david in sweden

to the 9 --- extremely impressive diatribe on my seemingly dubious use of the term Eire in #1, did you have all that history in your head, or did you have to look it up? ..My seemingly " ill-judged " wording reflected my personal view that as so many players from the Republic of Ireland (or at least those who may have Irish-born grandparents)....do actually play in the English Leagues, I don't regard them as foreigners in the same was the Dutch or Brazilians, not to mention the French, but of course you'll have to re-write quite a few history books if you're going to claim that Calais should still be regarded as an English colony?... Queen Mary gave up on that one in 1558. My only other question is ....when did you last start a thread?, or do you just enjoy picking mistakes in the contributions of others?..and by the way ... Congratulations ..!..you are now up to 11583 posts.. but you'll have a lot of catching up top do to overtake the dell days.

My original post - seems like a long time ago now...was only about players who won caps whilst they were on the books. and I didn't forget Campbell Forsyth, and incidentally I saw him play his first game for Saints, but I believe that his 4 caps were won with his prev. club (Kilmarnock) and unless I'm mistaken, he didn't win any caps after he joined Saints. likwise I don't think that Chris Woods was awarded any England caps during the short period he was with Saints.

it's truly amazing....I really didn't mean this to become a battle for the lexicologists on the site, but some people seem to just wait for an incorrect spelling, or a wrongly placed comma before launching into a tirade of abuse. I'm fairly sure most people must have understood the point I was trying to make, but if you still want to fight it out....then have a go at the authors of In That Number (if you dare)...who describe Tommy Traynor as having won eight Eire caps, whilst others players like Tony Byrne, Alan McLoughlin, Austin Hayes and Rory Delap are varyingly described as having caps for Ireland, and the Republic. I was unaware that Ireland play a united side in Rugby and Cricket, but I can only applaud that as a major breakthrough... having recalled a time when many people would not have dared set foot across the border - let alone cheered players in the same team.

a place in the Prem.. is reputed to be worth £60 - 90million and it would be a brave manager who would buy him with any sort of guarantee of a first team spot - given his lack of League experience and the cost of relegation. IF ....I was a manager buying him to play in the Prem. I'd want a stone wall defence in front of him - just in case.

yes well that's one excuse, but as we don't have to depend on players who qualify by virtue of their grandmothers citizenship ...I think it more likely that an English player - even a successful one... playing in Scotland is hardly likely to attract much attention from the England selectors. I think you have to go back a long way to find anyone who was that much of an exception .. Playing for one of the " big two" in Scotland is the equivalent of playing against opposition in NPc or L1. Mark Hately?. Graham Roberts? ..don't even recall if they were selected for England whilst playing in SPL.?

PLUS ..you'd have to ask yourself....Why does he have his arm up above head height? ......almost every other player has hands below waist height, and from this angle...All Saints players have short-sleeved shirts on ..if Hooiveld had handled it - wouldn't you see a bare arm and hand in the pic.? If this really is THE picture of that offence, it's def. handball.

if any of this is really true, which I beginning to have my doubts about...it may only be paper talk... Not even in his wildest dreams could Butland think he would come in and replace a Prem.goalie in August. good he may be, and good he may look... but as far as I can see he's not played at a higher level than L2 (?), so who is he likely to replace first... Joe Hart at Man.City..or one of the two multi-million pound keepers at Man. U ..or a 36 y.o. KD? Don't think we need a poll on that do we ?

Quite understandably, many fans base opinions on recent form, past disappointments and the " supposed fear of big name Prem. clubs." Looking back over several decades, it's easier to see the developing trend and generation shift that is taking place at Saints (and England, too). Apart from the glorious memories that we harbour, of great players and great moments it's maybe good to see us ..as a new club founded 2009. Since then.. one cup and two promotions. Not bad. Who's to say that we won't go on to bigger and better? Absolutely NOTHING surprises me in football. I recall our last promotion to " the top division" in 1978....and who would have dreamed that Lawrie Mac would have signed KK... and half a dozen other England internationals. None of us dared to consider that 25 years ago... Who knows ..what NC /NA have up their sleeve ? I don't expect many "big name signings " this summer, but if we have a better than average season and finish top half, then we'll begin to look like an exciting club to be a part of. I don't rule out a couple of "older heads " coming into the squad but a look back at the Pardew/Adkins squads since 2009 it's clear than keen, talented players in their early/mid twenties with 100+ games under their belt are the prime target group. Talented enough to have made a good impression, but not too old to be coached to do even better. This is where our Academy should begin to flourish. Surely, I'm not alone in thinking that had we not been relegated from the Prem the likes of Walcott, Bale and Alex O-C might still be regulars in SFC. The Lee Holmes article may sound like PR, but for a young-ish player whose been around a bit even before he joined us, and knows the club and the City, he may be speaking from another perspective, and it might not sound so crazy as some people seem to think. I know that after 40+ years going to Dell games, walking into SMS still takes my breath away every time. It surely must make a impression on prospective players, too.

