Badger

Found this on YouTube, presumably put on there by his son. A great watch. I was at many of the games. It features not only one of our greats but captures a different era - state of the pitches, police dogs barking at the home game with Chelsea (1975 or thereabouts). Also includes the WBA Cup replay goals which I thought had been lost ( I don’t recall seeing them anywhere else).

1970’s were interesting though England didn’t qualify. 1974 - Cruyff, Dutch ‘total football’. 1978 - ticker tape welcomes etc. Ardiles coming to England that summer. Our domestic game had changed forever. In 1974 we were all supporting Scotland. In 1978 after Ally McCleod’s bragging (“ Scotland will definitely come back with a medal ..”) it was different and many were amused by how bad they were.

1970. Nothing comes close to the sense of excitement and expectation that I had as a child for that. It wasn’t just a World Cup, it was our World Cup that was being played for. I was too young in 1966 so 1970 was the first I had an interest in. The weeks before pestering my Dad for the Esso coins of the squad. I always look back on it as a ‘pure’ World Cup when the team went there as OUR team,a team of heroes. I hadn’t developed club rivalries then. When we next got there 1982 there was an indifference to Utd, Liverpool, Spurs players. Seems an innocent bygone age. Close to tears when we lost to Brazil, and then West Germany. But I’d get it out of my system by kicking a ball around with a mate in the back garden after. Or if he wasn’t available, then a match v our dog. (Realised years later that if we’d had penalty shoot outs in those days, the dog would have won),

That became a bit of a trend for a while. We also resigned George Lawrence and Craig Maskell around that time. None of them really any better than when we sold them the first time.

Madness going to Spurs whilst Levy is in charge. But Poch will probably be available after the WC in 2026.

Am looking forward to seeing him play for us next season. Ideally alongside an older head and experienced CB.

Yes, glad he’s got a decent job back in Italy. No axe to grind about Juric, who was prepared to take the job on when no other bastard would. It didn’t work out well of course and some of the line ups were baffling but he was probably shocked by the shit show he inherited and what was available to him. Always felt a temporary appointment.

Interesting point, and whether the club would still be able to have any say in media appearances after they’ve been relieved of duties. Possible I suppose. Nathan Jones did the rounds a bit as a pundit after he left as well.

Guaranteed to improve… sell on … (And his team play in sky blue. And that’s the same as Man City..) Nailed on success. What could go wrong ?

Not difficult.... weren't most other GK's in the EFL last time we were there ?

Think his name cropped up last summer. The article mentions €20m. Can't see us spending that on a GK. Saw reference to Johannsen (Stoke) at likely figure of £5-7m (probably speculation). I know how I'd like us to go with that. (Why we weren't after him last summer when he left Rotherham for about £1m I don't know... even as a squad player he'd have been an upgrade).

Sad to read this, he certainly left a bit of a legacy with the players he was involved in at Saints and elsewhere. A reminder that no matter who is in the dugout and the hot seat, others can make an incredible contribution to the club. We've been fortunate over the years, with people like Jack Higson, Malcolm Elias, Georges Prost, was it Rob Ruddock in Bath ?, and before his fall from grace Bob Higgins, with some of the players they helped bring through.

Depending on who Ipswich go for.

Thought it was a bit of a weakness there for several years, Andy Gough, and Jim Leighton used to have a few howlers if i recall, certainly by reputation. (Leighton against us at Man Utd springs to mind from a Graham Baker lofted cross at Old Trafford once)

The explanation given out at the time was that it was a hockey injury from playing at his son's school the week before.

This is the only one I could find, possibly not the best angle

Followed by a separate thread: Did ye catch a glimpse o' the jugs on his burd? check oot the bangers on that lassie... (English to Glaswegian Google Translator)

Joking aside I'm not against the model, and don't think it's a bad concept, indeed it could be beneficial to all the clubs if worked properly. But still have concerns about the implementation of it and how it's managed. There seem to be two distinct threads running really, one is the multi-club modal, and the other closer to home is the management and decision making (solely) at Saints. Get the second part right and the other is less of a concern. But it remains the decision making here that needs to be spot on, and improved over what we've seen since 2022.

Probably better quality images out there

I’ll judge it when we know how we’ve helped Goztepe at the close of the window.

Agree, think they’ve tried to do it too quickly. Old adage don’t run before you can walk. I’m not convinced over spread of teams. Valenciennes is understandable given talented players coming out of France, and some to UK over the years. Goztepe seems somewhere to place aspiring work permit applicants. Very few Turkish players seem to have come here (perhaps we buck that trend if we find the right players). A Dutch club might have been a more useful addition to bring in players from Scandinavia where we’ve had success from in the past. Instead of which we were last linked with a Bulgarian club, and one in Dublin (the latter might not be a bad idea, almost an extension of having a satellite centre that we used to have).

I was encouraged by Sokak looking to taking a more hands on role, and moving out or aside Kraft and Ankersen from Saints. The appointment of Spors by reputation seems positive. The potential for improvement seems there. Happy to see how it goes as SR haven’t been shy to put money in, but how it’s spent has been the issue. But - very early days I know - St Ciervo makes a good point: Add this to the selection of a young, and in my view inexperienced manager, who hasn’t worked in the UK before, and has to be said jury is very much out.There are similarities to some of the earlier decision making so wonder how far we’ve moved away into more positive times. Yet to be convinced. All may be clearer Sept 1st or whenever the transfer window is done.