david in sweden

few Swedes are interested enough to rush back and watch League football in the " unusually-pleasant " heatwave conditions we have in Sweden at present. Sweden's fairly predictable exit from Euro 2016 has left even the most fervant fans downcast, and with Zlatan, Kim Källström and goalkeeper Isaksson "retiring" from international football, the new Swedish manager will have an uphill task when replacing former coach Eric Hamrén, (who had tendered his resignation BEFORE the tournament began). A real case of him " jumping " ......before he got " the push". In the Swedish League, Malmö have recovered some of the European form that saw them make the group stages in last seasons' CL, whilst last years champions Norrköping have already been eliminated from the CL Qualifying rounds, and are desperately holding onto Malmö's coat-tails at the top of Allsvenskan. It already looks like a two-horse race, (with the likes of Gothenburg, Örebro, AIK and Elfsborg liberally dropping points several places below them), unless one of this following pack can put together a run of good results. Stockholm fans have had little to cheer about, with both Djurgården and Hammarby now dangerously close to the relegation play-off place. Perhaps more predictably....the relegation places are occupied by Gefle and newcomers Falkenberg (who found their promotion joy rather short-lived), as they both clubs sit firmly at the bottom with just 8 points each from their first 14 games. Meanwhile - pass the suntan oil and let's head for the countryside.

don't think he had a major injury lay-off before - did he ?......I think he recovered pretty quickly to be able to play again in the same season.

.....who wasn't?.....

Caretaker Manager is the poisoned chalice .......if the team is playing so badly, it doesn't matter who has the task after the manager has gone. ......might just as well run an on-line poll, and let fans choose an interim side......then they'd have nothing more to complain about .

depends how old you are, I suppose......apparantly he doesn't want to.

..oh!.....so we sell players to Liverpool..and Bournemouth buy from them......or?

He's still some way from being P.C. for the media, but he seems to understand questions and can reply with more fluency than even Poch does today.

couldn't you have got Donald Trump to build a wall ?......

I didn't suggest that we were totally without fault.....and NO .... I'm not going to stop mentioning Gaston and Osvaldo....the cost us £50 million one way or another, and whilst were there.... Mayuka was through yet another of Cortese's Swiss / Italian contacts. I don't decry his efforts to put the club on a sounder admin. basis, but his knowledge of the football world was near zero. Prior to our return to the Prem. ......Cortese spent many millions through his Italian "contacts" whilst the spending on British players was for very humble fees. I'm not defending the loans of Caulker,(crazy)..... Djurijic or Elia, they were (apparantly) stop-gaps to cover our injury situation and probably old contacts of the Koeman's. Juanmi must have come from somewhere....Koeman's Spanish friends?....the Black Box? ....who knows?... and it's unfair to judge Gardos who DAJFU in his first season and was unlucky to understudy Alderweireld, who was exceptional in his season at SMS. Austin wasn't fully fit when we signed him....and when he was...... Mané, Pellé and Long had come on song, and there was no way he'd get into the side. in transfers ...you win some , and you lose some....let's be thankful that the likes of Gaston and Osvaldo didn't cost us £20 million+ each in the first place.

it obviously means "something else" in Holland. For.... "Ambition " read "MONEY"

well he's been described as an expert "something or other "on TV. "Commentator" is stretching it a bit, but he seems to get more attention than some others. I noted that Wikipedia describes him as a " football pundit" (whatever that is ?).....for ITV Sport, which must put him several rungs below your average journo, I suppose. Write?...you mean with a pen?. Is that a requirement for a footballer nowadays?. What's wrong with putting a mark X on the contract ..or a thumbprint?

he got there via Norwich, but although he brags about his own footballing career, he never mentions ......his time at Saints.

