up and away

keep hearing this the same was said in january, yet they sign jelevic. the same was said about west ham last summer...then look Everton really are in the financial straight jacket. You only had to took at the manoeuvres to get Jelevic in. Players having to be sold and the wage bill restructered by moves. But fair play to Moyes and Kenwright, they have done an amazing job. If it was not because Jelevic was owned by Rangers I doubt that deal would have been done. Most buys are done with a series of instalments that only end up as hard cash years down the line, so we my have a big edge here. A lot of these clubs like Everton and West Ham would need to create moves and loans to fit the purchase into their operating plans, not that easy. Then you have to ask if they will be prepared to make the effort for what would be viewed as a significant risk. Looking at Newcastle, Rodriques looks highly over priced for what they have managed in the market so far. Then someone like Lambert who if installed at Villa, would he want to take that sort of risk? If Burnley want the cash up front, I doubt they will get many other takers and it will then come down to the player. From the players perspective I believe we have a good chance of signing J Rod as I don't believe anyone will offer him a guaranteed start. Saints won't offer a nailed on start, but from the long term interest and known desire we have for the player, he's going to be pretty certain of a more than fair shake. Our style of football will definitely attract him and I am sure he has had a few tweets from friends in the team to get on the bus. I still feel J Rod is a risk and how he will fit into the first team, unless there is an even more high profile striker to come. Feel confident we will get him as everything looks like it is just being left for the final medical when he comes down. Looking at the video I am still wondering about who will lead the line, as a lot of J Rod involves breaking through from midfield.

I tend to agree with most of that and after looking closely at Holt, Ricky will have to find another way to get his goals because I don't believe he's up to Holt's pace. I still believe Ricky will get you goals but I am wondering at what cost. Because we will have to open ourselves up more to create those chances and I have seen how damaging that has been even against poor teams in the Championship. For Ricky to work in the Premier, he will need to work off a quality striker with pace and another decent threat to give himself the space and time. Even though I feel that is possible, not completely sure it's the right way to go in the Premier. I can't see the combination of Ricky and Billy working together in the Premier, though I can see options for either with alternatives. I would love to see a player like Rodriques brought into the squad but I would still want to see a head line signing to spearhead the attack. Otherwise I feel we may have badly under judged what is required in the Premier. If we can replicate that pass and move football we started off last season with, combined with improved players we should be well ok. Equally I would expect some good hidings along the way should we try to push things without decent control. Our weakness is going to be that we underestimate how good the Premier is and what's required for a season, though the reduced fixtures should help our style a lot. Really excited about how the season is going to pan out and would not be surprised it comes as a shock to Adkins. It's then going to be how we adapt and move on from early set backs that's going to be important. I have a lot of faith in Adkins but it will come as no surprise if things in his first Premier season do not work out and we will have to learn for the future.

The best I have seen for this sort of thing is to do the selling in the queues or another position, the serving at the counter. You then get a ticket with full description and a number. When your number is displayed you just go and collect. No corrections or changes, just a refund if unable to supply. It would not surprise me if the new software and hardware installed cannot help out. Pre-charged season ticket cards, member or swipe cards would allow all sorts benefits for addressing this issue.

I think you have that about right and there will be one over riding factor that separates the Premier, pace. It would not surprise me to see us shell out £8M for the right striker as long as the whole package was right. Even high wages if the player was on a free. I expect we will trawl though the relegated clubs, championship and come up with players to improve the squad with the value coming from abroad. Les Reed made the comment that we had to be self sustaining once we reached the Premier and I believe that task is too difficult without additional help during our first season.

