Matthew Le God

This is done quickly after scanning the league table without out checking all the details of the deals, but I'd say the following squads were more costly than Bournemouth's to assemble... Norwich Derby Middlesborough Blackburn Nottingham Forest Cardiff Fulham Reading Brighton Wigan Possibly some others as well. To finish above them all is impressive.

Wanyama is 6 foot 2 and is build like the proverbial brick **** house. He is good in the air. Also although size can help, how you attack a header can make a huge difference. Shane Long for example is relatively small but he consistently wins headers against bigger men as he attacks the ball at pace and has a good leap on him.

It effects the attendance, impact on the players mindset and players have a rating for "big matches" which will have an impact.

I've got Bournemouth as "minor rivals" on the game, it'll stay like that for FM16.

Some people appear to see it as you are either a rival or not, with no grey area. There are scales of rivalry, some relationships with other clubs being more intense than others. Saints vs Bournemouth will have more spark about it than Saints vs Charlton. That makes it a rivalry, but relatively small compared to what we have with Pompey. It is also more one sided with Bournemouth seeing us as their biggest rivals, but us putting them below Pompey.

How would you define "rivals"? Ok, its not Pompey levels of rivalry, but there is something different about Saints vs Bournemouth than a lot of other games Saints play. So what? Ipswich to Norwich - 45 miles Newcastle to Middlesbrough - 40 miles Bristol to Swindon - 40 miles Liverpool to Manchester - 35 miles Cardiff to Swansea - 40 miles Cardiff to Bristol - 45 miles etc Reading is 50 miles away from Southampton. Again, okay its not Pompey levels of rivalry but our fanbases will overlap geographically and there is a degree of rivalry between the clubs even though it is nowhere near Pompey vs Saints levels. That doesn't make a team not a rival however.

You continue to miss the point that although Bournemouth have had an owner putting money in, they are still on a smaller budget than lots of other Championship clubs. That is what makes it impressive this season. For example... Fulham's Ross McCormack cost them more than the entire Bournemouth starting XI last night.

As I said... their wage budget and transfer spend is still significantly below a good number of other teams in the league.

What is your definition of a "rival"? Of course Saints vs Bournemouth isn't like Saints vs Pompey, and the interest is largely from the Bournemouth fans. But there is still more spice and interest from both sets of fans to a Saints vs Bournemouth game than Saints vs West Brom or Sunderland or Burnley etc.

Thats harsh! Whilst they have had a decent amount of investment, their wage budget and transfer spend is still significantly below a good number of other teams in the league. Particularly those with parachute payments and some with rich backers of their own. From -17 points in League 2 to the Premier League in such a short space of time is extremely impressive.

There is no minimum capacity requirement for the Premier League. Bournemouth do have plans to expand to 18,000... http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30169243 But you don't have to move out of your stadium just because you are adding more seats. A huge number of clubs just continue playing whilst construction takes place, it is extremely rare for a ground share. In any case, what would be the incentive for Saints to agree to a deal? Bournemouth could offer money, but it'll be tiny compared to the TV money and mean twice as many games on the St Mary's pitch. Not to mention the nightmare for the police of huge numbers of Bournemouth fans in Southampton. Blackpool started their Premier League season with a 12,000 capacity and improved media and medical etc facilities over the summer... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/blackpool/7764836/Blackpool-will-start-Premier-League-season-with-12000-stadium-capacity-says-chairman.html

Why?

Barring massive GD swing, South Coast derby! Pompey may get derby with team from SO postcode!

Barring massive GD swing, South Coast derby! Pompey may get derby with team from SO postcode!

He didn't say he wasn't good enough for the top flight, he said he wasn't good enough for us.

Doing what? We already have David Watson and Vince Bartram as keeper coaches, plus others at lower age groups.

Is Dejan Lovren modelling himself on David Brent? He is playing like him!

van Gaal this weekend said... “I gave him a chance and then I said the same thing as I did to Danny Welbeck. When you are a substitute it’s no good. And I won’t change over that. So if you score a goal you are suddenly different? I don’t think so.”

Pretty much every post ART writes is bizarre.

Entertain me... how have you worked that figure out?

Why do you think that?

Which songs?

Adapting other teams songs for players to ones for current Saints players is very different to the using another club's main song. Like the Kelvin & Steven Davis/Toure brothers song. Do you not think it would be odd for Saints to start singing "I'm forever blowing bubbles" or "You'll never walk alone" at every single game?

Jordan Rhodes - 6 foot 1 Charlie Austin - 6 foot 2 Graziano Pelle - 6 foot 4

It is utterly bizarre they've put that one game on such a pedestal. Are they not aware of the colossal gap between the two clubs in terms of infrastructure, academy and league status? It is likely this season will see the biggest ever gap in finishing league positions between the two clubs since Pompey were founded in 1898. A large section of their fanbase remain in a dream world of delusion and myth, and the club is now being run by some of these people.