david in sweden

It's impossible to say at present isn't it, but more interestingly, if we are in the Prem. in (say) 4-5 years ...how many of the present squad would you expect to see in the line-up --if any ?

mmmm, not sure that we have ( MLG.) True we had a good runs of form when we topped the Div.1 table .and those years when we won promotion(s) but he's talking AWAY form, and he maybe right . :confused: No time to check now, but will come back on it if no-one else does first .

I'd go with that Tdd. ..and in fact if you disregarded the -10.. and that catastrophic start when it took 8 games to get our first win, our form since then (with most of the present (new) AP squad)... would have placed us even higher than that ! COYR !!!!!!!!!

Blackburn did OK.They got Kenna, Flowers and Shearer from us..and THEIR best deal was unloading Dixon and Speedie on us. It took away a big part of the Shearer fee... and then those two scarcely played a dozen games each before going.:mad: We really got scre*ed there. ......... and along with the Charlie (mind yer fingers) George deal. £600k was a lotta' money ..especially in 1978. (one of the few times that a Lawrie Mac deal went sour !)

I know a lot of people are saying ..what a lot of money we paid for Lambert (LOL) it may be a lot for L1 - but we've had a dozen or more players in the past 15 years who cost more. However, I'm sure Bristol rovers thought they got a good deal, but looking at their present position - did they. Admitedly they are in a ply-off spot, but out "true" results form is equal to theirs (except for the -10) and Lambert has scored more than their best two players together. L1 Scorer tables list ; Hughes and Kuffour on 6 each.. whilst Lambert has 15.. and even Lallana has 9 already. As we found out several times before; getting a good transfer fee doesn't mean you can get a good replacement.

It could be the making of a great partnership. None of these men is particularly " long in the tooth " even though they are " long on experience" , but they have moulded a good squad in a very short time. Many years ago, I can recall the football world having a laugh at the young Brian Clough when he started out at (then) fourth division Hartlepool. In a few years (and with Peter Taylor alongside) he created some great teams. Hopefully, AP and his crew (Dean, Wally; Doddsy and Pucko) are building something long-lasting at SMS, and (as several here have already mentioned), one can understand how his plain-speaking style got him the job in the first place. He may not have a Championship / championship-winning squad yet, but it's looking good - so far.

I'd be inclined to agree providing he still had some of the talent he had when here as a junior. If it hadn't been for the ******Home office rules he'd have stayed anyway !

...so may ? ...it looks almost empty in the pix.

work permits for foreign players wanting to sign has now come-up for Man U. Saints have had enough problems in the past in NOT getting players signed and the Jaidi deal certainly took its time and he had played league football for several years here AND was an international, too but still had " problems ". According to MU statements, they have pulled out of a deal for 18 YEAR OLD Adam Ljajic from one of the Balkan States, because " the H.O. said that they could not guarantee permission would be granted in January." Oh really ? Surely this lad couldn't have played in 75% of the recent internationals for his country - has he ? If not, how can they even consider that he be allowed to sign with so little experience based on the H.O.'s own criteria for issue of permits of which Saints have been a " victim "of in the past, too. One rule for the rich and .....one for the rest of us ?

I don't have a " private source " for this statement BUT reading between the lines, I can see a lot of countries / banks had invested in the " Dubai Bubble " and you can bet that a lot of Middle East investors would have had money in a " local project ". As the bottom has almost dropped out of the M.E. Stock Exchange.... I think that it won't be the last month that Po*pey players will have to wait to get paid...there will be worse to come.

In short, YES it feels better now. Living abroad and having your team relegated is rather like not being able to attend the funeral of a good friend - (if you were there you could all commiserate with each other) - but it did feel a bit empty . My overall Saturday mood has changed from : " Oh God, I hope we don't lose AGAIN !" ... to one of... " How many will we score today... and how can we possibly get up the league even faster ? " Looking back on a season is far easier then having to take the present one one game at a time ...but anyway I'm waiting for the promotion back up to CCC this season ...or next ... COYR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes - but don't they know that we will be a Premiership club again by 2018, very short-sighted response from the FL /or is it FA.

Some others have commented here butIMHO it isn't as if the Chairmanship is an important post;(like team manager or a no.9).... I have a feeling that NC / ML may have an ace or two up their sleeve..we'll have to wait and see. By tradition the President was a local dignitary who gave the club some respectability in the public arena. (wasn't Earl Mountbatten club president at one stage ?) and then only to make a few public/ social jippos each year. However, reading the rest of your mail, it occured to me that the famous names you listed (all belong to -what I call the 400 club - exc. Ron Davies who was a legend in his own right) - are all good candidates, but the fact that they all live on other continents may be a blessing in disguise. None of them is likely to move back to the UK - except to get a knighthood - but why can't they be "ambassadors" for the club in on their own continents? The original idea of the diplomatic role is someone representing our country in ANOTHER country and the people you mentioned are the best we could ever find to represent SFC abroad...and if we are looking forward to a higher league of football in the coming years we need to build up an overseas fan-base on other continents (as Man.U / Chelsea have done.) So -YES ! a new club President (in time), but let our great heroes of the past be good ambassadors in their (present) countries. It must be worth paying a few K per year to them,as we likely pay far more to our scouts out in the sticks, and the goodwill factor would be enormous as there are some active fans bases in these (English speaking) lands already.

