Saint 76er

IIRC Cortese met some time ago at SMS with Mawhinney who is apparently connected with the World Cup bid and Mawhinney was quoted as saying it was the only time he had visited a club to speak to a chairman. Logic suggests NC made a play for a berth if the WC was secured. Previous to this some ITK on here had claimed knowledge that several redevelopment options were being considered including a fully roofed stadium at the top end of things. Seems like Cortese does like to think big and this may be his plan if we are endorsed as a WC venue. If the bid is won next December it would not surprise if an announcement from NC were to follow. Also another ITK recently claimed that ML was in the process of purchasing (or attempting to purchase) the industrial land between SMS and the river and it was also mentioned a while back that ML was looking for further investment opportunities in Southampton. He really seems to like the place and seems like he wants to put his stamp on the local area! Now if all of this is true (perhaps a big if) then a big, new, state of the art WC stadium would put ML's Football club into the world spotlight and no doubt increase it's value accordingly and think of the players Saints might attract to play in it! In which case does a redeveloped SMS tie in with a new waterfront project, or does the SMS land become required for the new project (hotel/casino maybe) and a new super stadium is then built elsewhere? Pie in the sky perhaps, but ML does have the money to make it happen if he wishes and projects of this scale could earn a fortune for anyone with enough liquidity and foresight to see it through, and yes they would need to start planning now for completion before World Cup time...

If we really want to p1ss off Poopey and adopt a charity as well, how about that anti landmine charity on our shirts and let the world see how their cup was funded. Of course, and assuming they still have a club (which they shouldn't) next season, it would be only right and proper for the phew to give over their shirt sponsorship to the landmine charity as a cathartic act of mea culpa. They won't of course... but then do they have shirt sponsorships in the Wessex League?

Shouldn't this chump be supporting Millwall... ?

Well it does exist.. chuck a leftie at Bradford or something and there you are. Of bigger interest may be the situation with Pardew should an unthinkable defeat occur (but it won't, of course). On flimsy evidence this board has gone into meltdown about his status, and that after a 5-1 win! Lose this vital 6 pointer and Granty will need an urgent upgrade to his server...

Even if they do get themselves into Admin, is it kosher (for the benefit of the many Israeli's who must by now be reading this thread ) for Chanrai to personally pay the administrator, as he is claiming he will do? Surely that is a conflict of interest, as an administrator would normally pay himself from funds he has generated through the business. Having his paymaster as one of the principle creditors trying to get as much dosh as he can out of the business seems to be, well, not quite kosher...

AA has been talked up as a future star all season and several clubs appear to have been tracking him. Apparently he is very, very quick and skillful, but untried above L2. Appears to be a similar player to Puncheon, who also came from Barnet. Bottom line, though, is that on a free at seasons end this would be good business at little risk (may be compensation though depending on age). Although we have wingers at present, expect some to leave in, probably, a large squad turnover in the summer and also expect to see Pards sniffing out potential bargains amongst out of contract players as he continues to build the squad he actually wants to have here...

Anyone know the Swahili word for mirage... ?

Also, possibly the only club to have played finals (1900/1902) at the old Crystal Palace ground as well as the above three! If so, it will remain a unique record as Cardiff and CP now out of the equation. Back to the current day, I assume still no extra time and straight to pens if necessary? (not that we would need pens ) TV schedule seems to indicate so and no mention on FL website of any change for the final. This is important, you understand, as it affects after match drinking time...

Interestingly, if Pards thinks we can do a Leeds next season then he must privately think we have no chance of promotion this season (and he's probably right!). AP deserves a lot of credit for the calm and skillful way he dealt with all the problems (lot's) that he found when he came here. I'm sure he never expected to have to rebuild a club from the ground up but he threw himself into that task and never shirked an issue and, quite frankly, we were lucky to have sometime of his experience to drag us out of a deep hole in such a short time. Cortese certainly was as he would have been lost without someone of that ability on board in the early days. By any standards we have had an exciting season so far and for that Pardew must take credit. Now he deserves a full pre season to set things up, but is then on his own. There are a lot of valid excuses for not promoting this season, but none of these will apply next time, so yes we need to be in a powerful position by Xmas, or AP may find himself invited to Cortese's office for a meaningful chat... Only other scenario may be if NC thinks he can bring in a marquee manager that will give greater brand recognition, especially overseas, and in which case he may be sorely tempted. Jose Mourinho would do the trick, but that won't happen. However, that does bring us back to Sven and maybe Cortese might be tempted and possibly they may have mutual contacts in Italian football? Still think NC will stick with Pards until at least Xmas, before reviewing though!

This is exactly what the registrar appeared to be saying. She stated that IHO the company was trading insolvent and that is usually the end of the line as she has a responsibility to prevent further losses to innocent third parties. However, some late witness submission appears to have bought the skates a week's grace, but unless they can prove to the court that in one week they have become totally solvent for now and the future... then a winding up order appears little more than a formality. The lady registrar seemed to have had enough of the skates often laughable (read wasting the court's time) delaying tactics and I really do think the game's up next week unless big money unexpectedly arrives and they can find a club bank account still open to put it in!

