david in sweden

Er.....what are the other choices for..... " something " ?

I think that this is one key factor that many clubs ignore at their peril. The culture of a country can play a major influence - not to mention the language barrier. Interesting to note that a number of players from Latin / Mediterranean countries have failed to replicate their " super-form" in the Manchester climate, and bringing a good player in and expecting him to perform just as well in a different system doesn't always pay dividends either. It's not like changing a wheel on your car.

think we're on the same page on that one Cabrone...At his best Svensson was truly outstanding, but interesting that most of that time - Claus was his CB partner.

I think that (listening to interviews) over several decades, some goalies seem a " bit brittle " when it comes confidence - especially if they've made a bad mistake. If you are a striker, and miss half-a-dozen " sitters ", little need be said.... but one error by a keeper can mean losing the game. But many goalies are resilient and the fact that they can play to a greater age is also a benefit, and many even improve after this age. Van der Sar was legend at MU. I've been a Saints fan for over 50 years and some of the best keepers I can recall were over 30 when they signed, and almost all of them DAJFU. In Stekenlenberg's defence; I should say..I've seen him play in a few matches, and once or twice he made the inevitable error, but at Fulham he had a very poor defensive line-up in front of him, and when they changed manager mid-season, he carried the can and was dropped, and his replacement had a dream season. Even the loan move to Monaco only gave him splinters in the a** , as he was rarely selected ahead of a good class keeper who had the no.1 shirt.

No, of course not "the 9" - you're quite right. Only the most superstitious person would do that, but if there were a lot of "spare " shirt numbers available, it's quite likely a new signing might be asked ... ......" do you have a favourite number ? ". It might be an extra + point in the deal, but is hardly necessary to dwell on. The actual subject of numbers has rather gone off track, as one contributor thought it a "problem" there were so few un-used numbers in the sequence 1-20. At the very least - like choosing a new telephone number (which I've done a few times) you may be told ...here are the vacant numbers - choose one. END OF.

frankly ..NO ! . Cortese approved a few inspired signings who worked for a season or two, but Mayuka was a player who may have been outstanding at his former club, but was completely out of his depth at the highest level. Not really his fault. I'm sure he did his best, but it was poor judgement to have signed him, and costly to keep him. Hope he can make a new career start as he is still quite young.

I suppose that every club thinks they " can change a player " - but it seldom works. There should be a " Troublemakers Anonymous " for the Osvaldo's of this world. You'd think that any club paying that sort of salary, to someone who has that sort of problem would book him regular sessions with a shrink to help sort him out.

I don't think anyone suggested that Saints should do it "9", but the original questioner suggested it would be a problem to find " low numbers" for incoming signings. My point was.....it doesn't matter what numbered shirt anyone plays in - as long as they are good enough to wear it ......

depends on how long Adkins will stay at Sheff.Utd. L1.. poor pitches, low on skills and heavy on fouls. A good Championship side is the best bet.

I don't disagree with your thoughts - except that Groningen aren't Chelsea or Man.City, and it's games like that when you want to feel confidence in your keeper. It's encouraging to see people say he's improved, but soon in his Fourth season at SMS,... someone, somewhere has to make a decision about his future......

....almost good / bad enough for the Eurovision Song Contest....

I think that's the only reservation that I would have, too. Even though he's already 19, he might not settle so well on his own in a strange environment. The " family " is a key part of the Saints Academy structure and surely one of the reasons that Sam has come so far, so quickly. Hopefully the club will take note of that.

OK ...so we accept that you haven't. (I think it was a European club - some years ago ). .as for the 99 it might have been in a South American player in a match I saw on TV....( no it wasn't American football, either).

well to be fair sandwich saint; there were a few others I mulled over, but my main point was the success of CB partnerships, and those I mentioned were the best examples that came to mind.

you mean like: Forster played 29 (team : W 15. D5. L 9).....goals conceded 21 (clean sheets 13) K,Davis / P Gazzaniga played 9 (team : W 3. D1. L 5 ).... goals conceded 12 (clean sheets 2) Note: of those 9 games, only 2 were against sides above us. points won 10, points lost 17 we may have finished best ever (7th), but the points lost in the last 9 games made the difference between a CL place ...and relying on " Arsenal winning the FA Cup ".

well frankly.....in terms of match availability this season ..he doesn't and not until he's back to full match fitness, (whenever that is). we still have only one experienced keeper, and he's only on loan to us.

