Saint 76er

Let's hope all this rubbish never comes about (or govt legislates against it) as the difference in the American concept of sport and our own 'working man's game' is chalk and cheese. Just to expand on the American way, if it becomes a closed shop and wage cap is brought in then you have never ending disputes between players union and management. The NBA is currently closed down due to such a dispute and probably not back before Xmas, with the whole season in real jeopardy. The NFL only started up shortly before season opener after months of wrangling. The NHL did in fact lose an entire season in a previous dispute. Fans over there are appalled by all this as they see it as billionaire owners taking on millionaire players for the cream off the top of a multi billion dollar business and to hell with everyone else (fans). Where did sport go in all of this? Beware of salary caps US style, they are amorphous things. NBA is currently stuck on a 'hard cap' or 'soft cap' issue. Hard cap sets a figure and that's that. Soft cap sets a figure but you can go way over it no problem, except that you pay a 'luxury tax' on the over amount. If you can afford the tax you can gain a significant advantage over the have-nots of the league. Therefore Man U will always be top and Wigan always bottom of this immovable league ....

Word out of Glasgow when he signed was that Celtic wanted 2 mill which we wouldn't pay, hence the last minute loan. Therefore, he remains Celtic's player and up to them what they want to do. If his good form continues they may be unwilling to reduce the fee, or may want him back for their own use. Also Lennon may get chopped which might complicate things. Will be interesting to see how this plays out in January as Jos appears to be angling for a move to us but NC is bound to play hard ball on the fee (if we do pursue) and regrettably we no longer have Pulis to offer in part exchange. There is Puncheon though ....

Stop complaining Rickie, this new shirt's a perfect fit. Anyway, it'll ride up with wear ... (with apologies to Mr Humphries)

TBH I'm still wondering where the 44 million went. Certainly we never spent anything like that on incoming players but still managed to go bust. Sure there would have been operational costs, but gate, tv etc should have covered those. At the time I calculated around 50 million in transfer fees and do seem to recall the FL querying an alleged shortfall of 40 million, but not surprisingly they never followed up on that. I think most of our supporters were stunned how we suddenly went into admin out of the blue and all over a 4k cheque bouncing I think. Hell, why didn't Lowe just pay that out of his pocket (let alone out of the above quoted 44 mill) to save the apparent 1.5 mill in share value he walked away from? Very strange business that administration situation was and nearly cost us our club. We are so lucky to have escaped from that. Academy's great though ....

As he greeted his contact behind the groundsman's hut, Cotterill was heard to sing a few lines of his favourite song ... "brown paper packages tied up with string, these are a few of my favourite things"....

Cotterill was, once again, first in line for his wages...

Think this fits in with NC's long term vision for the club. Whilst a 50k stadium seems a tad fanciful right now, it may not do if (when) we are back in PL and competing towards the top end of the table. The potential is huge as it's not just about catchment area size but peoples preferred team to support. Saints have always been a popular club with people from outside the immediate area and often from much further away. When we were in PL I think if you drew a line from south of Birmingham to south of London we were the only PL club in almost half the country! That is the scope of support base we could potentially tap into, not just Hampshire and adjoining bits of other counties. Not everyone in that whole area will want to be a Saints supporter, but I suspect Cortese has visions of turning us into something like the ManU of the south. Point is we don't have too much competition in a large area to win hearts and minds of disaffected football fans fed up with the ManU/C or Chelseas of this world. People far and wide may like what they see happening at our club and be prepared to travel like MU fans do for home games. But to get to this stage you need to provide the right product and certainly we are heading that way on the pitch at the present time. Next is getting to PL and doing okay and then topping that off with the stadium upgrade. I suspect these are timelines from Cortese's diary as I think he is determined to take us beyond being just a local city club into a substantial regional force representing the whole southern area of the country as we wage battle against those nasty northerners. There is an opening for a club, if they can be successful, to garner support from outside the major metro areas (eg London) in the wider region as there is no real PL competition and we can become the top level team that people can associate with. Is a 50k stadium just a field of dreams then? Maybe, but you have to have vision and planning for the future. For so many years this club failed to realise it's full potential, hampered by a cramped Dell, but there may never be a better time than the next few years to unlock that potential and that means reaching out beyond the ancient city walls to a new and expanding fan base from beyond the Hampshire boundaries....

