washsaint

Oh how ironic. Only last year so many on here were bemoaning that Lallana was not Prem quality and we should sell. Now they sky is about to fall in because he MAY (may not too) be off. We have a ready made replacement in Gaston......and please don't anyone say "well Gaston can't last 90 minutes" because neither can Adam. Shaw - we have no ready made replacement

Seems incredible that some folks on here believe we should be challenging top 4. Ambition is great but it has to be tempered with reality........I would love to be making a $1 million a year...but it ain't going to happen. My view on where we are at (FWIW) is: 1) With a capacity of some 32K (which we don't fill on a regular basis) we cannot compete with those clubs that get 40-50K+ 2) We are not a global brand (yet) and can't attract the revenue the global brands such as Spurs, Liverpool, Arsenal, Man U, Man City and Chelsea can...so breaking top 6 would truly be an incredible achievement 3) We will not keep all our youngsters and good players: we can't offer salaries that the top clubs can. However, Ajax had a production line of youngsters that allowed the club to sell a few to build the team over time 4) People holding up NC leaving as a sign of our lack of ambition: he ignored the commercial aspects and was spending a lot of the Liebherrs money (not his own) 5) People have very short memories: saying we should trow a ton of (more) money to compete otherwise we lack ambition ignores the mistakes made by the blue few 6) MP is not irreplaceable: really hoping he will stay but I was gutted when Adkins was sacked yet we did not fall apart 7) We have had an incredible season: enjoy it because life is way too short to worry about what may/may not happen some time in the future The future is bright: really looking forward to the likes of Reed, Sims, Stephens and co looking to make the breakthrough

Unreal.....Fc, that has to be the biggest load of tosh posted on here. While NC was frittering away money (that was not his, everything has been bankrolled by the Liebherrs and NC may have gotten things done but he killed the commercial side of the business) ho on earth would be in a better position with NC? Where was he going to magic money up from? View from the top, CB and Turkish actually, IMO, have this spot on. While it would be great to break into the top 4 how on earth can we do that with a 32K capacity, no global brand, etc. Best we can hope for, IMO, is breaking into top 6. And even that would be a monumental achievement. Not to mention, look what happend when "ambition" overtook common sense down the road

Disagree re Adam being harder to replace. We Have Garton And The Next Group Like Sims Coming through. We don't have the same luxury at lb and without wishing to be too controversial shaw is already world class and Adam is not......very good but not world class

If he carries on developing at the same rate, he will easily be worth 80-100 million in a 2-3 years (based on the crazy transfer market right now). he is light years ahead of Bale at the same age

incredible to think the lad is only 18. Best LB in the country and to sell him for 27million would be seriously underchanging us. Irreplaceable for us....more so than Adam

houghton is a c u next tuesday. Vidic pushed Rickie in the back in the build up to that goal which was why he got caught.

yep...syfy channel in HD. Only is the US though lol

another cast iron oen appeal turned down!

Saint Charlie....you truly are a drama queen ain't you? Chicken Licken has got nothing on you. So someone you know spoke with the coaching staff....yeah right! Like they would tell your mate what their plans were.....and of course we'll lose half our squad this summer. MP is no god......he was the one that wanted Osvaldo. And as a result we have been left with 1 established striker and a young un for so many games because of those decisions. Life will go on regardless and the team will always have my full support. Some folks are going to look like right planks if Mp stays.............

bleedin' eck Saint Charlie: are you as much of a drama queen in real life? You take any word uttered by the club and put a negative slant on it. MP said he wanted to talk at the end of the season: project ending is we have reached the goals set out however long ago. Now what is next? No-one knows right now but will in the fullness of time. And to say that MP says we are clueless is one of the most ridiculous things I have read on here (and that's saying something). Whatever happens we will still have our club and KL appears to be in it for the long run. Lets not forget where we were a few short years ago. Key thing here is that the Academy is rolling out talent. It would be crazy to think we can keep everyone for their whole career: by selling the occasional Academy star it brings big revenue into the club and the next generation then comes through. Worked for Ajax why not us? Chill out and just appreciate what a great season we have had.

what a bunch of sqiunnying little girls on here. I would suggest some of you go and take a long lie down and stay away from these boards for the next 3 months. Of course other clubs covet our players: we've had a great season full of English talent. It is a sign of what we are doing right. Some players will stay, some will go and no doubt we will bring some in: that's the nature of the business. But I won't be running around crying "the sky is falling in" until we actually see a large number of our good players depart.....which I don't think will happen.

