david in sweden

think you're being a bit hard on him, Glasgow. Rickie was 32 on 16th February...and has scored 8 league goals already this season (plus 1 in FA Cup).......there aren't too many other strikers of his age who are still playing regularly in the Prem. and scoring. As for being disinterested (18th January quote).......he has now scored 2 goals in the last 4 games, and we don't know if he's carrying an injury ..or not...and no-one's going to admit to that - are they ? His career surely has a short shelf life, but I don't think he's ready for the scrapheap yet, unless he sustains a serious injury.

Oh no .......this could only be in a soap opera - couldn't it . Can we change the subject ?

presenting your employer with an ultimatum, and saying - or else ! ... isn't the same as " getting the sack" in my book. It's like bluffing in poker....and losing. I'm still not sure whether (he thought) he was the King ...or the Joker.

.......Cortese was a visionary, but an impatient one who thought it was simpler to sack people who made mistakes..... instead of trying to motivate them to do better. (that's the key difference).

amid all the media hype with his signing, I seem to recall that his WAG was pregnant at that time. QUESTION: Has she had the baby yet?....and if so ....was it born in England? .......if so, it might qualify to play for Engla**.....Oops:blush: NO sorry, don't think I'll pursue that one......

Now wait a minute..we're already on page 2 of this thread....and you're suggesting we should sign a top striker who; will like the club, fit in with the ethos of the present squad....AND score goals, too:lol: What a question ...... Do you think you're asking a load of experts or something? Some of this lot are ready to burn their season ticket in protest that we aren't already 5 points clear at the top of the Prem. .........and you're asking about NEXT SEASON? ........Nice idea, but don't expect too many sane suggestions. I bet no-one gets the right answer.

.......is there any credence in the suggestion that designing a shirt..... that the majority of the fans might like ......and possibly want to buy .....could be a profitable arguement? NO .....sorry ....Tuesday is common sense day in my house.

of course ....Thanks. Curse ...my arthritic finger...

I'm not arguing your point here, Saints Billy.......but I thought it was ....get to the Prem. in 5 years.?...or am I wrong ? ...if he re-newed the challenge to...Champions League in 5 years, maybe I missed that, but looking back 5 years...I'm amazed at where we were then ....but looking forward 5 years is equally difficult. Can we EVER become that good ?.....However, for the time being ..(and despite those periodically disappointing results)..every time I look at the Prem.table.. I marvel that we survived the first season. But, many of our performances seem to indicate that we are on the right track and are " a bit better " than the average Prem. side in the bottom half who are all struggling for survival, but in some respects getting into the top 4 will be a lot harder than getting out of L1 was.....and we'll need a squad of 25 (with similar qualities) that won't raise a groan from fans when someone needs to be subbed / replaced. That'll be toughest challenge of all.

Although I'm in the generation that was old enough to see and enjoy that victory in 1966, ......in some perverse way, I think it was a pity that we did;) .......because ever since generations of fans have come to think that we are some sort of world power in football and see that as a sort of substitute for us losing the Empire. Of course I'd like to see England do well .......I still have my British passport.......but as long as OUR Premier League is dominated by foreign players, we'll have to wait a bit longer, (or at least until the rest of our Academy can make it past the U21s and qualify for England's first team).

......you mean someone DID actually walk on the Moon. .... I thought that was all a Hollywood stunt..... like in Capricorn One.

well I stand by my comments. Possession is one thing, but if 25 shots can't produce more than one goal, then maybe we should revert to long ball tactics as Wham did.

I'm inclined to agree with you on that on. Whilst it was good to see his very physical style of play, and good tackling skills....I was a little disappointed in that several times he was slow to pass and got caught in possession ....and his final passes were often a very poor standard, and as a midfielder I was expecting a few goals from him. I hope he doesn't come into the category of players who score one or two really outstanding goals (his was. v Barcelona) and then fail to produce anything afterwards. Don't get me wrong; I like his style, but I hope he's been able to improve in other ways since his recent injury lay-off.

......at U21 level ?.......who did you have in mind ?

Well said Dalek. .....a lot of people on here expect us to be pushing Chelsea and Citeh....even Arsenal as title contenders and are disappointed ..(dare I say appauled)...at the thought that we are only 9th.... if they have any memory...or even some perspective..they'd see that they didn't achieve overnight success...and some of them had to fight a few seasons to even get in the frame, yet alone win something. The only trophy Arsenal have won in the last 9 years is probably the Marcus Liebherr Cup. Looking back a year or two (oh I know-shut up) I'm quite surprised that we are where we are, but thankful that we're not facing the relegation struggle that newly-promoted sides face in the first season or two. Improvement to be made - OF COURSE !....... but it'll take a season or two more before our promising Academy products become the world class stars that everyone seems to be predicting.

