david in sweden

Dalglish has bought in half-a dozen players this season and most of them in the last 2-3 weeks. I'd be surprised if they've even had a sit down chat with each other let alone had a lot of playing time together. That's why he had many big names on the sheet. The Exeter match was their " pre-season " and Kenny D. has to get them up and running from Day 1...and he couldn't afford to lose the game, or the opportunity of an easy win. It was good (and necessary) for team morale. Exeter would have benefitted most from the game, firstly for the bumper crowd they got, and because they played against "real Prem first-teamers " and internationals and not a team of Reserves who might never get another first team outing in their lives. Paul Tisdale and his players were the real winners, they may have lost the game but they learned a lot more about football.

(other clubs ) .so let them get pi**ed off . We're talking "real money " here . A large transfer fee + 3 years salary = a lot of investment. I wouldn't want to buy in a " potential trouble-maker..or a "crocked player " just because I'd had a bid accepted. I looked at a couple of reports about Fontaine's visit to SMS and I don't think that I read anything " even between the lines " that said he FAILED the medical. Certainly his agent strenuously denied there was a problem with the ankle (but then again he would -wouldn't he ?)..it mentioned the two previous operations...but didn't state directly that it was aproblem. I don't for one moment think that NA attended the medical, but he would have certainly have interviewed the player - at length and I believe he made a decision based on that. A players league stats. (apps.+goals ) PLUS ...a successful medical examination is the " CV " ....in the football world. I have worked in business for over 40 years....and interviewed hundreds of people and I can tell you that after a while you can tell what the person is like... after less than a minute. Don't ask me how ..intuition ? some sort of gut reaction ? ..it just come with practice. I found some " real gems " for employees , some of them with little / no experience and even others who might have been considered " past the best sale date "..by some. Nigel Adkins has been player, psysio' and manager...for a long time. Don't you think he's learned to " read players " by now ?. I think that Fontaine " failed " on his attitude / mindset for the game, not a dodgy ankle.

Sorry , I couldn't see where the " good taste " part started and ended ! but the last time I looked ...that ***** GADDAFI wasn't on the Saints books and quite frankly ...I don't give a tinker's cuss about his future. Lee Barnard (guilty or not) is a Saints player and I am more concerned about his future. It's difficult to speculate about his future ..nor should we. Those with longer memories will recall the furour that surrounded the year long wait that Dave Jones had..when managing Saints inthe late 1990's and awaiting trial .. .on a ridiculous charge that the judge finally threw out in 30 minutes. I still think we should refrain from comment and rumour about Lee Barnard as he is (1) presently injured and unable to play and (2) innocent until proven otherwise ! I say again ..leave the guy in peace until situations (1) and (2) have been resolved. There must be some other tidbit of gossip that people can gloat over instead of harranging a good player.

somehow I get the impression that the " problem " may well have been in his mindset... rather than his ankle. NA has spent a lot of time coaching along a squad who can all play well enough to be selected, and yet (mentally) will still be pleased even to sit on the bench week after week. Those who won't / can't conform to this..e.g. Puncheon only cause upset and disatisfaction in the dressing room. Bringing someone in who won't " gell " with the rest of the squad is the starting of another problem. I believe that NA knows what he wants when he signs players, but I trust him enough if he wants to back off and say " no thanks". to signing someone that he's not sure " will fit in ". Right mental attitude is the key..if it's not there..forget it !

if you are the type of person who has low self-esteem, and finds it easy to criticise others...then you've probably already had a "pop" at Nigel in the past, but to be fair..I can't see what he has "done wrong " to upset anyone ? Saints' match results since he took over have been some of the best in the club's history. We keep talking (on this site and others ) about club records being broken, etc etc ..and few can say that any of his signings have been a disaster..so I still ask myself...what can it be that upsets those complaining people? COULD IT BE...his brash, seemingly over-confident manner. His assertions that we are a good side, or his spontaneous.. " in the building, on the bus "...type quotes seem daft?.or might it be that his Northern manner just doesn't go over with some of us "southern types "? I am of the generation that vividly remembes the arrival of " that Geordie " Lawrie McMenemy at SFC, (someone more different than Ted Bates you would never find). His first disasterous season as manager saw us relegated , and LM had several seasons of abuse and distrust from a section of the fan base, until ..we won the FA Cup 1976 (something none of us ever dreamed possible at the time.) His later seasons, the return to the top flight (Div.1), and the enormous influx of all those international players into the Dell and our highest league placings ever still seems unreal when you read about it today. Fans can take to a player in the first weeks, but a manager has another type of relationship with fans that takes years to cultivate. As Lawrie Mac once said .." if we win, the fans say the team played well...if we lose it was my fault because I picked them ". Seldom have I heard a more truthful and memorable quote. Nigel Adkins' winning streak has already "massacred " some very old records that have stood for decades past, how long must it be before people admit..the man is a real find as manager... and win or lose, he's got what it takes to get us back to the Prem....sooner or later.

