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The same thing crossed my mind as soon as I read about Lambert walking out on Norwich. Till tonight I had considered Lambert one of better principled managers in football.

Reading about Lambert walking out on Norwich really disgusts me. Yet, the way clubs treat managers only leads to this type of thing happening. Bringing back bad memories of Hoddle walking out on Saints to return to his spiritual home. Our returning to the Premiership has unleashed a return to such scenarios and calling into the total lack of loyalty of managers and players. How I have enjoyed the past couple of seasons in the Championship and League One.

Here we have an article in today's Guardian giving full information about the pay cuts of top managers Hollande to clamp down on fat cat pay France's president has vowed that the highest state salary must not be 20 times more than the pay of the lowliest worker Angelique Chrisafis in Paris guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 30 May 2012 19.05 BST Comments (50) French President Francois Hollande television interview, Paris, France - 29 May 2012 French president François Hollande has announced an immediate clampdown of executive pay at state-owned companies. Photograph: Rex Features France's new socialist government has announced an immediate, dramatic clampdown on fat-cat pay, promising to cap the salaries of chief executives at state-owned companies which could see top pay-packages slashed or halved. The president François Hollande vowed during the election campaign that in majority state-owned companies, the highest salary must not be 20 times more than the pay of the lowliest worker. The squeeze on state fat cats, expected to be enacted by decree next month, is part of the new government's quest for France to set a moral example in a crisis-hit Europe where top earners' stratospheric pay packages and benefits has exasperated workers and voters. The measure will sit alongside Hollande's promised new top tax rate of 75% on income over 1 million euros, which is extremely popular among the French public, and which he has described as an act of "patriotism" and "morality". Socialists brushed aside criticisms from the right that state pay-caps could make it difficult to recruit from private sector. The prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, aware of the unease at fat-cat excesses weeks before the parliament elections, took a hard line, announcing in an interview with the weekly L'Express that the executive pay-cuts would apply to those already in their posts rather than only new contracts. "I believe in the patriotism of company leaders. They can understand the crisis requires the political and financial elite to set an example". The president and cabinet have cut their own pay by 30%. The French state owns stakes in 52 companies, although only 23 are 100% state-owned, including the railway SNCF, the post office La Poste and various ports and airports. Companies where the state is a majority stake-holder, and which will be affected, include the energy giant EDF and nuclear power plant builder Areva, both currently expanding internationally including in Britain. Only companies controlled at more than 50% by the state will have to abide by pay changes. The state could also seek to pressure those where it has a minority stake, such as France Telecom, Air France and Renault, although there is no guarantee they must abide by government demands. One of the biggest hits could be taken by Henri Proglio, the chief executive of EDF, who currently earns around 1.55m euros, 64 times the lowest paid electrician. Proglio might have to take a 68% pay cut and see his package dip below 500,000 euros. According to the daily Liberation, the chief executive of the French post office could also lose 41% of his package. On over 600,000 euros, he currently earns 34 times the wage of the lowliest postal worker. Guillaume Pepy, head of the railways, SNCF, earns an estimated 250,000, around 15 times the lowest-paid rail workers, so would not face a cut. The finance minister Pierre Moscovici said a decree would be issued by cabinet within two weeks over the pay caps. But the state sought to send a clear message by announcing it would oppose a 400,000 euro indemnity payout to the former chief executive of the loss-making Air France, in which the state holds a 15.9% stake. "It's called decency in pay," said Arnaud Montebourg, the minister for Industrial Recovery. Louis Gallois, outgoing chief executive of the European defence group EADS, in which the French government has a minority stake, said there shouldn't be "tears" on the part of executives, but told Europe 1 radio, "I do recognise it's steep for some." He added: "For me, it's a crisis measure, like the 75% tax on remuneration over one million euros … These are measures that should be provisional, an expression of a crisis situation and necessarily solidarity." He said in general, companies should be given more flexibility on setting pay. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/30/hollande-france-clamp-down-fat-cat-pay?newsfeed=true

Since the weekend 12 people have committed suicide on the rail tracks in France. All are unrelated but have resulted in total chaos on the SNCF. The chaos is expected to continue well into next week, even without further suicides as they tempt to put into place action to avoid repeats . A really strange event which has appeared out of nowhere. http://www.france24.com/en/20120529-unprecedented-wave-railway-suicides-france-trains-sncf-copycat-police

