Matthew Le God

How many newly promoted clubs have the 7th largest net spend in the whole of European football in the summer after promotion? Also, in the last two seasons Newcastle 12th, West Brom 11th and Norwich 12th, Swansea 11th all had good mid table seasons in first season after promotion.

It won't be that bad, light snow forecast in the build up to kickoff and then stopping around kickoff time. Wrap up warm and you'll be fine.

I doubt that, I think he probably thought Saints should be in mid table. The bottom half of the Premier League really isn't anything special.

tbf new manager syndrome normally comes because a manager has been sacked because the team is doing poorly and a new manager comes in to lift spirits. Saints have been doing well since the beginning of November and Adkins was popular, so the change possibly does more harm than good. Hopefully not, but impossible to tell at this point.

Yes, it would be alot easier. But you'd never be able to compete particularly well as you'd struggle to attract players to play in the Swiss league. You'd also have to buy an already large Swiss side as the smaller ones simply wouldn't have the growth potential.

As I said in post #66 A Swiss 4th division club can only go so far. Saints had the fanbase, infrastructure and opportunity to play in the world's most high profile league. As I've already stated, I think Saints were a very rich man in his 60's play thing. Where is the fun in owning a lower league Swiss side with limited opportunity for growth to the highest level?

A Swiss 4th division club can only go so far. Saints had the fanbase, infrastructure and opportunity to play in the world's most high profile league. As I've already stated, I think Saints were a very rich man in his 60's play thing. Where is the fun in owning a lower league Swiss side with limited opportunity for growth to the highest level?

Correct. But Cortese has said in the past that they wanted a challenge and if they wanted they could have taken a club in the Premier League a small way, but with Saints they could build a club with already good infrastructure from the 3rd tier to where they wanted to be at the top of the English game. It is meant that more money would be available for improving the club, rather than merely paying the previous owners of a Premier League club.

No, I think Liebherr brought us because he wanted to fall in love with a club, any club. And he did, with Saints in the year he was with us. I don't agree with you that he was buying Saints to make money for himself, he already had more money than he could spend, I think he was a very rich man in his 60's (that possibly knew he didn't have long to live) that wanted to have fun with a fortune he had amassed. I think Saints were a play thing for him and it was not a money making investment at all.

I'd say those are pros rather than cons for a chairman of a football club.

Had it not been for Cortese and the Liebherr's it is unlikely we would be in the Premier League in January 2013 to be complaining about what seems to be a very harsh sacking of the manager. Had we not had the takeover in 2009, okay we would have survived somehow, but it is unlikely we'd have been in the Premier League, probably struggling in the Championship with a lack of financial resources by this point. Be grateful for what they have given us. Adkins hasn't been sacked because Cortese/Liebherr's don't care about the club. Cortese has high ambitions for the club that he believes Adkins wouldn't have been able to achieve. Yes, today on the face of it it seems very harsh, but Cortese is doing what he believes to be in the best interests of the club to progress to where he believes it can go. Cortese has achieved a lot of what he has promised already, so we should give him some degree of trust that he is doing this for the best and Southampton Football Club will be stronger as a result of his actions. Accuse me of being a Cortese puppet if you wish, but he has been very good for this club. His ruthless streak doesn't sit well with many, but he does have a strong track record and I for one trust his judgement.

Where have you got those odds? I'll have some of that! Ladbrokes for example only have a 3-0 Saints win at 33/1 and a 4-1 Saints win at 66/1.

Would it not be better that the game is played, Saints win and the first match in a positive atmosphere without negative chanting looking back and is out the way quickly? If the game was called off (which it won't), the next game is away at Old Trafford in 10 days time.

So we undermine Mauricio Pochettino by creating a negative atmosphere in an important home game? Yeah, great idea...

No he wasn't. Rickie Lambert signed on 10th August 2009. Cortese signed players before him, Dan Harding for example was Pardew's first signing and joined on 21st July 2009.

That is probably the worst phrase ever. Would you apply that to someone falsely accused of a crime they didn't commit?

It isn't snowing in Southampton. The pitch is in good condition and under covers, as of 1 hour ago the immediate areas around the stadium are clear from snow. The game will go ahead.

To base your opinion of Les Reed solely on a brief skint in charge of Charlton when they were desperate is very shortsighted.

Artur Boruc signed on 22nd September, he was free to sign after the transfer window closed because he wasn't under contract at a club.

That is exactly why I didn't reply to him. His arguement is flawed, Cortese has stated he wants Champions League and is looking to improve St Mary's, academy and training ground. I'm sure he is fully aware how much that would cost and if he has those kinds of funds available. I doubt he'd bother with such aims unless he really believed he had the funding for it. None of us know for sure how much he has to work with, but imo Cortese despite being ruthless in the extreme knows what he is doing.

I know, I must by crazy to suggest such a thing trousers.

Or the most sensible option... Turn up, support the team and create a positive atmosphere for a vital home game.

Please, please, please for your own sanity tell me you are joking if you think it is an achievement for Pompey to rack up £150m+ of debt, dilute it down to tiny levels through failed CVA's (skrewing creditors), win an FA Cup and put the very existence of the club under threat. Their overspending whilst having a lack of infrastructure has killed them.

They did that at the expense of the long term future of the club and was unsustainable with their small stadium and lack of other assets. Lack of infrastructure has also screwed them in the long term and made them less attractive for investment. Improvements at Staplewood will benefit Saints for years to come. Cortese/Liebherr's delivered that, which should give them standing if they announce future projects. At the moment the stadium image comes with a "?" on the opening image, but I wouldn't be so quick as some on here to completely rule it out. That is the proposed finish date, as of a month ago it was on target for a summer 2013 completion. All steelwork is now up and wooden cladding going on and work on interiors has started. Landscaping of the site is well underway, 3G pitch is finished, work on spectator stand started etc etc.

As I've already said... Unlike the Skates, Cortese and the Liebherr's have a track record of delivering what they say. As a League One side Saints put in a planning application for a development at Staplewood that wouldn't look out of place in the Champions League and construction started whilst in the Championship and will be finished in 5 months time!