david in sweden

Fair point, but Les Reed is one of the longest-standing members of the Board of the (old Cortese grouping) ....and the only one who is really " football". Could Ralph Kreiger decide who to sell / sign ? It would really surprise me if LR didn't know who was on the way in / out. Of course salaries and fees are a matter for the CEO to decide, but none of them (least of all KL) knows much about the game.

Eh?......... yes but we can only use one keeper at a time, and in the event of another injury situation...we need a class goalie available (on the bench) to replace him...otherwise we're back to Gazza and KD. At present..... there is no competition for Boruc to go up against. We must have at least one top class man. Arsenal have THREE international keepers, as do Chelsea and Spuds.

that we ONLY finished 8th ..here are a couple of reasons that may give an explanation. Artur Boruc kept goal in 28 PL games...of which we won 14, drew 9 and lost only 5. (we conceded only 24 goals.) points gained 51. AB was out for 10 games through injury and KD and Gazzaniga stood instead and we won just ONCE...drew 2 and lost 7. (we conceded 20 goals) points gained 5 (lost 23.) Despite all his detractors it seems apparant that without (any other consistant keeper to replace him) ....Artur does do the job well. No-one can predict how many points we MIGHT have got had he been available for those "missing " 10 games...but I'd suggest it would have been more than 5. Of course ...losing Jay Rod just when he was really on form didn't help either. In the last 7 games (without him) we managed only 5 goals and 2 of those courtesy of Everton. (Rickie 3). Key players make all the difference.....something we'd do very well to remember... if we don't have suitable stand-bys next season.

Hear, Hear ! .... IF Les Reed was telling the truth, (I have no reason to doubt otherwise) ...then bids, offers or whatever for whoever would most likely started to come in after Sunday's game. I do not expect SFC to publish every bid / counter bid and telephone call they get concerning palyers. If we are really prepared to let player x go, and/or they ask to leave, then it's a different matter. The new season doesn't start until August, and if I was a Prem. manager looking to fork out £20-30 million for a player .....I'd like to see him come back from the World Cup ....UN-INJURED first. PATIENCE Echo !....I'm sure most fans don't feel as stupidly arrogant as your sports writer.

wasn't there some story that the pipes /equipment for undersoil heating were installed when SMS was built.....but never fully connected up .....? .......or ?

Me too, Snore ! Snore ! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

there has to be segregation......but isn't there some stipulation from the League that we must supply min. 5 % seats to away fans?.. ......of course....Man.City /Utd, and Liverpool have more travelling fans...but (back to segregation)...it surely needs more than half-a-dozen seats in each row in order to to separate the two fan groups. .......that means we are going to fall short of the potential max. attendance all the time. The (actual) ground record was in an international match when segregation wasn't required.

Exactly.....just signing someone else's successful personnel doesn't mean it will work somewhere else. MP was signed because of his past experience in bringing on young players.....that takes more than one season.....maybe 3 or 4 - but what would he do with Spurs' squad of £100 million rejects? methinks Spurs wouldn't be so patient with him after their time with AVP.

Have we peaked ?.........with this current squad ....perhaps. we'll all be sorry to see any one of our favourites leave, but if Adam stays another 5 years then the likes of JWP, Harry Reed & Co. will never get a look in. I think we also have to respect Adam's wishes.....IF ...he want a move, then he has deserved it as much as anyone. Get the feeling that if Pochettino signs a new contract, then he has the last word on who goes or stays.....

....are you sure it wasn't .......28 million? Any advance on 28 ....anyone ?

By tomorrow afternoon we'll all be out of our misery....when we hear Roy's verdict.....then I suppose we'll have another thread started by people who claim to have guessed 21, 22 or 23 correct. ......then they'll be 6-8 weeks of people's opinions about WHY Roy is wrong to take ..." so-and-so" and not A.N.OTHER..... ......followed by the one after we exit the competition .....explaining why Roy got it wrong. BORING !...roll on August !

is that before or after Bournemouth get their share of the fee?.....if so they can buy a half a team for that .....

perhaps "someone " discovered who he / they really were and they were banned or sacked.?

Looks promising, but even so there is a lot of difference between L1 ..and having to go up against Prem. strikers every week. Still I'm pleased for Jack that he's had the experience. In many years as a fan, I've noticed that the most difficult positions for young player to fill are..... goalkeepers.. and central defenders. In fact looking back several decades the numbers of young CB's who've had good starts and a good career can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Mark Wright comes to mind, but then it takes lot of thought....if Jack is to be the new star .....let's hope this time we've found a good' un.

in the Championship season, he and Fraser Richardson were phenomenal as attacking fullbacks, and supplied about a dozen assists EACH. Sadly, when moving up a level he was found out and his defensive shortcomings became apparant, although to be fair..he wasn't the only one. However, not every player is born to be a Prem. footballer but he played his part at the right time. Good luck Danny.