20million....what a joke! WHU signed Carroll for not much less and Adam is twice the player of that lump!

Franks COusin - really cannot understand where you are coming from at all. As has been pointed out Everton did not keep hold of Rooney, Rodwell or Feliani (but did get big bucks for them that they reinvested wisely). Not even Man U can hold on to players that want out (Ronaldo?) so to think we will is somewhat bizarre. And I am personally very pleased that RK is taking the time to build bridges with the community and sponsors - because at the end of the day a football club is about the fans: players come and go but the fans are always there. And you are doing RK a big disservice - he has not been extremely successful in sports and business by luck/chance.

Wow, just wow.......there really are some sad individuals on here. FF posts something of real interest and the sniping at FF begins. FF - shocking that NC junked our history. Documents going back to the 1890s should have been cherished not thrown out in the garbage. For all those saying NC delivered on a vision - he did indeed but it was the Liebherrs money. Look down the road to see what happens when the 'vision' gets out of control and I sure don't want my club going down that route. Thanks for the fascinating info - it feels like the club is once again in safe hands.

FF - are you able to provide more info as to why you are so confident? You sometimes come across as glass half full (or realistic depending on your opinion!) so for you to be confident is no bad thing!

dear lord.......what on earth is it with some of our "fans"? The lad is 18 and while a long way from the finished article he appears to have a lot of potential and his movement is first rate. For those slating the poor lad, how many chances did SRL get when he came on? Pretty much none because our midfield, per most of the season, while being very good with the ball create very few chances. Been the same all season. How about Cork and his shooting prowess? Oh, that's right Jack Cork can do no wrong.

Another young un that looks a real prospect. Thought he added composure, bite and running when he came on and hope he gets a start next week. Cork and Davis were terrible today. Looks like the conveyor belt is continuing to churn out great prospects and really think Reed could have a breakthrough season next year. Good on you young man! 10 Academy players blooded this year plus Lallana. Incredible stat - and I reckon Reed could be best of the lot!

Deserves his own thread.......absolutely immense again today and a real beast. Boy did we miss him when he was out for long periods earlier this season. What a signing he has turned out to be: should be first name on the team sheet with the strength he brings to our defence. What a great season we have been privileged to see.

congrats to the team for winning 'pitch of the season'.

Gallagher looks to have bags of potential....although not ready to start week in week out yet. Reed looks like yet another class act and fully expect him to have a breakthrough season next season. Then the question becomes......how on earth do you accommodate Cork, Schneiderlin, Wanyama, Reed, JWP, Davis? Good competition: 2 players for every position and simply highlights how we need to strengthen CB, GK and Striker options.

Thought the same thing watching yesterday. Thought he looked far more of a threat playing deeper and his vision and passing at times reminded me of a certain MLT. Definitely think this is the role for Ricky next season.

You know who you are....>Alpine and co. Once again Saints play majestically and you are conspicuous by your absence. Saints now pretty much nailed on for 8th. Great season but of course Alpine can only moan about what MIGHT happen (or not) in the summer. COYR

perhaps one or two of you ought to take a step back and take a deep breath. While we had no cutting edge up front, can you really be surprised? Our record signing is out on loan, our top scorer is out for the season and our only established striker remaining needs a break. Despite this, we played some beautiful football today - would you rather we were set up like Villa? Play for a 0-0 with hoofball? Unlike under the Strachan era when we finished 8th most people recognized that was the high water mark and we were unlikely to repeat that feat. This year we have a really young team that will only be better next year for the experience gained this year. If we can keep the core of the side together and keep the manager next season could be even better than this one.

We are truly blessed to have talents like CHambers et al at our club. Not only are they terrific prospects but they also appear decent lads off the pitch. Full credit to the club and everyone involved in the Academy. Sure seems like none of our young uns are in a rush to move away from Saints. Will certainly be interesting this summer.