate seeing our better players leave, makes me think of what might have been in terms of keeping them all and having a wonder side. But having signed him when out of contract it's not really surprising that he would not sign a new deal with us, so getting £10.5m and £2m on the never never is perhaps not a terrible price (it pains me to say that). The value does depends on how well his replacement does next season. I do worry a little. Clyne's pace got us out of jail a lot and prevented pacey widemen from taking the ****. Hope Soares has real pace? Having two fullbacks with realpace is a huge reason why ur defence has been so good the last coupe of season.

if that's the case there's not much time for people to apply, tickets to be allocated and flights get booked.

A whole £500,000. That should make all the difference...

that would be a "not again, you bastard" type surprise. My "you always find street food at its best at the football" line never fails to annoy, not does the trailing around town centres in the midday heat trying to find a ticket for the nights game.

no reason for him to do so. As he has done before he can see the contract to its end and then reap the benefits - so long as he doesn't suffer a bad injury. Players get rich by moving on frees

I'm in Jerusalem in August. When are the 3rd round games scheduled again chaps? My Mrs will get the surprise of her life if an evening out turns out to be a Saints Europa league game.

The only thing he lacks really is pace. He is very slow. That causes a problem because it prevents him from getting close enough to put opponents under pressure, make interception or get tackles in. He works hard, gets behind the ball, but that is it. You have to force errors from opponents by applying pressure when they have the ball. He doesn't do that, making it far too easy for them. Wanyama, Morgan and Cork have all been amazing at doing this. We lose a little defensively when JWP plays, but if he can make up for it by doing more WITH the ball then perhaps it will be a price worth paying.

agreed, but Long was bought to provide back up down the middle to go with his ability to play the wider role, so the manager/club will perhaps increase the number of games he plays

There are a lot,of games potentially next season. We are going to need both players won't we?

Went to see RIDE at the roundhouse a couple of weeks back. Sensational return and one of the best gigs I have ever been to. Just got tickets to see them again in Bristol for more shoegazing.

bloody hard line that. Imagine the stink Clyne and his agent would create if we did that. He would be a nightmare around the club.

interesting point. However, are the other two clubs actually interested? Also, Liverpool seem to have been the kings at securing out of contract players this summer. So perhaps having spunked god knows how much on transfer fees last summer and not done terribly well out of it, they might be using funds differently from now on - i.e. spending their money on huge wages - which enables them to compete with the big four for players like Clyne.

from th eall be it limited number of times I have seen them, the latest batch don't seem to contain players that are quite ready yet. Not all players can waltz into a premiership side at 17, 18 or 19. Even Target has a little way to go yet.

yep and I can't see Clyne putting in a transfer request either. He doesn't need to. With only a year left he can sit tight and either wait for Saints to crack and accept an offer from Liverpool or stay and collect a bumper new pay check in 12 months time.

two signings already. WTF are people going to moan about on here now?

no win, no fee?

It's about time the owners considered the fans...

Which is where our views differ. IMO our away strip is basically Chelsea's away strip from a few years ago, but in a worse colour choice. You disagree because there is a 2015 mesh making it different and/or unique. Let's agree to disagree.

Good point. The fact we have a shirt design that is several years old, a small it of beading apart, just adds to the shytness of this Adidas shirt launch.

and for one day this summer for the special price of just £10...they will have sliding fat too

I met Ken a few years ago when the Portsmouth/Saints `bubble' was being first introduced. Ken played an active role in the football supporters federation and he visited my home to deliver leaflets about the bubble for me to hand out to Saints fans travelling to the game. We had a long chat about the game in general and the way fans are treated. We seemed to have very similar views on that subject. Like for myself, the bubble was quite inconvenient, as he lived in Devon, but more than that he felt it was very important that football fans were treated with respect and not seen to be criminals. I certainly can't claim to say that I know him, but just going on that single encounter I can say that he was understanding and more than happy to listen to the views of any football fans, even Saints supporters! I know all the arguments on here about the skates ignoring the previous track record of its owners and doing little while the sun shined, but I have nothing but respect for the likes of Ken who worked tirelessly to save their football club. He didn't personally create the mess, but he did a bloody fine job in helping to clear it up afterwards. As someone that enjoys the rivalry and relishes the games between the two, I thank him for his efforts that will eventually see the two clubs meet again, whereupon we can hopefully absolutely stuff them. I suspect should that happen, Ken would very much see the bright side of things.