saint1977

Not a great performance but neither a terrible one. The full backs made the difference - Chambers had a torrid time and will learn from that, Fox was solid but in order to compete at this level he's had to evolve into a true defender and rein in his attacking instincts. So this meant that we had little width with Shaw and Clyne not 100%. I'd imagine the club were under a bit of pressure to ensure Shaw was fit to play for England U21s. Need to urgently get another full back or RM in today if this is the system we are going to deploy this season so hopefully we've agreed fees and medical/s booked as we speak. CBs both played well although thought Fonte fouled Snodgrass and definately a handball at the other end. Midfield was the most disappointing, VW good so far but lost possession too easily at Carrow and MP should have brought Cork on at HT for JWP who got monstered, that's if he'd included him in the squad. That said, the game could have gone either way and Carrow Rd will be a bit of a fortress this season, can't see them losing too many games there, even to Man U etc. Adam is playing much better so far, getting nearer to his pre-Reading injury form.

Bristol City or Swindon away please, probably the latter actually because Bristol is a bit dangerous getting back to the car park/station. Yeovil would have been good. A midlands side could work for me midweek but if it's London/SE/North then home draw please. Swansea/Cardiff away would be tough games although Cardiff might put a weaker side out for their first PL season.

Lard is like Dalek and Hoddle - but in reverse. Hope Nigel does well at Reading although I'd imagine their forums are a bit tense after blowing a two goal lead at home to their fellow promotion favourites and then last night's hammering. If they stick with him - and Reading will I think - they'll do well this year.

I have fond memories of Wembley and JPT. Why? Because it kick-started our recovery and got the club used to winning again after years of Askham and 4th from bottom being an achievement of whatever division we were in. If the skates win it, they'll no doubt enjoy it as well but the momentum must be sustained. I can't see them doing much in this year because with players like Ferry and Connolly on the wage bill, they really need promotion this year but next year if they go up I can see it being more of a priority. Long-term, I see them as a club like Barnsley, PNE, MK etc as a transit outfit with gates of 12-13k yo-yoing between L1 and the odd stint in the NPC. The older fans would be happy with that I suspect after the rollercoaster but the ones that have tasted the PL might want more.

Can't believe Woakes is in, what a joke selection and his medium pace pies have got exactly what they've deserved. He's got no venom at all so Watson has been able to get forward and crack him all over the park. Kerrigan is nervous and may settle, Swann has also been battling with Watson. Woakes has done little of merit in the ODI and T20 teams but if you play for Warwickshire you are in, that's Ashley Giles's influence for you. Mediocre former player selecting mediocrity from his own county. Would have thought Flower had more sense though, feel very sorry for proven proper frontline bowlers like Finn and Tremlett. At least Bairstow's been dropped from the Test side but he will be Prior's long-term successor in the Test side so hope he gets a proper ODI run now to learn how to play straighter because he does have talent. Hope England take some wickets but Woakes continues to be hit everywhere at 5 an over, don't want him on the plane this winter because on their flat bouncy decks he'll be cannon fodder. We do need a batter who is a decent bowler - despite his disciplinary issues I'd have had a look at Ben Stokes.

Loving what he and Markus have done for the club. I used to be envious of people like my old man who had STs during the glory days of the 1976 FA Cup win and European run and 1980s, Keegen, Shilton et al but think our generation might be in for a second spell of halycon days (comparatively). I'm going to get to as many games as petrol costs allow and enjoy!

What a load of rubbish this thread is. Gaston has some serious competition for his place with Osvaldo and Victor signed over the summer but so has Adam and J Rod. It's up to them to force MP to select them in the first XI which hopefully will lead to strong performances from all of the above. Gaston was hit and miss last year (Great v Villa (h), Newcastle (h), Gunners (h) and Everton (h), poor away from home at times) but has bags of talent and could combine very well with the players we've brought in.

