david in sweden

Interestingly, those players with clever ball skills are always capable of doing the unexpected and I can recall (at least) one occasion when Terry Paine scored DIRECT from a corner.....only to have it credited as an own goal by a defender on the line, because (said the ref. later).. that it wasn't possible to score direct from a corner ! (Obviously it wasn't in the FA rule book). In later years, similar things happened to MLT on a couple of occasions and Jason Dodd had a very nice effort refused (went down as O.G.) in a fixture v. Pompey some years ago. There are players with good skills who can move the ball in the air, but they rarely seem to be used for kicks. Interestingly, another ex-saint Rory Delap is now the scourge of the Premiership with his long throws, whereas he was hounded (by certain Saints fans) for being useless at it - when in fact the problem seems to have been that we didn't have anyone on the receiving end who was capable of finishing properly. At the highest level, games are won on set-pieces, corners and penalties. Many of the great goals scored are nothing to do with skill but purely a reflex action that pays off. Those that miss ..end up in Row Q. are are forgotten. I first saw (so-called) Brazilian " banana kicks " in the 1966 World Cup, and I still think they are as fascinating as ever.

Darn right he was ! Won't take anything away from Terry Paine, but TP often was given the medialimelight and Sydenham was much underrated..even with almost 400 games. He was one time So'ton Schools sprint champion and it showed. I recall his greyhound-like speed bursts, when he teasingly showed the full- back the ball, pushed it five yards ahead..and he was gone ! Sometimes he even had the time to get to the bye-line, stop and kill the ball, and centre with ease. Not a great goal scorer himself but he made hundreds for others. Great game John.

Well of course, we did get back to Div.1 in his time, and had some great seasons in the early -mid 1980's - remember ? Nothing is forever but it was a great time...wasn't it ? I don't think he should be telling Board members how to run the club, but his footballing knowledge is vast and he still carries respect in some corners. Good thing to remember when we had the FIVE England captains in our side including the England keeper and beat Arsenal, Liverpool and Man U in the same season. Nice stuff eh ? Let's try remembering that the next time we watch the 1976 Cup Final DVD once again. Good football isn't only about winning cups. We still owe something to Lawrie for the great years and a respectful ambassadorial role would be justified IMHO.

I'm with the 99% of others on this thread with the same sentiment Robbie. HOWEVER; what if .....he won't come? Thought about that? What will it be like for another worthy candidate to take the job, say Mr. X ? Will it mean that fans are going to set up an " ANTi-Mr. X " thread and start criticising the guy before he's bought a player or chosen a team , just because we can't get WGS ? I fear that the hysteria surrounding this appointment ;e.g. no Tony Adams (I'm also agreeing with that BTW) and the " please come and sign Gordon brigade," might make it very hard for an eventual third candidate to get acceptance from sections of the fan base. I'd like to think that WGS would make a sensible decision about this ; for himself and the club, but if he doesn't want to come - what then ? ..PLUS... Is it only the bookies who have stirred up this betting hysteria over WGS ..and it was never going to be Strachan ..even from the start? Let's hope we're all happy ..and he does come, but if not ...don't let's make life harder for the eventual new man. COYR !!!!

TRUE, but I wonder ..did he jump or was he pushed ?..at that time we didn't have funds for the June salaries !

In WGS' defence, I think I'd say that it was the Coventry CHAIRMAN who took them down. Their economy was very much worse than ours at the time and CC sold their top players in the second half of that season and left WGS with a load of inexperienced kids to fill the gap. It didn't work. I'd hardly blame Strachan for that, he's not a magician.

according to your logic, he would be happier sitting on the bench (at a very much higher salary) every week waiting for Robert Green to get injured . Of course he made a personal decision but there are many others who would have plumped for the Premiership team first, and topped up their bank accounts every month. Whatever " loyalty " means i this day and age, I think KD has more of it than many others who've already left the club.

Nice comments and providing we can get a good defence in front of him, he should easily be the best keeper in this league. After all he's been at the club almost as long as some of the Academy lads at the club..his experience will be invaluable.

I agree that logically, ANY side relegated to L1 might have decreased attendances, but suddenly our situation is a bit different than it might have been if " another " consortium had bought Saints instead. Liebherr is obviously not going to stint on a basic investment, (as others might have done) now that he's bought the club. Look to see a "high-profile " manager appointed in the coming days, with a few £mill. to spend on new squad members capable of kicking us up to CCC ...ASAP. I think a good start will give us 20K + gates, and as soon as the -10 points disappear, we'll start to move up the table. If that's the case we might well see some larger crowds.

Bring back the Albion Band and some community singing, " Oh, when the Saints ...go marching in ..."

As I recall, I first heard that expression from the legendary Brian Clough 40 years ago (forget his alcohol problems) the man was a footballing genius. As manager, he signed Peter Shilton for some ridiculous sum at the time, and announced that Shilton was worth 10 points a season. In those days a win was only 2 points. His meaning was that Shilton was good enough to "win" at least 5 games a season by keeping clean sheets in goal. As it was it was considerably more, but few people understood his logic at the time. I agree - with that KD in goal, and a half-decent defence in front of him, he should be able to take a pair of sunglasses and a good book with him, in the hope that he would have a few quiet afternoons in the Saints goal, and rely on the strikers to get us the 3 points / game. Nice one Kelvin ! ..COYR !!!!!!!

There must be some musical people (fans) available for that sort of job .. might help to get a song sheet printed..in the Match Day Magazine maybe, song sheets were popular in my Dad's day -------60 years ago !

WOW ! .. great idea! Bet there are some fans who never thought they go to the Chapel for choir practice !! ...... Hallelujah ! " were going to the Chapel, and .. were gonna get .......PROMOTED ! "

I'm great on conspiracy theories...How about these ? Why didn't Hearts choose to go to Pompey, Brighton or Bristol instead.? Could it be we may have a well-known Scottish manager in place by then ? -or that the " manager of the Scottish national side" may want to see some players in action...and he knows the way to the ground without a GPS ? all will be revealed......later. (NO! , I haven't tapped anyone's phone .......)

That was a great summary, if you'd have written that before it would have saved a lot of overkill on this sit in the last 24 hrs. ...sounds exciting though - doesn't it ? The next heart attack will be the ..new manager followed by ....the new players he will sign.. Starting the season in League 1 will seem like an anti-climax - won't it ?

are you sure he wasn't in the Saints shop buying a ..........! (wow)

Maybe because he got a new one-year contract last week..? Who knows? but now he's leaving and the club will honour that contract so he won't go empty handed. Given the choice there are half a dozen names I'd go for now that we have real money behind the club, so I'd say Thanks Mark, you kept a brave face through the last 3 months, but we need more guarantees than you can offer to get out of L1... ASAP.

I'm inclined to agree. There are a lot of former Saints youth out there in various leagues, I recall Phil Parkinson who had some good press some years back. Former players like Micky Adams and Iain Dowie have had flashes of success. I'm pleased for Paul Tisale that he's been so successful (at that level) but we need a quick fix with a proven name who can turn everthing around by the end of 2010/11 and get us back to some better quality football.

...didn't have to wait long, did you ?

Stewart Henderson takes temporary charge of first team selection. (OS)

well as you say, a real shame! Think he did a fine jib the last 3 months in very difficult circumstances. good luck Mark.

the list is growing Saint Robbie..any more suggestions?

NO! NO!.. it's Cortese, not Corleone ! but in this case maybe it's Markus Liebherr who should be called The Go(l)dfather !

of course we'll have to but I'd get Woggy a dedicated young person to help him and carry on the good work - a Woggy Mark 2.