Doing okay despite being in the thick of my late May allergy season. How's about yourself? If you google the Air France's Pierre-Henri Gourgeon in English you'll get articles. A lot of what I'm posting is being taken from statements issued from the French PM's discussions with the Syndicats and Medef (Reps of Management) which will be applied immediately together with Hollande's appearance last night on the main news of France 2 TV. http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/05/29/uk-airfrance-ceo-idUKBRE84S1F720120529 Latest actions reveal that Hollande will remove all old cronies of Sarkozy, such as Police chiefs, judges, TV bosses right away. I believe it's not going to be long before we see Sarkozy arrested and up in court for a whole list of affairs. I'm astonished how fast Hollande is acting based on the state of affairs in France and Europe.

Every year here in France, parents receive a Return to class Benefit in September. The government has just announced a 25% increase. Where are they going to find the funds for all this. Who's next for them to rob to fund such an increase. Can foresee an almighty financial crisis on the immediate horizon.

Just read that managers who refuse to accept the cut in salary are entitled to a redundancy package, which in turn could be quite high. Yet the government have just refused tonight a 400,000 euros package due to the ex President of Air France.

Panorama did a great job last week exposing the Azerbaijan regime, and made sure Engelbert did so well in Eurovision. Can't think the welcome Poland and Ukraine are going to give to England players and supporters. Laxative brewed beer for starters.

Gus Poyet is South American and comes from URUGUAY NOT UKRAINE Elsewhere CD, how can you say there is no interest in Quatar. They are buying up top players to entertain the small population and their Sheiks own several top clubs including Paris PSG!!!

I am not a supporter of Hollande but have to hand it to him, he's leading. not only France by the whole of Europe by example. First move was to cut not only his own, but all his ministers salary by 30%. Now these latest measures and he's only been in power 2 weeks. Some while ago, someone posted on Twitter on how to resolve the European debt crisis by cutting salaries of top politicians. Does anyone have a link to that article> Be interested to see again the figures and suggestions. Wonder if the rest of Europe would follow this move and would it resolve some of the problem? In a way it's a modern day version of revaluing/devaluing the currency. Anyone agree?

"Robin Hood "Hollande, France's new President announced today the salaries of top management in the Public sector (EDF, SNCF etc..) were to be slashed. Salaries are not to exceed 20 % of a basic workers salary. Effective immediately This has sent shock waves through management and can only lead to resignations, moving overseas for many top managers. EDF's boss will see his salary cut by 70%. At the same time the minimum salaries of the lowest paid in France are to be increased as from July A smart move or financial suicide??? Can we expect an arrival of France's top managers into the UK job marketr

For me her gimmick was the big Black, Muscly guy and performing very much like Kate Bush

Thoroughly agree with you. There are many positives from Eurovision but as always the majority only look at the negatives. I just wish it was more fairly voted upon. I'd love to see a breakdown on exactly the number of votes from each country had to allow them to award 1 - 12 points. Maybe voting should be done on the actual number of votes. *** Nice to see the Mirror running a poll backed by Phillip Schofield on us not appearing next year. http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/tv-film-news/eurovision-2012-poll-should-the-uk-849812

I found Estonia's entry by far the best, not only the beautiful ong but the really heartfelt and emotional performance of the singer. Just found the English version of the song. Shame he didn't sing part of the song in English. HEAR ME by OTT LEPLAND

High time we stopped entering as the UK and entered as England,Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to counteract all these ex Yugoslav and Soviet Republics. At least that way we'd avoid being left behind on points. Either that or not bother to enter next year.

Really horrific story but I'm certain hundreds more have ended up in similar circumstances. Typical panic reaction from today's youth in China. The one child policy has resorted in a generation of uncaring, unscrupulous and ruthless persons. My greatest fear is when they reach positions of authority and power. Hopefully we shan't be around to suffer the results

I am certain most have seen Remi Gaillard, Montpellier's famous prankster and trickster on TV or his clips on Youtube. He's a legend, always being hauled in by the Cops, or being beaten up by angry punters he's got the better of. 3 million views in 3 days. Here he is showing his awesome ball skills incorporated with scenes of the 70,000 Montpellier citizens celebrating Montpellier winning the French Ligue Championship in the centre of the city. Awesome, and a shame no one offered to take me along. *** Anyone see him running on during an international, grabbing the ball and scoring before anyone realised he was in either team? FOOT 2012

