eurosaint

Like the rest of you I am happy that we are in a better situation now in terms of ownership, structure, finances etc, etc... Just one word of warning however : If we lose to Millwall (yes, it is perfectly possible!) a new sense of perspective will need to to be adopted, ie. this ain't gonna be a cakewalk and may take a while with many ups and downs along the way ! Personally I am confident that we are on the up but realistically we have a long way to go before believing that we have an 'all conquering', title chasing squad !! Having followed the Saints for more years than I care to remember, I advise caution against overly high expectations and undue optimism !!!

Burley would probably play him at right back !

I look at both but spend much more time on here ! The OS is good for confirmation of actual deals etc.. but much of the rest is frankly boring ! Here it is (obviously) interactive so you get the chance to respond and agitate !!

By charging everybody I think we'll soon see who the 'real' fans actually are ! Access to the director's box and some hospitality surely is a benefit already ?

My guess would be that Pards will have his own man in mind for this position ! He has no doubt worked with a number of them and is connected with others. He will build his own backroom team in the next few months and (quite rightly) will be judged on this !

Pardew has already said that he wants to instill a 'winning' mentality so it seems that he has picked up on this straightaway, which is great ! I still think though that it's a bit unfair on Henderson getting the flak when he was only thrown in as an emergency measure after Wotte was sacked !

I reckon that after the Ajax performance and without the freebies there will be a very low turnout ! I hope that most (like me) are keeping the powder dry until Aug 8th when the 'real deal' comes to town !!

I think it's a bit rich having a pop at Stewart Henderson for Saturday's defeat to Ajax !!! He only managed the team for a week or so, had few quality players to choose from, has no experience in this position, knew he was only a stand-in anyway, etc, etc.... He strikes me as a solid club man (with good credentials at youth level) who helped us out when nobody else was available ! Please give the guy a break and let Pardew make a considered opinion on who should/should not be involved in his management setup !!

I don't think that he ate ALL the pies but certainly SOME of them ! I agree with most on here - ie. what he lacks in fitness, he makes up for in experience/leadership/reading of the game etc, etc..... Worth a punt IMHO.

Nothing to stop him renting out the big pad and buying/renting down here ? Football managers are transient (to say the least) so this often is the best option for them !

He does well, we do well ! He does badly, he gets sack ! What in hell's name is the point of speculating that he will walk out ??? Btw, my mates at Reading say that he did a great job and would not be unhappy to see him back !!

Has Ince gone back to MK Dons then ? (I missed that!).

It really depends on the size of squad we end up with but in principle I'm in favour of play every game to win and 'success breeds success' so cup games are important also !

We are still 5 or 6 decent players short of a squad IMO ! I am however confident that we'll sign them but just hope that they up the quality level !

Couldn't be much worse than the comedians who are running the present government !!

Sounds like you appreciate older women then ??

Just had a call from my mate who is a lifelong Reading fan and he reckons that we have made an inspired choice ! Good football knowledge, contacts, eye for a player, serious about discipline, fitness and winning ! Sounds like a good reference to me !

A rational, sensible appointment IMHO ! Is it too much to hope that we will have rational and sensible fans after our first few (inevitable) losses ??? We now have a solid structure but need some patience to let things evolve in the right direction ! I am optimistic for the first time in about 5 years !

What, you mean the subs playing around with balls ???

No, I have just ticked over into the 'senior' category and he was taking the p1ss about me trying it on to get a cheaper ticket !!!!

That was the other reason why I didn't complain !!

I'll be there ! I'll once again meet all the regulars who sit around me and have a good moan about how sh#t the team is etc, etc..... It wouldn't be Saturday without it so bring it on !! :)

If Wise were to sit on Strachan's shoulders, we could have a fairly tall manager after all !!!