SNSUN

The dirty Skates could only dream about having quality players in quality shirts in quality poses in quality massive billboards on the quality wall of a quality stadium. All they have on the walls of their stadium is graffiti.

I know it's been only two weeks since we signed Jay, but I'm itching for another signing! Will we see one next week I wonder? Hmm...

This. As it stands, we're getting relegated. Ask again mid-August when we will have a new GK, CB, RM and possibly CM.

That's a walkable journey! :-D Seriously the key here (and I say this sneakily lest is get me into trouble) is that Oyster are basically crud. We hate dealing with them in ticket offices and yet we are made to issue their products. We used to have a staff Oyster number with a bunch of scots answering, none of which seemed to truly know what they were doing. In the end they automated the number and it's been much easier to deal with! If you go to a ticket office, you'll be told you have to contact Oyster if you have a problem with your card, which is true - it's their problem (or the customer's...), but in doing so you have to ring a premium rate number, and when you are querying a few quid, it's probably costing you that much in phone bills. My tip is to go straight to Customer Servicces for the Underground (based at 55 Broadway at St James's Park, contact details in every station) and bloody moan your arse off. Customer Services have an allocation of vouchers they can use for legitimate complaints and they seemingly freely give them out. The same applies for any delayed journey - even by a few minutes - most people don't know that it's in our customer charter that you can claim your fare back, Seems pointless if you're making a £1.40 journey between say Earls Court and Heathrow, but every little helps, it all adds up, and people come to my window with fricking dozens of these vouchers. If the unresolved journey's still on the card, pop to Heathrow 123, I'll sort it! (Although it sounds like there's a couple of faulty journey's there, and we can usually only correct one.) (Also, if you lot know you're making more than three journeys in one day, just buy a travelcard, don't bother using your Oyster, it's just safer that way!) :-)

I like stadium decorations, it livens the place up. I heard Tottenham are installing Gazza shaped urinals, so that when you do a wee, it looks like the dentist chair celebration.

London Underground. Stupid useless tossers. :-D Oh, tis the Lounge. Ok, truthfully my worst experience is Vodafone a few years ago. My dad's worst company is worse though - nPower. He went to an ideal home exhibition and was interested in what they had to say. He asked to be sent some more information, and as an ex-copper he made sure he didn't sign anything. A week later and nPower had changed all the power in his house to nPower. Furious he was, and my dad has a calm nature. He ended up calling all kinds of Ombudsmans to report them. Now he tells everyone he meets not to use them. I can't vouch for some of my colleagues, but you'll always get good customer service by me on the Tube. (Unless I don't like your face, Uggo.)

We need a new CM to challenge Cork and Morgan but I'm fairly glad it wasn't Guthrie. Better out there, although on a free he's a good signing for Reading. Pogrebniak likewise, both on frees though, worth noting.

My missus wants the red shorts. It'll help with any period embarrassments. (Joke - she's a canary and shorts don't suit her.)

I may buy two, for when one is in the wash. I'll also be waving my programme furiously before each game to try to win the signed shirt...

Without trawling through the thread (yet), my view is that I like it. Smart pinstripes, and the red in our two colours was always my favourite. I think this is a kit that may grow on people, but even if not, next summer the club turns around, says it made a mistake, changes the kit and reaps the rewards of a whole new bunch of buyers that also bought this years' shirt. Granted, it's not as good as the sash IMO, but nothing will be. That was unique. It probably helps though that i didn''t like last year's shirt. I'll be getting this.

I hope there are no Saints players in that team, present or future. We need them fit and focused for the new season.

I see one link has us turning our attentions to Fraser Forster if we fail to bring in Butland. I don't know about you lot, but I'd be happier with that signing...

Surely there's a Southampton Academy joke in there somewhere...

Newsnow has a link (http://www.clicklancashire.com/sport/blackburn-rovers-fc/1212784-norwich-city-and-southampton-rival-blackburn-rovers-for-newcastle-united-striker-best.html) saying we're interested in re-signing Leon Best. Hope not.

