Saint Keef

My Grandparents were actually called Pearl and Dean. We just used to call them Grandma and Gran pa pa pa pa pa pa papapa.

I've just joined a Fantasy Accountancy League. I've signed mainly Leicester's, Man City's, and Chelsea's Accountants. You can spend up to $800,000,000,000 before you incur any penalties. If you pick Everton's Accountants for your team you can spend £1.75 with an added bonus of being able to sell a second-hand dugout on ebay.

The bloke who invented "auto correct" and "predictive text" actually died last week. His funeral is next Monkey.

Good point, I hadn't thought of that.

Depending on fitness - a loan of Lavia would be nice as I can't see him getting much game time at Chelsea - him and Downes in front of our defence would be...........most acceptable!

Surely it's a Ram? Standing in a Dale? New goalkeeper incoming?

The betting odds probably swung in Saints favour when the bookies saw that the COT (was it Turkish?) had put up a green (Celtic's colours) Smiley (rhymes with O'Riley) on Saintsweb 🤣 (addition) Which leads me to wonder.......if we were to have a bet now on O'Riley coming to Saints, could we be "done" for having insider knowledge based on our association with the COT. Just a thought. 😧

I actually thought Smallbone was MOTM in the final at Wembley. He improved as last season progressed and I believe has developed into a very good player. His through ball to Arma for the winner at Wembley was superb and allowed Arma to run on to it.....and we all know how that ended up. I'd be happy to see him in the starting XI.

Surely not! Lallana training separately....... injured? This cannot be true. Frankly, I don't believe you.

Nothing constructive to add really, other than that's a really good bit of news.

I wonder where Starling Bank are, in the pecking order of sponsors?

Nobody bothered to let me know we'd stopped hating them. You'll be telling me next that we've stopped hating Everton......and Liverpool......and (surely not!) that lot down the road. 😀

Trying to put a positive spin on this. Just my observations, but when McCarthy came in, it was immediately clear that his ball control at his feet, and short-pass distribution is not as good as Baz's, (we probably all knew that already anyway) and in those few games Alex played we gradually moved away from playing so much of the "tippy-tappy bollocks" around our own area. It took a couple of games to suddenly readjust that style and to me, we looked better for it - ie. the play-off semi's and the final, we looked better for getting up the field quicker. So if it means we ditch the "tippy tappy brave" stuff then personally I think that's a positive. We would get ripped apart trying to play that way in the Prem. I think (hope) RM suddenly realised that too. I also think Alex commands the box better on crosses than Baz. The near post shot stopping is still a worry to me, so, whilst being somewhat underwhelmed by him possibly being our "new Number 1" I do think there are positives in there, if it means we play a bit more direct. Alex seems a bit calmer under pressure. At times, Baz looked like a rabbit in the headlights. Time will tell of course. All Keepers are prone to errors from time to time and Ramsdale has made his share, but I agree with those who say that he would probably be an upgrade on both Alex and Baz. Anyway folks, that's my immediate thoughts.

Hi Noodles. I don't know you and didn't know your lad, but like you say, we are all part of a family. It felt like that a few weeks ago as the coaches turned up at St Mary's and red smoke filled the air before the play-off semi's. And again at Wembley. As someone else has said above, Elijah's last game would have been at Wembley. I know football doesn't really matter at a time like this, but if ever there was a fitting tribute....Wembley 2024! My sincerest best wishes to you and your family mate.

Sad to see him go, but probably the right move for all concerned. As someone else said, £7m for the service he has provided for the club is an absolute bargain. Sincere best wishes to him.

I've copied and pasted the relevant details from the report. A couple of points to note - Wolves maybe interested. Would that scupper Che going to them? Says he was valued at around £50m, but that could drop to £25m-£30m with sell-ons and buy back clauses. Would he want to go to Europe (Monaco)? Would he like to come back to Saints? He proved himself here previously, could he be the answer to our search for a striker. If it worked out well, £25m would seem like a bargain. He obviously doesn't fit into Chelsea's plans. Anyway, lot's to consider and it's a discussion point. Here's the BBC report...... Chelsea striker Armando Broja has interest from multiple clubs in Europe, including French side Monaco. The Albania striker, 22, is available for sale this summer and is ready to take the next step in his career. This year Broja had an unsuccessful loan spell at Fulham, who paid a £4m penalty fee for not starting the former Vitesse and Southampton striker in 10 or more matches. Fulham are not interested in making the loan spell permanent after a superb end to the season for Rodrigo Muniz but long-term admirers AC Milan and Wolves could join Monaco in the race for Broja's signature. Monaco are seeking a replacement for outgoing striker Wissam Ben Yedder, with Red Bull Salzburg's Karim Konate and Ajax's Georges Mikautadze also on the club's list. The Blues valued Broja at close to £50m in January but the fee could drop to between £25m and £30m. Chelsea could look to leverage any discounts by adding a substantial sell-on or a favourable buy-back clause to make any deal more worthwhile.

Yep. Still buzzing here too. I've lost count of the times I've watched that goal. I still keep panicking every time I watch it, that he's going to miss it and I'll suddenly wake up from a beautiful dream.........screaming!

I haven't read all of the posts on this thread, so apologies if this has already been mentioned. Just a thought. It's pretty unanimous here that we want Flynn Downes to sign on a permanent. However, West Ham might not be so keen to let him go. If we were willing to take Danny Ings off their hands, and it is possible they do want him out (new management etc), it may give us some negotiating power with them and the Flynn Downes situation if we agreed to take both, Flynn Downes at a reasonable asking price, and Danny Ings on a free or "nominal fee", with reduced wages. Would that be of interest I wonder. As I say, only a thought.

Thanks mate. And agree with everything you've said too.

I'm really pleased for him. I thought over the two semi-finals and the final, he was immense. A stunning goal in the second leg against WBA (he was actually my MOTM in that game, and others sitting around me agreed he should have got it) which broke the deadlock, and a great through-ball to Armstrong in the final for an assist, which of course, again broke the deadlock. Having watched the Final at Wembley (from up in the Gods) and twice more on TV since, he never stopped putting the effort in. He's obviously matured from a couple of years ago, and I for one, think he deserves a shot now at the Prem. "Will Smallbone - he's one of our own." Well done lad.

We actually live in the Premier League. We've just been on holiday for a year!

......or is Che back? or is Stewart back? I sincerely hope so, but lets be honest, anyone can show them kicking a football in training gear and say what they want in a presser to confuse the opposition. The guy I think we have missed more that anyone is Stuey Armstrong. It felt like he was getting back to his best. Has there been any mention of him?

Aw, that's very nice of you to offer, but I'm all sorted out thank you. I'm sure there will be someone who'll want them. Cheers again.

Hi - Very interested.

An extremely long shot I know, but if anyone is wondering how they can get rid of two (or even one) adult tickets, I would still be extremely interested. My email is wilburykeef@gmail.com I'm happy to meet at Wembley or arrange to pick up if reasonably local. (Hampshire/Berkshire). Thank you.