S-Clarke

yeh - he went on loan to Brentford last season and didn't really do much and was left on their bench. A pretty good example of a player seeing the bright lights of a big london club way too early.

The thing Hudders and Wednesday have done is sign a huge amount of new faces in a really short space of time, and as we all know - that can lead to it's own problems! We've pretty much kept everything the same with just 1 or 2 quality additions here and there - and seeing how well we gelled towards the end of last season it does give us the opportunity to start really well and force the others to play catchup.

Surprised by that if im honest...i didn't think Liverpool had the money to be throwing around on big 4 year deals (rumored to be on up to 90k p/w) Cracking signing for them though and not a bad trade off with Yossi going in the other direction a month or so ago. If they can keep hold of Masch, Gerrard and Torres adding Cole to the mix will make things interesting.

http://www.downatthemac.proboards.com/ you have to register to view though

It would make sense though, with the Wilkins connections and our need for a Papa/Antonio replacement. He's kind of similar but left footed i think.

bizarrely, an ITK huddersfield fan. The guy is usually pretty spot on with info though, as i've been having a look at their forums over the summer as i think they'll be quite close to us... '' Re: Future crop of English players (England u19's) « Result #3 Yesterday at 8:26pm » Worringly, Southampton are trying to get Kakuta on loan. The guy is class ''

Gaël Kakuta is apparently a target, we're trying to get him on loan from Chelski

If (god forbid) we did finish in the playoffs, then Pardew won't be here to take us into them. He'd have been long gone before that IMO. We've all seen what a short fuse Cortese has... That's why i agree with you on the 2nd' spot, anything less than that and we could be entering a very dodgy place.

Not at this stage John, the early pre-season games are just there for fitness games and it allows the players to get back up to speed of match sharpness/ball control etc. The first 2 results of any pre-season mean absolutely sod all in the grand scheme of things, a 12-0 win or a 2-0 defeat, it doesn't matter in the slightest. The pre-season game that should give a decent indication will be reading at home.

Yep, exactly and I'm really pleased to see that a real structure has been put in place this pre-season and there is a method behind everything we do, even the order on which we play teams. So many previous pre-seasons have been ''run, run, run'' play some games win 12-0 and it forces everyone into a false sense of security.....including the players. Pardew is spot on in his comments by saying that these 2 games will act as a wake up call, as well as being really big fitness tests.

is that seriously w******ds bell in the background?

now we know why Butterfield was rushed out there just for 2 days. Gutted for Richardson, he's struggled with injuries a bit during his career but seemed to settle down and get into some form at Charlton...then he got his big move and he gets this on his first/2nd day at the club.

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~2095082,00.html confirmed. what a **** bit of luck that is

yep, does look to be the case. He was featured in day 1 of the swiss diary, but since then...nothing....not even in any of the pics. Wonder if he's been flown back to get the proper treatment? must be a bad one of true.

Cracking signing at this level, interestingly he can play RM/CM as well - so he's the total replacement for James, but better and more experienced. ...and he's a free, surprised it's taken someone so long to take a punt on him you're guaranteed an honest player.

Anyone who seems to be ITK is captured by Cortese and then locked away in the St Mary's cells. Has anyone noticed that the potential ITK'ers post once to start a thread, then you never hear from then again??? Bit extreme from Cortese though imo.

i wouldn't say he's a great player, but he's talented and has good bursts of form - but the question is and will always be (even from his derby days) can he stay fit longer than 2 games?

If we fail to go up this season John, the team will be dismantled the manager and backroom staff will leave and we'll have to start all over again - Deeming the last 2 seasons on the playing side an utter waste of time, i don't think we can afford that.

I'm not saying it's ok we have no cover alps, just that it's not critical that we have it in this second - the loan window is opening up until nov. and as i said, i still expect us to make moves before the end of this window anyway.

Having holmes fit and confident would be like having a new signing, he's too good for this level as he showed with Wallsall when he had an injury-free run.

Christ sake. I'm not worried because i trust the people in charge know what they are doing, they've demonstrated that throughout last season. I'm confused by how many people that believe we need all these new players, why? We got rid of the dead wood over the summer, pard's did say the squad was too big - so we got the numbers down and we've so far added 2 quality additions to the full back slots. We will sign more cover over the next few weeks, i promise you that - but it doesn't really matter if that's before the start of the season or not, because our ''first team'' is competitive and complete.

Anyone remember Pardew's comments after the Ajax game last year? Something along the lines of ''playing teams like this isn't always the best preperation'' So is it beyond the realms of possibility that Pardew stopped us lining up a high profile team? And the club didn't see ''Reading'' as a fitting fixture to portray the Trophy, so they didn't do it this year? No - it must be down to Cortese and his masterplan to destroy the club.

Alot of the pompey fans think that this is very good news? as it will force a takeover through? are they for real? they just live in their fish tanks bobbing away...

That vid has wet my appetite for the new season even more. I cannot wait...

do be quiet, most of us aren't ****ting oursevles over non-rumours.