david in sweden

Whilst I agree with the sentiment of your post above...IF Alex wants to play in the "big boys " league he has to learn that you can't go about giving casual interviews with the press - and especially saying ....you want to leave the club. He is not a private person in his free time, he is still an employee of the club, who have the right to OK his interviews when it affects his employment.- which I'm sure they did not . So ..smile Alex, get over it and move on. ..and learn the lesson. (the " un-professional" way to do it ..is to get your agent to make an " unofficial " statement to the media. The message is the same.

.they will be happier if they end up being in the squad in the Premiership next season. looking at the overall personnel, many of the younger ones have little /no CCC experience and have already progressed further than they might have dreamed of when we were in L1. on the injury front..remember in the spring.. we suddenly had FOUR midfielders out at the same time ...luckily their subs. did a good job, but we don't want to blow promotion chances because we've got key injuries. ..just when the pressure is on...we're on the back of TWO good seasons, if we miss promotion this season, it'll be harder next ...when the balloon has burst and we'll have to build momentum again. Were not talking about overpaid, spoilt Prem. divas, these are mostly lads beginning to make their careers and it looks good.

squad too big ? .....of course not... we have 46 league games ahead of us + League cup games + FA cup games... Anything can happen..(hopefully not) but...injuries..(Lambert's is only " slight " - whatever that means) or so were told... but... injuries, suspensions ? , loss of form...all play a part in matters..(not to mention the Lee Barnard situation with the courts...) NO ! ..fit players, lots of competotion and having a good bench where we can sub. players in after 60 mins...keeps everyone happy and no-one has to knock their brains out for 96 minutes every match...and I am a great believer in having a "home side " and an " away side" ..don't know about NA, but playing an extra defender in tough away fixtures is handy, as well as having a couple of extra attackers / strikers on the bench in home fixtures.

That was yesterday...it may be true now, but tomorrow is another day ... Oh... I long for the days when the NOTW printed gossip that you knew was a load of sh*t, where do these journos get their info? My guess is they have a big hat in the editorial room and take their pick for a new rumour to exploit...

he looks considerably shorter to me ..hic !.

source ? source ? source ? ..are you really ITK ..?

I've seen Alex play.... and he is a very talented and exciting youngster to watch. Could he play in Prem.? YES, but a sensible manager will use him selectively and not put him in the start 11 every week. Will he go...? YES. I think the media pressure will eventually force "someone " to bid and that may start an auction for him. Will I worry ..? NO. Yes we'll "miss" him, but he hasn't been regular for 3 seasons and there are enough options available. Is Cortese demanding too much ? NO. Regardless of whether we have the Liebherr billions behind us or not, we don't need to sell and we should get the best deal we can. As far as I can see Cortese is very shrewd in bargaining and £12 mill +50% sell on sounds a good deal for an eventual England player. The "big six" Prem. clubs throw money around like a man with 4 arms and end up with £20 million foreigners on the bench every season. On that basis...we must get the best deal we can, and not get ripped off AGAIN! well done Nicola Cortese.

you're very brave Danish....! looking at those who played midfield last season ...we have; Holmes, Hammond, Schneiderlin, Alex OC, Chaplow, Lallana, Dickson, Guly, Forte, and now Cork (not counting Puncheon of course). so it's a case of ...perm any 4 from 10......what are the bookies odds on getting the correct midfield line-up every week?.

I'd have to agree that if I thought NAs best shot was an ordinary L2 striker, I'd be more surprised than I would disappointed. Quite a few of the leading scorers around today started in non-League football rather than someones Prem. Academy. The perennial Kevin Phillips (now 37) and still going strong was rejected by Saints as a junior and found his way to Premiership football and an England shirt via a non-League club. IF Lambert plays all season and ends up with 10 goals then we'll know he's found his level, but what will you say if he ends up in the top 5 strikers in CCC this season ? Everyone has to start somewhere and only time will tell if (someone) is good enough to score goals in all 4 divisions. Not the BEST example, but Brett Ormerod did ..and he started with non League with Accrington 20 years ago... .......and NO ...I don't think we should sign him, either. (Example only)... personally, I think NA will sign a recognised striker with a good record.

