david in sweden

exactly the point that NA made in an interview at the end of LAST season.

Bob Higgins did a fantastic job.... considering he had no special facilities, almost no financial support and no specialised staff to assist him. Prost and Jennings were both successful, too but they came in to an already established system and improved it enormously.but it WAS already up and running - even then. .

....you mean like Harry Redknapp did at Portsmouth?.......Do you recall what Chelsea were like before their Russian " buy out "? Liverpool are on that way...and may become another Leeds... I think even Alex Ferguson (not my favourite person) ........has a little more style than that. No !...Keep quiet till the deal's done, (and never get blamed for those " failed deals " that never reach media ears).

..whilst it maybe OK to deny the 55 transfer "rumours " that aren't true.. Do you really expect anyone to come out and say ....yes we have watched player (so-and-so) and he's available to buy for only £2 million, we hope to sign the deal by the end of the week ? Having done the intelligence work ourselves ..why put the deal it on a plate for other clubs to steal away? You talk about a deal AFTER it's done... .not before, ala Kevin Keegan (I remember that one vividly).

with one thing I will agree Turkish. The real value of the youth set-up at SFC has always been underestimated. Dave Merrington's input (almost 10 years) was the groundwork for what followed. As someone who grew up watching Reserves and youth team games equally as much as first team games (I lived close to the Dell in those days)...I saw hundreds of players pass through...(but more often out of)... the ranks of youth players, and whilst its well-publicised that we "let go " the likes of Dennis Wise and Kevin Phillips at a young age ...its clear that not everyone was ever going to make it. However, the training and skills they learned at SFC often made for good careers in lower league football. Youth players were good, if " they made it " to the first team by 21 in those days, today we can sell 17 year olds for millions....(times change, but not the theory). Good role-models, organised training programmes, further education and a "caring " environment give good opportunities for talented lads to have a footballing career - even if they all don't all make it at the highest levels. Lowe did make some inroads in the concept of the Academy, but it was the coaches in later years who worked with the lads day in and day out who brought the success to the Chairman's vision.

Whilst I agree with the sentiments in yr. thread..(which is also being extensively discussed on another thread btw)....we have to be patient. There is nothing to say that the club MUST inform its fans about every interview, bid and prospective target. Football (nowadays) is big business. and big money changes hands .(although we are never entirely sure which hands it goes through)..No Managing Director / Chairman in ANY business is going to reveal ongoing discussions with the media ... .or its customers, and so it is with football. Some of the " big clubs " seemingly summon up millions at the drop of an agents hat, and pick up on the " intelligence " gained by other clubs - as is seen by the Buttner /MU deal. Although, IMHO - he may regret that as he's most likely to spend much of the first season or so in MU reserves. As to the other two ongoing " deals ". Matt Phillips is (seemingly) unhappy enough to put in a transfer request, but it seems Holloway (a most unusual character in many ways) has a personal feud with Saints , which he carries out through the media. I think he realises that Phillips will go sometime, but Holloway is just making life difficult as the deadline is so close. the Ramirez saga is difficult to understand as their are so many " Italian involvments " peculiar to Cortese and the Bologna chairman (who is "apparantly" a witness in a conspiracy/bribery court case, at the same time). The step up from £4 million to a £7 million transfer record (Rodriguez) took the breath of many fans ...the prospect of almost doubling that requires caution and Nicola Cortese's banking background suggests that he doesn't make rash decisions, and with an ongoing example of an overspending club for all to see - at the other end of the motorway - he is exercising caution, particularly as we are also committed to buying other players (namely more defenders)..its frustrating YES, but not every day one spends £10-15 million. Also the " interference" of the media, and people on Twitter - and even on this site...on deals with conjecture, gossip and plain lies doesn't help matters either. One way or another .it will all be over by next weekend ..so sit tight and be... a little more patient.

do you mean most recently, or historically?

I think that might even be two U18 keepers btw... The 9. I don't think either of them is past 19.?

that player...Falque....was brought in at a time when we had an injury crisis. His 45 min. appearance was in the 0-2 home defeat v.Leicester . We were sh**e and didn't look that exciting on the day, but he wasn't the worst player on the pitch by a long way, but he was the one subbed first. After which we got several players fit again, and we started picking up form, so he didn't get another look in when everyone else was back. It's rather unfair to judge someone (except perhaps Ali Dia) on barely 45 mins. of football in a poor game.

....don't like his haircut, looks like a load of trouble to me.. just the sort of player to score own goals, or get a red card on his debut ........move on !

well actually - he wasn't. Lawrie left - and went to Sunderland in June 1985. Le Tissier debuted in August 1986..and most of the others even later. The man responsible for nurturing that talent ..and quite a few more was ..Dave Merrington, who had charge of the youth set-up from mid 1984 right through until he had the unenviable task of trying to keep us afloat for the season 1995/96. (eleven years later). When Rupert Lowe took over, he sacked DM and put in Graeme Souness......and he didn't stay for more than a year... For those who love to cringe and criticise DM's input on Radio Solent, show some consideration because the man was probably the finest youth team trainer the club has ever had - bar none.

