Boris Karloff

Makes me think that Adkins sees a long-term future in the team for Seaborne and/or Martin. If he wasn't sure about those two he may have spent £4m on a new defender. This is the sort of signing that says "here's a bit of extra competition/cover, whoever is playing best plays". It might mean it gives him a chance to send Maritn out on loan to get some more games while having cover/competition for Seaborne, with long-term view to Martin being in the team.

One year contract. They're not taking any chances are they?

Shame we didn't keep either him or Papa Waigo. Never really understood that decision.

Brown is on about £70k a week no? I can't see him dropping to Championship as his wage cut would be too much.

I'm bored of it already. Just go if you want to go, but I'm worried NC is going to dig his heels in and it will even make Fabregas to Barca look like a hastily done deal.

In a way this could be good news for Sky. At the moment they aren't allowed to actively court business in Europe although thousands of people watch Sky ("illegally"). The way I see this ruling it means that anyone in Europe should be entitled to watch Sky if they want, thus opening up a huge new revenue stream for Sky.

I know it's easy with hindsight, but I thought Adkins was a bit slow to change. It was clear that Fergie was going to change them around, and by the time Adkins really did anythign about it it was too late. Taking Barnard or Do Prado off and bolstering the midfield area was entirely logical as they didn't have very attacking full backs.

Reckon we can give that side a game. Just look at the bench though!

Im not saying they have to speak to each other on the phone. I just think that if Pardew wanted Lallana or Lambert I don't think Cortese would be too keen to give AP the satisfaction of raiding Saints for their best players. If it's only Puncheon I agree that he probably doesn't care.

I agree, in theory it shouldn't make any difference.....but Cortese has shown a petulent, almost childish side to his dealings with people like the Echo and maybe MLT and we've yet to really see whether this side comes through with transfer dealings with people who have crossed him in the past.

Would Cortese do business with Pardew?

I have now watched it and I know I seem to be in a minority of one here, but it was OK. Not great, but watchable. I certainly couldn't get angry about it like some people seem to be.

James Richardson is an excelent presenter. Whatever the football coverage, this site always has someone slagging it off. There seems to be some unwritten rule amongst posters here that any football programmes on tv must be 100% Saints and not even mention any other teams.

Mildly interesting, but let down by not being very current. It should be renamed "where were they two or three years ago". e.g. Graham Baker is currently manager at Woking and has been for at least 18 months. Unfortunately I think wikipedia is a more accurate source.

You don't really need to know at this stage. Basically a plc is a public limited company that is is listed on the stock exchange. The main choice you will probably have to make at this stage is whether to form a limited company or be a sole trader. This will require you doing a certain amount of research as it is important you make the right choice. The main differences are VAT-based, but the decision you will make will be based mainly on your product, service, projected turnover and whether you are likely to employ staff.

There seem to be some people who are addicted to this site and clearly they would pay a fair amount. There are probably many others like me who come here fairly regularly and find the musings of the likes of Alpine incredibly tiresome and could quite happily live without it. I didn't renew last year because I rarely felt the need to post more than three times a day. If they made it £5 for everyone I would probably pay. But that would be as much as I would pay for a site that is already fairly laden with ads.

I think if they'd really wanted him they could have got him. I heard the figure £600K mentioned which does seem crazy for a player who can't get in the Reading team, but if it meant we had say 3 more points on the board at the moment it could cost us a lot more than £600K at the end of the season. I know Cortese is a businessman but the haggling over every last penny is tiresome. Not getting Adkins in on wednesday or Thursday last week could well have cost us 3 points yesterday. How much is every point going to be worth at the end?

Looking at the signings, it just seemed that the view was "we scored loads last year, let's just shore up the defence" but it hasn't really worked like that. I know others on here diagree but I think we are missing Papa and Antonio and it was a huge gamble not to try and get at least one back.

Spoke to my brother-on-law last night who is a Reading ST holder and he said Saints had offered 600K but it was turned down. I told him that was a good offer and he agreed.

Please can someone explain. If they bring squad below 20 are they allowed to bring in an unlimited number of players or just bring it back up to 20?

Assuming they still have 30-odd players on the books is it in their best interests to bring the squad below 20, because I guess if it drops below 20 they can only get special dispensation to get it back up to 20 again. You leave yourself very exposed with only 20 players. Surely you're better off sticking with what you've got even if it means no new faces?

I'm in

There is one flaw in Griffin plan. It's based on the assumption that allocating very minimal funds to playing side the fans will still turn up. Sorry, I forgot for a moment, they are the best fans in the world.

Logically, you would think so, but pragmatically, if it's 20p or nothing, they may still think the 20p is the best option. The court case shouldn't really ave any bearing on the CVA as they are operating under existing rules. They are just challenging those rules.

Really? I think the away goals rule is brilliant. It means a team that is losing can score one goal and go from losing to winning. It makes games much more exciting. It also stops teams going away from home and playing for 0-0. What's not to love about it?