There's no pleasing some people...saint lard. NA has a very positive attitude, and despite his own brand of " football lingo " for the media he has shown that he has focused well since last Sept. (taking Saints from 23rd to 2nd in L1 ....and promotion). Surely you must admit that he is light years ahead of some of the bumbling idiots we've had since Strachans time. Many thought it enough to mumble a load of soccer platitudes that they know fans wanted to hear ...and never produced anything vaguely resembling " good football " , and as for unproven at a decent level ...TRUE (so far) but we previously had an unproven manager who took us to an FA Cup victory and promotion to Div.1 Lawrie McMenemy !, Older fans recall that his " northern manner " didn't go home with Saints fans from the start but his managerial record is second to none in the Saints history. Give NA a chance, he's done very well in only 9 months. If you had written those comments 4-5 years into the future..I might agree but so far I'm very pleased with his input " in the building " or " on the bus " .

I also noted that Sven-Göran Eriksson has signed around SEVEN already for his Leicester side. The names look good - on paper - but it remains to be seen if he has the "savvy" to make the team " gell." Most of the Saints squad have had almost two seasons together, which hopefully is an advantage.

Delgado wasn't " fit enough " for Strachan to want to play him, but he still went to the "002 World Cup and scored for Equador ! , however...an Östenstad-type striker would be good. You need a big man, and a shorter guy to pay off him....type Beattie / Pahars nowadays Lambert / Barnard or Connolly...I'd still like to see a Lambert " clone" signed soon...even if he doesn't guarantee 20 goals.

Well I was thinking in term of " long-layoffs" ala Connolly /Barnard / Holmes type injuries, rather than "carrying injuries", and Lambert did well playing through the season and missed only a few games, but still got 20+ goals -that 'aint bad ! ** Alan Shearer once said ..there is a lot of difference between being " fit enough to play "and being fully "match-fit " Beattie, MLT, Channon and Ron Davies before him (Lambert) also showed courage to play through the pain barrier - and still scored goals.

old lang syne and all that ..of course we did get Chaplow back (at a good price) and Jack Cork ..also for what history may regard as (a very good price) but the old saying " never go back " often rings true. Antonio is all the things you said, and he had a good half-season upto and including the JPT Final, but looking at the present squad line-up ..we have a lot of what I would have called (in the old days) ...wingers! The current favourite is of course, Alex O-C. and then there is Jonathan Forte, and a revived Lee Holmes. N'Guessen has n'gone back to Leicester and, it seems, also Dale Stephens to Oldham. Chaplow and Schneiderlin may not be out-and-out wingers but they are right sided...so how many more do we need. True, Gobern has gone, and Puncheon (hopefully) has one foot out of the door... but who else is there? Holmes has shown he can also play on the left, and so too Dickson, though Lallana seems to fit in anywhere. So do we really need more wide men ? I'm still hoping Cortese's bankroll ...(that didn't go to Donnie or Bris. City,) may yet get us another big striker, but not ANOTHER winger ..please.

Agreed Colin. There are always the inevitable lists of the "ones that got away" but someone has to make a decision at the time and to be fair the team we had at the time he was on loan was pretty poor and no-one looked very good. No wonder we didn't sign him . Good luck to him.

I'd like to think that Connolly will stay injury-free, he is a class act ...but as NC has (according to info.) made big bids for Sharp and Maynard, (despite them not signing) ..I think the money is still on the table and they are taking another look at NAs wish list. I think the squad realise that they are not all going to get on the pitch every week, I can't believe that jealousy is such a big factor. Players realise injuries can happen and everyone is a loser if we fail to get promotion because of a weakened squad with no cover. Look back at the strength-in-depth we had last season...Richardson came in for Butterfield when injured. Dickson was good exchange for Harding. Martin and Seabourne (though not in the same class) did well when we needed short term replacements for Fonte and Jaidi). There was ample cover for Lallana (when he was out twice) . Guly and Chaplow covered for others several times and still managed a few goals - and Alex came good when Schneiderlin was out, and (back to) Connolly... whose goals were invaluable when he took over in the last 5 games after Barnard was injured.

