Graffito

Charles N'Zogbia - Charles Insomnia. Players who "go on a Bosnian" (Bosman).

Reports bid lodged plus Hooper linked again plus claims Saints have £30m to spend. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/southampton-place-ever-banega-bid-1956592?

Scotland.

Reported in one of the newspaper tributes: He had a genuine affection for the club and its supporters. “I know players always say that fans are great but Southampton fans really were brilliant to me,” Davies said. “I’m not one of these bitter old pros who go on about modern players making big money but the one thing I would say is they don’t seem to give the fans the respect they deserve. They have to realise that without the fans, football is nothing.”

I think he has more in his bag than say Michael Owen. He's used sparingly. He plays in a more withdrawn role and he creates.

I'm afraid you've missed the point. Reference was to the fact that all three lack pace. Lack of pace is no impediment to longevity, as was claimed. In fact lack of pace allows a skilful player to play on longer than someone who relies on pace which fades with age.

Berbatov, he has a football brain but little pace. What do you think of him? Do you remember Sheringham, no pace, football brain, played until he was 40 yrs old or thereabouts. It's the players whose pace gives them their edge that fade with age. Michael Owen.

Carroll would be absolutely useless to Saints way of playing.

It wouldn't surprise me either if we don't have a new striker in the starting line up first match next season. The debate though is about Lambert playing for England and his merits versus those of the other available strikers not how he compares on a global scale. What's Hodgson got to lose by calling him up for a friendly when he has all these injuries? We might at least get a head on crosses which we failed to do last night. We might at least have someone on the same wavelength as Rooney. We might even score a free kick or a penalty. How on earth does Carroll trump Lambert?

Take 6 from 14 and guess the rest.

Rickie Lambert isn't really that good. Did I read that right? I didn't see the others you call far better than Lambert will ever be terrorising a pedestrian Irish defence last night.

Baseball Ground mid seventies.

I get a strong sense of time passing when I see these pictures but Ron left his mark on football and indelibly on all Saints who remember him like this.

They're spending it on the ground...maybe...And following Saints' example apparently. "Crystal Palace: Selhurst Park set for a 40,000 makeover - Football - Sport - London Evening Standard Crystal Palace will step up plans to redevelop *Selhurst Park into a 40,000-seater stadium after winning *promotion to the Premier League." http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/crystal-palace-selhurst-park-set-for-a-40000-makeover-8635930.html

See much evidence of that tonight?

Agreed but there are, nonetheless, few if any surprises in the order in which teams appear in that list, the teams we know as more attractive footballing sides appearing towards the end.

"Yet if Cortese sees himself only as an employee, not the custodian, what happens when Southampton hit that inevitable glass ceiling?" Unlikely Cortese will be able to pull this blackmail stunt a second time or the owner will surely have had enough, if she hasn't already. One thing that contradicts Samuel's view that Cortese sees the club as a vehicle for his own ambition is the money that's gone into improving the training facilities and the academy which is sustainable development but we're largely in the dark about these future plans that have been agreed.

I'd like to hear something a bit more concrete about the future plans that were meant to be the issue with the owner this past week rather than these pie in the sky CGIs.

Welcome news but the statement leaves me wanting to know more. “..plans for the Club's continued development.” “..ambitious plans for the Club..” “...talks about long term strategy.” I would like to hear more of these plans for the club as it's the club I'm interested in. “The last few days have shown me the unity that we now have across the Club in the players, the First Team Manager, the staff and the Chairmanship which normally takes years to achieve. I have always believed that to create this unity would make us a very strong Club and it is a unity of which I am unashamedly proud." This is an interesting comment from someone who is often seen as divisive. Whether by accident or design, the omission from this statement of any mention of the fans (or customers if preferred) is telling.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/southampton/10055155/Nicola-Cortese-on-brink-as-Southampton-chairman.html "There is now significant uncertainty over whether the Liebherr family want Cortese to remain as chairman beyond this summer. According to club sources, the Liebherr family have failed to grasp the urgency of this situation. There is also the theory that the Liebherrs are open to offers for Southampton now that their Premier League status is effectively secure for at least another year. Having paid just £14 million to buy Southampton in 2009, they could expect to sell at a huge profit. Against that, the Liebherr Trust has shown considerable commitment by converting £33 million in loans to shares since Liebherr’s death. They have also sanctioned a £10 million investment in the club’s training facilities."

I won't miss Sunderland if they go.

The media seem unaware, also, of what a young side we have. We hear it about Villa all the time but both sides have a similar average age.

Congratulations Saints. I'm thrilled to bits with staying up. What a great last three seasons we've had and the future looks bright. Off down the pub shortly to celebrate.

Couldn't put it better than this. Good post.

What I take from this is Redknapp's admission that he "pussy footed" around his players. Still, thing's are going to be well different from now on. He's going to crack down on tweets. That should get them back up to the PL. Tbh, the more you hear him speak, the more you think the FA missed a trick in not appointing him England manager. If only Hodgson would crack down on tweets....