The Kraken

And this is it, really. We've supposedly signed him for £1M, so he's not exactly a nipper plucked from the non-leagues (or a joker like Tommy FourPast). He clearly has decent form and is a prospect. Kelvin just looks worryingly sh*t. And having a comedy of errors behind a leaky defence, you can't just keep going on making mistake after mistake and expect it to change for the better. If he's deemed good enough by the coaches then hopefully he'll get his chance. If he doesn't get his chance then its because he's not good enough, and a thoroughly sad indictment on SFC as a whole not recognising the extent of the problem and dealing with it accordingly.

It was ridiculous at times. A great mate of mine work for a footy agent who represented George, so was happy to provide me with all sorts of tales of his excessive boozing. Plus many other tales from friends who's met him and stories on here. Yet as you say there were many who aggressively went after anyone who suggested that george may be anything other than the second coming; it was a truly bizarre time.

PROOOOOOOOF!!!! Where's the proof??? My fingers are in my ears otherwise, la la la la la la la la la can't hear you. Sadly, yes you're correct.

There's drinking, and there's drinking. George falls into the latter category. Strangely, many many fans on here during Burley's management term went to all sorts of lengths to deny that he was a boozer. It was amazing to see the defence of him from some who just didn't want to believe it.

That one really boils my p*ss. But then it also usually provides a clear indication that someone is of lesser intelligence when they fail to recognise the all too common error.

One thing you don't see a great deal of in this country (but you do in France where smoking is a national sport) are dispensers for used cigarettes on the streets. Its obviously not a brilliant idea to stub a cig out and then chuck it in a bin, and it seems to only be pubs that have places where used butts can be thrown away. French rubbish bins typically also have built in to them a section where you can stub out the cigarette and safely dispense the butt.

Davis for JWP and that's it, IMO. Also wouldn't be surprised if Gazza is actually in.

Agreed. After finishing 6th with us (and spending huge amounts to get there) he just utterly lost the plot. And has never recovered since; I'm amazed he still gets jobs in football.

I don't want it to seem like I'm sticking up for Whisky George, as he did a relatively poor job for us overall; but I find that comment a bit strange. He got Ipswich promoted to the Premier League (after making the play-offs 3 times) and then led them to a 5th placed finish and European qualification. No mean feat at all for a club of ipswich's size. Then at Derby, after an inauspicious start, he led them to 4th place in the Championship. He's not a great manager by any means, and his form since leaving us has been utterly abject. But he did had some highs in his career and its unfair to dismiss those out of hand.

In retrospect, yes it was. At the time though it was a decent appointment.

Did a good job at Hearts too. Won the first 8 games (including beating Rangers) drew the next 2 games (including Celtic away) and then had his bust up with mental Romanov which led to him quitting. His star was in the ascendancy when he came to us after a 4th place finish at Derby and then Hearts. Appointing Burley wasn't the mistake; and while 6th place and the playoffs wasn't amazing, he did just enough to justify another season. It was quickly realised that the second season was going to be a failure; we maybe held on to him for too long, but the biggest mistake was (after getting a decent financial deal for him) not having anyone suitable to replace him.

Gazza is only going to get experience from playing. As Bart proved, just being sat on the bench and playing in League Cup games isn't enough to develop as a keeper. I imagine Gazza will only get the nod if the coaches think he's better than Kelvin (which is a pretty low benchmark at the moment). Gills fans raved about him so let's see if he can step up. If not then it makes it clear that we need an emergency loan glovesman.

Then er, don't?

OK, which one of you nutjobs is masquerading under the username "Mr Disgusted" over on POL? There's no way this lad is anything other than a Saint on a wind-up, he's brilliant. His latest offering is a beauty: I think he's my favourite poster over there (apart from Frattoniser of course, he's the best).

Behind the Chapel goal is worse; 3 or 4 rows unsold as of now, and a few singles that aren't (likely won't?) sell.