I think I know what you mean, but I'm not looking to replace Lambert (he with a new 3 year contract), but we do need a "Lambert " clone " - in case of serious injury or longer absence. I hope he continues to score at the same rate, but looking at Sunderlands unlucky season ( NINE players injured after February ...6 needed ops. - when they were top 6, I think) I am more and more than convinced we need five or six possibilities available. NOTE: Early on in Strachans time, we had FIVE injured strikers in Feb.)

RIGHT ! Connolly was back on the bench (fit) for the MK Dons game and made a few sub.apps. but both Lambert and Barnard were in good form and no-one would have changed the side then. When Barnard was injured - Bristol Rovers (H), Connolly was able to come in and scored 3 goals in the last 5 games.

think we do need another striker ... With luck Connolly may stay clear of injuries...but Barnards case is still pending and he has an uncertain future, Lambert has been lucky to get by unscathed for 2 seasons, BUT if we are going all out for the Prem. we need all the experience we can get. Forte is a winger, not a big scorer and Guly is a good change player but not a 46 games a season type... and though Doble is a good prospect, he's not even debuted yet ..NO sorry ..one more striker please Mr. Cortese.

seriously guys...I cannot believe the stess and high blood pressure coming out of this thread after the first TRAINING match ! It's mainly down to fitness levels and playing 22 players who are likely to be played in different roles to see if they have any "hidden talents " like Joe Payne. No sorry, I pay no attention to results like this - it's all about getting everyone fiiiter and more competitive. My tip: don't expect to start v. Leeds with the same team that finished v. Walsall. There may be a lot more changes than you think.

Having followed football (and the Saints in particular) for over 50 years, I still hold fast to my traditional method of not looking seriously at the league table ...until after the first 6 games. Of course, this is not a fullproof method, but for 75% of the clubs they will most likely end up +/- 2 or 3 places from where they were at the end of Sept. Having said that I am entitled to an opinion and mine is that ; Brighton, Portsmouth and Peterboro will all finish below half way, and the main title challengers will not be Leeds, West Ham or even Birmingham. My " top candidates " include Saints, Leicester, Ipswich and Burnley (though not necessarily in that order.) I will come back with the others ... after game number 6.

RUMOUR - according to the best dictionary I have - I know there's plenty on the net, but I love the feel of my fingers running over paper, is : " a piece of information, or a story that people talk about, but that may not be true. " Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary. LIE - (the same publication states) is " To say, or write something that you know is not true " : Yes... I realise there is a subtle difference but whether or not you are genuinely ITK, or it's just a tale you got from the milkman who heard it from one of his customers... who knows someone in the pub... who works at a football club ..and so on .. Having been stupid enough to have read many of these "rumour threads " in the past, I realise that it takes a certain type of personality, or ego to ; invent such stories or just pass on someone else's " lie /rumour ". It would be so much better and create less stress and adrenalin for everyone, if we all took a step back before deciding to write that we heard that XXXXXXXXXX is going to sign / or be sold tomorrow. I enjoy this site, and reading many of the correspondents, some knowledgeable, others humourous ..a few outrageous but surely there is enough media hype already that we can surely check a few facts before " putting fingers to keyboard " and try to be truthful. .....or is that not PC on this site anymore? NOTE ; with the death of TNOW, we will at least have a few less " groundless rumours " to contend with.

actually I suggested him too, the day after his contact ran out at Scunny...(It seemed obvious that he wanted to move elsewhere.. ...and who else would buy him ...?)