captain sensible

I do believe Go West was not a Pet Shop Boys song, but the Village People follow up to the dire YMCA?

I wouldn't bother......Germany will soon be coming to you! With Cameron, Clegg and Osborne upfront we don't stand a chance! We need to bring on Farage to give our midfield a bit more bite! For you.....ze war is over!

Anyone ITK about MLT playing for Guernsey tonight against Colliers Wood, at Cobham?

Along with the legendary Rugby Boot wearing Buster Crabbe!

Loyalty is a two way street. It depends on what the club offer him to stay. Just an opinion.

Gents! I think you're all missing my point here! After around the age of 30, injuries are more prevalent than ever! At this level staying fit, performing week in week out, training all puts the 30+ year old right on the edge of injury! It takes longer to recover and regain fitness and results in a club paying wages whereby they can't rely on the player. He won't be offered a long extension. He will not be on the kind of money that Cashley Cole, Gerrard, Lampard etc earn. He is in all likelihood one of the Prem's most modestly paid players. Rickie, for his part, is proven at every level. An exceptional player who has regularly outperformed his expectation since arriving at the Saints. Any Championship Manager whose Chairman wants the riches of the Prem, will have Rickie on the top of their shopping list. Rickie will be in the enviable position to ask pretty much what he wants, because he comes with 30+ goals a season. Even in the Prem relegation places they all have their eye on him. Short Contract-High wages. He will want to make the most of career, hence I think he will go in Summer. He has been a fantastic servant for the Club and deserves one last proper pay day! I don't think anyone would begrudge him that.

Don't be so sensitive....it happens all the time!

On the face of it, I don't deny you have a credible argument, however age is still very much a factor. More prone to injuries etc. He is proven in every way imaginable, and for a big enough pay day, I'd say he'd be more than tempted. Time will tell.

I could see someone willing to break the bank for a tilt at the Sky money? Couldn't you? Who else is there with his credentials?

Money?

Although he states he wants to stay, that may be a bit wide of the mark. I expect him to be gone at the end of the season. Some Championship side will come in and offer him silly money to join and he will take it. The Club could also make a reasonable profit on him. I say he's gone at the end of the season.

I notice ex-Academy player Jamie White, now at Salisbury and top scorer in the Blue Square South. He did make one appearance for the first team. Did anyone see him in any academy games? What was he like then?

I can tell you all this much. The days of the School P.E teacher taking Football training are numbered! They will all be replaced by the "Coaches in the Community". One of the "Community" Chelsea Coaches was an Academy trainee with Jack Cork. As for getting discovered, it is possible but you need to be playing for the right grass roots club. A lot are being signed at the Gothia Cup Tournament in Sweden. There is no guarentee even if you make it to the Academy. Non-League is full of ex Academy playing probably for a fiver a game! Callum McNish for example! Jamie White, top scorer at Salisbury!

I liked him....he was like sh1t off a stick when presented with a through ball, but he just isn't physical enough for the prem to be a constant feature. He'd win a few free-kicks though and could get a few Centre Halves sent off! Ultimately too light and that's his undoing!

Cork always was class. Even under Portvliet when he was on loan, he showed great composure, accuracy, fitness, the whole package. How Chelsea saw fit to sell him is beyond me, especially with the ageing squad, he would have been in that team now, and Roman wouldn't have been splashing the cash. But thats Chelsea for you. Great facilities at Cobham. Great Youngsters, all well developed and capable, and all sold off for next to nothing to make way for expensive signings. Maybe Chelsea should save a few quid and shut the academy down!

I have seen awful players sold for 50mill!!!! A Spanish striker playing for a certain SW London team springs to mind!

It will never be seen as a masterstroke, as the timing of Adkins dismissal is anything but a masterstroke. It has served to unsettle the squad and the fanbase. To me it is a gamble of the highest proportion to do this at such a sensitive time, and especially with someone who can't speak English. The appointment may very well elevate the Saints to bigger and better things, however there is also every chance it may send us down to Championship. As previously stated, only time will tell. But lets not delude ourselves into viewing it as nothing other than what it is......a gamble. Cortese found us in League 1, and will probably argue he has the right to take the proverbial winnings back to the table and play some more. I personally find it to be utterly reckless and ill-advised.

Actually, it's one "fell" swoop!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Corky's position at Chelsea was continually clogged up by the one and only Lampard. He was never going to get a look in there. Cork is my favourite Saints player at the moment, but that was largely based on his performances under Poortvliet, where I thought he was outstanding. He needs to weigh in with a few goals though, like Lampard, and I think he needs to up his game a little bit as well.

It's a good thread! Saying all that has been said, look at Lambert! Knocking on 30, banging them in like there's no tomorrow, after spending an eternity in the lower leagues. Not many make the first team out of the Academy. Most of them drop straight into the lower leagues, non-league, and out of football altogether. I think that if thet can't make an impact by the time they are 18, apart from being released anyway, the future looks grim. Again though, I'd hate to be an Academy CF playing for Man U trying to unseat Rooney! Mission Impossible!

The reason we bought Lee is that he is also another attacking option. He may not be as good as Rickie in the air, but he moves like $hit off a stick when presented with a through ball. You need that option, especially if everything down the flanks is being dealt with by a big centre half. Might have been a different story with Lee against Reading.

I was sat right behind the goal yesterday and from what I saw, I thought Kelvin could have collected that. I felt he left it unaware of the impending threat, and Fonte allowed the Reading player to get ballside. Ultimately I think Kelvin should have dealt with it by punching it clear. Anyone else see it and feel the same? I just want to add that Kelvin is a great keeper but mistakes at this stage of the run in are going to be expensive, and he needs to deal with everything.

Bizarrely enough....I purchased a Laptop from Ebay, the Laptop was sent and received, paid, so I thought via Paypal, but there weren't enough funds in my account, to cover it, so Paypal paid it and then sent me loads of e-mails asking me to settle the balance! If you check the small print when you subscribe to Saintsweb, it is a perpetual subscription that is handed down from generation to generation. You have signed up for this life and beyond. This applies to all your descendants.

All this taken into consideration.......Football is primarily entertainment.....and some of these dodgy decisions are pure entertainment! Take that out of the game.....it wouldn't be the same.

I would put an extractor in there but also a heated towel rail in there. You can get an Electric one or get one plumbed in to the Central Heating. There are a few Plumbers & Sparkys on the forum who would do this for a sensible price...Bangers 'n' mash!