Why would you keep a manager on after all that had happened unless you believe that he still represents the best chance of getting promoted? The alternative is that Cortese deliberately kept Pardew around to **** with his head and at the same time **** up any chance of promotion the following season. Cortese knew the devastating effect of having to change a manager at that stage of the season, something he explicitly referred to. Unless you are some hormonal ***** trotter, it makes absolutely no sense that Cortese would have kept Pardew around for anything but footballing reasons. At the end of the season Cortese looked at all of the good and bad, what the alternatives were and decided to stick with Pardew as providing the best opportunity for promotion. Something i did not argue with myself and equally see the sack as being a viable option. Then you look at the start of the season where the damage done in pre-season was clear for all to see. You had an unfit squad carrying injuries that in cases would take a long time to recover from. Added to that you then had the squads two most important players in Lambert and Lallana either out or not fully fit for a significant period of the season to come. Bearing in mind Lallana had just played in that pointless mid-week cup game, then going off after half time at Bristol. Lallana already had the start of the injury in pre-season but that could have been handled so much better. Why did Cortese let things go on for so long? Well I am not sure he knew who to believe until presented with the inescapable facts at the opening of the season. Where to compound matters, Pardew decides to throw in the gem after the Bolton cup game "This was not a priority game for us, but we treated it as such anyway." Not to mention the unsteady truce behind the scenes with the back room staff. So it all comes to a head at the worst possible time of the season and if anyone in their right mind is suggesting Cortese had a hint of half of this coming up, they are out of their minds. Cortese believed that the issue of cup priority had been settled and no reason not to do so, only for that to revisit accompanied by the mother in law. I know Cortese can be a nightmare on match days because nerves get the better of him, even to the extent of his wife not talking to him. I don't know when exactly Cortese knew of Liebherrs problems, but I have never been so grateful to Pardew for giving Markus that final for a cup I viewed as totally irrelevant at the time. Maybe that influenced Cortese?

I just cannot underline the significance of Pardew deliberately going against Corteses express order in the league position having total priority. When Cortese went out and spent £M's on players in the January transfer window he made it very clear to Pardew this was based upon priority in the league alone, the cups never came into it. To then be told by Pardew in the programme notes the the cups were deliberately targeted has to go down as one of the most stupid comments ever. I can't think of any other industry where that would be allowed to go without a sacking, especially when already spelt out clearly in black and white. After all of that Pardew still got the second chance but managed to screw up again equally badly, he deserved to go, no doubt. Following on from that at the start of the next season, Pardew comes out with this classic after the Bolton LGCP, "This was not a priority game for us, but we treated it as such anyway." Just compare this with Adkins where there has never been any doubt and Corteses wishes have been followed to the letter. In the close season there was decisive split behind the scenes which culminated in senior members of the backroom staff going to see Cortese, stating Pardew was doing more damage than good to the players with the pre-season regime. I feel there must have been some unfinished business between Pardew and Reed from previous, where the gloves were well off now. To the extent there were warnings going around that if noses were poked into places, fists would be used to remedy the intrusion. As it is we all know the damage done by Pardew in the pre-season and the lasting damage that had. Adkins demonstrated that by using the system in place that he could take the club on in leaps and bounds and all of a sudden Reed was no longer a hindrance but of great benefit. I can understand what Pardew was trying to achieve in pre-season, but he pushed things that far he could never recover. Pardews problem was playing galactico football one minute against the toughest opposition, then failing to register against the no hopers on a following Tuesday evening. The reason was simple, we could not produce the energy levels the type of play required twice a week. So Pardews pre-season of getting the players super fit to allow for this punishing schedule had merits but when you destroy the core of fitness in the players and accumulate all the injuries, you have to see how wrong he got things. Luckily for Pardew, the Premier league has nothing like this exhaustive schedule and I doubt he will repeat those same mistakes he made with Saints in Switzerland. I have never seen a club where every aspect is so focused on the first 11 producing to the maximum on match day. Adkins was the missing link that provided what Pardew never could. Cortese, Reed and all the others deserve such credit for putting all the pieces into place and Adkins for using them so well.

