david in sweden

I wonder which language they use on the pitch ..? ....surely not Welsh, boyo ...

......from the stats. point of view.. AD was the first Saints centre forward to play in the final stages of World Cup, and I think he scored, too.

Hey Nick, I'm really surprsied that this " spam" item has continued so long. Did Alan pardew give a secret interview to The Star ..even before he had been appointed manager ? ....and if so ..why didn't he confide in the Saints fans first? a more blatant " space filler" I have never read. The Star obviously had a very quiet day in the Sports Office and did a lucky dip for names and rumours to circulate. If I was AP I'd sue them !

One might add that both players were nearing the end of their top flight careers before descending into the world of lower league / U.S. football and all things non-league. Playing for Pompey was just another pay-day. The glory remains from their Dell days and nothing can remove that from the memories of those who witnessed it.

looking at the line-up for yesterdays game I noticed that JOSEPH Mills was at left back at it brought back a few memories. A quick referal to " In that Number " reminded me of a few others. Steve Mills fb 1972 -77 was a slim lad only 10 stone and 5'7" but with boots of steel. His aggressive, tough-tackling style won him many friends in the fan base and he was a forerunner of the wing back style we later saw with Bridge and Bale. Steve was not daunted by the task of marking international wingers and often played them out of the game. He was among the young hopefuls like Bennett and Andruzewski, and often switched to RB to help settle in the newcomers. He won 2 England u23 caps, and was surely in line for a full call-up when he was badly injured (as back seat passenger in a late night car crash) near his native Portsmouth. Fans watched as he made a year long attempt to regain fitness. He played a couple of games in Oct/ Nov 1977 but it was clear he would never regain his former skills and he quit the game. Later sadness when he was diagnosed with Leukaemia amd he became figurehead for a charity appeal for sufferers and himself passed away in 1988 aged 35. Later we saw MICK Mills (1982-85) signed by Lawrie McMenemy in 1982. After a 16 year spell at Ipswich where he played many games for England and captained the 1982 World Cup side, some fans thought signing a 33 year old was a bit over the top - even for McMenemy. He was an automatic choice fin those great years we had in the early 1980's. Mick played 123 games in the following 3 seasons and still looked fresh at the age of 36. Experienced as he was, he also often moved to RB to accomodate the left sided Mark Dennis who Lawrie Mac had signed later. When Mick finally left in 1985, he would quickly be replaced by a new fans favourite ..Ivan Golac. Now we have ..another MILLS. No one has a crystal ball, but lets hope the lad can have a satisfying career with Saints in the future.

Plainly the clubs history over the last 35 years has passed you by.. somehow. Aside from his first season which resulted in relegation, Lawrie McMenemy re-built Saints sides and introduced big names which hitherto had only been names on an international team sheet (to Saints fans). The clubs only FA Cup win was in 1976, and followed by a promotion to the old Div.1 (now Prem.) The list of sensational signings continued with England internationals like Alan Ball, Peter Osgood - until what is still regarded by many as the transfer coup of the decade when England captain Kevin Keegan was signed in 1980. More impressive signings followed to the point where on a number of occasions Saints fielded teams with FIVE former England captains, and included the (then) England goalie Peter Shilton (who incidentally is THE most capped (Saints) English player). The period upto 1985 is without doubt the finest period of top level football that Saints fans have ever known. Season 1983-84, Saints finished 2nd in Div.1 only 3 points behind Liverpool (who had won the title the two previous seasons). With all respect to Ted Bates who took the club from Div 3 to Div.1, no other manager has come near this level of success and many older fans still recall the McMenemy sides even today. If this man isn't worthy of some respect - and a seat in the Directors box for life - then I don't know who is (?). The furore over stories of his directors fees when he sat on the board until recently were a disgrace, as the sum involved was no more than was paid to reserve team players at the time. end of rant.

Well.. one might read it as PR spin but as we had 27 seasons in Div.1 / Prem. you might well say that many in our fan base are used to Premiership football. Certainly a lot of fans are Premiership standard, and the ground is better than many present Prem.sides have ..it's his job to get the team upto the same levels.

You don't want to know ...! football resumed here last week (after the U21 championships), and Djurgården were slaughtered ..6-1 at Kalmar. Not a pretty sight. They sit in the relegation play-off spot and things don't look good. They have one of the worst goals record and have let in 28 in 14 games. changing their goalie only made it worse.

....now THAT wouldn't surprise me .. but probably not. Pardew will want to steer the ship himself. Don't get me wrong, I like WGS but an eventual DOF might have to be someone a bit "more special ".

Just what we need. The iron hand in a velvet glove. Experienced, determined, intense but serious about his football ( IMHO a "type" of Arsene Wenger.)

maybe, by the time he's proved himself, Saints will be " better things" .

Mmm... wonder why Alan Pardew confided his thoughts to The Star and not the Saints fans first ?

Had the capacity to be a good player..sometimes. MAYBE ...if he can play in matches where there doesn't have to be a referee on the pitch, too ! Bring on the men in the white coats ! I saw him in the notorious game at SMS where he attacked both ref. and linesman... (Mike Tyson would have been shaking in his boots.!) ...that cost HIM a 10 week suspension.. and (partially) Saints relegation.

of course ..NOW you know ! Also a Geordie (like L Mac.) He was one of Lawrie Mac's super signings in the early 1980's. A bit like Chris Marsden ..but with muscles. Played like a bull in a china shop. Great attacking midfielder.. often scored more goals than some strikers. Wish we had someone like him now.

