Wurzel

How does one apply? Asking for a friend.

Someone - possibly Argentina (?) - done that once with their World Cup squad..

More often than not due to lack of runners/movement ahead of him. A bit more intelligent pace in our front line would definitely give him more options for a creative forward pass now and again

Wish my wife was always, sadly she's more like little and often. Back on topic, in just a few short days we seem to have gone from a "what's going on?" window to one where a cohesive plan seems to be taking shape. Actually sarting to get excited for thecoming season now

I'm not usually one to make a knee jerk reaction after 10 minutes of a pre-season friendly but........looks like we've got one hell of a bargain there !

Adams not even on bench. Is he injured?

Hopefully him missing a sitter early on will result in a resounding "Champions League? You're 'aving a laugh". Unfortunately we just know that'll come back to bite us on the arse and he'll probably end the game with a hat trick.

Think this forum would be improved if we were all limited to 3 posts a day. It would be like a soap opera cliffhanger, eagerly waiting 24 hours to see how Turkish v MLG develops whilst spending the rest of the day reading other things infinitely more interesting

Cutting down your mammoth post to address that single issue. We have heard from Gao. I think it was just the once but he emphasised the club must be self sufficient. This has been reiterated several times by Semnens & co in various interviews and forums. That IS" his strategy". That IS the "direction he wants to take the club". For some reason you, and many like you, choose to ignore that and/or not accept it because it's not what you want to hear. Once you accept that point you will realise that every other point you made in that post is either nonesense or unrealistic . We are not going to turn into a Man City overnight even with new owners. We will continue to sell some very good players. We will replace them with what we hope turn out to be decent replacements that we can afford. We might get some wrong but we won't deliberately buy crap. We will try to win every game with what we have. We won't win every game. If 17 out of the other 19 teams in the league finish higher than us we go down (unlikely in the short term IMO but it could happen to anyone outside top 6 at some stage). If it happens it won't be deliberate, and we'll be doing our damndest to get back up again. Accept the owners strategy for what it is, stop trying to project what you'd prefer that strategy to be onto the club, accept every club has ups and downs, accept how good those good times feel when they did/do come but only because we had/will have a few bad times to contrast with them, and maybe, just maybe, you could enjoy supporting Saints. If you can't do that I suggest there's a few clubs collectively known as the big 6, take your pick.

Don't knock the padded seats. I sat in one for the first time at the recent Queen concert at SMS. Soooo much more comfortable. First time I've left the ground not feeling like I'd developed hemerrhoids in the previous 90 minutes.

I'd still like us to break our normal transfer policy of only signing youngsters (maybe with Walcott we already have proven to be a bit more flexible) and sign an older experienced central defender/sweeper. Someone in the John Terry mould can actually play, who knows the game inside out, will encourage and help out the younsters around him but is prepared to bawl out his tream-mates when it's needed and happy to be a dirty little sh|t when the occasion requires it. That's the type of on pitch prescence we've been lacking for quite a while now. Unfortunately no idea of anyone available who fits that remit.

He may be but is he likely to score 3-4 times the amount of goals/assists per game that Ings will given the same level of service? I'd say that Man City fan recognises value for money.

Your question makes me wonder...if he runs down his contact with us, then decides to stay, could he demand a signing on fee from us for a new contract? Could there already be a gentlemen's agreement between player and club to that effect ? Are there any tax and/or FFP implications in paying a large signing on fee alongside reduced wages ?

A) 25 man PL squad rules don't apply to us. We should buy enough players from other clubs (whether they are available or not) to have minimum 3 for every position on the pitch. And all of them already PL quality. B) In addition to A we should also have a ready made squad coming through from the Academy who can fit in seamlessly at any time. C) Irrespective of B we should never sell an Academy product because, like, what's the point D) Irrespective of C we should get rid of any Academy product deemed not quite a world beater and follow A E) We should never pay our own players more than necessary and/or give them a long contract to keep them F) Irrespective of E when we lose a player to another club who offer them larger pay and/or a longer contract it's our fault for not offering better. G) All incoming transfers and players wages should be paid for out of the owners personal funds regardless of any FFP rules and/or whether those funds even exist. H) We must sell anyone deemed a scapegoat irrespective of whether anyone wanys to buy them I) If all or any of A-H are followed, we should have done it earlier.

I said top level players 😂

Speaking generally, not just Ings, but cant imagine any top level player dropping his coomitment/effort players towards the end of a contract. (forcing a move mid-term is a different thing) A) Their own sense of pride and competitiveness that got them to that level should prevent them from even trying B) Imagine the negotiations with prospective future clubs Club " We're interested in signing you but your form has noticeably dropped from a year ago. We can't justify the wages you're asking for" Player " Oh don't worry about that, I've been taking it easy for 6 months, didn't want to jeopardise my future" Club " Ooooh-kaaaay" Marks a huge X in the "attitude/character" box on the checklist.

Probably deemed detrimental to team moral, making the rest of the squad look even worse than they already are

I'm guessing the Hendon you refer to is Henderson, who has taken 58 less penalties than you claim in his career, scored 1 missed 1.

Is that allowed? I've wondered about it in previous shoot outs? We don't get to see a list of takers so wouldn't know if anyone has changed their list mid shoot out before. Is the ref given a list or does he just check that no-one has aready taken one (unless it goes past the 11th). I think if I wa in that situation I'd prefer not to even know what number I was but simply be told I was next (at any stage of the shoot out) and not have time to think about it Confidence wise letting a 19 year old take the penalty that keeps you in it is a lot different than sending him out thereto take the one that wins it. Or would replacing him have destroyed his confidence even more?

Often hear that about us as a club. Sometimes wonder if it's a polite coded message. Much as every teacher knows - but most parents think of as a positive -"lively child" in a school report means "disruptive in class". Is "good family and/or friendly club" really a polite way of saying "lacks ambition"? If it is, I'd still support a club like ours than a win at all cost glory team (although it would be nice to see a few more trophies in the cabinet.)

Damn! Free agent and he's gone to PSG. Another one slipped through our fingers ☹️ Seriously though, unless rules re wages/transfers change, can you ever see us making a signing of that status of player again? Even if someone could be persuaded to give us the benefit of their experience for their twilight years at reduced wages on a free transfer would we even be looking in that sort of direction?

Nice idea but something weird about The Dell outline. Archers and East Stand have disappeared and the Milton roof covers most ot the penalty area. Still a great shirt though

🤩 Now that is smart! Going to be a good seller that one.* *Subject to 2nd keep not being even better

Shit. The club is up for sale and a 5 year old thread about Lowe gets resurrected. That sort of thing can cause heart attacks ! 🤣 To be fair, never understood the Woodward criticism. He was brought in because he knew how to produce winners, not to talk tactics or team selection. Nice to see that approach is now being used succesfully at national level.

My mind keeps going back to a while back and Semmens coment to the effect of being surprised that the takeover - actually investment was the way he phrased it - hadn't already happened. Maybe the club are prepared to let him run down his contact as they are confident we'll have funds to replace him - if indeed he doesn't change his mind - in 12 months time.