.......and another scalp falls to an L2 side. West Ham put out most of their Reserve side at home against ...ALDERSHOT and lost 1-2. For a team who had been a Prem. side for a decade past...it won't look good in thier record books. but it could have been worse, fortunately for them... ANTHONY PULIS didn't get on the pitch until the 90th minute... as sub.

YES... AP did get his squad together for the "same sum ", but we were L1 at the time, and it was considered " a lot of money "then. Now that we are CCC, fees will be higher, but if you're worried about that ..wait till we're back in the Prem. then you'll see the club (transfer) record broken a few times over.

With the Fontaine deal dead in the water, it's all rather academic now, but I would still like us to sign another CB.

To the MODS .... Of course we're all interested in Barnard's future, but I do think that all this conjecture about his future should really be " put on ice " for a while. He can't play anyway because of injury, and anyone trying to out-think the jury (if there is one), or the judge is really " out of court" - no pun intended. I think (YOU MODS) should seriously consider leaving this until we know the outcome of his issue with the judiciary. A negative decision won't only affect his playing career, but likely the rest of his life. LEAVE THE GUY IN PEACE ..Suggest this thread be closed...at least until his case is settled.

at the moment ....we can't sign ANYONE...Dell days! I was just mentally going through a list of " non-signings " that have been rumoured in the last few weeks. No Sharp, No JayRod, No Maynard ... or Lucas J. There seems to be no Waghorn " offer " from Saints although Svennis has publicly stated that he will let him go ...the Bendtner thread was just a lot of fresh air ... The deal over the Swiss-based Tunsian didn't happen, neither did Gorkyss ..thankfully the Fontaine deal has been ditched ! ..never sign an injured player ..not permanently anyway... I'm not worried as I'm sure we'll sign " SOMEONE ", but it's a total mystery as our " we're going to sign (him) list has totally disappeared....

I don't think he has to " be better " than Danny s. Surely the general idea is to have good cover in all positions in case of; injury, suspensions, loss of form etc. If he's " as good as " Seaborne then we have a good deal.....

U21 doesn't mean so much. These are mostly over 18's and older players who are on the fringe and aren't likely to make the bench too often, but nevertheless are "senior" players.

certainly not for our asking price (£1 million) ..you can't. They will surely take him now ! just been reading the Warnock interview with SSN (fresh with the promise of the new owner's cash in his hand) he said :.." the thought of bringing in 3, 4 or 5 new players to the squad is ....(exciting) " QUOTE: Guess that says more than any media runour hype. FIVE players, Mr Warnock..really ?

Don't hold your breath...we may still sign someone on the 31st.....

as a matter of interest, Michael Svensson (soon 36)...is now turning out for Halmstad in the Swedish (Prem.) but not for long. Halmstad "experimented" with an unknown Spanish coach who imported half-a dozen, equally unknown Spaniards (all totally useless) and he and they, departed the scene in the summer leaving Halmstad( previously a good side) firmly anchored at the bottom of the league and they are already " relegated" barring a miracle turnaround. Former club hero Michael, jettisoned his coaches role, put on the no.5 shirt and started playing again for the first team. Halmstad still can't win ...but now they lose by less goals...but their fate is inevitable. I'm afraid. He (and Claus Lundekvam) were certainly was one of the best Saints CB pairs I can remember in the last 50 years.

Watford always seem to like to play with big men up front...and sometimes... some of them even know how to play football, too!

Well I suppose that the 1976 FA Cup is the only one that REALLY counts. but I have to admit that (all things considered), winning the JPT ...and playing at Wembley ...seemed very meaningful at the time.

