david in sweden

don't know if there is joy or tears in the Villa dressing room, but surely they will really have to raise their game in order to get a result at SMS and impress a new manager.

should get 30-45 mins v.Villa. As we're paying him so much - get what we can out of him, and it might strengthen our hand when we sell him to Italy in January.

Will Mane's red card rule him out of Villa game? ....if so he'll be back for Bournemouth. With Shane Long still out and Jay Rod with " a foot problem" .....will we see Ryan Seager get a full game at last ? Expect to see Targett, Yoshida or Caulker at some stage, but RK might also give Juanmi some game time and see how he cuts it.

agree with all of that. Cedric best game ?....Clasie wasn't in it so much, but looked useful in what he did do. thought it was tough on Mane---for both cards. I was amazed that Lucas got away with just a talking to by the ref. He was pretty brutal on a couple of occasions. Want to see the win against Bournemouth as it'll be one of my rare visits to So'ton and SMS.

.....he rarely started games last season, but featured in many of them as an oncoming sub.. 10 goals last season, 4 so far this. In every game where he scored - we won (except 1 other) which was drawn...... or putting it another way....we have never lost a game when he has scored.... The club wanted cover for (then new signing Pelle).....and Hull couldn't refuse a £12 million offer for a player ....who only cost them £6 million. Therefore it's somewhat unfair to classify him as a £12 million failure, as he didn't fix his own transfer fee, but in the light of other signings it may seem that way. However, if you compare his input with that of Osvaldo and Gaston Ramirez (for a similar fee) ....I'd say he wasn't a waste of money. Few people would suggest that we drop Pelle or Tadic in order to play him instead, but Koeman has said that we need TWO players for every position in the squad, and we just about have that and it's hardly his fault that he isn't picked from the start. He's usually on the bench, and does as he is asked. He does well as an oncoming sub. (as most Irish folk will testify) so we ought to accept that he can DAJFU - when needed. End of .

1) I did ........ 2) It does .... there was a time when £4 million meant ..a LOT of money, and it wasn't so long ago many on here were complaining that £7 million for Rodriguez was ridiculous. (Times change and - I am told ) - my (humble) house is worth is now worth twice what it was 10 years ago.....) Shane Long (in his defence) didn't decide on his own fee. We wanted experienced back-up for Pelle and were prepared to offer Hull a price they couldn't refuse. Lovren was only a good deal - after we later sold him for £20 million. Fonte made him look better than he really was, and if he performed for us (as he has for Liverpool) then people would be up in arms......

.......being a little "longer in the tooth" than many of the forum..I was thinking back a little longer (historically speaking) ... with the obvious exceptions of those two you mentioned above, the majority of recent purchases have been money well spent....

we don't need to spend lots of money when we can pick up good prospects for reasonable fees. It's a fallacy to assume big money means big success. Just look at the money paid out on bad moves like; Liverpool's deals with Torres and Carroll ....and last season's Man.U. fiasco with Di Maria. Historically, many of our most expensive buys have been disasters ...whereas some others.....bought for relatively modest sums have become almost legendary. Now Mane's £12 million signing looks " a real killing " despite the negative response he got in his early games when (someone) on here - compared him to Ali Dia. Interesting point (in article) stating that Osvaldo was outside the club's normal strategy for signing players, and maybe that deal was made to placate Pochettino - who must have thought he could " tame " the wayward Dani, and perhaps Nicola Cortese OK'd the deal on that basis (?). Bad judgement from both men.

Er ...how far back do you want to go? ..and how can you compare them?

I think this is a P.C. thing on the club's agenda. Many of these players have been with the club since their junior school days, and then to suddenly put them on the "scrapheap" of Free Transfers- because just when they get past the U21 stage...and (in Isgrove's case) he isn't as good as Sadio Mane ...is really cruel, and harmful to the players confidence. He deserves a chance to get real game time and IF he eventually moves on " big time "- we'll get development costs from the deal - if no sell-on fee. If he doesn't improve and come back as a contender, he will at least have a good CV for the Championship / L1 level ...and be able to kick-start his career.

I agree totally, am I not just thinking about the Tommy Forecast /Anthony Pulis and Jonno Forte's in our history. The financial burden on the club from the Osvaldo and Ramirez deals is truly frightening and mind-numbing for a club that doesn't have Man.U's economy....

for Auld Lang Syne......Sunderland, Fulham and Burnley.......(in no particular order, but most likely .......just above the bottom three)

to be fair....there was a period in the second L1 and Championship seasons, when (injuries aside)...the team almost picked itself. Not to take anything away from Nigel ....but he hit the balance that was needed almost perfectly and there were very few "hiccups" in the results. In the high days (1960-70's) when Bill Shankly (and his successors) managed those great Liverpool sides, and churned out results and title wins season after season, ........there was a joke that suggested.....(the side was so predictable).... that the Anfield tea-lady could pick the team for the next match.

