S-Clarke

That was Alex Pearce who was on loan from Reading, but we also picked up the fella Ian Pearce on loan from Fulham iirc - but I can't recall him ever playing!

We are owned by the estate of Markus, that is actually stated on the official website. Nicola is a trusted colleague and friend of the family and as well as overlooking this investment, Nicola also looks after the Mali Group of businesses. I would imagine that as with any good business person, you are always looking for an opportunity to generate new money - and if an opportunity does come up to sell us, they will gain so much profit - but one thing you can be sure of, we will not be sold to any tom **** or harry. We have very intelligent owners who care about what they've done here and they'd only sell if it was to someone who could take us on even further, I'm sure of that. The loan that Markus put in to us was a non-repayable loan, and it has since been turned into shares - so that debt is just been wiped out. We're in a very, very good position. Now we go into the premier league to gain even more money, and with the development of the academy and staplewood - that will also create more income in the long term. I'd go as far to say that we're probably one of the best run clubs in the country at the moment. We have significant backing and people behind the scenes who know what they're doing, we were very lucky to land the owner we did.

We've got a very nice batch of kids at the moment, even below the U18 level's there are some players that are causing excitement (although they won't share their names as not to create interest, which is fair enough I guess). With the investment that is going on in that side of the club, I think it's safe to say that we currently have the pick of the best young players in our region. Should be quite an exciting few years if any of these kids get their chance in the top flight. The quality of players we consistently produce is fantastic.

Blimey, i forgot we ever had Ian Pearce - did he ever play for us? Can't actually remember if he did or not...I know Mettomo didn't, he was a bit of a typical Burley signing. Pele was alright though, especially in the middle. We did bloody well making a profit on him when we sold him to WBA, but his career has been on the slide since.

What a slide he has had by the way, now at a very poor Bradford City. He's not got much of a fan base there either as he's made lots of sloppy errors at L2 level.

It's a tricky one, it's hard not to get carried away and expect a decent season next year because we've been winning every week for 3 years now. Next year will be a tricky one because we'll lose more games and probably by some heavy score lines, so it's Important we all keep a level head when this happens. In general terms though, I don't think the premier league is that strong. There are alot of average teams up there (blackburn, bolton, wigan, WBA, ) that I'd fancy our chances of giving a game to now. So we will compete with the teams in the bottom half and our winning menality will give us the edge in the opening months, similar to what happend with Norwich and Swansea. QPR did it all wrong though. They didn't think about what they needed, they just went out and replaced everything (including the manager). That's why they have no continuity or team ethic and is probably why they'll go down. I don't even think Man Utd and Chelsea are as strong as when we were last in it, neither are Arsenal who are beatable if you pressure them in the right way. So in general terms, other than Man City, I'd say it's a weaker league than when we were last in it. I don't think it'll take too many changes to make us really competitive in the bottom half.

He's not a bad player, but I don't think he's the sort of player that fits in with the system Nigel plays - hence his limited appearances. I'll never forget his performance away at Leeds, one of the worst i've ever seen one of our players make. Truly inept and I'm not surprised he didn't feature again after that. I'd expect him to be sold in the summer as I see no place for him here.

What a difference indeed. Relegation helped us, Norwich and Chalrton regroup, rebuild and gain a winning mentality. Sometimes, no matter how hard it is, relegation is required in order to strip out the old and start with the new. Coventry for example have just dotted around the lower parts of the championship for years, never doing anything. Now they've been relegated it's an opportunity for them to rebuild from the ground up (as long as they get a decent owner.) We were lucky in that we were bought by a terrific guy, but relegation should be seen as the start of a new journey - not the end. Since our relegation we have had 3 of the most unbelievable years that I'll never, ever forget.

I would agree with that, the premier league is made for a player like Morgan. He will look majestic up there. I just remember his performance at home to Man Utd a couple of years ago, he dominated Carrick in there and his use of the ball was sublime. He will never play below the top flight again IMO.