After everything has come to light, I am amazed that Cortese did not sack Pardew far earlier. His restraint in not sacking him was exemplary and in near on every other business he would have been out of the door. When Cortese went out and spent £M's on players in the January transfer window he made it very clear to Pardew this was based upon moving forward in the league alone, the cups never came into it. To then be told by Pardew in the programme notes the the cups were deliberately targeted has to go down as one of the most stupid comments ever. I can't think of any other industry where that would be allowed to go without a sacking, especially when already spelt out clearly in black and white. After all of that Pardew still got the second chance but managed to screw up again equally badly, he deserved to go, no doubt. There is more than enough here to say that Cortese bent over backwards to accommodate Pardew, but the bloke had a managerial death wish. The synergy between Adkins and everything Saints is so very clear to see, even to the extent Adkins had his contract extended to 5½ years after just a few months. This could only have been based up what was happening behind the scenes as results gave no indication of this. I still can't believe the depth of vision Cortese had with extending that contract to 5½ years, when it only became evident at the end of the season that Adkins football had surpassed Pardews. I can see the spectre of the DofF raising it's head in the Premier and will need to be handled sensitively for all concerned but I feel Cortese will be more generous towards Adkins than many imagine.

I am not sure the Premier Leagues 4th top goal scorer - in a relegated team - would be happy to sit on anyones bench. He has been quite simply unplayable this season. Yakubu is an excellent player and equally important, one within our reach. No lack of skill though his goals have come over few games.I doubt Ricky or Billy will hack it in the Premier unless they have someone like Yakubu alongside of them.

Did not Mrs Jones think otherwise at the time, I think history shows that she was very angry and totally blamed Rupert Lowe, something about "killing my husband". She certainly did, but just like a dog owner insisting the fire brigade saves the family pet that wandered onto thin ice, just not much logic in the position. Dave Jones form on it's own warranted dismissal and it was only because the court date was postponed that the board felt things could go on for no longer, otherwise we really could have been in the sheite doing the "right" thing. Dave Jones major contribution to Saints was through the transfer market and we had to go back to Lawrie for someone who made an impact with buys. Some left scratching your head like the talented Mr Ripley but even nut jobs like Carlton Palmer had a lot of value in them. Many look at WGS as being good for Saints in the market, but he is quick to point out other scouts being responsible for the good ones.

It's still the game that epitomises the season for me, as you say unexpected. First game of the season against a difficult side with all the expectation of the season to come. We stepped up a level of play that day, something I never saw coming. This against a Leeds side that were trying to kick us out of our stride and whinging to the ref and we just passed and moved through all of it. Not only did I know we were be going to be ok for the coming season but that we might actually do something in this league. We made them look very, very ordinary whilst not resulting to their tactics, rising above it with football which left them chasing shadows, The Middlesbrough game was the better performance, but nothing can replace the feeling when Saints stepped up a gear against Leeds with a brand of football I never expected.

For pass and move football I thought the Leeds game was breathtaking and I was just in awe that it was Saints that were playing it. Home against Middlesbrough was the ultimate accolade but diminished slightly because we were in such total control that Tony Mowbray was left scratching his head. Guly had just moved up front to play wuth Ricky and Chaplow showed what we needed from right midfield. That sort of performance would have won Premier games. Sadly Chaplow then gets injured, Guly goes off form and we never really discovered that domination with such consumate ease again. I thought for excitement Birmingham was tops, though performance of the season has to be against Middlesbrough. When you look at the number we did on Watford away, that does not get the plaudits it deserves considering all the good results Watford had both before and after our game.

I have just watched the recordings of the BBC's St Marys party and can only descibe it as the best publicity Saints have ever received. Along with countless other articles throughout the season of how Saints are doing things the right way. I have never seen such positive press previously! The only dissent I can remember was from a Guardian journalist wanting to do a glowing peice on Saints, but demanding full access and spouting bile when denied. It would not surprise me if that was not the same Paul Hayward. I really do not understand the point a couple of muppets on here are trying to forward, our relations with the press at present are about the best I have ever seen them. So just where is this imagined problem? Don't even bother with the Echo or the photo ban. That's long gone with the Echo, still self indignant whilst grabbing everything from the Saints website to rehash asap.

