CB Fry

Wales, Blackburn, Fulham, Stoke before this season, didn't do that bad at a rapidly changing Man City. Only QPR was an all out failure.

Stephens/Yoshi I thought did more than okay for half a season, and to be honest I'd like to see Stephens get another half season. I know people do like to simultaneously complain that a) we don't invest in replacements because we are cheapskates and b) what's happened to our young players coming through its a disgrace so obviously as a solution that would never do. It won't surprise me if we don't sign a CB but then I didn't see Hoedt coming so you never know.

I know Forest and Derby fans (and Leicester, back in their L1 days) from living and working here for years. Sure they go into every season hoping to go up but it's hardly like they're all suicidal, they support their team and get on with it. Still plenty of fans at the ground, hope, loyalty and passion. Funnily enough discussed DCFC with my barber only this morning, they're having a great season and good luck to em, they might go up, they might not. Next boxing day They'll still pack out Pride Park as a Championship team regardless of division. Life goes on. At the end of the day we've finished 8th, 7th, 6th and 8th again and people have pi ssed and moaned throughout, we're having a rocky patch now and people still pi ssing and moaning (we're still above Forest and Ipswich and Bradford like you want us to be) so let's assume people pi ss and moan whatever. If you think life outside the PL can't "somehow be fun", I've seen plenty of evidence that people haven't found any fun in this division either, just self entitled misery about what we haven't done, and zero joy in what we have done. I've not forgotten the Championship, happy to conclude it won't be any less fun than bobbing about mid table Prem. I don't want us to drop but if we do it's hardly the end of the world.

Correct. Redmond's level.

The main thing in our favour is the fact that Fulham are as likely to be non-plussed about the cup as they I guess still harbour some hope for the play offs. I'm seeing a drab draw unless Boufal or Redmond take the opportunity to showboat against a Championship defence.

I believe the official cut-off for "this week" is close of business next Wednesday.

It's an opinion piece, no suggestion it is a quote or even sourced. So nowhere.

No worries, already said so. If it happens it happens. It's happened to bigger clubs than us. I'd like to get rid of MP and have a good old fashioned great escape. I can remember them from the time before it become some kind of national disgrace that we won't finish 7th. It's weird the club historian can't. If does happen there are loads of aways near me in the east Midlands so I can keep Fitzhugh happy on the old super-fan measuring stick. I'll make sure I let him know. I support the club just the same whatever division they're in. I'm looking forward to seeing us in lots and lots of FA Cup ties this season and I hope we win the cup. I'm sure you agree.

Openly admitted? Jesus wept. I said you need to be fortunate to have an owner willing to pi ss money away and we were fortunate. Most of the dins on here won't ever thank her for it so I can't blame her for selling up and let some other mug have a go. You want someone else with someone else's money to keep doing it forever because that's what you want but sorry life isn't like that. Interesting I see you are angling for Huddersfield ticket prices too so someone else's money subsidises that too. It's nice in la-la land, ain't it. There's plenty of TV money sloshing about, we generate money from ticket sales, player trading and commercial activity and off we go. That's how we should run. Carefully and sensibly like what you said.

You seem to be desperately trying to have your cake and eat it. Spend money sensibly and carefully but not so sensibly and carefully that we break even because that would be terrible.

I still haven't read your opening post but I saw the quotes about your music died routine. I've been debating with others not you. To answer your question. Arsenal when I was back in the city for my Christmas visit to my family, I went with my brother in law and my two brothers who have all been season ticket holders for twenty odd years, and on the way into the ground took a moment to look at the tile we bought for our Dad who never got to see the stadium but was a fan for his entire life. Before that, Brighton away. I don't live in the city, I go when I can and when I want. Never claimed to do anything different. That okay for you? Sorry I'll never be such a brilliant fan as you are but the club is mine and my family's heart and if you want to call me a fraud then fine but as far as I'm concerned you can fu ck off and kiss my born-and-bred Shirley arse. I'd be very careful accusing people of being a fraud when you are on this forum pushing a very, very self-centred agenda. Tread carefully.

What a load of horsesh it. You're supposed to be an adult.

Saying being sustainable is "not achievable in the long term" is a nonsense. Play it the other way round - the only way to be successful in the long term is to be unsustainable. Utterly ridiculous sentiment. Why can't we be sustainable in the Championship? We should be trying to be sustainable in any league we're in. Anything above break-even in football is a bonus and we should just be thankful for good fortune either through good management, some fool willing to throw money away, or both. We've been very lucky to have both, not that you'd think it on here. Hilariously on this thread the opening post is about someone saying the "day the music died" was the before the club spent a fu cking fortune to get promoted twice finish top eight four times, qualify for Europe twice and get to a cup final. *****ing and moaning following the longest period of unsustainable investment and prolonged glory in our entire history but "the day the music died" was BEFORE all of that happened. Moaning, whining pri ck. That's why owners shouldn't be pi ssing money away because whatever they do, dinlow fans want more and more, and even when we have been unsustainable season after season, guess what you can't move for pr icks on here moaning about our ownership. We've been unsustainable for years, so fu cking what, keep spending as long as it's their money not ours. For someone who claims to be not demanding anything you're still saying how "you need strong financial backing" - meaning someone elses money that you want them to spend for your benefit because you want them to. Or are you going provide it? What savings have you got?

Didn't say it was easy. Wrong. Didn't say I get excitement from P&Ls. Wrong. The thing I want is a sustainable club which is a reasonable aim which we should be able to hope whoever owns us should deliver. What you want is something we might get if we are very fortunate but have no right to demand or expect but fu ck that you want it so are demanding someone else spend their money because that's what you want. Guess what, they don't have to do that. Get over it.

Football club owners aren't there to help you live out your Sky Sports News fantasies by spending money just because you want them to. It's as simple as that, like it or not.

Why should they spend their own money and why shouldn't we try and turn a profit each year? That's exactly what we should be doing.

Perfect summary, brilliant stuff. I'm not going to bother reading FF's opening post as I can see from the couple of quoted bits that will be the usual drivel.

Ha! fair enough, I only saw it when I was googling Tony Xia's name. Clearly they should have invested in the Blades first then it would all be fine.

The worst ITK of all time with yet more solid gold based on what is already in the papers and forums. Keep it coming.

If by very good you mean entirely speculation then yeah, great.

You're being obtuse to the point of not saying anything now. Not aware that Tony Xia and the West Brom guy have followed up their purchases with announcement of infrastructure investment into Birmingham/the Black Country but I am not an expert so let me know. Elsewhere, China have invested big style into Sheffield https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jul/21/sheffield-lands-billion-pound-china-deal-to-create-hundreds-of-jobs Total football clubs purchased to make this happen: zero.

Our transfer business is going beyond parody. Please just sign anyone with a track record of actually scoring.

Would interesting to see how it felt coming to replace a pretty popular/competent keeper in Maik Taylor, especially as he was the new managers pet signing, along with poor old Lee Todd.

Am I right in thinking that buying a football club is really a completely pointless exercise for potential property developers, Chinese or otherwise? If a billionaire property magnate wants to sit down with Southampton City council to propose a multimillion opportunity to develop some real estate in the city, why do they need to buy the football club first? We're hardly going to turn them away. Plus surely you get more leverage with the council by doing things that actually help them out, like sponsoring civic events or whisking councillors off on fact-finding jollies to grease the wheels. The people running the city don't really care who owns SFC. So personally I don't buy it.

Agree with this - and if we don't see affirmative action in the next week or so I will place Goa and co into the "worse than current" column. I'm expecting them to drive action to protect their investment.