after saying you'd never seen him play...and then expressing your interest in post #15, I thought you'd be interested to see who you were endorsing.

....think she was heard to remark.. at last, now that Southampton have finally won it, I don't have to come and sit on this hard seat anymore.

its purely semantics The 9........I think most people understood what I meant, and you may have offended a lot of Irish contributors. How would you describe them? We can't say British (just because the geographical term is The British Isles), and we don't seem to mind playing the Republic at Rugby ...and even Cricket (where I think they beat us once - didn't they?).

actually I wasn't going to accuse Nigel, but recalling several cases that come to mind in the last 30 years or so ...

....it comes with the phenomena of changing managers every other year... as soon as the new boss has seen the squad's first weeks training they draw up a list of those they don't want, regardless of history, form or injury record and then part-ex. them for players from their former team / past clubs. We've done it many times.

I really don't do it to annoy... but many people like to speed-read and alternative forms of highlighting were created just to help scan pages quicker. It's just the same for those people who like to use silly "face" symbols , or select different colours. B I U If it still annoys you? - my suggestion is ignore the post and look at something else. There are other topics to complain about on here - shouldn't be hard.

Mmm....thanks for the clarification Fan the Flames, I didn't think I was that wrong.

Ivan Katalinic was capped 13 times for the (then) Yugoslavia national side, in the late 1970's. (but not after that ). Today he has Croatian citizenship. He joined Saints in 1980 and was first choice keeper for a couple of seasons before Lawrie McMenemey signed another guy called ..Peter Shilton.

I'm expecting us to sign TWO keepers. We need an experienced back-up/ rival / call him what you will to be on the bench whilst KD has the No.1 spot. Despite all that said about Butland, his playing experience at senior level was on loan to Cheltenham in League 2. IF ....we signed him? I'd hate to have to depend on his form in the Prem. in the event of KD getting seriously injured.

yes I suppose he has. I was thinking of his time at Birmingham, 0 games - but of course his loan to Cheltenham counts - doesn't it - even if it was in L2.

TNBX I stand corrected.

I fully appreciate that, but the last time I did one of those...some people got a bit stroppy when I didn't confirm the answer for 24 hours.

OK you know what I mean ..A bit of brain fade there...THX I've corrected it now.

I'd go along with that thought, but we can also expect to see Robert Green pop up in " a Prem.side " - as he has no new deal with WHam....yet.

..with the sudden media exposure of a (supposed) Saints offer for Butland, (yet to make his league debut), but still getting into the England squad, I thought back a bit and came up with a typical " pub quiz question ". Which League clubs have had goalies who represented the FIVE home countries? ...surprisingly SAINTS would be one of the answers. The best known of course was Peter Shilton (with 49 apps. during his Saints career, he remains our most capped England player). a little later we had Tim Flowers who managed one cap with SFC in 1993 before his record-breaking transfer to Blackburn. As for the others; Ian Black was capped for Scotland in 1948, Hugh Kelly for Northern Ireland in 1950, Fred Kiernan for Eire in 1951/52, and Welshman Paul Jones was capped several dozen times (from 1997 onwards). In addition to which we had Bruce Grobbelaar picking up a few caps for Zimbabwe during his brief stay in the mid 1990's and the superb Antti Niemi for Finland (signed 2002) who would later become their most-capped goalkeeper. It may be a long time before we see Butland as the regular England keeper, (even if he does sign for Saints - which is big ?)..but time will tell.

I agree, but it's along way to the winning post. If Brum are short of cash..they will look to unload Foster first, and maybe keep Butland. With so many clubs watching him, it'll be a test of their resolve to hang on to him, and of Saints' ....if they're determined to sign him! ......or is this just another of the Mirror's " EXCLUSIVE " rumours "?.

didn't we have him on loan 3-4 years ago ?