Minsk

Maybe he realises that he has to earn a starting place ahead Stern? Maybe AP is the sort of manager he needs? Whatever, I hope he stays and scores more than 30 goals this season!!

2-0 Rasiak scores a poacher's goal with his first touch. I am liking this new era!!

Was your source excited because he/she discovered what Sarah Brightman said about him was true? (As in, he would put most Stallions to shame.)

It certainly sounded like a lively first half, and a winning one at that. HT 1-0

From the little I have gleaned it would appear that Murty is going all out to get a contract. Keep it up Graeme!

Just goes to show what I know and I am extremely happy that Pardew is our manager. Lallana has just put us 1-0 up after 13 mins. COYS

From those available today I would have had James starting vice either Wotton or Lallana (probably the former). If all of our current players were available I would have had Morgan starting vice Wotton and James starting vice Lallana (presuming, of course, this is a 4-4-2 and Adam is at RM). For the future we definitely need: (at least 1) new CB (even seeing Lancashire on the subs bench fills me with dread) to start vice Perry so he can replace Lancashire on the bench; a new CM (to replace Wotton); and a new fwd (vice Peterson). A good, fast, beats his man, able to deliver a good cross, RM would also be nice.

I presume you are referring purely to the RM workers and not those of the PO as well?

I fully agree with you about Sodje. And as he is also available on a free we could sign both him and Jaidi whilst not spending a penny (in transfer fees). I honestly do think we need to bring in 2 CBs (we should have 4 and I don't count/rate Lancashire) and would be very happy to have those 2 battling it out for a starting place with Thomas and Perry.

I agree! The only airline ever to not put my cases on the same flight as me. And they did it both times that I flew with them!! Outbound was only one case (from the 3 cases between our group) and it was delivered the next day. Returning to UK was everything and I had to wait 3 days for them to be delivered.

I am pleased to see Simon Gillett get the number 8 shirt. At the moment he the only CM deserving of a place in the starting 11. I am also hoping that the absence of anyone having the 6 and 7 shirts is an indication that a big lump of a CB and an attack minded midfielder are coming in. Also, if Saga does leave that will free up the 4 for another incoming CM. Ditto with Rasiak and the 9 for a fwd.

And there we have it, the ultimate question: Is he better than those already here? In other words, will he improve the team? And the answer is a simple YES. Therefore I would be happy for him to come back, although I do believe it to very unlikely that he will. Oh, and if memory serves me correctly, he also had a fair few decent games as a holding CM. So he really offers a 3-in-1: RB, CB and CM.

TBF Licka was the mutt's nuts that pre-season and then wasn't selected when the season got under way. (Another piece of Burley brilliance!) I do agree with you that we need another striker coming in even IF (and a very big IF at that) everyone stays (which I'm sure they won't). Patterson (and White for that matter) need to be brought through slowly and steadily.

Did I (we?) miss the anouncement that Fish signed a new contract? I ask this based on the OS article: http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~1726638,00.html He says a lot about how he wants a first team place and how his loan last season will help him at Saints this season. Also, if he doesn't have a contract surely he wouldn't have been playing in the friendlies thus far, ala Stern? Anyone know when he signed and for how long? Personally, I will be very happy if he has put pen to paper!

Great to hear and exactly what any new manager SHOULD do. Start off with an iron fist, take no crap and make sure they know you mean business. It is easy to loosen the reins (on occasion) when everyone has been doing the job they are paid to do at an acceptable standard. It is much more difficult to suddenly try to come down hard if you start off softly.

4-1? FFS! Henderson out!! Seriously though, thanks for all the reports and pictures guys and gals. I wish I could have been there. It sounds like we did okay for most of the match. A couple of new signings and we should be okay. Roll on the start of the season.

The question that should be asked about ANY prospective new player, regardless of whether he has previously played for us or not or where he coming from, is this: is he better than we already have? IMO, Prutton is a better CM than Wotton, Pulis, Morgan and Gobern. which would put him in contention with Gillett and James for a starting spot. So yes, I would take him. However, I would rather have Pele back to fill a CM slot (but def not CB) and I expect there are many others who could be brought in. Also, I think our defence and a striker should be the first priorities.

For a serious guess - Matt Holland.

I would actually be very happy to see Mario back here. I always rated him and thought he was nowhere near utilised properly by GB. Oh, and of course that would mean Mrs Licka coming back as well! (I do not, in any way, think this will happen though.)

Great post with a lot of very good points EoA. Alan's appointment really is about as good as we could have realistically hoped for. He has passion on the touchline, he builds teams with some good solid pros and plays football the 'right way' not hoofball or total fusball. I believe a few decent signings (RB - Murty?, a solid CB, an experienced CM - Oakley/Holland type, and someone up front who knows how to get the ball into the onion bag) plus getting Fish to sign his offered contract would see us well on the way. It's great to be thinking and talking football again. Welcome Alan Pardew. I wish you all the very best of luck ,and a huge amount of success, at Saints!!!!!

I believe TDD has also said he would love Boothroyd to be our next manager. In fact, I'm sure he's said that on many an occasion. So, just for you two, here are Boothroyd's, Coppell's and Tisdale's stats as a manager: Boothroyd G176 W65 D51 L60 PPG1.39 Coppell G986 W395 D261 L330 PPG1.46 Tisdale G157 W74 D42 L41 PPG1.68 (G=Games W=Wins D=Draws L=Lost PPG=Points Per Game) As we can see, having managed only 19 games fewer than Boothroyd, Tisdale's points per game ratio is by far the most superior. HTH

Just out of interest the points per game ratios (as manager according to soccerbase) for each of those in the poll are: Keegan 1.74 (from 509 matches) Tisdale 1.68 (from 157 matches) WGS 1.60 (from 529 matches) Pearson 1.57 (from 105 matches) Coppell 1.46 (from 986 matches - by far the most of these) Hoddle 1.44 (from 504 matches) And, just for a laugh: Tony Adams 1.01 (from 75 matches)

Even with the poor auto-translation (which isn't too bad for me as I'm used to listening to foreigners speaking pidgeon English) that is a very good article. Thanks very much for providing it querty. The article clearly shows Markus' intent to build us up in a reasonable way, buying the right players for the right level as required. And he is clearly focusing on us getting back to the prem. I will be very happy if we do that in 4 seasons.

I think you mean, 'did he jump or was he nudged?', as he could not have been pushed if he really did not want to go. However, good luck to Drew and, more importantly, well done Kelvin and thank you!

Absolutely! A very good business decision!! We can now see why Markus became as rich as he is!!!