david in sweden

..ouch !....you may be in line for a yellow card for simulation....

indeed ...and of course, Jamie Ward-Prowse.......

well not quite, especially considering that she passed away in 2001

.......looks like this one is done and dusted ...with only a small fine. but even if there were to be a re-think, and they were punished harder.....and Sunderland were to lose one point, but it wouldn't necessarily mean we would be awarded the other two.

It does look encouraging - doesn't it..but the real test will be to watch the step-up from U21 side..... into the Prem.and be good enough to keep their place (ala Shaw). Sadly...not every one will turn into a Lallana, Shaw or Chambers...but we can hope it's enough to save us spending £15-20 million every time we need to replace someone. meanwhile .....good Luck Josh.

Looking at the start date....I hope this thread stays here FOREVER.....if for no other reason than it will go to remind those " knockers " who so easily dismiss our recent history. Older fans will recall that it took almost 50 years for us to get in the top division....the first time around (1966).....and the next generation that watched Saints stay there for 27 consecutive seasons. You can praise Ted Bates, Lawrie McMenemy ...and whoever you like, but the fact of the matter is we have the basis for a successful club for the next 27 seasons, and if our Academy continues to turn out the talent..... perhaps without spending hundreds of millions to stay there, either. Along the way we may see the demise of Chelsea (after Abrahamovic ditches them in one of his fits of anger), and Spurs and Man.U are relegated to become average mid-table sides that we beat regularly. Goodness I feel really good after that rant. Here's to the future ....let's never forget 2009 or Marcus Liebherr.

.........can't you just hear Pellegrini preparing his after match interviews ....(after we beat MC) .... well .....we did have Aguero out and NN was suspended...and we were unlucky with the penalty ....and their third goal certainly looked like it was off-side from my seat on the bench.... .....and don't let's forget those classic " bad day at the office " excuses. When is someone going to honestly stand up and say that when we win against good teams..it's because we were better. Yeah,Yeah Manuel...we've heard it before....from worse managers than you and especially in those clubs that don't have the £400 million squad that you have to choose from. Every Saints fan knows that on the day ..we're a match for anyone. Let's hope tomorrow we'll get the result we want and put all those lame excuses to bed and get real recognition.

....perhaps it's a permanent deal that will take Lee Barnard to Southend...and we keep the lad - as yet another goalie......or maybe we will loan them one of our surplus keepers for a season? ......or ?...........or ?

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well, they can't all be a Luke Shaw - can they ? ......good luck Isaac.

think that there is some element of good PR involved in deals that help to build an overseas fan base ... .....and signing star players from Asia like... Tadanari Lee and Yoshida .....and African players; Mayuka and Wanyama.....creates interest in their countries. even swapping one Polish goalie (Biakowski) for another (Boruc) must have gone some way to pleasing some of the Polish inhabitants in the city. NO ! ...I'm not suggesting we have bought players strictly on lines of nationality, but it does help create " interest " in their home country to have players in a Prem.side - even if they don't play every week. Noted that Man.Utd. signed a number of Asian players in the past and it must have helped sell a few shirts in Seoul and Tokyo on the strength of it.....

historical stats I've seen show that 1 in 3 is about average for the average Prem. striker. So far this season Jay Rod has surpassed that, and Rickie isn't far off . as for the £27 million debt on transfers, I'm assuming that it is not overdue debts that we have defaulted on , but outstanding payments yet to be made.. at some future date. As far as I'm aware very few deals are all cash up front, but are period instalments paid over a number of years.

in business - don't pay bills until you absolutely have to. The money is better off in your bank account than the " other guy's ". interesting figs. on commercial income. £6.7 million....perhaps this was the area that Ralph Kreuger was referring to when he spoke about the club having huge potential in marketing.(?) There may well be some " red figures " for a season or two more.... whilst we still have players in the club who were bought on long contracts when we were in L1 / Championship, yet don't play any more.

