david in sweden

1992 (?)......oh yes that was their "swan-song". Our daughter was born the year before ...next year she's 25. For Leeds it's been a long time between successes.

....and who might we be speaking of.....well, Leeds United, of course.... ......(at least that's according to Steve Evans ...(their 11th ...that right .....11th. manager in the last 3 years.) Freshly awaken from his 25 year coma....Mr.Evans is seemingly still living in the 1970's time warp when Don Revie managed the side that almost won everything, and was the best runner-up in the country, and insists that Leeds should be playing in the Prem. (although recent results seem to prove otherwise). Taking key points from a rarely-remembered Nicola Cortese speech from 6 years ago, Steve assured fans that Leeds were on the way up again soon to the Prem. Hopefully. Leeds have a Board with lots of money available to buy their way back up to the top level and put aside the memories of previous club chairmen like Ken Bates and the legendary Peter Risdale who borrowed pots of money against everything the club had ...(and a lot more that they didn't have) before bankrupting them in 2004. Remembering our own long haul back to the top, we can but wait until we see how Mr.Evans & Co. handles the new task, and wish him luck. It is not clear how long the Leeds board will give Evans before he gets the sack, but judging by past performances, he's best advised not to move house too soon. HOW IS THIS SAINTS-RELATED?.....for older fans.. there was a time when Leeds United were the team we all loved to hate... Much of their success was based on their club motto " hard ...but fair " ...their fans once countered the Anfield Kop..with their own rendering of ....." You'll Never Walk AGAIN " ....Nuff said.

...but didn't say that we hadn't interviewed anyone else. Maybe they convinced themselves Ronald was the right man for the job all the time and deliberately left him to last.... I do recall a interview where Les (or was it Ralph) ?....said there were dozens of people who applied .....and some "very big names", too. Hardly think they would have blindly OK'd Ronald without interviewing ANYONE else, although he was the first choice candidate. ALSO.... I don't recall ever hearing Ronald say that he applied himself....more likely he was "head-hunted " and then approached by the club. The more you interview, the more you can convince yourself you are right /wrong in your eventual choice.

don't laugh too loud.....I avoided that one .... .for obvious reasons.....but who knows ?

oh that's purely kids stuff.....there's more .... To be totally PC...the use of "han" (sw.HIM).....and "hon" (sw. HER).has been changed to " hen" .....so as to avoid all gender references. WTF ! .....just wait till they get to teenage, and are uncertain of their gender and feel free to enter whichever toilet they wish, regardless of the gen*tals they were born with....

Although we try to forget some of our former staff, no-one is likely to forget Nigel Adkins spell at SMS. Now at L1 Sheff.Utd. he has already brought in Billy (Sharp) and now it seems he has borrowed Dean Hammond from a successful Leicester squad. Seems like Nige is tracking down all his former heroes from L1 / Championship days and strengthening his Blades side. So who is next on his wish list, I wonder......Chaplow?....Fox?......Guly?....... .......who knows..... if they get promoted this season, he may even try for SRL.. before he hangs up his boots....(if he doesn't cut it with West Brom?)

Agree with that, but there is no like-for-like subbing (unless it's JayRod for Pelle)....as the current front men all have different styles of play.

Ladies football gets BIG media coverage in Sweden. The standard is excellent, but they usually end up losing finals against Germany, or the USA Some club games ....and ALL internationals get TV coverage, but the average league match gets much less than 1000 spectators.

best response of the evening !

wouldn't toally disagree with your comments.. BUT ....there aren't too many U21 lads who are consistant enough to make our first team squad at present. The players you named aren't first-choice but they certainly have more experience. You can introduce a young player into a successful side, but it's the wrong time to try giving a youngster a run of games, when we don't yet have a stable first choice side.

good suggestion, but if we play both of them .....who would you drop?

we all want to see Jay come back, but although fit he's still nowhere near the level he had before injury. At the moment, Tadic presents more of an attacking threat than Jay does. Let's see Jay playing in the upcoming Capital Cup game ...and hopefully more to come after that. The more goals he gets, the more his confidence will rise. Tadic does fade in and out of games, although he seems to tire before 90 mins, but HDAJFU ....and does it well.