Former Saint, Bolton's Kevin Davies closed his account last year after his missus and kids were abused by some angry Bolton fans. However he's re-opened it. Anyone, can de-activate their account at any time for whatever reason. Maybe he's going to be away an closed it till he comes back Being a verified account he has priority assistance from Twitter when he blocks or reports an abuser. He also can delete any abuse, block and report anyone, just as any use is able to do. It is also possible his accounts been hacked into. This often happens with celebrities. Or maybe one of his mates or fellow players was messing about when he had people round at his place or left his phone/ipad lying about. I'm certain he'll be back but personally as I posted awhile back I'm not over happy at our players spending so much time on Twitter when there are big matches. Getting abuse is the risk everyone takes but there are ways to deal with it.

Maybe already posted but nice to see where Saints stand after 20 years of the Premiership. Perhaps now we're back we can move up into the top 10. 20 Year Premier League table: Club P W D L F A GD PTS 1. Man Utd 772 500 163 109 1541 660 881 1663 2. Arsenal 772 415 204 153 1345 717 628 1449 3. Chelsea 772 401 199 172 1282 741 541 1402 4. Liverpool 772 380 194 198 1236 753 483 1334 5. Aston Villa 772 283 240 249 973 923 50 1089 6. Tottenham 772 294 204 274 1072 1020 52 1086 7. Everton 772 272 218 282 974 979 -5 1034 8. Newcastle 692 277 186 229 996 885 111 1017 9. Blackburn 696 262 184 250 927 907 20 970 10. Man City 582 211 151 220 771 736 35 784 11. West Ham 616 202 158 256 723 880 -157 764 12. Leeds 468 189 125 154 641 573 68 692 13. Middlesbro 536 160 156 220 621 741 -120 633 14. SAINTS 506 150 137 219 598 738 -140 587 15. Bolton 494 149 128 217 575 745 -170 575 16. Fulham 418 130 121 167 480 552 -72 511 17. Sunderland 418 112 104 202 422 606 -184 440 18. Coventry 354 99 112 143 387 490 -103 409 19. Sheff Wed 316 101 89 126 409 453 -44 392 20. Wimbledon 316 99 94 123 384 472 -88 391 21. Charlton 304 93 82 129 342 442 -100 361 22. Leicester 308 84 90 134 354 456 -102 342 23. Birmingham 266 73 82 111 273 360 -87 301 24. Wigan 266 76 67 123 269 409 -140 295 25. Portsmouth 266 79 65 122 292 380 -88 293 26. Derby 266 68 70 128 271 420 -149 274 27. QPR 202 69 46 87 267 298 -31 253 28. Norwich 202 62 62 78 257 323 -66 248 29. N Forest 198 60 59 79 229 287 -58 239 30. Ipswich 202 57 53 92 219 312 -93 224 31. West Brom 228 52 60 116 233 374 -141 216 32. Stoke 152 47 42 63 154 204 -50 183 33. Cry.Palace 160 37 49 74 160 243 -83 160 34. Wolves 152 32 40 80 156 281 -125 136 35. Sheff Utd 122 32 36 54 128 168 -40 132 36. Reading 76 26 13 37 93 113 -20 91 37. Oldham 84 22 23 39 105 142 -37 89 38. Hull 76 14 23 39 73 139 -66 65 39. Bradford 76 14 20 42 68 138 -70 62 40. Watford 76 11 19 46 64 136 -72 52 41. Swansea 38 12 11 15 44 51 -7 47 42. Blackpool 38 10 9 19 55 78 -23 39 43. Barnsley 38 10 5 23 37 82 -45 35 44. Burnley 38 8 6 24 42 82 -40 30 45. Swindon 42 5 15 22 47 100 -53 30 http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11096/7773572/The-20-year-table?dcmp=facebook

Either we really are interested or Nigel's helping out a former player to get the best terms for his new contract. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2148292/Celtic-talks-Gary-Hooper-new-deal-ward-Southampton.html http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/7772424/? http://www.football365.com/spl/7772343/Bhoys-open-talks-with-Hooper?

Maybe it's because the players are awaiting to get paid their bonus' etc, that they're all saying including Giroud, that they all want to remain with the club. As I pointed out at the time of Rupert Lowe, Nicollin has run the budget by selling a player per year to fund the year. The aim is to bring in cash from an academy trained player. Will be interesting what transpires as they prepare for the Champions League. Montpellier certainly don't have either CL players or the money to bring in new players.

