david in sweden

fancy a subject like this making 1427 sides..! anyway, my one contribution probably reflects some sentimentality in my growing old age.. I do feel sorry for them (or in fact any club in their situation). sounds like some clubs in Conference South may be better prepared for the season...let alone L1. The real sadness is because (unless we draw them in a cup competition again before they really go bust), there may never be another Saints v. Pompey derby game.

..don't think he'll be our leading scorer, but I'm pretty sure that every goal he does score... will be a bit special.

sounds great Duncan. ......if you can quote me for the extra postage to Sweden as well, I'll put a cheque in the post tomorrow. david in sweden.

when do you recommend that we sack him then ?

you're probably right, but I wouldn't mind betting he'll be a sub. come Sunday. He spent his first 4 or 5 games on the bench after signing and actually scored his League goal when coming on as sub.

Interesting the 9. It seems that point 3 might be the sticky one - that's if you have players who like a special " lucky" number. On sunday we need to have 11 players plus 7 subs.(now I think?)..but it doesn't follow that they have to be 1-18. if we name say 21 (of the 25)... it doesn't have to be those on the day. I'm sure Jack Cork will retain his old number but he won't be available for some weeks- will he ?

maybe so, but with Cork out and Stephens distinct lack of first team (let alone Prem. level football).. Butterfield is useful to have around, at least in the short term. He still has one year on his old contract and we may need him in emergencies. He turned in some very useful performances at the end of last season when Richardson was out.

quite right Turkish. Having a returning player is like a new signing...especially if he can recover his old form...

that was my thought when I first heard about it . Fine that Rickie has done so well in the last 3 seasons, but if his career gets on the slide, we have a ready-made replacement..if not playing with the same formation.

I think (for the time being) Butterfield is still a part of the plan, but Dickson and Barnard have done themselves no harm at all by getting in the goals, but the most satisfying thing is surely that Lee can kick a ball again.

He drives the bus !

well spotted Dibden. I actually thought about that after I'd written it. Yes ...Anders actually signed the previous year, but the euphoria was there nevertheless. At the time he was a sort of Swedish " Beckham clone " . Of course it was MICHAEL Svensson who signed in 2002.

my first thought when I saw the team line-up. Are any of them under 21 ? Oh, one or two must be I suppose....and then I thought...are we expecting Brighton to sign one of them? .....surely not ..but then again .. Hello there Gus ..

stupid ? ....you mean we shouldn't be trying to sign players of his ilk ? If indeed we are in for Ramirez - whether we succeed or not - it does show some ambition. He was good in the Olympics, and I can recall that Swedes went potty when Anders Svensson signed after his World Cup wonder goal in 2002. Bit like our fans when Keegan signed for Saints. Cortese surely has lots of Italian contacts and if Bologna are in financial troubles - (who isn't in Italy?) - then he might be able to make them an offer ........they can't afford to refuse.

A bit of an update for those of you who still show interest in the Swedish teams. Into August and at last things are beginning to get interesting. The season has been pretty boring so far ...even by Swedish standards with an surfeit of drawn games (very equality-minded - the Swedes) but after the short summer break, we saw Elfsborg's 9-point lead dwindle, as Malmö drew level with them on points a week or so ago. Just the time for a good top of the table game, and when it came to it, Elfsborg did the business and comfortably sank their rivals by 4-1 ..and a bit to spare.. The rest of the rather mediocre table shows Stockholm's pride Djurgården with 11 of their 18 games drawn..but managing to steal a 1-0 win on a visit to lowly-placed Gefle. Some of the other games livened up a bit too, none more so than champs Helsingborg who had a blistering 7-2 win over Kalmar. Another side with the "draw syndrome" Gothenburg... picked themselves up and trounced newcomers Mjällby 4-2. However, many eyes are drawn to the top of Superettan (the Swedish Championship). Last years relegated side Öster have been top all season and had gone 18 games without a defeat until they met second-placed Brommapojkarna on Monday. Much has been written about BP in the last few years. A club based on nursery sides who have over 150 teams just in the Stockholm area for both girls and boys from 5 -16 years. They were promoted some years ago but yo-yoed up and down a couple of times since. Their " senior " side (if it can be called that) contains half a dozen teenagers, and recently had a run of 12 straight wins, which was increased when they overcame Öster by a convincing 3-1 performance, although they still trail them by 6 points at the top. Both these sides have opened up a formidable 7 point gap over the third side which is presently Michael Svensson's Halmstad outfit. Any club seeking promotion this season will have to show some real form to overtake any of these three. more news as and when....

