SaintBobby

I'm assuming the idea is that we are a few steps down the food chain. E.g world class player moves to Man City for £40m, they then make pretty decent player available to,say, Bolton Wanderers for £4m, who in turn then sell on one of their players to, say, Nottm Forest for £1.5m. This then makes Forest's Nathan Tyson surplus to requirements and we snap him up for, say, 600k. But we need to wait for a domino effect above us before this becomes feasible. I'm not 100% convinced of this logic, but it's not obvious madness.

2 games in (3 including Bournemouth), and we have been below par in every one. And against modest opposition too. I'm not slitting my wrists, but this is a VERY inauspiscious start. It can be turned around. Of course it can. But it needs to be turned around. Because if we continue on this trajectory - performance wise - we are heading for midtable. Something, somehow needs to happen to bring about a massive improvement. I know some are saying that we deserved to win against Plymouth and Leyton, but I don't see it. Certianly, we look nothing like the best team in the league at the moment.

and we can be sure there won't be any duff signings in the next 12 months. especially, if we don't make any...

The guy I spoke to is high up behind the scenes. Im very confident he knows whats going on. I agree theres not a big problem if we sign great players on Aug 30th rather than average players on Aug 25th. But the problem, as described to me, is not that. It's that AP has a "not made here" syndrome. I.e. he doesnt like recommendations from otehrs on principle.

I have been told by a pretty high up source that the money has been made available for Pardew, but he's been very picky about who to sign. It does seem strange that we have been so limited in transfer activity though. I don't really accpet that we can be held to ransom as a rich club. That would be true if we had our heart set on one particular player, but (Antonio fans aside), we don't. We need a fast winger or two...if club X is asking too much, go to club Y. If they are asking too much go to club Z. There must be literally dozens - if not hundreds - or professional footballers who fit the bill. Same goes for a new CM.

It seemed to me that we really lack pace and imagination. Connolly and Chamberlain are the only impact options from the bench and while they both have merit, they aren't really impact players. Barnard was probably MOTM and was a bit unlucky not to score, but I think we only managed two shots on target in the second half. That is not good enough against a team as poor as Leyton Orient. At the moment, we don't look like a top six team, let alone champions. I don't think we can wait until Xmas before making changes. If the next couple of league games do not show a remarkable improvement, we need a change at the top. Major issue for me is whether we want a putative new manager to have time to act in this transfer window. I am starting to believe that AP's reign is not going to last much longer and is not going to end happily, but I hope he can prove me wrong in the next match.

Pretty poor stuff. Overall, a dreadful game of football. I am beginning to think there is something is wrong on the management side. It's not the result, it's the performances. The team look unmotivated and guileless. There needs to be a dramatic improvement and fast.

Good first fifteen minutes, but a bit flat since conceding the equaliser. Doing okayish but don't look sharp.

Sounds good. The academy has ebbed and flowed, but this is great news and I love the way the club handled it.

Great to see. I saw Lallana's first game in some pre-season friendly (vs Anderlecht?). He was dreadful and taken off at half time. This kid shows the same kind of promise, so am not concerned if he's not showing utter genius at every stage just now. Well done, Alex, what an opportunity - and very well deserved.

It's not essential. If we don't get promoted, we will still get crowds of 18K+ next season. Sooner or later, it would be nearly impossible NOT to get promoted. There is virtually no level of plausible medium term mismanagement that won't see us get up to the Championship. If we don't make it this year though, I think we're into another rebuild scenario. I doubt Lambert, Lallana, Fonte, Schnedierlin et al will be playing 3rd dividion football next season.

You'd have to be inhuman to not cut Nicola Cortese some slack. I have always been sure he wants the best for the club - sometimes question how we should go about it though. I'm actually not that reassured by the statement on the OS. But I think I am going to get through the grieving process first.

Ok, guilty as charged. I scream at people for starting pointless threads. And maybe this is another one. I'd really like to see this site move back to being a properly discursive and respectful exchange of views amongst Saints fans. I think we have a problem with a few personalities dominating. I'm not one of them. Don't have either the time or strength of personality. I'm a D-lister at best. What drives me mad though is the bunkerised attitudes of, say, half a dozen or so individuals. Actually - one by one - I'm sure they are all well meaning and very decent folk and want the best for Saints and Saints fans. But this forum is in danger of becoming a personality clash zone between a handful of individuals. That risks destroying the forum's pledge of being "The number one independent Southampton FC website". My own pledge from hereonin is to: 1. Try and focus on football - or closely related football affairs. 2. Try and take each post at face value - not to ascribe motive to the poster 3. Try not to flippantly post in rage or to make a name for myself by doing so 4. To take a very long hard look at myself is I'm posting more than 20-25 times a week I've definitely broken all these rules in the past. I'm going to try not to do so again. I would hate to see this forum collapse in on itself. I love Southampton FC and this is easily the best site for celebrating (practising?) that on a daily basis. My genuine thanks to all those - steve, baj et al - who run it. But I do think there's a real danger that the many good things that this site brings are being overshadowed by our collective inability to behave like mature adults at all times. Anyone agree?

It seems obvious that Markus and Nicola shared a deep and trusting relationship. Sometimes opposites attract. Sometimes birds of a feather flock together. I don't know which. I don't know why. And I very much doubt that it could ever be understood other than by people very close to them.

I hope the club have a great tribute video on Saturday for the Leyton game. Some of the unofficial fan efforts have been fantastic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JjjwQ41W98 Sorry - don't know how to embed these....

Just been sent this video tribute, which has been put together by a friend to "Glory, Glory, Hallejuah" Made me cheer and cry...

The problem is that "must win" has started being used as "would be useful to win". Which doesnt really mean anything. Not just on this thread, but in football generally. Guess we need a different term for games that really are must wins....such as Saints v Sheff Utd in May 2008.

Im sure thats right. Its unlikely that the club was living hand to mouth out of Markus' bank accounts.

Why you think your own personal views of Markuss tragic death merits its own separate thread still beyond me. Arrogant, attention seeking and unnecessary.

The idea is that there are different threads for each topic. It doesn't take a genius to not start a thread on "orient build up" if there already is one. members can start their own duplicate threads of course. But then other members can comment and ask why they haven't contributed to a thread on the exact same subject which is 16+ pages long. Its tedious attention seeking

All agreed. Obviosuly, all fans are very sad at the terrible news. But even I am tiring of the "look at me" tendency to start new threads. There's a Markus tribute thread already. I despair really. Why couldn't the authors of these tributes put them on the tribute thread. Please lock.

Ridiculous. How would Steve Coppells son know? Totally absurd idea. I'm placing my faith in Fitzhugh Fella's unsubstantiated assertion instead. Not only is he ITK, he is aware of which motorway Steve Coppell is on. And when he is on it. That's definitive enough for me. I imagine such impressive GPS technology is common amongst the ITK fraternity.

The "legend" tag is getting devalued IMHO. It's almost as if a player of the season award is enough now. Ive been supporting Saints since 1980 and would say its only really MLT who gets legend status. Lots of other great players and lots of characters Ive loved, and historically, I'd say Bates, Paine and Channon qualify too. So they named the suites at SMS about right. Bobby Stokes obviously has a huge importance in our history, but not really legend status despite the 76 win.

My PA knows a lot about me and my affairs. I don't find this implausible at all.

I quite understand that it would be hard to keep the book open for the Orient game. I'm going to try and take Friday afternoon off work so I can come down to Southampton with the missus and sign the book. I also want to walk right round the stadium when its quiet and empty, which is not something Saints exiles like me ever really get the chance to do. I will be grateful to Markus for the rest of my life.