Plus Big Vic can play CB - and if his display at CM on Saturday was anything to go by, he wouldn't take any prisoners either. Good luck opposition strikers :-) A player that play left sided either in front of or behind Shaw (the club may play Shaw at LM long-term) is more likely IMO as we look well covered at RB - Clyne, Chambers, Lovren and Cork can all play there. The other possibility is RM - perhaps Sinclair on loan, there must be a reason why he hasn't signed at WBA. Thought it was interesting Puncheon didn't feature in the final squad on Sat so wonder if Holloway will bid? Maybe a better keeper to compete with Boruc but Kelvin only recently signed a 3 year deal and Gazza hasn't been loaned out yet. So in summary the only likely remaining area for a final re-inforcement is the left side, Fox's exclusion adds weight to that. Not a bad position to be in quite frankly!

Spot on bar one point. The club need to stop wasting time on Osvaldo - even if he isn't going to Spurs he's trouble with a capital T - and focus on competing for Sinclair and Guidetti. Not sure about a new LB though - who is going to want to play reserve to Shaw? Better to get a decent CB to pair with Lovren who can cover the RB position if needed anyway, as can Cork. Clyne can cover LB.

Wasn't sure about Osvaldo anyway although I wouldn't be surprised if the tabloids are getting confused with Lamela, who has been linked with Spurs along with Pjanic for ages. Vydra would have been the best striker signing to provide something different to what we already have but WBA were more decisive. Hopefully Rickie will start the season well after his England debut and J Rod might end his dry run. I'd like to see Mayuka get some game time in the first 3 games, we might as well find out if he is up to it after shelling out good money. Sinclair still hasn't gone to WBA so I'm hopeful we are competing with them to bring him in. It should be a busy last couple of weeks as we are still a striker/wide player and CB short of seriously competing for a top 10 spot if that's the club's aim. Think we'll be 12-15th somewhere which would be a good season of consolidation IMO.

I agree on those, it's a shame because a lot of people wished Brighton well after the vile things Archer and Bellotti did to that club. Agree on Derby plus I was there for the diving and cheating by Baiano and was it Eranio as well in the 90s? Forever in Notts Forest's shadow. I'd also add the skates to the dislike list for the cheating and the Bates minutes' 'silence' plus: Spurs: It's all calmed down post-Hoddle but there's always been a bit of rivalry. Some of their fans expectations are off the scale. Cardiff: Have a feeling our visit there won't be incident free next season. They were dreadfully behaved in 05/06 I think it was when Fuller scored twice, my friend's pub got damaged and they were up for a fight from early on in the morning. Also the nonsensical wearing of red shirts. Leicester: The hail of coins at Filbert St mid-90s, their relegation was well deserved that season. Leeds: Dirty, limited team but respect to their travelling fans who make some brilliant noise and always fill their section at SMS. Wolves: Quite like Pompey in being obsessed with the ancient past and believe they are a massive club. They're not. They are a solid mid-table NPC club despite their history and there's nowt wrong with that. PNE, Huddersfield or Blackpool don't carry on like Wolves or Pompey fans do and their history is every bit as good. Plymouth: Unpleasant atmosphere for the promotion game in 2011 and very gobby in 2005 when they visited and defended for 90 minutes to get a 0-0, then celebrated like they'd won the FA Cup Bristol City: As above. Sick of hearing about their and Plymouth's underachievements. Fill the bloomin ground then. Out of the two though, they could be the club that does a Stoke, gets into the top flight eventually and fills the ground. Newcastle: You are not in the top 8 clubs in the world, whatever your deluded ex-Chairman said. I like Pards but bored of hearing from JFK and Ashley in the media. The away end requires binoculars having sat at the back of it watching Saints up there. Cool city though. Teams I like - Coventry, makes me sick how that's turned out. Southend were great and Carlisle as well in the JPT. I went to Torquay v AFC Wimbledon on Sat and their travelling support was quality, made the skates look quiet by comparison.