Indeed WC, this is a very Kafkaesque conundrum! Vick might well start next week as it is his non throwing hand. He is starting to complain bitterly about lack of protection from officials as he has a target on his back and is being blitzed to pieces, as teams perceive you stop Vick you win the game. A little help from his supposed protectors would help though. If Vick can't perform then stellar receivers like DJax, Maclin and Steve Smith also can't perform. Andy needs to sort this pronto. He keeps saying this is SB year and they have added some nice pieces, but left big gaps elsewhere like the secondary which is being manned by mostly rookies and sophomores. Consequently being killed there and playing wide 9 this year is leaving huge gaps for LBs to cover and it's not working out. Andy Reid joked that they left a gap so big even he could probably fit through it. Check out a picture of AR and you will see what he means! If MV can't start then expect to see Vince Young suit up, his hammy should be just about okay now. Young is a 6' 5" pro bowler and highly skilled but unpredictable. He had problems at the Titans and is being given a second chance at the Eagles, so it may be pay back time. Bizarrely, a Vince Young impersonator has been arrested (in NY I think) for passing dud cheques and other cons in Young's name!

Yeah, that's Howard Mudd he was a legend at the Colts but fell off his motor cycle once too often and gets around with a cane now. He retired in 2009 (he is late sixties) but Andy Reid persuaded him to come out of retirement as he needed a big name replacement for Juan Castillo who he promoted from O line coach to defensive coordinator. Juan is a great guy and meticulous coach but he hasn't coached defence since high school twenty years ago. This was a huge gamble and dominated the media in Philly for weeks when it happened. Took everyone by surprise as coaches don't normally change from O to D or vv. Furthermore as a coordinator Juan has to call the game day plays and he's an excitable Mexican and no one knows how he will handle head set duties. Funny story, in pre season camp Juan rushed onto the field to make his point face to face with one of his charges, as he is wont to do, and ended up headbutting the guy as he got carried away with the moment. Only trouble was the guy was wearing a helmet and Juan turned up at the next days presser with a nice gash on his forehead! So that's the story on Howard Mudd, and to think someone earlier on this thread said NFL was boring or something like that!

Well, yes they did MLG, overwhelmingly so on this board. In fact "underwhelmed" became the flavour of the month word in response to Nigel's appointment. All of which was started by the usual negative wums and trolls but, with their methods bringing surprising success for once, the vibe was picked up by an unsure fan base expecting a "big name" signing. Cortese had even indicated to the press for supporters to expect such. Given the subsequent arrival of, to many, an unknown name then it was all too easy for the negative ones to whip up a bit of hysteria. Of course, not you MLG, clearly you had studied the new man's CV and, like me, seen quite remarkable achievement from near impossible circumstances. Adkins was also the most highly qualified football manager I had ever heard of. The guy has degrees, on a range of subjects, coming out of his ears. Physiotherapy, finance and sports psychology being among them. What was not to like I thought? However, I do humbly admit that I had never heard of Andy Crosby ...

What for "White Christmas"? Oh, yes of course, Andy Crosby. Well he's the second bloke from Scunny you see ...

Yeah, Andy Reid thinks he's smarter than the rest of the league but he usually manages to stuff up the O line and the red zone is more like a disaster zone these days. But they have so many spectacular players elsewhere that they have accumulated to win a super bowl and their scoring potential keeps opponents under pressure despite the faults. Ultimately it rests with Vick, he is like no other QB and can pull astounding plays seemingly out of a hat. If MV7 stays upright long enough the city of Philadelphia will be a desolate place unless the parade down Broad Street goes ahead next February. Go Eagles!

Sorry, I know that in our rapturous state there are a lot of threads (so here's another) about NA and the stunning one touch play of our beloved team and the amazing training ground routines turning into goals, about genuine impact subs and about motivation taken to the next level. We truly are the Barcelona of the Championship and could not have done better if we had in fact signed their manager instead of NA. The stats since NA arrived are simply off the planet crazy good, almost like he's from some other dimension and he's chosen us as the lucky recipients of his friendly banter and football genius. Actually, the gobsmacking reality is that all of this has been achieved in one year by two blokes from Scunny (a place whose name can't even be spelled on this site) whom most people had never heard of previously and whom many believed would be hopelessly out of their depth ... that's all.

