david in sweden

OK there's no saying he's gonna listen, but..here's a chance to get away from the DVD game and play Football Manager...in a proper way. Jan.1st the transfer window opens and Alan Pardew will undoubtedly be in the market for some new faces.. but where ...and who? I'm going to suggest a competition to " out-think the manager." RULES..? Well for a start..ONE entry per person only ..so think about it before you post. Comment on each dept. in the team (see below) and say IF you would sign anyone. I won't spend all my time refereeing the entries 'cos I'm sure you will post your success for us all to see ...come Jan.31st. NOT part of the competition but IF you want to "name names"..you should do it before the Sun / Mirror/ NOTW or SSN publish it. Might be OK for those who think they are ITK... but it's always guesswork-isn't it ? So... I'll put my head in the noose first. GOAL : No changes. Bart should be good enough to stand for a month or two., and KD will be fit again in a month. (besides FA will OK emergency signings in the worst scenario). DEFENCE : Dependent on whether Trotman stays longer.. or returns to PNE ....AP will sign ONE more CENTRAL defender. MIDFIELD : Mellis is also loan ...but if he returns to Chelsea in January... We will get ONE DEFENSIVE midfielder. STRIKERS: I'm going for TWO more strikers. Connolly is good a long as he's fit, but I expect AP to sign a couple extra as cover for Lallana and Lambert. They are scoring freely now but if one gets injured ...what will happen ! ? (our defence is a bit leaky so we need to score more goals in every game.) Part 2. Living in Stockholm doesn't put me ITK by a long distance but I'll guess; that most of the loan players will get extensions, but that Pulis, Gillett and Lancashire will go permanently. Saga will move too. (If he doesn't join Rasiak at Reading... he'll move back to Poland.) So for what it's worth, thats my entry. Have a go .. Good luck!

OK so the scenario is we mop up all the lower league clubs first then meet Chelsea in the 6th round ...?

Agree totally about Murty. Great leader type, but still best to have (younger) Hammond as captain. Don't think Murty is worried who has the armband - it's second nature to encourage as he does. Rodrigues played " almost " two seasons, and at RB every time ..except once. Home game v. Hull City Feb.77 he wore the 3 shirt for the one match. Great captain though, even if it was a rather short Saints career because of a bad injury. Shef.Wed. thought he was " over the hill" at 31 - when they gave him a free. Did a great job and ..was " the last team captain to receive the FA Cup from the hands of H.M. the Queen " (she gave the task over to lesser / younger Royals the following year). A good full back (like goalies) can go on a bit, too. I grew up watching Stuart Williams at RB. WBA let him go (cheaply) at age 32 and he did a great job for us and was still playing in his 36th year. When he retired we got David Webb to replace him (which wasn't a bad deal either.)

I hope we get a good draw against a Prem.side. Nothing like proving yourself against good opposition. and unless we feel like breaking records I don't think a L1 (3rd Div.side) has ever won the Cup, anyway.

....perhaps the Echo journo left early ..to beat the traffic !

Funny, I thought that was a basic requirement to become a manager ?

Good point - well made. A fresh start for his career and let's face it - every club needs two good keepers who can compete for a place and be good enough to hold it . Come on Bart !!

yes you're right FOCUS George Donnelly ! OK No.. I don't have any inside info.(.not in Stockholm anyway.) but .. if AP has seen him and has plans then thats why he's manager. As VERY few Saints fans seen to have seen GD play it's hard to judge but with a long season ahead and sudden injuries (like KD) liable to happen at any time, then an extra striker can't be a bad idea, especially if Saga(presently injured) is on his way out, too. Outside of the 3 current strikers we have no cover, so SIGN GD..on loan.. or whatever in the New Year.