Why is it that some of our contributors are the first to remind us how good Adam Lallana is ..and then criticise him for " not being fit enough " to finish a 90 minute game.? there aren't many "slackers " in our squad, but Adam puts in a good shift in almost every game. He certainly seems to cover more ground than most and often scores " classy goals ". There is no point in playing him for 95 minutes in a tough game and chance a freak injury, when there are fresh legs on the bench who CDAJFU just as well. Stats. show that midfielders cover more ground than the average and are subbed more than others (injuries excepted). Lallana is no exception to this. Strikers who aren't playing well are often subbed, as too are those who've done their bit and don't need to play out the entire game just to please a few moaners who think they " aren't fit ". PLUS : the psychological effect of a player (who's had a good game) going off to a standing ovation cannot be underestimated, nor the chance for a younger player / occasional sub. getting a few minutes game time near the end of the match. .........and another stat. will show that Adam has actually played out the full game 14 times this season.

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you can be fairly certain we won't be sixth on the list next weekend, most likely first - especially if we get points there.

this whole deal is a win-win situation for saints. If he goes to Brazil (as looks likely) his price will increase even more. There are quite a few players I'd like us to keep ..and Shaw is one of them, but for £30 mill.......I'd think very hard about it (and I'd expect that Luke would too). If he does go, make sure we get a 25% cut of any sell-on !

as I recall ...our form dropped badly soon after Gordon Strachan was appointed as even some of the English players couldn't understand him.

as someone who has spent the last 30 years (trying) to help people conquer the vagaries of the English Language (in Sweden) this is the very point I'd tried to make - on several occasions in the past ......to impatient fans who insist that our manager must speak English to the media. Most importantly... the players understand what he say (in training) and what is necessary to do in matches. His job is to train the players, and he seems to manage that OK, and I for one I prefer to see interviews with players, as I'm sure many other do. The club is performing as well as it has done in the last 30 years, and I for one don't care if MP goes another 2 years without uttering a word in English. Not everyone has a talent for languages and his obviously lie in other areas. If he did start to try and speak English ...it might well prove to be embarrassing for both him and the club. My Spanish is improving a little by listening to him and it seems to me that (like those before him)...he has a limited vocabulary when it comes to answering obvious questions about team perfomances. I'm a bit disappointed you had to bring this up yet AGAIN, Glasgow, I thought this subject had been done to death already. Let it alone - can't you..

their keeper (Elliott) won't play many better games than that. In the first half (Saints 15 shots - 0), he saved everything we threw at him and was their MOM by a mile. Their defence was non-existent and we exploited it in every attack. Pardew must have really suffered, watching from the stands as he did. If we'd got into double figures it would have been deserved.

....time runs away quickly, and any young player who hasn't made an impression in the first team squad will surely be out of the door by the time they reach 21. Those with good prospects, like Stephens on loan to Swindon will need to make a real impact in L1 otherwise they won't be in contention for a Prem.spot in the future. Obviously, most fans want to retain the services of Shaw and Chambers (who must be on a par with Clyne now) and JWP is still gets some outings. But what if (some of them) were to move? If the talent is as good as it's cracked up to be, would it be such a bad thing for Shaw to go to Chelsea or Real ..for £30 mill...or more ? and will Schneiderlin ever get to play for Wenger at Arsenal?. My personal take on this is obvious - I'd want them to stay, and have long careers with Saints, but then the lads on the " Academy conveyor belt " will be surplus to requirements in just a few years. Gareth Bale said (in interview) that it was only a dream, but he could never see himself playing for Real..but the money must have helped him decide and he doesn't look out of place beside Ronaldo. The final decisions will be those players ..who want top class Euro football, and the club who (despite not needing to sell)... may get an offer they can't refuse. Meanwhile, the likes of Gallagher, Reed, McQueen and Targett will be warming the bench in anticipation of " their chance to make a name for themselves " before it's too late.

Absolutely. Always puts in a good shift - even if some don't rate him as a " star player "

he needs games but ....if he doesn't become a stand-out player at Posh, he won't have much future at SMS.

YES YES, but we are working with young talents just coming out of the U21/ U18 sides and stepping into the Prem. It'll take time. I think MP is on the right track in trying to develop talented teenagers rather than trying to coach errors / problems out of " established mavericks " even if they do have international backgrounds already.

(Aside from Man City), Chelsea has the best squad in depth in the Prem...and if they go further in CL..in Europe. Mourinho can choose who he likes ..and still field a successful side ....and even afford to sell players like Sturridge and Mata.