cambsaint

Has it never occurred to anybody that Gazzaniga could have been intensively coached and has improved considerably. The comments on here are really going to help the lad's confidence. It's often better to keep your thoughts to yourself and not post them for the world to see. Let's make our comments after the match, not before.

I fully agree with the sentiment that we are very very lucky. This season we are probably going to finish eighth with about 50% of available points tally. We have many fine young players including several internationals. Never since the days of Laurie McMenemy when we could still sign top class if ageing players and money wasn't all important and any club in Div one could compete-Derby, Notts Forest, has it been more fun to be a Saints supporter. Some of the negativity and lack of realism of many on this board never fails to astonish me. But heartfelt thanks to Marcus and his family without whom we may have followed Coventry into disaster. We are of course still entirely dependent on Katherina's continued support and the club's debt is effectively hers; but we are also very valuable and saleable and could hope to be bought by a good buyer if put up for sale. I completely agree that there should be a statue of marcus and perhaps the supporters should suggest this to Katherina who would I'm sure be very gratified to have the support to erect such a statue.

Depends entirely on your personal circumstances and whether you and your sister's are the same. I and my sisters considered holiday letting out my late mother's house, while she was in a home-(in perfect condition in a highly desirable and lettable position) but in the end decided that it involved a lot of work. Unless you really like the property you may be better to sell it and use the money for your own housing needs, or even use it for a deposit to buy an easily manageable buy to let, say a recently built apartment, that you can let easily. I believe that your Dad can amend the will to pass on money as well as property.

If its true and MP is offered the job then he'll go. Wouldn't you? We must just hope for successful new contract negotiations and hope we keep him for a couple more years.

It wasn't oxygen, it was Entonox a mixture of Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas) and oxygen AKA gas and air which is a pain-killer (as used in dentistry and childbirth) and would have been recommended by the doctor. Just because it isn't broken doesn't mean it can't be extremely painful. Remind me never to come to your surgery!!(:-

Surely the best option for all if the breakdown is irretrievable and Katherine Liebherr doesn't want Saints is for NC and MP to remain in place and NC to managed the sale of Southampton for the best price possible. The Liebherr estate would walk away with over£100mill profit and the new owners would inherit a stable and well managed club. Money is usually the deciding factor in these matters and the Liebherrs would surely get a much better price with Chair and manager in place and the possibility of stability. If both walked to an Italian club-probably together then the Liebherrs would be faced with a management problem and almost certainly a worse price.

It sounds logical to me. If we are serious about European football then St Mary's will have to be enlarged, and if you come from outside Southampton and don't know your way around then the logistics of getting there are a nightmare. However I expect that there would be very considerable costs putting in new road links to a site at Fords, but for everyone coming from outside Southampton it would be much easier. I'm sure the Liebherrs could fund it if they wanted to.

One of the BT pundits said very sensibly IMO that we were in our correct position in the league. We were beaten by one of the best teams and managers in Europe today, with a vastly superior squad. It is unarguable that Arsenal, Man City, and Chelsea are in a different class. Man Ure ought to be but have vastly more squad depth and experience, Spurs have spent about 100 million after selling Bale and injuries excepted are a very good team. Liverpool at full strength are very good, but a bit thin, and Everton are a very good team. I hope that at the end of the season we are fighting it out for eighth or ninth which I consider to be our true position. As I think we are better than the ten teams below us I will be very disappointed if we finish tenth or lower. This is a truly magnificent position to be in, after our recent troubles, and better than any rational person could have hoped for. However I think we have to try to strengthen our squad this as we are putting too much pressure on a very thin and extremely young and inexperienced squad.

I've done a few back of an envelope calculations, based roughly on how many points we would expect to take from the top four, four to eight and ten to twenty, and if all goes well we should finish on fifty five to sixty points as a realistic target. Based on the thinness of our squad and the inexperience of our young stars, I will be highly satisfied with seventh, eighth or ninth this season, and it looks as if we are on course to realise that target, assuming no disasters.

The speed of the game and the fitness of the players has increased massively. A ref in their late thirties/forties is unlikely to be able to keep up. Not enough attention is paid to the fact that a tired ref is more likely to make mistakes. The professionalism of the game has increased enormously, but although refs are full-time nowadays, little real improvement has been made. Refereeing should become a career choice for keen footballers who cannot make the grade, and who have the authority and judgement to do it. However realistically the career at the top level would only last a decade, and salaries and pensions would have to reflect this. Cheating has come on enormously and players are much more skilled at cheating-possibly some even practice it. Some of the criticism is based on the availability of TV replays-the ref only has one view in real time. It is ridiculous that technology isn't used at all. It is time for the fourth official to be able to inform refs about unseen incidents, and when there is a break in the play to be able to review a decision, and say inform the ref that a foul has or has not been committed. DRS doesn't detract from the enjoyment of cricket, neither do the video reviews in rugby union. Considering the enormity of the financial rewards that can depend on incorrect decisions it is surprising that no action has been taken. However any review must nit detract from the authority of the referee and they must remain the ultimate arbiters. Just a pity that they don't take this responsibility more seriously and book any player who aggressively questions a decision or a player who attempts to influence their decision.

