spyinthesky

A few random notes: 1. We were 2nd in the Prem at this time 5 yrs ago under Koeman and a more suitable way of scouting players. 2. I dont believe the players were not trying. However they were totally inept and the Manager got his tactics wrong. 3. If Leicester had been reduced to 10 men I reckon they would still have won at they were superior to us in every way. 4. Did we win the toss and decide to defend the Northam end, as I recollect Leicester kicked off the first half? If so, that went well!!! 5. Credit to those of us who suffered the full 90 mins especially those who got behind the team. 6. Our midfield is poor (but not as poor as the back line). That said, what back up do we have if Romeu and Hojborg are out? 7. Around £95m of 'talent' (discounting injured players) were not involved in the game on Friday and I reckon the club would do well to recoup £20m of this outlay in the open market. 8. I have had to apologise to my lad for encouraging him to support Saints!!!

I cant blame Gunn for all bar one of the goals He stood one side of the goal for Maddisons free kick and it was inevitable that the free kick was directed to the open area of the goal

One thing I have noticed this season is the opponents left back is left free to forage forward and whoever plays right back is often faced with 2 or 3 attackers as our formation doesnt seem able to deal with this Also, although mentioned many times before the following players played no part in yesterdays game Forster £10m Lemina £15m Hoedt £15m Carillo £19m Boufal £15m Long £12m Adams £14m Approx £100m of 'talent' not considered good enough to turn out last night and possibly currently 'worth' a combined £20m in today's market

Talking to a mate of mine who is a Blackburn fan. He reckons Sam Gallagher has only scored once in the League in 600 days!! I have no beef with Sam and really thought he was worth a run in the team primarily on the basis of his wonder goal (ironically) against Blackburn a few years back in the Youth Cup. But to get £5m for him and a similar amount for Charlie Austin, who doesnt seem to be tearing up the Championship with his goal scoring exploits seems to have been reasonable business.

Big article today on Sadio Mane but not one word about his time with Saints. Just another example of discounting all teams apart from the top six. I guess Mane (and VVD) are worth a bundle more than when they left here but both transfer fees seem to reflect the players worth at the time. There was another piece in the S Times which described the efforts Man Utd put in to scout players. Not very successfully perhaps nowadays but just goes to show that our famed(!!!) 'Black Box' does not have the resources available to Man Utd and perhaps indicates that even chucking loads of money at the scouting system doesnt always work.

The Lordshill option was one of about 10 locations that were considered after Stoneham was rejected. I am sure someone will have the Echo story which set out all the options that were being considered and turned down prior to the site at Northam being offered up by the Council. Wonder where in League we would be today if the club had been forced to stay at the Dell.

Apparently, after receiving referrals from scouts, Ted Bates always watched players at home and away before signing them

I agree that he made the case that the current ER campaign has really pushed the climate agenda to the forefront. However he made the claim that this summer's hot weather had adversely affected UK agriculture. Not sure what crop(s) he was referring to but some of them, particularly grain, had the best level of productivity for many years. Bit like the headlines claim that 40,000 people in the UK die each year from the effects of emissions. Not true if you read the research on the matter,

Would anyone be able to provide details of our home record post Koeman departure? I cant remember a game (apart from the Everton 4-1 win perhaps) that I have really enjoyed during the reigns of Puel, Pellegrino, Hughes and Ralph. I am a long time supporter/season ticket holder but it is unlikely that I would shell out £30/£40+ a ticket for home games these days. It really has been a dire experience in recent times!!

Pompey have a 1 in 10 chance to win the game but they do have a chance and remember Accrington beat their near neighbours, Burnley (last season?)

Not only a true saint but a significant supporter of local charities, especially in Lymington. Had a good chat to him at a hotel in Ipswich after an away game Ithe one where Chris Marsden scored the mazy run goal!!)

Roger Fry, one of the few Ex Saints that pay for their season ticket. Mick Earles may be another!!

