positivepete

Excerpt from a piece in the Grauniad today ...... Futre was allocated the No16 shirt when he turned up for his debut for West Ham at Arsenal, but regarded it as insult and refused to get changed. "Futre," he started shouting, pointing to his chest. "Futre, No10." Redknapp tried to talk him round but it turned into an argument and Futre was having none of it. "No f$cking 16," he carried on. "f$ck off. No 10, no play." True to his word, he then stormed out of Highbury and took a cab back to his hotel. The following Monday he turned up (with a lawyer) at Upton Park and offered to pay £100,000 for his favourite number. Redknapp, by his own admission, was on the point of throttling him by that stage but eventually agreed to talk to John Moncur to see if he was willing to give it up. So Futre offered another sweetener. "He owned a villa, reportedly one of the most luxurious in Portugal, on a cliff-top on the coast and offered Moncur a fortnight there free if he handed over his shirt," Redknapp recalls. "To be honest, I don't think Moncur gave a monkey's what number he wore but he took the free holiday." And what did Redknapp get?

32 in a row, thought English players couldn't take penalties. But then there was Peach, Le Tiss, Dodd, must be only Southampton based English players who can

Happy new season to all you Brisbane Saints crowd. I am now settling in Ascot, glad I kept my season ticket! Should be back in Brisbane for a visit sometime during the coming season. See you in the Pig n Whistle when I can.

Which was of course passed to the football league for review and a points deduction a la Luton............

It is true that the most effective way for a team to improve is to continue to identify and replace the weakest link, but that does not mean the over the top slagging off of those identified as such. There are a number of posters on here who by the nature of some of their remarks makes others wonder who you actually support.

Thanks for posting that. Great viewing

I second that!

One of my first dates with the girl destined to be my wife was a trip to Highbury.

Yawn, but I will bite! There is no blame. Who says we need a new winger? Do we even play with a winger? The full backs provide the width in our set up. We have probably just targeted three key signings, we have two of them, there will be plenty of movement in the last couple of days of the window, good negotiators always try to take it to the wire. It appears we have tried to secure a top striker, it may still come off, if it does not come off so be it, at least we have tried

Without wanting negative football, the facts are that a clean sheet is worth more points than scoring two goals over the life of the EPL.

Welcome back to the new season nut jobs and Mack. Remember Norwich got tanked in their first home game before winning the league. Probably wont happen here but it is the hope that kills them.

I would suspect that the prize money for placings, and the parachute payments have gone up by more than that. MLG?

Former business associate of Gaydamak robbed. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/10207338/Armed-robbers-steal-40-million-of-jewels-from-Cannes-hotel.html Watch out for sudden unexplained increase in spending!

Stars of La Liga last season, where Michu came from. Would have felt at home, their ground is no better but (sorry skates) their fans are more passionate. And we have been watching a couple of their players including their Brazilian number 9.

Two out of every three goals in the EPL come from open play, and that average includes Stoke who score only 50% from open play.

When he adds goals to his game he will be a very special player

55 points

Conceding no goals in a game averaged teams 2.5 points per game over the past 10 EPL seasons, scoring 2 was worth less than that over the same period. I would be happy with Spain style 1-0 wins where the opposition did not gain much possession.

When did we last play with wingers? The full backs provide the width these days. Ads, Punch and Guly all move inside the majority of the time they get the ball to create space for the full backs. Possession in the middle of the park is the way we will play.

There were some on here predicting good things for Reading this time last year because they got their signings in early!

Southampton gave English players more starts than any other EPL team last season... http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/jul/11/investigation-shortage-talent-england

Can we have a poll to decide if Barry Sanchez unites or divides us?

Up and coming football nation is Belguim, soon every successful club will have one of their golden generation in their match day squad. Must be a sign of intent

Just as well our transfer committee do a bit more research than that

Another challenge to their greatest fans in the world tag...... http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2013/jun/11/world-cup-2014-brazil-host