John Boy Saint

Ok I give up I have been sat here for over 3 hours now Phil and still don't get it!!

That will be £10m piddled up the wall, although a good return is guaranteed with a good contract buy out clause if he scores 15 in 10 as his agent will be gobbling off about the buy out value of Master Ba's contract............... Which is what he did following a hot little run recently at Newcastle. Not bad going on the Chinese Whisper thread track, Lee Holmes to Swindon to Demba Ba in 8 posts

Spent 7 consecutive years Summer Holidays up there when I was a mere nipper. Started under Canvas and got sunburnt first year, the folks across the road were a bit more well off than my Mum & Dad, they headed to Spain which in the early 70s was quite something we came back browner than them!! We went all over the Highlands first place was Gairloch, wall to wall blue sky and glorious scenery fantastic beaches. Just north of Oban was one of the best, camped by the Loch edge beech combing for miles collecting driftwood for an evening fire on the Beach, in the middle near Loch Rannoch, over to the flattish east to Dornoch. Right up the top to the Kyle of Tongue, we were there in June one year and Dad had shed the tent for the comfort of a Caravan, they had asked friends along on a grand Scottish Tour with their caravan and kids, the Beach was fantastic shame the sea was so cold, one evening the grown ups were getting oiled on Scotch and us kids were playing outside in the light, then we were suddenly told it was time for bed to which we all groaned at only to be told it was 2am in the morning!!! Being able to recall holidays from well over 30 years ago (blimey!) they must have been good............. The demise of the Holidays to Scotland were shelved after 2 consecutive years of atrocious weather then being greeted by warmth and blue sky's the further down the M6 we went. Must return there some time as I would imagine that once north of Loch Lomond it is pretty much unchanged, apart from some of the faster roads they were starting to build back then being completed

Just hope the weather is kind to you and you get to see the place in all it's glory. I would recommend getting an Ordinance survey map of the area, the one we found useful was standard O/S on one side and places of interest on the back, so if is mouldy you can have a look at something else to keep occupied. I am sure they all it a Sightseeing Map pretty certain you can pick one up in a decent bookshop or outdoor pursuits shop. If you like it up there and fancy a return trip and you like bike riding I would take a look at the Tissington Trail , it runs for 14ish miles from Parsley Hay just south of Buxton down to Ashbourne, it follows the old railway line so a picnic sat on the old platform at Tissington is a bit strange in a pleasant way. Have a good time.

A Few folks I know have stayed at The Castle in Castleton, part of the Innkeepers Lodge chain but an Olde Inn. If you like walking there is absolutely loads to do around the Village, The Devils Ar$e cavern, Peverill Castle ruins, Climb Mam Tor (then walk the ridge for a 8 mile round trip). We have stayed there a few times but had the Caravan so stay on the edge of the Village. Castleton is quite central for both the White and Dark Peak, and the next Valley over the hill sees the start of the Pennine way. We hadn't really paid much attention to the Peak District until my Sister moved to Glossop, then discovered it en route to her house the scenic route. Once you get into the Peak after a while you forget this big bit of relative Wilderness is more or less surrounded by some of the densest populated Towns and City's in the country, which is where the down side is: because it is so close to so many people it does get busy on the main routes and in towns like Matlock, Buxton, and Bakewell on the weekend if the weather is good, thankfully most of those folks will give the nice little places just off the main routes a miss. Hope it helps

I think you might be getting confused with various clubs securing their immediate financial needs against the next 5 Years Season Ticket sales.

Don't take umbridge at those fantastic folks of Liverpool, otherwise they will get very upset with you. We all sit on our backsides at football thanks to a big mob of Beered up "Scousers" forcing their way into a Cup Semi Final resulting in the deaths of 90 so called fellow supporters: oops! Sorry....I forgot it was 100% South Yorkshire Police's fault....... That's the Dog poo through my door sorted. All English Football teams cast out of European competition football, for what was it 5 years, because Liverpool fans went on the rampage......... Oops sorry again! Silly me, Stadium was woefully inadequate and decrepit for a European Cup final it had absolutely nothing to with the fact that a bunch of Liverpool fans, no doubt Beered up on strong Belgian Lager, decided they were invincible and started a riot.............. That'll be a big hole in the ground where my house was when I get home. The National Anthem is the National Anthem, whether you agree with the Monarchy or not it is the National Anthem, we don't live in a dictatorship, we live in probably one of the most liberal and laid back Countries in the World, if you don't like the Anthem don't sing it, but don't abuse the National Anthem or those who chose to sing it. Booing the singing of it is unacceptable, if you are a British National living in our very liberal freedom of speech society, if you feel that small minded enough to Boo the National Anthem, then quite frankly you should save up your pennies or giro and get on a plane or boat and b u gger off out of the Country. Most of all, never question the actions of the good people of Liverpool, the wrongs might be committed by the minority, but the majority will stand behind them regardless.

Funny I have heard this 3 times now so must some truth in it!!

Wasn't just me and my 40 & 50 something mates bouncing round like loons when the ball went in off Papa's backside!......... Phew!!

Cheers for that. I shall save that for when the tour of Wickes on my travels has been exhausted.

I have 3 1/2 rooms to complete in our house we started renovating last Easter (steaming paper off the ceilings whilst listening to Saints securing a box seat v Plymouth) Moved in last August Bank Holiday with rooms of civilisation: so not having to think about going to Southampton and away here and there and actually getting some down time as well, is most welcome!! Oh! and play Golf!!