how about Nigel Adkins? .....I'm sure he's made some sort of valuable contribution in the last year ......

of course everyone who selected for the squad for Sunday will have to have a number, but if we don't have 25 names at hand there will be "blanks" to fill in. At present......... I can't see us naming more then 18/19 "definites". I think I read somewhere that a complete list has to be submitted... after the end of the transfer window. (on Sept. 1st) ........there are also possibilities to include " loan players " after this date I think, plus signing players who may already be OOC /free agents... even after Sept-1st.

do you think he should do ? ? .........after all they do have long contracts already......

There are two sides to this. If we start well, then Jack will have time to recover and fight for his place again. In the event of a poor start, we'll need a Plan B, and he is a good player to have if we need to look at alternatives. Also ...his " enforced absence " a good opportunity for the likes of Ward-Prowse & Co, to show their potential.

of course, we understand that, but NA was quick to deny the " Lee Barnard to Palace " rumour a few weeks back. If Seaborne was still an integral part of his planning, he's surely come out and say so, but I think we realise that a handful of NPC games almost one year ago - before the "incident ", and the long recovery period after.. isn't the best preparation for a Prem career.

READ CAREFULLY; There is only one mention of Southampton...(in the interviewers question) but AP carefully avoids talking about his long spell of inactivity with us, and only comments on his unhappy time at Aldershot (!).

..as long as he has the instruction book handy - just in case.

well of course, they didn't all go from Saints direct to Forest, but in the case of the first 3 mentioned they all played Youth / Academy level football at about the same time, so that it's a good move from that point of view and all three have shown that they can hold down a team place in NPC. The aforementioned comment about ex-Saints players who've gone through that process at Stoke is a similar example.

I think a lot of people would agree with that, regardless of the nightclub " incident ". BUT the fact of the matter is, the demands put upon a Prem. CB are enormous and I just don't see him as a long term candidate for our defence. Like Aaron Martin, a loan out will either be the making of him, or not. We will find out (at someone else's expense) what level he is really suited to. AND ... I haven't heard NA deny the story yet, either.

I maintained that position (on RC and JP) at the end of last season. I'd like to think that they were good enough to stay, but on that evidence...I couldn't see it.....as with the others I mentioned at the time (Barnard, Forte and Dickson). It's got nothing to do with what a nice guy (he) is....or what a good club servant (he) may have been, or even being unlucky to be kept out. The key question is: Would you be happy to see (him/them) as a regular replacement for the incumbent? I'm aware that Puncheon has had a good pre-season, but we need long term dependability..and I don't see it as part of his ( JPs) nature...hope I'm wrong ! I really liked Chaplow's competitive attitude when he came in last Autumn and he made all the difference, however, after his injury it took him time to get back and on recent showing he hasn't been half the player he was then. As for the keeper. At the end of last season we had four on the books..KD, Bart, Tommy F. and Jack Dovey. In an emergency, I think I'd had chosen Dovey ahead of TF. Of those... .only KD is left, and despite his excellent games last season, everyone knows he's pushing on a bit. I'm usually first to defend " older keepers ", and I still think so, but in the short term need good cover / competition (call it what you will)... for KD ...as in the case of a serious injury we'd have only one keeper (Gazza) to select from, and although I admit he looks a good prospect, I doubt if he'd stand the test of time and I'd hate our survival in the Prem. to depend on it . Someone else wrote that we could always get a short term loan keeper (for injury).....but what sort of quality can you expect when you " borrow" a keeper who's not good enough to get a place at his own club?....so sorry ..another keeper, too please.