the saint in winchester

My thoughts exactly.

Haha, yes I thought the same. Mertesacker is as quick as an ocean liner. I was looking forward to seeing Long and Mane speed past him.

Need consumer advice .... Family fancy a change from the Canaries or Spain this year .. they want to go to the Greek Islands. I've been to Cyprus but blissfully ignorant on the others. So it's me and the missus plus 16 yo daughter. Our preferences are * good restaurants within walking distance * sandy beach * village/fishing town * family friendly, not lager lout rioting til 3am * nice architecture, things to see Probably going July/August after GCSE exams. Can you give me your recommendations based on experience preferably. thanks

Don't really want anyone to leave. We need two players for every position, so want Pelle and Austin to compete for the 1 up top in a 4-2-3-1. Still need Mane and Long in the second row, and still need Vic in the 3rd row back. Not seeing much from Clasie yet to nail down the position in DM, so (1) Vic (2) Romeu, (3) Clasie and (4) signing. Come back Jack Cork!

Yeah, but K.Billy said nothing, just an applause icon. Don't jump to conclusions. But hopefully going through.

I thought that too, immediately, when the Caulker release was mooted. We are scratching QPR's back, and maybe there was payback to follow?

Hope so! We didn't go for Blackman, Afobe, Gray.... either we have a target in mind or we are going for no-one. I would have said Austin is a lot of money wages wise, but we need to be going for someone!

I am out of contract in March! No offers of a new contract yet.... Thank you for asking, Batman.

True dat, bro. We are a showcase club, taking a player at a modest price then adding value to him and selling on to the top clubs at top price. I'm comfortable with that business model. Frustrating yeah, but when we sell on for an eye-popping sum that is success. Would worry not only if we weren't doing that but also if they wanted to leave to go to the likes of Stoke or West Ham. Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool - fair enough.

There's no guarantees and there shouldn't be. If he wants to manage a club where players can't get better personal terms, then join Man City or Barcelona. Every other club is a smaller fish and has to accept players will want to move up. Such is life.

Would have no issue on purchase price for Austin ....but isn't wages the issue? Isn't he on something like £80k a week and we are already maxed out on our wages to revenue FFP stat?

He may be, but it's poor management to publicly berate them through the media. Keep discipline internal and hit them with a fine. Withdrawing Mane from the starting line up was hitting his other players and the fans not Mane. May as well as poked himself in the eye. Yes, agree we don't want to keep selling off players every year, but as a 'showcase' club we end up with disenchanted players if we refuse to allow them a chance to earn salaries we can't afford. If Koeman doesn't see that, then he needs to be at Man Utd or Man City.

Let's just offer £50M for Vardy. I'd like to remind the group that I recommended going for Vardy, Mahrez and Ulloa when Leicester looked to be down and out and about to be relegated. You lot shot me down in flames saying they were c-rap. Still think that?????????????????? (OK, 2 of the 3 I would still take.)

Pierre-Emerick is from Gabon (get along with Sadio?) and was transferred for €12M last time. Or let's get Clive Allen out of retirement!

Alright, Charlie, let's go for it. See above. Pick one.

And Dirk Kuyt is just under the top 10! Cheeky little bid from Ronald???

[h=1]European Football Top Scorers 2015/2016[/h][TABLE=width: 100%] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD=width: 70, align: center]Goals Scored[/TD] [TD=width: 70, align: center]Penalties[/TD] [TD=width: 70, align: center]Golden Shoe Points[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]1 [/TD] [TD=width: 100][/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #DFDFDF]Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Borussia Dortmund [/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #DFDFDF, align: center]20[/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #DFDFDF, align: center]3[/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #DFDFDF, align: center]40[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]2 [/TD] [TD=width: 100][/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #E1E1E1]Neymar Barcelona [/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #E1E1E1, align: center]17[/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #E1E1E1, align: center]3[/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #E1E1E1, align: center]34[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]3 [/TD] [TD=width: 100][/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #E2E2E2]Jamie Vardy Leicester City [/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #E2E2E2, align: center]17[/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #E2E2E2, align: center]3[/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #E2E2E2, align: center]34[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]4 [/TD] [TD=width: 100][/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #E4E4E4]Thomas Muller Bayern Munich [/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #E4E4E4, align: center]17[/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #E4E4E4, align: center]4[/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #E4E4E4, align: center]34[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]5 [/TD] [TD=width: 100][/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #E6E6E6]Zlatan Ibrahimovic PSG [/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #E6E6E6, align: center]16[/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #E6E6E6, align: center]4[/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #E6E6E6, align: center]32[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]6 [/TD] [TD=width: 100][/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #E8E8E8]Benjamin Moukandjo Lorient [/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #E8E8E8, align: center]15[/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #E8E8E8, align: center]4[/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #E8E8E8, align: center]30[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]7 [/TD] [TD=width: 100][/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #EAEAEA]Luis Suarez Barcelona [/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #EAEAEA, align: center]14[/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #EAEAEA, align: center]1[/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #EAEAEA, align: center]28[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]8 [/TD] [TD=width: 100][/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #EDEDED]Gonzalo Higuain Napoli [/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #EDEDED, align: center]14[/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #EDEDED, align: center]0[/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #EDEDED, align: center]28[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]9 [/TD] [TD=width: 100][/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #F0F0F0]Robert Lewandowski Bayern Munich [/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #F0F0F0, align: center]14[/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #F0F0F0, align: center]0[/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #F0F0F0, align: center]28[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]10 [/TD] [TD=width: 100][/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #F5F5F5]Eder Sampdoria [/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #F5F5F5, align: center]13[/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #F5F5F5, align: center]3[/TD] [TD=bgcolor: #F5F5F5, align: center]26[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

