stevegrant

10%, but that figure is after segregation is taken into account. Incorrect. The Coventry game in 2012 is the stadium record as the club managed to squeeze the segregation down to the absolute bare minimum. I think the netting was only covering an area two or three seats wide, if that.

The family section always has around 100 seats available even after the "sold out" signs have gone up, I'm assuming they are unable or unwilling to sell individual tickets to adults in that part of the ground. Corporate sales have largely been terrible since we were promoted, so that could account for anything up to 1500 empty seats in a "sold out to the general public" stadium.

French journalist Julien Laurens seems to think he'll be in the 23, which I must say I'm surprised by. The impression I had was that Deschamps wasn't in the slightest bit interested in him, but apparently he's watched him quite a bit this season.

Good luck to him finding a buyer for a club that is still hemorrhaging cash and a fanbase who turn on the team at the first sign of mediocrity.

Win

The primary issue for me is coaching. There simply aren't enough coaches of the required standard at youth levels, and a large part of that is because of the cost of getting the relevant qualifications. The UEFA A Licence course apparently costs anywhere between £2500 and £3500, depending on where in the country you are. In Spain, the course costs the equivalent of £435. It's little wonder there are at least ten times more qualified coaches in Spain.

http://www.espnfc.com/blog/_/name/bundesliga/id/647?cc=5739 Leverkusen and Frankfurt have already declared that they'll be disbanding their B teams. The main justification is that the level those teams play at (mostly regional fourth tier, with Stuttgart and Dortmund's B teams in the national third division and as with today's proposals, no promotion to the second division) isn't sufficient enough for the most talented youth products, and that rather than play them in the B team, Bundesliga clubs tend to send them out on loan to second division teams (or newly-promoted top flight clubs) for the season which gives them a much better test. The same is true with our kids. Those who get sent on loan to a much lower level are probably those who we've assessed and decided aren't going to make it at the top level so it's best for their own development that they get some competitive football at the right level. As Les Reed said on the Footballers' Football Show a few weeks back, we don't like to loan out youngsters who are on the fringes of the first team.

I'm amused that they used the Spanish and German league system as their beacons when if you delve a little deeper, they're not all they're cracked up to be themselves. From the summer, the German clubs have agreed that B teams for top-flight clubs will no longer be mandatory, so Germany, one of the nations we're trying to imitate, is already moving in the opposite direction.

I assume all those complaining about this will also be boycotting their favourite curry house in protest?

I got 2 out of 3 from predictions at Christmas, had money on Cardiff and Norwich to go down (Sunderland were my other pick but the odds weren't worth bothering with), and also had a bit on Fulham to stay up in February after they'd got a point at Old Trafford and should have beaten Liverpool a few days later. Sadly that one wasn't to be, but still comfortably in profit on those bets.

Hang on, they're charging an extra £20 for people who pay by debit card??

Apologies for the edit, but I'll get a load of grief from the Echo if I allow full copy-and-pastes of articles (especially exclusives) from their site.

I would hotly dispute that statement. The oft-mentioned "English premium" is a real thing, there are very few bargains to be had in signings made between two Premier League clubs, whether those players are British or otherwise, because selling clubs are so terrified that selling somebody for what would be perceived as a relatively low price could backfire on them (either he helps the buying club to success or the selling club falls away) and buying clubs are desperate to sign players with Premier League experience, as if playing in a different country is genuinely pot luck whether a player settles quickly or not. Take the likes of Joleon Lescott, James Milner, Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing. All four of those players have been bought and sold for £20m+ at one stage in their career. Some top nations haven't had a single player transferred for that sort of fee, let alone players who don't even get in their national team.

Because France have the likes of Yoann Cabaye and Paul Pogba to play in the same position.

If Adrian Durham says he's off, then the balance of probability shifts back dramatically in our favour.

I need 25 to complete

If we adopt Pompey logic, I assume we can now rightfully claim that we - and only we - cost them that £1m?

Horrendous idea. Who the hell is going to turn up to Stoke "B" v Morecambe? The solution for player development - if the FA are actually bothered about that - is to limit the number of players a club can have under contract at any given time. That'll prevent stockpiling by the likes of Chelsea and mean that players who would otherwise join them in the knowledge that they could get first-team football by going on loan while still being paid as a Chelsea player would have to think more carefully about which club they join. The loan rules should be changed, as well. No domestic loans between clubs in the same division, loans to lower division clubs limited to players under the age of 24 with the exception of a single 30-day loan in a season for older players (for those needing match fitness after recovering from injuries, etc). Also, the difference in quality between the bottom of League Two and the top of the Conference is so negligible these days, especially with loads of former League clubs in non-league. The concept of only having two-up, two-down between those two divisions is ridiculous. Merging the two and regionalising them has some merit, but there certainly needs to be more scope for promotion and relegation between those levels.

He had 4 scarves in the bag in the photo that was taken, FFS.

I genuinely struggle to understand how (supposedly) grown adults find it so difficult to just gloss over what someone they don't like has written on an internet forum.

I seem to remember from one of those Danny Baker "Own Goals and Gaffs" videos that Mike Newell scored an epic headed own goal for us while playing for Everton, a bullet header from the edge of the area giving Southall no chance. Annoyingly he scored at the right end as well and we lost 4-3. http://www.11v11.com/matches/southampton-v-everton-16-march-1991-90019/

They're as much a gossip paper as any of the others.

Ultimately you get what you pay for. If all you want is a seat on a plane to take you from one airport to another for bugger all cost, they're perfect. If you're expecting a first class service from them, you're going to be very disappointed.

Surprised Kompany is in there, don't think he's been anything special this season.

Being told players aren't for sale and that there is no fire-sale doesn't make for particularly interesting headlines. England player potentially moving to the country's biggest club for a world record fee for a full-back does make an interesting headline, regardless of how true it is.