SaintBobby

Would be a great signing. I don't think it's totally implausible - certainly more credible than the Benjani stuff. Maybe NC will block the transfer though as the Echo has it before the OS...

In some ways, it is representative - even (especially?) the polls. I'd say that the balance of opinion on e.g. player of the season, Pardew stay or go, prospects for the coming season, best all time players etc. are about in line with mainstream/casual fan opinion. But, in other ways, we are totally unrepresentative. Mainly, I'd say, in terms of depth of knowledge/trivia. There are season ticket holders around me in Kingsland who sometimes fail to recognise subs (e.g. "who the hell is Oxlade-Chamberlain?" as he comes on for his home debut....). They certainly wouldn't know e.g. whether wed every had an Italian/half-Italian player, who the last player was who had a Z in his name etc. They will be blissfully unaware that there's a rumour we might sign Tyson etc... I don't actually think people on here are madder/weirder/more opinionated that the wider fan base. There are plenty of mad, weird, opinionated people at every Saints game. It just posting on here lays it bare.

I'm told by police officers I know, that numbers play a big part in the categorisation. Given - as a statistical average - a certain percentage of away fans will cause trouble, there's a hell of a difference between 4,000 away fans descending on, say, Leyton Orient and 400 doing so. Ok, perhaps Norwich fans are disporportionately charming and well behaved. And there may be other teams who are a particular problem, even with more modest levels of away support (Millwall?) But I'm pretty unsurprised - and unembarrassed - that we are the only regular category c team in League One now. I think Stu is right that we do have a slightly worse than average problem with young scrotes (is this because of the relative affluence of the south? i.e. more young pikeys can afford tickets?), but overall I'd say Saints are about average or slightly better than average in terms of behaviour.

I'd say, on the face of it, Illingsworth probably has been banned (or, at least, refused a season ticket) beacuse of his public pronoucements. No, I'm not certain of this. No, I haven't heard the club's position, I've only heard one side. And even then, it's incomplete. There are dozens of other possible explanations. But it is probably reasonable to believe at this stage that he's been blocked because he's a perceived troublemaker. That's what I believe, until more evidence comes to light. I reserve the right to change my mind at any time, but I dont need 100% of the facts - or even 50% of them - before Im willing to form a belief.

Turkilymaz (sp) - that Swiss striker in Euro 96.

Here's a thought. Maybe Illingsworth hasn't heard from the club because the email address on the Saints Trust website doesn't work....

You may be right that this is more common practice on the Continent. But, I'd say there is a difference between a restaurant and a football club. We have 32,000 seats to fill every fortnight, and - by and large - fail to fill them. The Ivy restaurant in central london can afford to be rather more picky. They have a couple of hundred seats and a one year waiting list for mere members of the public.

I'm not sure I deserved to lose my money, but that's not the point. I don't know the Wembley area at all. Wanted to go to an all-Southampton fan pub and - given the overall cost of the day - 6 tickets at a tenner each was a relatively small outlay. My annoyance wasn't I'd lost sixty notes - it was that I'd been ripped off by the Saints Trust. The event was nothing like billed - and anyone with a mere smattering of IQ would have known this if they'd visited the venue. Pulling in £20K from genuine Southampton fans on a special day out at Wembley on the basis of promises you can't keep is shoddy behaviour, even ignoring whether or not it's criminal. And that's putting aside whether smarter or more seasoned Saints fans didn't fall for it. Or whether those who did were gullible. If NC wants to ban Illingsworth from St. Mary's on this basis, then more power to his elbow.

I don't know Nick Illingsworth at all. But I was furious about the Silverspoons fiasco and am still pursuing it. I did write to the club afterwards saying that I think they should take appropriate steps to try to ensure that no Saints fan could reach the erroneous conclusion that the Trust was in any way an official or licensed part of Southampton Football Club. Their behaviour over Silverspoons was embarrassing and outrageous. Being forceful in refusing to allow them to use the club crest etc is absolutely right and justified. I guess my opinion on this issue depends on: (a) if Illingsworth has actually been banned and, if so (b) why and for how long? I think, say, a one season ban from St Mary's because of Silverspoons would be entirely justified. But banning him for life on the grounds that "he's a bit of a bell end", would not be at all reasonable.

Bullish

so impressed am I with STH sales to date...and so wrong was I in believing we were heading for a car smash in sales...that I am delighted to announce the reintroduction of the season ticket installment plan. If you wish to purchase a season ticket by installments, I will pay the full cost for you now and expect you to pay it back over 6 monthly installments (from September) at a 5% uplift on the actual ticket price. I think I lose a small amount of money on this deal at 5%, but I want to make sure no genuine Saints fan loses out just because of cash flow problems. You will obviously need to prove your bona fides, but this really is a very genuine offer. And if you are interested in taking it up, please PM me. I am confident I have the liquidity to provide this deal to at least 300 people, as long as they pay me back on these terms. COYR

Can I just ask....are we all utterly certain that Pulis is rubbish? I am not sure I've ever seen him play. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the joking on here, but are we sure he should be taken to the knackers yard? Please dont just reply "yes" !

