Saint Charlie

He came out with this rubbish today: "The positivity of being positive, is so positive." Nigel Adkins, Tuesday, October 28, 2014. Which classics do you remember from his time at Saints? I remember "pressure makes diamonds" with a ludicrously cheesy grin towards the camara. Top man.

Think Mane has a knock.

He is a Villa fan I believe and as a BBC commentator I personally wouldn't describe him as a hack. That is really a term for the likes of Crook. I can see we will never agree in this. You will never get hard evidence because that isn't how these things work. Equally you have no evidence to suggest he was wrong, just hypothetical questions. Many of the things he said were hinted at by players over the summer since he said them (Fonte, Schneiderlin, Lambert, Cork) and as I have listed above. These were often those with some kind of agenda i.e the ones who wanted to leave or get new contracts. But those were the ones that were involved in the saga and where the story of the summer sat. And thats what the media in football is used for. See the Harry Kane story this morning which presumably is from his camp to let Spurs know he wants more game time, or a message from Saints that if they publically go after Jay it can work both ways. Its agenda driven media. But you can't say Blackmore is making things up when he is simply reporting what he has been told directly by players including our then Captain, talisman striker and long term fans favourite defender. If they are lying then thats their problem not Blackmore's. Of course he is going to report those things, he was told them by senior players at the club (pretty good sources) and at the time it was big news. When you have spoken directly to three or four players involved in the saga then that is a pretty good access level compared to what the Mirror or Talksport had. For his career and exposure it was a good summer. His job is to report stories, not do a Les Reed survey across all squad members or protect the Saints board. We were a shambles at the start of the summer and he reported it, thats all. From the national media there have been far bigger culprits of talking rubbish about Saints when they know nothing of what was happening and were not at all connected with anyone involved. Neil Ashton? Or Adam Blackmore? LOL. For the sake of all this is my last post on the thread so no need to reply. We have our differing opinions which is fine.

http://m.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/11562411.Bertrand__I_want_to_stay_at_Saints/ Very good news, would be a great signing. Seems like a good character as well as a tidy left back.

He loved playing for Poch, is perfect in a high pressing team and has gone out of his way to praise Pochettino this summer. With 18 months on his contract if he won't sign another one we will have to sell in the summer. Hopefully we can tell them to **** off in January though, especially with Mane probably away and Long not starting well in front of goal. Shame Spurs didnt get Welbeck really.

Even so, what did he say that was so untrue it has caused Jeff to be so enraged?

1. I don't know and its nothing to do with me but Blackmore said there were no talks and Cork has backed that up many times. 2. I assume in relation to the ambition of the club. Schneiderlin has said recently that he was no longer sure of the ambition which made him want to leave which he nearly did. So when Blackmore said some players were consodering their futures because they had lost faith with the club, he was right. 3. Its relevant because Blackmore said players were frustrated with the club and will leave and he was proved right, five did leave for various reasons. 4. Blackmore said the players were not happy that Fonte, one of the key players, had not been offered a contract. Fonte himself wasnt happy and said so since Blackmore said it. Its not for me to speculate about why players werent happy. 5. The Cortese bit you said before was true. 6. Yes Lallana, who Blackmore spoke to, doesnt like Reed. Lambert said on Sky before the Liverpool game he was a bit worried about the future for Saints because of who was in charge. They might be wrong but Blackmore said some players didnt like Reed and that seems to be true. If you re read the OP where I summarised some of Blackmore's tweets, there really isnt anything overly ludicrous there. Re them being a good group of lads Im not sure because I don't know them. None had ever seemed like complete wallies before but then again in football there are massive egos and amounts of money they are chasing and clearly some of the players handled their transfers very badly. No denying that. Probably the same with Tadic, Mane or Forster when a top side wants them.

I didn't ressurect it and was happy with you retracting the comments at the time!

1. Cork has repeatedly said he hasnt been spoken to. 2. Morgan said recently he signed a long term contract and then was no longer sure of our direction this summer. He is happier now but at the time clearly wasn't. 3. Ultimately 5 very good first team players did leave and the Manager. We have now replaced them all well but hadnt then. 4. Fonte said that there had been a lack of communication from the club regarding his contract situation. 5. As you said the NC one is true. 6.Very good sources on here who know his family personally said AL didnt like Reed or rate him (thats his opinion of course). So plus the Cortese one that is over half that Blackmore has been backed up by some players on, and their quotes are on the record. Blackmore's job is to report on the situation, he was told those things by the players themselves so reported on them. To be fair it doesnt matter much now and everything is truely great, but the start of the summer was a shambles, in PR of not even in what happened. FWIW I and another on here spoke to Ralph Kruger at the Player Awards Dinner (I was so ashamed of the club I wanted to go) and he really didnt come across as you would want a PL Chairman to. I askes him about MP and players and he said it was all media fuelled speculation and genuinely didnt seem to think Spurs were even interested. He was out of his depth on football matters and days later did that horrendous Solent interview after the Utd game where he said the next day we would be speaking to clubs about our players. They obviously learned a bit because he took a back seat after that. Great debate as usual on here and I was wrong in that it has turned out brilliantly and I am loving every second of it. I can certainly admit that. But I also know that whilst the last couple of months are 10/10 the May, June and start of July period was very poorly handled. I am sure, and hope, they learned a lot.

