saint1977

Good dry humour from St Chalet. JWP is just repeating the myths and untruths that clearly pervade behind the scenes at an increasingly desperate St Mary's, a club with huge problems. It started with the seeming untruth that Gao would have the investment potential to keep us top 10, KL wouldn't sell to anyone who wouldn't do the best for the club etc. Then Reed's promised style of play on appointing Pellegrino, Pellegrino's own astonishing delusions in press conferences and the meaningless PR guff from the players, such as this but we've also seen it from the likes of Redmond. Only player who has come close to revealing the truth is Romeu, and even he's been shocking this year. Have always wanted Saints to win, even today when I have no time at all for the owners, DoF, Manager and players, but please, if we are going to lose, Harry Kane please score a few so the ultra negative style of play gets no reward with an 'unlucky' 1-0 defeat.

Don't know if that was deliberate or a typo on his name but made me laugh given the press release :-)

Haven't lived in Southampton for many, many years but have noticed on last few visits (where I stay for a weekend, tend to drive to games on the whole), not least a stag do last year that the micropub scene is really growing and breweries popping up like the Dancing Man. Suspect the Platform Tavern is a bit different to when my old man went there in the 1960s! I'm hearing that there is a new micropub in Woolston now in addition to Shirley, the wonderful Butcher's Hook at Bitterne Triangle and the bookshop-cum-bar in Portswood. Was impressed by whatever pub is there in place of the Bevois Castle (sorry, can't recall the name). In terms of beer shops, Bitter Virtue still there and going strong. Guide Dog is a traditional home fans favourite cited regularly on here. Does anyone frequent these places regularly and what are the best brews you've tried?

ITK? Giroud seems unlikely as wouldn't join Everton in Aug even with the dosh on offer there. Encouraging if we are looking at that calibre of player though. Wonder why Theo a non-starter? Long not a surprise but good option away and best display of season v City. Will need to make a few signings with pace if we sell him though as already need a couple with those attributes. Would keep Gabbiadini as will come alive again surrounded by pace and movement but have a feeling he may be off as well.

Les should do the former but the disasterous Jan window last time suggests the latter. Agree Suhari, City or Chelsea must have a few fringe players that have the pace, strength or other attributes we are seeking that we could loan/perm as we did with Bertrand? Little risk for players if we go down as they won't be tied to joining but short-term the team needs a major injection of pace and energy.

IIRC they get a token from being at the game on Sat and then hand it at the bars at their next home game.

Wow. Could be inspired if it works but imagine if we sacked Pellegrino and then replaced him with FDB. Frying pan and fire come to mind.

Agent hinted he was keen before MP Mark 1 (the talented one) left us and SFC job vacant. Can't see him fancying the job now though. Looks like LVG not keen and Bilic wanted a break.

Agree with much of this Hypo. What will be interesting is how the government - and Labour given it's traditional support base in the north west and north east voted Brexit - balances the different priorities. The Conservatives and Labour are both in a difficult position - Labour parliamentary party is mainly remain but far left Eurosceptics leading it. Conservatives funding largely comes from pro-Remain big companies but voter base becoming further and further right and Leave. How will it keep some form of national unity if they try and go the Trump de-regulated offshore economy route? Good luck selling that in Barnsley or Sunderland. Would lead to Corbyn as PM and economic damage for generations piled on top if that which is likely to follow from Brexit. Scary stuff. John Curtice, he of the famously accurate 2015 election result poll and the Paddy Ashdown hat-eating, has an interesting take on it: http://ukandeu.ac.uk/has-brexit-reshaped-british-politics/

I do agree with you on this Hypo and as we saw from the dissection of the voting patterns, far left voted for Brexit in as great a volume as far right. Some of Momentum's behaviour has been as equally appalling. Our parents generation spent the early 1980s purging Marxist infilteration out of the UK and now they are in the mainstream which makes me sick. Would like to see far right and far left disappear to the irrelevance they were a few years ago. BNP were de-registered as a political party not long ago (ironically alleged misuse of EU monies) yet there they are now with a growing online presence seemingly in the millions and re-tweeted by another fellow extremist in the White House. Let's not even go there! The EU needed to reform and re-purpose irrespective of Brexit anyway but concerned for the continent that the lunatics will overtake those efforts - look at Austria. Shurlock - one of my relatives is from overseas and was told to 'go home' in rather cruder terms in their kids playground in front of their own and other kids by parents not long after the referendum and this is in the most affluent most middle class town you can imagine. I suspect we both despair at the level of discourse which the tabloids are fuelling.

