suewhistle

As it happens I am moving house at the moment. Thankfully to another flat in the same block. Everything is in the new place except this laptop and my fridge. Waiting for techy guys and friendly muscle to do the final bits. Real pain as I keep having to come back here to update... doubly stressy!

I second Chrisobee above, except that I still play but take a similar take it or leave it approach to watching. I certainly can't get interested in any Italian team. But I should be there for Millwall with renewed optimism, and let's hope there's a few others come out of the woodwork for that first game, as a nearly full house would be such a boost to everybody.

I reckon 12.20 Think of all of us far flung Saints logging in at different times all over the world...Is that BST or GMT or UTC? (That's why I was always so crap at working out tide times and heights.)

As long as they weren't cheap rubbish from DFS.

Yeah, and probably not the type of British footballer physically abusing their body on the Saturday night lash. It really surprises me that footballers seem to be one of the few groups of professionals in sport that have a considerable element who behave this way. Now I like a drink, I'm a creaky old veteran playing low level women's football normally off the bench, but when my international clearance came through in the middle of last season I changed my Saturday night drinking habits (we play on Sunday). We could probably do with a few more players with his attitude. You get the impression that he'll improve and we all know the ones we don't think ever will...

Yep, we've already had that suggestion... from me. Gawd, we're all getting twitchy, aren't we!

Not if she's a Saints fan...

It varies, I'm not over very often, but sometimes Shamrock Quay and I can pretend I own a Hallberg-Rassy, or I go the scenic beach route from St Denys: Junction, SWestern or The Dolphin, or if skint the Wetherspoons in London Road or... Anyway, I do a fair bit of catching up when I'm over. As much as I like the local red wine you can't beat a decent pint. The Guide Dog tends to be after, up to The Honest or Bent Brief, then... oh dear...

Noooo, don't even joke about it! Perhaps they are selling a few assets to come up with some readies, and don't want to be seen as a forced seller...

Whilst I agree with the general tone of the argument I must admit I haven't felt the need to start a new thread or even write long screeds about the process. But doing so does satisfy a need with some posters.

Add Italy to your list, Eurosaint!

Yeah, but the male West Ham fans are even uglier... There are some cute women in Brighton though!:-)

Brighton away, and then I'll make a night of it... :-)

B******s!:-) Some of us even play. I'd agree with the OP though. Our season finished late last week due to bad weather this winter. No football, no twice a week training, no 2/3 times a week skiing, teaching finishes next week. I'm not so keen on the summer. Anybody know of any yacht crewing vacancies this summer? Watch leading experience, blah blah...

I suspect the bigger teams plan ahead a bit more, and didn't want to risk playing a non-existent club! Not a great deal different from previous seasons, though, and sensibly keeping travel costs down.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jun/04/liverpool-tom-hicks-george-gillett-debt More on liverpool's situation here, and the fact that the owners are seeking re-financing.

If he does become Chairman perhaps we should also register him as a player. You never know, the play-off final might go to penalties!..

Shearer succeeded as a footballer through sheer single-mindedness. MLT through natural ability and an intelligence which, and I don't mean to insult, Shearer just doesn't have.

I'd imagine Prem and CCC teams would also appreciate playing on a decent pitch.. [bitter experience here as in our last game we played the league leaders away on what must have been the worse pitch I've ever played on].

Hopefully one day finances mean they can come to Italy. My team's pre-season last year included games at 1400 metres, which is great for the lungs!

I sail a bit. None of those coarse motor thingies: I sail OPBs. Other Peoples' Boats..

Buy a new one. The club need all the turnover they can get, but maybe wait another 20 days...

Hope so, and should be over from Italy on my summer visit. Perhaps we can have a Saints exiles meet-up: DubaiPhil, Eric, me, etc, etc, perhaps even Alpine!

Looks like I'm from the same stupid generation.:-) I actually started getting interested in Saints living abroad and never having seen them play. Dad used to get the discarded newspapers off the aircraft, and he was starting to get excited about something over the weeks - it was that promotion season when they first went up. I was intrigued, and as a playground footballer I asked to go. As Mum and Dad were both from Eastleigh visits to grandparents meant that there were opportunities to go to games and I was soon hooked, although I still can't remember my first game. We were locked out of seeing Man U one year so next year I made sure we were earlier (although not enough for me!) and we only just made it in to that record Dell crowd. Dad, being a good deal taller than me actually saw some of the game! I was right behind the shot for Hughie's stuttering run and last minute goal, went to the replay and then semis and final, which was made easier by being a student at Southampton Uni. How I got through my finals after that I don't know! And so the story continues. A few years ago, after hating the compulsory sport at school I took up formal organised football. I moved to Italy where as the result of pre-season daily fitness training, twice a week during the season as well as 2/3 days skiing a week during the winter plus being a tall physical Anglo-Saxon lump I'm fitter than I've ever been and occasionally come of the bench. I made my home debut at half time last week and scored a header within 3 minutes. It wasn't a Ron type header, but I was thrilled. Being part of a team in any way is great; I can't relate to the Arsenals or Chelseas of this world. I've never given up on Saints but if all goes well I hope I can rekindle the spark of connection with our team that I think we've all lost over the last few years

Perhaps he's more intelligent than the average footballer who ****es their money up the wall and buys cars that depreciate the moment they leave the dealers. He's probably setting himself up nicely for when he has to leave lucrative English football, which might be soon by the looks of it!