....after all the threads claiming that Katarina Liebherr " isn't football ".... (lets hop over the gender question).....and then appointed herself Chairman /Owner, she does seem to be taking a very personal interest in what was for her (previously) ...very strange territory. TV cameras have picked her out in the stands watching several of Saints' recent games and she really does seem to be taking things seriously....even if a few of the results have been disappointing. Her recent appointment of Ralph Krueger, a masterful " encourager " and world class motivator, was her personal choice and it remains to be seen what other surprises she will spring on us soon.....? One thing seems fairly certain though.....it doesn't look as though she will sell-off the club in the near future, (as many of the " Jonah's " on here have been predicting), and seems to be honouring her late father's wishes and is showing increasing interest, at a time when it would surely have been much easier to sell-up and get out.

exactly ....now you've got it.

I think sometimes we read too much into selections like this. It's obviously easier to introduce Gallagher and Reed into the side if Calum is part of the squad, and I'm sure the coach know his ability already, but likewise he is only 19 and it may be the last chance for them to see some other U21 prospects before they get " too old ". Once Reed and Gallagher " settle in " to the U19s.... I'd expect to see Chambers become a regular in the U21 set-up again.

As someone who appreciates the value of studying a few stats. I compliment you Rasiak-9 . It's pretty clear that we are capable of lots of possession, AND creating lots of chances but without necessarily scoring lots of goals. and so I've looked at a few stats. myself. Those 10 games (clean sheet wins)..we scored 19 goals from a total of 132 shots. (roughly speaking) only 1 goal every 7 shots. Whilst the majority were scored by RL, Jay Rod or AL...it's still a low %. our AVERAGE possession in those games was 57% - 43% and our defence restricted the opposition to only 91 shots. (Also noted that Artur Boruc was goalie in 9 of those 10 games). I looked at those 8 games we lost...where 3 of the lost games were at home. ...we had even more than (AVERAGE) possession. 59%-41%.....yet managed only 7 goals (from 114 shots), whilst conceding 20 goals from only 83 shots by opponents. Anyone who saw the Villa game at SMS will have suffered the worst...... we had 77% possession during the game and managed 21 shots against their 6 efforts, but still lost 2-3 Boruc was goalie in 4 lost games and we conceded 9 goals, and whilst he was out injured .....Gazzaniga and KD let in 11 between them in 4 lost games. If you're looking to blame defenders.......? Both Fonte and Lovren featured in 6 games each either partnered together or with Yoshida and /or Hooiveld (2 games each). So we might conclude that our excellent full backs.....all look great going forward, but haven't learned all the finer points of defending yet. It does seem that despite the attacking fervour, we tend to go to pieces after conceding - Saturday at WHam was a perfect example. 69-31 possession, 25 shots against their 10 ...lost 1-3. What we do lack is the " extra " goal tally that should be coming from our midfielders. so far in 27 games Steve Davis has scored 2, Schneiderlin 1 but neither Wanyama or Cork has scored at all. Our centrebacks are much better, with Fonte having scored 3, Lovren 2 and Yoshida 1. CONCLUSION : lots of possession - even in losing games, .....more shots (in some cases many more) than the opposition but very poor with on-target shooting. SO TELL ME SOMETHING NEW Perhaps they really do need Ralph Kreuger to help out in the " confidence department."

Motivation is about "setting goals " having a vision and finding the correct message(s) to encourage people (in this case - the players) who are undoubtedly benefitting from MP's training methods, but perhaps RK will be help take us to the next level - whereas MP surely lacks some of the sort of vocabulary that Kreuger has used so successfully in the past in so many areas.

typical low class journalism, by baiting the interviewee with a " loaded question...".. its not about getting information, ideas or comment, butmerely " fabricating a headline " for tomorrows story.. the next "newssource " to print that story will upgrade it even more into a major story and have a photo of him buying an airline ticket to Paris...yeah, yeah...

hey ....this is one of those " joke threads " - right ? .......

We do seem to deal in " funny money " fees nowadays, but historically very few of our high-end signings have delivered the goods.....especially strikers....and I'm looking back over 30 years in saying that.

Agreed....(for 30 minutes)....though unless he's still carrying an injury .....I'd like to see him play out a few 90 minute games.......