david in sweden

if I were buying.... that's just the sort of person I'd want to be negotiating for me. Not just to sit there, smile and hand over the cheque. They usually win in the end.

I think you may have overlooked the fact that the transfer fees for our Academy lads start at around £10-£12 million,(plus add-ons naturally)...assuming that we sell them. Arsenal will not have forgotten their game of strip poker with Nicola Cortese the last time they wanted to buy one of our players. Luke Shaw has a better chance of becoming a regular at SMS than he does at the Emirates. If Arsenal comes "sniffing around " as you put it, they might as well go and sniff their own A*se, 'cos for once... we don't need their money ..and future deals may prove very costly for them.

I'd go along with 99% of that CHAPEL.. except I think there is more mileage in Guly than some people think. Some players play better in good company, and if Guly has anything at all in him , we may see it this season. Of course at 30, in this League, his shelf life is a lot shorter than many others, but we may be pleasantly surprised with some of his performances.

.....good also to see that Saints didn't pursue that particular deal to a doomed conclusion, especially when their manager was talking £18 million at one stage. I stand by my original comments on #601, two weeks ago

they were at least coherent, (which I obviously something I lacked when I wrote it). But that was the point I was trying to make, I think all three made interesting listening when interviewed.

it's not difficult to criticise Rupert Lowe, I've done it myself on this site a few times, but ; the evil that men do lives on, the good is often interred with there bones .....OK I stole that from Shakespeare I know The one interesting, and perhaps most telling part of that article was R.L's statement on forming the Academy. " we didn't select players on footballing ability, we selected them on athleticism and intelligence - we thought we could do the rest ourselves ". Although it took several years before we had the likes of Proust and Jennings to really make the concept work, watching the passage of; Walcott, Bale, Alex O-C... and now the current crop headed by JWP, it's good to see an interview with players who can talk about the game in realistic terms are aren't restricted to mono-syllabic utterances, liberally interspersed with slang /swear words. some interesting interview material can be found on You Tube with the above-mentioned trio.

....if it's your neighbour's milkman again - forget it, ( he's probably a Pompey fan anyway - poor s*d)

Is there anyone else who was impressed by this lad's Prem. debut game ? - I was, even if there was only 50-odd mins. of it. Obviously, Rickie's subbing made the difference in that game, but there were enough signs to show he has a real future... if he shows the one over-riding factor in his game - consistency.

only if you type QUIETLY, and don't write anything controversial ... (some of these contributors have over 10,000 posts and are awake 24/7).

yes I saw that, too BUT according to the Express -two hours later ....it might still be ....... (No!.. I can't stand anymore of this, give me an Asprin, or a cyanide pill ).

..or is it a full moon behind all that cloud ?

..it could even become a whole new chapter in the next Hagiography "" History of the Saints " - along with the Charlie George deal and the Skacel saga. What about it... Duncan/ Gary?

so-called " rich clubs " can afford to dictate terms, and often get over the odds for their players. Clubs who are desperate often make ridiculous demands in the name of preservation. The Davis deal took time because, having gone bankrupt, the new owners at Rangers wanted to claw back as much as possible at the end of the day. Whether we got Steven Davis for free, or he cost £1 million in compensation we got a good deal. All things considered, he may turn out to be the best signing of the summer. The sad saga with Bologna seems to be - from assorted info. / sources that their desperate chairman - (who apparently is soon to be a witness in a corruption trial in Italy)- is demanding all the money in one lump. Whereas our agreement seemed to have been 50% up front and the rest over the next year, and we are talking big money - for us anyway. With his background as a banker, I trust Cortese to know what to do and how to balance the books, especially when you consider we still have two central defenders to sign by the end of the month and they won't necessarily come free. The myriad things that can go wrong with a transfer has been highlighted by the Buttner dealings, also with a third -party involvement. I don't think we should be held to ransom or willing throw away money on stupid demands just to line someone else's pockets. Someone has to show a little common sense, and I for one don't blame Nicola Cortese one iota for showing some integrity in this crazy footballing world.

of the team that played on Sunday ......without trying to be " over-critical.." . I'm not criticising Kelvin (per se)...(but I thought he was a bit more nervous than most of the others)...he'll be OK , but I really want us to sign another keeper as cover / competition. I forsee problems with Fonte... and maybe Fox, perhaps also Puncheon (though I thought he did as well as anyone... on the day).

Now there you go again - being logical. You can see that... and I can see that.... but all these others ....**** (tough world sometimes isn't it ?)