I make no bones about being an Saints fan first and an England fan a distant second. Patriotic, sure, but outside of tournaments I have the 'Meh' factor with regards to England. I follow England because I have to, I follow Saints because I LOVE to.

I wish. I'm married to a Norwich fan. :-(

Jack Butland fo sho.

I'd go mad too, I have money on France winning the tournament... (and a cheeky each way on Czech Republic to get to the final.)

As it stands: 1: Manchester City. 2: Manchester United 3: Chelsea I argued that Arsenal could finish 3rd, but both Chelsea and Arsenal are in transition, and Chelsea have the financial backing to compensate for the loss of Drogba. Hulk and Hazard will be cracking signings for them. 18: Southampton 19: Reading 20: Wigan. I can see Wigan having a rocky time of it at last. Reading will simply not have the strength in depth - I can see them starting well (doing a Blackpool if you will) and getting relegated. Us? Well naturally I want us to stay up, but my predictions are based on NOW, and with currently only 3 centre backs on the books, one of whom had a serious injury last year, we'll get relegated. Of course this will be addressed before the start of the season, and my predictions for our finish will rise. There are a number of teams I can see fighting it out for safety next season, Norwich (though under Hughton they have a chance), Swansea (Could be one season wonders), Reading (depends who they sign ultimately), Us (Depends who we sign ultimately), West Ham (God I'd love that, they'd be crippled financially), Wigan (especially if they lose Martinez and sell off the crown jewels), QPR (steady old signings but could implode), West Brom (a team punching above their weight) and even Stoke (their time could come...) That's 9 of the 20 teams that arguments for relegation could be made, and throw in a bigger name in there for good measure (there's usually a bigger club that struggles) like Villa, and you have half the league. The fixture list has us starting badly (we often do anyway) but I think given the right signings, we could well progress through the season and finish mid-table.

I agree Carroll had a good game in the last match but I think it was always written in the stars that Rooney would play tonight. Perhaps had Carroll bagged a hattrick against Sweden then it'd have been hard to drop him, but Rooney offers a creativity that Carroll doesn't. Few England players are a cemented choice. Cole, Hart, Rooney and Gerrard are the exceptions. (With possibly Terry, although if I were the England manager, he wouldn't be so certain of a starting spot.) I can't watch this tonight, thank-you work, but I'll be listening in on the wireless. Ukraine will be a tough nut to crack in their home environment, but under Roy I happen to think we'll win this by two clear goals. (While hoping Sweden do us a favour against France.) I'd much rather play Italy than Spain, but after seeing Spain make hard work of Croatia, either are beatable on a good day.

I'd love 4 from our first 4 games, and after that maintaining a little over 1 point per game ratio. Meaning we'd finish with somewhere around the early 40 point mark. usually that's enough to keep a team up, which I'd settle for.

I think in hindsight our first three games being as tough as they are is a good thing. Firstly we have the summer to prepare for them. Secondly it'll bring everyone back down to earth and show them what a daunting task being in the Premier League is these days (and trying to stay in there). Thirdly, we ALWAYS start poorly, last season aside, and now not only do we have a ready made excuse, but we get rid of three tough fixtures when perhaps we'd be struggling against easier-to-beat clubs. Fourthly that Wigan game as the filling in a sh'tty sandwich gives us our best chance of getting three points now, and I expect we'll go all out to win it. Perhaps I'm looking for silver linings, but I reckon we could get 4 points from the first 4 games. Any more would be a FANTASTIC result. Any fewer and it wouldn't be the end of the world. Beat Man City? Lol

I'm amused at how my Simon Kjaer rumour from weeks ago took off on that site. I've almost started half believing it.

If I did that, it'd be just my luck somewhere like the Madejski stadium would be closed due to a health scare...

Stupid question perhaps, coming from THAT season, but was Romain Gasmi any good? A quick scout around on tinternet, his recent stats are quite impressive...