david in sweden

" deflected shots ", Clarkey?... at the end of the 93 minutes...a goal is a goal....and two goals are even better no matter how they go in ..and as for the 3 points ..well...say no more !

remember that one when it came out....but Ron Mael's looks .....and that Hitler moustache were really creepy:scared:

He's only 14 ..so we have ample time to bring him on ....but the thought of a Premier League auction for the lad's signature is revolting.....

Mané....the scorer of the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history...and possibly going to Bayern? Er ....what's our club record transfer fee?....

like many other Saints' fans - I'm going through withdrawal symptoms at this time of the year without regular games. The prospect of more games is very inviting,Ralph. What we do need is a really solid squad of good professionals who can carry the burden of 50+ games a season. That's down to Les, Ron and The Board. The biggest decisions will be...... who can play how many games .....and what is the best team to select - on the day. Someone has to make the decision between big spending and wise investment, but at the end of next May - (even if we don't win any competitions), I look forward to enjoying another season of good football and more games will suit me fine.

.....and his other "cure " .....was putting the block of cheese on your nuts - if you had a groin strain ......

not really - it's just " filling a space on the page" when they don't have an ad. to put there..

signing for Liverpool eh ?....well that's the end of that "Saints " rumour. One down 99 to go ............

if true, really can't make my mind up about that. Liverpool and Tottenham are struggling with the problem of lost former glories and getting desperate at Board level. in Liverpool's case, If Cortese takes over .....which Saints players will he pursue now?.... Will either be a great success or a flop.

No room for sentiment in football - so perhaps Ronald's still stuck on Elia's past glory...seems a nice boy, but....I'm not convinced.. ......yes Djuricic does has a nice touch, but so did Ramirez (at times) ...the trouble was / is that it's never in " the final third" where real goal chances are created....... Tadic's early season form was incredible, if he recovers that level..... we'll be back in with bucketloads of goals...... if we get the striker situation properly sorted.

there is a lot of difference between starting a game and getting 45 mins.... and coming on as a late sub. That's why McG. had his chance from the start. Any player looking make a serious impression must be able do so in the first half, and not have to wait until he's coming up against tiring defenders after 60 mins.. Mc G. just wasn't in it at all, and hardly got a kick, let alone a shot on target. Shane Long has a track record for Ireland and doesn't have anything to prove.

Making Europa League is a huge step forward for our club who were in the bottom 4 of L1 just 6 years ago. The progress we made in that time must surely be the biggest advance of any team in the Country. There are a number of clubs who have been in the Prem. longer than we have and haven't got a sniff of European competitions, and with a few luckier "if's" we would certainly have picked up that extra 2-3 points and have finished 5th.... The fairly predictable top four CL qualifiers have done it all before, and have a reasonable track record of (if not actually winning) finishing well in the last 8 of CL.. Anyone watching the CL Final can see exactly what we'd be up against if we drew one of those teams in a group. No ! ....Europa League is the next step, and few of us can guess how far we might go in that competition.... I think finishing top 2 in the group stages would be nothing short of miraculous, and show that we are on the right road. If we fail to get past the Qual 3rd match, then it'll be a good lesson to learn from and then back to the drawing board - and the Black Box.

I'd agree with that, I'd really look forward to seeing Charlie playing in red and white, but having more options is the real secret. Shane Long may not be top-rated on here, but he has class. I hope to see a "renewed" JayRod to get on the score sheet regularly, (although he did struggle for along time) before hitting that " purple patch " prior to his injury. We need to have quality cover for injuries and suspensions ....and loss of form (ala Pellé) as we lacked both in the period after New Year. the possibilitiesof choosing from Pellé, JayRod, Long and Austin would surely give Koeman a very pleasant headache, (with Seager and Gallagher on the up). NOTE; a good example, with you comparing Smith and Shearer (who both had very different qualities), but were successful in their own right..

back to the Ryan Bertrand thread . fellas......... I'm sure RB feels better for the chance to vent his disappointment at Chelsea, and very pleased to hear that he's settled in and feels good about life at SMS..... but ....fun time over now Ryan, you've got closure, so try and put that all behind you and let's look forward to seeing the great full back we know you will become...... and now that Ash is totally out of the picture, you've got the chance to get the England no.3 shirt ----and keep it.

A free transfer ..can't you hear all the objections now, but Osvaldo (and to some extent Ramirez) are a bit like these expensive Italian sports cars...... They cost a lot to buy.....but even more to maintain. The running costs are totally disproportionate considering their actual benefit (total ego trip ) Cortese must have made a few more friends in Italian football circles when he sanctioned the purchase of these two . They looked very polished ... in the showroom, but never produced the performance they were intended to ...... Keeping them any longer, whilst trying to recover some of the original outlay AND convince someone that they still have potential is a no-go . With the level of their " reported salaries "...it could be costing us around £500K/month just to keep them on. what a headache..

I go along with that, too...

I think that there must have been a few players that Koeman " didn't trust " in the beginning ......or perhaps we ought to say..... ....." wasn't totally convinced about", but by now he must have a pretty clear picture of who he wants, and who is still "developing ".

whilst few can regret the success we've had since Adkins left, it would be unfair to denegrate his efforts from those lowly days in L1 upto the Prem. promotion. In some ways, a double promotion is just as hard as surviving in the Prem. He kept the momentum of the L1 promotion, when it's often difficult to stay up the first season. I hope that he succeeds in his new job, but I also hope that he can " toughen up " a bit, as I thought (at times) he was a bit too much of a " Mr. Nice Guy "

...or a small wardrobe ? .......

poor little rich boy - millionaire teenager, but not allowed to play...........

True, but it'd be nice to have some real competition for places, and any good professional would understand that .....few players have a guaranteed start place. If Shane Long can regularly find the sort of form we saw in the Villa game, and JayRod comes back with his goal-form, then our strike force would be truly formidable.

looking at it from another viewpoint.....with the "second-best" Prem. defence in terms of goals conceded, and a plus 20 odd GD last season, you have to ask yourself.... .......what might we have achieved.... had there been reliable cover for Pellé, who sadly was out of form just at the time when we needed another goalscorer the most ? Charlie Austin's career goal stats. in his various clubs often exceeded 0.50 (which is truly excellent as the average Prem. striker has around 0.35). Considering that he is younger than Rickie Lambert was when he first arrived, I'd say that even a new club transfer fee would be worth the risk, as if we can maintain a tight defence, then the extra goal power can only improve our League position.....not to mention any potential Euro. progress. If he can continue in the same form, I'd say it was a no-brainer, Les.

......will be interesting to see how Les Reed handles this one. He's been pretty shrewd up and until now.....so how are you gonna' play this one, Les ?. There's been so much media on this, you don't know what to believe, but if he hadn't been " ours" for a loan season, and we were in for him...how much would we offer? well...considering that we paid out £12 million-ish for Gaston R....and then the fiasco " Pochettino deal " for Osvaldo....I think it's about time we started playing hardball in the transfer market because Toby has real class and we'd be daft not to try and get / keep him. Time will tell.

..somehow.... I've always thought Arsenal were the obvious subject of an (eventual) Schneiderlin move, but now MU are in the picture...£25 mill. could be the starting price in an auction.

OK .....I'll re-phrase that ...and say " most suitable " in order to get the result.