Does anyone know if this is a credible statement.? Is Talksport a reliable source ? Have they done a interview with AL, or has he told a journo he wants to leave ..........or ............or ?

We always said the same about Ron Davies. After his first season every defender knew his name and he was marked (literally) by 2 or 3 defenders all the time. I'm sure he played a lot of games when he was nowhere near 100%. But when the Paine /Sydenham crosses came into the box ...you would ignore him at your own cost. I guess Lambeert is now attracting a lot more attention.

Thanks for pointing out those errors, Vectis of course its the FL not FA...and I must have still been half asleep this morning as someone else has also pointed out the injured Spurs keeper was .......Cudicini!

thank you I stand corrected

a few weeks back Spurs' Gomes had a spill from his MC, and is out indefinitely. Down the M27 David James has been unfit for some time..then we had our own Kelvin Davis out injured (this is not meant to be a criticism about using Bart btw) and now I read that Ipswich's Richard Wright is injured and going to be out for 4 months.....but the FA are refusing to allow Ipswich to loan in a keeper as they have 2 other keepers on their books. I'm sure Ipswich would argue (as many other clubs) that someone who plays occasional Reserve football - or even in the youth side, is not necessarily qualified to stand in first team games - especially considering Ipswich's league position - it's a double blow for them. There is certainly a shortage of experienced keepers, and its good they're around and often come in and give cover for a shorter time. Is this another case of the FA interpreting the rules to suit themselves, or.. ?....and is it unfair on Ipswich.?

I really don't understand why some people are so depressed? OK we weren't playing a top side, Wycombe, it seems, played up and (by my text count) caught Papa Weigo off side at least EIGHT times !..or more? They hardly had a shot all night ..and we got only our fourth clean sheet in the League this season.. and the weather wasn't the best of the year either. We only scored once but have one of the top six goal tallies in L1 As long as we get one goal more than the opposition = we get three points. we don't get more if we score 6 - which by some accounts we should have. We are out of the relegation zone and on " form " would be in the top eight. Could it have been worse?

..wonder if they'd do the same if they drew Man.Utd in the Cup sometime ?

I didn't suggest AP was doing anything wrong, but there's surely going to some transfe ractivity in January - so it's your chance to see if you're on his wave length and would make the same choices.

As far as I'm concerned. if they didn't publish NOTW on a sunday, they wouldn't know what day of the week it was anyway. Even their scandal and gossip is far from the truth. Wait till the end of the season and we'll prove then wrong !

If they... are I'd advise you to get one. It's a work of art (and love) and contains info. you never even thought about. How on earth they ever found the time to source out the info. beats me. ..but it's a masterpiece. I had some conatct with Gary Chalk a while back and I think he said that somewhere there were some unsold copies in someone's garage.(?) Why not treat yourselfto a copy this Christmas - you'll not regret it . (Can't find Gary's contact info. but someone on this site will surely know).

well that was brief and to the point - welcome back on Jan.31 and see.

Well of course are THE big club... in this league. (If for no other reason than we have an owner who's prepared to spend £1 mill. on one player !) Our 27 season history in the Prem./Div 1 gives us the reputation of a big club, and we certainly have the facilities and our ground is as good as / better than a some of the present Prem. clubs. BUT it's really down to the TEAM we put out each match, and there we are probably lacking a bit. OK - if we beat Leeds twice this season we can say we are a big club in L1 but we may still not get a play-off spot, because of the -10. I note that of 9 away League games so far (apart from the 19000 who were at Charlton), only 2 other away sides had more than 10,000 for our visits - and the rest struggled to get half that. Coming to SMS must be rather like visiting a Prem.side and (facility-wise ) the closest their fans will get to a big match occasion.The stadiums certainly play a part.Take Sheff.Wed. (a very successful club in my young days and always a Div.1 side,) but have spent the best part of the last 30 years in lower leagues. Hillsborough is an impressive arena by any standards - but the team has been only mediocre for many years past. AS for " form " ..many promoted sides struggle when they go up a league and that is obvious from the up/down syndrome that clubs at the top end of CCC suffer from. Hull were lucky to survive last season and Pom*ey already had the skids under them last spring. On average 2 of 3 (recently) promoted sides drop out of the Prem. each season. Being top of L2 doesn't mean you are good enough to be at the top end of L1 next year. Rotherham ..(if they win replay) may well be good opposition, but it's up to us to show the consistancy of Leeds and Charlton - if we are to move up, and " taking care " of lower teams is essential - if we are to succeed.