Crab Lungs

Fourth would be immense, and that's where the gravy is at. However, we'd have to get through the preliminary rounds first and knowing our luck, we'd probably draw Lyon or Milan or something and it'd be over before it started. I've never seen Saints win anything other than the JPT so for me, it's the FA Cup - just. Then we can try win that and enter the CL that way the following season... :-o

Lol, c'mon Kerins, you can do better than that, surely..... copied straight from this thread, lol.

Didn't Whelan break his leg in a FA Cup final 60 years ago?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Newcastle, but only if Steve Grant agrees to drive.

Maybe, just maybe we're going to go all Spurs about it and have different sponsor on each shirt.

I love the arrogance of the US fans that I've been reading, it's great. I hope the fight happens - Carl Froch is a much different fighter from three years ago and with the momentum he's got, a fight in the UK would really be a closer call than many think. It's a big ask but stranger things have happened. I doubt Ward would want it though - let's face it, he seems pretty happy to keep "entertaining" his 500 or so fans in Oakland to a snore-fest so it'll take big balls to come over to the UK and face up Froch. If he does, fair play and I think, possibly, he'd win on points... but Froch would run him close and if Froch can steamroll Lucien Bute, who knows what he could do to Ward three years on in his own back yard? Come on Andre, prove you're a "legend" and fight outside CA for a change...

That was absolutely brilliant, well done Carl Froch (and Mikkel Kessler). It'd be great to see Froch v Ward, but I do worry about how good Ward is. Still, if it's in England, who knows...

I really don't like our badge. Letting the marketing guys have a go at it would be a small price to pay... I'd fancy they'd do something half-decent, tbf...

Didn't hear what was said....

Really looking forward to this... Come on Frochy

Wow, great (and brave!) contribution from Rickie and for all his naysayers, Gaston. Likewise Puncheon too - we're a much more threatening team when he's on the field with Clyne. Does anyone else notice the difference in the quality of goals/build-up play under Adkins and Pochettino? For me, and I've said this since the Everton game - we were much more innovative under Adkins in our attack play. Not that MP's style doesn't have it's merits, and we've been a lot more solid under him.

Good luck Jimmy and Cov fans... one day, hopefully, we can duel again in the top division! We're back (for now) and it happened for us, it can happen for you too if you get a bit of luck (and finance!).

Not quite - we might share some of the same ideals but as reiterated by the club several times, our principals are more aligned to this new-fangled "Southampton Way". At a guess, I think they mean by nurturing our own footballers good enough to compete in the top-half of the league whilst also bringing in solid, proven (and sometimes highly-rated) footballers to compliment this. There's a plan, there's a structure to what we're doing...It's not an all-out assault on the transfer market with wedges of cash.

I think Hughes would be perfect, probably a nice blend between Pulisball and proper football. I'd still say they've got a big task moving on some players. I don't agree that Shotton or Nzonzi are any good, likewise Whelan, Wilkinson, Wilson etc. The very makeup of their team is for Pulisball, I think it'd be hard for a "passing" manager to go in there and get quite limited players to all of a sudden start playing tika-taka. I don't think the retention of Huth, Shawcross or Crouch (as decent as he is on the floor) will make any difference.

Yes, and the thought of Stuart Pearce coaching him and trying to use long words in conversation send a shiver to down my spine. Ughhugugguhuhh

Money, firstly. Secondly, ambition. If players can see that we're a club on an upward curb doing things the right way then it would be part of the attraction to become a part of it... and I doubt we'd be going for established stars like Monaco - more likely promising talent that could either grow with the club or, if we fail to achieve their/our ambitions - could be sold on to bigger, more successful clubs. We'll either make a very successful shop window or a half-decent club with the possibility of some success... over to Mr Cortese...

I'll agree with you on that, but aren't you saying they are, traditionally, one of the big famous clubs in France? I'm becoming less a fan of this "instant success and NOW" style that clubs with a bit of backing are adopting. I have to say, I prefer our own style though to an extent, we too have been "bankrolled" - although not to those (Monaco/PSG/Man City/Chelsea/Malaga/Anzhi) excesses and besides, it's clear we have a plan to blood talented youngsters for the first-team and compliment them with decent signings. I like our approach - money, of course, will always be the bottom line (see Ramirez) but we've also signed (and re-signed!) players who buy into our ethos and vision of the club and where it's going. I'd much rather our current approach than throwing cash around at loads of players and hoping they gel together, become a team and then win something. For me, that's somewhat artificial. The stories of Montpellier and Dortmund recently - and the continuing story of Athletic Bilbao make far more interesting, respectful spectacles than some team spunking millions on players to try and jump a few rungs up the ladder. Besides, the Champions League (our ultimate goal) is becoming something of a turn-off... it's going to end up a fantasy football playground for billionaire chairmen and teams. There will be no romance in it anymore in a few years...

Yeah, I've mentioned that... their recent history is far better, but you could take a Blackpool, Burnley, Preston or Huddersfield out of the doldrums with a similar crowd and huge finance and it'll still be an equivalent in size. Difference being, whilst the aforementioned clubs halcyon days are over and their "size" has shrunk, Monaco's has been pretty much steady despite the success they've had. BTW, I don't think we'll attract those players and even if we could, our manager/chairman probably wouldn't go for them anyway.

Yup, definitely. There is absolutely no way he'd go to Everton. Too far from home but more importantly, they've got a very, very, very tight budget.

That's all very nice, but if I was a professional sportsman wanted by Real Madrid or Monaco, I'd know where I'd go - even if Monaco would pay me far more. Same goes for Spurs or Monaco or Manchester United or Monaco. The other team, every time. I'd want to "feel" like I'm playing for a club with not only rich history, but with support to back it up. So, they've won a few things, great - if Preston or Huddersfield got bankrolled to that level they'd be strikingly similar to Monaco, even if their recent history isn't as good as theirs. And Monaco have had a huge advantage attracting players over other teams nationally and internationally, as documented above. For me, it'd feel completely false if I was a footballer.

I really can't see the point of players going to Monaco other than money. Surely, surely you can't be motivated by playing in front of 6,000 people every week? Sure, nice life but...

Massive appointment for them next. Pulis had done a brilliant job but done it in the ugliest way possible. If they really do go for a "passing" style next year, they've got a lot of sh1t to shift from their squad...

Osvaldo's great, if a little hot-headed. He's had some pretty serious competition for a place at Roma this year but he's still banged in around 15-16 goals in under 30 apps. Good finisher but a bit of a wild one. Can't imagine he'd come cheap.

Gracias, Senor.... defo not VMAN level's of sources but good nonetheless. One of them is actually pure second-hand but he has been spot on before. He's actually a poster on here! You were the main attraction, you little Schneiderlin clone!