CB Fry

Why should they?

This season has always been about the League Cup for me.

What are those "people" saying now, then?

When did Les Reed promise the Champions League?

That's Eric - one of the many managers/coaches that came out of that Aberdeen team - Our own Wee Gordon, Mark Mcghee and Alex Mcleish and probably some others I can't remember.

He promised Champions League now? Promised it? As a fan for the last sixty years I now understand how galling it must be for the once mighty European football mega giant you supported to be slumming it halfway up the poxy Premier League. I mean it's pretty despicable how far we have fallen from our huge continent- dominating days, isn't it? I hate Les Reed I do. Hate him and his promises.

So anything below the CL places is Mid-table mediocrity now, is it? It doesn't matter whether I think we can repeat it this season, you said mid table mediocrity is the best we can hope for when I think we've beaten that in the last two years anyway. If anything below 4th is mediocre to you then you're probably supporting the wrong football club. We are very likely to never finish fourth, so get used to it.

This makes pretty much no sense whatsoever. We had an arriviste/underdog/unexpected team at the top of our league, er, six months ago. I'm always incredibly sceptical about rants like this because I suspect you have no genuine interest in a league "anyone can win", just a league Southampton Football Club do win. If you got your wish and the current top six was Burnley, WBA, West Ham, Middlesborough, Sunderland and Stoke I seriously doubt you'd be thrilled with the level playing field of it all. You'd be moaning more than you are now.

Dortmund are far bigger, more prestigious and richer than we are and still sell through players. The likes of Porto (or Ajax, which could also be mentioned) is the small matter of, err, them being the biggest clubs in their country and playing in a league they can win, and win domestic cups fairly easily. It's not that difficult to understand is it?

The non-dinlows amongst us understood exactly what VVD's new contract was all about.

Who was that club that finished sixth last season and seventh the season before, then? Could have sworn that was us.

There's drivel and there is drivel. Seriously, well done.

That front seven of Lallana, Lambert, Pelle, Austin, Tadic, Mane and Boufal could have been immense and we'd only then need three more frontline attackers in the squad but of course our board are too small minded to invest the £50m required. Gutless.

Can you fit an entire Terry's Chocolate Orange in your mouth?

There's no evidence that SFC do this with any player. You know about Suarez a) because he had the clause and b) therefore it was communicated out by whichever party (player/agent/selling club/buying club/brokers/hangers on/etc). With every single tranfer out we've done it never, ever gets mentioned. So let's say we don't do it. Our players know we will sell when the conditions are right for us and the player. I have absolutely no doubt our stance helps us attract good players to the club.

This thread virtually writes itself. Well done everybody.

It's a forensic cross examination of absolutely nothing of substance, though. I like Andrew Neil but that was an utterly futile interview.

We've overtaken Forest and are close to Derby seemingly on the basis that they are 20 years older than us historically (ie Forest formed in 1865 not 1885) so have more "all time" to divide their total attendance between. Both those clubs have an absolute/total attendance of some 9-10m more than us. If it is really true that this is driven by solid attendances in the 1870s, fair enough, but I'm not sure. Basically I think we should go back 50 years for this kind of thing.

Pretty sure it's just idiots on here. From where I am sitting the season is going exactly to plan. In contention to be in the Europa post-Christmas? Yep. Hanging around mid table perfectly nicely? Yep. I'd mentally written off the League Cup in August but here we are in the quarters of that too. So against my expectations we are exceeding. I think we've all got a decent idea now of the team we'll play (Puel is smashing it on rotation, far better than RK or MP ever managed) and it'll be good enough to do the job out there.

Er, right. We're playing Saturday-Thursday-Sunday or similar most weeks now and clubs in Europe need large squads and player rotation. It's not "tinkering" It's what we have to do.

There's cutting it fine and there's cutting it fine. Good luck!

Thanks for all the PMs, they really helped me understand it all. I feel like a right expert now :-) :-) :-)

I'm just gutted about how far Stoke have fallen. They were streaking away from us and on the cusp of level two (of four) last time our Master Craftsman developed a ranking system (about eight weeks ago), now they're down among the dead men with us in a newly minted "middle pack" second league thing. Feel real bad for them. :-( :-(

There's some very special people on this forum.

Where does doddisalegend reference bedwetting? Bizarre. Personally agree that it is quite nice that the team who had all the chances, didn't take one and then dropped points is not us for a change. We gained a decent point so happy days.