CB Fry

Norwich is a pretty decent city to visit IMO. Blaming Norwich fans for Gunn is the same me blaming you for Steve Wigley.

Best part of the transaction IMO. You don't have to look far to find the word "lazy" next to this guy's name, so this should be a decent boot up the backside for him. Remember how good Saga was for us when he was playing for a permanent move? This is probably Ostemobor's last really big chance so he'll need to take it. Win-win.

If it was scuppered because of leaks we can say goodbye to ever signing anyone ever again, especially if we make it to the Prem when there will be lots of leaks/agents/journalists from all over the world to contend with. Signing a player who can't get in the first team of a struggling and poverty striken CCC side is hardly the white heat of the global media spotlight, is it. Anyway, we signed Fonte and there were plenty of rumours about that one, so It can't be that. Can it?

We signed Perry from Luton when they were in L1 and we were CCC, didn't we?

ML only bought into Saints. He hasn't bought into the whole British Football Industry or the British Sports Media, so no-one is going to "allow" NC to control every piece of news concerning Southampton Football Club. People are allowed to judge NC on the decisions he makes and the actions he takes. Just because we were saved six months ago and we are all very happy does not make every subsequent decision automatically correct and unquestionable. We have zero facts on this one, but there are certainly noises that NC is "difficult" and this obsession with stopping the press/TV/etc is only going to end in tears.

Is it the civic centre clock tower looking like man bits? Or is that just me?

Those points about "why aren't Chelsea beating everyone" weren't good points they were lame. Then he said something about Leeds beating Man United, and the journo rightly said "what's that got to do with Derby losing to S****horpe 4-1 at home". Answer - nothing. And his list of the Derby coaches and their glittering playing acheivements - if that had anything to do with coaching ability Bobby Charlton would've been England manager and Alex Ferguson would be unemployed. Savage was just randomly chucking sentences around to avoid offering any explanation to Derby's sizable fanbase about why they are currently p*ss poor. He was complaining that the radio reported people booing. Well they did. What does he want Radio Derby to do? "Super Derby left the field to a standing ovation after they bravely lost their third home game on the spin...." Savage was showing utter disrespect to the fans who pay money and pay his wages. Passionate delivery is one thing, but don't let it disguise the fact that Savage is thick as sh it.

Eh? We only need to finish sixth to get into the play-offs. If we hit championship form, we'll do it. If we don't we won't. We don't need or expect anyone to do us a favour and even if we did why on earth do we need seven of the buggers to do us a favour? Seven? At least seven in your words? The rest of the division won't be able to stop us if we hit anywhere near 2 points per game. We wouldn't need to worry about a mythical seven. You couldn't name these seven could you? I could do with a laugh...

Looks pretty much there by all accounts. Burnley refusing to pay compensation to Doncaster Rovers for their manager so have gone for the spectacularly cheap and staggering option, Laws. And this is supposed to be a Premier League club. Pathetic, but then there are too many non entity clubs in the League at the moment. Laws may prove us all wrong, but I can't see it.

What is the matter with some people? It's not about "needing the extra money". It's just that it is a business venture and will be treated as such. Who anywhere "needs the extra money"? Did Ronaldo "need the extra money" when he went from Man United to Madrid? Does Jonathan Ross "need the extra money" his next contract is going to get him? Do the Bankers quibbling about five or six figure bonuses "need the extra money". Does Rupert Murdoch "need" any extra money? Is he stopping any time soon? Can you give me a thousand pounds please? I'll PM you my address and you can send me a cheque tomorrow. After all, I could easily work out what a tiny percentage of your income that is over ten years, meaning you won't be "needing the extra money" either. You can laugh at me but the idea that ML is just throwing money around for the fun of it is simply ridiculous. This is a business venture for Cortese to run and it will run a course which will hopefully see us promoted twice very quickly.

Quite. If we sign him tomorrow, then it would suggest Sky got hardly anything wrong. I'm a teeny bit worried about how precious NC is coming across with this kind of thing, the barney with the Echo and so on. If he can't handle the "media spotlight" of the local paper and the rigours of signing a CCC reserve team player then gawd help him in the Premier League*.

If in doubt make a load of news like it is everyone else in the wrong and everyone else is being unreasonable and not sure this is legal etc etc. They did all this guff with the Taxman which will be receiving the shortest of shrift very soon and the Premier League will be just the same. Pompey owe money to countless clubs, the League know this and will distribute the money owed to Pompey to those other clubs. This is what will happen. The rest is just desperate PR noise from that Lawyer bloke who over the weekend described this season's gate receipts as "money bought into the club" by Ali Bin Whatsisname. Clowns.

Savage made a good point but then laboured it to death. Fair play to the journalist, I think Savage thought he could bully him but he failed - "get out there and do your job" was a great response from the reporter. Derby are atrocious at the moment and Savage's responses were a bit lame once he'd made his first point.

I didn't realise it was that simple. Maybe someone should tell Hull, Bolton, Blackburn, that lot down the road and pretty much every Premier League team in the country, because I don't think they'd recognise your crock of gold at the end of the rainbow theory.

It's a fair point. I'm certainly not saying ML looks at us a just numbers on a balance sheet and of course his visibility is great. If he grows to love the club great, but even that has risks. Simon Jordan and John Madjeski both loved their clubs (Madjeski loved his hometown more than football but it is the same point) but both have stopped investing because football clubs are selfish bottomless pits. And they are both getting plenty of stick now, rightly or wrongly. My main point is warning against believing that this whole venture is football altruism where a billionaire is throwing money at Saints just for fun with no expectation of any return beyond the sporting. He is enjoying going to the matches I am sure but I would also suggest the businessman in him enjoys the idea of delivering a stable Premier League football club and then selling that on at a profit within the decade. That, for me, would be his ultimate prize. After all, great businessmen know when to get out. ML seems sensible, honest and is doing wonders for us, long may it continue. But I will always think that he will want to realise his investment one day, and I am perfectly happy with that.

