david in sweden

I thought Heitinga looked a useful signing when he went to Everton three years ago (?), but now I also see that Jolean Lescott maybe on the move..... are Saints in this equation somewhere..?

your headline is : Has Adkins got anything right since the end of last season... well, he's obviously not been listening to you .. so...are you upset about that ?....or something else ...?

Agreed, but Gazzaniga certainly isn't ...and so why aren't we playing Boruc, then ?......he's more experienced than both the others.

I don't disagree. But it's one thing to speak to a pubload of fans and a posse of "quote-hungry " journalists, but he really should look to choose his words a bit better. I'm sure a well-reasoned viewpoint would get Corteses' attention, but vitriolic outbursts aren't going to be taken seriously at SMS - are they ? I read the Liebherr bid was on the table the end of May 2009, but no-one seemed to take it seriously, and (even with the best of intentions) Pinnacle / MLT continued to verbally abuse other bidders - and that must have got NC's back up. Personally, I'd love them to be able make peace, especially as MLT is also part of the club's history....and the "Puncheon incident" proved that reasonable discussion gets results. As for MLT's " final contract " (your quote).. I know that sadly he was out injured for a large part of the last couple of seasons, and who knows how long he would have continued? Keeping an injury-prone player a season longer, and another season....etc is a difficult decision. I really wish that David Connolly would have been fit ehough for ....maybe ONE more season ..(ah well). I think MLT must have been satisfied and quite well-paid with his earlier salary......at least enough to have refused offers to Spurs etc....when he was playing at his peak.

yes you're correct, it just seemed as though he was around for along time without making any real impact...

.....and the last time we were in the Prem. we were linked with relegation for 27 seasons before it finally happened.....

Mmm.... bit quiet in the office near the end of the year - is it ?

oh I'm sure they / we all did, ...and NO-ONE would doubt his unique contribution to SFC at that time, and we all still love the guy for that. BUT I think the big beef with some people ...ATM...is that the memory of his legendary on-the-pitch performances...doesn't equate with his current on-screen persona...and inflamatory public outbursts. There are still a core of former players who didn't benefit as much as he, and who certainly weren't treated as well by SFC .who still love and support the club through thick and thin.

..........and I suppose, if you took away the free-kicks situations that led to goals too, their goal tally would be even lower..?

...indeed we have, BUT at that level players are still developing and many of those who were so good THEN, are only playing in L1 / L2 / Conference nowadays. Let's not argue phrases like " Academy player " or " Youth team"....but more recently we've had Ollie Lancashire, Harlee Dean, Ryan Tafazoli and Jack Saville on the books at various times before being released. Most of them got a place in L2 / Conference sides, and might make some sort of a living from the game ...but hundereds of others will end up working in a factory or driving a truck for the rest of their life. **absolutely no offence to factory workers or truck drivers who might read this, but how many of these promising teenage talents...never quite made it ?

.and dare we mention it .....but in our latter days in the Prem. 7 or 8 years ago...we had an injury crisis with Five CBs out at one point in time, then suddenly we "discovered " that we still had Chris Baird on the books !

Saints have never had a bias AGAINST foreign players. We can ask ourselves, how did we find out about Ivan Golac, Claus Lundekvam and Marian Pahars? We trust our overseas scouting network to give us good tips and we don't know that NA hasn't watched the player - or do we? . You don't have to be a genius to know what's wrong with the squad, or what we need for back-up.....hundreds of people on this site tell us every week! Because we haven't seen him week in and week out on MOTD / SKY it doesn't mean this player (or another) wouldn't be a good buy. I don't think that Yoshida is a bad buy.....or Ramirez either, but very few of us had ever seen them play very much before, and most of the rest had to go to You Tube to find out who they were. Mayuka may not fit into the scheme of things at present, but a poll published last week placed him as the " highest ranked Saints player in World football " .

