SFKA South Woodford

Sorry but I can't bring myself to support them. They beat a pretty poor Danish team, admittedly both free kicks were well struck but Sorensen was definetly at fault for the first and possibly the second as well. The Japs were sh*te against the Dutch and really tried to stiffle the game and bring them down to their level, so against a decent side they'll either get tonked or turn the game into a borefest hoping to get lucky on the break. I've been really disappointed by this world cup, as there have been so many 'Japans' just coming to avoid getting beaten, rather than it being a competition to showcase the best players and teams and their abilities, the world cup should be all about flair over function, sadly this one hasn't yet been and with so many ordinary teams left in it, it is very unlikely to be remembered as a great world cup.

I understand what Beckenbauer is saying, we have looked knackered in our games so far, but there was more energy and movement yesterday so Capello is probably right in that it was a mental problem rather than a physical one, and the two teams are not a total mismatch. I am wondering though whether the Germans would rather have played us than the Yanks based on their performances as they have shown a lot of energy in their performances against us and the other two teams in the group. If so, they may be regretting not allowing Ghana a late equaliser last night, come Sunday evening. I think though that the key on Sunday will be denying attacking space to the Germans, if we try to stop their passing game we could end up chasing shadows as they pass so crisply and have excellent close control, so we will have to allow them to control possession until inside our half then make sure that they have no route to goal, and close down quickly as they have players used to the Jabulani who can hit it accurately from distance, then we can use the fast counter atacking game that the premier league is famous for to get at them. Still don't think that Lampard should play though as he slows it down too much for us to get at them quickly on the break.

Surely this should work both ways then, by your logic, the 2000 of us that were at Fratton in 2004 have had our civil liberties curtailed illegally by Hampshire police. Should we launch a joint action against them? I'm a normal Saints fan, who has no interest in violence, and yet I was kept locked in that sh*thole along with over 1900 other decent law abiding Saints fans because the police were in your estimation cow towing to their feral thugs. We then stood out like sore thumbs to their thugs when leaving that pit, and those that used the train to get to the game, were subjected to a multitude of things being thrown at them and verbal abuse from people whose houses and flats were passed on the way back to the station, the police even knew where those people lived, yet were any of them arrested, no. I take exception to excessive sentencing and erosion of our civil liberties in this country, especially with police incitement at mass protest events for which offences have been recategorised and sentences stiffened, protest is a civil right and one of the things that my grandparents generation were willing to lay their lives on the line to protect, and yet you can now get a stiffer sentence for exercising that right than you can for mugging an old lady. There were even arrests made at the countryside alliance march, and that was supposed to have consisted of nothing more than the cream of and most polite and mild mannered in society.

Agree with what you say there Phil, especially Hargreaves and Johnson. I would also add Becks to that though, we seem to be missing him badly, as someone else said earlier, imagine the difference it would make to Crouch, or Zamora or Carlton Cole if they had been picked, to have Becks whipping in those pinpoint passes and crosses. I was discussing the game with one of my friends the other night, and we both agreed that this has to be the worst performing England team we have seen at a major Championships, and that includes the side of Euro 88 who were pretty much gash. Can someone please tell me why Lampard gets in the England team, what does he bring to the side? I just can't understand it, other than a couple of goals I have never seen him do anything of note whilst wearing the three lions. My two biggest frustrations with the team are these though. 1. Why do we have players in the team that cannot turn on the ball? During the game on Friday evening I lost count of the number of times the ball was played forward only to be played straight back again, that really frustrates me, you can call me tactically inept if you wish, but that sort of play to my mind is not going to win you football matches, possesion football is dead these days unless you have a team full of players like Barcelona that can keep the ball whilst going past the oppositions players and attacking. We should have players that turn on the ball and play much more decisively, not pass the ball back thirty yards like Lampard did in the second half. Which is why Joe Cole is screaming out to be included in the team. 2. The way the players are saying that it's down to them to sort it out, and yet they still go out there and look disinterested, i'm getting tired of hearing the likes of Lampard, Terry and Glenn Johnson saying how much it means to them to play for their country in tv interviews, but yet they still turn in weak performances in an England shirt. I and i'm sure everyone else on here would love to have the opporunity that they have to go and put things right. As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words, so I and i'm sure the rest of the nation expect to deafened by them on Wednesday afternoon. Come on lads, bust a gut, bleed like Terry Butcher, run yourslef into the ground and show us what the shirt means to you.

