david in sweden

With Puel in charge ..he may well do so. At least he gives younger players a chance.. For all the "positives" from Koeman's time, RK totally ignored the U21's except when we had an injury crisis......

Just read that Burnley keeper Tom Heaton had to leave the recent England squad due to an injury problem. If he's still unfit, then new signing Nick Pope will make his debut ......let's hope " the curse of the debutant keeper " has left Saints by now. The history of such " custodians " who debut against us, and then play out of their skins has haunted Saints for 50 years.

IF he does eventually move ...what level of fee are we thinking about ? Only one of the " big money " clubs would be able to afford him .......and so how highly would you rate VvD? ...compared to say £50 million John Stones ?

RIGHT !. it was a good tactic that worked....(as Pulis proved at Stoke, when he signed Beattie and a few other ex-Saints)...and had couple of good seasons. It was difficult to find many Delap fans at SMS, but tbf.....having been signed for record fee by one manager, he ended up being moved around into other positions by those who came after , and whenever we had form /injury problems (and there were a few of those) ..Delap was never seen as " having settled into one position ", and thus became branded " a utility player " and the (then) ...£4 million record fee tag ...hung around his neck like the proverbial albatross, when people expected more. Pulis played him in an effective role and it worked. His long throws and free kicks found their mark. He was never allowed to be the player he might have become with Saints, and (seemingly) never refused to play any role " the Manager of the Day " put him in, and this eventually left him without a regular shirt to play in.

at present. He is a sort of "folk-hero" in Sweden, but there are those who think he might not show up as well as he did at PSG (where they blitzed the French League and won it by 20 points). If he continues to score on a regular basis then maybe.....but its a lot of money for MU to pay out - if he's on a reputed £200K /week. Zlatan will probably earn as much this season as SD will in his entire contract time.....only Davis will have played many more games - even if he doesn't score many goals.

plus a few assists ...and a whole list of opposing defenders who had panic symptoms, and had to change their underwear at half time...... ....looking at some of the money we've paid put for "certain players" in the past..... I'd say he's worth it.

Echo suggesting serious questions about LB spot ......and likely bringing in Sam McQueen for the injured Bertrand and Targett. Why not, he's got to get game time at some juncture...might be better to try him now than an away game at Man City ..or Tottenham?

this thread is a good reprise of the end of the beginning ..of the way back up to the Prem. Some went on to greater things, whilst many others fell by the wayside. I really dislike those comments who point out .." he wasn't good enough "(for the Prem.) Everyone has their level, and many of those who didn't make it to the Prem side still DAJFU at L1 and Championship level. Hammond and Guly come to mind. others like ; Kelvin Davis, Fonte, Schneiderlin, Lallana, Lambert and Puncheon all made it back up to the top level from L1. others left their mark along the way.... Jonno Quick's (Forte) only contribution may have been his 2 goal lifesaver in the MK Dons game, and Jos Hooiveld scored a goal in each game against West Ham.... that won us 4 points in the Championship season, and we finished above them with automatic promotion. Few fans ever suggested that Billy Sharp was really good enough for the Prem......but he scored 8 goals in the last 8 games in that same season, just at the time when Rickie Lambert's form was really poor and he couldn't hit a barn door from 6 yards. They all deserve credit for their individual efforts - even those whose only contribution may have been a goal line clearance in an L1 game. Bless 'em all.

I didn't suggest he was as good as Xavi..... what do you want for £800k?

well ....he's in a profession that pays well, and don't kid yourself he's the highest paid footballer in the land, because he surely isn't. This type of house goes with the lifestyle, and although it's a real luxury place - and we can see that when his car runs out of petrol, he can go out and buy another...but he really does seem a down-to-Earth guy with a nice family. I don't begrudge him his success, he has to make it while it's going.....

would be a fine tribute, but there are people who..when considering how Brazilian football has progressed (compared to England's)....might wish he'd "missed the boat"

I think that is a bit over the top .... ..but (on occasions) it's Davis who is made the scapegoat in a poor game, whereas other "fan favourites" are just having a bad day if they don't perform. Davis has a vast amount of experience, (especially at international level) and usually puts in a shift without always getting full credit for it. Perhaps his lack of goals colours some opinions, and I'm sure SD would admit that he ought to convert a few more of his chances, but he still DAJFU, and does it well. He's not the best midfielder we've ever had, but he has a captain's instinct and at least - for the time being - I rate him as the most loyal / dependable MF we have.