As bewildered as I was when Adkins blurted out the original statement, it's all starting to make sense now. Go back to Adkins state of mind at the end of the game, the emotions and the over riding need to be with the players. Well bearing in mind he stated that he will be sitting down with each one of them before they go on holiday. It's not difficult to understand why he got so emotional and why he considered his own future as well. Cortese is very ambitious and driven that it is not surprising the pressure that can be created from even such a positive atmosphere. If Adkins has to spell out to most of those players they don't have a guarantee of a place next season, that's going to come very hard to someone who feels he owes them everything for where they are now. Added to that his own vulnerability must have surfaced with a chairman looking at plans for a 45k capacity and CL football. It's amazing how success can generate such emotions but you only have to look at Pep Guardiola to get the idea. I know from his wife that Cortese is a nightmare on matchdays because of his nerves. Well it must have really been up to maximum after this run in to the season. You only had to look at the way it got to all the players from their comments, but Adkins managed to install the necessary professionalism until it all got too much after the event. It would not surprise me if the DofF raised it's head again when you consider the sort of money we will be shelling out. I wouldn't say there is nothing to worry about but it mostly comes from a positive angle and the possible price of success.

I believe the majority of players who played a significant number of games will be kept on. That does not mean they will be guaranteed a game but I definitely believe they will get a chance. I believe we will get another pre-season like we did last year and players will have to get themselves super fit to make that step up. I still expect about 1/2 the first team will be new signings but equally I don't believe Adkins will close the door completely on those others who will get the odd chance. It is going to be very tight with a 25 man squad, especially if you want to leave a couple of spaces for youth players to have their chance. One very good thing about the Premier is that it is not as draining as the Championship, where the fall off in stamina due to games played is not so big. Hopefully, if we start with the samba football again we will be able to keep it going for a lot longer in the Premier, though the step up in class is going to balance things out. The Guly I saw at the start of the season looked good enough for the Premier, receiving the ball, immediately turning to face the opposition to drive on. A pass and move game of triangles I had never seen the like of at Saints. Sadly most of that disappeared come the end of the season, I just hope we can get back to that flowing football.

It is sad, but if we want to survive in the Premier then we need about 6 new faces in the first team and develop what we have left over to be of value. After looking closely at the performance of the team against a youthful Coventry, I feel the step up will be too big for most of these players. We could get away with one of our current right backs stepping up doing a job, but we definitely require another main central defender and left back. Fonte is the main weakness defensively but I feel he would be far better used as the defensive midfielder, bringing the ball out of defence and into attack as he did so well against Coventry. Kelvin is not a Premier goalie and as we will have to strengthen because of Bart, it looks right to bring in a new #1. Schneiderlin could do a job in the Premier but he has to up his game seriously to nail that down. Cork should be good enough for a good few games, not for all. Lallana needs to keep on developing as he has done and believe he is good enough. But I believe that playing with better players will do that for Lallana. Ricky and Billy just would not cut it in the Premier and as much as Billy was a good signing, I can't see him getting a look in. Ricky needs the right player alongside of him for the Premier. Chung looked very promising before his injury and we will just have to wait and see. From Guly, Chaplow, de Ridder, Hammond it would not surprise me if one of them stepped up, but requires a big improvement to be anything other than a squad player.

This is on the money for me, eventually Nigel has let everything out after getting over the line. You could see in a couple of the interviews his head just was not there and he let things come flooding out. All the time he kept on talking abut the players and mix that in with the realisation that most of them will not be here or in the first team, may have prompted those remarks. It is definitely a concern because you really see this from managers, especially Adkins. I thought he wanted to burst into tears at one stage. The big problem is that Adkins has never managed in the Premier and the step up in class is so much greater than anything he will ever have experienced. All of thesde things must have been playing over in his head and broke through when the job was done. Higel wants to go and have a good holiday, come back refreshed and suck the experience in. Nicola needs to back him with about £30M just to ensure we stay in this division and I am sure Nigel will get support from Nicola.