Couldn't agree more, i suspect that the referee hopes they don't make it through to eventually play his country. You couldn't have a bigger contrast as giant killers than Mexico and Serbia, Mexico were so exciting and fully deserved their win, whereas Serbia are so sh*te and boring that they almost threw it away even with the extra man and the referee having made sure that the Germans coudn't touch any of their players without being sent off. I don't understand why some people dislike the Germans so much and yet support the Irish, Welsh or Scots when they play? I've never heard Boris Becker say that he would support whoever England played against, like that fuzzy haired f*ck wit Murray has, or heard the same from any Germans unlike the Irish, Welsh or Scots. Yes we have had our differences with the Germans politically in the past, but in my experience the Germans have left that in the past and actually respect and like the English now.

I was invited to go in the players lounge and have a drink with Bruce Grobelaar after I had travelled down from London only to get to the Dell and find the game had been called off. It was around the time that Grob was being investigated for the match fixing allegation in the News of the world. I got talking to a steward about how peeved I was to travel all that way only to find the game was off, he asked me to wait outside for a while whilst he went inside and came back a few minutes later and told me that Bruce wanted to invite me in for a drink. I declined just in case he was guilty and had 'fixed' some of our games.

Of course the answer to the original question is 'no', as there would be no freedom of speech or expression in this country. Hitler would have insisted that this country cut the level of our armed forces under any agreement, thus making it easier for him to invade at will, providing of course he hadn't lready insisted that we become a protectorate of the german state. Which would of meant that his hordes marched into our country without a shot having been fired. We would also have been guilty of turning a blind eye to the death camps and genocide, making us all equally to blame. The question I have in response though is this: Is it right to side with one mass murderer to stop another? Especially when history now shows that the one we backed, had millions more people killed than the other one did, including a lot of people from nations which were their allies incuding ours.

Am not impressed by either of those teams, Nigeria were so bad that it was easy for the Argies and made them look better than they actually were. When they come up against better opposition I think that they'll struggle, especially with the lack of pace and energy in their defence. Still think that Holland and possibly Germany will be the biggest dangers to the Spanish. With everything that's been written about the ball, I can't understand why more players are not trying long shots? Something which I think will be rectified by both the Germans and the Dutch, with the type of midfielders both teams have. Other than tonights game of course, I am really looking forward to what should be a good game between Holland and Denmark on Monday lunchtime.

Sorry, don't like it, just not enough red on it for my liking, thankfully it's only for one season and there's always the away kit and training wear. Saints are red and white stripes to me, not something that looks like a rugby top. One thing I think most will agree on though is that they have messed up with the club crest changes.

Judging by their interpretation of 'A few days' in the announcement last week, I think it's safe to say that we'll be left waiting until next week at the earliest. Maybe Cortese is getting Spencer Turnick, to do some kind of abstract before and after photoshoot, and it's delayed, whilst Tunick works out the composition. Let's not forget that the chairman has said only the best at this club now.

Whilst I agree that Alps is a bit premature with this thread, he does have a point about us needing to hit the ground running. If we are unable to secure the services of a midfield general of sufficient quality in the next six weeks, then Pards is going to have to have a gelled and prepared squad ready for August 7th, as we need to pick up those valuable away victories whilst the oppo pitches are still in a good enough state for us to get the three points where we only managed one or none last season with our superior football ability getting those extra points. With the squad due in for a week of training this week or next, we may well see some signings announced and see pictures of them wearing the new kits.

I was on a company hospitality day at the Euro 96 game between France and Spain in Leeds, and we had Norman Hunter and Mcqueen as our after dinner speakers before going off to watch the game. In the q and a session, I asked Hunter what he thought of Matt's exclusion from the England squad and was quite astonished when his reply was that Tiss was too much of a luxury for the England team in the tournament, he said that his inability to defend meant that he offered too little to be of any worth to the team. He was really slagging Matt off. Just gave me another reason to dislike Leeds.

I went past the Camrose last night, and the board at the front says Next Fixture - Vs - Southampton 11. Didn't have a date or KO time next to it though. I know it wont be a Saints first 11, but might go along and give the youngsters some support whenever it is.

Fully agree with you here. If we get either Papa or Antonio or both of them please Mr Pardew, i'll be very happy indeed, they both showed they are more than capable of doing a great job for us, and as has already been said on other threads, both are responsible for turning games around on their introduction onto the pitch last season, Adu has a big reputation to play up to, but i'd rather we have players that have already shown that they can produce for our club in this division back here, and we can probably get both of them for the same wage that Adu alone would want.

