shurlock

Fair play for headbutting Dean Windass

There's no reason why you can't have two caps to address different problems: a cap based on per cent on turnover to ensure sustainability and clubs spend within their means and an absolute cap on wages to ensure greater competition and clubs with the highest turnover don't pull further and further ahead. At the moment, lack of competition is what causes clubs to take dangerous, unsustainable gambles; but, competition and sustainability are different problems and should be dealt with as such.

Why would it hurt teams from lower leagues? Ambitious teams with rich owners will still have an advantage - the implication is that a return to the days of Jimmy Hill is on the cards! Any salary cap would only be set at in order to control the extremes and the worst inflationary pressures (attributable to parts of the premiership). In reality, it would be irrelevant to most clubs - and even if it did set a bound on what an ambitious club outside the prem could dom that club would invariably find other ways to flex its financial muscle - it could ensure it had a deeper squad, a more sophisticated and attractive infrastructure than competitors and, of course, transfer fees would still allow differentiation (albeit limited by Bosman). The fact is that if anything has kicked away the ladder from clubs, its the status quo of unchecked wages - unless you have the finances of Man City or Chelsea, breaking into the top 4 has become more and more remote. I would rather a little more equality throughout the leagues, even if it means limiting clubs from doing a Wigan or Fulham (though as I say above, the salary cap would not get rid of this) in return for the possibility that the sport is more competitive and clubs can challenge for the highest honours (this is quite apart from the other advantages asssociated with salary caps e.g. long-term sustainability of clubs etc).

Absolutely - the football creditors rule and the lack of bottle shown by the leagues to let clubs fail are the biggest offences to a free-market economy.

http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/oddballs/855266-john-carews-misspelled-tattoo-means-my-life-my-menstruation

Arguably there's a market failure, so yes you can cap wages without surrendering your free-market credentials. Worth noting that most professional sports in the US (as well as rugby over here) employ wage caps. I have no problem with the principle - think it would be an excellent idea; but would have to be applied across Europe to work - of course, UEFA acts as a gatekeeper and can decide who can and cannot participate in major competitions; so while implementation is always tricky, there, at least, is a stick to ensure collective action and effective compliance.

They all look like dykes

True - though worth bearing in mind that the last time it was open -2007/2008- our attendances weren't that much different from this season - and our attendances next season promise to be higher. Hard to believe that it is financially prohibitive; otherwise they would not have stayed open when we dropped to the championship. Maybe this was another example of a club that had lost control of the business side and it took Lowe to put things right? I like to think it was a decision taken at a time when the proverbial family silver was being flogged - and most of the savings generated were ultimately pretty trivial.

Some palace STHs I know describe him that way - he's energetic and is box-to-box yes though his passing and decision-making are suspect. Admittedly with Derry's departure, this season he's reverted to a slightly deeper and more defensive role and so would benefit from playing alongside Schneiderlin/Hammond. I guess my question is whether he adds significantly more than Chaplow and whether we can do better than him? For me Darren Pratley and Jack Cork (a slightly different player) are better options.

Wtf is the obssesion with Danns? Is it because we were close to signing him last year? Would he have entered peoples radars had we not be linked with him. Granted he's been one of CP's better performers -Clyne has been their standout player; but is that saying much? Do we need another midfield battler who's arguably peaked (he turns 29 this year)?

No way cordoning a few rows at the back of the Itchen North will make a difference. The back of block 4 is pretty lively -arguably the best pound for pound part of the ground. SMS typically puts the scouts in front of block 4 which is usually OK -except when Warren Aspinall or a mob interested in OXO pop along. For the Brizzle game, it was assumed that one of the adjacent boxes had been hired by away fans which led to a bit of trouble until it was realised that they were just Saints fans albeit giving it the big-I am. For the 2009/2010 game against Brighton, a box had been hired by away fans, resulting in the OB's involvement. If that's the history with saints supporters, you can imagine what it would be like with a massive away contingent. Surely a simple solution is to keep the away fans where they are and just reopen/sell STs for blocks 1-3 again. This was the case when we were last in the championship until Woopert's experiment in financial cannibalism. Surely that season should be seen as a blip borne of crazy circumstances; yet people take the status quo for granted. Yes it means that the home fans are seperated; but the combined noise that the Northam and blocks 1-4 make is more than enough to create an atmosphere and drown out away support.