From yesterdays papers The French exception: Ligue 1 has quite a poke at modern game strongly dominated by the wealthy. Montpellier was only 13th annual budget starting the season. Ten months later, the club "Loulou" Nicollin has won the first title in their history. An extraordinary feat with René Girard in control. The former coach of the Espoir de France has maximized a staff composed of club academy trained , trained in other academies and recruited from L2. Friends of Michel Platini, Louis Nicollin and Lawrence were invited by the President UEFA to the final of the Champions League on Saturday. Not sure if the boss of MHSC will succeed one day to bring their club to a similar standard. The champions, Chelsea, a club is boosted by a billionaire Russian Roman Abramovich, while Bayern Munich take its legend, its titles won and its most legendary players to be one of the few profitable clubs European football. Against such a background (they are fourth in the hat for the draw for the group stage), it is as a champion of France in 2012 that Montpellier will attempt to do honor to France on the European stage, at next fall. If the feat was possible in Ligue 1 this season, despite the budget of the elite 13th, come with a workforce fit for European games is another story. The experience of a group stage, like others before, might even stopping some of the club "Loulou" Nicollin. But the work of the latter, holding office since 1974 (three before his inauguration as president of the family group), is awarded in exceptional cases. Generation Belhanda, the League 2 title at the 3rd Mounted Division under the leadership of the entrepreneur in the late 70s, Montpellier Paillade Sports Club (its name until 1989), carried by his strongest supporters, has rarely missed its seasons (when he did not fail completely to be relegated) . In the modern era, the club Hérault has invested significantly in scouting and training. The youth team won the Gambardella in 1996, before failing in the final the following year. From 2004 to 2009, in League 2, the club was able to give a chance for all young people, for a result directly linked to the performance of this season. This season, Montpellier, which once trained Laurent Blanc, has relied on a half a dozen products from the center become important components. Obviously, Rene Girard has often seen Younes Belhanda make a difference in his first year as a true owner in a pivotal role behind the tip. The porter holds, Geoffrey Jourdren, the captain and defensive rock, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, promising versatile defensive Benjamin Stambouli, the excellent recovery, Jamel Saihi, and dribblers, Karim Ait Fana-and Remy Cabella, took turns their contributions to the building. Giroud, 2 million for a striker Beyond these symbols of the work in the youth teams, the MHSC, with former players at the helm, was able to achieve remarkable recruitment. That of Olivier Giroud is an example of great success, the center forward comprehensive arriving from Tours as part of a transfer of 2 million. Henri Bedimo, who has made ​​his dynamism on the left side on his arrival, was rescued after relegation from Lens. As for John Utaka and Vitorino Hilton, two experienced, they were resumed after a little time in their careers, respectively, on the banks of Portsmouth and OM. And proof that the MHSC is also known to rely on players unearthed more far: Marco Estrada landed in Chile two years ago, to replace a metronome southpaw, "Tino" Costa, arrived in 2008 from the National (and nearby Sete Club) and two summers later sold to Valencia for 6 million euros. Becomeing club scout, trainer and recruiter of talent in the making, the MHSC, which lacks popular appeal in a sports town, is already preparing for the future, with the gradual departure of its top players. A classic in French football in recent decades.

Had you but known it 39 years ago when I first came to the city. Lots have changed and it's lost the closeness and friendliness where everyone knew one another by sight. Everything was concentrated in the heart of the city. Nowadays, everything and everyone is spread out more and more. I do hope his Lordship and Mrs Duck will let me know next time you're both in these parts.

I believe that Saints are following the same type of blueprint that Montpellier has followed these past 3-4 years. Like Saints their future was on a knife edge and they were relegated as were Saints. Like Saints they have risen up with smart, tight finance and making good use of academies and excellent scouting. Their success and that of Saints shows that true love of the game, team spirit and a belief in each other can succeed over big financial outlay on players who's hearts are dominated by money.

Congratulations to Rahdi, a well deserved appointment and a big sign of what the club has planned for the future. For me Radhi is our good luck charm, who's arrival saw the start of our good fortune. That he will remain with the club is a wonderful omen. Radhi is a true Saint who has given everything to the game, to the club. ***Not only can Radhi be followed on Twitter but his Facebook is a reminder of what huge star and wonderful career he has enjoyed. Well done, every good luck for the future.