Last night, I met the guy who takes care of the club's football finances. I'm even more confident now than I was before.

How do you account for Saints very short odds at the bookies? Have you put money down against Saints if you think the odds are too short?

Must be utter tosh, surely? I still like rumours linking us with top (ish) players though, it kind of feeds through into a general zeitgeist of ambition - even if the particular rumour is baloney.

Sales of 13,000+ at this stage is an amazing achievement. With three weeks to go, I'd imagine a lot more canb be sold too. I was one of the people who was concerned about the tickets going on sale late, with limited publicicty and marketing etc. It seems my worries were unfounded. Ok, maybe a decent marketing drive could have yielded even more sales, but this seems to be yet more evidence that the new regime know what they're doing and some on here (myself definitely included in this instance) basically don't.

Do you distinguish between complacency and confidence? I am confident that we have the best team - and will have the best squad by Aug 7th - in the division. I expect Saints to win the League and probably by a clear margin of 8-10 points. Our performances since the January transfer window reinforce my confidence here. The fact that we will be adding to a squad that performed so well means we should perform better still. We are also helped enormously by Norwich, Leeds and Milwall being out of the division. This isn't complacency. It isn't the far fetched dreams of a dyed-in-the-wool Saints fan. The markets share my view. Saints are the very clear favourites to win the division at 5/2 or 9/4 with most bookies. Sheff Weds are available at 5/1 or 6/1 and Huddersfield at 8/1. Southampton are the only team in the whole of the Football League to be odds on to secure promotion. Now, not a single ball has been kicked. I'm not advocating that we only need to perform at 60% of our potential to walk the league. That would be complacent. But there is every reason to be very confident that we will win promotion and quite probably win the division - and those who put their money where their mouth is agree.

Agree, what a difference a year makes. That said, the starting line-up vs. Milwall last year isn't that bad (and should have won before the tenth league game of the season!) Big difference should be the preparation we had this time. Its really depth more than quality that Im worried about this time.

The squad is now pretty much in place. We do need a CM...ideally one who makes it straight into the first team. If we were to get Antonio and/or Waigo (or someone similar), we're basically there. If we get just a winger, we need an additional CF. A marquee signing would be great, but not necessary and I'm not holding my breath. Would love to see the squad strengthened enormously more, of course, but am very, very happy with progress in the transfer market so far.

Sam Argent = quality right back when I saw him play last season. Tafazolli = tall, strong CB who can take pens Reeves = very good prospect at left back.

cool, just down the road for me.

Revolutionary new coaching set up, anyone?

We need a starting XI CM. That's about it for top signings, I'd think. We need cover at centre back (e.g. someone not as good as Fonte, Jaidi or Seabourne) We need cover at right back (e.g. I'm not sure Harding can be 2nd choice) We may need another winger (depending on a reasonable - but not excessive - bid for Antonio or Papa, we're sorted) Otherwise, I think we need to sign promising reserves on about £500-£1000 a week. No more. If we can get a top signing, that's great. But I'm not holding my breath and don't think I need to. Look at our team.... GK: Kelvin (awesome at this level) + Bart (amazing cover if he stays) LB: Harding (top drawer at L1) or the new bloke from Brentford (also rated as top drawer), plus Mills still here? RB: Richardson, L1 player of the season in this position, plus Harding seems okay at it (but we do need 3rd grade cover) CB: Fonte (class), Jaidi (still pretty class), Seabourne (TBD, but not bad), Martin (TBD) - we need 1 CB on Seaborne's level LM: Lallana or Puncheon or Dickson or Mills (plus Papa?) RM: Lallana or Puncheon or Oxlade (plus Antonio or Papa? or equivalent?) CM: Hammond + Schneiderlin (Wotton is not great as back-up...so either coverage here or someone able to beat DH or MS to starting line up) CF: Lambert, Connolly, Barnard (deep cover may be needed, and hard to replace RL...but any 2 from these 3 if best front line in L1) Although - sadly - we're at a different level to 2003, I remember then going to a fans forum and WGS saying it was damned hard to work out who he could buy (at say, 2-4m) who was obviously better than who he had already. I think we're in an equivalent (albeit lowlier) position. If we're fishing in the 500k-1m pool, these guys are going to want to be in the starting line up. If we're aiming higher, we're looking at a player to knock out one of our starting line-up. We probably need to aim lower and get a bunch of players with promise but are happy to start as reserves.

Brilliant. Who is the designer on this year's kits? Top drawer!

I'm so pleased about this. This guy is priceless entertainment.