Arizona

I'm not sure but I seem to remember a trip to old Trafford getting you about £500k. If so, that would be a pretty handy tie for our bank manager.

Get behind the Jaffa Cake metaphor FFS! Anway, John has scored 5 goals for Saints when Saga wasn't on the pitch. I wont bicker about it, but I have a feeling he will be the wrong side of 10 this season.

John without Saganowski is like a meal without Jaffa Cakes. You might aswell just not bother really.

Colchester... now there's a team I'm glad to see the back of. The 4 games of goalkeeper tennis we've had in the last 2 seasons bored me to tears.

In a nutshell. The Brum games have proven we are capable of beating or losing to any team in this division, much the same as the last 2 seasons. So, it's anyones guess really. Don't forget we are seeing the first choice 11 pretty much at the moment. The real test will come when we pick up a few injuries, as I think we lack depth. Unlike last season, I am looking forward to seeing how it unfolds, whereas under Burley last season I was dreading the tedious inevitability of the whole situation.

Kenwyne Jones joined us as a centre half, made his debut as a right winger (at Brum and was awful) and made a name for himself up front. Also, I'm pretty sure Wright played in every possition except striker and goalkeeper. Not sure about centre half though.

We beat the Skates at SMS in the Carling Cup. Not really relevant, but worth mentioning at any opportunity.

Brilliant result. Sounds like these lads are really starting to deliver. Have to say I'm surprised and delighted.

The phrase, "final nail etc" suggest to me that you want to prove once and for all that he definitely isn't worth a place in the team. And what bitter experience is this? The last 2 games he has played in midfield, he was by far the best player on the pitch. It's not just me saying that. Against Norwich he won the MOTM poll by something of a landslide, and got a fair number of votes against Bury, despite only being on the pitch for 30 minutes. Before that I think his last game in midfielder was at Molineux in the playoff season, and we all know how crap that was. I just think we can do without trying to rewrite history.

I believe a report came out a while back revealing him to be the 4th highest paid defender in Europe. £90k+ I think he is on. Could be wrong, anyone else remember that?

Hope this helps.

Sorry, what evidence could you possibly be basing that on? Can't remember ever seeing Skacel look like he can't be a*se. Unfit possibly, but not lazy. Or do you just believe everything the OS tells you and believe anyone over the age of 24, who doesn't have ginger hair, is lazy, overpaid and crap and that we're better off without them. It's comments like this that show some people just want Skacel to fail so they can have a dig. What would be wrong with giving him the chance to prove himself in the first team, so he can become an asset to the squad this season. Beatting Derby doesn't guarantee safety, there WILL come a time later in the season when we need some experienced players with some ability to help the younger players dig in.

I challenge anyone to live in Holland for 2 months and not develop an irrational hatred of the Dutch language. You know the ringtone adverts you get on music TV stations like MTV and TMF... they are twice as annoying in Dutch. Sounds like some kind of German/Welsh hybrid to me.

Ostlunds possitional sense may have been a bit off, but he was actually solid enough defensively. I can only think of one goal he was ever at fault for, against Barnsley 2 years ago when he was playing a striker onside. Wright on the other hand was responsible for knocking on double figures I think, so I don't get where this myth that he was always more reliable comes from. That said, they were both top pro's and I wish both well for their new clubs... just not this weekend.

Sunderland and Brum had poor runs, however over the season they were far more consistent than us, hence they ended up with more points. I do think Burley aimed too low. With the resources he had available, he should have been aiming for a top 2 finish. To the fact that we only scraped in on the final day of the season is relevant, just like avaoiding relegation on the final day of the season was relevant last season. Had we performed better and not blown several chances, we'd have been comfortably in the playoffs/safe long before the season ended.

We scraped into the playoffs on the last game of the season, mainly thanks to Preston's catostrophic end to the season. Burley really achieved the absolute minimum I'd expect given £7m to improve a fairly decent squad.

I'd like to have hung on to Rasiak and Saga aswell. By the sounds of it, either of them could have put 4 past Derby on a good day. Also, to a lesser extent, Licka, as I think our new style would have suited him, but he was fairly average overall.

Yes. It's also nice not to hear the words "I had to sell my 3 best players" after every game. I hated that excuse.

Looking increasingly likely that I will be at qualy instead of free practice now, if at all. How soon before it starts would you advise getting there? Anyone actually know where the parking is, or where you buy tickets?

Be a bit harsh to punish Massa. He wouldn't have known that FI was coming until it was along side him going down the pit lane. Punishing the team would be more apt, although I think that Ferrari lollipop man needs a drugs test. He nearly caused 2 very serious accidents with those howlers today.

I agree with many of your points about Saints alpine, but I think you could do without a thread attacking other people for their views.

I think Marc Viduka is one of the very best the Premiership has ever seen. Other than that, Andy Cole. Doubt any of them would come here i the near future though.

It's a fair point, but I'd rather have someone with natural tallent that someone who was just plain crap. I am sure there is a lot players like Rasiak, Pahars and MLT could teach our younger players about possitioning, when to shoot, how hard to shoot, where to strike the ball, when to run, where to aim, etc.

Give it 3 or 4 years, I think Rasiak could be a good bet. In the mean time I've always thought MLT CDAJFU coaching finishing and set pieces. We should also get Pahars in to explain how you score 1-on-1s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_0GhYfWwPE