No!.... I didn't even remember them, which must say something about the impact they had on my memory.....but then again the Alzheimers helped, too

Mmm...those England v.Scotland games will be a little like Auld Lang Syne for those of us who recall the Home International Championship we had years ago .....

in writing the CB thread earlier, my mind came back to a topic I've written about several times before - that of goalkeeping cover. Whilst I would never denegrate Kelvin D. for his contribution (yes - and loyalty) to the club, I'm not alone in thinking that the Championship season (with those 18 clean sheets ....really was the peak of his career, and he came into the Prem. as the one of the only goalies who was not already an international. When the infamous £6 million summer bid for Jack Butland was rejected by Brum. (not a bad outcome in retrospect), we ended up with Gazzaniga, and clearly neither KD or PG was prepared (or good enough) for what was awaiting them. Thank goodness that we got Artur Boruc in when we did. A few doubts were mused on here about Forster's ability (despite his 13 clean sheets before being injured)..but the remaining matches without him were no better than the nightmare scenario that KD/PG had in our first season in the Prem. (I've published the stats. before and they didn't make good reading.) Now we suspect that Fraser Forster will be out for the entire season, and although Stekelenberg has the career history to play at this level...what if ? Last year, someone wrote that "goalies hardly ever get injured " just before FF's injury...and remember Boruc's accident with the Chelsea goal post? I don't like tempting fate, BUT we surely must get ANOTHER top class keeper on the books, because too much rests on Stekelenberg's form and fitness - if anything were to happen....we'd be back to KD and PG (three years on), just when the team is at its all-time best and getting a chance at Euro class football. I'm sure that Les /RK will get the best CB's we can afford / negotiate /that are available, but hopefully they haven't shelved the idea of more keeper cover...

I meant " dismal " in respect to the level at L1, when you consider than many fans had lived through 27 years in the top tier. L1 was pretty turgid. Of course, as time went by it got better ..and with Rickie Lambert - scoring for fun - it was memorable. It was a long time since a Saints' striker had 30+ goals a season.

Think they'd rate pretty highly with me, too. I wasn't seeking to compare them, and there was a lot of "dross " in between those mentioned, (they were over 20 years apart, and the game was very different). In the era of Gabriel and McGrath, the team was struggling to avoid relegation almost every season - despite Ron Davies' goal spree. The Cup final side of 76 was still a Div.2 (Championship level side),whereas the Lundekvam / Richards / Svensson era was some of the best...and at Prem. level.

I did think about him....(and one or two others) but it seems that he was with Saints such a short period and (unbelievably) was 33 when he came to us. He was still playing for England at 35, but the upcoming Waldron was worth his selection and Watson was keen to keep his England place (went to Stoke afterwards).

surely a " wind-up" of the nth degree. If Spurs had missed signing him, and are "suddenly" interested in him.. it shows how poor their system must be.... to have ignored him in the first place...... ........"keeping tabs on", indeed ......they should know to keep there hands off, and an eventual asking price should be sky high (for them).

...paid off ? ..or otherwise, we probably still hold his registration.... and the club will make a two-line statement ...if /when he finds a new club.

