david in sweden

and right you were Vectis. unfortunately, speed reading has it's drawbacks, I hadn't read those prev. comments thoroughly enough. Never quite sure exactly what was wrong with Kevin Davies time at SFC?..perhaps those changes of management came at the wrong time, and very few strikers score " regularly"...and many have their " dry spells". The initial impact he made (1997-98) was very special - for a player stepping out of the L1 level it was truly remarkable. Goals against top sides that season were very hard to come by in another season when we struggled to keep clear of the relegation zone, and those matchwinners against Chelsea and Man.U were real lifesavers at the end of the season. Fortunately, (for Saints)....when injury and fitness deserted him ......MLT, Hirst and Ostenstad were on hand with some good scoring spells to give us safety. perhaps...life in " The South " was a bit boring for a Northern lad (?). He certainly seemed to be more popular with fans at Bolton and Preston ... ....and there was always the rumour that he didn't hit it off with Strachan ?.......who knows.?

and as we recall Duncan, ....it took a season or so for Mick and Alan .S to become a regular.....Sam has time on his side, it shouldn't be wasted in the U21s

Not to be pedantic, BUT quite a few people are saying "Dutch players " when in fact the stats. don't totally support that statement. Since Koeman's arrival a year ago we have signed /and or loaned a total of 14 first team / squad players. Only 3 of these are /were Dutch internationals. However, at least 7 have either played in Eridivisie, or in clubs " one or other Koeman " has coached /or/ were in Academy sides they were involved with. If we had signed 4 or 5 players from English clubs, then no-one would have raised the question- regardless of their nationality or their prev. club history. I agree it may seem to some that we are only signing " Dutch players" , when in fact very few are, but obviously are familiar to RK / EK from their time in Holland. I've no doubt we will sign more players from one of these categories, but given the choice available to us, we must sign players that RK wants - whoever they are.

Several hints on sites that suggest Sam G. is the loan target for a whole list of Championship clubs. Probably the best idea for his blossoming career. Unfortunate season for him with injuries etc, and he has surely dropped down whatever pecking order we had two years ago, so it's probably the best thing that could happen for him. A new challenge. At present, he clearly isn't another Harry Kane, but time will tell. He needs some real game time against tougher opposition than just other U21 sides. If he does well... he'll be another good alternative on the Saints bench in 2016-17...one way or another, he'll find his level sooner or later.

1- Egil...about par for the average Prem. striker. +/- 0.30. Looked good in the games when he did score, but I think that one season we had 4 players who all netted around 10 goals each. 2- The real success of Kevin Davies (when with us) was that the goals he did score were spectacular and /or crucial to wins in those particular games. I think he scored a few more than that?...All the Saints states 25 goals in 89 + 36 sub.apps games, but even that % isn't so fantastic. However, the disappointment was tempered when Roy Hodgson (then Blackburn manager) paid £8 million for him.........

that's probably because a majority of surviving Pompey fans follow Man.U. Now I suppose the western end of that section will support Bournemouth I was working in Pompey in May 1976, and almost everyone in Portsmouth wanted MU to win the Cup Final.

The area around White Hart Lane was too small to show on the map, maybe it'll show up when they build a bigger stadium...

I think the days of team numbers 1-11 are long gone (sadly), but it really doesn't matter what number a player has as long as he CDAJFU. We've heard of clubs where (for example) they have " pensioned " the no.7 shirt (to honour a former legend), and who was the player who always had no. 99 ? Some players like certain numbers. South Americans like no.10 . I always associate the no.9 with a big striker, whereas Lallana was seemingly happy with no.20....... Running out of consecutive numbered shirts is the very least of our problems. The real issue is surely getting someone good enough to fill it .

I've noted before that " trialists " in games are never named. They have to wait for that privilege until they are officially signed.

has the club been trying?...... or does the agreement with VEHO cover all the clubs teams ?

......it'd be easy to convince the Aussie Border Control that he was there on holiday, what he does for a job doesn't require a work permit....

ah, but is he " Jonno Quick ?.. that's the question .

uh oh ...we tried that with Agustin Delgado ...and look at the result of that op.

sounds interesting, but there is always the case that he might only be HALF decent.....

...for a season loan, though...if he was only a " one-season wonder ", I wouldn't want him around for another 3-4 years.....

I see that Dejan Lovren has said ..he's not as happy at Liverpool as he was at Saints....... ..maybe because whilst " his head was already at Anfield " ......he left his brain behind at St:Mary's......

The fire sale continues ....next one out of the door from White Hart Lane is Benjamin Stambouli (after little more than one season).....gone to PSG for a paltry £6 million ! ........wonder how much Spurs lost on THAT deal......?.

pleased to hear it .....how good were the opposition strikers?

....how many injuries and suspensions are we going to have next season in the Prem. League...then League and FA Cup and an eventual Europa League campaign ? ............better safe than sorry.

OK.. but how many of them are goalkeepers ?

If I thought that he might keep a clean sheet against Chelsea or Man.U ....I'd be more enthusiastic. I REALLY hope that he improves not just because he cost £2 million, but because almost every time I've seen him.....he looked like an accident waiting to happen.

I recall that Koeman was quite taken aback when he heard than former World Cup player Elia was available and raved about how good he was. Now that we have signed Clasie, it may make Elia's return a bit smoother and not ruffle too many feathers with the fans. I'm sure that no-one sees him as a first team regular, but his experience may be very useful. TRUE - he didn't set the world alight on his loan period, but that came at a time when we had 4-5 injuries and with no-one able to score goals, everyone looked ordinary. IF..he's returning to SMS, the investment may be minimal compared with a" big-money " signing, and who knows? - given time - he may surprise everyone.

which is good psychologically-speaking. He is a valued team member and needs to be there - even if he's not able to play.....

when we first won promotion, I felt we had a weakness as KD (bless him) clearly wasn't a Prem. standard goalie.......and Gazzaniga ...was no real back-up either. (2013 - I noted that at least 3 Prem. clubs had three goalies who had played at international level, and about a dozen more had 2 internationals on their books.) Fortunately....we gor Boruc in which saved the day..(or the season) but we still had no back-up., but KD / PG were nowhere near his standard when they played. IMHO Forster was a good buy ..and whilst still developing managed 13 clean sheets until his injury....I published the stats. on KD / PG's sub.apps it wasn't pretty. Stekelenberg is still an unknown quantity, but his overall career stats. speak well for him, but what if ...." lightening strikes twice" ( I won't say it.) we'll be back to KD and PG again .....and that may put pay to our chances of advancement this season. Sorry to say, but the prospect of FF's early return in the New Year had the same ring as JayRod's " presumed" return date. Now he will (likely) be out all season, and we have the same problem. One established goalie......and no quality back-up. KD is still here for the sake of Auld Lang Syne, and PG doesn't seem to have improved at all ----- Hope there's someone else in the Black Box Les, otherwise we'll all be holding our breath every time MS goes up for a cross, or dives at the feet of a striker ....

-which just about puts that rumour to bed. MODS - can close this thread now!