SaintBobby

Saints 0 Rochdale 2. I thought they were a very well organised and disciplined team. And it's always nice to see the underdogs do well :-)

Sigh....

alpine saint?

We were generally favourites at about 5/1 or 4/1 (i.e. a 20-25% of winning the league) We were a standard 4/6 to be promoted by any means (i.e. a 60% chance to go up). The bookies seem to have got it about right, but if anything slightly underestimated Saints. HTH.

It's a very ropey service, but well worth getting. I listen to about 15 away games a season on it.

Encouraging stuff, thanks for the update. Prefer the views of local fans/experts to basing my opinion on youtube highlights for sure.

Can someone confirm, for certain, that Saints Ale is simply Worthingtons with a different label? Not saying it isn't. Not saying it's bad if it is. Just asking. Generally, the quality of beer on sale at SMS is not something that troubles me much. The club can only basically sell drinks between 2pm and 3pm and 345pm and 4pm (or evening equivalents) on 25 days a year. That's a total of "beer being on sale" for about 40 hours a year, compared to a pub which sells beer for about 4,000 hours a year. Expect the latter to be more focused on quality, value for money etc etc etc etc

Puncheon leaving - or being in the midst of leaving - doesn't strike me as a "sticking your neck out prediction". My own guesses (but some of these might be in hope rather than expectation): 1. Hammond will be replaced as team captain - probably by Fonte. 2. We will sign one or two new players before the end of the transfer window - a centre back and (less likely) a centre forward 3. Chamberlain will stay 4. Adkins - if he fails to sign a suitable new centre forward - will experiment with a revolutionary new coaching method and play 4-2-3-1 (I'm only half joking on point 4)

If this anecdote is remotely true, your neighbour should be fired by the company he works for for breach of confidentiality. It's an on the spot sacking for any printer to dish out anything like this sort of info.

I'm appalled. I have to pay more for my season ticket and replica shirt and all so Cortese can have a salary, the greedy b*stard. Isn't he rich enough already?

Seems a fairly clear indication that he'd like to move on. But not totally incompatible with staying at Saints for another season. The Mirror have clearly packaged the quotes in such a way as to heighten his departure. If he'd said "However, to be clear, I may well stay at Saints for another year or two.", such a sentence would have been expunged from the printed text. Nevertheless, I'd say he's a bit greater than 50-50 to depart.

The excitement is killing me. I may have to head to SMS now. Will only take a couple of hours by car. Maybe a little more given I'm drunk.... Will Nicola bring me a cup of warm tea in the morning, d'ya think?

Do these snarky contributions never cease. They aren't even remotely funny.

In his post-match interview after the FC St Gallen game, Adkins said "there may be 1 or 2 new players in the building by Saturday, I know there's been a lot of speculation" He then went on to chastise himself for using the phrase "in the building" http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/articles/20110716/manager-an-excellent-work-out_2264122_2394554/0,,10280~2394554~1,00.html

Lost 1-0...full time

1 0 down

Only seen him play one academy game two years ago...was best player on the pitch

Young left back from the academy

2nd half team will be: Bart, B'field, Jaidi, Martin, Reeves, Holmes, Chaplow, Hammond ©, Forte, Connolly, Barnard

His final ball was always poor. But I liked him a lot. And looovvveed his goal in the JPT final. It's sentimental, but I think he fits at Southampton in a way that, say, Puncheon just doesn't. His return to Reading at the end of the 2010 season was a "lose-lose-lose" for all 3 parties.

Born in Reading, Berkshire. Raised in Wokingham, Berkshire. Asked my dad when I was aged about 8 - in 1980 - who our nearest 1st division club was. I wanted to support a 1st division club that wasn't Liverpool (who were dominant in those days). He said "close thing...either Chelsea or Southampton, son". I said I didn't want to support a London club, so backed Saints. Have fallen more and more in love with the club and the city ever since. Have never lived in Hampshire. Have no connection with the city other than football. Live and work in London. Bought my flat (c. 50 yards from Clapham Junction station) partly because it made it easier and faster to get to Southampton. I wasn't born in Southampton. But I got there as fast as I could.

I think this sums it up for me. Last season, I was whining about not receiving reminders in glossy envelopes by post. Wondering why there weren't billboard posters round the city. Asking if direct mail should be tried. Turns out they did f**k all and still pushed the numbers up. I'm renewing my three season tickets come what may. If they doubled the prices, I'd probably still do it. They don't need to write to me. They don't need to put the prices on a website. I will phone a premium rate number just to find out what the prices are. Sure, I'd like a nice thank you letter from Cortese, a glossy brochure with prices etc. But that's just indulgence. It might just be the case that there are c.10,000 people like me. You don't need to market to us. We're going to lap it up anyway. Of course, at the margins, if you send out enough direct mail it will yield some results. There will be a few people who - like a poster above - have the reminder letter on their desk and after having glanced at it 27 times decide finally to renew. But there might not be many of these people. And they would be very hard to identify. To get a letter on their desk you need to also send letters to thousands of people who will renew anyway. On a cost-benefit analysis, it might not be worth it. You might be better spending the money on improving the website, launching a brand of Saints beer, taking on two more staff in the ticjet office etc etc.

Am keen on a pacey c.£3m striker. But I might lean to stick rather than twist. Lambert, Connolly (fit?), Barnard (at liberty?) and Guly....not necessarily too awful as a starting selection. I also wonder whether Lallana and, more likely, Chamberlain may emerge as strikers rather than midfielders. In the Premier League, we managed to get by with Jo Tessem and Brett Ormerod....

Niemi. Didn't have any opinion of him but was amazed that anyone could think he might be better than Paul Jones. Is that a big slice of pie, sir? Thank you...

This is a thread about saints??? There is a huge thread about Pompey elsewhere if you're interested in their money issues...