hughieslastminutegoal

I think it says "I don't know who out there is any good, so I'll wait until I hear who some other managers are after, and then maybe I'll try for the same player(s)". Cortese obviously is having "good business" training sessions, and last week they were doing "BULL MARKETS".

Is this what is known as getting your retalliation in first?

I fundamentally disagree. His career shows pretty conclusively in my opinion that he has lasted this long in the professional game thanks solely to opportunities provided (and/or engineered) by his dad. I seem to recall Lawrie McMenemy trying to give an opportunity to his son to make it in the game, and his Chris was clearly never going to make it, not an edifying sight. That kind of nepotism is distasteful.

Replace with in football. The proof for the tag footballer is somewhat elusive. I'm afraid that someone of his age with any self-respect would have found more suitable employment... unless this is the most suitable, and if so, he should be seriously worrying about the future.

Ah well, at 25 years old he is only starting out, so we shouldn't expect too much at this stage of his career. Give the lad a chance, few become an overnight sucess.

I suppose he might be good at something.

I'm very surprised, staggered even, that the regular posters can't see just how negative your OP is. You moan you can't get a shirt from SFC, you moan about the back-order time, you cast vile aspertions about forum readers' eating habits (which can only be veiled criticism of their general level of intelligence), and by demanding they "admit it" you are simultaneously slagging them off for lying by omission. You've had a lucky escape...until now. You don't fool me with the fake wit and chummy tone.

Woo_ee , Paisley Uni - aka Uni of the West of Scotland and almost as renowned as Bournemouth Uni - specialise in degrees in Disney rodent characterisation, don't they? Maybe that's why Swiss cheese has all those holes in it.

LOL, people worried about what the cost will be when we are in the prem. You couldn't make it up!

Anthony Isheafootballer-Pullis Jordace Holder-Spooner - is this baby-talk? I can hear his mum now: "Jordace, holda spoona proply nahw, innit."

You disagree with Pardew in that case, who wants a box to box CM. How tiresome of him.

There's a difference between panic and hoping things are sorted in good time, bearing in mind last season's start. But maybe I'm wrong in thinking we failed to get into the playoffs because of a slow start. I'll start worrying 3 weeks into the season, then. Our main problem ALL THROUGH THE SEASON was lack of drive in midfield with CM delivering almost no goals between them. And we really don't have any wide pace yet either. There's time yet to address both of those, of course. Two good signings have been made so far, so I'm sure our additional needs will be sorted, but it would have been better to get those players in for pre-season. Or is it illegal to say that?

I cant really see why is being a gobby f-wit purely to get attention. But some might be beginning to think they'll only be able to afford Eastleigh or Winchester if we get back to the prem with NC.

In your opinion. Try this for example: ..And Nick Illingworth in the Echo from which the line "everything is slick and professional" was taken.

Re the bold bit, yes I do disagree somewhat - and did answer his list earlier. It isn't me running around saying everything they do is slick and professional, so I don't have to prove that what they do is the opposite, but I have highlighted (an increasing number of) areas in which there could be a suggestion of something rather less than slick and professional. As ML would appear to have very little day to day involvement I would suggest that he is leaving it all to NC; that all ML has done is bankroll NC and that we probably ought to stop thinking that someone who has put up (what to him is) pocket money for his protege's project is some kind of altruistic saviour. What happens (good or bad) is ultimately down, in practice, to Cortese. He's done some things that are good, I don't deny it (and elsewhere have given credit), but I think he is beginning to show himself to be a bit of a mixed bag, that everything isn't entirely slick or professional. I'll wait a bit longer before demanding he's burned at the stake.

Who put the C in childich? Cortese?

I think my list was a reasonable tally of things that don't appear slick and professional. RE: Your list: 2 & 3 maybe are all down to 1, (and failed to get/retain Antonio) 4. remains very much to be seen - details? 5. talk is cheap. 6. Down to 1. Isn't evidence of THEIR slickness and professionalism. Yes I don't deny that good things have happened, but I think the rear orrifice licking has been just a tad heavy, and I have reservations about NC's style, and his possible responses when things don't go exactly the way he wants.

