kwsaint

At the risk of taking the thread completely off track, Sven tried to fit the players he had to a pre-defined formation. Any half-decent manager would have adjusted his formation to put the best players in the team - probably using wing-backs and a midfield three of lampard, gerrard and scholes. Back in 1966 Sir Alf gave up on wingers in the group stages and went for a midfield diamond with overlapping full backs because that worked best with the players he had. We all know how that turned out

Thanks. A really thoughtful post. For me the key point is that the victims don't want the statue removed and therefore it should stay. They are the ones that really matter in all this. The TV documentary that covered Bob Higgin's time at Southampton was a tough watch and brought home the fact that the victims of abuse have to live with it for the rest of their lives.

This. With one caveat. Did any of the victims go to Ted with concerns? Ted stepped down as manager in 1973 so my guess is that he would have been less involved in day-to-day matters. There are others in control of the club in late seventies/early eighties who may be far more culpable

I dont particularly dislike any particular premier league clubs, but do have a number of pet hates 1. MK Dons. Club should simply not exist 2. Plastics. Anyone who supports a team because they were top of the league when they were 9 or won the cup. Has no connection with the town/city of the club and never goes to games. Not worth talking football with. Genuine supporters of all teams are normally fine (Item 1 excepted) 3. Any team managed by the likes of Billy Davis, Gus Poyet etc.

The problem is that the media tends to oversimplify information. They are ultimately just looking for headlines to get attention. The deaths within 28 days of a covid test is actually a pretty good indicator of the impact of the pandemic. There is another figure, which is excess deaths over what was expected. Actuarial models can predict the number of deaths in a given period and then compare the actual numbers. The number of deaths within 28 days of a covid test is very close to the excess deaths figure - within 10%. In the early part of the pandemic the number of deaths recorded from Covid was actually slightly less than the excess deaths figure. So the argument that 'they would have died anyway' doesnt really hold up. Some may have, but others died where Covid was the primary cause without being tested. It evens itself out. Hope everyone has a great Christmas with family and friends and that 2022 is better than 2021.

Pedant. It's the Second Amendment to the US Constitution

The Founding Fathers did not intend that 'The right to bear arms' in the constitution meant that everyone had the right to keep guns at home. They never expected the US to have a standing army and the right to bear arms meant that they could form militias if attacked. Unfortunately the Constitution is treated as if it was holy writ, even if the original intent has been lost in the mists of time. And the western movie culture has reinforced the impression that they have to have guns to get their way. All nations tell stories about themselves to provide an identity - it's just that the US ones involve everyone having guns. The genie is well and truly out of the bag. There are over a billion guns in the US - which averages out at about three guns for every person. Which means that some homes must have small arsenals. To our way of thinking it is completely crazy - and most other cultures would think the same. Its just that too a sizeable proportion of the US it's normal

I was at the game. Very one sided I remember. Chants of 'What's it like to be outclassed' ringing round the ground.

I genuinely thought this was a thread about a match in the year 1930.

Noticed the following on the BBC Hampshire website. Northam Rail Bridge replacement It also mentions that the footbridge from Northam Road down to SMS would be replaced. This is long overdue as the current footbridge is completely inadequate and a bottleneck after games. My guess is that this is all dependent on the council getting the necessary government funding. Thoughts?

It's all very well saying that it's up to the constituents to make a decision, but many of us treat general elections as an opinion poll on the main parties, rather than consider the individual candidates. We had that nice Gerry Malone as MP in Winchester for five years in the nineties. He rarely made an appearance in the constituency and continued to live in London with his family. He didn't even vote in Winchester in 1997, choosing to make a postal vote in Aberdeen. He lost by 2 votes in the General Election, but lost by over 21,000 in the subsequent by-election. Which was when he really found out what we thought of him. The vast majority of MPs do try to serve their constituents as best they can. And having second jobs can be very useful, either for keeping skills current (eg medical skills) or for supporting legislation. But there does need to be a better way of managing this (Independent panel?) so that MPs are not neglecting their primary purpose. And to leave it to constituents is simply not enough. The other issue to address is MP's pay. They do need to be paid more. I know that the current backbench MP's salary is healthy, but it is not enough to attract the really able. Many can get much more in the private sector. In my view, I would rather pay them considerably more, and put much tighter controls on secondary incomes. Maybe that way we would get a better calibre of MPs who are actually focused on the job in hand

Emery will walk in and assess the Newcastle squad and say- 'Ooh, you are awful...but I like you!'. Not mine sadly. Copied from the comments section of the BBC article. Made me smile, although I guess that you must be of a certain age to appreciate it.