I think it's ultimately turned out to be a story of redemption. I'm not sure whether they were in Purgatory or just in Limbo, but my take on the ending is that they were all dead already, and their souls were brought to 'The Islands' to be tested and as a way of them redeeming themselves for the mistakes that they had made in life. This would I think explain a lot of the weird stuff that took place on 'The Islands' I am looking forward to hearing the writers explanation on Friday evening.

It certainly was a lump in the throat experience, seeing Marian walking round the pitch crying as he was saying goodbye, I saw people around me shedding tears in return, you could feel the love everyone had for him.

That's right, Morgan is excluded from their U21 team as their coach doesn't think he's playing at a high enough level to be worthy of a place. For anyone that doubts Morgans ability, they should of watched him in this game. He was head and shoulders above his team mates, and probably got frustrated by their lack of ability and experience compared to his, he looked like a man playing with and against a group of boys. The analogy that someone else used of him looking like Alonso in the Liverpool team was spot on, breaking up the oppo attacks and then using the ball so well to set up most of his teams play, and only miss placing one pass all game. On the evidence of that performance we'll be lucky to still have him at Saints when the transfer window closes, especially with almost every club from the top leagues of european football having a scout watching the games at the tournament, I only hope we can price him out of a move now and he's happy to give us a couple more seasons.

Having seen a lot of Surmans games for Saints in the last two seasons he was here, I would say he is a Jekyll and Hyde type of player. He had some very good games mixed with an equal amount of average and poor games. I'd also agree with others in that at times he let's the game pass him by, but the same can be said of Hammond and to a lesser extent Morgan, although Hammond and Morgan both get in where it hurts and win the ball back. Add Morgan's passing ability in and there's no way that Surman should be in the side ahead of him. Surman is a decent player but the only position he could take in Saints current team without weakening it defensively, is that of back up to Morgan, which I very much doubt Surman would be too impressed at the thought of being.

I hope we see them both again in Saints shirts next season, especially Papa, he has come on and changed several games since he's been here and had an almost immediate effect against Southend last weekend, you could really see the difference he made to our play. Add to that, that he is also quite the character, he's welcome to stay in my opinion.

Have experienced this as well Ron, especially the part about cv's. At one of the companies that I used to work for, my boss had three Indians turn up on seperate days for interviews with the exact same cv and when asked questions about some of the products that they had supposedly worked on, none of them had a clue and one of them even admitted the cv was that of one of his 'friends' then there was another instance with an Indian guy who claimed that he had worked for the company before, had an interview and could not only not tell the interviewer which products he had previously worked on, but also couldn't tell them what the company produced.

Outsourcing is a crime, it's hitting so many skilled industries in this country now, it's not just call centres that have been outsourced to India and China, it now includes jobs in software development, including programming and testing. I have worked for companies that have outsourced in the past and can honestly say that as a result the quality of the end product has dropped, particularly in my field of software testing, I have worked alongside people that can speak and understand spoken english but do not have a full grasp of the language and as a result mix ups and misunderstandings happen which can be detrimental to the end product and also time consuming to sort out. Meaning that work has to be double checked, does this really equate to a cost saving for companies that have outsourced? The thing that really takes the p*ss about outsourcing though, is that these companies are now bringing their staff and their families over here on a work visa providing them with a flat and a living allowance on top of their base wage, to work in uk offices and do work which could easily be done by a uk citizen. For a set payment rate that isn't much less than for a company employing their own staff, so it's a trade off, money for quality, and it's the everyday joe in the street that suffers because of that! Now the Tories are in power with their Lib Dem b*tches I can only see this getting worse, as the Tories are all about taking care of their big business chums first and foremost. Whilst I understand market forces and moving with the times, there is also still a need for unions in this country, they have been a force for good and safety in the work place for more than 160 years and have brought about constitutional change and freedoms which most people now take for granted. Good luck to you FF.

I asked in the shop on Saturday, and was told that the new kits are not going on sale until late June or early July, and none of the shop staff have seen the new shirts yet, as the club are guarding them very closely. They are though expecting a preview to be posted on the website next week or the week after.

Wor d from the ticket office is that it is approaching 24,500 now sold, so possibly 26,000 with tomorrows walk up, which is better than of late, but still not as good as i would have thought for everyones last chance to see saints play for around ten weeks.

As of 5 mins ago less than four thousand left and selling steadily according to the ticket line operator. Should be approaching a sell out with walk ups.

I remember him having a go at the Saints players at St Marys last season, telling them that they weren't trying hard enough when we played Burnley in our last home game. That should tell you all you need to know about where his heart lays.