david in sweden

I'm not worried Alpine. Let's face it, yesterdays postponment was a God send. If the game had been played it would have been on a mudheap and who-knows-what could have happened. Whilst other clubs are chalking up lots of games our lads surely benefit from the rest and the fact that we have a good squad means we have more players to choose from, and better cover for injuries. If we play these games on good, dry pitches it should suit our passing game better than trying to work things on a wet pitch.

yes that was another masterpiece of dealing - wasn't it?

Yes but he wasan't the only one -was he ?

Nice result for Paul Tisdale at Exeter and especially good for us as Charlton LOST 3 points, and it pegs them back a bit. With ourselves, Bournemouth and Brighton in the hunt for promotion, it's hard luck on the west country sides; B. Rovers, Yeovil, Swindon and Plymouth as they all seem to be in trouble. Rochdale is a good game to have postponed. At best, the pitch would have been a mud heap and who knows what may have happened. If we play it later in the Spring on a dry pitch, we'll have a better chance of playing a passing game.

I recall he was out for almost a year with a serious knee injury and it took him time to regain form, hence the cautious 1 year contract he was belatedly offered by GB. With hindsight, another manager with some knowledge of Matt's potential would have kept him. Judging by performances after he left ; (Derby and Leicester) having him in midfield might have made the difference in the following seasons and even helped keep us up in CCC. (own comment) the same might have been said of Andrew Surman had he stayed.

....and (the manager of that month ) proceeded to play him out of position and everyone criticised him when he didn't perform well.

I seem to recall he got rave reviews in our Academy side that season, but we got screwed by the Home Office who wouldn't give him a work permit after his youth contract ran out...yet he later got it sorted and came back to the UK. Although he didn't perform well in those trials, I am fairly certain he would have been a real hit had he stayed in the Saints regime at the time.

I believe he was..but I remember reading that RL didn't want to sign him because he thought he had " a bit of an attitude " *?! **/?!!?*!!! (I'm lost for words) sorry Rupert. Thanks for the stadium but you got that one wrong, but then again you did buy Delgado for £3 million --------what a coup, that was ! RULE no.1 in the book of Soccer Management . Chairman should stay in the Boardroom..and out of the dressing room !

STOCKPORT !........what was the line in that song .." if you can make it there, you'll make it anywhere ..." This exactly what our Academy lads need. Nice job Doddsy - was it 14 wins in a row ..or more ? but if they are that good at Academy level - get them out playing some real football - even if it is Conference sides. A lot of Conference sides have youngsters in their line-up and it's a good test at a higher level. Get some first / second year scholars in at U18/ U21 level and let them have a few games, it will help to improve everyone. Who cares if the U18s lose a few games without them, we already know it's a good squad and if the better lads are getting some experience they'll progress quicker. They may not all be in the Walcott / Bale / AOC class, but it'll give us extra options if they do well out on loan. Older fans will recall that even legends like Channon, Shearer and MLT took 1-2 seasons to get a regular place on the bench. They had to learn and these loanees will too.

Regardless of WHO came up with the idea, it was well-deserved. The award surely reflects his time with SFC from 1972- 1985. Those great signings, the excellent football (2nd. in League ) and of course winning the FA Cup. What came after ..the furore over his departure to Sunderland, the disputes with RL, the sometimes mis-quoted criticism of people in /outside the club. The apparant rift between him and NC are nothing to do with his unique record of achievement . If you are going to give an Lifetime Achievement Award then there is none better...at present, and few organisations better than EX-Saints to award it. With all respect to Nicola Cortese, who is IMHO - doing an excellent job, neither he, or anyone else of influence is better placed then "the fans" to make such an award, as we are the ones who can best judge Lawries unique contribution to SFC. I'm sure in time MLT will not continue to see his halo tarnished by a petty dispute and will go down in the club history as legends along with Paine, Channon and Ron Davies.

Absolutely right Colin. Having seen more Swedish football than English in the last 25 years I can agree. Jakobsson came to Saints (as an esatblished midfielder) at the tail end of his career and with an impressive international career behind him, and he had a nice touch and was good at initiating attacks, as was Anders Svensson (though much maligned at the time). Why it is managers insist on forcing players to play in "unnatural roles" - and then make them conform to the "almighty formation" 424, 433, or whatever is beyond me. But while we're on the subject of misfits , Jo Tessem started as right back, moved to right midfield where he scored 4 goals in 9 starts, but incurred everyone's wrath when he was forced to play up front in place of the injured ...James Beattie...and it ruined him whereas his midfield scoring rate was as good as any midfielder we've had ..and his goals often got us points ..and even wins on several occasions.

