david in sweden

Of course it doesn't matter ..in one sense Morph, but it wasn't OUR money that bought him in the first place..it was (whoever "owned " the club ) when we bought him...Rupert Lowe, or ??? SLH, or (whoever). I'm sure it's only coffee money to Mr.Liebherr, but I like to think that we got something worthwhile out of the deal which is why I posed the question. It will certainly be a saving on salaries. If GR was on say 10K week, that's half a million a year ( + taxes) saved ... if 15K then its a saving of around £750K+ . Having " invested £2 million to buy him in the first place, I like to think that / the club / M.Liebherr / the fans might have got their moneys worth - even if he has been sold at a loss. Like buying a house, a car or a business - Players who are signed for a fee have a valuation as an asset. I don't mean to sound obsessive but it's a purely " business " question - and I work in business. Curiosity thats all. "undisclosed fees " can be anything ?.....though I'm fairly sure we got more than £100,000 ....but much less than £2 mill.

Good comments ......agree 100%

OK we've had this thread before. We know there are many dimensions to a transfer..agents fees, sell-on clauses, performance-related payments, other related to success criteria like play-off places or promotion. ...BUTwe paid (I think) £2 million for Rasiak. so can someone (in the know) please find out if we gave him away ...or what ? I'm sort of satisfied with a phrase like "..believed to be in the region of (fee.) OR .... £x ..rising to £y.... based on ...blah, blah). so just......HOW MUCH DID WE GET FOR THE RASIAK DEAL ????

I can't comment on Schneiderlin... but I do number myself as one of the Anders Svensson fan base you mentioned. Seeing him on Swedish TV every week, (where his Elfsborg side are currently in one of the top places) he is superb as a playmaker, and has whacked in a few class goals this season already..and he's still only 33...and just passed 90 caps for Sweden. Agreed he didn't always shine for Saints, but I think you'd agree that if you play ANYONE out of their natural position then they won't perform well either.

Lots of people use that as an excuse to get rid of players .. like we did with two youngsters we had as teenage apprentices.... ......Kevin Phillips and Dennis Wise ...! ....anyone recall those names ? I think Gillett has lots of potential. You can't condemn him on the strength of a couple of poor sub appearances.

I wasn't comparing a " newcomer " like Holmes with those other illustrious names, merely that he didn't come as an " injured player " unlike one or two others, or had he been " injury-prone " before his arrival. Those famous names mentioned all had very serious injuries from which they never properly recovered, and never played effectively again.

I don't think he was injured when we signed him. On the contrary he had a good pre-season and scored in a couple of early games. I was watching the game that he got injured in and it looked pretty bad at the time. There is a lot of difference between getting a bad injury that'sdifficult to heal, and being " injury-prone" where you get one different injury after another, and never get totally match-fit. People like Pahars, M.Svensson and Lunderkvam had really bad injuries and never got properly fit again (as did MLT). Matt Oakley was off over a yea , and found it difficult to come back, by the time he did ..he's been transferred out.

..according to AP's interview from BBC site. He stopped short of saying the ref. was rubbish.. but said that we had 2 or 3 good penalty appeals. What were the incidents please ?, (following the game on text isn't easy.)

Does that mean that James will revert to right back I wonder?... or will AP look for another full back instead....7 days left.

I think most of us will be glad to see the back of them, but you are a little hard on Rasiak. He is one of only THREE players to have scored 20 league goals for Saints in the last 20 YEARS ! MLT did it 3 times. James Beattie as well....and Greg Rasiak . Not so bad really. People might claim some goals were " lucky" (whatever that means - they crossed the line) and many claim that GR is " lazy " (whatever that means...TWO England managers said that about MLT and didn't pick him for that reason ! ) - but he was still a top Premiership striker. Last season GR was farmed out on loan and hardly had a chance to perform. Let's face it - everyone knows he wants to go and for that reason it's best for everyone that he does, but you shouldn't dismiss a 20 goal striker with harsh words quite so easily (not in this club anyway).

WHAT !....surely not that useless waste of space that everyone likes to criticise so much ? .....do you mean THAT Adam Lallana ?