What those Coventry youngsters showed me was that we need 6/7 new players for the Premier. Adkins has never had to deal with the pace and power of the Premier so it's going to be interesting how things turn out.

Sharp does not do the same job as Connolly and I would put an in form Connolly as a significant reason to our early success. But Connolly is no longer on form and Billy very much is, such we seem to be geared around developing his chances far more. Nothing wrong with any of this, just common sense. When Connolly came into the side at the end of last season he was the missing link that elevated all the team to new levels such we went on that winning run that won us promotion. Starting this season he was one of the key cogs which delivered samba football to Saints. Sadly Connollys form has dropped along with Guly and to an extent Lallana. With Billy in the side you are far more likely of the end product coming from Billy, whereas with Connolly that is more spread amongst himself and others. If you put a ball up to Billy in a dangerous situation, he is far more likely to make a goal from it. If you put a ball up to Billy in a non dangerous situation he has this habit of just bouncing it back to the midfield or defence without developing anything. Whereas Connolly in those situations is far more likely to develop the attacking play. Billy is a good player and his goals will be a major factor in why we get promotion, but I don't believe he brings out the best in Lambert or looks effective to our earlier style of play. That earlier style of play that I would give anything to rekindle. After what happened last season given an Adkins full pre-season anything is possible next season, including Billy. I just hope we can rediscover that delightful passing game we started the season with.

If you had to pick one team from the whole championship to get a result against for automatic promotion, who would it be? For me it's Coventry for the following reasons. Relegated from the Chapionship in just their last game Back biting and in fighting at the club is now fully in the open I really doubt there is any motivation for the away trip to Saints Won only one away game all season and playing away Their style of play suits Saints better than the other bottom clubs It does not follow that Coventry will just give us the points, but I do believe they represent our best chance.

I really would not fancy our chances in the play offs. The dropping off in form combined with the disappointment would be a vary big hurdle to over come. Equally, I do not believe it will do West Hams chances any favours as they will be going through something very similar if they fail at that last hurdle. We have an excellent chance of going up automatically by getting a result against Coventry. Bearing in mind Coventry are the sort of team we do better against of the bottom 3, poor away form against the best home form in the division, there is every reason to be optimistic. Should things not work out for West Ham, it would not surprise me that the extended hope of automatic up to the last game will not be looked upon as a blessing.

Ricky has his ups and downs but has won the player of the season weeks ago. What I am trying to fully understand is where our samba football has gone that we started the season with. I don't put that down to Ricky and would guess at the loss of form of Guly, Connolly and Lallana. I feel our best performance was against Middlesbrough at home where we had so much control and opportunities against a very good side that it was embarrassingly one sided. The major problem I have with Ricky is when performance levels of himself or mainly others drops below a certain level, he offers very little, especially in adapting to a different system. A couple of seasons ago Ricky was blasting free kicks in from all over the pitch. These were straight, powerful shots that would get up and down over the wall and give the goalie no chance, almost Ronaldoesque, These have stopped a long time ago and I can only think that was because he was causing some damage to his body that he now relies upon spin. His goal return from free kicks is such now that he really has no right to the ball and others should be given the option. Then we come onto the pairing of Ricky and Billy, looking pretty good in parts. But nowhere I feel in comparison to the samba football we were playing at the start of the season. I just do not feel that the partnership between Ricky and Billy will go much further than what we currently see. Very good up to a point but just not making much headway there after. If we can't get back to that samba football I do not believe that Billy and Ricky offer us sufficient to go forward and improve and I would change one of them out (more than likely Billy) for someone like Yakubu.