...and I'm sure some of us understand your viewpoint, BUT what is all over the press is not necessarily anywhere near the truth. The Echo (for all its faults) has listed more than 60 players that somewhere or other - in the media - have been connected with our name - since the end of last season (!) I don't think anyone can believe that we've been " interested " in signing anywhere near half of them .. and probably a lot less than that. It's a bit naive to expect / the manager / anyone at the club / to give regular statements to all and sundry about who they are interested / not interested in, and alert other clubs at the same time. The club will buy the players they want to / can get / but ... as a fan you only need to go to games and watch whichever team NA outs out. PLUS very few fans have actually seen many of the players we've been linked with. I genuinely believe that the staff at SFC are much better informed about players /availability / fees / ...than 99% of the people on this site, and we have to trust their judgement.

I don't think this problem is our fault if you interpret it ; Bologna need money to survive...we won't pay everything up front, but spread out over a year or more ( that's fairly normal and fair....btw) They want their own bank to give them credit for £12 million, and make pay- back payments when we give then the balance is 6-12 months time. Their bank won't play ...... I'm sure that there is a "Pompey-type saga" here - Bologna surely have bigger debts outstanding but need a certain sum in order to survive....can't blame their bank for not throwing good money after bad .. Does everyone remember our problem iwith ..Barclays - was it ? ...in 2009 ...before we went into administration. I don't know if Cortese is playing his cards close to his chest, but it is surely highly unusual to pay everything up front, especially with this type of money! ...and the Bologna chairman seems to contradict himself at every turn.... Pity ! .....good player .....bad club.

I agree totally, but I think the opposition... .and the timing of the game (first of the season) meant that we needed to have a more defensive formation. Had Rickie run himself into the ground in the first half, he likely wouldn't have been able to last the whole 90 mins. I fully expect him to start v. Wigan and most of the other games this season, but the tactics were special - just for that match. Other similar games may mean some special tactical consideration Ricky will IMHO play most of the season, (hopefully) but we must consider he is likely closer to the end of his career than say ... JayRod ..who has to get some games in, too. No-one expects us to pay £7 million for someone to sit on the bench for 60/ 70 mins. every week...do they?

here I am agreeing with you again, Alpine. Had we started with one of the "lesser" (I didn't say weaker) sides in the first few games , and not got Man.City until November, we'd never had the the chance to make a proper assessment. What we saw, was not the cricket score that the punters had predicted, but a Saints team that could score twice in a few minutes against the best side in the land..and on their own patch. Of course we saw own " known-weakness " in defence, but we have 10 days to help put that right. I have never been so encouraged - even though we came away pointless, we won't be the last to do that.

when subs were first introduced...1966 World Cup Final I think, it was only allowed to replace a seriously injured player. Later it was allowed for tactical purposes and in the course of time ...upped to three subs. Does no-one consider that subs. do provide an alternative tactical strategy, and aren't merely " second-choicers ". The goals we conceded v. Man.City weren't due to strikers' misses, but defensive errors that could have been avoided. I thought the tactics were superb. Rickie was fresh and it showed, and Steven Davis was " fit enough " for 45 mins. and acquitted himself very well. After Sunday's game, I asked myself if Lambert would have so quick, or Davis fit enough... to have put away those chances had they battled for the previous 60 mins, also ?

ah so ..you do have a sense of humour - don't you?

MODS ! this is getting serious, we need a poll on this. QUESTION : Should the club reveal its transfer targets and the prices they have bid? a) Absolutely, I want regular weekly statements from the Chairman, or manager on all transfer activity ... both in and out. b) Maybe not everything, but at least a short list of those we are interested in. c) A few denials, or confirmations would be nice. Even if we don't actually name targeted players. d) Absolutely not. Keep quiet about everything until the deal is done, and issue a photo of him with his shirt number on the OS. I think this is a good cross-section of the various viewpoints expressed so far.

I agree totally! we should let Turkish, Alpine, Professor and C.B.Fry express their definitive opinion... then close the thread ...and move on.

Usch ! talk about the pot calling the kettle black, Tokyo first a few dots, then BOLD type and three exclamation marks. Catching... isn't it ?

Does he have a sense of humour?, He always seems so intense and ITK. Is humour allowed on here ....I mean ..transfers are a serious, costly business. Look at all the furore it's causing amongst fans on here, and we haven't even bought anyone yet! the dots(.) ....are instead of commas (,) which many people tend to ignore, (or don't know how to use), but it helps keep the pulse rate down and therefore reduces the instances of heart attack /strokes..at least I don't often use oversized fonts, coloured text or those stupid little smiley:blush: characters.