Saints v Middlesbrough - October 2011. Came up on YouTube a few days ago and realised that it was 10 years ago. Makes you wonder where the years go. One of the most enjoyable games of the Championship promotion season. The third goal was brilliant - 28 passes. Brought back some good memories. Link below https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLGo5-p0J1A

Call me old-fashioned, but I really like the band playing 'O when the Saints' before the game and getting the crowd going. Makes a nice change for the team to come out to 'our' song. They seemed to manage to sort out their timing on Saturday and stopped it sounding like a funeral march Your thoughts?

Started watching in the early seventies. So for me: Shilton Van Dijk, Wright, Bridge, Golac Paine, Le Tissier, Ball, Williams Channon, Keegan

Did they play in 1945? I thought it was cancelled because of the war.

Looks like this could happen relatively soon? Government plans to lift football standing ban https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58357046

Niemi or Shilton. Would gladly have either back We need an organiser, so either Ball or Paine for me. As an alternative I would love to see the Ale House gang play today, if only to see how long they would stay on the pitch for. So maybe John McGrath and Brian O'Neill

We finished 2017/18 fourth from bottom and only just survived in the premier league. We had blown the VVD money on poor players and were in a complete mess. Three years later we have got rid of most of the deadwood and are still in the PL somehow. We have a manager committed to the club and some promising young players. Not always convinced that RH gets his tactics right, but at least all the players are playing for him. I think that we will be bottom 6 again this season but hopefully have enough to survive - especially as I think that all the teams coming up will struggle and Palace are in a shocking state. Which is a position that three years ago at the point that Hughes took over I would have gladly taken.

To be fair, the King Power expansion does look stunning. Maybe they can return the favour and give us the plans so that we can expand the Kingsland. If they did that to the Kingsland then the views from the top tier over Southampton Water and the Isle of Wight would be good. https://www.givemesport.com/1621191-leicester-city-leaked-images-of-clubs-king-power-stadium-expansion-look-stunning

Don't think that the government is mandating everyone to have the vaccination. It's just that not having the vaccine has consequences for individuals that choose this option. So anyone working in a care home either has the vaccine or doesnt work there, as the consequences of passing the virus on to old people can be fatal if for any reason they havent had it either. It's perfectly reasonable for a responsible government to make this decision. If the evidence was clear that making everyone attend games be double-jabbed would greatly cut down transmission, then a sensible government would make it a condition of entry. The problem is that it really isnt clear if it would work. This present government tends to float ideas to see what the reaction would be, rather than act in a more structured way which just causes confusion and irritation.

The discriminatory argument is irrelevant. I have been to East Africa and had to produce a Yellow fever vaccination certificate to travel. The freedoms of the individual get trumped by the decision of democratically elected governments to make decisions in the best interests of the population as a whole. There is no such thing as absolute freedom without consequence and those who claim that it is an infringement of their human rights clearly dont understand how human rights work. It's really a matter of whether insisting on vaccine passports will actually work, both from a health perspective and also practically. You can still be a carrier having had the double vaccine, although likely to get it more mildly and inflict a lesser viral load on others. Plus as has been mentioned, lots of under 18s won't have been jabbed. So there is bound to be some transmission at mass gatherings of people. It's just a balancing act of trying to reduce risk. My personal view is that clubs should close all concessions and get people to move through the concourse area as quickly as possible as that is where the highest risk of transmission is. Not sure that insisting that everyone is double jabbed will make that much difference at outside sporting events, although for indoor events and night clubs it would probably make sense.

Would feel OK in the stands, but the close confines of the concourse would be a concern. More than likely would put a mask on going in to the stadium, get through the concourse as quickly as possible (no pre-match cup of tea) and then take it off once in a seat. Not being an SNP fan, but Nicola Sturgeon has judged the situation much better than Boris and his chums (again). My personal view would be to open stadiums to full capacity, but keep concessions in the stadium closed to keep concourse clear - and to make mask wearing compulsory going in and then removed in the stands (which is what I plan to do). It's having lots of people in a confined indoor space that is the problem. Outside is fine as you get such a low viral load even if you come into contact with someone with Covid. Doubtless some would disagree with the above

Moyes nearly came to Saints in the early 2000's from Preston. Sticking point was that he wanted to bring his own backroom staff, Rupert Lowe wanted to keep the existing staff. He ended up having a good stint at Everton. I seem to remember RLs decision to promote from within working out really well in 2004/2005. Next season won't be pretty. There is a big gulf between the top half and the bottom half. We are firmly in the bottom half. It all depends on how the transfer window goes in my view. Hang on to Ings, and bring in a couple of reinforcements, then we may well be just about OK. Poor window, lose Ings, and we are in trouble.

Winchester City