VectisSaint

Will we be allowed to refer to Oliver Bierhoff, deMarcus Beasley or Michael Owen once your ban on references to Messrs Skacel amd Messi is introduced. If you have a problem reading stuff on internet message boards then find yourself something else to do, its not meant to be taken seriously (although some people clearly think it should) and when there is no football actually being played it becomes a joke in itself. Anyway why would we want Messi, can't even get his team into the CL final, clearly washed up, we can do better.

No, you're right Spiderman was nearly 19 when he signed so does not count as homegrown. 3 years prior to 21st birthday is the criterium which I was aware of. I thought Spiderman was younger than that when he signed. Seems like Lowe cocked that one up as well :-) I don't think there are any other players though who don't count as homegrown.

Apart from Eric Martin, I have always had a problem with Scottish keepers. Gordon would be a better bet than McGregor. I see that Fabianski is leaving the Arse, we will need to bring in a Pole, otherwise the local support may drop off with Bart leaving :-)

Connolly played for Ireland in 2002, missed penalty in shoot out in 2nd round against Spain. Rahdi will be missed but in the end he didn't play one single game last season, which was a sad way to end a career. I know it won't happen but would be nice to give Rahdi and DC a send off in a friendly pre-season.

Not releavnt to this thread as is is aged 20.

Correct, and even home-grown players do not actually have to have been with Sainst for 3 years, only that they have been registered with English (or Welsh) clubs for at least 3 years. We have absolutely no problem meeting this criterium, indeed I think approx 17 of our players qualify as "home grown", even Spiderman is in this category. Only exceptions are Jos, Jose, Chung, Guly and Steve (I've probably missed someone). Don't know why so many people have difficulty understanding the rules, they are relatively straightforward, and can be easily looked up.

Great shame, I think he could have offered us a lot of experience in our first season back in the top flight. He remains a very classy forward with a tremendous football brain. It was not just his goals that helped us but his all round play and movement off the ball, creating space for Lambert etc. I guess he really could be said to be a victim of the 25 man squad rule, since it is not really viable to include a player who is unlikely to feature in 50% of games. We will need to esnure that we have 25 players who are likely to be available all season, of course unexpected injuries and suspensions will have to be dealt with. Godd luck DC, always enjoyed seeing you play and your class was clear for all to see.

Not quite sure whether you are denoting spelling out the name. If so wan't it preceded by "2-4-6-8 Who do we appreciate"? Was a very common chant in the 60s and effective, but does seem a little dated now, and also fails to mention Pompey so is not considered appropriate any more :-)

Yes and yes. You seem to be missing the point, just because they are youngsters doesn't mean they are not capable of performing their role if needed. Having 4 players every week not getting a game, why would you not bench one for majority of games? As it also the stated aim of the club to bring youngsters into the 1st team squad what else would you suggest. These are proper players now, get used to it, because I am sure it will happen in many games, especially when we play yeams outside the top 4 or 5.

Am I right to assume that Dickson and Forte are still under contract, and hence why they are not on this list? I don't see either have a future here, same a Tommy 4Past. Would rather see Adkins registered as a player/keeper than let TF anywhere near the squad in the PL, at least NA has FL experience.

Not stupid at all, the youngsters are good enough for the squad so will be viable options on the bench. This is exactly what we would have done more often than not last season if the FL had not changed the subs rules. 7 subs including a keeper and a youngster, if NA cannot change a game with that then there is little point having subs at all. Wouldn't be totally shocked to see us with no sub keeper either at times, maybe not against top sides though.

Odd really, given that there were stories around in January that we had done a deal to take him at the end of the season for about the same amount. Maybe it was felt that step up to the PL was a bit too much. Still he will get good backing with the other Nigel at Leicester, looks like NP is planning to build a youthful team to fight for promotion next season, will probably succeed where SGE failed dramatically, good coach who knows how to get the best out of young players - Leicester would probably have gone up if they hadn't ****ed up by replacing NP with the Swedish knob-head.

Almost certain that AOC would not play anyway due to his participation in Euro2012, and if he doesn't play he may still get selected for the Lympics. Highly doubtful that Saints would play Arsenal pre-season anyway.

No, becaue they don't. Oxford are so stupid they don't actually know there are any other teams other than Swindon. The A419 derby is one of the most keenly fought derbies in the world :-) I know very well where Eric M was born, but it changes nothing, Morecambe are not even on our radar and anyway Eric was a Luton supporter/director, in the days when Luton regiularly played at a similar level to us.

Eric M was a Luton supporter and director, no idea where Morecombe is anyway, did you mean Morecambe? When Eric was alive Morecambe were a non-league team that would not have had any reason to dislike us I would imagine. We also never sent AFC Wimbledon down, that was a different team that is now MK Dons. Oxford only hate Swindon.