I'll agree with you on some points. Undoubtedly 2 goals from 2 attempts was a fantastic achievement ... especially against that opposition in an away game. I feel fairly happy with our midfield choices - even if we do at to them - (Ramirez) or A.N.OTHER and the strike force (not seen so much on Sunday) is OK but I am very dubious about the defence. We seem to have enough full backs to choose from (more or less)..but with only two CBs , TBH I'm not so happy about them. I like Jos.H (reminds me a little of Michael Svensson style) but Tevez made a real meal of the tackle that gave away the penalty- so he'll need to learn from that. Fonte has been a concern for me even at the end of last season. He seems to lack pace against fast strikers and gets caught on the turn easily and in playing the last man I'm afraid that he will get caught out and leave KD unprotected. We still need the 2 CBs we've all been advocating since May and I'm sure they're coming, but ..... I think NA 's team selection on Sunday was excellent. I know there's a lot of gab about not selecting Rickie from the start, but looking at the first 45 we had ONE chance. If he'd played and had to run around (likely getting crushed by their CBs) and looking half dead by HT. As it was, he started fresh whilst the MC players were searching for their second wind...and what a great strike.! (as was Steven Davis... who took his half-chance very well). I do think that Rickie will start v. Wigan ..and probably a lot of games, but I think the same sub. tactics being employed when we go away to Man.U /Chelsea / Arsenal. We won't get much better results in the long term by playing a 30 y.o. striker - for 100 minutes every game ! If we nurse him along in the right way, it'll extend his shelf life instead of ruining him by next summer. Last season NA played Guly in a lot of games ...but nearly always subbed him out in the second half, and he seems to have kept fitter because of it.

in fact ..you might say it was four. When he scored his first goal Saints were in Div.3 (South). After a couple of seasons, the FA created Div 3 and Div 4. ....and so Terry scored when we were in the new Div 3. Later.. Saints were promoted to Div. 2 (1959/60) and then to Div.1 (1965-66) At one time he also had the club record of 187 goals. He also scored 7 goals in 19 games for England , and 3 in 4 games for the Eng. U23 side..and a further 3 goals for the (then) Football League sides that played representative games until the 1990's.

I thought that Brett Ormerod did when Blackpool had " their season " in the Prem.?

I think you're right Clarkey....except I suspect it will be €€€s not $$$

It was a game of two halves and despite the goals against... we looked better and more creative in the second half after the substitutions. JWP can take confidence from his first half outing, playing against the strongest team in the land on his Prem debut....... he didn't look totally out of place.

exactly, you have to pick a team that can cope with the opposition's strongest players( and MC have a lot of those) , but some of the other sides we'll meet have fewer, and more obvious targets to mark. I expect to see our team selections change a lot according throughout the season depending on who we play, but IMHO the start/ bench personnel will be roughly the same most matches..its just a case of who starts and who will be the (impact) change players.

some people seem to think that on /off transfers are purely a problem for Saints. Look at some of the deals that revolve around the " top six..." who think that the mere mention of their name is enough to have players flocking to their door in adoration. It is frustrating for us to seemingly wait for deal to happen, but there are many factors behind a transfer and they don't all involve money. The article's comment about "transparency " is a joke. SFC is a business, and must be run as one. The fact of the matter is no Managing Director / Chairman of a any respectable company is going to go public with details of his negotiations, personnel questions and costs before the ink is dry on the contract, and this is even more important in football where there are more clubs in the mix with funds to spend. I am sure that the original Buttner deal was a surprise to everyone, but I believe that Cortese is not about to let someone try to " move the goalposts " after the deal had been agreed. There must be good reasons why that deal didn't go through, but at the same time it may have alerted MU to the availability of the player. Some deals seem to have some unusual terms and conditions and they can make a deal happen by just throwing money at it. As for the Ramirez situation, my take on that after reading the dozens of threads posted everywhere is that it may not have been clear from the start that the player was only 70% owned by Bologna (a situation that is not permitted by FIFA (or is it UEFA ?...althouigh the original Tevez deal some years ago showed the flaws in that situation. Unlike many football chairman who do deals behind peoples back, with irresponsible and sometimes by illegal means, I believe Cortese knows the rules / laws and is scrupulous to follow them. I'll not condemn him for that, because without some measure of legality and honesty we'll all end up with the Italian football scenario of bribery and corruption... which I'm sure Cortese is well aware of.

