david in sweden

the daftest thing about the entire episode is.. that the ref. had already awarded a penalty, no matter if the player dived or, not. Taylor was completely out of order, and his action was pointless..we can only hope that West Ham will be the same whilst he sits out his suspension !

Chaplow was in world-class (well Championship anyway).. form, when he was injured and was really the engine in the side, I don't think our slump afterwards was just a coincidence. It will take him some time to build up to that level again. Alan Shearer once said " there's a lot of difference between being "match-fit"..and "being fit enough to play". Once we get a bit of form going, he'll be back.

Can you loan out a player that you've loaned in ? ..I think a more interesting question would be ..who would pay him...and with what? Pompey are already broke, and we surely can't take 3 tons of cod as payment every week !

He is ONLY on loan. Thankfully our regular players are getting fit / back to form now, but if we get a string of injuries again ..(?)..he could prove invaluable.

I think there are a number of issues here. firstly - some stories are pure fabrication, or at least based on very flimsy evidence. Fans (and even agents ) .."fancy" a player to be in our side and start a "campaign" to get him signed, or someone picks up on a twitter, or someone else's article and "embelishes " it . Journalists go into print based on this and write "non-stories" rather than leave a gaping hole on the sport page - they are rarely honest or accurate.. secondly - the bidding process creates all sorts of anomolies. Clubs who are cash-strapped are forced to sell players - often below their market value. This happened to us prior to Administration with the likes of Dyer and Surman. I read something from a Bristol City director who said that (we) Saints had never bid for Maynard at all ! (who knows what's true). We "apparantly " bid over £3 million for Billy in the summer, but he didn't want to come because .. as he was quoted " the time wasn't right .." (of course his wife was heavily pregnant, and they subsequently lost the baby. Now the deal is OK ...and we got him at a lower fee - mainly due to the " release clause " that was not common knowledge at that time. Some people seem to think that either; A big name means a big fee and should we really spend that much? ..or he's only a free transfer - he can't be that good ! Free transfer, or low fees can mean the contract is about to / has gone out /or has been bought out and the player is free to choose his own future. I think most people agree that buying T. Lee seems to have been a good deal? or ..? In order to sign a player, you need to; agree a fee with the club, terms with the player and be sure he will fit in the sqaud.. all of these areas can be a minefield in negotiations, before anyone puts pen to paper. Hooper may still come ..especially if we are promoted..in the summer, but it will depend on whether or not Celtic can survive the battle that Rangers have already lost ! lastly...Nicola Cortese's contacts, (and his hand on the purse strings) means that at least financially- we get a good deal for the club, and the likes of Papa Waigo (when he was here) and Guly..whilst not in the top class...were /are good deals at the time ... Cortese's banking bankground is based on confidentiality and trust and although it's a bit annoying not to hear about a signing BEFORE it happens, I kinda like his " softly-softly" approach to deals. It's really nothing to do with anyone else what we do, or who we sign - as long as we run the club legally. Why do the media's job for them ? The media has now (as has been shown recently) been relegated to the level of story-tellers, crystal-gazers and brothel-keepers. (they may tell interesting stories but don't take any of it seriously).

Think some of the past criticism of Holmes is a bit unfair. In the start he had a run of games and scored a couple of goals (?) then one injury ..and another. Sincwe which the occasional sub.app for 5-30 mins. isn't real football and if he gets half a dozen games at L2 level we might see a totally different player returning to us. He always struck me as one player who so much potential and never the chance to string a few games together - hardly his fault. Good Luck Lee.

let's hope we never have to find out ...Blackstock doesn't play here anymore !

Absolutely, but I think thats a good feature in itself. We saw the problems when RL was out in the Autumn, and at times it looked like we were a one-man band. With Lee and Sharp now available, we may see more assists from Rickie, but I still think he will end up as our top scorer in seasons to come - even though we aren't likely to see 40 goals again....this isn't L1 anymore.

