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edprice1984

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Everything posted by edprice1984

  1. GK: Pickford; Pope; McCarthy (I know it isn't going to happen - he will take Butland) Defenders: Bertrand, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Cahill, Tarkowski, Young (but I would prefer Sessengnon) Midfielders: Lallana, Loftus-Cheek, Henderson, Dier, Alli, Sterling, Lingard, Delph, Shelvey Strikers: Kane, Vardy, Rashford, Solanki I do think Southgate will bring in one of the wildcard young players and I would also expect him to play them. I would have Sancho (currently at Dortmund) in ahead of Delph but I understand that the latter brings a bit of flexibility. Despite my hatred of FIFA, I absolutely love the World Cup. They form my earliest memories of football. Also having the ability to watch football on Terrestrial TV at prime time nearly every night for an entire month is just heaven. I have now got a stage where I quite enjoy the over hyping of England's chances only to be left deflated. We aren't going to win it this time (although I do think we are very very well placed for the next 3 or 4 tournaments), Quarter Finals will be an achievement, anything more will send the country in to meltdown. I have often wondered what would happen if we did win it (or the Euro's) one day. Pretty sure the next day would be a total right off, National Holiday as no-one would be in any fit state to work, while the Scottish and Welsh would either commit mass suicide or go into hiding. It's nice to dream!
  2. There are obviously plans in place for additions this summer. Rogic, Sisto/Promes (depending on which is the better deal) and one other judging by the initial noises in the media look like happening relatively soon into the summer. I would also keep an eye out for Dembele from Celtic - none of the big clubs have been in for him and we may be able to persuade him as a 'stepping stone'. We don't need another GK, McCarthy and Fraser are more than adequate. We will probably need to replace Bertrand and possibly Cedric (a lot depends on their respective summers). Boufal is obviously gone and I would expect to see one of the Strikers go too (probably Gabbi on the basis of rumoured interest from Italy). Sam Gallagher needs an opportunity next season and he needs to take it. The one thing I wouldn't change is the structure at the top. Get rid of Reed by all means, but we need a long term approach to signings and the culture of the club. The mistakes of the past few years can always happen. Football is not an exact science and I do believe whoever we had as a manager would have struggled to play attacking football following the loss of Mane and Pelle. Both the previous managers played a continental style not suited to the Premier League, Koeman seemed to have the right balance- but again benefited from probably the best squad of players (all playing at their absolute best) for nearly 30 years at Saints. To me, it seemed we reached our 5 year goal to early and then when Koeman left we struggled to set new, achievable goals. Looking ahead to next season, there are some bang average sides who are going to struggle. Watford, Cardiff, Bompey, whoever stays up out of Swansea and Huddersfield, West Ham, Leicester (particularly if they keep Puel). I don't expect Wolves or Palace to struggle too much. With the right additions and a more attacking style of play (rather than just pass - pass - pass - pass etc) we should be comfortably mid-table. Which after this season is fine by me!
  3. I can honestly say that the last 20 minutes of last night was probably the worst I have ever experienced in my life - not just in sport. I am not ashamed to admit that I simply couldn't stomach the first 65 minutes, I watched the first 5 and was nearly sick. I turned back on at 65, we scored and then couldn't turn it off (although I really wanted to). I measured my heart rate after the game and it 148 bpm, god knows what my blood pressure was and I would love to know how much adrenaline was in my system at the end too. I didn't go to sleep until nearly 2am. It sounds counter intuitive now but not beating Everton may have actually helped in the end. Would Sparky have put Gabbi on if we had a two point lead on Swansea? We could have been caught between a stick or twist scenario (like Be'er Sheva last season). Personally I hope Swansea stay up, always had a soft spot for them since my uni days and being witness to their 'Great Escape' from total oblivion back in 2003. They need to focus on Huddersfield, just win the game and hope the Terriers don't pick up a point. Even for the most pessimistic Saints fan, we are not going to see a 10 goal swing. As others have said, we should never be in this situation again - a clear out of some players who clearly do not want to be here (Boufal) and a return to the formula that has worked so well - offer ourselves as a stepping stone, to attract the best young/undervalued and tenacious players and give them the opportunity to impress a get a big move. Invest in the academy and add solid players as you go.
  4. Stoke and WBA HAVE to win at the weekend. WBA could still win and be relegated (if we win at Everton). Personally I think 4 points will be enough, but we want to get the three on the board straight away. The Swansea game is almost a free hit for them because they have the back up of the final day v Stoke. Looking at the fixtures, form etc I think it is between us and Huddersfield. Whoever gets a result on the last day will stay up. Hopefully we will have done the job by then anyway and have 6/6 from the next two - but we all know it doesn't quite work like that.