I think you need to put that comment in context, too. Kraken. If you consider, we haven't played at this level for 7 years, and the present Man.City side is probably much better than anyone who was around at that time (2005), then the comment is probably fair. We have the basis of a team that was formed 3 seasons ago in L1, and as Nigel Adkins commented it was the highest class of attackers his defence had ever played against. I thought our debutants; Clyne, Ward-Prowse and Steve Davis did well and was vastly impressed that we maintained our passing skills (when we were allowed to have the ball) and took our chances well , considering the number that City squandered. After having watched almost three seasons of us pounding the " cannon-fodder " in L1 and NPC ..we have come down to Earth, but I have seldom felt so proud of a Saints side - even in defeat, when many were expecting City to get a cricket score. The one over-riding factor that I have worried about since last season is that despite our midfield skill,and striking ability we lost the game through poor defending and although I'm sure NA is searching for the right formula, our fate this season will be decided not by the goals we score, but the ones we concede. I agree also, that Wigan who played their " Great Escape " card in the Spring again, are a good test of the potential strugglers in this League. The result against them will give us some indication of that. Winning by a two goal margin will be good, although I wonder how many " clean sheets " we are likely to see THIS season.

of course there were reasons for NOT playing Steven Davis and Rickie Lambert (from the start) on Sunday. Davis is probably not yet " Saints-fit "..and that will need to be " super-fit " after the frenetic pace of yesterdays game, but SDs contribution was enormous and unlike many subs. he didn't need 10 mins. to find out which way we were kicking ! What sort of displays can we expect when he becomes one of the first names on the team sheet? Nigel Adkins admitted he knew that City's fast-moving game might take its toll on Rickie, especially in the second half...so he used him when later on when the City defenders were short of breath and Rickie was fresh, and it paid off wonderfully. BUT somehow, there still seems to be a feeling amongst many fans that being on the bench from the start is somehow degrading, or relegates them to "second-class " players. I note that Alex Ferguson doesn't flinch from putting Wayne Rooney on the bench when he knows he can come on when he needs him. Meantime, he uses his new recruits blended with the established names... It was a Prem. debut and baptism of fire all concerned, and very new names like; Clyne, Ward-Prowse...and Steven Davis showed they can handle the challenge, (better to find out now than later). Adkins used his subs. as " impact players " very well last season... when 12 goals were scored by on coming subs. Not the team's second choice, but their second wind. Too many times in the past, there have been players who were on the pitch for 90 minutes.. but who seem to be almost invisible, yesterday we saw that the real value of a player is the " impact " they can make on the game when they get involved, whether it's the first minute, or the last. So let's not denegrate players (or the manager who chooses them) because they didn't start the game, but for the contribution they make when they become involved. In future, I shall look past the chosen start 11 and ask myself ..who and when would those subs be likely to come on, and what impact might they make?.

Regardless of Dan Seaborne's future status, he was the only other established CB in the club....and Luke Shaw is the (at present) the only player able to be considered aa LB. (Harding has gone and Dickson exiled). Clyne is a headline signing and what better place to show your paces (didn't he do well?). We will certainly see Richardson again - at some later date. I don't think this was Lee's type of game. He's an attacking winger and we played with a packed midfield v.MC. He will become a fan favourite at SMS if he can score more like his goal v. Derby. BUT I also noted the absence of the other you mentioned; Chaplow. Hammond and De Ridder. My own take on this is ; Chaplow, sadly...has not looked like regaining the fantastic form he showed last Autumn when he got a regular spot and his injury set him back a lot. Hammond : goes back to our first L1 season. A good captain then, he is a bit too close to 30 to re-establish himself against other contenders, but i expect to see him play out his contract. De Ridder, seemed to be a permanent bench contender last season (29 times ) may never become more than that, if he stays we may well see him back as an impact player in the last half of games.

......and can't you picture him - just waiting for the game at Anfield !!!

This will be one of the seasons big games for Nigel Adkins. Despite the fact that it's long ago, it was his last club (as a player) and he'll relish a victory against them.

Phillips is sure to leave - one way or another. Holloway's press statements make it clear that he had a "face-to-face" with Phillips - who refused to play and put in a transfer request. This means he's passed the point of no return. Despite Holloway's "anti-Saints stance and public waffling", Phillips will almost certainly move, but Everton (or someone nearer home) may still come in for him, if he doesn't move to Saints.

Clyne did well - didn't he ? some people made him Saints best player. Lallana will look better when played in his natural position on the left. If Saints can maintain a good mid-table spot, I can see Roy Hodgson becoming a regular visitor to Saints' games. He is new as manager and obviously has to experiment with new faces before the next World Cup. England is going through a generation change. Gerrard, Terry, Lampard have all been good international servants, but their time is running out and their are no obvious successors, and their present " shadows " don't impress in internationals, regardless of what they do in their club sides. We can't forget that Jack Cork may well get a look-in too, when he re-establishes himself in the side. It maybe a few years away, but Ward-Prowse showed good composure v. MC and will surely feature in future U21 games, before developing into someone capable of gaining a full cap. The real excitement will be in Luke Shaw's first few games...we shall see.