What exactly is the problem for you ?...The loan idea is great. The player gets games, and we have an extra face in the squad. If he doesn't fit in ...we can send him back - no loss! If he's good we have the chance to sign a player we already know about. Think about last seasons loans.......!!!!! What if we'd had to sign all those dead beats instead of only loaning them. They'd still be on the books... and we'd have no money back guarantee. AP's strategy seems to be ; BUY experienced CCC/L1 players but LOAN up -and-coming youngsters who MIGHT make the grade, and we have a chance of buying them later. Doesn't that sound like a good arrangement ?

a quick look at League 2 games on Saturday .............saw Saints loaned keeper Tommy Forecast as MOTM when Grimsby won 1-0 at Bury. He made several excellent saves .. amongst which were shots from Bury striker JORDAN ROBERTSON ...who remembers him ?

it's not the 31st yet, and so I think we need to trust that AP knows what he's doing. All this speculation on a day to day basis is pointless really.

Of course we are all expecting the Poles to depart, and they are equally keen to move on. It's a little unfair to quote Paterson, but he is very inexperienced (as many other ex-Academy lads) although he has promise, he needs to develop alongside an older head, someone with some history as a striker. Channon, Shearer, the Wallaces and MLT all took time to settle in . Give Paterson time, he'll be OK.

......puts an entirely new complexion on the name ... BALL BOYS ! ...oops sorry Wiltshire Saint, of course you're quite right. They should learn the technique of their counterparts at Wimbledon. Stand still and don't move unless you have to....it's very distracting to the players. Like many others, I have had my moans about referees from time to time, but it is a thankless job. One famous quote I recall from a former ref. was " ..you know the ref's having a good game ..when he's invisible " BUT surely Wiltshire, there must be times when you can also criticise your colleagues in some games.?.. AND would you be in favour of goal line cameras (at the highest level) to avoid mistakes ?

That may resolve itself in January. Often a loan is to get experience, other times it's one foot out-of-the-door. IF...Preston have a good first half season, and find they don't need him , it maybe easier for him to move. IF.. he fits in well, becomes popular and likes the club (who wouldn't) the prospect of moving back to Preston Reserves may not seem so attractive...and maybe he'd consider staying ..especially if we are doing better. IF.. that is the case ..then a small fee to prise him away from Preston ..wouldn't be a problem - would it Mr. Cortese ? (** Jack Cork and Alan Bennett might have stayed had we been able to bid for them as they liked SMS - then we might still have been in CCC.)

Of course and that's correct, Duncan, First time I stepped inside SMS, I was overwhelmed - and I was a home fan. However, with so many youngsters playing nowadays, SMS seems to have been deifed as a temple, instead of seeing it as a football pitch that two teams will play on. I recall numerous OS items that said .." the youth team / Reserves will play their match at SMS to give some extra atmosphere "... etc, etc, whereas most other clubs play such " boys matches " on a nearby cow patch, or local league ground that resembles a ploughed field. Playing to a crowd of a thousand or so ( even your own fans) in a near- empty SMS is equally provoking, and that may take away some of the home advantage, especially when 15000+ fans are screaming for a goal. I don't think the stadium is at fault, but the mentality of some of the inexperienced youngsters we've asked to play there in recent years.

If he was nervous it's probably because he realises he doesn't have a defence to help him out !

Interesting !.. as my own assessment had always been the first SIX games, but I totally agree with the theory. Of course, it takes time to settle in, and all this *rap from disatisfied fans who claim we have six new players and... why don't we have results... is typical.(!) With the exception of Kelvin Davis and Chris Perry there was hardly a man wearing the shirt today who was even a registered player here on August 1st. This is the largest change of personnel in the clubs entire history. Those of you with Saints history books ..check it out and see. Of course it will take time for them to develop into a team, it's just a pity that we started -10....but now it's up to AP to build a new team. But I'm sure he realises that the majority of those who were here when he arrived were either ; too young / inexperienced to have affected last year's tragedy......OR were collectively responsible for our relegation. Wait for the 8 games to be played ..and re-access then !

Should be a good test of our Academy's potential, though ..........

NO, they're very short of money, and don't have a Swiss billionaire as owner !

one of the 4 remaining places..... With Kelvin Davis as first name of the team sheet, and AP's six new signings WHO...... will fill the remaining 4 places ? DAVIS MURTY ? TROTMAN HARDING ? HAMMOND MELLIS ? LAMBERT ? SUBS : ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Mmm....his feet look large for a short man ..?

In that Number... lists Terry's height at 5' 7" ...maybe your Dad was kneeling down at the time. ?