suewhistle

Bloomin heck, some of you are hard on young players. Some don't make the grade but I've seen enough players at the beginning of their careers who've had something and gone on do do good things: maybe not always at the same pace, but they've done it. Channon was quite slow to mature, you could see with Stevie Mills (RIP) immediately that he had something, the same with Bale and Walcott. Lallana is also a bit different, maybe not in the same class, but he has something about him. Give people a chance, folks, purlease..

Oooh, yes please.. Obviously not a regular now, and I always used to turn up at the last minute from various hostelries - got my timing perfect apart from the occasional queue in the ladies - but there was nothing to get me to SMS early. Obviously they'd have to have limited supplies so as not to waste any, which would encourage speedy drinking - but I've been to pubs where they have barrels on chocks, or even springs to tip the barrels slowly - along with cold water jackets to keep the beer cool. It's maybe a little more effort - but with pubs if the landlord doesn't make an effort I don't drink there. I'd add Hopback to the suggestions above. Summer Lightening is good but maybe GFB as a football session beer. The guys I go with (with a little help from me) could make quite a few gallon inroads into a barrel without really trying. A great idea...

At least 6 of the Swiss team have Georgian names, how odd!

I'm with Chez on this one. Take a young player, playing out of position in a bad team at a club on a downward spiral and with a bad atmosphere and slate him when he doesn't perform as well as we know he might. Perhaps the new mood of optimism will rub off on him, and a few bigger crowds and better atmosphere might also help. As for Scheiderlin, he needs to play alongside a midfielder with bite, that's for sure, but he's got good vision and control and a great long pass. Only 19, but captaining a French national side and you don't do that without ability and potential. So yes, they both need to do better, but let Saints get the benefit of their development, and stop thinking that it'll be easy to replace them with anything better or with more potential.

HA! I was wrong there too!

OK mods, can you alter the SW to allow 'half suppressed/concealed laugh" into the list of permitted words. Just because a word contains another offensive one is not a reason, after all you allow S****horpe.

Sod me, it edited out a word which is what Mutley used to do... OK then, I'll allow myself to indulge in a bit of schadenfreude...

Having moved to Italy from a PO postcode I've had a bit of winding up from friends (not much as the Blue are indeed Few) so I'll allow myself a s******. Like Trousers et al. I wouldn't want them to fold though. Having a few local derbies as we pass in opposite directions would be nice.. let's at least have the rivalry on the pitch.

Yeah, it's confusing. I live in Italy and still get caught out over 'Nicola' for a guy - same with 'Andrea' here, although at least the stress is different.

As I've mentioned in other threads I'll be driving through Switzerland on my way from Italy for my August visit. I might get myself a Swiss flag as they're just the right shade of red and white... How many shall I get, any orders??? I'm also going to put the Saints sticker back in my car window. What a relief, thank goodness we still have a club..

Perhaps someone on the OS has a sense of humour.. "Tired of pressing F5 on your computer? Then why not sign up to the official Saints FC text alerts"

So it's a mass migration from the Alps then! Millwall and Brentford in the diary, and as I'm pootling around the UK visiting friends reckon on Huddersfield away, as well. Getting tickets for Swindon away may be a problem...

Well, it's a bit a later out here in "sunny Italy, always on the vino, always on the spree " (ask you grandad if he was in the Eighth army...), but if all goes well tomorrow I'll put the Saints car stickers back in the rear window of my Italian reg car so that I can proudly show them when I drive through Switzerland for my summer visit to the UK. Maybe I'll even see a home win on my next trip! It'll be the first in about 4/5 visits! Any other overseas saints back for the Millwall game?

Hasn't he left yet? Back to trousers' (?) point - yes, it bloody well is relevant if the club could have been sold in a tenth of the time. The whole point about the recent world financial crisis is that it has been engendered by systems that benefit the traders and not the customers.. there has been no no downsides to the rsiks the traders have taken, at least not for them. It's part of the whole unequal game. I don't mind people benefiting from taking risks, it's when there's no risk to THEM..

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jul/07/southampton-takeover-league-one sorry if this has been mentioned..

Can we ask the guys at Hagiography Press (Duncan, Dave J, Dave B, Gary etc..) to send the guy a selection of their books so he'll realise just what a great back story this club has? Then he might realise what a responsibility he's taken on... Hop Schweiz!

Hmm, not based on the games I've seen on my last few visits to the UK. Let's hope I'm luckier when [if?] we play Millwall. What I know of the Swiss is that don't spend their money freely...

I suppose I've been lucky as due to a flat move and Italian telecomms inefficiency I've been bereft of contact with the outside world... so can anyone summarise what's happened since last Tuesday?! As I live half an hour from the border with Switzerland should I be off there tomorrow to do some research? It seems we are at least within sight of actually continuing in existence so do I disconnect for another week and hope the news will then be better. Oh gawd, this is excruciating.

Christ! How much did you bid for the club?

The bit I don't understand is that if Fry and his team have done a proper job there shouldn't be an issue over the availability of funds: over their disposition perhaps, but not the inherent ability of the backers to fund the purchase in some way.

I'm beginning to feel slightly nauseous..

That's unlike you to be so optimistic..

Same here. As for the team, Stoke always used to get a load of stick, probably because all the merchant marine families from Northam remembered Captain Smith came from Stoke.

Perhaps that's what's happening here, given the Catch-22 over the CVA.

On the OS just now..... http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~1698411,00.html