SaintBobby

It's true that some of our academy products have been too good. Mind you if the retention scheme doesn't work because we are selling such players for £10m-£20m, I guess I could live with that,

Is it really so fanciful that we can create and retain one Premiership quality player from the academy each year? Not easy, but not far off what we have been turning out (although harder to retain them in the Championship, surely?)

Seems to me like the plan is actually on track, but will take some time to come to fruition. If we produce just one academy graduate a year capable of breaking into the first team, it's not unreasonable to expect half of the squad to be graduates of the academy in 5 or 6 years time. Of course, we may face retention problems with some of the real gems, but I imagine the Cortese plan is to make a better fist of keeping the Walcotts, Bales and Chamberlains, which is obviously more feasible in the PL. Additionally, some youngsters might "break into the first team" without really becoming an integral part of it. Lallana has managed it. So has Shaw. JW-P? Looks promising, but am only about 50-50 as to whether he will become a regular starting player in future. Ben Reeves has fallen short, as has Sam Hoskins. Calum Chambers? Who knows? Jury is also out on Jack Stephens. Nevertheless, I can well imagine that in 5 years time, an average of 9 of our 18 man squad will be academy products. It at least seems something worth aspiring to.

This is dull. We've made an offer and/or are very interested, Celtic are willing to sell, but we haven't agreed personal terms yet (and might not). Fair summary?

We need to sign him. £10m.

My bad. Shouldn't rely on Wikipedia! Sorry!

We were drawn away to Rotherham in the FA Cup, it was 4 years before we were drawn away again. To Leicester.

You're getting warm-ish with your last sentence.

If someone doesn't get this soon, I may have to reveal the answer as I leave in 5 minutes! Clue #6: Think about where the games were played.....

Nope. Clue #5: It's something to do with "good luck" in the FA Cup - although these matches were both "bad luck"

Clue #4: It's related to the fact that neither match was a league game.

Nope (well, if that is true by some bizree coincidence, it wasn't the thing I was thinking of!)

Your context is right. In fact, both games were Cup games (obvious really - we wouldn't have been playing Rotehrham in the league in 2002!)

That's indeed true....but the answer isn't "both games were horribly scrappy!"

Clue #3: The Rotherham game happened in 2002, the Leicester game in 2006.

Clue #2: Both matches were harder than they might have been, but we lost the first and won the second.

Clue: It's nothing to do with the score in those matches.

Not that either. (here's me triple checking I have my facts right here.....)

Nope

What happened to Saints at Rotherham, but then didn't happen to them again for four whole years until it happened again at Leicester?

Palace by 5 points?

Palace?

Schneiderlin?

Torquay, Stockport, Sheff Wed, Barnsley and Oxford. Then Barnsley permanent. (then - irrelevant to the question - Swansea for ever more...)

I'm saying Barnsley (and after this spell on to Swansea)