Strikers are a problem at all levels, even L2. In terms of the ones that have been linked to Saints at some stage, Sow, Vydra and this Finbogason sound the best realistic ones although the Dutch league is a risk as we found with De Ridder! I'd like Vydra - has successful NPC experience, young still, has pace and could be available for £8-9m, which if he had a couple of good 12-15 goal seasons would rise in value. Scott Sinclair would have been a fine winger/striker option and it's a pity WBA have beaten us to that one. What about the other guy at Fenerbache - Stoch? Has anyone bought him yet? I'd like to see Mayuka get a proper run of games off the bench, he did well in the Beskitas game, but the mood music seems to suggest he'll be loaned out/sold.

The rivalry will always be Saints-Pompey. Why? Here's same reasons: - Natural competition. The Bournemouth economy is different whereas Soton/P'mouth are always in direct competition for regeneration monies and other economic development support. - History: Two large, very different dockyards, different mentalities (outward-facing Soton vs island mentality E of the M27) of the populations - A sizeable minority skates will always hate SFC, however much they might scrap with Millwall or other clubs. This would not fade. - Fanbase; whatever we say about the skates, their fanbase will always be larger than AFCBs - Sustainability of ACFB - they've spent plenty to get to the NPC and fair play to Howe. Can they sustain it though for this season and beyond? Can they grow their fanbase to get 10k+ gates in all divisions?

What surprised me about Isgrove - who has impressed me both times I've seen him feature - is that he only got a one year deal when Chambers, Stephens and others got 4. Even Gape and Rowe, who aren't close to the first XI yet, got 2 year deals I think. Anyone ITK?

We could get into Europe - but for next season the cups are the way forward. Focus on the League Cup first of all, could see us going a good way this year and put our strongest side out wherever possible. For the FA Cup, you can be in the final and qualify like we did in 03 if you are playing one of the big 4 although beyond R5 the big boys take it slightly more seriously now than recent years as the likes of Arsenal struggle to compete for the title now.

I agree on the transfer window, make it 31 July. That'd get players, agents and clubs properly focused on concluding business promptly and would probably reduce traffic on twitter - and all the rubbish re-posted on here - by about 50%! I've been delighted with the two players we have signed - plus keeping Shaw - but the striker situation is too urgent now to leave to the final day. Need to focus on realistic but exciting targets like Vydra - knows English football, has pace, can finish and speaks the language. Unless Udinese are going to start him and as Watford didn't get promotion, he'd probably be keen to join and we could get it done in 72 hours. With J Rod out of form still, we are far too reliant on Rickie and him, Gaston from long range and the centre halves getting forward from set pieces are our only prospects of scoring at WBA which will cost us 3 points. Ideally, we want the new striker to feature at some stage in the final friendly at the weekend in the run up to WBA.

That's also how I recall it, Andy wanted to play in the middle whereas Chris Nicholl was playing him wide. Norwich recruited him as a CM. Graham Roberts was ex-Weston Park Boys (now Grove Academy?) although hard to know if he was any more fired up than usual as he was no shrinking violet! Met his match in player-manager Souness when he went north of the border to Rangers in the mid-late 80s. We haven't missed out on many which is remarkable, Newcastle seemed to miss out on a whole generation at Wallsend Boys Club! We could have included Le Saux to our list of products but IIRC there was some of kind of restriction on signing him and MLT and if so, we definately made the right call there! Anderton I guess but that was more Bob Higgins, a disgruntled ex-Saints youth coach IIRC who took him to Pompey (a reverse of the Chamberlains I guess). Kevin Phillips admitted that he was nowhere near good enough as a young full back and only coverted to a striker at Baldock Town.

This, he was our easily one of our best players along with Morgan, Rickie and Punch early on last season, deserving his national call up. That injury v Reading in November derailed him and he wasn't the same player, maybe because he was rushed back too soon. Can't help thinking he'll benefit from a good pre-season and will do well next year. Hopefully he'll have more competition in the wide/AMC areas though which might help everyone.

We need both but sticking to Alps' original Q I would have to say striker. As others have pointed out, Ramirez and Lallana would benefit from better movement ahead of them and also it gives us a counter-attacking option at home if teams sit in and go direct against us, as quite a few (notably QPR, Sunderland and WBA) did actually do successfully. Rickie has very much a role still to play but I feel that may be sitting deeper under MP's system and pulling onto the far post when opportunities arise. Trouble is, Rickie is the best finisher in the squad by several country miles and J Rod, whilst very promising and suiting our system well, isn't going to exceed 10 or 11 league goals for another season at least. Morgan might get forward again well though from MC with VW/JC holding, those goals really helped last year. It also gives us another impact player off the bench away from home if Mayuka doesn't cut the mustard this year.

