ooh it's a corner

Yes it is. Do try to keep up. But thank you for recognising that it might be. :-)

Good.

I had a post match pint with a few lads yesterday who were occassional attendees at St Mary's and they all said £40-60 a ticket for Newcastle (depending on where you sit) was too much for them to go. Add in the dreaful home record over the past 4 years and the club has simply got its pricing strategy wrong. We average 29,650 home attendance this season (in the league) and I would suggest that is 1500 down on where it should be in the premier league. A combination of crap football, poor results and over-pricing.

That depends on what assets Newcastle has and what assets Southampton has. If Newcastle have a smaller, less developed training facility, no Jackson's Farm, no housing stock scattered across the city, then you could argue that Saints have north of £50m more assets than Newcastle. (Obviously I have plucked a random number from the sky, but the principle is that valuation will come down to the finance numbers, more than the size and stature of the clubs). As someone mentioned on this thread, Sunderland was a £35m acquisition and given our annual fight with relegation, I'm not sure there is a £265m differential between us and Sunderland. But, exciting times. I look forward to various reports of yacht movements, ear lobe spotting and my mate's taxi driving uncle rumours......

I agree with a lot of the sentiment on here that it doesn't seem to make sense from either Saints or Adams's point of view. However, if somebody offered a sale of Adams and in return we got a loan for Martinelli for the rest of the season, would you take it? (assuming Adams and Martinelli earn the same and we get to retain the cash from Leeds for Adams)

flipping marvellous. Well done boys. What a result. I cannot remember enjoying a victory so much. Amazing

He started at Tottenham with a degree of humility, and I did wonder whether his fall from grace and recent lack of success had taught him a lesson, but it has taken a matter of weeks, before he is back to his familiar, arrogant, condescending, self. He even managed to moan about our ball-boys being "well trained in time-wasting". Does he genuinely believe his team lost yesterday because we took 30 seconds longer to make a substitution, or because the ball-boys were not quick in their distribution? Of course not. He has just called an opposing professional coach, an idiot. He makes himself look petty and bitter. What a pillock

he's too good to stay unemployed for long.

sorry, missed the sarcasm !!! Even the Spurs fans think it was a pen, but that said, they felt Ali should have had a pen in the first half, and I thought he should have had a yellow for diving. Repeatedly.

looked a pretty clear and obvious mistake to me..... if we see another handball like that, in the area, not given this season, I will be very surprised. Ultimately it was of no consequence, but Mike Dean is right up there with the worst officials at this level.

How was that not a penalty for handball? He was yards away from the cross, he had his arms above shoulder height and the ball struck his arm. As soon as we went to VAR I thought, great we have a penalty. bonkers.

Late goals, like defeats, are harder to take when you are there in person, so for me, these are my top three. My first semi-final was in 1984. I thought we would win it, Everton were a nothing club (but about to go on their best post-war cup winning streak). That still hurts, as everyone has said. Norwich away, 9 men. awful. Made mildly amusing by a policeman's helmet flying down the terrace in a post match scuffle and the bloke near me shoving it up his jumper and taking it home as a trophy. But my winner goes to Oldham's Andy Ritchie. As BeatleSaint mentioned, the most extra-ordinary amount of additional time and a 97th minute equaliser, took us back to a plastic pitch reply at Boundary Park. I went to the away game, on the coach, full of tonsillitis, and the chaps near me were smoking all the way up. Boundary Park was -14 degrees (it never gets above freezing), and the coach home decided to go via the M5 and a "short-cut" through Cheltenham town centre. Where the coach got stuck in a narrow road. Got home about four days later. I hate Andy Ritchie. bald headed ****

Everton boards are full of this story. He is also 1/12 with the bookies. Sven Goran Eriksson is a name being banded about. Wow. Didn't see that one coming

JWP scores from open play. That doesn't happen often. :-) (puts on tin hat)

Hope not. Rumour has it, he has a DoF lined up...... (rumour started by me, with absolutely no merit whatsoever)

Nope. Don't get wrong, I really enjoyed the football under Poch. I was miffed when he inevitably left to join a bigger outfit. I have also enjoyed the brand of football that Spurs have played, with what little I have seen of them on European tv games / MOTD highlights. But the football world lauds him as a managerial general, and yet he has no trophies to his name. As you have pointed out, Alex McLeish has won trophies, including a League Cup win with Birmingham. Of course, this does not make him a better manager than Poch. My point was, and is, I don't think Poch can be considered great without winning something.

Changing the subject from my debates about greatness...... Weren't we talking of a DoF appointment between the international fixtures, probably due to someone working their notice period with current employer? Former Saint, but not a player.....at least not a Saints player It couldn't be, could it?

Sir Bobby won the European Cup with Ipswich. He was a great manager. Won nothing with Newcastle, but he had the trophy already in his cabinet.

But you've swapped the manager greatness for a player greatness? Plenty of great footballers have won nothing. Name a great manager who has won nothing? (and don't be lazy and throw Pochettino back at me) :-)

I agree. A trophy doesn't make a great manager, but I don't think a manager could be considered great without winning something?

Ralph ?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA So, somebody with a finger on the pulse of statistics, please tell me his trophy count ???? Good manager for us, good manager for Spurs, but not a great manager if you can't win SOMETHING. He needed to respect the League Cup or FA Cup and land one of those for Spurs - arguably could have done it with us, or at least got us further than he did. We would have him back in a heartbeat.....but that is as likely as me getting the job.

I watched the Wolves Villa game yesterday and Targett was beaten every time someone ran at him. Gave the ball away twice by playing it backwards from the half-way line, and was lucky that Wolves failed to capitalise on the resulting attack. Could have given away a pen, when desperately trying to keep pace with a faster forward. Got a bang to the head in the tumble that followed the possible penalty and then put himself forward just before half-time as he was feeling a bit groggy. Awful, awful performance. Looked every inch a Championship player.

It was posted on here on another thread. Big club meeting last Wednesday and a reshuffle of coaching staff. But I haven't seen that formally announced anywhere, hence my question as to whether it was true or not

It is clear that things are changing back-stage. The Jaidi move and the apparent demotion of Davis and Watson from first team duties (has this been officially confirmed anywhere?), means that somebody, somewhere is recognising that the current setup isn't working. Whether this is Ralph, setting his stall out to deliver his vision, or someone else clearing the decks prior to sacking Ralph, who knows. I do like the fact that change is in motion though. Whether it will be quick enough and make an impact remains to be seen.