this is an era, I do remember .......Ian Baird was one of those up-and-coming youngsters, (along with Martin Foyle and David Puckett) in the early/mid 1980's during the McMenemy's period when we had 5 former England captains in /out of the squad in a few years, and Saints even finished runner-ups to Liverpool in the old Div 1 set-up (read Prem.) Along with others (mentioned above), Ian had a tough job getting past the likes of the in-form Steve Moran and veteran strikers like Frank Worthington and Joe Jordan. However, Baird did get few games and managed 5 goals in 21 games before being shipped out to Leeds. (I think there were "personality issues" involved ?). Don't know that he would have made the first team as a regular, but HDAJF Leeds ...for a while, but then seemed to move to a new club every season. as many others, a bad injury finally finished his League career, but think he was still involved with a few local clubs ..and even managed Eastleigh (?) at one time.

...Cue.....Olomola ?

......and why everyone calls each other " Bro " for a reason?......

RIGHT. ....those old enough to recall can remember 1960's left winger John Sydenham delighted in giving a full back a 2 yard start ..and then burned him out over the next 20.

Oops !....How right you are. I stand corrected.

Disgusting ! ....back to that awful word ...AMBITION Just think .....that we take players from " relative obscurity ", turn them into Premier League stars....and then they want to move " a bigger club ", where they play Champions League football, and can pay them twice what they are getting with Saints. How ungrateful can you get ?.....after all we've done to develop them. Saints on the other hand...don't really want to sell players who cost a mere £10-12 million, and then be forced to sell them for £25-£30 million....or is that just business? Take a look into the Black Box and see who's next on our " to buy " list .

well ....we don't know that there aren't a few deals already in the pipeline - just because there's nothing in the Mirror, or the Echo about them - as yet. If you read between the lines ....and listen to those rare interviews with Les Reed you may find that many of our deals are planned a long time in advance. Boufal (apparantly) said in interview that he knew Saints were interested in him already in March.......long before Koeman's exit and Puel's arrival. Sounds like Saints are utilising " the Black Box " 24/7 ...and not just when someone is about to leave the club, or retire.

Good comparison. Nick Holmes - one of the few Sotonians to have captained the side, and not the only schoolboy to have come through St.Mary's College ....and into Saints' first team. A natural left-footed player with skill to spare. Nick played many roles from full back to emergency striker in more than 500 appearances for Saints (1973-87) and a player who rarely missed a game and who was also a member of the 1976 FA Cup winning side. Those Saints fans who saw him play will confirm that a few of his 64 goals could certainly be classed as " worldies ". A few featured on You Tube games from that period. A succession of injuries finally curtailed his career ...at the age of 33. Coached a bit with Saints before moving to Florida, but later returned to manage Salisbury, and took them from regional obscurity into the Conference and even into the second round of the FA Cup, where they took Notts Forest to two games before losing the tie. Perhaps only Nick's natural modesty kept him from going further in management as he once admitted he "wasn't tough enough" to be a football manager. Nice fellow.

.......that's if he doesn't play at RB .....because Cedric was injured in our last game ......

I think we were only discussing " the possibility" that Matt Targett might not have recovered 100% from his recent injury.... otherwise he is the obvious choice.

........it occurs to me that it's not only young footballers that we are developing, but with the likes of Radhi Jaidi, Craig Fleming and Danny Butterfield - (all of whom had long careers in the game) as part of the current coachng staff - and keeping the likes of Kelvin Davis .....(and perhaps eventually Steven Davis and Jose Fonte) at the club.....we may also be helping to bring on the next generations of managers.

unless Italy's form improves radically, they may have to come back to him in cap-in-hand. If they think that Zaza is a suitable replacement they have a shock coming. I'm sure Conte wouldn't have reacted in the same manner. To his credit Pelle earned his place in the Italy side and DAFJF them on several game-saving occasions.

....although perhaps not.... if you're looking at it from his point of view ....