Saint 76er

Word from a Scunny fan on 606 is that NA brought in Donal McDermott on loan from Man City late last season and the guy was good, really fast with quick feet and lot's of trickery. Donal Jeremiah McDermott is (not surprisingly) Irish and an attacking mid or striker, aged almost 21 and listed as 5' 10". Sounds a decent prospect and not likely to figure too much at City. Maybe our new main man will revisit this option perhaps ...

Radio Humberside guy on Solent says NA can be a bit happy clappy but is a genuinely nice guy and revered in Scunny for what he has done. Two promotions to the CCC and a Wembley final in JPT were simply beyond their wildest expectations. The reporter said Scunny a smallish town and NA would know he couldn't keep pulling rabbits out of hats. Gates about 5000 and not really a fanatical football town, so it was only a matter of time before NA moved on to a club with greater potential (even if a league below). Reporter ended by saying "be nice to him, you've got a good one there". Certainly NA is intelligent and well qualified. He has a degree in Business and Finance for example, now that must surely have impressed NC (they could swop investment tips perhaps)! Also a qualified physio and has the requisite EUFA badges and attended some sort of football management school. All this is impressive, but his most telling qualification is a diploma in Sports Phsychology which indicates he will be able to handle the greater egos, not only of the players but critically perhaps of the boardroom as well. Simple fact is the good folk of Sc**thorpe think we're damn lucky to have him, and they should know...

Solent 9.00am news say breaking news... Scunny chairman says NA and his assistamt Malcolm Crosby have accepted offer from NC and will leave Scunny today. Compo still to be agreed.

A 10 minute meeting, three men gone and no succession plan in place does tend to suggest an executive reaction to some immediate problem of a serious nature. One thing that has concerned me is the amount of club funds effectively wasted on the payouts. However, should this matter involve conduct unbecoming then I wonder if paying out contracts would be legally necessary in those circumstances? Would probably save about a million or so if not. There has been no mention of 'mutual agreement' which is the norm for sackings based on lack of playing form and an outright dismissal for other reasons appears to be the inference here...

Ronald Koeman... Think he's at Alkmar but recently tossed his hat in the ring for Villa. If he doesn't get that he might like another challenge in English football. Hang on though, him and Cortese would probably kill each other (same with MON). So we might need a nice chap to get on with NC, with top of the range skills, experience at the highest level and preferably a foreigner wanting to return to England. In which case Cortese should ring up Gerard Houllier immediately. He'll probably misdial though and we'll end up with Sven. Zola seems the most obvious to keep NC happy and he must be odds on, however I think SOD would be brilliant, but he keeps pishing NC off over Stock! Locally Eddie Howe has a big future, but is now the time? My vote goes to GH (not Hoddle) who is great with kids and has been a mainstay of the French system for years. He is intelligent and an educator and has the continental cachet that I suspect Cortese will want. Will be hard to find anyone with superior coaching skills, he travels the world lecturing at coaching seminars and away from the blowtorch of Liverpool would probably be brilliant for us. One last suggestion while I think of it.. Paul Le Guen.

Could a few immigrants from foreign places, who happen to be very good at football, please move to the Southampton area and kindly ask to speak to a Mr Pardew. Thank you. That's all...

Here's two rumours from 606 & Echo, both involving highly promising youngsters on season long loans from Liverpool reserves, each with options to buy at 1 million... David Amoo aged 19 very fast right winger signed from Millwall in 2007. Michael Agoo aged 17 (18 in Oct) 6' 4" striker signed from Southend last September. Said to be down here talking to Pardew. I kid you not about the similar names. Make of this what you will...

Most likely this is just a sponsorship deal and also presumably applies to the side of the family (siblings of Markus) who run the Liebherr group of companies (cranes etc). They are not connected to Markus in the business sense and are not the side of the family that now owns Saints.

Assuming this is true, and with Italian press reports and alleged sightings at SMS it may well be, then I wonder what this might tell us about the current relationship between AP and NC? Pardew is widely believed not to welcome the input of others into his transfer dealings, but GDP has surely been sourced by Cortese, especially with the Fiorentina connection, and his transfer fee won't come cheap (1 mill euros?). Assuming this is the case, will AP be happy for such funds to be spent on a player perhaps not of his choice when he may prefer to spend funds elsewhere? A similar thing happened last year with Papa and despite his potential AP did seem reluctant to play him too much. Is it just coincidence that a similar situation may now be reoccurring, or could this be an indicator for the future... ?

Cotterill would need a bloody analyst all right, having been stupid enough to take that job. Things are really bad when even the shrink deserts the sinking ship...

Since NC maintained the status quo through summer, he probably needs to continue with AP at least until a pattern of losing starts to emerge. No point in wasting pre season and the best part of transfer window if NC has a mind to wield the axe after one or two matches. Don't know about the thinking at Sheff U though. However, in view of the tragic news this week I wonder if this will now change how Cortese will see things now that Markus is sadly no longer around? Did Markus perhaps act as a steadying influence and could NC possibly feel a little freer to act on his instincts now the landscape has regretfully changed? Just a point for discussion, of course...

Wasn't this the lady with riding type trousers that was spotted emerging from a Range Rover with Markus when he first inspected the club? Much was made of it at the time. In the above picture she rather appears to be wearing a Swiss horse riding outfit. The Liebherr family do seem to have a tradition of passing down their business interests to keep them as strictly family run enterprises. Hopefully this will continue with Saints and the club can continue for many years to be associated with the Liebherr family so that we can maintain an emotional link with Markus to remember all that he has done for us. He was a true Saint and will now be a club legend. Message to the team... WIFM

This says it for me too... You were 'one of us' Markus, RIP to a true Saint and a gentleman.

