david in sweden

naming names is very difficult, and depends on the strength / honesty/ accuracy of the media source, and like 99% of you on this site, very few of us are ITN. However, it's obvious that despite Les Reed's encouraging comments, we'll need to sign top class replacements for the (eventual) sales of Clyne and Schneiderlin. The goalkeeper situation is vital. No-one knows how long Forster will be out..guessing the New Year sounds promising, but what happens if it all season (like JayRod) ? KD (bless him) may never get another game with Saints, and surely RK has convinced himself of Gazzaniga's un-suitability by now...he should be loaned out .......and we should sign TWO keepers, (one of whom should be of good international quality). RK quoted (sometime) that we had ..14 top class players in the squad, and the rest of the bench usually featured one or two Academy graduates, but if they were THAT good, they'd be in the first team starters already, but not even JWP can be called a regular, although he does play quite a lot.. There is no way RK is going to start U21 players in the Europa League - even if we play the third placed side from Lichtenstein...... Having got into a Euro competition, he should put out the strongest side possible, so that means we need more players to increase those 14 mentioned. I don't ever think that a CL place was ever " on the cards", but it looked comforting when we were in 3rd spot, but the lack of depth in the squad let us down when we had 5 injuries in the space of 3 games, and coincided with Pelle's loss of form. My only criticism of RK's otherwise excellent season; he should have signed / loaned a big striker in January.. Chelsea and Man City had a lot more to choose from in such circumstances, and that carried then through.

Hmm.......a face-saving quote from Sepp Blatter's daughter (in trying to defend her father)... " my father does not take money " ....yes dear, but surely the question is : Who does he give it to ?

It surely has to be someone who improved their team to such an extent that they actually achieved a notable improvement in the club .....(all things considered) Given that Koeman inherited half-a-team last June, bought in new talents and turned things around and (by hook or by crook) got into Europa League (which we deserved) ....then in many opinions ..he'd be a good candidate. Good as it is for Jose at Chelski, they do have more than a " slight advantage " over most other Prem. clubs..... perhaps there should be another Manager of the Season Award for those men who turned things around and eventually saved their teams from relegation?. .......in which case the competition would be between Pardew, Pearson and..... maybe Sherwood. and yet another award for those nice guys who fought valiantly .....(Steve Bruce and Sean Dyche)....but (sadly) failed. A special award next season for Watford, ...if they survive will have the task of deciding WHO gets the award, as Manager of the Month has a special meaning for them.

...perhaps a reasonable question, but how do we know until we try? The only way we'll know how good we are is to get involved and find " our level " . .... Are we afraid of the possibility of success, or should we try and play safe and keep the 38 game format but watch Spuds and Liverhampton go forward in Europe? Having got this far, I fully expect to see a squad enlarged considerably by next season. With one or two departures (Clyne/Schneiderlin) then I expect 4-5 new names. Academy lads will still be in the picture, but they will know that playing in Europe is raising the bar - even higher. If they are good enough, it'll be a win-win situation.

Agreed . Real success is long overdue, but the JPT win at Wembley was a bit of fun - wasn't it?

.......think that's a little harsh "9". Yoshida has been playing out of his normal CB position in many games, and although it's difficult to see him as a natural replacement for Toby, I don't think of him as " third rate " and it would be hard to name too many games where he played badly last season.

Agreed. Like Rickie, he gave us 5 seasons of real effort and I don't begrudge him (or Lambert) for getting the best deals they can out of the remainder of their careers.

some good points here Colonel. one of our problems has been even back in the L1 /Championship period, Saints were (perhaps rightly) concentrating on getting back to the Prem. and treated Cups as " a necessary evil " in the chase for promotion, or a way to give " up and coming " youngsters some first team experience (not a bad idea either), but the initiative to win these competitions must come from the club management, and it was fairly clear that Cortese only had one priority (back to the Prem.) and Pochettino was quoted (even if it was by translation)in saying the Cups were a distraction rather than an attempt to win a Euro place, and many fans were felt he " threw away " our FA Cup game v. a very mediocre Sunderland outfit, when we might have gone much further in the competition. If Saints replicate their best form of last season they may be able to improve on 7th place in the future, but it's a BIG ask to think we can break the monopoly of the " Top Four ", and get CL placement, meanwhile ..we have three Cup competitions next season and hopefully we can get a better showing in all three. Actually winning Europa League will be seen by many as just pipe dream, and perhaps a bit too much for our fledgling Euro squad, but getting to the League / FA Cup Finals means getting just 6 wins....and looking at our best results last season; 2 draws v. Chelsea, League Cup win at Arsenal and a rare away win against Man U shows that nothing is impossible .....given the right luck. Koeman will want to deepen his squad against injuries and suspensions / form loss with the possibility of extra Euro games on the horizon - especially as we might face the prospect of being eliminated from all 3 Cups....even before Fraser Forster is fit again ! Even if we don't achieve better than 5th next season, I'd think it a great advance if we made SF/ Final in a domestic Cup competition, and even getting throught the group stages in Europa League...the real success comes from having good luck on the day. We don't know what next season start line-up will be (with /without Clyne / Schneiderlin?), certainly another goalkeeper ..or two? ..before Forster is back 100% fit... ..but another lightning start to the season might be a bright spot on the horizon ?