According to 'Odds Monkey' web site Saints squad is valued at £209m In comparison Bournemouth's squad has a value of £280m and Liverpool almost a billion!! Apparently Saints provided the worst value for supporters based on number of points set against average cost of entrance.

So to confirm players out on loan are: Player.................Cost to Buy........Weekly Wage...Annual Wage Forster...................£10m.................£70k............£3.5m Hoedt....................£15m.................£60k............£3.0m Elyonoussi..............£15m.................£65k............£3.4m Carillo....................£19m.................£70k............£3.5m Lemina...................£15m.................£65k............£3.4m Reed.......................Nil.....................£20k............£1.0m Hesketh...................Nil.....................£10k............£0.5k Jones......................Nil.....................£3k..............£0.15k O'Connor.................Nil......................£2k.............£0.10k Johnson...................Nil.....................£1k..............£0.05k So based on these guesstimates, there are 10 players out on loan with a potential transfer write off 'value' of £74m (!!!) and with a prospective weekly wage saving of nearly £19m a year. It would be interesting to learn how much of these wages are being underwritten by the club. Normally there would be loan fees attached to these players but I reckon this option has been by passed by the high level of wages the players are contracted to receive. What a terrible indictment on those involved with these transfers. I bet the players agents must have had a field day negotiating with our management team at SMS at the time.

I suppose we are used to limited coverage on MOTD and in the press. However today's report in the Times, by James Gheerbrant, probably takes the biscuit, Plenty of column inches, mainly fawning over Daniel James but room for a passing comparison with Marcus Rashford and a comment from OG Solskjaer. Cedric's name was mentioned twice and that was the sum total of Man Utd's opponents. No reference in the report about our goal, who scored it, the fact that we had to battle out the last 20 odd minutes with 10 men etc etc. The focus was completely focused on mid table Man Utd. Shame!!

Hope that nice, well attired and perfumed,Mr Westwood, doesnt attend the game as he did when England played Macedonia a few years back. Quite a clean up required after the game.

More out of habit than anything I always by a Match Day programme. I get to the ground reasonably early and until this season have never been able to purchase my overpriced match day reading. However for the Liverpool and Man Utd game my favoured kiosk has run out of the magazine. I guess there are two possibilities 1. The demand has increased. 2. The club has decided to print less copies. Interested to know if anyone else has experienced similar problems. btw the music volume seems to be lower this year. Good news!!

I'm probably too old to go, as when you are young there is a definite buzz about going to 'must win' games. However I reflect upon the fact that I have never seen Saints lose at Fratton Park in 6 visits so I should really try to be there as a 'Lucky Charm'!!

Are the 4 of them still training at Staplewood or have they been left to their own devices? Probably costing the club £200k a week wages

I normally but a programme (god knows why at £4 a pop) but part off the ritual. Sold out for the Koln game and also for Liverpool despite me getting there half an hour prior to KO!!

I thought at the Koln game we were lacking in midfield and Koln actually created some decent chances which should have resulted in a goal. Danny Ings has not started off this season too well and if Ralph persists with 3 central defenders, who looked all at sea, at times then I suggest midfield needs to be bolstered to 3 with only 2 upfront.

Was the wind a factor? We played against it 2nd half

Well that performance ****ed on our collective chips. A decent pre season, getting rid of some dead wood, a Manager we all admire and a sense of optimism. A doubt anyone saw that coming and perhaps Robbie Savage and Rio Ferdinand have decent foresight!!

I wonder how much of a players wages at SMS are made up of appearance money, loyalty bonus, image rights (!!!) on top of a basic?

Wonder if there is a loan fee option for both of them to be deducted when they sign(ed)? I suppose the difference is there was a commitment to sign Danny Ings whereas it seems there is an exclusive option to buy with Danso. Shame the club couldnt have negotiated the same deal with one or two other recent purchases (thanks Les!!)