Good answer. You pick a team in order to counter your opponents strengths. We did it against Chelsea...yesterday...against Leicester - we were all at sea.

.....player loyalty ......I thought that concept went out when MLT retired?

quite some years ago I had a knee injury (not a sporting one), but on successive visits got interesting info. from the physio on cause and effect. he said ....that 80% of his patients were sportsmen / women because the heavy training schedule they undergo on a regular basis plays havoc with ligaments, and that the knee is one of the most complicated joints in the body. If there is a weakness, it can take a long time to recover the strength ...if indeed they recover 100% at all. that's the only reason I remembered. Of course, accidents can happen anytime, but a hardtraining sportsman is additionally vulnerable compared to those of us who may only walk to work ...or to the pub. Those neighbourhood joggers who pound the pavements so regularly (?)...should put themselves down for a knee op. or hip replacements in 2035.

A very physical game and ......can't recall a game with so many injury stoppages, and wonder how our injury list will look on Monday? ....as Wanyama, Fonte, Stephen Davis and Cedric all needed prolonged attention and never looked as though they recovered. .....but most of all.....why did KD play ?....was Stekelenburg injured ..or what? With Vardy in that form, it wasn't the time to experiment. It may have made sense to bring the brave Cedric off, and Steve Davis was waning a bit, but after their departures we lost it in midfield and missed Cedric's attacking flair. As for the subs..... Yoshida did little wrong, but did little else. Clasie will need time as he never got in the game, and Jay Rod hardly had a touch. Very disappointing after the good first half display.

Good comments Canada, unfortunately, some of his critics (at SMS) see no clearer than the view from the Chapel, and it's easy to miss a lot that goes on behind the scenes. YES - it's a generational thing, but he has a lot of respect from his past success (even though it's not football), but an outsider can bring new vision with a fresh appraoch. As soon as we win something ..... everyone will start to praise his " leadership style ".

...a good call Badger, even my memory didn't go back enough decades for that one.

[quote=Saint_clark;2262648) After the recent article where he criticised the way youth development is handled in Holland sounds like he might not be taking the job unless a major overhaul occurs. [/quote) of course he's peppered with questions about Holland at every press interview. Interesting that he commented (yesterday) that ..." there wasn't a " football man" at the (Dutch) Federation ". Think that was a more meaningful statement, (that I've heard elsewhere). Too many bureaucrats and not enough real football nous.

I don't think anyone would dispute that Whitey, but don't you think that games being played at this level, and where there is technical evidence available - it should be given the referee all the help he needs to make a fair and just decision? If Saints had lost that game it would have been grossly unfair, all things considered. We've come a long way ...to having goal-line cameras and assistant refs. running the line with radio contact, but I'm sure that I (and many others), see the injustice of clear fouls /incidents that go unnoticed to match officials - who don't have eyes in the back of their heads - and where recorded evidence is available, even retrospective punishments should be considered.

.....which is back to my old arguement that the fourth ref. should be sat in front of a TV monitor (* as they were in the first place, I believe) ....and like the millions of others of us who watched the game ....could have given a more accurate assessment/decision. * I read an article somewhile ago that said that a ref. with TV monitor at the pitchside would be "inundated" with interfering managers trying to coerse him. .......so it still means that on many occasions, the commentators and TV "experts" can make a better decsion that the ref. in the centre.

There may have been a weakness in his knee tissue in the first place, and though it maybe difficult to diagnose, it's obvious that if his knee was so fragile ..... ........he could have been injured anywhere....at anytime....in a training session... or a match. The geography is surely irrelevant.

not Saints - related (thankfully) but there was a list of fans looking to get Danny Ings signed up in the summer..but now he is sidelined for the rest of the season with cruciate ligament problem (or similar). Looking at the agonising wait that JayRod had in getting fit again, perhaps....(in retrospect)....it's good that we didn't sign him. I have no sympathy for Liverpool at all...but hope that Danny will be on the mend soon. Perhaps .....if Herr Klopp doesn't "do the business " at Anfield, Danny may return to ....yet another manager.

......is Mourinho really worth all this cr*p. The biggest egotist in football, who can't believe that HIS team should be allowed to lose - and at home. Even his illustrious club chairman must be (quitely) looking around for a possible replacement ...just in case....