being released from Saints (or any other good Prem.side) isn't an insult, or a rejection of their talent, but the bar is set very high in the Prem. and "late developers" often miss the boat just because they maybe at the right club at the wrong time - when their contracts runs out. Cropper may have the potential to become a good goalie, but in those video clips I've watched from U21 games he seem to vary between very good and abysmal. But (with rare exception) it's unusual to see many good goalies emerging before they are 25+. Those who do make it are often quite exceptional rather than just lucky. Bart didn't distinguish himself very much when he had chances at SFC , but now looks a lot better with Ipswich (after a good spell at Notts.County). Young goalie Chris Johns was already N.I. U16 goalie when we signed him, but lost his way through injury and others who came on the seen at the same time. As for the others; Boruc and Hooiveld were predictable (thanks and goodbye), but the youngsters mentioned on the list were nowhere near good enough to even "cover " for their counterparts in the first team. You can't keep them forever (with new talents emerging every season), but they may re-appear as better players after a couple of seasons in Championship or L1. Past names; Leon Best and Dexter Blackstock (who was 5th choice striker at the time of his move) went on to make a living in the League, although they never really got to be Prem. standard and many people who were sorry to see Ben Reeves depart a while back, weren't surprised to see his excellent performances for MK Dons. I hope they get good opportunities to show their skills, and - for encouragement - they might look to the likes of Rickie Lambert and Charlie Austin who were no great shakes at that stage of their careers, until their luck changed.

a well-deserved acolade despite the somewhat disappointing second half of the season......let's hope we can get a good cup run in EUROPE !

this has become a pretty long, and somewhat boring thread.....so ....is someone going to start a "new Defectors " thread for this summer ?

...your contributions are very interesting but getting the jargon correct can be difficult, as with our Chairman Ralph K. who, on the players award night referred to : ...." centre field ".....and " the locker room " ....still got hockey on his mind-you see.

....if it's possible to defend him, we should add that the man is a real mountain of muscle and going up against him must be a real challenge for weaklings who fall easily.... if we could put him in a time machine, a centre back pairing of him with John McGrath would have been a real sight to see.......

....even after the **Watergate break-in.. Nixon went onto win a second term as no-one had connected up all the pieces soon enough..... It took another 2 years of investigations to impeach him...I bet there's no such alternative in FIFA's statutes....so well have to up with Blatter for another few years:rolleyes:

we certainly would this year, although has a contract until 2017...but then he'll be a year older, and his value will have dropped a bit, anyway. If nothing else his quality says he's CL material, and IMHO he deserves it. I'd be disappointed, but not overly surprised if he does go this summer.

......now you weren't going to say Rudi Sk*cel ...were you ?

He never really got the nod over Lallana, and spent alot of time on the bench and when he did start a game rarely ever played a full 90 mins. I was always asking myself if he was totally " Saints-fit "....or wasn't " injury-prone " to some extent ..?

and I think you're probably right in the long run. We can get £15-perhaps £20 million for Clyne now, because next summer he walks for £0... the real pressure is surely on MU, (or some club like them), who can't afford to go another season without some sort of Euro prize / recognition.... European success (even if they didn't actually win CL).....was the bread of butter of MU's success under Fergie....but it's pie in the sky for club likes Saints.

I agree, and I think we could say that about quite a few of the lads, but the step-up to the first team is a mountain to climb compared to U21 level.

...that rarely happens so early, but it just might this year. I think Les, Ronald and the Black Box have probably identified their targets long since. Usually by July 1st the doomsayers are tearing their hair out and changing their underwear three times a day....and predicting relegation.

I think the statements (from both sides) are just examples of "political correctness". If Clyne goes to Man.U....it'd his best career move, and he'll get a millionaires contract for 4-5 years. Those chances don't come twice, and we'll never get a better £ price. The ..." were still talking" ..comment sounds similar to Les' comments prior to Pochettino's departure last year, and well... at least he's tried his best to keep him. If Arsenal lose the Cup Final, and we don't qualify for EL, then Clyne won't be the only disappointed player....and he will surely go.

.....which was one very valuable point for us ..and 2 that the Hammers - didn't get. That made a lot of difference at the end of that season with Wham needing to win the play-off to get promotion.

I agree...but I'm not overly impressed by some of the interviewers I've heard this season ....we'll see...if it happens. Maybe we'll sign that Norwegian goalie instead.

I suppose it depends on the criteria you have for " Goal of the Season ".....and which club you support? A candidate from Arsenal, Man.City or Chelsea surely has more "fans" willing to vote for them.... Think perhaps the three points that I would look for would be ; skill, luck or just plain spectacular. There were certainly elements of the first two in Pelle's goal, but Shane long's goal (and being so fresh in the mind).....certainly had an strong element of the third.