That would only stand up if it was his idea to invest in football and/or he had a long standing passion for football and specifically English football. It was Cortese's idea to invest in Saints and he sold the concept as a business venture/opportunity to Leibherr. You mention his age like Markus is a doddering old fool looking to put his feet up. Well, Rupert Murdoch is a billionaire and is 78.He's not stopping either. So sorry we are definitely going to disagree here, there is no way that Saints is ML's retirement train-set to play with. It's a business venture. If it is anything it is a project for NC to run with. The success of it will be judged primarily in sporting terms, but ML is not going to lob millions at it just for fun. Expect an exit strategy (five years+ hence) and our owners not to lose out at that exit. It is business. And that's absolutely fine by me.

I honestly think it would be something to do with playing in League One. Fonte might have gone for it, and Stock maybe, but surely they're not all going to drop down a league for at this precise moment in time looks very likely to be a season and a half of third tier football. Even with the fantastic set up we have It's just a bit odd. It's almost like football players are unthinking mercenaries......

It can be done, but Sheff Utd had to get into and then relegated from the Prem to bring that about - that would have been their second year of £11m parachute payments. And I am sure you can be a profitable CCC club without parachute payments but then not at the same time as pushing for promotion in the short term. I doubt, say, Forest are going to return a profit for this season. But they might get promoted. But yep, you're right, this is about ML realising the value of his assets, which for him and us means establishing a Premier League club. So great!

Spain have got some sh *t-hot video editing schools apparently.

I think TDD makes some valid points. Let's remember that ML and NC don't love Saints like we do (I don't expect them to), they are business people and at the moment are making calculated punts. But the challenge with English football is you can get promoted to the CCC and you won't make money - if we are buying £1m players now, the expectation is to be buying £3m players then. And you can easily get promoted to the Prem and not make money - in our very best season up there we made £500k profit if memory serves, and that was a lifetime away when we were paying pauper wages. Even Hull have racked up debts and they seem to have spent pretty conservatively. Your Boltons etc aint never going to make no money. So we do have to watch the size of the bubble we are blowing up. The plan I have no doubt from ML and NC is to get us to the Prem as quickly as possible and after a season or so sell high to the next passing arab/F1 owner/yank. It's a fine plan and I support it. They bought low and will sell high. But that was Madjeski's plan too and that didn't quite work. So I am loving the current spending and don't question any motives from our owners. It's exciting and I love it. But let's not kid ourselves that ML is Steve Gibson. The ML era will have a finite lifespan,whereas Gibson looks like he is there for life and for love, which brings its own problems. But at the moment we all have the same agenda - Promotion, then Promotion. In a way, getting there is the easy bit. So let's worry about that for now, because it is enough to worry about.

You too, which is why I am happy to agree to only slightly differ. My main angle is this is the first genoowine inside info I can remember seeing and it was quite exciting last night (as browsing a webforum goes of course). All the ITK guff we've had over the years and some lad says "I'm going to ask him" and he did and got a response. It was just great, it was a nice thread to see taking shape yesterday. Of course there is no harm in keeping it off for now and lets hope we do sign the lad - he's local and second tier quality, so what's not to love.

Fine, just a couple of points. > Maybe we don't want a player dopey enough to post his own transfer speculation on facebook to sign for us. > God help us in the Premier League if Cortese is determined to control the entire media agenda for his football club, when we're back in the big time he might come up against the odd Wille McKay or Kenwynne Jones. He is going to have to start swallowing this stuff. Welcome to professional football. > I don't underestimate forums or the internet, but I do when it is the transfer of a player hardly anyone in Britain knows or cares about to a club in the third tier of English Football. We'll agree to disagree, [thanks for your response Minty too], we fall on two sides of an argument but I can see what you're saying. He'd better be a bloody good player if we are cutting him this much slack from the off.

Well that takes me back to the point I made earlier - this forum is not that important, and that kind of thinking is just "forum ego". Do you really think Brian Stock is going to give two chuffs about you and me? And if there was never anything posted on here negative about, say players, managers, chairmen etc just in case we upset them then it would be a pretty dull forum, no?

It has also created some unbelievable pomposity. It's a web forum and all a bit of a laugh. If a footballer is dopey enough to start talking up his own transfer on facebook more fool him and fair play to whoever found it and spread it about a bit. I thought forums like this were poke and prod the ridiculous edifice that is professional football, not be an anodyne outpost of the PR wing of the Football League. It's not about impatience around Stock's signing, I couldn't give a stuff if it takes an hour a month or we don't sign him. Until he signs he hasn't signed, fine. But this was a lovely little mini-story created by this forum and it has been stamped down so we don't upset the club or the player (diddums!). Where's the fun in that?

Quite. Brian Stock talks about being excited about moving to Saints on Facebook and it somehow makes the deal fall through (not sure why it would, because Doncaster are hardly going to want to keep him) then that's Stock's problem and the clubs decision to bin the deal. How is it the fault of this forum, and who is going to blame this forum? When that dopey Palace player did the same thing (he was going to Fulham I think) it was the player that got it in the neck. The player. No one else. I saw the Stock story develop last night and it was the closest I've seen any forum get to a genuine story. It was this forum at its best. Not least because it was one lad brave enough to ask a player and then report the answer. Not some pompous "ITK" giving it large. A genuine, delicous exclusive. Fantastic. And then the mods delete it because they don't want to upset Cortese. Good god. I think the people who run this forum are letting their egos run away with themselves. You're just not that important chaps.