CB Fry

The CoC. Love it.

That statement is utterly cringeworthy and seems worded to humiliate the boy as much as anything. Puncheon is a petulant c u*t no doubt, but Cortese is no better with press releases like that. All that said, my only advice to Jason Puncheon is "be any good" come Saturday and especially Tuesday. We need him.

I was happy to pay the membership fee to join, but decided against it when there was a three quid booking fee and I had to pay to park outside the restaurant.

Can't help thinking we'd have been a stronger outfit if we'd managed to sign Gorkks and/or Jamal in the summer. Those two deals both collapsed for unclear reasons, not that the cult-of-Cortese types on here would ever admit that the man did anything wrong or could do anything wrong whatsoever, ever.

Even if this is true, Hooper aint going nowhere unless he hands in a transfer request. Celtic have gone too far to lose that much face.

That team can beat Leicester City. There's two strikers there desperate to prove we don't need to spend £10m on a new one. A kid from Spurs about to become a six month all time Southampton legend. And basically the squad that have got us to the top of the league. 3-1 win.

I think we need West Ham to win for the motivation. We've been blessed in the last few weeks with Boro and West Ham fluffing their lines. We can't expect that to be the case for the rest of the season. Something to aim at, to catch up with, could be just the kick up the bum we need.

Jeez. The only thing that will see Hooper sign at Saints is if Gary Hooper hands in a transfer request. It's jolly exciting this little delusion that we are just going to bid and bid and bid and bid and bid but it is not happening. We've had a go, we are not going to break the bank, and Celtic are not negotiating over a price, they don't need to sell and they are not going to sell to us, as our manager has said. It's over. What if this was the other way round - say QPR had come in with three bids for Lallana and then Mark Hughes was quoted as saying he'd given up would you be saying "they're just waiting for deadline day and then we'll sell". Bet you wouldn't. You'd be praising Cortese to the rooftops for seeing them off.

Okay precious. You haven't screamed. You have a knack of asking pretty dopey questions though. Part of the calculations in that risk would be any evidence that every single other club that have got promoted haven't found the need to jizz £10m on a single striker. I am bewildered why you've stopped at £10million. Why not £40m? After all, there's £100m pot of gold at the end of it so must be worth it.

Yes. Next question. About three weeks ago no one on this forum was even considering Gary Hooper.

Even when he signs for us, I am pretty sure Saints won't hold the "copyright" on Lee, and although they can ask him not to speak to the press they can't make him, and I seriously doubt "you must never speak to the Echo" will be in his "contract". Not sure where you get off calling people naive when what you've put there makes very little sense whatsoever.

Hang on, we're top of the frigging league. And every single other club that has got promoted over the last decade has just about managed to do it without spending ten million pounds on one striker. Like others have said on this forum we have already improved the squad, and the squad we have now is more than capable of getting us promoted. Screaming about spending £10m on one player like it is a straight choice between promotion and failure is absolute hysterical nonsense.

If West Ham or Cardiff had signed this kid then plenty on here would be spitting blood. So that's good enough for me. Hopefully he's got a bit of pace. Plus, as well as giving us another option, he might help improve De Ridder's game - he's got some real competition for his role now.

Yes, dear. The championship this year is the hardest league of all time. Burnley went up the season Sheff United lobbed £4m at James Beattie which plenty on this thread have mentioned. Blackpool went up with Newcastle and West Brom (obviously scrimped together teams with players on five hundred quid a week) and very strong and expensive Forest and Cardiff squads. Derby went up the season we spent £7m in the summer, and everyone at the time complained about how much our competition were spending in January when we didn't spend any more. Norwich went up with QPR who spent a fortune, and Cardiff with Craig flipping Bellamy in the squad. But no, nothing compares to this season. Of course not.

Nice to see this spasticated garbage getting a run out yet again. If we want to finish second we will most likely need to achieve the points total that the second placed tends to get. If you are in a race, and you overtake the runner in third, that makes you.....wait for it....third. Not second.

