Chez

aren't all four champions league semi finalists fan owned?

There are considerable football debts, but the parachute payments do seem to cover them, so there seems to be no excuses for failure from here onwards. I wonder how many of the 600 that haven't handed over the £900 will do so now the club has been saved? Seeing as you get nothing for your money is there any point?

Seeing as the Adidas brand is all about the three stripes you can bet your bottom dollar that a return to stripes theme will be flogged to death

in his initial games he looked like he might have enough as part of a three man midfield, but he's had so few opportunities since then that its hard to assess what he can and can't do right now. Time on his side. Davis has been great at the front of a three man, but in a two he doesn't cover the ground anywhere near as well as Cork and Morgan. If either of them got injured we'd have problems, but isn't that always the case?

would the £1.45m loan from the PCC not count as debt?

a reminder as to the sized of the debt they will carry please?

I've done my utmost to avoid commenting on the main Thatcher thread because of my deep seated and utter hatred for the women. However, I can't avoid this particular thread. The thought of honouring her with a minutes silence at SMS makes me sick to the stomach. I therefore feel I need to at least say that I am fully against it and do not want my football club to be associated with it in any way. If this does go ahead I would like to be pre-warned. I certainly wouldn't disturb the minutes silence, but I would want to make sure I was not at my seat until it had been completed. I have little knowledge of the Hillsborough `cover up', but if there is any chance, any chance at all that she will be implicated in that, then having a minutes silence at football grounds is going to look pretty bloody stupid if you ask me.

for some 29 is the back end of their career. Not sure about Flamini, he never had great pace so perhaps he can continue at the same level for a few years yet. With Morgan and Cork offering midfielders that have the legs to really get up and down the pitch Flamini feels like a step back into the past where players sit and hold and don't do enough quite frankly. AC Milan type wages would be a problem too I would imagine.

Carrick went for about £18m to United back in 2006. It won't be long before Morgan is seen in the same light as Carrick was back then.

Investigative journalism at its very best. The reason is bloody obvious, it's ****ing lunchtime and the judge needs to get to Greggs before Penny Moreish empties the shelves.

Cork and Shaw

*or possibly living in a bedsit because there aren't enough council houses to go round these days. A bit like the coal, those houses wouldn't half be handy now.

I didn't realise that. I guess that means even Liverpool can afford to `buy' him. Blimey, what perfect timing on his part to have a great season. His wage demands are going to be astronomical, what with no transfer fee involved. Signing on fee-tastic...

Arsenal offered millions last summer and got nowhere. Can't see us doing any better.

Good spot. You are right we was very good that day. Extremely fast and a real pain. If the clips are anything to go by on the FL show then he is worth another look. I wonder how much input will come from Reid and his scouts and how much from the new management team. I've not seen a single link to Bolasie in the papers. Consiering all the tricks and chances you'd think someone would fancy him.

My first choice. Without him in their side Wigan are toothless. He has pace and power. Exactly what I'd hoped Mayuka might offer.

I know we might be shopping at a different quality of store these days, but I'd like to see us keep stealing the best young talent from the championship. We more than anyone else should be fully aware of how players like Morgan, Clyne, Lallana, Lambert, Bale and now Rodriguez are able to make the step up and then shine. Getting them ahead of Arsenal and Manure won't be easy mind, and if they are £15m like Zaha that is certainly a bog gamble for a side like us. We're obviously too late with Zaha (I wouldn't be surprised if we enquired last summer) but Ince is next genuine talent that someone is going to have to spend big (and therefore gamble) on. I think we should do it. There are other decent players in the Championship. Chelsea's Nathaniel Chalobah (on loan at Watford) looks a real talent. A right back playing centre mid for Watford he's that good. Jeff Schlupp is another bright prospect. I think he caused us a few problems at Brentford a couple of seasons back. Has anyone seen Yannick Bolasie live? In the highlights shows he looks sensational, but they can sometimes flatter flair players. Buckley always impressed me at Brighton, but not seen enough to know if his touch is good enough. Certainly offers pace and power.

I'm still laughing at Bagpuss. Can't wait to hear his moans in the post match speaches.

I think we underestimated them as a set of fans. They had won a shed load of games at the end of the previous season and teas do carry form across with them to the new season. It was a tough game and we had no right to think we would waltz it. The same could be said any Prem game. All teams have quality players that can hurt you on their day. Come on Chelsea/QPR...

Wigan were first class in the second half and deserved their victory. With Kone they are a different side. The Swansea and Norwich home games are the ones that bug me most. We murdered Swansea and threw it away. Norwich, we obviously conceded a woeful goal. They would never have scored otherwise and we would have won.

were you at the ground or watching TV? Whole Saints support sang it clearly. Loud enough for Nigel to hear that's for sure. He kjows what we think of him.

Davis my norm. He had his best game and linked the play so well.

reading some of the real life stories at the end of that article really certainly paint a different picture to the "12 kids, £100k a year in benefits" stories in certain papers.

No, but if wages in general were less, including his, then ticket prices could perhaps be less. Alternatively if his wage was £300,000 lower then the ticket tax could go.

Out of interest if we were relegated this season, we struggled to get promotion next season and found ourselves up against it financially due to the high wages we have taken on board, would your answer still be the same (assuming also that the wage stayed the same)?