I'd go along with that Canada, but I think that perhaps Rickie has a bit more pace than Sheringham had for a lot of his career, though they share all the other atributes mentioned.

it seems that your original meaning must have got lost in translation ...Sour Mash..most of us on the site seemed to have read that you felt that. perhaps you can re-read it yourself and see if you agree, BUT for the record...(from various sources (inkl. Wikipedia...it seems that.. Billy had his worst period whilst at Sheff.Utd when he was injured and scored only a dozen or so goals. Sheff. rejected bids of £1 million from a couple of clubs, but he finally signed for Donnie in May 2010 (3 year contract till 2013)...for £1.15 million. This must have been when the "release clause" was (secretly) written into the contract . I say that because it's bad business to advertise such a low selling price if he turned out to be another Ronaldo..or Messi...BUT Donnie seemed to think that if Billy wanted to go, they'd get a profit by insisting on £1.8 million as a fee. It is clear that when Saints offered £3.25 in the summer (they weren't aware of that after the Ipswich bid (£2.5 million)was rejected, and Billy would have lost his cut of the deal - if he asked for a move. Billy himself didn't say he didn't want to come to Saints but (as I recall ) .."that the time wasn't right " (perhaps due to the fact that his wife was heavily pregnant with the baby that they eventually lost). Maybe a move away and a fresh start was what they were looking for, and when the "release clause" became known,it was only for (ANY) club to meet Donnie's figure of £1.8 and then for the club(s) to agree terms with the player. They didn't need to bid more to the club. because it was then upto the player to agree personal terms. Leicester seem to have agreed the deal first, but Billy refused to agree terms with them, perhaps because he wanted to come to Saints after all.(?) Anyway it's happened. I don't think that any club needed to offer more than the £1.8 because that was Billy's "get out clause - if Donnie lost form" - which they did, and he decided to move.

If I recall correctly, there was such a clause in Kevin Keegan's contract (1982) ...which was why he could walk away so easily after his spat with Laurie Mac. A number of players who left us suddenly after relegation to CCC in 2006 had similar agreements, Kevin Phillips, Nigel Quashie, I think... amongst others.

I think that the (Sharp) "release clause " was probably related to his value at the time of buying / or eventual guaranteed selling price... were he to leave. The fact that he performed better than expected at Donnie, and the fact that there were only a few strikers " on the market " at the time drove up the bids, but I don't believe anyone would have considered paying £5 million for him ..not from a club at the bottom of CCC. As it was Leicester were rumoured to have bid more, but Billy decided he didn't want to go there and plumped for a link-up with Nigel Adkins again. At the end of the season he's made the right decision. Donnie didn't go empty-handed, and we got a good deal, which will likely seem better if (he) helps us up to the Prem.

Some clubs come out with transfer figures, but it seems (rightly so IMO) Corteses' viewpoint that " it's our business how much we pay for / or pay players and it's often " undisclosed. Looking at the list of everyone else, it's fairly unusual to see a fee declared now, as the actual cost of importing a player to the squad may contain; moving costs, agents fees, loyalty payments and any number of " harry-isms " that we can declare to the Taxman, rather than the fee that the selling club actually receives at the end of the day. Hooiveld's deal was the same,(undisclosed) but I read that one Celtic fansite where they clearly stated we paid £1.4 million ! ......(true or not). Personally I don't think the fee is of great interest nowadays, as a player is worth what he achieves for the club.... and you can't always quantify that in £££££'s. £1 million may be a reasonable fee for an up-and-coming young player, or for an experienced veteran who is "thirty-something". You can't compare. NOTED; One of the many sites listing the T. Lee deal (before it happened) said the fee was £500K..yet he was declared as a " free transfer "- work that one out if you can?

if so ....he should make sure he doesn't get paid in EUROS !

yes I think that So'ton-born Ted Drake definitely qualifies...a cricketing footballer (he also played some games for Hampshire in the early 1930's) - he joined Saints as an amateur in 1931 (aged 19) and played 3 games in Nov.1931 but Ted came into his own at Easter 1932 when he scored 5 times in the last 8 games). The following two seasons he carried on where he left off scoring 20 goals in 33 starts in 32/33 and, 22 in 27 games in 33/34. He departed in March 1934 for a (then) club record of £6000 ..to ARSENAL (sounds familiar that) Saints record 47 goals in 71 games. In the following years he broke most of the Arsenals goal-scoring records including scoring all 7 goals in the 7-1 demolition of Aston Villa in Dec.1935...though I think he had one goal disallowed which he claimed had crossed the goal line - and missed a penalty in that game ! In total he scored 124 goals in 167 games for Arsenal ..it was 70 years before Thierry Henry to beat his record. Sadly... Drake was injured a lot - though he managed to win two league titles and score the winning goal in a Cup Final along the way..but the injuries limited his England chances to scoring 6 goals ..in 5 games. During the war time period he injured his back and never played again, but later managed CHELSEA in 1954-55 (the last time they won the League title) before becoming League Champions - a few seasons ago). Personal note; I didn't get ALL of this from records, as my late Father claimed to have known him in his So'ton period and always talked about him.