You brought up Real buying Ronaldo. I wonder how it is at all relevant. You're the one picking out things that are uncommon. I am saying we don't need to buy a single player for £6m to get promoted, and my examples for that are the many, many championship level clubs who have not spent six million pounds on a single player and got promoted. I'd also use Southampton football club getting to top of the division without spending six million pounds on a player as an additional example. If you think Real buying Ronaldo, as not being common, as being a more relevent example to the job in hand then fill your boots son. I'll call it a pretty wrong headed jumping off point for the debate though. If that's where you're head is at, then really it's pointless trying to debate with you, especially you're deciding to pretend I've got upset, your the one squinneying about not giving two ****s about things. Bless.

Christ. The point about it not being common is that it is not a need in the way some are making out. Instead of trawling the internet for players who have cost CCC clubs £4m or more (funnily enough, no one has found a six million player which was my bloody point) have a look at teams who have got promoted without spending £6 (or indeed £4m) on single players - from Norwich to Blackpool to Burley to Derby to whoever. If you seriously think we are going to start acting like Real frigging Madrid then you need to grow up a bit.

There you go - six years ago. Not that common, and definitely not a need. We need a striker, but we don't need to spend six million. Spending six million on a single player could create as many problems as it solves. Can you imagine the venom on here if the poor bugger goes five without scoring....?!

We don't need to spend £6m on one player to secure promotion from the NPC - I can't think of a club in the last few years who have spent that kind of cash in that way to get out - QPR and Newcastle didn't on single players. You'd probably have to go back to Tigana's Fulham for comparable behaviour, and that must be a decade back. Although I have just remembered Leicester lobbing £5m at Matt Mills but that is mental mental mental beyond all human comprehension. To get somewhere to "guaranteeing" promotion, then yes some investment definitely needed, but lets not go loopy if this deal doesn't happen because from where I am standing it still looks highly unlikely, from both ends - I can't see Celtic standing for the humilation of having to sell their best player to a second tier English club, and I can't see Cortese sanctioning that spend. And, finally, I am not sure Adkins, regardless of how much he rates the boy, would be alltogether comfortable with parachuting a £6m signing on the squad he's been building. We'll see though.

Care to enlighten us on what you did, personally, to mark the anniversary last year? Or the year before that? Or the 80th anniversary? Or the 75th? If it's up there in your consciousness alongside your memories of Lawrie Mac then I'd expect a pretty comprehensive response.

Let's be honest, it really doesn't make that much difference. We'll have 2,500 odd fans there, which is phenomenal and will motivate the players in itself, and support will be shown. Improving the quality or variety of the songs is not really going to add much to the performance on the pitch. It's a local game for me so I'll be there, I'll sing some of the time, but not all of the time. It doesn't really matter that much - Rickie Lambert doing in his cruciates, or the Leibherrs putting the club up for sale, will have far more of a genuine impact on our prospects than, say, 25% more singing at away games. Don't get me wrong - we have brilliant away support and we are taking superb numbers on the road, and that is a postive thing and it is motivating the players. But I don't agree that those fans "upping their game" a bit more is going to make any further effect.

Posted these on the other thread. I like this one - simple, memorable and might actually get sung: He knows Kung Fu He knows Kung Fuuuuuuuuu Tadanari Leeee He's coming for you To the Rickie Lambert tune, obviously we'd only sing it if our Lambo is injured (lets be honest, no one is ever going to sing it): He stands at only four foot three Tad-an-ari He's a big a fan of Bruce Lee Tad-an-ari He gets the ball he takes the pis s He likes Sushi - it tastes of fish Tad-an-ari Southampton goal machine Also, a variation on the Cortese choon, again, might get sung: Tadanari - oh-hoh Tadanari - oh-hoh He eats lots of Sushi He farking hates Pompey etc. That is all.

Despite this, Notts county's ground is actually in Nottingham City, where the Forest ground is over the river in West Bridgford, part of Rushcliffe Borough council's juristiction, and therefore more like the county of Nottinghamshire. A bit like St Mary's being in Stoneham. A bit, but not a lot because the City ground is still pretty central. Jeez. I've bored myself. Looking forward to going, nice local one for me.

Hooper Loopy Nuts are we Them and us and them and me He'll show you what he can do with a football ball and the s'fampton crew Score a goal and screw back Gary Hooper on the attack Hooper Loopy nuts are we We're all Hooper loopy If we actually do sign him I'll sing it on my own. Actually, no I won't.