S-Clarke

agree with that Dubai. It was nice to read, good to see the ambition and plan is still in place. Was nice to see the instalment plan and also the swipe card system is in the pipe line - they were planning on doing that for this year but didn't have enough time to implement it. I'm surprised the stalpewood development wasn't mentioned though. As i think we've always known, he has the best interests of the club at heart and always has - but I think it's fair that there will be some decisions he makes that can be disagreed with, it's healthy to have a bit of debate now and then! No one is perfect at the end of the day!

He came across brilliantly.

Spot on. It's happening time and time again, his intentions are good, but the way he handles things show inexperience and it worries me.

....+1

afaik MLT was not allowed in last year, and has chosen not to attend whilst NC is in charge. Contractors had a disagreement over something with Cortese, which is why they walked - apparently, that's not 100%. The work was meant to start in june.

I know a couple of sky media people, and they say it is almost impossible to get access to St Mary's and it's incredibly hard to deal with them. The FL guy has also said that he's tried to get a few player interviews sorted for the football league show, but we're very hard to deal with and he's not been able to. Benali was kicked out of St Mary's because of a disagreement with Cortese, and is now banned from the ground - along with MLT. I can see a pattern developing here, and it's not really helping our image.

Why are we saying that the reports are misleading? The fact that scunny have said we're hard to deal with is backed up throughout football. I have no idea what Cortese is doing.

Take note from the scunny chairmains comments “The Southampton people have been very difficult to deal with. “They are probably not the right sort of people for Nigel to be working with.'' This is not just the s****horpe chairmain saying this. It's also the view of the media, the echo, sky tv, MLT, Francis Benali and the contractors at staplewood. I'm really concerned about what he's doing and how he's acting.

It is adkins, confirmed by S****horpes chairman. Adkins and his assistant have agreed to join, but comp still to be agreed between clubs - but hopes that will be done today.

Yep, welcome Nigel. Let's get some direction back in this club!

confirmed on BBC banner - S****horpe boss Nigel Adkins and coach Andy Crosby quitting club to join Southampton he's our new manager...good luck to him i say.

Confirmed on BBC Banner S****horpe boss Nigel Adkins and coach Andy Crosby quitting club to join Southampton

No it hasn't. How can you say that 4 games in?

bit harsh really? every young manager needs a big break, and this is probably Adkins chance to prove his real worth. Why does everyone seem to be assuming he'll fail? He's not the big name we hoped for, no, but that doesn't mean he's a bad manager does it?

sounds too conclusive and written with too much confidence to be bull. he's our manager.

It's an interesting argument Dubai_phil, i think you can make a case for either type of manager. but i personally felt that Cortese would play it safe and go for an experienced name who has also managed at the top level. But it looks like he is having a look at the up-and-coming options more closely, and they all need a shot at it don't they? - for all we know there could be a future top flight manager out there, they need their crack at the big time somewhere and a club like this could be great for them.

It's because he's a name and has a big reputation within the game, but those alone are not strong enough reasons for him to be our manager IMO. As i said, he'd need help alongside him.

Interesting that Watford also have a ''development squad'' setup...

They have played a few ''behind closed doors'' friendly's. tbh, as we're not in a league as such i doubt you'll hear too much of the results. So it'll seem like we never play...

I don't think we can risk Shearer - if he did come, he'd need a very experienced head alongside him. This is a tough league and on his own i think he could struggle.

I can see both sides of the argument here. Let me start with the positive side - Adkins is a good manager, he's kept a relatively small and low cost scunny side in the championship - but not only that, they're also competing in the championship. They've had to sell their best player this summer in Gary Hooper but he's still managed to set them up with a good solid start. He plays attacking, pacey football with width. That is something Pardew lacked for me, we were very effective under Pardew playing a certain style (hit it to lambo…) - prepare for much more Width under Adkins and a lot more football on the deck. I see this appointment similar to that of Grayson when he went to Leeds, the similarities are startling - and he hasn't done too badly there at all as he? A few iffy periods but he got them promoted during the time frame he was given. On the other side of the argument - he's not that massive experienced name i think we were all hoping for, someone that will bring all the fans together and put bums back on seats. I'm sensing a real divide opening within the fan base and appointing a somewhat unproven manager isn't going to help that - especially when he is replacing someone who, on paper, has much more experience and a much higher reputation (pull for players) within the game. I thought that Cortese would personally go for an experienced name rather than somewhat of a gamble, as this is an appointment he really cannot afford to get wrong. But he'll get my support, no matter what. I just hope he gets off to a fast start as i fear he's the kind of appointment which could see fans getting on his back quite early on.

Cortese is looking for new contractors after a disagreement with the previous firm.

oh it's a load of **** ''the weekly round up can exclusively reveal the new gaffer...'' then they spend about 5mins following a guy walking, only showing the bottom half of his body - whilst he goes inside st mary's. what is he doing? delivering gaffer tape to the security team. excellent.

let's hope so dd!

This would be a great job for Shearer to jump onto the manager bandwagon, but only if he's backed up by an experienced head initially. I wouldn't want him riding solo...