david in sweden

Actually ...I think it originated around 1650-something and was discovered in an old church in the " American Colonies " a long time before that... fellow George Washington ...started the idea of a Constitution for the rebellious settlers. I think I like this better....

good observation, Scummer...after Stoke there is ..Sheff.Wednesday and ? ...who else has R/W stripes ..?

Not particularly Seabourne, but why do people criticise defenders who hoof the ball upfield, or into touch ? Their job is to clear their lines, and often they have precious little time to do that, especially from a crossed ball or a corner. Do people expect tall, hardheaded defenders to shimmy their way past opposition strikers with the grace of a ballet dancer?... ala Bobby Moore. (OK... a lot of you are too young to remember him), but you rarely see a goalie who can find his own man on a kick-out or throw...how do you expect defenders to behave in the heat of the moment.?. I was fortunate enough to see John Mc Grath play and anyone else who did ...would say the same ...play it safe ..the big boot ..everytime.

thats a bit of a generalisation ! some were given away, some of them bought in by previous managers.... and later disgarded by AP. If you think they were "milking " the club ..blame the previuos management ...who gave them 3-5 year contracts in the first place!

100% agreed ART. even though I'm not so regular these days, in over 50 years as a Saints fan, I can scarcely recall such a negative attitude from "fans" who really have little on which to base their criticism. In my day, you might boo ; dirty play by an opponent, or an incompetent ref. but seldom your own players. Perhaps a minority who are displeased we didn't win every practice game by 4 goals, despite having 5/6 regulars unfit, or those who expected " big money / big name" signings and haven't seen them yet. Dickson looks good, Butterfield cost nothing ...and Richardson (an excellent buy by all accounts) was the victim of a freak training accident, and a " re-signed " Connolly is a fearful prospect for many defences. So where's the problem? There are a few storms in teacups at the moment...media photos, £3 booking fees and a chairman who doesn't tremble at the writings of sarcastic journalism, etc ..which are all part of a changing picture. During my long time as a fan, I've seen many bad years and sometimes... really bad football, but we cheered to encourage the team not boo them.To anyone who thinks they need to pay money and then look to boo the first bad pass..my advice ..STAY AWAY . The team doesn't need you !

well done Whitey.. .or in Saturdays case ..how well they ...didn't do !

Perahps ...good decisions that we didn't have two players red-carded on Saturday.

If you weren't one of them ..a lot of people were calling for heads because we " failed " to sign these two players. The Bristol City bit..was a comment on the fact that Steve Coppel was rumoured to have been a prospective managerial candidate we failed to sign / dismissed the idea ...before we signed AP ..and David James because I like to take a poke at Pompey /ex or otherwise --whenever I can. Previous reports suggest that DJ was never very polite about us.

I think we'd all go along with that, but every time we put out a lightweight forward line against a set of 6' 6" automotons, and a 10 man defence ... it doesn't matter how much " pretty football " we play ..we still need someone to put themselves about a bit and knock the ball into the net ..and a CCTV system to prove it has crossed the line !

.or maybe after today's shock news ..we'll have Martin O'Neill at the helm next week ?

.and this is precisely what I have written about , off and on during the last year. The " inside business " culture varies so much from country to country that it is impossible to explain , or indeed understand why ..certain people act as they do. During the last 15 years I have been involved in coaching business people from many Euro-lands and they vary immensely..just look at some of the decisions coming out of the EU. ! Nicola Cortese former Italian Bank director HAD responsibilities to (a) his clients and (b) his employers. In fulfilling those two criteria he does not need to explain himself to anyone else. He's done his job. I do not know what his attitude is to AP but he is de facto acting for the owner and they both want results. Decisions have been made..and will continue to be made that will please and /or upset some of the fan base, but if he believes that this is in the interests of the club. As has been seen he does not rush out to give explanations /excuses three times a week to every stray 'journo looking for a space-filler on the sport page. He gets on with the job - his way. Now you will all say, its poor PR ..and you maybe right, but he knows that a winning side will put ticket sales up and create income ..what's he done wrong?. Apparantly enough to upset some of our regular contributors who come on with a fresh complaint each week. It's the Italian system. Putting it another way ...does you're boss at work come and explain why he decides to do this-or-that every week..most likely not ..so there's not so much difference really, but don't expect NC to suddenly be open to every press man wanting an interview, or take revenge on the local rag for unfair criticism. We may all be in Europe.... but that's about it ! I've lived in Sweden 25 years and I still don't understand the " logic" of some dum* decisions taken here.

Ah ! ..memories, memories...Terry's crosses often resembled a lob and the defenders were often caught wrong-footed, jumping too soon....whilst Ron had the ability to " hang in the air "..

Is Jason Euell still at Blackpool?

Booing doesn't improve anything, and why do people think we have some divine right to win every game. No-one minds when Ricky Lambert plays and pulls the defenders all over the pace - and still scores. The front two made some nice moves, but didn't stand a chance against Plymouths giants in defence. If we had a "Ricky clone " we'd have played him , but we don't and yesterday was the result, and don't anyone think that we can find another Ricky quite so easily, either.