That is very true, thing to remember in all of this is that as a club we were on the bones of our backside 3 years ago, and beyond so the production line of nippers probably has taken a knock as a result. That said the fact that the under 18s squad has had a season akin to our days of the Dyer, Bale, Walcott, Blackstock, Best, etc squads seems we are not far off a little raft of nippers coming of the production line. Most folks are impressed with our facilities at Staplewood, when the Southampton La Masia is completed we are going to be fighting off some of the best young players available out there. Especially when you consider that Chelsea and Man City just buy in talent rather than nurture it, once re established in the prem if the "Southampton way" proves to be productive especially where this home grown rule is actioned we could have a very nice little selection of youngsters coming through.

Sagrada Familia

I know of something very slow and very painful, that would be very apt for Scumbag who did this. Just make sure no one is looking

Bit of a strange request for a bit of assistance from those of you planning to do some DIY this Bank Holiday Weekend. If any of you are looking to visit Wickes this weekend please can you take a moment to amble down to the Kitchens 2 Go section and see if there is a STAMFORD 1000mm Base,Wall or Corner unit that has been opened, returned, and reduced to clear. I just want a door but they do not sell these separately. So on the off chance that someone on here might be heading in that direction thought I would ask. If you find one please let me know where it is hiding. Thank you in advance

We had friends round tonight who are sans Sky, they are also Blackpool fans (saw the light and moved south). So glad that is not us in the play-off lottery......................... Should have given them a paint roller each as the spent most of the evening stuck to our ceiling

Might need to quantify that, seeing as the spotty graduates at McDonalds marketing educated the not so worldly that a Bob was a Quid!!! Numpties! I was 11 at the time, spent the Easter holidays with Granny & Grandad and watched the City go yellow & blue before my eyes as the week progressed. Day of the match we had the BBC Granstand build up including FA Cup It's a Knockout, and coverage of The Southampton ladies team bag the Ladies FA Cup for the umpteenth time. The game kicked off and we were doing ok, second half Granny nods off, until a certain Bobby Stokes (God rest his soul) slots home the most wonderous goal. Me, My Sister, and my Grandad are up cheering and shouting like lunatics round the room: Granny wakes up and says" have we won?". Totally cool amid the mayhem. My Granny had us nailed on to win it, her theories would be lost on many today , in her mind Manchester was a far off land she reckon if John Curry could win Olympic Gold and The Queen was giving the cup Saints were going to win it. Whenever the F A Cup win comes up now, it's a bit double edged in that despite not being there it was a glorious moment to be in Southampton, but it brings back good memory's of My Granparents especially Granny "are Saints ever going to get that new stadium?"................... She missed that by 6 months, but was here for the best day: winning the F A Cup!

I have a mate who has a total void in his memory from Saints getting the cup from the Queen until about Wednesday tea time. He knows he had been drinking but reckons the bulk of it was pure emotion of the great moment, he said he knows load of folks who suffered the same and most not through being utterly smashed!

Season tickets flashed up on screens on Saturday apparently. And with the Shirt the last 2 years sales, despite, starting late have seen the highest replica shirt sales for years. The Sash sold more than a years projected sales in a matter of weeks. So something must be working.

Nicola has been here for 3 seasons, the penny will soon drop, that he is a man of few words. So what is the point of banging on the end of Southampton FC is nigh simply because our Chairman continues to do what he has done since he has been here. When he does speak it ibecomes Quality over Quantity. We had a series of Chairmen in recent times who could not shut up, Clingons anyone? Now we have a Chairman who like any other Chairman of a multi million pound business just gets on with it, regardless of what anyone else thinks.

I would not subject a 9 year old to an evening like this, whilst you will be entertained he will most likely find it tedious after an hour and take the edge off it for you. As someone else said there will be a few folks entertaining clients you could join in the conversation but he would be pretty lonely

Exactly this, when he has positioned himself at the front of the Gallery images of the dressing room party.

I was looking for this on the website yesterday, as in the programme it said Saints were waiting on the Fulham lunchtime result on Saturday. It's good to see the production line in sound order, would have been nice to have seen us in the semis next Friday (I think) then hopefully in the Academy final. I can remember us playing Aston Villa in the Final, possibly relegation year and we might have had the likes of Dyer, Walcott, David "run Forest run" McGoldrick, possibly Bale and some useless player called Lallana (wonder what became of him) and others. Friday night SMS and a pretty good crowd in the Kingsland and Northam, 1st goal was sublime in its build up, and had lots of kids asking their Dads "why cant we score goals like that every week". Second half we ripped them apart, might have been 4-1, everytime we went forward I could see my daughter out of the corner of my eye sliding to the edge of her seat in expectation, then realised that all the kids were doing the same. Great to see. Be nice to see Them get there again.

Just beat me to it! Just like Robbie Savage said the other night at the Leicester WHU game, if you get and injury now you will be kissing goodbye to your holidays as if it's serious enough you will be spending the next few weeks on the treatment table.

Apologies, didn't explain myself there....what I meant to say was too many people reading sensationalist story's in the paper, results in them putting a sensationalist spin on most situations read in everyday life : thus with our very private way of doing things at Southampton a few folks start seeing what isn't actually there, whipping themselves up into a lather over it.