As far as WUMs go PES, its not bad but a bit too obvious to get many genuine bites. Only a delusional Saints fan would tell you we're a big club with enormous potential. We're a big enough club to consider that the Premier League is our level (i.e. we attract enough fans to be run sustainably rather than having 20K fans and relying on investment). The media interest in us is fairly equal in comparison to other clubs our size; in simple terms, we're not in the group of elite champions league clubs, and we're not in the 3 or 4 clubs outside that (Liverpool, Spurs, Newcastle); therefore the Premier League don't really give a sh*t about us. I do enjoy it when fans of small clubs tell Saints fans that they're arrogant; simply for pointing out that we're a bigger club than them. A cup each aside, both Saints and Pompey haven't really won anything noteworthy in 2 or 3 generations; but in general comparison terms our fanbase, facilities and league standing show that we're a bigger club than you. That's not arrogance, its a simple fact. In contrast, we're a tiny club compared to others in our league, so it matters little who is the biggest south coast team, its like 2 bald blokes arguing over a comb, no-one outside of the county cares. As for not very vocal, it must have been a different saints crowd that Gary Neville kept eulogising about when we played United. We're not the loudest set of supporters by any stretch, but then we have never claimed to be anything of the sort, and we don't hang our hats on convincing ourselves it is such in some mistakenly deluded quest to feel good about ourselves.

That's a really good point, actually. With the loading time it takes for each individual block, it's not a very quick thing to see which particular blocks have available seats (when you have to individually drill down into each block to find out). It could take up to 15 minutes just to access each block of the stadium and find where the available seats are. The addition of a running total of available seats per block would be really useful.

:lol: Tin foil hat me up; its a conspiracy!

I wouldn't be upset if we were. At all. Last time we were relegated from the Prem it seemed like a disaster. In my lifetime I'd really only ever known Saints to be a top division side, so I couldn't really imagine life in the lower leagues. What I actually found out was that I enjoyed it more; I enjoyed not having to put up with games where Saints would try and keep the score down. Where a 1-0 defeat was seen as thoroughly acceptable and indicative of a solid display. In the years since we were relegated I've enjoyed going to games much more; I've been to more games each season than I ever did before; and in general I have a hell of a lot more respect and admiration for supporters of clubs that don't necessarily get all the Sky exposure. So, while it may seem like a strange thing to say: I'll continue to hope Saints win every game that we play. I hope that we'll finish as high in the table as possible. I'll be p*ssed off when we lose games. And I won't care one iota if we get relegated at the end of the season.

Not necessarily, no. I've seen some far better games of football in the lower leagues than I had to sit through in the Premier League (and Div 1 before that). The league we're in is no guarantee as to the quality of football on show.

Superfan? What are you talking about? You said (and I quote): That to me says you place most importance upon how good the team facing Saints is, when you choose how enjoyable a match is. Doesn't it? Not sure why you're being argumentative about it. If that's how you rank games then fair play to you, it's your opinion. As I said earlier, everyone will have their own one so no-one's is either right or wrong.

Nail on head right there. Its different strokes for different folks, there is no right or wrong answer. I'll quite happily put our visit to the Millenium Stadium right up there with our visit to Wembley for the JPT. I'll quite happily remember away days to Leyton Orient alongside trips to the biggest sides in the country. I don't particularly care for watching international players play against us; that's not my priority. I just like watching a half-decent Saints team, not feeling like I'm paying through the nose for it, and generally just enjoying going to games with a care-free attitude. The PL doesn't really give me that, I may be in a minority but there you go.

So your enjoyment of Saints is determined by which superstars you can see playing against us?

That's your opinion. Sorry to say, not everyone shares your utopian world of "being the best", or they certainly recognise that "our best" simply isn't good enough at the top table. Does that diminish my enjoyment of supporting Saints while in the Premier League? Yes it does. Its a strange dichotomy, supporting Saints in the lower leagues. Of course the natural reaction is to strive to reach the Premier League. And then to strive to finish as high as possible. But its just an abject league to be in for anyone outside of 4 or 5 clubs, in my opinion. Success is deemed massive to finish in the top ten. Finishing in the top 5 is remarkable. Finishing above that, well, almost inconceivable in this day and age. You mention the TV deal; it won't make a difference to the structure of the PL, except for it'll make the very big teams even bigger and will stretch their advantage at the top even further. So, in resposne to your disparaging remark that "anyone with a brain cell would choose the Premier League"; I'd simply say, please don't ever speak for me. I'll enjoy our time in the Premier League as best as possible. But I think I'll more cherish our time both struggling and succeeding in the lower leagues. Call me thick or brainless if that's your thing.

Not this again. Lawrenson's comments are entirely valid (especially given that Adkins has today spent a press conference deflecting questions about his supposed upcoming termination of contract). From Lawro: An entirely valid point of view.