AussieDog

Sounds like a game of bluff and double bluff to me. Celtic are doing everything they can to drive the price up by publicly stating we are interested and how highly they value him. Saints are doing everything to keep the price at a more acceptable level (but are no doubt also looking at other options as well). I would suggest we have a valuation in mind and are not prepared to pay over that figure and it's now down to Celtic over the next 9 days to decide whether they can really afford to turn down a small fortune for one of their players. Sounds like Hooper himself is hedging his bets. No point infuriating Celtic fans by saying he wants to go if he ends up having to stay. Plus....all the time there is publicity about this move we are able to negotiate elsewhere more discretely. I think there will be one more addition to the squad before the window closes, but it won't be Hooper - and then Celtic will come out with all the rubbish about how we have wasted their time and unsettled their player...

You're just putting words in my mouth. I never mentioned that I just read the official site when I wanted information (if that was the case I wouldn't be reading the stuff on here would I). I was just commenting on the fact that you're a fool if you think there really is a freedom of the Press to ask what they want of who they want, whenever they want - and an even bigger fool if you believe everything they say anyway. So how would you like to twist my words this time?

Freedom of Press? Don't make me laugh. Firstly (and in my own personal experience with the Echo from many years ago), the facts that get presented to the reporter don't always end up appearing in the Newspaper - especially if they can sensationalise it in some way to sell more papers. Secondly, have you heard of the concept of a contract or even copyright? There are many instances in this world where you cannot just go around talking to and quoting people without express permission. I have no idea whether either of those are in play here, but you are very naive if you think the press can just go where they want and talk to who they want whenever they want.

In one way it's good that there are so many teams pushing hard as it means they will all be taking points off each other. If it was just us, WHU and 'boro as it seemed a couple of months ago, it might have made it harder. Would be gutted to get close to 90 points and still not make 1st or 2nd!

It may only be the 2nd, but there are games being played today. Every game missed is a 3 point opportunity. Of course, I'll happily concede we were right to wait if at the end of the month we've won all our matches without any new additions... As for not trying hard enough....well the window may have only opened yesterday, but negotiations could (and may well have) taken place for weeks beforehand. The fact is, nobody has signed. I don't agree with the comment about not signing loanees either. Loyalty is a thing of the past for the majority of players anyway, so whether we sign someone for 4 months or 4 years it doesn't matter. They will most likely leave if a good enough offer came in regardless. Having AOC on a long term contract didn't really make any difference did it (other than the transfer fee we were able to negotiate). It's about getting results NOW. At least with a loanee we are not crippling the club with exorbitant wages if we were to fail to get promotion and get stuck with a premiership quality player on premiership wages. Just sayin'......

So far I've seen 2 good loan signings go through from Premier League clubs that CHDAJFU :- Macheda to QPR Andros Townsend to Leeds The 2nd one really irks as it's to a rival. Anyone else think we should be trying harder for a Premiership loanee this window??

Top Effort!

what...no more home games this season then? 17th...pffft....

Some foreign dude no-one has heard of, plus someone on loan from the Premiership. Hedging my bets over names primarily because I haven't the faintest idea really...

On that logic you must drive something like a nissan micra then??? I mean, all cars get you from A to B don't they?

Ok smartarse - please enlighten me as to what the point of supporting this football club is? I have naively spent 40 odd years supporting this football club because I want to be entertained, I want to see the spectacular, I want to see the controversial, I want to see the unexpected. Winning can be a happy by-product but it isn't the be-all and end-all for me, so to say I have seen MLT spend near-on 15 years in a Saints shirt definitely rates higher than a flukey title win (remember this was speculation, and maybe if we had gone on to win 3 titles my answer may have been different!)

If saints have definite targets I have a feeling there won't be any pussy footing around while there are points to be won or lost. If we have serious intentions of going up this season then I have a feeling the main signing will be in the bag before the 3rd round of the FA cup is played.

We'll be promoted before then - I'm over for 3 games around Easter so it will be one of those

Not this old chestnut. We ARE a selling club. Always have been always will be. It's not a disgrace to be one all the time we are still moving forward. It's called supply and demand. We will also try and persuade talent from other clubs to join us too. It's been how football has been since it turned professional!