From that list, I would probably go after Nick Blackman. Local to us, low disruption and Reading are midtable. Burnley are up the top so wouldn't let Andre Gray go.

[h=1]Championship Top Scorers[/h] Share Facebook Twitter [TABLE=class: competition-top-scorers-list, width: 624] [TR=bgcolor: #000000] [TH=class: rank, align: center]Rank[/TH] [TH=class: player-name]Player Name[/TH] [TH=class: team-name]Team[/TH] [TH=class: goal-count, align: center]Goals[/TH] [/TR] [TR=class: odd rank-1] [TD=class: rank, align: center]1[/TD] [TD=class: player-name]Andre Gray[/TD] [TD=class: team-name]Burnley[/TD] [TD=class: goal-count last, align: center]11[/TD] [/TR] [TR=class: even rank-2, bgcolor: gainsboro] [TD=class: rank, align: center]2[/TD] [TD=class: player-name]Ross McCormack[/TD] [TD=class: team-name]Fulham[/TD] [TD=class: goal-count last, align: center]10[/TD] [/TR] [TR=class: odd rank-3] [TD=class: rank, align: center]3[/TD] [TD=class: player-name]Nick Blackman[/TD] [TD=class: team-name]Reading[/TD] [TD=class: goal-count last, align: center]9[/TD] [/TR] [TR=class: even rank-3, bgcolor: gainsboro] [TD=class: rank, align: center]3[/TD] [TD=class: player-name]Moussa Dembele[/TD] [TD=class: team-name]Fulham[/TD] [TD=class: goal-count last, align: center]9[/TD] [/TR] [TR=class: odd rank-3] [TD=class: rank, align: center]3[/TD] [TD=class: player-name]Jonathan Kodjia[/TD] [TD=class: team-name]Bristol City[/TD] [TD=class: goal-count last, align: center]9[/TD] [/TR] [TR=class: even rank-3, bgcolor: gainsboro] [TD=class: rank, align: center]3[/TD] [TD=class: player-name]Chris Martin[/TD] [TD=class: team-name]Derby County[/TD] [TD=class: goal-count last, align: center]9[/TD] [/TR] [TR=class: odd rank-3] [TD=class: rank, align: center]3[/TD] [TD=class: player-name]Jordan Rhodes[/TD] [TD=class: team-name]Blackburn Rovers[/TD] [TD=class: goal-count last, align: center]9[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

Good news with Gazza. Has clearly been working hard behind the scenes. Chopped off the silly ponytail and looks a decent keeper. Any side needs 3 good keepers, so we still need Stek to sign on - and keep Gazza. Kelvin to become coach.

...for the European game. We'll have to see for the weekend.

From tomorrow's BBC Gossip page: Southampton will not sell forward Sadio Mane to Manchester United in January, although the 23-year-old Senegal international may leave at the end of the season. (Daily Mail)

This is all a bit premature. They're simply going through a dry spell. They will come out of it soon. Solid defensively, DM's are excellent, AM's better than most teams, Gomis scored about 6 games in a row recently and Ayew is a good no10. Realise this was prompted by comments on their board, but they should be patient with their team and not start being jealous of other teams.

£35M plus Jamie Vardy, and let's talk. Until then, meh.

Good grief, all the stars ... and me ... live in Winchester. Maybe we can do a bulk deal on their window cleaning?