Badger

Yes 1974 was also special, the Dutch side were great to watch with their Total Football. The two other things from that WC I remember were the fantastic stadium at Dortmund, and an incident when Brazil played Zaire. Brazil free kick outside the penalty area and Zaire lining up their wall, ref blows his whistle for the kick to be taken and a Zaire player just sprints out and boots the ball upfield. 1978 - had lost its sparkle for me, although the ticker tape welcome onto the pitch was something new, and I remember watching Argentina with Kempes and a bloke Leopoldo Luque ripping a defence apart, they looked and played like FRank Worthington on steroids. Strange though that in 1974 most people wanted Scotland to do well, but that had gone in 1978 largely due to Ally McLeod's bragging about 'Scotland would definitely get a medal' , and at Hampden Park in the Home Internationals where the jocks kept up a song of 'they did' nae qualify ...' . After that we watched on happily as they crumbled.

Okay it's all a matter of opinion, and you can't argue with the fact you've given on the promotion and reaching European qualification. But skim beneath the surface and I'm not sure of either. Nuno, as I said earlier was bankrolled by Fosun with direct contact to a particular agent, which he probably won't get here. I don't recall Wolves bringing many younger players through, unless of course you regard the country of Portugal as their academy. Dyche, not sure he is regarded as a 'good character'., just a moaning gravel voiced tosser. Was it Dyche who Burnley's own fans called 'Ginger Mourinho' ? Always struck me ass more of a 'Ginger Branfoot' with his style of play. In fairness , yes did well with limited resources and bringing players through - from signings rather than academy (exception McNeil) I think - but isn't that a reflection of their scouting rather than him ? Many people were wary when Rupert appointed a recently relegated and sacked WGS.though and that turned out okay for a while.

BBC or ITV theme sorted: Casper is back, Casper is back, hello…

Think one of Ralph’s qualities is a refreshing honesty from time to time. Not sure I would want him doing a Cortese with a we’re coming for the Champions League every season. Yes, I’d like a bit of ambition but that should come from the top and filter through the club. No point a manager giving endless bullshit just for the fans ears. Ralph’s comments are a bit different to those from Semmens. We could lose 10-15 and still have a decent finish. The board’s view of just being thankful for being in the division is just an insult to the supporters. Lose 10-15 so be it. It’s the other 28-23 games that concern me, we shouldn’t be flying white flags in those.

The two most recent names on here in last few days have been Dyche and Nuno. If these are the candidates we’re looking at then got to question the football decision making at the club. The pitchforks are likely to be out again in 12 months for either if appointed with the type of football they have served up at their last club(s).

If Nuno is the only name they’ve got I’m hoping they’re barking up the wrong tree

Interesting point. Mexico 1970 for me. There was something monumental about it which left us in awe. But things were obviously different , black and white tv (fairly grainy pictures at time as I recall), and part of the fascination was that it was being shown live from across the world. Now taken for granted. Perhaps one of the big differences was that we held up the national team and manager as heroes, and we didn’t let the inter-club rivalry get in the way of it (or maybe I was too young to do so).

Are these dogs reliable, with decent sources and a track record of inside knowledge ? Not sure how I feel about Nuno. Always thought his success at Wolves was built on a relationship with a single agent (and Fosun’s willingness to spend). From what a Wolves fan said to me about the end of his time there he sounded like a Portuguese Dyche.

Goztpe it is then.

Read the article though and it rules us out saying not expected to go back for him in January

At least one red card for us then, penalty against , possibly both.

Hadn’t escaped me.

Wonder if he’s been listening to Semmens, or if Semmens has been listening to him. Either way, their bloke ought to put any imaginary inter-group rivalry aside, seems pretty poor to me. Doubt Red Bull have to contend with this. Fact is we are playing in a far higher standard of league and it seems they are looking to ride ‘piggy back’ on that to aid their scouting.

I remember this featured on 'They Think It's All Over' years ago. Nick Hancock saying that 'John Toshak means bollocks in Turkish. Whereas Graeme Souness means shit manager in any language'.

I also suspect this is bollocks. Anyone else heard a rumour ? or possibly it’s one only heard in Saints Mike’s head. If true at all, I hope “identified” means someone we’ve spoken to and will come. Not just someone we’d like to have. Fear is we’ll have ‘identified’ Frank/Poch/Tuchel and be like a kid in a sweet shop pointing at the expensive items but in truth can only afford a Milky Bar.

Agree with this. Unfortunately that seems the working of many clubs now. Frank gets the praise at Brentford, but their recruitment works well. Cooper has probably been dealt a poor hand by Forest’s scattergun approach. Unless there is a change of emphasis from above, and a willingness to buy players outside the 18-22 range, to improve the team immediately, any future manager will have the same problem.

I’ve had a similar fleeting thought this week, then took stock of the situation again. I think there is something lodged deep in the psyche of Saints fans of a certain age. It goes back to Newcastle coming to our place with a reputation for scoring freely and playing swashbuckling football, only to be knocked back down to earth by Saints. Trouble is this dim and distant recollection going back to the 90’s in the days of Keegan at The Dell is largely down to MLT, and another due to Watson et al. Perhaps JWP will be the talisman on Sunday, or someone else steps up. Realistically, not expecting it though.

As it worked so well with Gray and Wigley.

Await the Mighty Semmens to announce "we can't compete with Forest Green, don't know why fans are so arrogant to think we can..."

Just found this, hairline,whats's visible and sideburns aren't the same but no mistaking him otherwise:

I saw Mainz conceded 6 at Bayern Munich at the weekend. No surprise their manager's name has been mentioned on here before, he's clearly on his way to meeting the 'coping with a tonking' criteria that will be a pre-requisite for the Saints job.

Off on tangent, sorry, but that site lead me to this on an ad for the Academy kit man job at Wolves: Who writes this utter drivel expecting anyone to take it seriously.

I think Semmens has had a bit of a “pass” as far as Saints supporters have been concerned up till now, as with Gao we had an absent owner not investing in the club. Gao was seen as the problem but with a change of owner there isn’t the same hiding place. SR have shown a mixed bag so far. Credit to them for their investment in the squad, and that shows ambition. Apart from that ( which is a bit of a what have the Romans done for us question after the summer), I think their reputation and the hope that goes with it is based on Rasmus success at Brentford. On the face of it, RA, appears an effective operator but it’s impossible to know how much of Brentford is down to his input as opposed to their other off the field management (DoF, recruitment, and ambitious owner). If and how they deal with the management at the club over the next few months will be critical.Time will tell.

Delighted as many may be that Rishi is a Saints fan, he won’t be replacing Lucy Pinder in many Saints fans magazine collection.

Interesting read,but one question is that you say Heath was a genuine football fan.Was he ? I thought his only interests were sailing, classical music and.. let’s leave it there.