angelman

That's true but it's also kidding ourselves that we have improved from the WC, when we really haven't. Or look back to the last Euros where we qualified unbeaten (5w 3d 0l) - how did we do there? Got through the group stages (IIRC we were pretty dire) but then out at the first knockout round. That is typical - we over promised and under achieved. At least at the WC, we under promised. These 6 out of 6 is going to lead to us reverting to over promising and under achieving. It's so much better to under promise and over achieve - great example being Koeman - than the other way around - great example being Brenda.

Presume as we are playing our 2nd leg of the qual round of Europa League on Thurs 6th, the NUFC game will be on the Sunday or Monday.

I wonder how Gardos is progressing? One of the big "improvers" for me last season was Yoshida. If Gardos can make such a big improvement, then we might not be as light there as we thought. But I realise that that is maybe being a tad optimistic, although what I saw of him, I obviously view him as already being better than many others think. And if Yoshida can continue his improvements (not sure it will happen that he makes another large step up like he did) then that's 3 good CB's we have. But of course there are a lot of "ifs" involved in that.

Can't recall which radio station it was (talkSport probably) but they were talking about potential next England manager, and English ones. And really, the only name that they could come up with was Pardew (not that they were advocating that he take the job). They also mentioned Howe for the future, but really, that is typical journalism knee jerk bigging up after his fantastic season last year. So now, for once, I am thinking that maybe we will have to go abroad seeing as we have no one here nor will ever be as ballsy as the Germans and appoint an ex-player with no prior managerial experience, like Klinsmann (and also Voller). I had thought that the experience that Woy had around the world, would make him the ideal choice, even with the disastrous time at Liverpool (and being silly, one might say that he favours Liverpool to make up for his time there), but he plays the same old safe style of football which is boring and just not good enough. Then there is the club vs country bit, but from the players' perspective. Who pays their wages? Who do they really want to play for, as only one gives them their lavish lifestyle? The performances by the national team have been diabolical in finals of competitions, and merely adequate in qualifying for them. It can't all be down to a **** poor manager, can it?

Eddie, your picky point...is he any different than any other player? No one is really concerned about the ambitions of the club beyond how it affects their own ambitions and how it will allow them to make the next step up. To think otherwise is to view things from a fan's perspective. With the PL the way it is and the CL spots a pretty closed shop, we won't attract a certain level of player who demands CL footie, nor keep those who interest clubs that can offer it. Who we can attract are up and coming players (amongst others) who we can potentially turn into players capable of CL, while offering them pretty decent wages in a pretty competitive league. As for the English, while I know he gave the interview in Spanish, maybe he was doing a Poch and wasn't confident enough but can speak it and understand it well enough to get by. If he has none, then I am sure that that will be on the agenda to learn it.

Personally, I thought it important to have an English manager. The preceding foreign ones weren't a success so what was there to lose? At that time it was 'Arry or Woy. Woy was the least worst option. But now I have to question that.....he is shît.

LOL - like the poll.

Sure we might be seeing this through our Saints tinted glasses, but in reality Clyne is pos/prob the best English RB in the country at the moment and to play 2 non-RB's in his position is just very strange. Some might think he is already too big for his boots.

“If I were to play him and leave out Nathanial Clyne there would have been a lot of questions about ‘Don’t you rate Nathanial Clyne?’ and ‘Don’t you think he’s a man of the future?’

JRod @ Fulham springs to mind

Which other country plays players out of position so often, when there is no need to? As for Phil Jones, most people in the country seem to think that he should never be anywhere near an England team. But Hodgson, with his sanctimonious and patronising style of speech and boring, old fashioned tactics and team selection has continued the theme of the last several years of making the national side into something that is hugely boring to watch.

I think his head has been elsewhere for quite a while. Maybe I missed it, but there was no explanation why he was dropped against Hull. And after that, his performances didn't quite seem to be as good as they had been earlier in the season.

I'm quite interested to see whether any of the Academy players will make the step up.

http://www.shoot.co.uk/category/news/southamptons-5m-forward-target-due-for-medical-today/ Having a medical today apparently.

What really is the difference between playing for us and playing for Liverpool or Spurs next season. If we get through the qual rounds, we have all got Europa League. Those that left us talk about it being a big step up due to expectations, but does that really make a difference to your ability as a player?

I don't why I did, but when they scored, I clapped. I have no idea how we played leading up to it, as I fell after about 5 minutes, woke up of and on, and woke up to see the pass leading up to the goal.

Woy should have been sacked after Brazil. He showed how inept and devoid of ideas he was, so he ain't suddenly going to change.

Germany 1-5 England??? When was that - 2001?

Don't really do Twitter. Certainly don't take any notice of who follows who. Once sent Shane Long a Tweet about his bust ribs which he replied to, which was "nice". But really, as a medium for communicating, it's pretty poor. I would put the OP on par with looking at what someone's relationship status is on FB.

If you could, that would be helpful.

Not (exactly) what he said as we know the agent was authorised and also charged. "Authorised agent Alan Middleton has also been charged for allegedly breaching The FA’s Football Agents Regulations in relation to the same transfer." Was asking what these regulations usually cover.

Can someone explain what this means? What might they have done to be charged? I presume Redslo will have a blog entry explaining all (if not, will be very disappointed )

He had a storming game in the 2-2 draw against them, and wonder whether that was what sold him to them.

No idea what Football Manager does or how relevant it is to the real world. Is it relevant? But question is, do these other clubs have the much vaunted Black Box?

Is every player that we are being linked with also being linked with Newcastle and West Ham (and vice versa)?