hughieslastminutegoal

Why did Hoddle play MLT in that England B game? As everyone knows, MLT played everyone else off the park and showed what a match winner he could be. What more could Le Tiss have done in that game? But still Hoddle wouldn't include him in the full England squad. So Matt proving himself a match winner wasn't what Hoddle was after, was it? The answer can only be that Hoddle had made up his mind not to take MLT and hoped that he would play a lazy and inneffective game so he had the final excuse to leave him out of the squad. MLT blew that out of the water with his performance, but Hoddle showed what a psychologically destructive tw*t he is by leaving him out. If I'd been Le Tiss, I'd have hoped Hoddle got squashed by an articulated lorry, I'd have been that angry. Just about the biggest and most public snub Hoddle could have given him. How Matt didn't give Hoddle a good chinning when he turned up here as manager I'll never know. I've long held the theory that Hoddle thought so highly of himself as a player that he couldn't bear to give a stage to players as, or more, creative than he was. The definition of an insecure small-minded egomaniac.

I buy the Echo for reasons other than the sports pages, but really, this idea that the Echo's editors and journalists are all children of the devil peddling nothing but rumour and agenda-driven sh*t stirring against the club is drivel. 90% of all posts on this very forum are opinion, reported rumour, supposition, or attention-seeking nonsense. Pot & Kettle, methinks. Nothing I've read in the Echo is anything a grown up should get all het up over. To make an issue over the Echo while still reading The Sun, Mirror, Express, Mail, Star, News of the Screws, People or any other rag in this country attempting to pass itself off as a newspaper is plain daft. It's like watching X Factor or Americal Idol every effing night while complaining about the state of current pop music. I G N O R E I T. Simples.

Rather childish provocation from you 2x on this thread? I do like a bit of provocation myself, but really, you do need to apply a little more intelligence to it.

You've got the glass that is half full. Maybe I have the other half, the bit that is half empty. The truth is that it's someone else's glass and he'll do whatever he wants with it, but it seems woe betide anyone who inadvertently nudges his elbow. I do find the cosy armchair bit just a tad hard to take; I'm not really buying the homespun cuckoo clock stuff and I don't really see ML nipping out to the back porch and having a surreptitious yodel at the mountains following a good win. It's NC's baby and I reckon it'll be up for adoption before it's 5 years old. IMO of course.

Just remember that when settling on the design the tattooist will need to be able to modify his previous work. All I want is 125 under the existing badge. Then next year I can get "Lambretta GT" put in front of it. One has to plan ahead......

And exactly why does a swiss/italian banker persuade a swiss/german billionaire to buy an english 3rd division cub? His love of British football? His desire to save football for the people of south hampshire? Was ML looking for a toy but didn't know what (kind of) toy to buy, and needed his banker's advice? He really doesn't seem that bothered to me. All "interests" come with a side helping of other incidental benefits (a bit of fun, a little bit of hero-worship among them perhaps), but surely it's largely a case of "uncle, I could make a lot of money on this, can you buy it for me and I'll show you what I can do. I'll give you what you paid plus interest in 5 years time if I can keep the profit). Assuming he achieves what he thinks he can, Saints fans will benefit from some winning football. Whether we will all be as happy when the club is sold on (as I believe it will be), we'll have to wait and see.

You are right. A nobody is.

So he'd be a mong not to want McGoldrick back?

And if Pardew fails to go for him, will he be a mong too?

I seem to recall one of Surman's last outings where Wolves got absolutely mullered. I think his contribution was zilch. But then disagreeing that he'd be ace for us seems to make me a mong. And I was called that when I suggested at the time that signing Wotton on a 3 year deal was not a good move. Proof, pudding and all that.

What I'd like to know, pardon my ignorance, is what happened to the two red roses from the early badges? Oddly enough the City Coat of Arms (granted 1575, but originating in 13th century) has two white roses above one red rose, which seems to give some precedence to the House of Lancaster over the House of York. Perhaps someone could illuminate why the reversal occurred? Also, if we we are going to have a nostalgic re-run of an original shirt, should we not have a badge on it that matches that style and sentiment? The one we have currently is only fitting for the era of ball-choking shorts and curly perms. IMO of course.