  5. I have never wanted to punch someone as much as I did when Marcus Bent scored. Everton fan at uni who was giving it the big one before the game, very very quiet until Bent smashed in the equaliser. I am pretty sure someone had to restrain me. There are parallels between the seasons, but this time we have better players. Remember Olivier Bernard!
  6. Yep 4 years. First year flirted with relegation before a couple of wins late on in the season to cement mid table obscurity. 2nd season, despite spunking loads of money on a number of players, we scraped into the playoffs on the last day of the season with a win against Southend. Only for the penalty debacle at Derby to ruin it all. Then obviously the third and fourth seasons which were basically descending into the 8th and 9th circle of hell. I know this season has been pretty awful but when you take a look at some of the sides we put out, especially in the 2008/09 season! WOW we had some absolute dross playing for us. That's the problem with the kids and fans who have only really followed us since Markus came in - you weren't there man!!!
  7. Funny that, it's almost as if these conspiracy theorists were just making it all up?! The problem with pretty much everything that is going on at the moment is that it involves doubt, difficult moral and legal decisions, shades of grey. For a lot of people, this is troubling and won't fit in to their world view. For example all Tories are evil; Corbyn is a traitor; There is a malevolent force or group that controls the world etc. It is easier to subscribe to a single unwavering narrative than accept the world is complicated and you have no real control. No doubt people will still find holes to pick and create new weird and wonderful reasons to not blame Russia though.
  8. Italy is a fantastic place, Rome, Venice, Bologna and Florence all beautiful places to go. France can be pretty spectacular too - and not just Paris. San Francisco is up there for me. Loved everything about it. Went to Morocco when I was younger - Atlas mountains and the desert are incredible. Honestly though, London is still my favourite place in the world. So much history and sights to see, always changing and such an amazing mix of people. I think we forget how lucky we are to have one of the greatest cities in the world on our doorstep. Bucket list for me is Argentina and Brazil plus New Zealand. Australia can do one - too many things that can kill you.
  9. Cup. This is the 12th FA Cup semi final in the clubs history. We have only been to 4 Finals. Whether we are in the Championship or Premier League next season, the chance to win the FA Cup is something that doesn't come around very often. The league will sort itself out.
  10. Firstly, any discussion about Russian money being donated to any political party is an important one and I hope that it is revisited in the coming weeks. However my first question regarding Jeremy Corbyn is: Which part of the electorate is he playing to? Other than his devoted followers I would suggest that there are few people who really believe anyone other than the Russian government are responsible. I understand no-one wants to rush towards conflict, whether diplomatic or armed - but conspiracy theories are not particularly helpful. Maybe it is just coincidence, but is it not interesting that the one theory not involving Russia that has gained traction among many of the Left is the one involving Israel? Anyway, from my reading about the nerve agent involved it does seem unlikely that someone without specialist training would be running around with it. As for the idea that our own security services did this as some sort of 'False flag', well, you probably should go off grid because you know that THEY will be after you! The problem Corbyn has is that he has spent his entire political career as an outsider, fighting against the mainstream. Sometimes you could argue with justification (anti Iraq war etc), on other occasions (Irish Republicanism, links with Arab and Palestinian terror groups) probably not. It appears that he doesn't know how to turn off this anti-establishment streak. Over the past few years, I do think he has been a little unfortunate in that when he has been pragmatic he has been accused of hypocrisy and being 'just another politician' - I wonder, because of this, he simply feels more comfortable being contrary and argumentative. All of this has opened up the lingering issues with the PLP and combined with Labour's confused stance on Brexit (the Conservative party is no better of course) it is conceivable that Theresa May will give herself some breathing space, at least until the end of the year.
