stevegrant

It sounded as if it was a typical Cardiff track. Slow, not a lot on offer for batsmen unless they really force the issue (risky), and our lightning quick start was more due to wayward bowling than anything else (although obviously Vince still had to take advantage of those gifts). I don't quite know why they continue to prepare these sort of wickets, can't exactly be pulling in the punters...

Well well well. The 100 or so fans who bought lifetime season tickets when they were in the **** the most recent time (forget which number we're up to these days) have had said season tickets cancelled by Mickey Mouse. Oops

Here they are, folks... 12/08/2017 15:00 Southampton v Swansea City 19/08/2017 15:00 West Ham United v Southampton 26/08/2017 15:00 Huddersfield Town v Southampton 09/09/2017 15:00 Southampton v Watford 16/09/2017 15:00 Crystal Palace v Southampton 23/09/2017 15:00 Southampton v Manchester United 30/09/2017 15:00 Stoke City v Southampton 14/10/2017 15:00 Southampton v Newcastle United 21/10/2017 15:00 Southampton v West Bromwich Albion 28/10/2017 15:00 Brighton and Hove Albion v Southampton 04/11/2017 15:00 Southampton v Burnley 18/11/2017 15:00 Liverpool v Southampton 25/11/2017 15:00 Southampton v Everton 29/11/2017 20:00 Manchester City v Southampton 02/12/2017 15:00 Bournemouth v Southampton 09/12/2017 15:00 Southampton v Arsenal 13/12/2017 19:45 Southampton v Leicester City 16/12/2017 15:00 Chelsea v Southampton 23/12/2017 15:00 Southampton v Huddersfield Town 26/12/2017 15:00 Tottenham Hotspur v Southampton 30/12/2017 15:00 Manchester United v Southampton 01/01/2018 15:00 Southampton v Crystal Palace 13/01/2018 15:00 Watford v Southampton 20/01/2018 15:00 Southampton v Tottenham Hotspur 31/01/2018 19:45 Southampton v Brighton and Hove Albion 03/02/2018 15:00 West Bromwich Albion v Southampton 10/02/2018 15:00 Southampton v Liverpool 24/02/2018 15:00 Burnley v Southampton 03/03/2018 15:00 Southampton v Stoke City 10/03/2018 15:00 Newcastle United v Southampton 17/03/2018 15:00 Swansea City v Southampton 31/03/2018 15:00 Southampton v West Ham United 07/04/2018 15:00 Arsenal v Southampton 14/04/2018 15:00 Southampton v Chelsea 21/04/2018 15:00 Leicester City v Southampton 28/04/2018 15:00 Southampton v Bournemouth 05/05/2018 15:00 Everton v Southampton 13/05/2018 15:00 Southampton v Manchester City So in summary, on paper a relatively kind start and an absolute bastard of a run-in...

As far as I can tell, we've done no such thing. They've put out a grovelling apology as a way to try to draw a line under it... We should continue to pursue this to the end, IMO.

The guy on RAWK is right when he says their club is run by a bunch of amateurs. From their perspective, this situation was completely avoidable if only they weren't so ****ing desperate to be seen to be doing these deals. Saints would have been none the wiser if Liverpool hadn't leaked some pretty extraordinary details of the contact to their mates in the press, and every single one of them released the details publicly at the same time, so it was clearly a co-ordinated effort on their part. Now they've been backed into a corner, they've ****ed themselves. Whether he would actually have gone there or not, who knows, but they've no chance now. I don't see why any Premier League investigation wouldn't continue, the statement is effectively an admission of guilt, and considering they already have a transfer ban for similar conduct regarding academy players, that should be extended to senior players. That would be just punishment for them. Everyone knows that tapping up goes on all the time, but everyone else manages to do it quietly.

Presidents/HNWs mostly, if not entirely, invested directly into the club itself, and it was this investment that diluted the trust's ownership percentage. All shares were of equal value, whether the shares were worth £1 or £1000 is largely irrelevant, and additional shares for the same value were issued to the HNWs each time they were asked to dip into their pockets. They have all basically sold at cost.

I wonder if the 75% threshold would have been met if they had only used the percentage of the trust shareholding that actually voted in favour, rather than the ballot result being used to determine how the entire bloc of shares would vote...

249 all out. Not bad at all.

There's never really a "good" time to make such a change.

Newport IOW?

Must admit I've not really read much of the detail of what both sides have said, but if he's actually said that, they absolutely should be rejecting the offer. But of course, someone's made hollow promises to them with nothing to back them up, so of course they'll wave it through...

I present to you the significant example of Burton Albion who, to my knowledge, have never spent beyond their means, despite relatively (compared to clubs like Pompey, Plymouth, etc) meagre attendances and exposure, and yet have secured a second season in the Championship next season. If you get things right, having someone pouring their own money in shouldn't be necessary to be successful at those levels. Obviously once you get up to the Premier League (and arguably the Championship), there is a pretty obvious glass ceiling, even with a rich backer, but until that point, there is at least a vague sense of a competitive but fair playing field.

Surrey

Runs have dried up with Dawson, Crane and Ervine into the attack, a few wickets falling have helped as well. Trouble for us is that Darren Stevens is now at the crease, and he ALWAYS scores loads against us

Rested, I'd have thought. Both have bowled 128 overs in 4-day cricket already this year!

Having played 3 games against last year's top two. Mustn't grumble, really.

Taking a bigger allocation for Middlesbrough away than Chelsea. Our ticket office :adore: :adore:

The TV picks are already sorted - the Man United game was picked for TV when it was originally supposed to be played, so will still be shown, and Arsenal wasn't picked so won't be shown.

I assumed he'd been learning from his mate at the other end on how to take as long as humanly possible over a goal kick in injury time when defending a one-goal lead.

Yeah, as I said, I could see what he was trying to do, but it obviously backfired and we got away with a draw really - I'm not convinced we can play Boufal and Tadic in the same side with the system we're most comfortable with. Last night's game proved that when you're on top, you don't necessarily need to change the personnel to force the issue.

For me, the only time I can remember him absolutely getting the subs wrong was on Saturday against Bournemouth, but he learned from that error last night. You could see what he was trying to do on Saturday, to force the pace a little bit more to win the game, but it only succeeded in disrupting our flow when we were on top. Last night, we were absolutely battering them, so no need to change what we were doing. Tactically, I think we've been fine all season, but let down by individuals not doing their jobs - either the midfielders not supporting the striker(s), or the strikers not finishing the many chances that have been created for them.

Technically, it's accurate. He wasn't at fault for conceding against Bournemouth because he didn't concede.

To be fair, the City v United game had already been picked for TV, but the original had to be postponed due to the EFL Cup final. Similarly, Chelsea v Saints was due to be on TV anyway, but had to be pushed back to the following midweek because of Chelsea being in the FA Cup semi-final. They were original picks, so they'll still be shown, just at a different time to the original selection. Thursday's a bit weird, obviously, but both sides don't play until the Sunday on the next weekend, and I think they'll also fit another game in on the Wednesday. The Saints v Man United game - also to be televised - can only be on Wednesday 17th May. With the notice the PL need to give both teams, they're not going to be able to wait and see if United end up ballsing up the Europa League tie against Anderlecht, so that last midweek of the season is the only available slot. It'll definitely be on the Wednesday rather than the Tuesday because if they get through against Anderlecht, they'll be playing on the preceding Thursday, so the weekend game will be on the Sunday.

Still TBC, I put a placeholder date in for it when it was originally postponed (weekend of the EFL Cup final), would expect it'll be early May now.