Brighton v. Derby tonight. ...always had a soft spot for Derby, but never liked Brighton that much.....(even if they are closer geographically). Not too bothered either way, but if Brighton do get up....it'll be good to beat them once in a while.....or, for as long as they stay up.

Many people are quoting that old adage......."you can't win anything with kids", but Spuds signed SEVEN players for £105 million** - just to prove you can't " buy instant success " either. ......and after collecting the £86 mill. for Bale.... they sold another SEVEN for a total of .....just £30 million. NOTE: ** I wonder what their wage bill is after all those new signings ?

well I don't suppose Marcus left his billions to the RSPCA - did he ?

I suppose he travelled down to Pompey with a bag over his head to safeguard his anonimity ....still all in a good cause Adz....well done.

Maybe our finances ..(and the size of transfer fees)... isn't SO important as it has been in the past for us, but it's nice to get value for money. If we buy someone (for big money) and he doesn't deliver - isn't it the fault of the club (in the first instant) for laying out so much, and overestimating the player's ability to adapt to the Prem..? 1)..In our situation, we'd be best getting a slightly older, but experienced (international player of repute) who knows what it is to win something, and is still good enough to cut it for a season or two more. Someone (along the lines of another Steve Davis) who can also give extra support to the up-and-coming youngsters, yet still turn in his shift. If you were around in the McMenemy era, you'll recall that the likes of Osgood, Alan Ball and Keegan were a great source of encouragement to the our " starlets" of that generation. 2) Also getting in " rising stars " from other clubs / countries... who are still young enough to adapt to the Saints style.....without bringing their " prima-donna halo " along with them. TBH on this point....I'm disappointed in Ramirez but not surprised at Osvaldo. But it can work and Jay Rod, Schneiderlin and Cork are examples of players who stuck at it and became part of the team. Another old quote (going back even further) was Ted Bates' annual comment about ......" getting the right blend of youth and experience".. In that respect ...little has changed.

OUCH ! ....highly cynical (Charlie Wayman) .....but funny, too .

Aha...so you mean player(s) that we pay a fortune for, but who only play a couple of dozen games ...?

not having given this a lot of thought so far, there does seem to be both pro's and con's ...some of which have been presented already. Though, it's still a bit like having a Reserve team. it's unlikely that there are going to be lots more JWPs, Calum Chambers or Luke Shaw's emerging every season, but if a player reaches 21 ..and has made little / no impact of the first team squad... ..... their future tends to look a bit limited, and they will go the way of Sam Hoskins, Ben Reeves and Lloyd Isgrove... fairly promising Academy graduates who ....never quite made the transition upwards, ......and they will only get games by joining a smaller club and maybe dropping a couple of divisions. just now we " loan out " promising lads to get League experience in the hope they'll improve sufficiently to stay on. Jack Stephens is a prime example just now. (goalies and CBs take longer to develop). Most will have been at the club from age 16 ..and in many cases much earlier...which means by the time they get to 21, but it ought to be possible to make a fairly calculated judgement of their ability. Those who don't make it, will eventually move on to L1/L2 / Conference sides anyway ...whereas a permanent "B team" would provide better class opposition, and in a league against older, experienced pro's and not just another clubs " teenagers "....(no matter how good they may be). The benefit being they would still train and under contract to SFC, but able to move to a " higher level squad " without too much paperwork. It would also avoid losing players who are " late developers " . Though not so recent; Garry Monk was unfortunate enough to be on the books at a time we had successive top class CB's and had several loan-outs before making a career with Swansea. Chris Baird was another such example....and (thankfully) Chelsea never seemed to find a place for Jack Cork who was loaned out countless times before finally joining us. ( Older fans will want to forget the cases of Dennis Wise and Kevin Phillips.) Young players who don't make the grade by their 21st birthday would at least still get regular games, and certainly command a fee if / when transferred to another club (hopefully with a sell-on clause). .....to that extent it's a win-win situation. Certainly an idea worth developing, I think....as long as the project doesn't get too bureaucratic.

.......and a thousand times NO, .....besides he won't play for England again - will he ?

...think I'd have Ron Davies (R.I.P.) ...at the top of my list .....