We have just let a load of players go. The message is clear - NC wants a smaller payroll, but a better one. Surman had a reasonable season in the CCC, but nothing spectacular. Pace is king these days - he's got none. IMO he's a journeyman player who, like many many others, has one and no more than two "decent" seasons. Just because he once played for us is absolutely no reason to buy him back. How long a contract would you give him if we did? He is not the quality we need at this juncture. We don't want another relatively high wage earner who would be little more than a back-up squad player. He is neither strong enough nor fast enough to give us something "extra" next season and beyond.

How many people would buy one of these? If it is a sizeable number it would only really work for L1, and only then if the match isn't going to be a close to capacity crowd. It isn't workable.

Yes I totally agree. Cover mindless yoof with foam so they don't make a noise.

Yep, it's just you. The first one that jumps out in a big way is Norwich. Saints crest only sneaks in to view because I know it. It's pretty nondescript IMO. I've always thought it looks like the result of a newspaper competition for the under 12s. I reckon The Cherries badge is very good graphically. I can't help thinking if we'd been called The Cherries, we'd have a badge with something that looked like a pair of boll*cks draped over the scarf.

Yep, it's just you. The first one that jumps out in a big way is Norwich. Saints crest only sneaks in to view because I know it. It's pretty nondescript IMO. I've always thought it looks like the result of a newspaper competition for the under 12s.

Haven't they left out a 'y' and a 'd'? It should surely be 1y25d, to commemorate (by the time it makes it's first league match appearance) the beginning of our new history, all prior club history being bunk and is now unmentionable.

All eminently reasonable... apart from the fact that this is England, this is English football and we are English fans with our own football identity. Unfortunately your way is basically the philosophy that underpins the franchise route. The franchise serves up the product, and we buy it (or not). But club loyalty and identity depends on fans feeling more for their club than just turning up to watch football entertainment. I am begining to feel that NC sees merely the business. That's not to say he won't do a good job with it, but will he provide the communication and generate that feeling of involvement (real or perceived) that the die-hard fan wants in addition to just the match? Will we become just another soulless club? The prawn sandwich franchise of the South Coast? It works while you are winning, but the plastic fans so berated on this forum are quick to disappear when the going is less than smooth.

Yeah. He said "I'd give my eye teeth to play in this one. Oh, I've already done that."

Maybe the cracks were showing.

What kind of suitable employment could you see opening up during the summer? I'd have thought Butlins kids entertainment roster is full already. Maybe VT or Winchester City (reserves) might have a couple of spots, I suppose.

I think it is time to move on from all this, and just see how next season unfurls. However, can't you see the absurd contradiction in what you've written?

There ya go. I do go to the cinema to watch a film. Sometimes I go to listen to it as well. And you're the "fellow" who ruined that with constant rustling of your skip-sized box of popcorn. Everyone wants something different from an entertainment "experience", Turkish.

corky morris's post is spot on IMO. BUT... this isn't Switzerland, and we are not turning up in droves to watch bankers do banking or deisel manufacturers assemble their engines. What NC & ML will sooner or later have to come to terms with is that fans of a club are not the same as people who turn up to the Turner Sims to politely listen to a string quartet, and go quietly home, put on their slippers and listen to Radio 3. Football is about passion, and a soulless product (in its widest sense) isn't at the end of the day what we go for. The football business is rife with speculation, opinion and rumour, that really is very much part of what we all like about it. Otherwise why do any of us waste our time on here? I have a feeling that a social club run by NC would serve soft drinks only, there'd be a black tie dress code... and there'd be a big notice on the wall saying topics of discussion must be approved in advance by the management, and if approved will take place only on Thurdays (when the bar and pool table are closed). I am a little uneasy about why NC/ML really got involved. Is it just another business venture, where little Nicola has been given his head .. "buy my this and I'll show you .. how I can make a return of x% over 5 years"? But what the hell, after the club almost disappearing, maybe that's all that's necessary at the moment. I do think NC is a little disingenuous when he blames Pinnacle for delaying ML's purchase. I can't help thinking they let Pinnacle take their time, already convinced about their failure, to soften up the creditors and the Administrator so NC/ML could get the club at the price they wanted to pay. I think their catchphrase might have been "hurry up and take your time".

Blimey, almost every football fan spends their entire life pontifcating about how their football club and team should be managed. Without that level of interest, our leagues would be as well supported as lawn bowls.