Kyle Naughton - yes please, good quick 2 footed full back. Did well for Norwich and I can't remember who he was on loan to before that but again seemed to do well. Started out at Sheff Utd and then Spurs paid comparatively big money for him and then Kyle Walker. Wonder how much Spurs would want for him?

Interesting that Boruc isn't featuring and trains on his own. Could be an innocent reason like a cold virus but more of a concern if he's out of favour and explains some of the links to new GKs. Thanks for the updates though Andy, very informative. Didn't know NC had injured himself - must be very frustrating. Might explain why the transfer rumour mills have gone quiet for the time being!

I agree but in the lower leagues there is more build up to the games where it is known clubs are going to bring a substantial travelling support. For example, Torquay's usual gate is about 2.5k but it was over 6k for Bristol Rovers on the final day. Newport will be another all ticket affair next season as they are expected to fill their allocation. You wouldn't describe them as 'derby games' but the atmosphere is different. Also, some clubs have one-way rivalries - Bournemouth with us, Torquay with Exeter, Colchester with Ipswich/Norwich and so on. I agree with Harry Bloggs on Exeter v Plymouth though, that is a mini-Saints v Skates with a history of disorder to match. Middlesbrough V Leeds is another game that isn't a derby as such but has the respective police forces on alert with leave cancelled.

No abuse from me pal. Your sentiments are shared by me and the sensible majority (trying to avoid using Richard Nixon's Silent Majority but it feels a bit like that!). Some of the hysterical tarts on here have been spoiled since 2009. I thought the reactions to the rumoured signing of the Icelandic winger from Verona summed it up. Sunderland have also been linked to him but the responses on there were far more considered and fair minded and they had a grotty season and have Di Canio in charge, so they should in theory feel less happy with their lot than ours. Anyway, if you look him up he can also play wing back so that's Fox out on loan. Wouldn't people be happy with that as well as a left sided offensive option from the bench if needed. We might sign someone else anyway, we know Saints look at a lot of different targets. Yes, there were mistakes with haphazard CB recruitment last summer and I was very vocal about that at the time. We got lucky with suspensions/injuries and the early signing of Lovren tells me lessons were learned. However, the club's progress over the last 4 years ought to buy them a bit of patience. Rant over.

Beauty first up from Harris and far too good for a tail ender like Bresnan. so much for him adding runs at 8. His medium pace will to all parts on this pitch when he bowls. The top order is an issue for both teams - Root was doing well at 6, why move him against the new ball. Wasn't convinced by Compton either so Trott to open, Bell is in wonderful form so up to 3, KP 4. Bairstow has talent but needs another season for Yorks playing much straighter. England need 350 minimum to stay in the game at all, with their fragile top order we'll need 5 early wickets with the new ball and hope it reverses later on. Sub 350 and they'll still need a miracle on the scale of Headingley 1981. Might be the kick up the backside Flower and Cook need.

Let's look at the facts here though Viking, the company were very foolish in letting their supervisors use that sort of language. That's nothing to do with ETs or the current laws and if you believed all the ideological guff put out, this is commonplace and we need our employment framework written by a loan shark (Beecroft & Wonga) based on anecdotal evidence. It's actually rare. The young person hasn't done herself any favour going to an ET, £2k versus being tarnished as a 'troublemaker' by most companies isn't worth the hassle, especially at that age. Now, she'd have to pay a deposit before going to an ET anyway. With a professional approach to managing this and good commercial procedures, this should have been a straightforward performance management case. Why wasn't she given a mentor for example? That costs nothing. If she hadn't improved, a fair dismissal could have been made quite quickly with little realistic prospect of being challenged. Another question I'd be asking in your CPD log is why did the company not look at the language of supervisors and provide appropriate re-training?