david in sweden

Here I go ..agreeing with you AGAIN... tdd yes of course he must stay, he's a raw talent but has got energy, pace and can score goals-thank goodness. He needs coaching of course. Learning to pace himself through a game but has that sudden cahnge of pace and what a throw. Considering he's out of contract with Reading ...why would we not sign him ? I think there is a bigger question (in some people's minds ) over papa Waigo ...but I'd keep him, too unless Nicola plans to sign Messi, that is !

I hope they send their third team and leave Messi back home on the beach....

for a club who's 'ad 'appy ' arry ...as manager TWICE... don't lets talk about shady characters... PLEASE !

Nah !..'e'd nevver get th' job, who'd unnerstan' his Lunnen di'lect up there?

it was in May 1986. Reserve keeper Phil Kite had already been released, Shilton was not available and so 16 year old Keith Granger played his only 2 league games...fortunately for him ...both away ...and we lost 1-6 at Everton and 3-5 v. Tottenham.

there were many seasons during the late 50's and early 60's (mainly due to Reeves and O'Brien) but I really loved 1963-64... we scored 5 against ; Bury and Swindon and 6 v. Charlton, Grimsby Derby and Rotherham and 7 against S****horpe 1964-65 was good too, 5-2 v.Charlton (h) 6-1 Rotherham (h) again 5-0 Plymouth (h) Promotion season 1965-66 was even better; 5-2 v Preston(h) 5-3 Cardiff (a) 5-1 Bolton (h) 5-2 Portsmouth (a) but also... 6-2 Bury (h) and 9-3 Wolves (h) but since the first promotion perhaps only--- 30 years ago.... 1979-80 5-2 v Spurs 5-1 Brighton 5-2 v Bris. City all home games However, one good question is ; in which match did Saints score 5 goals... and still failed to win ...?

might be good if you hop over the Yeovil game, too then ...or ?

and it might be his ONLY... ...(no, no perhaps not-) It was only Claus and Frannie who ended up with just ONE career goal.

well of course, that WAS a long time ago..but getting back to the original topic..yes quite a lot of former players have ventured into coaching and management. I did consider that some of our former Academy lads who didn't make the cut at 19, made their way up through non League and lower league teams and eventually got the most unenviable job in football ..namely managing a " not-so-successful " team. As for them ...they may have learned a lot from the coaches they had at SFC, whilst the journeyman players cum coach-manager have probably picked up a lot more along the way. The real success stories are those who are good tacticians and have players that are " coachable ". Many of the leading managers did not play at the highest level, and few were ever international players of note. Although there are some successes... in general...good players do not make good managers. Ian Dowie is on his third ...? fourth club ? at Hull and doesn't look too promising just now and his main claim to fame was getting C. Palace in the play-offs some years back but apart from that ... not much to write home about. Others may get some success but will eventually lose their jobs when they have to sell their best player(s) to survive and the team never recovers and is relegated. Tough life, but good to see that there are those who at least try.

sort of falls in line with my original thoughts...... see post # 18 higher up this thread.

well done ..(almost) my reckoning is more fully explained on post number #18 ....earlier on this thread.

I wouldn't want a feud or to argue the point too much but In that Number states : " His (Dodgins) 2 apps. at the starrt of the 1939-40 season were wiped from the record by the outbreak of the War and the consequent abandonment of League Football. " Although Dodgin played for Saints in the War Time Leagues - there is no record of any other Football League games to his credit. I don't know if the " Hagioology team " found out more than that in compiling ITN- but it would be interesting to know.

you don't have to be so hard on yourself benjii...but might I could have made the question a little clearer, I suppose. However, there do seem to be different criteria in some peoples minds. I would say those who were officially appointed MANAGER and I wasn't counting the caretaker managers (of which we had too many in the last 8 years) so I discounted Wise and Dodd ..and I wouldn't have counted Jim Clunie who took charge one game when Lawrie Mac had the 'flu ! LIKEWISE ...I do not include people who may have held the fort between official managerial appointments, Steve Wigley is such a person and some people might also suggest Peter Reid ?... (for some reason) It was made more difficult by including someone like Alf Chadwick, who was the first to fill both crtiteria but that was in Southern League days. Alf Dominy played from 1913-1926 but his time as manager was in WW2 and he didn't manage after that period. Bill Dodgin (actually did play a few games for Saints) ...in August 1939...but when war was declared in September, the League programme was abandoned and all the records expunged. So that officially he never played first team football. He did of course manage the great post war sides from 1946-49 before moving on to Fulham. If we discount them..we are left with those FIVE names. Almost everyone missed was the great Tom Parker from Woolston, a full back who played between 1919-1926 after which he moved to Arsenal and played for England...and later returned to manage Saints from 1937 -1943. His lasting achievement (after he left as Norwich manager) was to sign a teenage forward for Saints named ... Ted Bates who played over 200 games. Who is of course... the second name on the list. My third was centre half is Chris Nicholl (who I put in the same class as Michael Svensson) who played for Lawrie Mac 268 games between 1977-1983 and took over after LM left and managed from 1985 -1991. Next is Alan Ball, TWICE signed by LM 1976-80 and again 81-82.(total 234 games) was manager for a season after Branfoot 1994-95. lastly I had Stuart Gray. A really sound Midfielder/ defender who was badly injured in his first season (20 games) and never regained full fitness. He subsequently became a well-respected coach at the DELL but his reputaion suffered terribly when he fell foul to the Merrington curse when he was asked to take over as first team manager. RL lost patience with him after a bad start and appointed Strachan after 8-9 games in 2002. Other contributors have suggested other names, but according to my rational - thats my list.