Hi Sammy .. Iggles lost a close one at Atlanta on sunday with a fumbled catch by Maclin basically the difference. Problem is Vick got concussed and subbed out in third quarter. Back up QB Vince Young is injured so Mike Kafka had to step in (and did well). Let's hope he keeps it going as he's probably starting next match now for MV. Andy Reid (aka the fat man) needs to sort out the O line before Vick gets killed. Guy's just got a 100 mill contract but they they can't defend him in the pocket. But it will all work out, too many good (some great) players on board not to make post season and if Vick stays healthy this team is heading for a Super Bowl. Would be smart to sort out DJax's contract pronto though.

But don't we have to play Portsmuff yet, twice in fact? Also, home wins sequence just keeps extending outwards. Now that record may never be beaten ...

Saw Bondy and his boys parading it around Perth after they won it off the NYYC back in '83. That was historic, first time those cheating Yanks had lost it since they grabbed it after first race round the IoW. After that breakthrough it can now be won by any old Billionaire ...

Further to the thread on Lee Barnard, does anyone have any info on the situation with Danny Butterfield? He was awol in our hour of right back need last saturday and I doubt if NA would have taken Jack Cork out of midfield unless he really had to. Sure DB could be injured, but nothing has been said, or he could be out of favour for some reason. This would be strange as he seemed a model pro last season and would have been the obvious replacement for FR. So ITK'ers, it's over to you ... PS Thread title has put me in Marvin Gaye mode. That's Gaye with an 'e' before any of you start!

Well we do, but it was our defending I was alluding to, not our attack. We may well score more goals than they do, as we did against Forest, but I don't think a tightening up of our flank defending would go astray against dangerous opponents. Let's make things a little easier on ourselves ...

I wonder if Eddie Mitchell has considered this, err, somewhat permanent solution to his own rather troubling problems down the coast? Viewing his own rather unique brand of gubernatorial skills on the weekend, I'm not sure we should entirely dismiss the idea ...

Brum have the one thing that may worry us at the present time ... two quick and skillful wingers in Burke and Beausejour. Sounds like they carved up Millwall last week and supplied crosses for Wood to nab a hat trick. We really need to tighten up at full back on both flanks and get those guys defending deep and close tracking their winger. The above pair could do some damage otherwise.

Is that the all time record now for straight home wins, 12 or 13? God bless you SRLSGM!!!

Perhaps Nigel's been busy behind the scenes and may have a loanee to introduce when he gets round to his interview?

Yes, and here's a picture of one of the skates more notable Arabian owners ... Probably quite a good likeness, but then how will we ever know? How on earth did storyteller get away with that one and manage to get his FAPPT approved as well??? In response, instead of smelling a rat, the FL apparently sent them one of their best men (not saying much) to carry on the dubious dealings as if nothing untoward had ever happened down there in the land that time forgot.

If we loan someone in from a PL club then he pretty much has to be a starter as no point in them loaning out to be a reserve. Would NA want to bring someone in on that basis, bearing in mind he has just signed JH to cover at the back and we therefore still have four C/backs even allowing for the unfortunate DS (good luck Danny). Also NA may go for a loan at some point with view to buy in January to tie up Fontaine if his injury comes good. Similarly our forwards are sorted really unless injuries strike. If someone comes in he has to sit on the bench or one of our current starters would have to. NA may prefer to wait until an actual need arises.

Clyne is very highly rated and several decent PL teams have been linked with him. However, a busted foot may mean he slips past them in this window. Would be something of a coup if we did sign him and a very welcome addition as many seem unconvinced by our current RB situation. Now, here's the good bit .. CP would be a perfect home for Punch in a p/exchange deal. Didn't he score a hat trick (for Millwall) against them last year, so they'll probably think he's good, and isn't he a native of that neck of the woods as well? Perfect move for everybody ...