Haha. Again its a simple question. What did Blackmore say that was so wildly inaccurate?

Which of those do you majorly disagree with then? Quite a few were true and some still are. For a Journalist I would say thats a pretty good accuracy record. Most are pretty standard. Perhaps that nobody liked Reed is debatable but a few well connected posters here said the same (not that it matters) As for being ashamed, that is for when you cheat on your wife or organise a punch up after a football match, not for posting some quotes from the Radio Solent commentator and summising that some of them are true!

But what bad info did he give us? That players were going to be sold? That Poch was stringing us along? That Cork and Fonte hadn't been offered contracts? Pretty much all of what he said happened so I don't see the issue? All Journalists are biased in some way because of where they get their info whether its Blackmore from the players, Peach from Sibley (who told us Chambers was ill when he has already done an Arsenal medical), Sky from other newspapers/Journalists or Crook from his own head. Thats just how it works.

The players he spoke to all left so obviously they were slightly biased but all he can report os what they tell him and ultimately they did all leave. If he was speaking directly to the players then thats a pretty good source compared the Crooks of the world. From what Schneiderlin has said recently, it would seem comminication wasnt a huge strong point at the start of the summer and only improved when Koeman came in. Kelvin Davis' comments are those of a prpfessional club captain, at a major high moment in the club's history and he isn't someone who would have needed to speak to the club much in the summer about a transfer or contract. I am sure he gets well paid for a non playing squad member.

Nothing to Adam Blackmore because I didnt question his skills as a Journalist or his sources, which for the information he was given, were first class.

Same as last year it will be the depth that is the huge difference between us and the likes of Spurs or Liverpool. If Forster gets injured we have Davis, if Lloris does then Spurs have Vorm and even if he was too they have Friedel who is competent. If Pelle missed a few matches it would have a big impact on us too. I think we could aim for 6th or 7th and give it a good go but top 4 is nigh on impossible. Also worthing remembering we have lost both matches against the best two teams we have played.

Cheers. Amazed a team thats top has a second highest scorer with 6 in 30!

Anyone know what Chungy is up to now?

Shame Utd got that late equaliser, but they have City next week so hopefully will lose that.

Good post Simon. Fully agree the players we have brought in are class. Re Pelle and Tadic I wouldnt underplay Koeman's role in it which was obvious very key in them coming here. But it doesnt matter who identified them really. Looking forward to seeing more of Gardos too, early signs look good. We are watching the highly rated 19 year old Maribor right back too so obviously thinking ahead all the time. Fair play and when you see the squad lists of the likes of Stoke it makes you realise how lucky we are to be fans of a forward thinking club.

Walters is very consistent in his hurdling of the Kingsland advertising boards. Always gives a lift to the team returning for the second half when he deals with it effortlessly whilst holding a laptop.

Agree Tadic needs a break, can play Mane and Long either side of Pelle. Wonder if Morgan may also get a rest, and Bertrand plus maybe Clyne who is an explosive player and plays a lot of minutes? I would probably go with: Forster Toby - Fonte - Gardos - Targett Wanyama - Cork - Davis Mane - Pelle - Long

Big win, good first half but a bit off the pace second and a better side would probably have created more openings, for all their pressure Forster has had little to do and we only really looked like conceding through a miatake rather than a good piece of play from them. Mane looks excellent and rightly ahead of Long. Looks like a goalscorer too so a great addition. I thought Tadic was brilliant til 60mins and then faded badly, looked very tired and I am suprised Long didnt replace him with 10mins to go. Stoke were basic. Anyone who says they have hugely evolved their football is wrong. They mostly defend well and do put your defence under pressure but very little guile apart from some of Crouch's excellent play. Adam. LOL. For Wednesday I think we will have to rest a few, so would like to see Targett, Gardos, Wanyama and Long all start, but should still have a decent lineup. Will be a tough game though and until you see the teamsheets, it is hard to predict. Clyne also is playing every minute of every game but hard to see how we could give him a break without lessening the quality of the team.

Hopefully Crouch doesn't get any stick, never really understood why he would, did a great job that season, as mich as anyone to keep us up and has always seemed like a decent guy. Plus it always looks stupid when the player then scores.

There doesn't need to be a choice.

If that is an OG then Cork's was a Keeper OG for certain.