If you run the film and stop it, play it frame by frame you can see that Stokes is level or even a little ahead of the two defenders when ball is played but look at the lines cut on the pitch ....when the camera pans forward and the ball is in the air you can see the third defender to the right of picture is already in front of the other two. Even if Bobby was in front of the two central defenders, the third defender is already in front of them in the later frame, he would hardly have run back when the others wee going forward - so he would have played Stokes on side - at the time the ball was played. Of course the result stands for all time but you can see that Stokes was onside.

I've had a quiet day..so try this one FIVE men have both played first team football and managed the Saints. Can you name them ?. No prizes - but you get the special title of Nerd of the Month.

Lots is written ...very regularly by contributors talking about how we " lose " Academy players to other sides, and then become successful. The main reasons that lads leave are (1) they really aren't good enough at that age - some develop later and (2) at last count... we're still only allowed to use 11 players at any one time, and you can't keep everyone . However, in anticipation of Charltons game I noted that thier manager Phil Parkinson (Saints junior 1985-88) is YET ANOTHER former Saints youth player. (The Academy is a 21st century creation). Paul Tisdale is currently holding the reigns at Exeter and quite a number of others have taken up managerial jobs at different levels, after having started their careers, or at least having played a significant part of it with Saints. Former schoolboy Lawrie Sanchez (1974-78) also got to be manager of N.I. and Dennis Wise had been around a bit recently as manager at Leeds and Newcastle. Of course, some people will say we shouldn't have let them go and so on, but the list maybe a little longer than you might think. Anyone willing to contribute other names of past juniors, (or even seniors) who made it to the managers office.?

.well, he obviously didn't take DD seriously either...

Quite right, egreog (george ?) ..if Mc G. or Blackstock were still with us now, we'd be looking to move them out. Their strike records now are no better than when they were with us. Being 3rd or 4th choice striker in any club a dangerous position to have, and scoring lots in the Reserves doesn't automatically qualify you for the first team. Such players emerge once / twice every 5 years or so. The only strikers in the last 40 years who went on to do better elsewhere can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Martin Chivers ...Alan Shearer and (maybe) Kevin Davies. In each case, they left the club for record fees.

...so if that was the headline of the week we can all go home happy. It's total nonsense to think that such a move was even being considered let alone... about to be agreed. Media sites / newspapers have to print something to fill the space and this is typical of a " space-filler ". Every punter knows ..if you were to back every horse in the race - you're bound to win sometime..but you'd be out of pocket. Journalists who've got nothing to write about... are soon out of a job !

Claus and the likes of Jimmy Greaves, George Best, Paul Gascoine paid the price of fame which they could not adapt to but each, in their own way were unique to the game of football. Had they become carpenters or electricians I'm sure that the pressures of those jobs would not have brought them to the same level of indignity (that the media has done.) Claus, who was also a Norwegian international and sometime captain, is the only foreign player to have played over 400 games for SFC in a period of almost 10 years. His bravery cannot be denied and most of the injuries that sidelined him were acquired " in the cause ". His pairings with Dean Richards and later Michael Svensson gave us some of the best defensive partnerships that Saints have had in the last 30 years. I think it is brutal and somewhat unethical for the media to exploit them as they have done. Some of these so-called journalists ought to perhaps consider the biblical verse..." let he that is without sin, caste the first stone ..." before joyously writing about someone else's downfall. My memories of Claus (and the others) are gladly, of their exploits on the football pitch...and not their social misdemeanours.

.perhaps a few of us should mail this guy and put him straight on the facts.?

well, of course James Beattie doesn't come from the Ivory Coast, but can ANYONE on the planet say that Beattie is even remotely similar to Drogba ? Beattie can't run and certainly doesn't /never had the sort of control that DD has. IF WGS said that ...he couldn't have been serious !

right saint-stevo. In retrospect, I would think that from the fans viewpoint, the immensity of the occasion outshone the reward of the trophy.

I should think that by the end of the day another 3 clubs ..including another "un-named Prem. club " will be hunting AL. well for what it's worth, they can put him on their wish list and post it to Father Christmas along with all the others, they are hardly likely see the wish granted. Sounds like a " rolling snowball story " after a quiet day in the press room, or a couple of beers with someone's agent .

I've been supporting Saints for 51 years ....and I don't want to be cured !