david in sweden

I agree with your basic comments, I find a lot of Swedish fans (I've been living here 30 years btw)..chose their " favourite team " when watching Saturday televised games on TV - as long ago as the 1970's. I've have (Swedish) colleagues who are avid fans of Chelsea, and Liverpool ...who are equally knowledgeable and fervent as any fan at.. the Bridge or Anfield and even fly over to watch games sometimes. (As for me ..I was born in So'ton and supported them from my junior school days and lived less than a mile from The Dell until my move here, but am no less of a fan than I was then - perhaps more so). As for your example of " Swiss Air " (above)..I note that Arsenal have some pretty big name sponsors (and a stadium to match) - even though they've haven't won a major title in almost 10 years. Overseas sponsorship is more than just selling shirts and it's easy to " drum-up " new fans for a successful club. With a developing market in USA / Canada, we may gain quite a few fans with " Anglo " family backgrounds, too.

well.....give or take a few £million, perhaps

I don't think ANY fee would break the Liebherr bank though - would it ?

agree.....but a mere £21 mill.....might buy his right boot, but not his left. IF he ever goes it'll be a record fee for a full back.

well giving a 17 year old keeper a pro. contract suggests to me they have longer term plans for him. Can't be sure about the others. I wasn't suggesting that ANY of them was a likely replacement for Boruc, but having half-a-dozen others doesn't give any of them much game time, (and then only U21 at best). I've been campaigning for a second quality keeper since we came up from the Championship. I hope we will sign a good (international) second string keeper, but that will mean 8 keepers which is daft:lol: Some Prem. sides have 3 international keepers and only Nigel Adkins thought KD ws a Prem.standard keeper....and that Gazzaniga would be a good back-up. Clearly neither is the case. Someone / two will have to go if the rest are to be allowed to develop.

football-wise, you're not far wrong. Season start is in April ....and then the quality isn't much better than Championship level.

now you're talking...........

Now we have signed young Harry Isted......this makes SEVEN keepers on the books. Boruc is (obviously) first choice keeper, and what we've seen in the last 18 months neither the dedicated KD, or Gazzaniga are likely to seriously challenge him in the future. Cody Cropper is USA's U21 keeper and was called up for their first team squad in the last game. Any jokes about American " Soccer " are unnecessary. He has played in a rota with the others named below in the " Development Squad / U21s" and was unfortunate enough to be between the posts in some of their biggest defeats (not apportioning blame, btw) Chris Johns originally came as a N.I. U17 keeper and has played well in U18/U21 games, and looks a good prospect. Will Britt U18 keeper has been around a while, but is now out on loan to a Conference side ..(Bognor)? I think Harry Isted impressed even as a 16 year-old, now plays regularly for Doddsy's U18's and has come on well enough to be given a pro-contract at 17. As I am not alone in saying that we need to sign ANOTHER international keeper to challenge for / cover the first team squad, they'll need to be " a bit of sorting out" to do in the summer, methinks. Having EIGHT keepers on the books would be more than a joke.

No panic, with so many good prospects up and coming in the Academy, those lads (around 20 y.o.) who have completed their time and been given an extra year have something to prove - and quickly. Unlike those " so-called big clubs " who loan out a dozen or more lads (did I read 23 by Chelsea)?, it's important to see if they cope with lower league games because if they can't ....there's no future for them. Luke Shaw and Calum Chambers have set the standard and all those youngsters know that if they don't impress....it'll be a fond farewell by August. ( ala Reeves and Hoskins last season.) Isgrove has played U21 for Wales and got a call-up for the full squad last time, but not got off the bench yet. A few goals /or/ assists for Posh in the next month will mark his card one way or another. Good, young, central defenders are harder to find than left wingers and now that Stephens has a 4 year pro-contract, Saints will want to see if he'll be replacing someone like Jos / Yoshida on the bench, or whether we go out and find a " Lovren clone " to give us depth in the sqaud and cover for eventual injuries, and keep Stephens around for another year or two and see if he can break into the squad. I don't think such loan-outs goes against Reed's statement, but when the old guard finish up their contracts in the summer, there will l be lots of places in the squad to fill... and they'll all be 21 or under.

I think people might read different things into that, but I take it to mean that we won't be spending money on a scale of Chelsea or Man.City, but having to follow new FIFA rules we must " cut our clothes according to our cloth" and not spend more than we earn. Kreuger said there was much potential in the commercial area. If we can develop the commercial side a bit more (especially overseas) then we'll generate more money to work with. Also if we continue to produce the high quality Academy players there will be an eventaul market in transfers to other clubs, as no matter how many " Lallana's and Shaw's" are produced in the future.... we can still only field 11 players at a time. Putting aside the "big names " being bandied about at present, quite a lot of those " released " from the Academy in recent years have found comfortable placements in other club sides - even if they don't always come directly into the Prem. from Day 1.

perhaps only because they don't have a billionaire who owns them...?

yes he did . .....but I don't think he said all that on his first day in the job.

