angelman

Depends if he is happy to sit on his behind picking his wage up and never play. I would have thought that most players would be desperate to play, even if it they had to write off some of their contract.

^ agree, although I do see Gazza as being more long term than others, who were there to get us promoted. Forren I see as a bit of a panic buy, although I view it as insurance, should our fragile defence get injured. It didn't and he wasn't needed, but he was there in case things turned out bad.

I do as well, but presumably, he has quite a lot of say in the matter. I am guessing if he wanted to, that he (and SFC) could renegotiate a certain part of his contract - ie how much he gets paid.

Can anyone confirm how much he actually cost us? I see certain websites saying £2.1m, which has been repeated here, while I always thought it was £250k. Can't believe it could have been £2.1m

playing with less than 50% of the first team.

The9, if you want to play for a PL club, and have a good standard of life in a nice area that is within easy reach of London but not too close, what are the choices? There are a few, but then bring in a decent wage and a manager you have worked for before and it isn't too hard, especially as the big clubs aren't coming knocking. The New Forest is a very nice place to live and one which we take too much for granted. You may remember that he asked to move to Juve from Roma, because he wanted to escape the temptations of the big city, although Turin has nearly 1m people. One thing he won't suffer with us are Ultras threatening him at home.

why wait to 85 to take Theo off???

we do look a very average side.

Our right hand side is looking pretty average.

Walcott doesn't

Wilshere looks pretty decent.

My boy has gone right of RL because of his tatts and now prefers JWP. But to the point in hand.....I find the reactions very interesting. I haven't got glory hunting friends who say he is too old etc. but more to do with fans of other clubs (ignoring those biased SFC and Brtisol City ones ) Plastic fans - well these are the ones who to be fair, don't really have football in their blood and are happy supporting any old team. They of course want to have the big names, regardless of whether they are any good. So that means anyone who doesn't play Top 6 isn't worthy of a spot in the team, regardless of whether they are actually good enough. The usual arguments of "they've never played CL" get brought out, which while it might be beneficial to play CL, is not the be all and end all. They are also the same who don't really care whether their club side has any English players in or not. Proper fans (for want of a better expression) - there are many from Manchester, Liverpool, London, etc etc who are more than happy to have RL in the squad. I have a feeling that the club vs country debate isn't always as cut and dried as all that. Maybe the desire to follow the country is there, but the players and their attitude to the national side has turned people away and back to their clubs. Certainly many at Saints have only become enthusiastic because we have one of our players there, but I do think it is more than that. The almost childish delight that RL got from scoring against the Jocks brought an honesty back to football that has long been lost under the piles of £ that have been foisted on to players, and it really appealed to supporters. The low point was the players' demeanour in South Africa and that really alienated a lot of people. We all know that he is not the future, but the pride is obvious, and most true supporters prefer one player who plays with pride than 11 that go through the motions.

I still don't get this. We don't let Sharp go because we won't subsidise his wages. No one is prepared to pay them, so he sits with us doing nothing but collect his wages at a reported rate of £18,000 a week. So, with NIC, it costs us over £1m for him not to play. Surely it would be better to send him out on loan, pay say half his wage, saving us £500k a year. While he signed this lucrative contract, and who wouldn't, on the one hand, he should have been aware that this situation might happen, but on the other, I feel that we are playing with his playing career (albeit while still paying him handsomely).

Putting my Saints rose tinted glasses to one side, what I like most about this story is, that while newspapers are being overly disparaging about RL, most comments to these on-line stories are firmly on RL's side saying he deserves it, he was top English scorer, he is enthusiastic, etc etc. Certainly his enthusiasm seems to have struck a real cord with a lot of supporters around the country. While we, and supporters of other clubs, all realise that he won't be automatic choice when the likes of Rooney and Sturridge return, I am loving the reception that RL is getting from other supporters (but not the press, who I get the feeling are just waiting for him to fail so that they can beat Woy with it). The comments on here are what I am on about: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2415149/Do-Roy-Hodgsons-England-hopes-rest-time-beetroot-bottler-Rickie-Lambert-Ukraine.html

I liked Oblivion, and agree that it was a predictable. But nowhere near as predictable as the utter tosh that was Olympus Has Fallen. Tired old formulaic bull with the only difference being a new baddie. Just seen Star Trek which was OK but not as enjoyable as the first one.

Aye, but 2 is better than 1.

Certainly a very effusive profile on the OS. Someone asked why he was still here.....if you were cynical, you could say that there was a gap in the squad and that the Japanese market is very much of commercial interest.

Teddy Sheringham had no pace but a good brain. RL is the same sort of player.

As a small aside - Anders Svensson scores against ROI

+1. Shame that RL has made him look better.

Carroll has a £35m and £15 price tag vs. RL's £1m price tag, and that unfortunately speaks volumes.

Welbeck is ****. How he gets picked is a mystery (OK - Man U connection). RL is a lot more effective than him, even through my rose tinted glasses.

I've only got a commemorative plate.

Had a quick look and can only see transfer threads. Which thread was it on?

No...best get the glasses on then...!