Firstly, having started the season with AP it would make no sense to sack him so early. The time to do that would have been May but, for whatever reason, NC stuck with him so he is pretty much committed to the present set up for now, you would think. AP, of course, deserves a fair crack at it for the work he has already put in. He has, in fact, rebuilt the football side of things almost single handedly from the train wreck he found when he arrived. Much of which would presumably be dismantled if he left, perhaps including the entire scouting network, and key players may want to leave as well. However, should results be sub par then at some stage NC will surely act (wield the axe), but what criteria would trigger such action and when remains an unknown. Meanwhile a simple statement of support from NC would take a lot of pressure off AP and the team for the time being. FWIW, if AP were to go at any stage I think SOD would be ideal for us, the guy is well qualified and really knows his stuff, just look at what he's done at Donny. NC may know nothing about him though, except that he keeps knocking him back for Stock! My best guess would be Zola who is Italian, plays good football and has charisma and much experience in England. He seems to tick all the right boxes for NC who would presumably be in his element chatting away in Italian to a manager he truly picked himself, rather than one suggested to him...

This is surely very unusual to lose a contractor so early in a project, especially with the fanfare (not to mention controversy) associated with it's launch. Also IIRC a big deal was made of having found the ideal contractor who shared the club's environmental vision and it even sounded a little like a green crusade. Now, eight months later nothing much seems to have happened and yet completion was promised by this July! Where is the transparency in this case as NC was quick to trumpet this project (admittedly the Echo were quicker), almost as a cornerstone of his administration but when it goes tits up we get no comment or official communication of any description and we are left to our own devices to speculate on media such as this board. Am also a bit surprised the Echo have not been following up on this, if only as a points scoring exercise...

Whoever said 'cheats never prosper', well next time keep yer big mouth shut. Guess it's all up to Gaydamak now then. Maybe he can accomplish what an insipid HMRC could not...

It sounds like HMRC are launching a tax evasion case, when this trial is supposed to be an appeal against AA awarding himself a CVA in incredibly dubious and dodgy circumstances. That being a case HMRC should be able to win easily using a calculator with fresh batteries to disprove all the rubbery figures and probably get AA booted out at the same time. His previous in such matters probably won't look good and no doubt the judge will be aware of it. However, HMRC appear to have eschewed this golden opportunity and gone off on a tangent pursuing some broader tax evasion scenario which is not the actual purpose of this particular trial. No wonder His Honour has become slightly confused with this approach (if only Rumpole were available)...

With the alleged add ons pushing it up to 250k + sell on clause, I think Brentford are very lucky with this deal. Another 1 or 2 years and it would be a straight Bosman free. However, this tribunal fee is meant to compensate the selling club for their time and expense in developing a young player through their ranks. All well and good except that AFAIK Brentford bought him as a ready made player from Plymouth, who were the club who actually developed him and presumably they have already been compensated when they sold him to Brentford. To my mind the Bees are getting a decent wedge for an out of contract player whose only development with them was to be plonked straight into their first team after somebody else had developed him...

Well, I heard Comical Andy on Solent yesterday in the lead up to the local matches. If he loses the appeal he said they would stay in administration and try and make it through the season, presumably hoping some funding or buyer would magically appear. If this is plan A don't know if he has a plan B because plan A is going to run out of money pdq and no one is going to take that mess on. Their entire future (or lack thereof) would probably depend on what action Chan the Man decides to then take, with liquidation seeming the most likely. Getting back to the Solent interview, it is seriously difficult to listen to AA and even more difficult to follow the thread of what he is saying. He constantly repeats himself twice over, sometimes three times and his words all merge together so he sounds a bit like the Swedish chef in the muppets (how appropriate). No surprise at all his counsel has sent him out of the country for the trial period, although His Honour may not exactly concur with this when he has questions to be answered...

Worry not all ye, Connolly has got 22 according to OS . AOC has indeed been short changed down to Alex Chamberlain in the list, so the girl who puts names on shirts has come off strike, and the rarely seen lesser spotted Gobern has indeed got a number, so is still with us then.

Worryingly, some of these sources are suggesting that Forest want Dan Harding as part of the NT deal, even suggesting we give them DH + 100k for Tyson. It appears they may have missed out on Nicky Shorey and want a LB. Hope this not true as would be crazy to do this deal and replace DH with Vignal.

But won't that ruin that comb-over thing he has and make it go all wonky on his head... ?

Simple, we give them Forecast and Pulis... seems only right and proper neighbourly thing to do in the circumstances.

The list of companies the new chap has been "strategic counsel" to is quite impressive and would seem to fit the profile of upmarket sponsorship partner that Cortese has indicated he is searching for. Part of the reason for our sponsorless season appears to be to realign the club (into the NPC) in order to attract the kind of sponsor Cortese thinks we are worthy of. He may just have found the conduit to lead him to them now...

Interesting rumour on 606 claiming info from a Palarse fan that Danny Butterfield is on a plane to Zurich to talk about a move. Butterfield is a RB aged about 30 and out of contract so presumably could sign on a free. Has been a good player and would be good competition at RB. However, if this is true (no idea) and he is being rushed to Switzerland then perhaps all is not well with Richardson (our only RB) as per rumours and a replacement is urgently needed...