Well Oxo came from Skatesville so guess you are right.

Such as? Can't think of any. I would be Ok if he was 3rd rate, but he is not that good.

All very well having a flashy new web site design, but totally wasted if there is nothing to put on it, no real content. The way we operate these days there are no news stories, so the headlines would be/are embarrassingly boring and the stories very bland. The way the current site is run there is very little journalistic input, unlike when Graham Hiley was around (by the way I believe he works at Solent Uni these days for the person asking if he was still alive). I would be surprised frankly if aap don't get the contract to implement it, would be rather embarrassing for them if a competitor were to get the gig, thats not to say they might not partner with a design house of course. They have already done the Saints Foundation site apparently, although the comparison is not a good one I accept.

Credit card still exists, I used mine yesterday. Don't think there are any benefits in using it any more, but still kind of like using it in certain circumstances.

Seems quite simple, are we going to expand (1) now or (2) next year? Answer, (1) probably not and (2) possibly if we stay up. Oddly enough it would probably have made more sense to do some work this year because we have a longer break due to the Lympics.

Channon debuted in Apr 66, made 2 appearances in 66-67 but was then a regular in 67-68; 27 appearances, made simpler by the departure of Chivers. So he was a regular by the age of 19. The point was he was in the squad at 17 and making occassional appearances, and don't forget in those days there were only 12 players available on match days (and the sub could only be used for injury replacement), no place on a subs bench to blood a youngster for 15 minutes at the end of an already won game. In some ways you could argue that its actually easier to get a kid into the first team than it was 30 or 40 years ago. I know I picked on some top players as examples, but my point was it was not hard to find a lot of players very easily who broke into the 1st team in their teens. I don't think it would be difficult to find a lot more to be honest. My point with Williamson still stands, I don't think it was the fact that he was being kept out of the team, rather that it really is very difficult for a CB to break through, as opposed to a winger because of the physical needs of the position. I think Martin is an exceptional talent, I don't think there is any way Saints would unload him now, he clearly can stand in for Fonte or Hoiveld when needed, and will develop in this position over the coming 2 or 3 seasons. He will be 23 in September, so really not a youngster any more.

I've posted on 2 or 3 other threads about this. The Premier Reserve League is not fully supported by the PL teams, Man City, Stoke, Spurs & QPR did not enter this year. Arsenal were apparently "bullied" into entering at the last minute. The reason is that it is not competitive and appears to be doing nothing substantial for player development. I would not be surprised if we do not enter. There are however plans afoot to revamp the Reserve League for the 2013/14 season. The main changes being discussed are to make it an Under 21 league, though with allowances to play a quota of over age players to enable players to get back to fitness. There are other suggestions as well, but the most contentious I would guess is to associate the reserve matches with the first team games, I read that they were planning to play the reserve matches just after the 1st team games had finished. There are obvious issues with this, not least what happens with midweek matches, can't see them kicking off at 10pm, and also I could imagine clubs being concerned about the state of the pitch after 3 hours football on a wet January afternoon. The idea of playing just after the first team game is that it would also enable players who were on the bench but not used to get a game. For me a major issue is that the Reserve League is directly connected with the Premier League, meaning that teams who are relegated from the PL have to look elsewhere for their reserve team matches, which can be very disruptive for those clubs who like ourselves have strong academy/development streams but who slip out of the PL. Not at all clear if these plans will come to fruition, but in any case nothing new until 2013, so will be interesting to see if more teams drop out next year.

man

I agree with Dalek. Do people seriously look back on Chris Nicholl as a failure as a manager? I certainly don't. Always had a hard act to follow but did it very well initially. Lasted a lot longer than most and even that many think was good (e.g. Hoddle & Strachan). I would put Chris Nicholl as 3rd or 4th in our all time list of managers (behind Lawrie & Ted), although NA will probably prove to be better once he gets his crack in the PL.

David, not really sure this statement is true. OK, bit more than 20 years ago, but here's a few that made their debuts long before they were 21, Mick Channon, 17, Glen Hoddle, 17, Trevor Francis 16, George Best 17, Matt Le Tissier 18 (?), Peter Shilton 16, I'm sure I could pluck many more out of the ether. The top players have nearly always come to the fore in their teens, Walcott and Oxo are not that much of a phenomenon in that respect. One thing that does make a difference in many cases though is the position that a young player starts off at. It is in my opinion much harder for a centre back, or even centre forward to break though at a very young age, because of the need for more of a physical presence. True also of goalkeepers (although Shilts would suggest otherwise, he was truly exceptional). It is much easier for a winger, or these days a full back to break through earlier. It is very difficult to hold on to young centra defenders, take Mike Williamson for instance, didn't look out of place against Man City on Sunday but released by us, same with Monk at Swansea. Cranie didn't look too bad the other day against us for Coventry.