I think this will define our season. We win and we'll get promotion. We lose and we'll crack and slide down the league. A draw and no real damage done. To be fair, if we don't beat them we probably don't have the necessary determination and strength of character to deserve promotion anyway. This will be the Blue Few's cup Final (along with their trip to St Mary's in April). We HAVE to be up for it.

Blackpool website said they had sold a massive 377 this morning. 30k is unrealistic, but we should be looking at having the largest crowd in the division. That would be a better indicator. UNfortunately I don't think we will get either. Lucky to be over 20k I would say

It's all very well wanting us to be better, but the trouble with that approach is that you don't give yourselves a chance to enjoy where we are and what we are doing right now. For all those moaners - look back to the beginning of the season and then answer TRUTHFULLY where you expected us to be right now. Now re-assess your comments of the past few games. Our home record is EXCEPTIONAL. Our away record is...well pretty typical Saints, but not as bad as alot of people make out. I'm sure our fans are no different to the those at every other club. Football supporting is all about opinions - but if you want to enjoy it as well, then you need to take the balanced approach. Yep, we COULD do better. We COULD spend money and gamble that an incoming player will fit in straight away and make us a better side. We COULD also end up in the position of the blue few, by spending too much for a club of our resources and scaring our owners off if we don't find a way of balancing the books. If football was a predictable game then the Bookmakers would all be broke, every team would win at home and lose away (because every team expects to win their home games...). It's the unpredictability of it that keeps us interested!

People need to think outside of the square. All of the "free" energy sources such as solar, hydro, wind, geothermal, tidal will get utilised and will eventually replace fossil fuels and nuclear. It just may not be in our lifetime. http://www.hypersolar.com/technology.php are now making renewable natural gas using a combination of solar water and carbon dioxide - and to the point where it is becoming affordable through using nanotechnologies. With regards to wind farms - you don't need to think on such large scales to avoid scarring the landscape. If you generate localised power for specific events you will reduce the need to use standard energy. EG there is a huge amount of wasted wind power circulating around the motorway systems by all the traffic flowing past. The landscape is already scarred, so when the production technology is cheap enough, install systems that harness that wind power and actually build them at regular intervals of the motorways and use that power to do simple things like power motorway lighting. Every little step reduces the need for fossil fuels. Every house could make more use of it's wasted heat to generate energy (just feel the wasted heat that comes out the back of your fridge, for example) to assist in generating the power required to heat and light (and in our case cool) your home. Don't see just one source as the provider of all energy and eventually we can scrap the need for nuclear fuels.

Wright was a 17 year old lanky streak of p*ss and Cassels was the focus of the transfer as others hadn't cottoned on to Wrights abilities. awesome signing though

Seeing as everyone is expressing their opinions, I thought I'd like to chuck another one into the mix. If anybody thinks these dinners are just for NC propaganda I think they are sadly underestimating his abilities. These dinners are also a way for him to gauge reactions from the"average fan" on a whole range of subjects. I would imagine there are also other SFC representatives in attendance who are gently probing the rest of the attendees for snippets of feedback. Maybe that makes me sound like a cynic for suggesting it, but I am not saying its a bad thing, in fact I think it's very clever!

Skill Work Ethic/Team spirit Tactics Ok...I cheated and put 4 but I think they are all crucial. The support has been pretty good, but our success has primarily been through our home form and we've only sold out once, so it could still be better

phew...been at work 45 minutes, hitting F5. Guess I should get started now. Ok, time for a coffee

This season is kinda worrying...I've always been the "happy clappy" type, but we've been SO good this season that I can't help but think the worst. I even tipped us to lose on Saturday in the prediction league. I just don't understand...perhaps it's because I've been a Saints fan for over 40 years and we've always been so good at cocking it up and snatching defeat from the jaws of victory! lol

Almost spot on! - it wasn't the winner but it was the goal of the game!

I bet he doesn't have to play 50+ games a year at the pace and intensity of the Championship! Let's be honest.....even with a lucky draw, it's highly unlikely we would get past the semis with the likes of Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal all still in it. BUT.....just out of interest (and bearing in mind the winners DO get a place in Europe), would people rather we won the League Cup or get promotion to the Premiership (assuming we couldn't do both). In my mind, it's a matter of playing the odds, and the odds of doing both are really long so it's a no-brainer that we prioritise promotion (and the financial rewards that brings with it, too)