  11. As a season ticket holder at Gloucester Rugby I can confirm that there are idiots in both games. However the biggest difference relates to the attitude and respect for officials. Don't get me wrong, increasingly in the Premiership and Internationals dissent is becoming a problem but overall players have a good respect for the ref and touch judges. When it comes to football, the RESPECT campaign at local and sunday league level has had an impact - you definitely can't get away with swearing and screaming at the ref (even parents have to applaud everyone or no-one) but the whole thing is undermined by Professionals surrounding the ref and shouting obscenities etc. The recent VAR stuff was a good example - despite the officials giving the decision after referring to VAR, the players were still arguing. Rugby, due to its complexity means that 'cheating' or bending the laws is part and parcel of the game. Also much of the play and flow of the game is based on how the referee views it. Take the England v Italy game yesterday, at nearly every ruck or phase of play a penalty could be called but the ref and the other officials make a conscious decision to let the game flow to encourage exciting and attacking rugby. I enjoy watching both sports, although I could watch any football game over and above a rugby game (unless Gloucester or England are involved). There are certainly elements of Rugby that football could embrace, namely non-segregation of fans, allowing alcohol into the stadium, respect for the officials and opposition. Whereas Rugby needs to try harder to embrace the business side of things and I would love for rugby supporters to be as inventive as Football fans in terms of chants, songs and interaction with the game.
  12. I haven't got an issue with any of them. Liverpool are a huge club and we are naive if we think we can stop players from going there. I wonder if Celtic supporters have a similar thread about all the players we have bought from them?
  13. This is still in my head this morning. My wife is threatening divorce
  14. First 10 minutes Baggies seemed to feed off the atmosphere and occasion and we were rabbits in the headlights. Romeu in particular was struggling and made two or three bad mistakes. Then we got the ball down and played a little and you could feel the goal was going to come. Carillo was very good, held it up, battled made space for others. Lemina was just awesome. On train back to Gloucester and loving my first Premier League away win ever! COYR!!!!
  15. So if we pick up 6 points in the next week and Sturridge pulls his hammy, will some of the bedwetters calm down a bit? I fully accept if we lose the next two then we are really in deep do do, but until then I will remain positive.
  16. We have met the release clause - the issue originally was that Spartak wanted it all up front. A compromise was reached and now they are saying 'We need to get another player in'. Hanni is unlikely to be a like for like replacement but you never know.
  17. I have a feeling Promes will sign and we will also win tonight.
  18. Coventry or Birmingham away - as they are both easy games for me to get to. Other than that anyone other than City, Chelsea, Utd or Spurs at home. Preferably with all four of those sides drawn against each other. A good cup run in the FA Cup is more often than not down to the draw as you go through the rounds. When we reached the 2003 final we played Spurs, Millwall, Norwich, Wolves and Watford. Millwall ended up in a replay but all were Home draws.
  19. That is such a polite way of saying 'talking total b*ll*cks'
  20. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Staplewood+Cottage,+Staplewood+Lane,+Marchwood,+Southampton+SO40+4UG/@50.8880213,-1.4650072,695m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x4874763774ebad51:0x604d2d125bc3a131!8m2!3d50.8872261!4d-1.4708008 Hope that link works...spot all of those houses that will suffer from the 'run off' from the Dome?!
  21. Seriously guys, you are getting worked up because of a random tweet from a Russian journo. I would expect that we would try to negotiate down from any release clause - that is how these things work. This one will rumble on until the last day or so (where I expect he will end up joining anyway). I also believe we are looking at other options, just in case - however they won't be his quality and likely to be on loan).
  22. Still could be worse...have you seen Leeds Utd new club badge?
  23. Personally don't get the doom and gloom at the moment. People comparing this to 2005 and relegation from the Premier League under 'He who shall not be named'. But unlike then, we are playing decent football on the whole. The biggest problem in my opinion isn't a lack of goals, it is the silly mistakes that are leading to conceding them. We haven't had a settled back four since January 2017 after VVD's injury against Leicester. I am a little concerned that we haven't brought someone in yet (even a loan signing would be useful) but I do think the club are doing their best. January is always a difficult time to bring in quality players, unless you throw money at the problem. Even Citeh baulked at the fee for Sanchez. We should have enough to beat Brighton as it stands - they can't score goals either. WBA is the big one for me (not only because I am going to that one), because that is a true 6 pointer! A win there would be huge. I am confident we will bring in the right players in the next few days. I can only hope that we aren't the 'featured' club when Jim White brings out his stupid yellow tie next week.
  24. edprice1984

    Jimmy Melia

    I am apparently distantly related to him. 4th cousins or something like that. Courtesy of my Grandparents being Scousers.
  25. Look to bring in full back to replace Bertrand/Cedric (let's be honest at least one of them will be off in the Summer); If we can get Theo and one of Vietto or Alcacer then I would be happy. VVD is going this summer (unless we get acceptable bid from outside of Premier League early in January). Hoedt was bought to replace him. Probably spent more than £30m but it's all imaginary money anyway!
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