Lord Duckhunter

**** me, you lot are a forgiving bunch. Bloke doesn't want to play for the club I love despite signing a good contract last year. So what if his mates have left, didums. He hasn't prepared for the season properly and therefore has put pressure on the new manager when he's facing a difficult start to his saints career. There are ways of behaving and professional standards and behaving like he has is disgraceful . There are players up and down the country subject to speculation and longing for moves to bigger clubs, but they are getting on with their jobs and putting a shift in for their present employers and supporters. The bloke should have played a part sat as it was the last game before an important season starts. He needs to get on with what he's paid to do and be professional for a few weeks before I'll "forgive" him.

If RK wants him to stay then I'm sure he'll be offered a new contract. He's obviously decided that Jose is in his plans , perhaps he hasn't made his mind up about cork yet. Maybe he feels that he'll do for one year and then move him on , maybe he wants longer to judge him.

If we start holding our youngsters to their contracts and denying them moves to big clubs, the next batch are going to be more reluctant to sign pro contracts with us. If we start losing our youngsters to big clubs with the fee being decided by tribunals, we'll lose a hell of a lot of money. There may not be official release clauses, but I'm damn sure there's an " understanding"even if there isn't anything official.

This is one of the reasons players behave like they do. Team mates, supporters, media, agents and buying clubs all make excuses for them. There is only one person in the wrong here and its MS. Yet people still make excuses and blame others. We boo ex skates who have nothing against our club , we give players doing their best like Fox and Guly clog. Yet a bloke who doesn't want to be here, will get cheered if he decides to honour us with his presence again. He's sticking 2 fingers up to us, yet its somebody else's fault?

Johnny cash at the Albert hall about '94. Legend Paul McCartney at Southampton gaumont about '79 then again at jrs stadium Miami in '90. Seriously good live act in those days. Paul Simon BIC , great musicians with him, great show nearly 3 hours long. Ringo Starr and his all star band BIC. Great night out. Special mentions to chuck berry, Paul Weller and Wilko Johnson as well.

Its like us signing Sam vokes and he misses a peno and a couple of sitters in pure season. What would the reaction be on here?

It is just not true that the club have the upper hand when players like Shaw and chambers are offered their first pro contract. The scouting at the big clubs is so good nowadays that these players don't just appear from nowhere, clubs were all aware of how good Shaw, chambers ect are and will have loved to have pinched them before they signed pro contracts as they would have saved a bundle. I don't know if there was official release clauses or not, but how are you going to convince the next Luke Shaw to sign a 5 year deal at 18 ( and protect our investment) if you start denying them " dream " moves to the biggest clubs later on?

Where as our supporters get behind all the players 100% of the time.

In the Algarve at the moment. Hundreds of mackems everywhere as they're playing here. Met a fella in alehouse whose nipper played Tuesday for the first team but not last night. He reckons Wickham is a no go to us and will sign a new contract. Seemed itk, mind you the blokes he was with had a 5ft inflatable penis with them, so im not quite sure they were the full ticket

On hols in Portugal, checking in with saints web to see latestsales or buys. Meet a Dutch guy in bar tonight, talking about RK. Bloke is a big football fan. Reckons RK's brother is well under rated, said he's better than being a number 2. Had doubts about RK , great player but so so manager, good with nippers though. Said Pelle is class, will score loads of goals.

Watching it in a bar in Portugal with some plastic cockney scousers , loved it lol

If they did what you suggest, you would create a first team with 6 unhappy bunnies. Well done Richmond , great harmony.

I believe Guan works at the club. Obviously don't know in what capacity, but after his last post I'd hazard a guess it may involve hospitality .

Take off your red and white glasses. He's a good player, but he wouldn't get in the Barca or Madrid sides, he cant get in the French side . I doubt very much whether anyone would pay £25 mil for him, which they would do if he was a CM who could play for any team in the world.

Seconded . Nice summers evening sat down the quay, can't beat it. Plenty of restaurants and pubs, quite a lot of live music , not too busy (all the numpties hit Bournemouth) but lively enough. Nice walk along the sea from lilliput to the quay , or even Hamworthy side round holes bay via Upton country park. For anyone with nippers Hamworthy park is a hidden gem.

I thought that the idea was for the club to be self sufficient.Wasn't that in Marcus' original plan? I also thought that Nicola had rich investors lined up if Kat pulled the plug. So I have 2 questions for the nicolittes out there . One , how stupid do you have to be to really believe a club our size could play in the cl without a billionaire chucking millions away , year in year out and 2, where the **** are the investors?

Did any WBA players tell the press that their head was elsewhere, did any of them threaten to go on strike, did any of them explain via the press that "the board know my intentions".