I'd agree absolutely Duncan. MLT is one of those special former players with red and white running through his veins, and I think that the criticism levelled (rightly IMHO) against Pinnacle rubbed off on Matt as they had cojoled him into being their PR man. At the time Pinnacle looked a good bet (when considering the other runners) -except they didn't have any money. But it did seem that the "Administrator" gave them more than enough rope, whilst Marcus Liebherr had already put his money on the table in May? - but his bid was ignored. I think the disagreement between MLT and NC is a bit of a " handbags " thing, but nothing that couldn't be sensibly sorted over a glass or two of wine. Two (proud) men who really have the clubs welfare uppermost.. but look at the Saints from different perspectives. Get them togerther talking sensibly and it'd be a PR coup for the club on the level of Dalglish returning to 'pool.

wasn't that episode during the time when we had ... 'appy 'arry ...(he of Spuds)...as our manager? there was something about 100K to an agent that went missing and the player never showed up ..or something?

don't you mean " non-players" ? is he looking out all those wonderful buys who never even made it past the bench, ......surely Antony Pulis has won this competition already!

I'm glad this has been headlined. Some people tend to decry "youth football" but if Luke is good enough for England at U16, and goes on to U18 and U21 ..it bodes well for the future. Who knows where he may be by the time he's say...23?.. well done Luke Shaw!

when you consider how some clubs are run (or should I say "mis-run") it's good to see someone who doesn't have to beg and scrape to the "big money Prem.clubs " and stand for some principles (whether we all understand or agree with them) but Nicola Cortese is ..as they say ..his own man, and shows some respect for his deceased friend Marcus Liebherr and his vision. Well done Mr.Chairman.

yes I'd go along with that, too Landford Saint I guess it just need some of the impatient types to learn a bit of patience.

sssh ! don't tell them that for goodness sake ...this is the way out..unless?

You are opening that old can of worms again, because there are people on this site who think he was rubbish! Well, my answer to that is ..he wasn't appreciated, mainly because Strachan played him out of his "normal " role. It's on record (from a Swedish TV interview) that WGS told Anders (and Fernandes) that they were both good players but his (WGS) formation didn't allow him to play them both together ! Anders (now 34 years old) is captain of the Swedish national side ..has passed 100 caps for his country... and still going strong. If the profile seems familiar, he was previously dubbed "the Swedish David Beckham" except that he didn't marry a pop singer, but after ditching his "model" girlfriend, eventually ended up marrying a local girl from his area, and became a father last Autumn. But all that aside, his natural playing role is "in the hole " behind the Swedish strikers, and his passing is second to none -in this part of the world anyway. His team Elfsborg are never quite good enough to win the Swedish Prem. title (Allsvenskan) are a bit more like Fulham rather than Chelsea, unfortunately their excellent defence doen't make up for their lack of goal power. My evaluation is that he is a good player, who was playing in the " wrong team" (due to Strachan's tactics), but in the brief period that Sturrock was in charge he was given more liberty to roam, and really showed up well.

....and have you noticed, he's moving up in the league. Stockport are currently 24th (i.e. bottom) whereas Barnet ...are only 22nd ! ...surely Nicola Cortese should be considering a large fee if he stays there after May ..?

nice one, thanks for that bp saint

he came over from Northern Ireland in 1998 as a 16 year old, together with Chris Baird...(he of Fulham nowadays), and as many young keepers spent most of his Saints career in the Reserves..(as memory serves me that he did have a couple of first team performances, at a time when we had a goalie crisis? and whilst we were still in the Prem. ..may have played in (televised) 3-3 draw v. Newcastle - maybe I'm wrong?) After which, he disappeared off to ..Doncaster ? (maybe wrong again) and got lost in the world of lower leagues. The reason for the thread is that I noted the name popping up in the Northern Ireland sqaud to play on tuesday night. With Maik Taylor (another former Saints) injured they have reverted to N.I. League sides and he apparnatly plays for Linfield. Not much glory in any of that I suppose, but at least Alan may draw some comfort from the fact that he would be capped by his country. Good luck anyway.

agree ...and with Chaplow AND Lallana back we will have a powerful midfield again, but Guly must play up front . .. He was lucky not to be red-carded a couple of times and he certainly doesn't seem to fit in midfield (on yesterday's showing)

I agree . We've lost only 8 league games ...out of 27 ...and Kelvin wasn't responsible for of all those defeats either. I agree Bart need games, but if he's no better, (or perhaps worse than KD 's recent matches) , we might blow the promotion push. I'd not be ready to drop Kelvin ---yet !

Most sensible statement anyone's made. It's nice to have a clean sheet, but they are an attacking side with a phenomenal goal record - you expect them to score. Goalie error? - maybe, defensive error ? - maybe , last minute penalty looked like it hit AOC - under the armpit ! the ref. was keen to even it up (and make sure his car wasn't sabotaged in the car park) - of course he gave it! Despite wind and weather, and errors from both sides - was an entertaining game .