A bit harsh, saint stevo It takes time to adapt to any team formation and L1 isn't the easy walk over everyone thought it was. Antonio is very inexperienced in the game and only played reserve football before. As someone " a bit long in the tooth," I can recall that players like; Chivers, Channon, Stokes, Moran and even Shearer didn't walk into the side and start playing like Brazilians ! In fact most of the above-named had to wait a year or so before they got a regular spot-and then weren't instant hits even then. Antonio does have a rapid turn of speed over a short distance, and that can disrupt defences. Very few players; Sydenham (and maybe Fernandes) could turn it on at will and you play to their strengths. (Sydenham, who was totally left sided, would (I'm sure) be first to admit that his right foot was only somehwere to lace-on the other boot, but no-one who saw him play will ever forget his devastating acceleration when he could take 5 yards out of a full back before the guy could turn round.) I like the look of Antonio. Yes, he's a bit raw tactically..but why do we have coaches, anyway? I think we could do worse than take him for the rest of the season.

Did you say " tier "? ... or " tyre " ? The pics. of these arenas look very much like car tyres -don't they ?

1- without looking up any records .. I'd guess it was Kelvin Davis. If he wasn't first choice keeper, or was loaned out at all then it sounds quite feasible. Other than that my outside chance would be Chris Perry. Not too many others have played at Prem level. EDIT ..**** LATER AMENDMENT ..OH, HIM ! I read it as a SAINTS player .sorry . 2- Well we did get a CCC play-off place when Burley was still with us ..thats not so long ago, surely (2006-7 maybe.?)

Whilst I agree with you about shoddy jounalism (just as bad in Sweden where they can make a mountain out of a molehill) I might also query the statement which said ...SMS would have to be extended to accomodate 40-45 K fans.? I WONDER ! Remembering back to prev. World Cups when some of the " less-atttractive" fixtures were often played at arenas where 25-30K was the max.gate. IF.. we were to be selected as one of those grounds I doubt whether a game (say) between N.Korea v. New Zealand would being in 30K+ ? Of course by 2018, we may well be back in the Premiership and a 45-50K arena would be highly profitable (as I'm sure ML would realise) but purely for the puposes of half-a dozen WC games in the qualifying rounds ..I doubt it !

I think he's long-sighted enough to know that a few more injuries like Kelvin's ....or Jaidi, or Lambert....might leave us in the sh*t.

We've got one already,but if he can't cut it by New Year be sure AP is already ahead of you .

Hands up everyone who thinks that's a good idea !

just had the same thought recently. Our best team is OK - provided they are all fit /and / on form. BUT last night's injury to Kelvin is a prime example of what can happen. We have a lot of key players but without them we're down to inexperienced reserves - and we had too much of that last season. I think Bart looked impressive enough when he first came but he had injuries and a lack of form after that - and Kelvin 's game came good. Now he's got his chance to impress again. I sincerely hope that KD is fit again soon, but sooner or later someone will have to replace him and we've had a list of young keepers over the past 30 years who came and went whilst waiting to replace the first choice man - and that didn't happen so often. Of course, we hope that everyone can stay fit / injury free but a surplus of strikers is nothing to cry about...if AP likes him - let's have a look at the lad. He'd be good cover - if the worst ever happened.

..who made that long trip up North on Tuesday night. The sight of a shirt with " I went to Hartlepools " text over a cartoon of a monkey hanging from the gallows ought to do surfice. well done all you guys ! Call yourself a Saints fan with pride!

My first thought as well. Managers are football-holics and will go to see any game anywhere, if they think it may help their club. Don't suppose for a minute that WGS is out to sign Lallana, as I understand there is a short queue of Prem.club in front of 'Boro. AND as we " don't need the money " anymore, we can afford to say No to any amount of £millions you like. However there does come a point in time when it's silly to refuse..but we 'aint there yet ! Thanks to ML/NC.

HE MOST CERTAINLY DID, Landrew (thank you for understanding that). My comment about Henry had NOTHING to do with his nationality or anything else - except the fact that he was blatantly dishonest, and cheated. I never understand why it is that (so-called) " great " players feel that they have to cheat, when they have so much talent in the first place. Henry was infamous at Highbury for his " diving " in the area and " won " many a penalty - that Arsenal weren't entitled to. Both Henry (and Maradona) are/were regarded as some of the best players of their generation but set a very bad example for younger players (and fans) by somehow convincing themselves - it's alright to cheat - if you can get away with it. It took Maradona 20 years to admit that he handled the ball.! My reference to Henry's " cheating " was still fresh in my mind when I read Wurzel's admission of his / their dishonesty. Nothing more ! (The expression is standard English usage for placing people of similar situations or character in the same category).