.and do we really miss them? Every week someone pops up on this site and complains that SFC sold or released ..such and such..(who had scored a goal).. and "someone " should be sacked because of it. I took a quick look at the first day results for some of our former " names". Fitz Hall scored for QPR (makes up for all those OG's but- a good start for them) Last weeks " missed" signing...Darren Carter saw red after only 64 minutes for Millwall and got an early bath after two yellow cards. Simon Gillett (back at Donny) lasted only a little longer but his two yellows meant he finished early, too. Calderon (remember him) was the only Brighton defender NOT to get booked in their 2-1 win at Swindon, for whom David Prutton got his " usual " yellow before being subbed, and Olle Lancashire picked up his first yellow when Walsall lost 1-2 As the for the rest of the former players Matt Paterson (Southend) and Rasiak (reading never made it off the bench)..and neither did some other released players like; James, Thomson, Otsemobor. Those who watched yesterdays' predicable first day defeat were forced to admit that Lee Molyneux didn't look nearly as bad as he was reported to be, and was probably the only former player to have enjoyed a first day victory with his new side. Although not Saints . Steve Coppel (who DIDN'T get the Saints job last summer) watched his side lose 0-3 at home despite fielding his new goalie ..DAVID JAMES ..(where have I heard that name before ?) Never mind DJ ..you're used to being in the bottom four aren't you ?

too much "pretty football " in midfield. Connolly and Barnard looked sharp - but predictable. Playing two "short men " up front against the giants in their defence only won free-kicks. We missed the muscle of Rickie getting into their back line and giving some stick to their central defnders. Dickson and Butterfield looked good, Schneiderlin slick passing, but why can't he shoot on target?. ah well 3 points lost ...135 left to win !

well ...we have the big stadium and the fan base, so thats no real argument -is it ? No matter how well a team may play, if they don't have good support in the local area, you might as well say that they don't deserve to have a successful team, which after all is often down to a good manager who can create a good team out of nothing. Bournemouth...is a good example. We can assume that even with the -10 , the thing that cost us last season was the poor start with only one win in the first 10 (was it ?). Saints are extremely fortunate to have the owner they have, but it goes to show that even teams at this level need support from financiers ..as well as local fans. If a club is stuck with a capacity of (say) 10,000 ...they'll never grow beyond the income they can generate from ticket sales without major investment, and then they still need fans. Look at the problem at The Dell when we were forced to stick with a capacity of 15,000..! Without a season ticket the average fan was sunk...Oldham and the like will unfortunately have trouble surviving with small grounds ..even if they were promoted they still have only 11,500 seats.

I'm not panicking, but my initial thoughts back in May were that we had to have cover for the strikers in the event of ...whatever and that losing the two " loan players " mentioned, we had no established strikers available. Most of Barnards games last season were only 60-70 mins. long (though I put this down to hard effort rather than poor form). Without Lambert we have a very pale-looking strike force. Admitedly Lallana got to 20 goals but as he is injured, and hasn't had a pre-season it's likely to be some months before we see a fully-fit and on-form player. Lamberts injury (even if slight) is worrying, and he hasn't had a full pre-season either. We are down to two very respecatble strikers (though Connolly's injury history is worrying) and no solid replacement ..if any of them breaks down. I would have liked to have seen Antonio and Papa Waigo stay (in lieu of a better class signing).. but without them we have no " change sub." with any quality / goal scoring history.

I don't argue with any of the points you've made but the fact remains TWO of our four recognised strikers are "injured " and were not fit enough to have a full pre-season, which leaves us with Academy lads on the bench as sub.strikers. Football injuries by their very nature do not automatically heal and return to 100%. We had two good alternative with both Papa Waigo and Antonio and no-one can argue that their contributions weren't valuable, and in fact played much more than many people think. As I mentioned Barnard was subbed in a large proportion of his games last season. Call them strikers or attacking midfielders or what you will, but they both scored more than any of our " regular " mf players last season. YES ..there is still a month, and there are good players out there but they are getting fewer, and we know from last season that the chance of getting a good player..like Connolly ..is negated by the fact that they may have been ; Injured/not playing regularly/not having had a proper pre-season...or (most often) are grossly over-rated in the first place. AP obviously felt Tyson was a major target, but that didn't work and I'm sure AP has a list of alternative names, but the best ones were surely at the TOP of his wish list...and not 3rd..or 4th. I'd have been happier if we'd made more effort to keep Antonio and /or Papa Waigo --or both ! However, I am not anti -Pardew, on the contrary..and if he pulls off a "coup" and signs a Ex-Prem striker next week, I'll be as pleased as the rest of you ..but I 'm only expressing my genuine concern at the current situation with two " unfit strikers " out of four.

believe me; I am not a scandal-monger nor ..after my 50 years as a fan ..do I consider myself a negative person. I'm pleased with the defensive signings - even if we have to wait 3 months to see Richardson..but I am concerned about the "missing link " in our front line. Without Ricky Lambert we would have had a very ordinary-looking mid table side last season, and even the positive addition of Lee Barnard helped.. though I note he was subbed. in almost every game he started. Adam Lallana's injury is disturbing, especially in view of his lack of pre-season. No-one seems to be able to give a return date, and he won't be fit for 90 minute games - even then. David Connolly is without doubt a class act - even when he wasn't 100% fit, but injuries cost him his Prem. career and we can only hope he's got over that. If any of these is Unavailable we have little or no cover up front. Without Papa Waigo and /or Antonio..we look very thin on the ground. If would be good to think we got another 30+ season fron ricky, but ..there are too many "buts" for my liking and I think we need another established striker to balance out the strike force. Am I alone with that thought ..or ?

They'll be back..or at least on the bench come Saturday. I think AP is pleased to be able to get a good look at the " alternatives" whilst the others were out.

I agree, too :we offer the guy a contract, we don't put a gun to his head. He makes his own decisions.

good effort Hatch. see correct answer on amended thread at the start.

its true ..if anyone writes anything convincingly enough, it get carried forward until a major news source ; Sky , BBC, Mail, Mirror picks up on it and embelishes it ..according to their preference for blazing headlines and before you know it ......so snd so is sacked and we've signed XYZ. An old proverb I heard was ... A lie can travel around the world , whilst truth is still lacing up its shoes. How true !

OK..freedom of speech and all that , but some of the INT quotes and false threads started on here are worse than some tabloids dream up .