After all their bleating about give us a bit more time and we'll pay everything, honest, this now looks like the court giving them enough rope to hang themselves. IIRC the revenue debt was always said to be 11.5m, of which 7.5m was vat, which the skates chose to dispute for some bizarre reason, and the balance paye. The skates then kept perpetuating the myth that they owed a disputed 7.5m, whereas it has always been 11.5m according to HMRC. Presumably this short term adjournment is a put up or shut up situation and therefore can we assume if they don't turn up with cash in hand then the court will issue a wind up order almost as a matter of course? (and that's not a wind up!). None of us expect them to come up with the dosh, so will they do the smart(ish) thing and go into admin before the due date, or are they too worried about the implications of an administrator going through their books (assuming anyone can find them) with a fine tooth comb? Oh, and don't bother checking their annual accounts returns at companies house as they don't seem to bother filing these either. They need a saviour, but where is LLSkate when you need him? Still, what would HMRC do with a monkey chicken petting zoo anyway...?

TBH, since we were founded in 1885 (see how good I am at history!) I'm kinda thinking that Peru is actually just a cheap version of us. River Plate too for that matter... HTH

This would seem likely as it has to be an umbro kit! Unfortunately all those nice kits like KK, 1976 etc will be copyrighted to other manufacturers so they, presumably, simply will not be happening. The first umbro kit was from 1974 and was a reasonably modern version of classic red and white stripes, with a red collar. This would probably receive widespread approval and must start out as favourite I would think. Against this is the theory that the kit should be as per 1885 regardless and I do quite like the red sash (we could just about borrow Man C away shirt). However, the new England shirt style with a sash must be in the frame if it is to be this one. Nonetheless, logic points to the 1974-76 umbro kit which is a true representation of the red and white stripes which were the first kit worn under the name Southampton and have been worn in the majority of years since and which are universally recognised as the club's uniform.

Surely the time has come to unveil... Ben Thatcher !!! HCDAJFU against Poopey.. hehehe

Point for discussion... Would this be a good time to sign Ben Thatcher !!!

Could an Admin please change the title of this thread to "The Last Days of Pompeii"... surely the time has now arrived for this subtle change! Alternatively, "Up Pompeii" might be more appropriate, after all we only need Frankie Howard to now make this farce complete!! PS Good luck to the nice lads from HMRC for the 10th, and to triple agent Redknapp congratulations on a job well done, you deserve a nice break after such sterling service... shall we say 5 to 10 maybe? :D

Latest ITK rumour, courtesy of a Brighton based Saints fan on the Echo forum, is Glenn Murray for 400k. He certainly carved us up at SMS but don't know if he is always that good. Dean Wilkins probably has the inside running on him though...

Original rumour was Saga to Ipswich with Balkestein coming to us, but that seems unlikely now we have (probably) signed a full compliment of defenders. Delfaunseo on loan from Villa has been a recurring rumour for a while, but suspect that one is just pie in the sky. Rumour on 606 today suggests Jason Scotland from Wigan on loan. Very good call if it were to happen as Scotland not quite cut it in the Prem but would score shed loads in League 1.

TBH it's not how much any individual manager was paid as such, it's more about the seemingly endless payouts to failed managers that we had to endure... :mad:

Good call.. offer Charlton a million for both and test their resolve, especially if we are having trouble with Donny over Stock. We could offer more and still be under Stock's price and we also have plenty of players to include as part exchange if necessary. Racon and Bailey would sort our midfield overnight, but decimate Charlton though. Still they do need the money...

If we do sign Jackson, just be aware that he plays for Canada in CONCACAF and they play a lot of various qualifying matches, plus the usual friendlies, and most of these matches are in the Americas. Since he was recently named Canada's player of the year, they are not likely to leave him out of many (or any) of these matches...

So loan Lancashire to Exeter then, since they need a new CB, thus everyone at the extremities of the Flybe empire is happy.

Wasn't all the donated money directed straight to the financial black hole that Fry was wrestling with to try and keep the club afloat, in difficult circumstances? At the time Fry was scrabbling to pay the wages to keep the whole thing together so that (he thought) Pinnacle could ride to the rescue. Eventually he realised why they kept putting him off (no funds or prospect thereof) and finally got round to flogging the whole shabang to Markus. By that time I assume Fry had absorbed all donated monies into the aforementioned extraterrestrial object. That whole process was prior to ML + NC and not for them to comment as surely they saw none of the money and not involved in it's collection. Fry was running the show at that time, but did any of you expect any communication from him once the money was handed over and new owners sorted? Still he did win an award for his expert handling of our case now didn't he....

Brilliant... !!! All they've got to do is pay off all their debts with a credit card, then when that bill comes in pay it off with another card. Hang on though..... perhaps that's what they've been doing all along.

According to 606 resident ITK'er who claims media contacts, Roy Keane is, well, keen on Saga. That doesn't sound like a match made in heaven to me but could be good for us. Allegedly we are interested in Pim Balkestein in return. I believe he is a CD with a decent reputation and was on loan at Brentford and had his loan renewed about a week ago but Keane has suddenly recalled him to Ipswich... hmm! It may be seen as poetic justice but rumours seem to be coming out of Colchester linking us with Wordsworth and also Maybury. Wordsworth certainly wandered lonely through our defence and also scored a cracker the game before at Sarfend, so who knows... ?