I also did some extra training to build up the weakened knee after treatment, and - as you said - the knee tissue needed building up, but then again my problem was from a freak accident when I hit my knee on an office desk. I never played in a football team that trained as intensively, and as often as Prem. players do. I can only assume that intensive training must place more stress on the knees /ankles than the average persons daily activities, but there does seem to a plethora of such injuries in the Prem. at the moment - (think Bournemouth alone have 3 players out for the season with related injuries). As you appear to know more about the subject, I bow to your superior knowledge. My original comment was that it was fortunate for us that Ings wasn't a Saints player when it happened. (someone)... earlier on the thread suggested Ings' injury happened in a Liverpool training session, which of course could happen to any player in any club, anywhere.

think it is ...then we are left with the " haves " and the " I want to have more's ".. (the rest will rely on on state benefits.......).

GULP !.....very impressive stats ......I'm sorry I spoke..... ....and then I take away the number I first thought of -right ? ....or ?

QUOTE : "....the graveyards are full of irreplacable men " - General Charles de Gaulle (WW2 C-in-C and former French President).

three courses? ......but......do we get mayo with the chips?

Uh .?.....kiss her what ?

oops ......I bow to your superior knowledge.......

..perhaps they were tears ....of joy

firstly : I think I wrote "club football " in those countries ...but more attention could have been paid to the customers viewpoint....even if it was only the brand of beer. secondly: of course Chairmen take responsibilities for their decisions..but having had a lifetime (now retired) in the business world, I recognised some of the actions he took after taking charge. I don't think anyone would say the " recovery package " was his own brainchild.... as many of the things he put into action at SMS were proven successes at other clubs /and in other sports. He was just adopting a proven methodology, but more customer consultation might have made changes " smoother ". Democracy is a very bad form of government (quote: Winston Churchill)....and it doesn't work better in football clubs either, but neither does isolating yourself from the fans and issuing directives....NOW...there is a more positive attitude to fans / club activities under the " new regime " than there ever was under Cortese. For a club chairman to limit himself to one interview a year shows a decided lack of understanding as to what motivates supporters to fill a stadium every match. (As for " NOT reversing changes "....if there was no reason to do so, they would have remained unchanged, but he wasn't spending his money. .....in carrying out these.. and other changes he was spending someone else's money - namely the Liebherrs).

Cortese was certainly the " archetypal new broom that swept clean ", and to some extent it was needed, and from that viewpoint HDAJFU. ....but he neglected the one aspect of the club he didn't understand.....our club history and the fan's loyalty. Our history isn't so much to brag about..a few historical promotions (ususally in second spot, and the glory of an FA Cup win .....39 years ago. But fans love our old heroes. We still have a few fans who recall (with pride) the legendary post-war " goal machine " that was Charlie Wayman, whilst my generation still speaks with honour the names; Paine, Sydenham and the Great Ron Davies (R.I.P.) Cortese's " New club history " started in 2009 and excluded names like Francis Benali and perhaps the greatest player of the last generation Matthew Le Tissier. For all the good Cortese did, many of us were confused and bitter that these people were treated so badly and almost banned from going to SMS... I'd accept the good he did... because he did it well, but my congratulations stop there. There was no emotion, fervour or respect for the fans....and the bulk of our history. If he's going to get involved in club football in the future, it should be in North Korea or Saudi ...where they accept dictatorship as a part of the daily process, but not here.

" one swallow doesn't make a summer " (so goes the old proverb) and one good season doesn't make an experienced player out of a kid with a bit of promise. Gaston was spotted by " someone " at SMS and looked full of potential, but as we've seen before, life in the Prem. isn't all glamour and success. A goodly-sized contract - certainly, but a lot of time on the bench for a young starlet who isn't quite good enough to displace the regular man. The ironic thing is that Gaston may move on and do really well - somewhere else . We've all seen that expecting instant success at a new club doesn't always work. It might be that given time, Gaston will find that good form that he left behind in Italy, when he moved to Saints. Chelsea must be kicking themselves for letting De Bruyne go so quickly when he hadn't matured as fast as they had hoped. On the other hand, Sterling is starting to look a better player at Citeh than he ever did at Liverpool..but he's still young. I just hope that Clasie is given time to develop and fit into our side before the " doom merchants " criticise his every poor pass and miscued shot. Bringing in a new player isn't like changing a wheel on the car....he's part of " a new engine " ......and we've changed ours TWICE over in the last 2 years. Like him or not, bad luck .or a bad buy...Gaston will be on his way ...richer in his bank account...and "120 games fitter" than he might have been - had he played them.

..as it does with us all......