Things are not that easy for West Ham, because even if they win tonight they know Saints can still secure promotion at home against a relegated side. I am sure BFS would have preferred to rest some players, blood some others and get in perfect shape for what looks like the inevitable play offs. The longer all this goes on, the greater the let down is going to be when it's all decided and it would not surprise me if that did not have a major effect for the coming play offs. If we have to go into the play offs I would not give ourselves much of a chance. Getting over that disappointment so late in the day and giving players minimal rest will come as a massive disappointment as Huddersfield found last season. If West Ham fail to go up by automatic promotion it would not surprise me that BFS wished he had just let that option go, because the psychological effect so late in the day could easily have a knock on effect for the play offs. I know he or any team has got to keep going and not give up on the automatic but I bet he wished it was a lot simpler.

Are the majority of you looking at the table upside down, I can't believe the comments on here? We played well given the amount of games we have played recently, it was a good performance. I can't believe some of the criticisms I am hearing on this board. That's the most successful I have seen Davis some for crosses yet the short little fecker could not stretch enough to get a very well taken free kick, live with it. The referee made a major error when he failed to send off Hines but the far biggest error was Fonte giving away the free kick. We have seen him do this so many times and got away with it, he did not get away with it tonight and he should have known better and Adkins should have it tattooed on his arse and underlined in blue. That error denied us the option of a draw being of value against Coventry, so we now have to go a beat a relegated side on the last day of the season at home.

For this I give you Alison Saunders, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS London. In the case of Barry George, for the murder of Jill Dando, Saunders eulogised over the use of circumstantial evidence to bring a conviction. Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Alison Saunders, who led the work of the prosecution team, said the conviction showed that circumstantial evidence taken together could, despite common misconceptions, be used to build a strong case. What she failed to say was that this circumstantial evidence was a sighting of Barry George near to where Jill Dando lived, several hours earlier in the day. This was of someone cleaning a car windscreen in the street, with the car empty, drivers door open in the middle of the street. This despite the fact George had never owned a car, a licence or the ability to drive. This being only one of 6 witnesses that managed to pick out George from a line out 6 months after the event. Saunders than surpassed herself with the decision to prosecute two 10 year old boys for the rape of an 8 year old girl. Not rape as we know it, but a case of doctors and nurses with no one knowing where all the bits went, financed by the offer of sweets. Now I understand at what point do you prosecute or not but it would have been far better to let the local authorities thoroughly investigate the case privately using child psychologists to see if the case warranted prosecution. Rather than trial to decide that point as well. The trial left may traumatised after the event, not least the judge. With the two boys being found not guilty of rape (no one knew where anything went), but guilty of attempted rape (they may have found where the bits went) and put onto the sex offenders register. Just remember back to your childhood and imagine the possibilities if Saunders had come across yourselves inappropriately. This from the most prominent Crown Prosecutor in England, promoted on the back of crass judgement and lacking any moral compass.

If you listen to the Solent interviews and join up the dots, it's pretty straightforward The club has to be self sustaining with finance available to raise to a certain level Income through attendance will have a large effect on our ability to sustain ourselves at a higher level We would not just go out and upgrade the stadium capacity, that would be based on demand over time and market research The Academy is geared towards giving us a major edge over our competitors in taking the club as far as it can go The facilities to support the playing team will be second to none The style of football should be to attract all Cortese is a very driven individual and a lot of these points comes from him eulogising where we can end up. Personally it looks a bit pie in the sky but I am not going to bet against the guy with his current record and being a Saints fan, I warm to that. I always believed previously that 36k was the optimum size for our previous requirements and find it difficult to believe we would fill a 45k stadium. For us to fill that 45k stadium we would have to play a free flowing, attractive brand of football in the Premier. Similar to what we experienced in the Championship but capable of producing a top 6 finish in the Premier. I would be amazed if Cortese achieved that, but I am equally amazed at what he has achieved already.