FWIW - I agree with all of your points dubai phi, but the shame (and I use the word advisedly) of a Prem.club falling to an L2 side is a stain on the reputation and an eternal stat. in the record books that would make me cringe! (Birmingham BTW had much bigger problems at the time, anyway.) Can you recall our League Cup defeats by Bournemouth 1987, and Shrewsbury 93, Stockport 1997 when we were in the top flight and they were glad to be playing League football ?...or the FA CUP debacle at Tranmere ? Hurts me to think about it. NO - as stated. I don't expect a full-strength side to play in the next round, but I don't want the anticipation of going for promotion to the Prem. to be spoilt by the indignity of going out of a cup competition to an L2 side, either.

of course, in his case (had). But it was a costly investment for absolutely no return. For that money we might have retained one of our more of our promising youth players, instead of having to release them.

According to my reading of those situations; ANTHONY PULIS. There were strong rumours that his dad (Stoke manager) was going to take over as manager in the scramble following our relegation / liquidation period. Having "someone else " sign him (rather than a manager sign his own son) is more acceptable to fans, I suppose. I can't believe that sentiment or any " old boy's network " would put through such a deal for any other reason. TOMMY FOURPAST. Simple! we were conned by Spurs ! Coming in the wake of the Gareth Bale deal, TF was floated as a very promising youngster capable of becoming " a future England keeper ". LOL as many times as you wish, but Saints bought the idea, and gave him a 5 year contract? ..UNBELIEVEABLE. I can't either believe that his " totally unacceptable public behaviour " and complete lack of basic goalkeeping skills had gone unnoticed to the Spurs Board and they must have been overjoyed to see the back of him, and get some of the Bale fee back at the same time. We have a good record of selling players to Spurs; Chivers, Richards, Bale but I would never buy one again- especially from ' arry. The sad thing is, unlike the Ali Dia fiasco, the long-term contracts that the (above two) have with SFC are purely a drain on the club resources, and the club groundsman has a better chance of being selected to play than they did - at least he's spent more time and energy on the pitch.

looking at his (Bendtner's) impressive goal record - and having seen him play - does convince me that he has real ability, and may respond better to Nigel's " more enthusiastic " manner, than Wenger's rather boring, downbeat attitude. Do I think it's a possible deal ? - most unlikely, but one never knows. After watching " twice-crowned " European Footballer of the Year - Kevin Keegan - sign for Saints in 1980, nothing would surprise me. IF it's a possibility and Nigel pulls it off, he'd take one step closer to taking over the Lawrie Mac mantle of top Saints manager. As for this thread...I'm glad I didn't take the time to read all of the other 115 contributions about it .. Meanwhile ...I'm going for coffee, if anyone signs whilst I'm away - mail me, someone. !

.is a common tactic for Premier League sides...and why not. If the youth / reserves players are " good enough " to play PL football, then they ought to be able to take care of lower league opposition - shouldn't they ? (Wenger has done this regularly at Arsenal in the League Cup)....and a manager need not risk losing 3 points if it doesn't work out. Nigel Adkins made big changes for cup matches last season, and started again in the L.Cup match v. Torquay but he must surely have cast a glance at some of last night's scores when three Prem. clubs; Norwich, Swansea and QPR all went out to lower league opposition. (L1/L2). With Saints, as yet unplayed second round game looming..will he continue his experiment and change out most of the line-up, and continue to give the other squad members a "run-out"...or play safe and play his strongest side? My guess is he will continue to use the regular " bench players " and trust to luck when we have to eventually travel to the West Country for the game, but last night's results will ring a warning bell to many managers that nothing can be taken for granted..and a reminder that lower league sides often play above themselves - especially when they meet higher class opposition. We may not be a Prem.side yet, but being the 21st. best team in the country is also a challenge that potential " giant-killer " sides will relish.

I think all of the Mills Brothers (four of them?) had been juniors on our books in the past, and none of them ever managed to break into the first team and eventually left. It's hard luck on Joseph because he certainly has talent but not enough experience to " experiment " with this season I hope he does well at Reading ..as long as it's not against us .

We might assume there's more skill on the part of all teams in CCC than in L1 ...where " the cloggers " rule !