saint1977

Yes I am. My old man got me a ticket and hopefully the performance will be more like 2005 than 2007 when our bowlers all banged it in short and Durham smacked it everywhere. We then lost 2 wickets in the first 2 balls to a 38 year old Otis Gibson bowling at a remarkable 90mph.

Brown has also bought Murphy from Sunderland. Hull just can't seem to attract the players, unless Brown can pull off a couple of big signings Hull sadly look likely to compete for Derby's "record".

Saints academy product?

That really was a disgrace. I've seen some half-hearted performances in the past but I lost all respect for that squad bar Kelvin and one or two others after the game. To see players pulling out of 75/25 tackles that even Eyal Berkovic could have won infuriated me and relegation and administration were certainties - that lot couldn't have fought their way out of a paper bag. It was almost as if some of that squad were not bothered whether they got tonked. Under Wotte the effort did seem to increase a bit - hence the 3 wins in a row - but the fitness wasn't there.

Both of these openers have to cash in now and get 100s - wear the bowlers down on a pig of a slow surface like Ponting and Katich did to us in Cardiff. 500+ and then hope it gets variable bounce later on. Although I'd have been keen to have picked Harmy, Onions skiddy seamers may fare better on this surface. The bad news is that the bang-it-in bowlers like Broad and Flintoff might not do so well. Hard to tell with Mitchell Johnson as he was patchy at Cardiff.

The Saints side of 2002/3 built by WGS was the fittest and most united Saints side since LM's time as manager. I want to see a team next season that will run through walls for us and not the wimps who pulled out of tackles in the debacle of the Forest and Doncaster games. In fact you can add that for most of last season's home games.

I would agree that he was popular with the fans although that took a bit of a dent after that notorious night out. He just wasn't hugely rated as a starting player but was a very handy sub when defences were tired. He struggled when starting games and that space wasn't available early on in the game.

Sounds like Thomas is staying which is good news, if we could add Whitbread alongside him and Mills and Murty sign on, we've got one of the best back 4s in the division. Gillett has proven form at this level for Blackpool and James will do well in midfield which was obviously his position in the first place (although last season's joke of a manager couldn't see it). If we retain John and if we could keep either of the Polish strikers that would be a real bonus. What we need to do now is add the quality on top - 2/3 wide players and strikers with express pace, a creative CM or keep & develop Lallana and bring in some right back cover.

Seconded. Quick Saints, not one to miss out on. Just the right age and profile and would be a great partner for Thomas. With those two CBs, we won't be leaking the sunday league goals we were last season. Also means we could loan out Lancashire to the BSP to see if he might be a late developer and might make professional level in a year or so.

I've seen worse but it's not a classic either. Is it just me, or does the shirt design look very different on James to Wotton? Wotton's shirt looks a lot worse because the yellow is just a horizontal bib whereas with James's it doesn't look as bad with the yellow pointing down as a diagional a bit more.

Simple answer - no. Golac is ex-Saints and the club are being professional and not leaking like a sieve but that's a very wild guess. Golac did well at Dundee Utd but that was getting on for 20 years ago.

Harmison's taken more wickets recently than Onions and also was better at Worcester in the warm-up. Sure, he had a stinker in Brisbane and can be infuriating but the Aussies don't like facing him whereas Onions is similar to what we already have. I'd have swapped Monty for Harmy assuming Freddie is fit. It's almost tempting to swap Broad for Onions but Broad can bat well but does need to step up a level against the top sides as he was poor against SA last summer as well. Taking millions of wickets against the WI or NZ isn't always a benchmark.

Woodward built a brilliant side, albeit one that peaked in the autumn of their careers. It wasn't just the World Cup, wonderful as that was but can people remember that second half display at Landsdowne the previous Six Nations. That was a very good Ireland side that just got steamrollered by one of the greatest English sporting teams ever.

Fair comment. Surprised Bolton didn't bring him on board when Big Sam was there. If he'd come in 03/04, great but not in the CCC, awful timing.

Grayson left Blackpool for Leeds so possible but can't quite see this one. Plus Adkins has just signed a couple of decent players, including Jones from Hibs.

I'm still going to buy a wings ST, that way it keeps everyone (including my wife) happy as that way, it still works out - and I'm estimating 16 home games at weekends here - at £18 or so a game which is not bad value. I'll be working in London now and my train ST will go the wrong way and I don't think in this job that early finishes are going to be too frequent!

It didn't stop me either and it won't next year although work committments rule me out of the midweek games which is gutting but at the price the wings cost, an ST is decent value even so. If I could see the midweek games, I'd probably have upgraded to a centre seat which is a better view of the game.

Trouble is Speculator, we can set up scenarios as we please but they rarely follow real events. We could have joined the boycotters which may have brought down Lowe/Wilde's wretched alliance a lot faster or it may have made us extinct. Frankly, there are far worse things to be angry for people at and I thought the people who waved their STs at the Forest game were dickheads. The people that bought goods from Woolworths the week before it went into administration still didn't change the fact it was run badly and had been for years. You would have thought people would just be relieved that we have been fortunate with Markus - we could be Luton and starting against AFC Wimbledon.

Poyet for me as well.

What good does it do though apart from putting you six feet under? Yes, it was lucky but after the way the club was run 2004 onwards by the various different idiots, administration was inevitable and only a fool would argue otherwise. What people do with their leisure time is up to them but you went as well last season DPS and you can't tell me you enjoyed many of the home games?

Some people on this board really need counselling - new owner, new start etc? Quite frankly, last season was awful to watch despite a promising start and the fact that Fry had to effectively remove Lowe and Wilde speaks volumes. Administration was horrible and did over a lot of local small businesses at a tough economic time. I really don't care as to why people were boycotting, frankly I want to see SMS full again and that means some stayaways returning. Some people can't seem to accept Lowe has gone - on both sides - but he has, so stop whining and digging up old garbage and get on with it. I'm really looking forward at last to having debates on here about who should playing at right-back and why Lallana isn't getting a starting place.

I think they are going for someone that may not be easily available - perhaps at another club - as after all, Boothroyd and Cotterill could be appointed at the drop of a hat as free agents. I agree on taking time as long as you get the right person that enthuses the fans - we rushed Sturrock and for various reasons - many not clear - it backfired badly.

I'd drop Cook - Gooch needs to work on his feet and make him less vulnerable around off-stump. Geoff Miller hasn't done him any favours by keeping him in. I'd have gone for Hildreth, plays very straight which helps negate the risk of picking Bopara who is hugely talented but will always be a 0 or 100 type of player - wristy players usually are. I'd keep Prior though, we need the runs.

Off to Lord's on 25 July as well Bungle? Got my ticket, my old man got it so not sure of the exact location we are.

I'd agree with this, the only issue for me would be Tyson's injury record and whether he'd drop a level. Rather like the England cricket team, we do badly need some genuine pace to scare the opposition, our current frontline couldn't pull the skin off of a rice pudding. Well, that is apart from BWP but you can be as quick as you like but it doesn't matter if you are offside!