Dibden Purlieu Saint

12 for me.

I think we could have this today, if we play our best side.

Scott Dann is worse than what we have and Blackburn wanted £6m. A £1m LB is likely to be worse than what we have. I'd take Dawson over Rodriguez though.

I don't have an agenda. I was a kinda Lowe luvvie, but believed he had to go as the fan base had become so fractured. I was a big fan of Cortese until this Summer, but I honestly believe there is some mismanagement of the club going on. I really like Adkins, but became frustrated with his strange decisions at the beginning of the Season. Hopefully he can build on last week in fielding his best side and not taking our best players off. I feel that compared to previous Seasons we are vastly under-prepared, and frankly I'm worried. I also find it frustrating when some people on the board try to suppress others opinions for no reason other than a differing point of view... I love the word 'lambasted'. I love the Saints, and although I find it difficult, when we lose it upsets me. I don't cry though. I'm brave. Bearsy is hilarious. I guess these are actually more observations than an agenda.

Good point. No clubs have ever spent money without having it available...

I wonder if the improvements were a front for us not being able to pay the next installment, and a loan has now been secured to carry on with the work. The thing about spending £30m in the Summer. You don't actually believe we spent £30m in the Summer do you? I think the Ramirez transfer apart the fees tend to be spread over the duration of a contract. It is very rare that you spend all the money up front, ergo, we have made a commitment to pay £30m over 3 or 4 years.

I thought prior to this season we had no debt. Have we re-mortgaged the stadium to release funds then? How easy is it for these companies accounts to cross, or can they not? My corporate finance knowledge is meagre...

1000% correct. I posted similar opinions when Vickery wrote that piece in the Summer. It's those that didn't watch him at Bologna that don't understand what a talented kid we have.

I think he is much better than you realise in all honesty Alps. I'm not criticising you, but he really is a pretty special footballer, especially at the age of 21. No other team outside the top 6 has a player comparable imo, and when he gets fully fit and up to speed with the Premiership you will see the guys class.

That sounds completely plausible to me. I think it's quite obvious that we are no longer being funded by the Liebherr's.

Go look at the thread again, I never said I was sure. However I do think that is possibly the case and explains his continued prescence at the club. But thinking about it, perhaps the reason we haven't sacked Adkins is because we can't afford to...it's something that I never really considered until now.

Yeah, but that money could potentially have been spent without even the thought of being relegated, spending without having the money.

Turns out I follow you on Twitter then as I saw these earlier... Love the Rank Xerox kit, tis awesome.

Just a few things pointing towards a money problem, or at least a cash flow issue: - Not paying Contractors for work on the Stadium - The stopping of work on the training ground - The loan from the Cayman Islands - Not investing in proper CB's in the Summer - Rumours of no money to spend in January I am becoming increasingly worried that not staying up this season could land us in some serious financial issues...again!

It's turning into the Chuck Norris type things... Nicola Cortese doesn't have a chin behind his beard, just another fist.

Wow, just wow.

Artur Boruc - Only 1st choice as Frey got a serious injury and was then sold to Genoa. Maya Yoshida - The Olympics is effectively an Under 23's competition. Not exactly high calibre. Gaston Ramirez - Agree here. Paulo Gazzaniga - In League 2. Jay Rodriguez - God knows how many seasons. 2. And Charlie Austin has nearly scored as many in the first 4 months of this season as Rodriguez did the whole of last season. 17 v 21. Steven Davis - Not unknown, but not great. Nathaniel Clyne - He didn't turn down United this Summer. He turned them down last year, and funnily enough this season the offer wasn't there.

Continuing to love this Bearsy. Have you thought about maybe trying to get these published? Be a great stocking filler.

How do you define better? I assume you mean in 5 games on a neutral ground, Saints would win more than Reading? Because the evidence would point the other way (or certainly did last season). They finished above us. They achieved 4 points against us, whereas we achieved 1 against them. I would say that they were a better team than us last season. In fact, I believe that is indisputable. Real were better last season.

1 point is what we'll get from those games. Norwich will be that home game.

You can argue that all you like but they finished above us.

I think that certainly helps...

You are joking aren't you? No wonder people think our fans are arrogant with poor football knowledge.

Reading will beat us because they have a better defence than we do.

I would prefer someone with proper top division experience, rather than another gamble.