Agreed, but every man (and woman) to their job. But Cortese knew a bit about money and organisation and put the club back on track....even if he did it without winning many friends.

oh! now that's going to upset that dozen or so on here who were just waiting for her to sell - out and then to say....... I told you so .........

and very glad we were to hear it, and pleased that Katharina Liebherr listened to your advice. Good tip:thumbup:

funny comment that? .....perhaps he means .......that it's easier against teams below us in the League..

looks like we may have to settle for 8th or 9th position anyway, but interestingly .......5 of the remaining 9 fixtures are against the teams directly above us in the League. putting together a string of good results could make a world of difference before we meet Man.U at the end of the season? Anyone know the odds?

What's all this about Ralph Kreuger - new chairman ? ........well according to The Telegraph anyway. Not the first chairman we've had who isn't " football " but someone who highly sport-oriented and has a world-famous reputation as a leader and motivator. So full steam ahead ....and s*d it with the offside law .....what's all this about the blue line, Ralph ?

Might look good on paper, but I don't think Bournemouth will ever collect a penny on this deal.

Don't know how long ago those goals were?...but ..an experienced Italian international, (OK he's 31).....but no-one will expect him to play all 38 games for a full 90-minutes.....would they? He won't get a 4 year contract, but a good "goal poacher " who won't get yellow-carded everytime he scores (keep your shirt on Fabio)...though his boot-marks might tear up the SMS pitch a little. YES - why not for ONLY £2 million - it's a snip (that was probably Osvaldo's signing-on fee) ....just as long as he's not another " diva " and doesn't mind the rough and tumble of the Premier League. If it's going to bring the Juve / Osvaldo deal nearer to closure then .. SIGN HIM UP !

win the Cup ? ........not if we met Arsenal again we wouldn't. I really think we have the worst record (against them) of any club in the League.

not in the top bracket admittedly, but ANYONE who can score against Barca is surely going to have some sort of a reputation for the rest of his career.

I considered that those spectacular, dare I say ..unforgettable goals that made the headlines are often an exception rather than the rule and have cost is a lot of money and stress over the years. I can go back to the infamous sale of Martin Chivers (to Spurs) and part-ex deal with us signing Frank Saul (a Cup Final goalscorer with Spurs) -- alas he was less than brilliant with Saints. Later ...we had the oft-repeated tale of Charlie George. Arsenal's darling and one-time Cup Final hero.. his rather short stay with us was both expensive and embarrassing to recall. Let's move onto ...Agustin Delgado .....(now don't cringe). Equadorian international striker who had a hot season and scored goals against Brazil - no less. However, Gordon Strachan was less impressed. More recently there was Tadanari Lee's extra time winner for Japan in the Asian Cup. Unfair to judge him on a few Saints performances before his bad injury, but a sad ending to that story nevertheless. Few people will argue that Danny Osvaldo's goal v. Man City earlier this season was a masterpiece, but what about the rest of his rather short time with us? ....not worth many extra lines on here. Which (sadly) brings us to Victor Wanyama. Playing in an above average Celtic side, scored that historic goal against Barca in Champions League and was famous overnight, and his value rocketed. Most players who are in a good side[/b)....also look good...as did Victor along with half-a dozen others in our Autumn whirlwind start, but am I being too critical to suggest that his wonder goal may have clouded our judgement in laying out £12 million for his services? It's not the £12 million I'm concerned about so much (the Liebherrs can afford that) but does he really look Premiership standard ?........... I do hope he improves and becomes worth his place because since his return, he has looked a little less than average to me, and we don't need any more passengers our rather small present squad. When we gasp at the sight of such amazing goals, does it seem to colour our judgement when we eventually buy that player and expect him to repeat the exercise every other week?. Older fans will recall that fantastic Brian O'Neil left-footed effort from distance, but he was never going to repeat it, though he tried often enough....and we had to wait years for Frannie Benali's ONLY goal ------and though everyone admits it was a class strike - but (sadly) would never to be seen again. Let's try and keep some perspective in future and look at goals in total.....rather than from distance ...before we start to acclaim a great goalscorer and then pay out a fortune to sign him.

in that aspect I agree. He is tough in the tackle and presents " a strong physical presence "...... but his final pass is often poor and doesn't find his teammates. Jack Cork was much better, but that's a bit academic now as JC will be out for several weeks and so it's up to Victor to get his act together and fight for his place...(without being yellow carded too often)

far better away than I thought (W6 D4 L5 goals 18-16) though don't think we could have done much better, but the home games have let us down (W5 D5 L4 goals 21-19) couldn't see us getting 3 points from the Chelsea or Tottenham games, and too many drawn games at home. We gave up at HT v. Liverpool, but those 5 home draws have cost us. Should have done better from Sunderland, Stoke and West Ham games. Never seen such total domination (77%) v. Villa, but we still managed to lose. If you think we should have been higher in the table, then it's those lost 10 points at home that caused it.