St Louis

Sorry I kind of misread this thread I'm just saying that yes the Delap 2 goal thriller at Highbury was definitely the 2004 season, but maybe not the mystery second bicycle kick match.

It was definitely the 2-2 draw at Highbury in 2004, as I was (unfortunately) there and remember it all too well... http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/3947349.stm

You a big fan of Shearer then?

We aren't traditionally (or perceived as) a Top 6 club though. We massively over-achieved last season and to come anywhere near that this season would be an even bigger achievement (more quality players have left, new manager, new system, unlikely Liverpool & Chelsea, etc will be as poor) I do agree with you on the West Ham thing though, everyone in the media speaks about what a great season they had last year, and talk as if they were the big achievers after Leicester.

Really interesting article, thanks. Interestingly I heard a journalist on the radio the other day talking about how special Boufal is as a player, and that Saints had basically pitched themselves as the club for him to 'enter' the Premier League, progress and adjust as a player and then move on to one of the big boys in a couple of years (whether that was speculation or fact, I'm not sure). But it looks and sounds like we now accept that this is the way of modern football, but instead of burying our heads and ignoring the economics of it all, we embrace it. I for one am glad that we are a club that accepts this and because of that are always prepared for the next exile. I think this is one of the reasons we are a really attractive proposition to the most promising up and coming players who are destined for the top one day (probably) like Van Dijk, Forster, Hojberg, Boufal, etc.

Personally i preferred the shirt with the plain red back, as did the people sat near me who I also heard giving their verdict

I just know Tadic wouldn't have signed, and that several others were unhappy too, so I'm speculating a little but it's great so many players have committed to the long term when they maybe wouldn't have before the managerial change. My source is a senior director in the club btw.

I can't claim to know whether certain players would or wouldn't have signed (aside from Tadic who I know would have left had Koeman stayed), I do know for a fact that there isn't this unrest with the new regime that people are speculating about. I'm sure if we are still struggling after 10 games then maybe there will be unrest in the camp, but we are 3 games in!? First game of the season always throws up odd results, then we lost away at Man Utd after playing well and then a poor draw at home to Sunderland. Maybe we are on a slippery slope, but we don't know that for sure after 3 games, and a new system will take more than 3 competitive games to adapt to, this isn't a Football Manager game.

Are we really just giving our managers 3 games these days? I'm not suggesting they were good draws, but we have only lost one of those three games! Come on, let's give the man and his methods a bit of time. FWIW I happen to know that the squad were very unhappy towards the end with Koeman and he wasn't popular amongst the squad, and general feeling in the squad is much better now, so much so that the core have signed new long term contracts (which several wouldn't have done under the old regime!)

I don't think our results would have been any better had Koeman still been here but without Pelle and Mane. I really don't think we should be judging the manager after his first 3 games, but we can judge the squad and it's seriously lacking in quality and goals right now.

I think it just tells us fans that he's definitely here for this season at least! We all know that player contracts mean nothing these days, apart from that the player gets a nice payrise in return for us being able to sell at a premium. Its a win-win as someone like Shane Long earns more money this season than last, and if a club come in for him next summer we can demand a higher fee than if his contract was running low (a la Wanyama)

Great news for the club, he is our most creative player by far. I know from a very good source within the club that he and RK had a very strained relationship towards the end, and if RK hadn't left then Tadic intended to. Sadly the other snippet I have is that Fonte is taking some convincing as there is genuine interest from both Everton and Man Utd, and he is mulling over his options.

I really like that, but their away shirt in the background looks awful!

Well that was pretty conclusive that he will be sniffing around our players. My dislike has just risen.

My word we get some c*cks on the site these days.... you must be fun at parties mate! I apologise to you unreservedly for the typo, please forgive me for being a mong!!?

It's interesting that when you look on Oddschecker, they have Roberto Mancini at 33/1 as the most popular bet to date for our next manager. Unless I've just missed it, I'd not really heard his name muted. Probably because he manages Inter and its unlikely, but strange that they've had more interest in that bet than any other. http://www.oddschecker.com/football/football-specials/southampton/next-permanent-manager

10 years ago a group of 15 of us went out to Madrid for a lads weekend to celebrate my brothers 30th birthday. As part of the surprise celebrations I took 15 different Saints kits from over the years with me and on the day we all went to watch Real Madrid v Malaga at the Bernabeu, I made EVERYONE wear a Saints shirt (no matter who they followed) and thankfully they all did. I also presented my brother with a 10 foot Saints flag to take to the game. After a day of too many cerveza's we attended the match and sang Saints songs throughout, all proudly sporting our stripes! No idea what Beckham, Owen, Zidane, etc made of it We had loads of people come and speak to us and loved what we had done, but at the end of the game we stuck around for photos right up in the stands, and as we posed..... a chant of 'Play Up Pompey' came from two of the Real Madrid stewards stood on the pitch! To this day we don't know whether they were Skates, or Spanish and with a great knowledge of English football rivalries! Was all good humoured though and a great weekend.

Done, good luck with the project Matthew.

I also had to do a quick Wiki check...

I agree, I think they look so cheap.... defo not a fan. I haven't bought a shirt for about 15 years, but I still like to see us wearing a nice kit And just to back up what many have already suggested, I can 100% confirm it us UA for us next year.

Very well put, this is exactly who we are and where we are as a club. Unless we ever have investment on a Man City/Chelsea level, then we should be delighted to fight to be the best of the rest (6th, 7th, 8th...) Sadly in the modern (Champions League) era of football, the chasm is just too big between them and us (and even Liverpool/Spurs). Gone are the days of a Norwich, Saints or Villa challenging for the title (before you say it, I know Leicester are ruining my point right now - but the vultures are circling already around Vardy & Mahrez!) Le Tissier made a point in his book that when we was on about £4,600 a week with Saints, he was getting offers of around £4,800 or £5,000 a week to move to Spurs/Chelsea, and that the gulf wasn't so big then in wage offers, so it was easy to turn down, and he openly admits that in the modern game he probably would have left. He would probably be being paid around £30-40k a week at Saints nowadays, but Man Utd could just come along and offer £150k a week.... a la Luke Shaw. Its always going to be that way now (unless we buck the trend one year and reach the CL or get huge investment), so finding those rough gems to polish each Jan/Summer is our best way to sustain a top half finish each year I feel (Mane, JRod, Clyne, etc) and we have done that very well over the last 5 years, better than 'the rest'.

Thought this may be of interest to someone: http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=131596391379&globalID=EBAY-GB

I was told yesterday by a senior figure within the club that there was some 'news' coming this week and to watch this space (no indication of whether it would be positive or negative). I thought he was over-egging it when I heard the breaking Romeu signing news last night..... so 'maybe' there is/was some truth with this Fonte rumour?

I just wish the club would allow the giant Liebherr 'Forever a Saint' flag this Saturday as a tribute from the fans. I've seen a few tweets have been sent to the club regarding this, so maybe we could make it happen. #ThankYouMarkus