...the bookies of course, I bet they made a packet ! what was Pardew in the betting....were there even any odds on him ?

I put out a thread earlier in the week looking at the " successful " managers in CCC and Prem. and their various qualities / similarities. I'm not going to pretend that I tipped Alan Pardew, but he was on my list of names and fitted the bill according to the list. Namely, played non-league before having a career with Charlton and Palace. Worked as caretaker / asst. manager and later managed three clubs including a spell in the Prem. Not an international ..but a journeyman player. I don't claim any prophetic gift ...but I only analysed existing records of English managers who fitted the bill, but weren't necessarily top of the pile. Thanks BTW to those who contributed comments to the first thread they made interesting reading.

thx. I know the story of course, but it's a long time ago and I didn't recall "his" name. Nice idea though.

I'd agree with you on most of those points, BUT we are living with F5 every day and it only seems like a long time, and is scarcely two weeks since ML came in with his bid. Everyone agrees that we should get the RIGHT MAN, and he will surely know who he wants to buy when he comes for his interview. To start buying in / loaning players that MW might have had, or Stuart Henderson thinks are OK is not the way to do it. These aren't real games, they are training exercises. Pre season kickabouts to help players get their fitness back after a holiday. " The manager " will buy in his choices (and may have talked with people already)....type - " Look **** you've played for me before at ***** and know what I want, if I get the post ..YCDAJFMe " -----or something of the sort. Expect the appointment within a week and 3-4 new signings before season starts. We still have August to fine tune the squad and get in others.

I've been living in exile too long, eelpie... who was that again ?

I have to say that it was a tough decision at the time. Here I think RL did the right thing. Saints were 18th in the league and DJ could have expected the sack any day.... purely on grounds of poor results. Good call IMHO. Excellent replacement choice in Hoddle ...at the time. The issue of the court case (terribly handled and long-drawn out) certainly must have affected his judgment a lot and distracted him form the task of managing a Prem club try to avoid relegation ! Nevertheless... nice bloke, and I do wish him well.

a new party game for away supporters... If I was in line for manager...I'd want to see.. what we had already, before planning any new signings (assuming I eventually get the job). So, working on the premise that any * prospective manager / candidate for THE job will want to see the players in action....keep a look-out for * the above at pre-season games for the following. A quiet man standing on the terraces (the stand is TOO obvious)....he will not sing / cheer for either side, nor will he applaud any good moves / goals, but will be making noted in a little book. He will also be wearing a beard and dark spectacles so as not to appear too obvious. BE CAREFUL, not to confuse him with any club scouts who might also be looking for likely talent in either team. (a hard job!) If on the other hand, someone HAS been offered the job already ..he WILL be sitting in the stands, perhaps even sat beside our new COO AndyKnow it all, who will be proudly wearing his Saints scarf. Now I've given you all the clues so far...If you think you spot *this man AND can identify him..(not difficult if it's Strachan or Keegan) then the competition winner will be the first person to post it on this site. Sorry I haven't got any prize I can send you from Sweden, but you will have the honour of claiming .......I saw him first ! Good luck!

Don't think The Star is the most reliable source - is it ? ( Sounds like a club / agent trying to cash in on our relegation.) Well, FORGET IT ! ....at last we are not strapped for cash any longer and the staff are going to get paid on time. Before he left, Mark Wotte was quoted as saying Lallana wouldn't be going cheap...let's hope (if he does then) we go for a jackpot price. Adam has lots of potential.

you seemed to have summed up the views of 98% of the respondents LC, I was in doubt whether to send the original thread, but I am pleasantly surprised to see so many balanced viewpoints from so many others.

I tried to find a common denominator and it seems to be that formula. Many of these men took a long time to succeed - not due to lack of skill, or tactics but the lack of funding . (heard that story before)! Seems like the working class hero type fit the bill.

well. I'm leaving aside the Prems top 6 who are Euro sides by now. But looking at stats. for managers and I have defined SUCCESS as: (1) made a reasonable showing in CCC and /or (2) got to the Prem. and /or survived (for a while anyway). The list (mostly English incidentally) was; Sam Allardyce, Tony Pulis, Tony Mowbray, Alan Irvine,Owen Coyle, Steve Coppell, Phil Brown, Gary Megson, Alan Curbishley, Alan Pardew and 'appy 'Arry R. What do they have in common: ? I have to generalise a bit, BUT.. 1) Most played 300-500 games. Many of them for several lower league sides. 2) Few of them got international caps. 3) Most of them can be described as " journeyman " players. 4) Most of them spent time as assistant to a better known name manager. 5) Few of them had ever played in Prem / old Div.1 teams. 6) allowing for exceptions, I could add George Burley and Martin O'Neill. and Roy Hodgson (who was a C. Palace reserve, and non-league player) but managed most successfully in Sweden, and later in 7 other lands. Coppell of course did play for Man.Utd and (England over 40 times) and O'Neill had an impressive record for N.I. ********** However the overall picture is of hard-working, lower league players, who got few honours and later served as Coach / Asst. to a big name in a large club. NOT that I'm suggesting any of these, but the overall stats.are interesting to consider when we are looking so many other names.