I think Oscar needs games for his own sake and there's less chance of getting them next season - if we do give him another contract (which wouldn't surprise me), I'd loan him out immediately.

I would give Connolly and Jaidi one-year extensions and Harding two more years. Let Gobern and Martin go. Butterfield's tricky - he's impressed more than Richardson at times despite the assumption that he would play second-fiddle and brings calmness and leadership to the team; but age is a more important quality in a modern full-back than a CB and a full-back that can get up and down is critical to the way NA wants to play. If there's one criticism of Butterfield is that he doesn't carry the ball further down the pitch, even when he has space to attack. On balance, am tempted to give him one more year but wouldn't be surprised if he's released. Its important to be clear who Norwich did and did not let go - those let go were largely fringe players. Only Gary Doherty regularly featured in their promotion season - and initially was not in Lambert's plans and only recalled due to injuries at the club. Our situation is v.v.different from that Norwich - Harding, Jaidi, Butterfield have been regular first-teamers and our success has been built on clean-sheets and a sound defence. Momentum has become the recent watchword for NA and I would like to see how far one season with the current set-up and a few choice acquisitions can take us before we perform radical surgery to the squad. Only the medical staff know Connolly's true fitness but if the last month is anything to go by, surely he's good for another year. With the summer break and a settled pre-season, there's no reason why he can't contribute. The guy is a livewire and the whole team looks much sharper and slicker when he's playing - FWIW he's the same as Kevin Phillips was when Phillips started his brilliant spell at WBA.

Premature to rule out Stephens - expected to see more of him going forward as he was pitched as a box-to-box player and has got quite a few goals/assists for Oldham (bearing in mind he's their pen taker); but it requires time to settle. We all saw how Barny had a mare for the first month he was here before establishing himself and arguably CM is the hardest position to come into and command. So lets see. If taking Stephens means we won't be looking at any other CMs during the summer window, am inclined to pass on Stephens and see how far we can leverage our championship status; but if its a choice between Stephens and Gobern and then bringing in someone else, Stephens for me narrowly edges it over Gobern.

Don't forget saintsplayer details can be used for all other clubs, using the same player service (which means the vast majority of clubs). Great for opposing teams news and thoughts ahead of games and makes it much easier to blag a free username/password.

similar odds she's the facebook stalker.

True, though player for player our league 1 side was probably stronger than the one that got them promoted. In other words, we probably need less of a restructure (by no means am I underestimating the scale of the challenge).

Some decent comperes in L1 - thought Huddersfield's was very good.

Good to see arry's conscience as clear as ever...****

Im just as impressed that over 17,000 turned out for Sunday's match - that's more than the number that regularly turned up when we were last in the championship and effortlessly more than the pathetic 3000-5000 that is reported to have attended Brighton's victory parade.

How did Jack Stephens do?

There are alot of prem players who are in no-mans land - objectively they're nearing the end of their prem days but mentally they're not ready to drop down a division. They end up warming the bench somewhere, ignored and disinterested, and ultimately regret the decision instead of getting games with an upcoming team and going out on a high - there are loads of players in this bracket (John Carew would be fantastic); but its a tough, tough sell. Maybe Cortese is the chairman to pull off this kind of coup. By L1 standards, some of the players we have attracted in the past two seasons have been nigh-on incredible.

yep - for when the deluded toon go for job interviews, get married or appear in court.

FFS - Rickie is not a target man, though. He wins a few headers but he loses far more than you would expect from a 'big lump'. He's a big lad but is much better when the ball is played his feet and he's dropping deep and picking out passes- he's a converted AM. Arguably Barnard holds up the ball better RL. As to the targetmen in the NPC, you're more likely to find that big lumps are a bit more mobile and athletic.

Would be epic, though the OB would probably advise against it what with the trains not running. Much easier to give us an escort and coordinate things when fans use the train.