What's embarrassing is some of the posts on this forum. When are people going to wake up and smell the coffee. The players want to leave because they can earn much much more money and play at a higher level and at bigger clubs. They will do anything to get away , because it suits them and their careers. it is nothing to do with lack of ambition or other such pony, they dont give a shiny shiete about SFC , the board or the supporters. The board had two options, hold them to their contracts and have disruption , negative headlines and a new manager trying to manage blokes who dont want to be here. Or, sell them for too dollar and let the new guy build a team of players that want to play for him. Every single time we unearth a gem, they will be poached away by a bigger club. Its just an exceptional set of circumstances that we had 5-6 in one go. Make no mistake if victor, Chambers or any if the others have a great season, they'll be offski next summer. Just as if we want 3 Boscombe players, we'll end up getting them.

Our Grammar schools in Poole take all kids in care that pass the exam regardless of where they live, followed by all kids who pass and live in the catchment area. If there are any spaces left they go to kids from outside catchment in order of results. So if you live in the catchment and pass, you go to the school. Don't know how they do this, they must set the pass mark at a level to do this. I haven't heard any case of somebody passing exam and not getting a place, in fact at the open day prior to the exam the head master was very clear. It is a school for brightest Poole children and if you pass the exam and live in Poole, you will get a place. It is an academy as well. My basic point is that once you allow " choice" it seems really strange that you deny vast areas of the country a grammar school as part of that choice. You can choose a faith school, set up a free school, send your child past 2 local schools to take somebody elses place at their local school, yet can't go to a Grammar school. Surely there's something wrong with a system that allows entrance based on religious grounds but not on academic grounds, where any tom **** or harry can set up a school as long as its not a grammar school. Once you have choice the comprehensive system as it was intended is no more.

I'm not saying there aren't flaws in the grammar system, just that it should be an option. I live in an area that is extremely mixed social class wise. The catchment for our local school ranges from one of the roughest council estates in Dorset ( although a lot better than it was) to millionaire property. The comprehensive system was meant to mean everybody went to their local school, but because of " choice" this doesn't happen. The richest pay to go private, the middle class pay for tuition or are able to work the system and pay the transport costs which means their kids go out of the catchment, or if the worst comes to the worst , they could set up a free school. The local comp ends up with the rest and because of this it sinks into the bottom 10% of schools. This then becomes a cycle and the school gets worse ( because only the poorest use it) , which means more middle class flight from it. The Grammar school has such a good reputation that rich parents send their kids private and then send them there, depriving poorer people a place. At the selection tests it was full of working class kids tasking the tests ( my kids went to middle school with them), so the poorest do want this opportunity for their offspring, its just that they're up against people sophisticated in maximising their kids chances. Surely it is not beyond the wit and wisdom of people nowadays to devise an entrance test weighted towards social groups ( they do it for kids born later in the school year) which also takes in assessment of previous sats,as well as a pure exam. They have non verbal reasoning, which it is claimed can not be taught. There are no easy answers, but my 2 that went to Grammar ( both untutored, BTW) got such a superior education than the 2 that didn't . I feel that this opportunity should form part of an education system. For the people like Crossman who wanted all Grammar Schools abolished , the way to do it was not by legislation, but by making the comprehensive schools as good. I would much rather my children mixed with the other sex and went to school with pupils from all backgrounds, but the difference in schools is too marked, I felt the educational benefits outweighed the social ones.

Johnson did say that not " taking head teachers with him" was a mistake. But tellingly , he did not say that the reforms were a mistake. My personal opinion as a parent of 4 is that all parties, together with " the blob" have got us in a mess. There is no doubt that Blair's and now Goves reforms have made some progress , but it is still bright pupils from poor backgrounds that are suffering. I just fail to see why Grammar schools can not be part of the " choice" that parents have now. Once you allow " choice" you are effectively admitting the failure of the comprehensive system. We are luckly enough to have grammar schools here in Poole and 2 of mine went and 2 didn't. It was part of our choice as to whether they took the entrance exam. My sisters kid is extremely bright , but my sister is passionately against the principle of selective education, so therefore her choice was her local comprehensive. Why on earth parents in other areas are denied that choice is beyond me. It is to their shame that gove and the Tories will allow free schools to be part of any choice, but not new grammar schools.

Players out of contract are still registered to their " old" club until 1st July, when their contract runs out and they become a free agent.Therefore, as RL's contract with us was running into next season, he became a Liverpool player and Liverpool paid his wages from the day he signed. He was not a free agent.Had Guly agreed to go to Liverpool with him, he'd have become a Liverpool player on the 1st July even if he'd signed on the same day.

Don't you think man utd, Everton and spurs are going to " push on" as well. Not to mention the top 4 getting even better. Everton and spurs have been top 6/7 for years and man utd are a top 4 team. Where on earth were we going to " push on " to?

Alan Johnson , portillio and some funny looking lib/dem bird on " this week" last night. The main thrust of the conversation was that Gove was just carrying on labour's reforms and that there's not a great deal of difference between the parties. One thing perfectly clear is that every party accepts educational standards are not what they should be, but trying to get reform past the education establishment ( their words not mine) is pretty much impossible.