" Build from the back" has been the byword for managers re-working their teams and a good CB partnership has been the key to success over several decades. In Saints' case " success " often meant " survival " in Div.1 / Prem. times. when we were often " cannon-fodder " for many teams. Older fans (in my generation) will recall that our first sortie into the top tier was 1966-67 when the centrepiece of our defence was Tony Knapp, who in turn was partnered by the "more robust talents" of Cliff Huxford and later David Walker. Two calm, quiet men (off the field) but who rightly earned the title " Iron Man " when on it, and few strikers who had seriously tangled with them - were quite so keen to repeat the experience. The 1970's, legendary figure of John McGrath, whose diet of raw steak and habit of "head-banging the dressing room wall" before coming on the pitch says more about him than a whole chapter in the Book of Heroes. Big John's partnering of Walker, and later the highly versatile Jimmy Gabriel saved the day on many occasions in that period, after we lost them both - relegation was on the horizon. By Cup Final day 1976, most fans were sold on the ideal partnering of Jim Steele and Mel Blyth which proved too good for the Man.U strikers on that day, and they were Mc Menemys' favourite pairing in his early days. Although Blyth could give as good as he got, and was " the quieter one " in the relationship, Jim Steele's motto was surely ..."None shall pass"..and few ever did, not without a strong tackle or an ankle tap - when the offender least expected it. McMenemy's choice of successors were N.I. captain Chris Nicholl and the elegant "home-grown" asset Malcolm Waldron, and they were first choice for several of our more successful seasons, before the arrival of Mark Wright,who may have looked like a gangly kid when he arrived from Oxford, but developed well enough to become Englands first choice CB by the mid 80's, before making big money moves first to Derby, and later Liverpool. The arrival of Ken Monkou in 1992 signalled the start of better days, and his later partnering with Claus Lundekvam helped steady the team at a time when goals were hard to come by and the team was constantly changing. I always felt Lundekvam was underrated by some fans, but for better or worse ....he was the mainstay of the defence and with over 400 games to his credit is in the top dozen all-time Saints' appearances, and by far the most by any foreign player. It's fair to say that Lundekvam's pairing with Dean Richards and later Michael Svensson did much to show that their " tough guy " image always looked good /better when they had good support behind them. At this point, it should be said that in all these partnership above, there was usually a " tough guy " and " a quiet man ". " A sweeper " to use McMeneny's favourite phrase (tidying up behind the last defender). At the height of our 80's success, Lawrie Mac. was one of the League's most successful manager's using this strategy. Interestingly, with the new popularity of a 3-5-2 formation, there is always one man " tidying up at the back ". More recently we see that (aside from goalie Kelvin Davis), Jose Fonte is the longest-serving player and has become the mainstay of our defence in the successful seasons since our dismal days in League 1. His partnering, first with Radhi Jaidi, and later Dan Seabourne did much to tighten up at the back when we were playing so well at the lower level, and Jose is truly worthy of wearing the captains' armband. Of course, "Promotion" has a way of " finding out " players, but Jose has remained constant in what has become a period of monumental change since 2009. Jos Hooiveld seemed to have a " love-hate" relationship with some fans, but I think we can be truly proud of his performances in our Championship season, even if he was a bit " in and out " in later years. Certainly, his pairing with Jose that season, gave me a great deal of satisfaction to watch. But once again, it has been the quiet man who has helped the image of the tough CB, as with Dejan Lovren who had a great season with Saints, suddenly had quite a few nightmare games at Liverpool - when he realised that there wasn't someone behind him -" watching his back ". I await with keen interest to see how Toby Alderweireld's performances for his new club will be, and how long it will take for him to "bond" with his new pals. There is no doubt he was really excellent last season, and I'm not alone in being sorry that he didn't return, but I wonder how much of those classy displays were his natural talent..... or how good he might have been " made to look " by his partnering with Jose?. (Time will tell). Jose Fonte will be 32 at Christmas, and although he is contracted until 2017, he may turn out to be the sort of player, who like " old wine " improves with age. Now Gardos is out of the picture, and a total reliance on Maya Yoshida, (who IMHO is a better player than he's had the chance to show) one wonders WHO ?.... will the next "partnership" be - especially if theirs does not "gel ". Will we be chopping and changing, just at a time when we stand on the threshold of possible European competition - not just this season, but in the future?. The choice of our new CB signing(s) will be vital, now more than ever before.