Yep, I think you are mad. A German billionaire living in Switzerland (for the tax breaks presumably so maybe isn't that publically spirited) for some reason thinks the goodly folk of an English city with a 3rd division football club deserve to have it saved for them. B U L L S H I N E. Anyone with half a brain can see he is merely financing his "adoptive sonny boy" Cortese. No he isn't really interested in the profit, as it would be peanuts to him. But as a project for his boyo, he's prepared to put in some pocket money. But OK, so we at least have a football club, and that's good. I do think that a lot of people are somehow making the pair of them out to be saints, and there is a degree of rather childich sycophancy and hero worship going on. Mr Illingworth in the Echo says that everything they are doing is "slick and professional". Well, anyone can say it, but where exactly is the evidence? 1. They were around the scene before Pinnacle, but hovvered in the shadows waiting to pick up the club as cheaply as possibe. Good business for them, but little more than opportunism. 2. The planning application for Staplewood was reportedly messy and contained numerous errors 3. The relationship with the Echo promptly became the worst it has ever been 4. Unecessary speculation was allowed to fester about Pardew's future 5. A programme had to be pulled at the last minute and the reasons for that remain unexplained 6. The season ticket issue was mishandled, loyal fans have been upset and extra charges brought in as a fait acompli 7. Season tickets for some cup games won't guarantee your normal seat and that has further aggravated some loyal customers 8. They said we would get moving on our squad early and would be able to hit the ground running this season, but signings are dragging. Ok, not worse than the average, but their purported aim is that we are better than average 9. Admin staff are alleged to be less than happy about the atmosphere behind the scenes. 10. The Staplewood revamp has reportedly stalled and the contractors upset I'm to a degree being devil's advocate above, but nevertheless I'm not sure all this justifies the "everything is slick and professional" accolade. But if you really do think they deserve that plaudit, please give CONCRETE examples of exactly what they have done that is notably slick and professional.

As "DBP" put it, it ain't a big deal, no. But let's think for a bit - We now won't be playing in red & white stripes (despite 1885 or whatever, stripes are our league history), we stop naming suites after "legend" players .. what bit of club history do we forget about next? Stop calling ourselves "Saints"? Take down the Ted Bates statue? We dump season tickets but sell tickets like cinema seats? It'll just be another "entertainment product". But IMO thats where football is heading anyway.. NC just might be slightly ahead and being a trend-setter..... someone has already called him a visionary.

Don't the words 'old' and 'history' tend to go together? Are you saying club history now doesn't count any more? So what does being a supporter mean - that "this week I bought a ticket"?

MM will be looking for another Russian Mafia buyer, then.

The only similarity between WT and a good red wine is that you have to lay it down for a long time before it's any good. Then you uncork it and within a very short time it's all used up.. and you have to buy another one.

"The 40-year-old never planned to run a football club. Last summer he conducted the deal to buy Southampton for Markus Leibherr, a German-born, Swiss-based industrialist. After the purchase was completed in July — despite a false start, the negotiations concluded rapidly — the new owner realised he had acquired a business with no senior management structure." Now this is where the motivation starts to get more than a bit cloudy. NC has said elsewhere that HE spotted the opportunity and persuaded ML to buy the club. But what was the opportunity he spotted? Was billoinaire ML really interested in having an English Football club in his portfolio? Was a billionaire interested in the profit he could make from it? Is he that interested in it as a toy? Is he interested in re-establishing it's community ties? I'm having real difficulty really finding any motivation for ML. I can however see the motivation for NC himself. I've said before, and I still believe it, that ML is funding a project that NC has marked out for himself. I really do think it's a 5 year project for NC to make as much money from it as possible before he gets bored. I think NC really did have the intention of running it himself right from the off. So there is a credibility gap there for me. And I think he is proving slowly but surely that his statements are less than reliable, as "DBP" has provided a decent few examples. Maybe most really don't care as long as we win matches. But that's probably what most MU fans thought when the Glazers took over. I just have a sneaking feeling that people like "DBP" will be saying "I told you so" with some justification in a couple of year's time.

.. do you mean against Leyton Orient away?

And we play who instead, exactly? I agree with the sentiment, but the problem still remains... we are producing players like Upson and playing them in the World Cup... because there's no one else!