Turkish

So what? You asked how much it would cost to get to Newcastles level. The answer is AT LEAST £152m. End of arguement.

Newcastle first XI that played Man City cost around £50m in total. Their wage bill is £34m. If we assume 3 year contracts that will be £102m before any bonuses. So there you have it. Jamie wasnt a millon miles away. For a first XI as good as Newcastles and that doesn't include squad players, just have a shot at possibly finishing 4th we are looking at a transfer and wage bill of £152m over 3 years. Just to possibly maybe, finish 4th, once. End of argument.

Why? With careful management and good scouting like you said above surely we could pick up players who wouldn't demand this sort of salary.

Yes, can everyone do what Les Bender says please, he sets the rules around here.

So if you dont need to go mad on transfer fees and wages why were you so adamant Corteses rescources are so important to our champions league push?

Fat people sitting in deck chairs in their front gardens.

Nokia would have thought they were we'll set 10 years ago. Anyway it seems you agree with me and most of the sans people on here who realise football isn't like a mobile phone company and the fact that Rover went bust and people use iPads now instead of desktop PCs has f*ck all to do with Saints making the champions league despite what Dubai Phil might claim.

My single goal in life is to be popular on internet mong boards.

Exactly. Apple are probably saying the same thing and they dont even have our catchment area.

The world is changing and we need to keep. We can be a champions league club because people used to use PCs and now try use IPads and all that.

He's got it wrong. Nokia tried to evolve and look what happened to them. We need to upgrade ourselves to the football equivalent of the IPhone 5 or we are in big trouble next season.

I agree supporting a football club is just like buying a mobile phone.

But 4th isn't good enough. 2nd was when we run by a a guy lacking ambition. With Cortese money and ambition we should do better, yes?

So you admit then that it will take considerable amount of resourses to fullfill your champions league dream and it's virtually impossible without it, what with it being so much more expensive to get top players these days. A bit like the £300 million or so that Man City have spent, as they have as you put it, ambition AND rescources. Do you think Cortese is going to spend that sort of money? You say yourself you need it.

Not at all, you do. You said Saints were run by unamitious people in the 80's which was why we could never progress better than 2nd in the league and signing European footballer of the year. So unless Cortese does better he too will lack ambiton, no?

But we had the rescources at the time to sign them. Obviously, or they wouldn't have signed. Neither would Alan Ball. Or England centre half Dave Watson. If you have ever heard or read an interview with Lawrie Mac he says we were very close to signing Trevor Francis from Forest but Clough pulled the plug on it at the last minute. Yes, Trevor Francis, the first £1m player. Not bad for a club with no ambition or resources. Yet still Williams went to Arsenal. odd. So if Cortese achieves the same he would lack ambition, yes.

so did i.

but if we finish second and sign Messi and Joe Hart he will lack ambition, yes?

We finished 2nd to one of the best sides this country has ever seen who dominated Europe in the early 80's. We signed the current European footballer of the year, the England goalkeeper who was the best in the world. If we did this under Cortese whilst at St Marys would you say that we were run by people who lacked ambition and could not progress any further?

anything is possible. I took Eastleigh to league one in the 2009 version. If Eastleigh can do that is 9 seasons why cant Saints be in the champions league in two?

Would this be the same not particularly wealthy or ambitious people that lead us to our highest ever finish and signed the current European footballer of the year and England international and the worlds best goalkeeper at that time?

Steve Williams an academy graduate or whatever it was called back then,was sold the season after we finished 2nd and there was talk we might be able to push on and win something, yet he went to Arsenal. How can this be?

Surely playing at a lower level with and against poorer players would mean that it would be easier for academy players to break into the first team, no?

Dont you think it's a bit nobby, to not only put someone on ignore but then to constantly tell them they are on ignore? It smacks of a massive sense of self importance to me.

So as many as we've got currently playing on our first team then, despite our supposedly amazing academy and being able to build a champions league qualifying team around them. And Henderson left like a shot when Liverpool knocked on his door, why are ours going to stay with us?