Playing at the intensity that is necessary with even a mild viral infection is potentially dangerous. There have been reported incidents of fatalities of sportsmen exercising at full performance with viral infections. Leave these decisions to medical professionals.

He had a very poor game; but does this vicious criticism -and I use the word vicious meaningfully, really do anything other than undermine what little confidence he has left. Remember that he's probably our best option until we can buy in Jan or Boruc back from injury.

The simple fact is that we don't have a big squad or strength in depth. We have done amazingly well with teenage players coming in. If anybody had given me top half early in the season I would have been delighted. I can't imagine Cortese and Poch not strengthening in Jan. The suicide squad need to take a reality check and realise that Spurs squad is so deep that Adeboya was training with the kids a couple of weeks agod. They even had Defoe to come on late. OK we had a bad day, but we've had plenty of good ones to balance it out. the important thing is to ensure we can beat the bottom half teams with injuries and suspensions. It was obvious that the absence of Shaw was critical, we must get cover for him.

I'll never forget the goal that Ossie scored for Chelsea against Crystal Palace in the 71-2 season at Selhurst Park. He hit the ball with such force that I and my friends all ducked even though we were stood behind the goal. It was hit so hard that we thought it would break the net. the keeper didn't even move it went so fast. The hardest I've ever seen an old football hit. ( I was working at KCH at the time and only had time to get to Selhurst Park after finishing at one.)

Not to mention Terry Paine, Martin Chivers (often overlooked as a Southampton player), and of course Mick Channon, before the ones Shearer mentioned. With the possible exception of Manchester United has any other English club produced so many real star players-particularly strikers?

I remember the Shilton goal, I think it was the only Saints game I ever left before the final whistle. I was stood in the Milton and even my underpants were wet through. I retreated to the old supporters club for a whisky and was roundly abused by my mates for leaving early. memorable match for all the wrong reasons.

Very good, but Peter Shilton made scores of similar great game saving saves in his prime. One incredible save, it looked as if he change his body angle during his dive. When he played for us he was universally regarded as the best in England if not the World.

!966-7 when Saints made Div One was far more exciting-at last we would be seeing The Arsenals, Man U, Liverpool, Spurs and Leeds at the Dell and we could go away and experience 60K standing crowds. Let down by the fact that with 30K in the Dell standing in The Milton Rd end was very uncomfortable and with unsegregated grounds sometimes very hazardous. But it was still very exciting to actually see something that we doubted would happen, and with local players and nearly the same team as promoted even better. Of course I was young and not so cynical at the time, England had just won the World Cup and I was off to Uni that year so 1966/7 is covered in a rose-coloured haze!

Sorry senior moment-I meant "being unintentionally mendacious"-not disseminate --senior moment!

I find it surprising that fans are criticizing the Club over transfers when there is sufficient evidence to suggest that the club has been and probably still is active in the market. Regrettably you can't make a player who doesn't want to, come; and I can't imagine anybody suggesting the club should pay way over the odds. None of us have ever operated in this market, so is criticism valid at this stage? I think not.

It is an overarching principle of English law that any disciplinary action must be reasonable and proportionate. While I expect that to be dismissed from the site and firm would comply, to try to blacklist them would almost certainly not be held to be so. Damages could be very substantial to anybody thinking of doing this. Remember reasonable and proportionate Its a silly possibly even amusing prank that can have no long term damage. It never fails to amaze me that some people think that social media is private, even somebody like The Speaker's wife who should know better has fallen foul of it.

An obituary on Ron Davies appeared in today's Daily Telegraph, complete with colour picture of him in his pomp. This is highly unusual- perhaps there's an influential Saints fan in the editorial team?!

To use the word "hate" in the context of football rivalry is ludicrous and devalues the true meaning of hate.I cannot imagine any sane Saints supporter actually wishing a Pompey supporter to become seriously ill or have a similar disaster befall them. That is what "hate" means to me. I'm aware that in slang culture the word "hate" is used indiscriminately, but in my opinion hate ought to be reserved for more serious dislikes and loathe is a better word to describe football rivalry. I do think that an anti-Pompey song that used mocking humour and wit to insult them is long overdue, and this is a step in the right direction. A good example of this is the Man U song satire-"In your Liverpool slum>"

I used to get down to half a dozen games a year while my parents lived in Winchester. however they moved to be close to my sister in their late 80's and regrettably are no longer with us. Having been brought up in Winchester since 3yo, my other sister moved away, and I now have no contacts with Winchester -my home town, apart from the Hunt & Co exhibit in the City museum. Unfortunately ill-health struck and I now find it difficult to attend matches without my son's help, so i see very few matches these days. I rely on the internet and Sky Sports, but even though I should know better my Saturday night mood is still dependent on Saint's result- something I find incredible! My attempts to find a decent screen have either resulted in a very poor quality feed or my anti-virus warning me of potential threats.