What do we think then? The FA have approached WBA regarding him, and WBA have granted permission. I think he's excellent personally and has a real understanding of the game at all levels. He's managed big European clubs in Europe, and international nations. He's turned WBA's fortunes around and he made Fulham into a terrific premier league club. It didn't work at Liverpool but that's because their fans have stupid expectations and fail to realise that they're no longer as good as they once were, for what it's worth he had a better % than 'King Kenny".

You can kind of see a quiver in his top lip as he talks about the parting of the ways being done in the right manner. It does make you wonder if Cortese has expressed some sort of frustration at our results towards the end of the season......you know what he can be like!

It's actually the Solent interview, in the tunnel after the game. A very, very emotional and stripped down interview. Not his usual cliches and a very open and thoughtful interview. Interviewer: ''Personally, what does it mean for you to be able to pit yourself against the best?" Nigel: ''I'm looking forward to it, it should be fantastic for this football club....(then he starts rolling off his CV...)I've been very successful as a manager. With the Sunday league team, with Bangor City where we won a couple of league titles. Then with S****horpe - getting them promoted and getting them abck again after relegation. Getting Southampton promoted at the first time from L1. There will be a time down the line where there will be a parting of the ways, but I think as part of the Southampton journey I' throw everything into it. When that sad day comes I hope it'll be done in the right manner, but I'm very proud of what I've done here. Interviewer: ''Well hopefully that'll be many moons away!'' Nigel: ''Very much so, i've got a long-term contract - but you know what football is like in this modern era. I'd like to think that my percentage manager of winning games of football is not bad and I want to be a winner."

Seeing it so close at the end is frustrating, but 2nd is still the same prize at the end of the day.

It's strange that our greatest promotion has lead to an influx of negative threads.

I think we'll have a brand new website this year, Cortese made a comment a while back that he doesn't like our website but we're bound to it due to a football league contract, but if we get promoted we would changed to our own in-house website. With the new ticketing site this kind of links in nicely.... There will be a stream for every game next year, some easier to find than others I'd imagine.

We'll probably play more games @ 3pm on Saturday next year, than we did this year.

Oh noes!!! That means the press won't be able to get any information out of us to twist.

Silly season has arrived.

Last week of August I think, this is going to drag big time.

You were spot on with that post. Although I don't think we'd have had much trouble hanging onto SDR

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/celtic/2012/04/29/celtic-boss-neil-lennon-lines-up-move-for-3m-rated-burnley-striker-jay-rodriguez-86908-23841344/ 2+2 =....?

Hard to say without additions to the squad, let's be honest - Norwich and Swansea have raised the bar so expectation will be higher straight away. Let's see the calbire of players we're linked with before making predictions.

Iñigo Idiakez ‏ @InigoIdiake Congratulations Southampton FC!!! I am delighted to see it happen finally! Enjoy your night! Very proud of everyone! Nathan Dyer ‏ @NathDyer87 Want to say congratulations to southampton fc for getting into the premiership! Looking forward to be up against my mate @adlallana1 Gary Lineker ‏ @GaryLineker Many congratulations to Southampton FC on their return to Premier League football. Look forward to seeing you on MOTD next season Lord Sugar ‏ @Lord_Sugar Well done ! Southampton promoted to Premier League from the Championship Liverpool FC ‏ @LFC Congratulations to Southampton on your return to the Premier League. We look forward to seeing you and your fans at Anfield next season.

This is so odd, it's like Southend all over again, but this time we're not in a playoff lottery...we can sit back and enjoy them!

This summer will be very exciting as promotion has opened up the window to some very exciting players. We probably signed players that we shouldn't have this year (Cork at the start) and the year/18 months before (Fonte...). So this summer should be very exciting. If we can stump up £5-7m in this league to offer Celtic, then god knows how much we can offer now. But as I siad on another thread, money doesn't buy everything....it's about getting the right players that add to the team, and I'm confident that our lot know what they're doing in that case.