Interesting dilemma though, rather like the Swedish Social Democrats who've had more names suggested than Saints have had managers in the last 10 years. No-one wanted the job that sound so prestigious ! However, if all else (sensible) fails.... the big Q. will be ..Will a Tottenham manager pick Arsenal players in front of his own prodigies? After all (he'll say) he did give Theo Walcott his debut at Saints...and then again... there's that Alex (wot's 'is name lad där too) Oxtail Chamberpot ! NO, sorry 'arry - he wasn't one of yours !

Agree with that one Chez. Much as I admire KD, I have my doubts if even he is class enough for the Premiership(?).... but the thought that Bart would be our only alternative (and I'm not counting Tommy Forecast - you understand)... really frightens me !

66-1 ... surely that means there's 65 better choices before him ..but you know what bookies are like ..they know some people will bet on anything. what are the odds on David Cameron?

woof ! woof !

Agree with all that Badger, goes along with my previous thoughts that playing that "lovely-to-watch, twenty passes /possession football " on the SMS billiard table pitch in the balmy Autumn was great. Doncaster and a few other teams brought us down to Earth, and the prime example of the " winter wonderland at Birmingham" proved that point. It's not about the cultured foot that plays the ball - but how far it will travel on a wet, or frozen surface. In times like these ..it's back to the big boot upfield, and chasing it ....thats how teams are taking points off us at present.

...but probably even quicker. Swedish TV covered both his " mis-trial " and Capello's resignation.. and the quickest person they find for a comment was... ex-Saint Anders Svensson, who said.... " really, ...Harry Redknapp knows nothing about football " ( think he was referring to to his tactical prowess - or lack of it) this echoed a previous interview a couple of years ago when he related some " Harry anecdotes ".

this whole thing is entirely out of proportion. we lost a cup tie on a freezing cold February night to a team who played well above themselves on the night, were lucky to have a good goal against them "disallowed" (hard luck Ben Reeves)...and won the game with a fluke goal worthy of Goal of the Season - (by all accounts) - and we didn't lose a single League point in the process. The biggest damage was to our pride. There is absolutely no reason to even consider replacing Nigel Adkins..or is that other guy going to tell us that now F. Capello is out of work now.... maybe (our Italian) Cortese can sweet talk him ......blah, blah, blah.ENOUGH ! Let's move on.

few of us would disagree with that statement, especially when you consider MLT's 99% penalty record, something England always lacked and of course..we went out on a penalty shoot-out, didn't we... and MLT wasn't there to do his .... London managers are obsessed with players from the capital clubs , and Venables was also guilty of flagrantly ignoring Matt, when he was clearly the most creative player in the Prem. in the mid 1990's. Both Venables and Hoddle ignored the first two rules of international football...and were guilty of poor judgement. (1) always play your best players, and (2) make sure you have at least 6 players capable of scoring from the penalty spot...after extra time. International tournaments are won and lost on free kicks and spot kicks. !

the difference with the manager (as you put it) is that the right man motivates and encourages the team in a positive way. We've had too many of the other sort in the last 10 years. Any team of players - even a good one - without the right manager...... is like an orchestra without a conductor. Listen to NA in some interviews and he makes Lawrie McMenemy sound like Arsene Wenger. The man is total football ! The fact that the players miss open goals, fail to make clearances isn't the managers fault... How many shots has Lambert missed this season ?...but he is still top scorer in this league. Looking at his previous record (before Saints) no-one in the World could have forseen the success he's had by being the right man in the right team with the right manager(s).... bearing in mind AP signed him in the first place.. . Although it may sound daft to some ..there's no guarantee that Messi would wipe the floor in the Championship ! . Look at last seasons two biggest deals ...Torres to Chelsea and Andy Carroll to Liverpool ..and they hardly scored half-a-dozen goals between them this season. Sure.. NA hasn't done everything right, but he seems to be picking the team that most people would agree on....and he can't play in every position himself. What should he do?... hit the players with a stick if they make a mistake. Drop them for 3 games when they don't score? They can get that treatment from a red card suspension. I'm disappointed at the recent " blip" but i don't expect it to affect the over all progress and we're still on line for promotion. AND I certainly hope that NC has more patience than supporting NA .till the end of the season...He's the best motivator I've seen..in any club in the last 30 years.