These days players are still maturing - even at 21 - only when they've grown a extra couple of inches and put on a stone or so, do they look like a real proposition. (though not Academy)...Aaron Martin moved up from Eastleigh in the Conference South to our first team sqaud and didn't disgrace himself in a dozen or so Championship games, but this loan-out to Palace has done his career prospect some real harm, I still think he has a good future. However, I agree that it takes time to develop a good CB. and people can see there are plenty of mediocre ones around. Both Mills and Crainie looked great at junior level, but the step up to first team (then Prem) level was too much to ask (at that time). Had they stayed after our relegation, they might still have been here. In the cases of Williamson and to some extent Monk, too....they were all here very young and were released prematurely and needed to battle it out in a lower league in order to kick start their careers. The exception was Chris Baird who " happened " to be with our youth set-up at a time of changing managers, and when he got major injuries. He survived the purge of young players, but had to wait 4 years to make his debut, and then was only 4th/5th choice CB. Only in a major injury crisis did Saints discover just how good he was. Two years later he was sold to Fulham for £3 million.......by then he was almost 23. People talk a bit about Jack Stephens, but still only a teenager.....we'll need to have patience for a few years with him - if he is to be a future talent.

me too. Rickie is still a big threat, but he's getting marked out of some games and we have no other established goal-scorer.

nor me, but you should have read some of the critical comments on the recent thread about him......one or two or the " oracles " on here wrote that he wasn't worth his place.......

YES...quite right ... he has 7 goals (incl. 2 pens) but I didn't say he was playing badly.....though watched an interview where he said (he and some of the players) felt a bit out if their depth, and shocked by the pace in the Prem. after those first games. Of course, he's still a good striker.....but 31 isn't 21 is it ? ...... Of course I hope he can go on for another 3 years, but I'm concerned that his "point of no return" is closer than we might think.

YES of course it was, I stand corrected. I was recalling the former Burnley player Colin W...and then, of course (our) Malcolm W. moved there in the mid 1980's.... a bit of brain-fade there......but thanks

Glad to hear you say it, (Charlie) though there have been some caustic comments on here from time to time.

Ken Jones...I actually measured him for a suit ....in my first job! Nice fella' R.I.P.

THX?. Saints Charlie. I enjoy the history.. (and I know some others do, too)... as well as the prospect of the next match. But it's mostly my generation, as history has little interest for many of our younger fans.

Centre halves and goalies always seem hard to find and very few in either position have come through the ranks to play League football....you have to go back a long way to find Bob Charles and Tony Godfreywho were keepers in the late 1950's/ early 60's, although Gerry Gurr (late 1960's) looked a promising candidate until his injury problem..since then we've always bought in good goalies. Although he came to us aged 19, Tim Flowers waited a while until he was able to take up Peter Shilton's place (who on earth would want to be on the bench waiting for him to be dropped?) but he later got his England cap before moving to Blackburn's title-winning side. Most recently Alan Blainey came as a 16 year old (together with Chris Baird)...but only got a few chances, but still managed to win Save-of-the Season (from Alan Shearer) in that 3-3 home game v. Newcastle. Central defenders too have been few....Colin Waldron was pretty useful in the late 1970's (200+ games), as was Manny Adruszewski (100+ games) and Reuben Agboola (100) in the early 80's. Mark Whitlock had a couple of good seasons, although John Gittens was very occasional player during his 6 year stay. Frannie Benali actually played no.5 (as it was then) for most of 94/95 season, as did Jason Dodd a bit later on, but both reverted to their famous FB roles after Claus Lundekvam arrived. Sotonist mentioned Martin Crainie and Matt Mills earlier, and both were outstanding in their junior days, but they were thrown in too early and at a time when we were struggling, and never made it with us. Very few others " came through the ranks " with Saints, although as some of you noted people like Mike Williamson and Ollie Lancashire left without really starting, and had to begin their careers at L1. Ironically, there has never been a shortage of good full backs coming up from the youth sides (I could probably name a dozen in a very short time), but central defenders have never been a strength for SFC. Rather belatedly I recalled Garry Monk, who came aged 16, but spent several years being loaned out all over the place before moving to Swansea in 2004...and has played 200+ games for them, I think. Something extra to look for in the next Academy generation perhaps?

..and this disturbs me most.....De Ridder should have been the guy, but he never seemed to fulfill his early promise in the Championship and certainly doesn't look like Prem. material at present.

Good point !........other than Rodriguez, Sharp is the only player likely to pick up half-chances in the box. Guly is good for nuisance value in attack, but little else.