If you haven't realised it Wurzel, you (and your compatriots) have hit a raw nerve with many. It someways our club is like a family. At least it was for me during many years at the Dell. You could stand almost anywhere and start a conversation with someone who was just as dedicated as you may have been yourself. As a teenager, I used to walk down Hill Lane to the Dell and often met, (someone I assumed to be a retired army officer) and we would banter about the match, players....how we admired the strike force of Paine, Sydenham and Davies (it was that era). In departing to his seat in the stands, he would always bid me a polite farewell and say " well, goodbye old man, take care ". A quite remarkable memory for me. It's so long ago, he has undoubtedly passed away by now. Or, like standing under the West, and chatting with the FIVE brothers who turned up on irregular occasions and spiced our pre-match chats with tales of; Roper and Wayman, Ted Bates and Bill Ellerington. My own late father had some stirring tales about his friendship with Ted Drake, and the extraordinary saga of " Boy " Catlin (whose relatives I met many years ago). Whilst a schoolboy, Catlin played in an English Shield (YOUTH CUP) game at The Dell and scored 17 goals in one game (and 8 in the following). After playing as an amateur for Arsenal, he signed for Saints but as the War began, Catlin like many others joined the Forces when the War began, and sadly died when his ship was torpedoed off Crete in 1941? Who knows what a career he may have had ...IF ...? Those are REAL stories Wurzel and many of us cherish the heroes of a bygone era. (There may well be a " real " Old Codger " out there, and I'm sure he has great stories to tell) - for me at least, that thread was just a sick joke. SORRY!

If you haven't realised it Wurzel, you (and your compatriots) have hit a raw nerve with many. In someways our club is like a family. At least it was for me during many years at the Dell. You could stand almost anywhere and start a conversation with someone who was just as dedicated as you may have been yourself. As a teenager, I used to walk down Hill Lane to the Dell and often met, (someone I assumed to be a retired army officer) and we would banter about the match, players....how we admired the strike force of Paine, Sydenham and Davies (it was that era). In departing to his seat in the stands, he would always bid me a polite farewell and say " well, goodbye old man, take care ". A quite remarkable memory for me. It's so long ago now, he has undoubtedly passed away now. Or, like standing under the West, and chatting with the FIVE brothers who turned up on irregular occasions and spiced our pre-match chats with tales of; Roper and Wayman, Ted Bates and Bill Ellerington. My own late father had some stirring tales about his friendship with Ted Drake, and the extraordinary saga of " Boy " Catlin (whose relatives I met many years ago). Whilst a schoolboy, Catlin played in an English Shield (YOUTH CUP) game at The Dell scored 17 goals in one game (and 8 in the following). After playing as an amateur for Arsenal, he signed for Saints but as the War began, Catlin like many others joined the Forces and sadly dies when the War began, and sadly he died when his ship was torpedoed off Crete in 1941? Who knows what a career he may have had ...IF ...? Those are REAL stories Wurzel and many of us cherish the heroes of a bygone era. (There may well be a " real " Old Codger " out there, and I'm sure he has great stories to tell) - for me at least, that thread was just a sick joke. SORRY! My real point is, for many people, such tales are history that we warm to and appreciate all the more. The rather "sick " little " joke sounds like something out of a " Wag the Dog " script and is

I was just considering that a Four-Nations tour would be fun for ML and his friends to see Saints in action. Italy, Germany, France and of course ..Switzerland. Not TOO much travel and maybe the club could suggest a reasonable travel package for fans who want have a short continental holiday. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of Saints fans who travelled to Sweden in the early period after 2001- especially when Strachan was manager.

...or he was probably an old timer trying to live on his meagre pension money and couldn't afford the enormous prices that some Prem. clubs charge. Think if you were his generation, had spent £thousands following the team and at the end of your days couldn't afford to continue watching SAINTS 'cos you were skint !