Now resulting in a stream of disgusting death and other threats to Grieve and Soubry from lunatics fuelled by this Mail and other rags' far right extremism. About time May called Paul Dacre into Downing St and tore a strip off them. Very concerned about this country right now, Brexit really has given the far right a lot of hope. The only traitors here - and neither of my grandfathers who fought in WW2 - are the Daily Mail - and they never forgot it, refused to have it in their houses.

Rather than this thread, how about the club give the new manager more control over first team duties and they decide if they are happy to have Les working for them? Because it isn't working any longer the other way around.

Very good post and I agree expect for the fact I'd buy two of them, and sell Tadic and VVD to help fund it. Would like to see a monster of a CM in the Victor mould as well. Oh, and an experienced manager come in who runs all first team matters and Les has to report to.

And although it isn't football, look at the Ageas Bowl as well. Like Brighton's stadium, a very attractive stadium but an absolute horror to get home from and Holiday Inn Express if you want something to eat (slightly better than Frankie and Benny's but not by much). In fact, it's worse as no station nearby either. It's a wonderful facility and HCCC needed to move, but wasn't the best choice of site transport-wise, without major changes to infrastructure.

He was. Politically quite shrewd although has cut off his nose with the likes of Keith Hackett.

Didn't WGS once point out that Uriah Rennie had his own agent after a game where his decisions had clearly given WGS indigestion? Agree on the anonymous refs. Durkin was one of the best and had a quiet but assertive quality. Clattenburg isn't the worst I've seen - Steve Dunn (he of the Shipperley disallowed Man U goal and Villa home notriety) and Roger Milford (Oldham) win that award jointly. Trevor Kettle was a shocker. David Elleray could be decent if his ego let him but could lapse into schoolteacher mode and lose control.

Exactly - just say the Skates hadn't gone out of the cup in R1 (ha ha) and we'd drawn them in R3. The ref is probably going let a few challenges go and then book the first challenge that looks like escalating matters. That said, Shurlock has a good point about Eric Dier, a lot of comment on here after that match as we had Spurs next. We won anyway and got 6th, so turned out to be a moot point, but was a risk if Clattenburg did do that. Sending Dier off as he should have done wouldn't have cost Spurs anything that late on but it could be more about the fact he was a rubbish ref at times.

Fabrice Fernandes in the early 2000s was a shocker for that. Peach of a free kick V West Ham though.

Our money - passengers and taxpayers - not least with the appalling inflation-busting rise just announced. I'm not against privatisation but even Thatcher thought the railway should be left alone. Onto the game. 1-1 I reckon, Austin again.

Indeed, and Charlie got the winner that day as well as the opener in a tremendous performance all-round at W Ham (even JWP scored!) Puel must regret repeating Les's BS in public about Redmond as a centre-forward like that - bet he won't be making that mistake at Leicester.

Quite, maybe not away to top 4 and not if we have midweek games but should be starting more than he is. Less likely he'll be sold in Jan now.

Excellent performance last night against one of the best sides in Europe. City will win the league by a million points this year. Let's hope the improvement continues into the weekend at Bournemouth.

Quite, couldn't have put it better.

£50bn to be outside of all of the influence and benefits of being inside, £50bn to limit the damage to the UK economy and yet more swivelled-eyed loons want us to go under WTO rules which would be even worse. All because 52% of the electorate couldn't spot that we clearly weren't going to be getting £350m a week back for the NHS. Labour left and Tory right were mugs.

Quite. Was excellent for us for a long time. Man U has had a 'Moyes' type effect on him but don't wish the lad any ill although if he could be as poor at Goodison that would help! May try and rebuild his career in Ligue 1 or Serie A if he's willing to take a pay cut, he doesn't seem to have that energy/zip that he had with us but the stop-start at Man U and chaos at Everton may be the cause. Shows you the quality difference in managers if anything, Victor has blossomed at Spurs and addressed the flaws around distribution over 5-10 yards. Clear role in that Spurs side too.