Excellent post LLP. Sums up all the situations very well. Every so often the transfer market goes overboard and prices go through the roof. " Richer " clubs spend money like man with six arms, and pay out enormous sums for players that they convince themselves will make them Champions. Over several years, I've noted " key transfers " that suddenly push market prices up even further. Özil's £42 million to Arsenal (probably a good buy at the time), but.... then came Sterling's £50 million move to Citeh, Di Maria's £59 million (?)...to United ....where neither proved to be world-beaters at their new clubs. The fact that we negotiated £34 mill.+ for Mané shows that even " little Southampton " could demand ...and get...bigger deals. Van Gaal may have set back MU for a season or two, and although they will get good results underr the new regimé, I don't think Mourinho will find the Prem. will be the " walk in the park " he thinks it is .....no matter how much he spends in the short term. The same may be said of Guardiola and Conte (not to mention Koeman) who are doing dramatic house-cleaning and holding their hands out for big money replacements. Talk of £100 million for Pogba ..has put another £5-10 million on top of every transfer fee, with even mediochre players now being touted at £15-20 mill...and more. I'd be embarrassed to be a Man U. fan at the thought of paying out £100 million for a player they'd practically let go as a youth player. To our credit Saints have resisted the temptation to go into that area, although eventually we will surely pay higher fees for someone. Looking back at the past 5 years....we've invested fairly carefully, although the Gaston and Osvaldo deals (both carried through on Cortese's approval) cost us dearly. Mané and Pellé have already gone (with a surprisingly good profit) and we almost broke even on the Wanyama deal despite only a year left on his contract, and we even sold a manager for £5 million . Our shrewd investment in younger players like Redmond and Hojbjerg will enhance the team, whilst having tied down our most experienced players for the forseeable future ...with the hope that Puel hopefully can (if anyone) .... find future talents from the Academy youngsters. Surely all these big money buys must yield results, but if only some of them come right.....it'll be a good club that finishes in the top half of the Prem. ...come next May.

well ..the last time Liverpool bought a striker from Newcastle - he cost them £35 million and he was a complete disaster........will history repeat itself?

well .......if Steve Bruce has left Hull ....and David Moyes is going to Sunderland...and Sammy Lee has the England no.2 job.. .......then which Prem. manager is for the chop now?...... .before the season's even started?.

Mmm...you mean he'd leave Spurs?.......we can live in hope.

another " rumour " suggests we're after the Irish keeper ...Randolph .....currently second choice at WHam.......

not so sure.. That infamous ex-Saint ..Andy Townsend was really in love with Jack, and gave him MoM in an England game where he only played for 20 minutes as sub.

precisely as I predicted in #24 .....Sammy's got a job with " a Northern outfit ".....better chance that Big Sam will understand his Scouse accent. .....and to think .... just what a couple of years with Saints can do for your future job prospects. at least they'll be someone in the England camp who knows what Saints' players are capable of .......

In some ways, the media are worse at picking an England side than the manager is, but they behave as though they know more than the national team manager. Hodgson selected his teams at the peril of the media, who always promoted London-based players at Arsenal and Tottenham to the detriment of others. Has everyone noticed that almost every Wembley game includes 5 or 6 players from " London clubs " . That means it's a Catch 22 situation for the manager. (as Lawrie McMenemy once famously quoted) ....if we win they say the team played well, if we lose .... it was my fault because I picked them. All the players had a long season, but the younger Spurs players suddenly looked disillusioned when England went behind. Finishing in the top four, Spurs players must had got used to running " rough-shod" over most Prem sides, but even during our win at White Hart Lane, they were beginning to look the worse for wear. Selecting the "media's sweetheart" Jack Wilshere was total madness for a player who had been out injured much of the season, and FB's Walker and Rose were run ragged, and lucky at times not to be yellow-carded. Eric Dier did little more than get his name on the scoresheet, and Harry Kane looked " little boy lost " was right out of step. In retrospect.... Messers; Forster, Bertrand, Lallana and Clyne must be glad they spent that 90 minutes on the bench, and they will live to play another day. The players who lost that infamous match to Iceland will stay in people's memories as long as it does for we "old timers" who can still name the 1966 World Cup side.

I believe that to be true also. Shilton played for Saints between 1982-1987 and during that time was capped for England 49 times. This beat the previous record for a Saints player (Mick Channon) who played for England 45 times between 1972-77. Shilton's career started with Leicester, then he moved onto Notts Forest before joining Saints (1982) after which he played for Derby County and he was (more or less) the regular England keeper during this time. The remainder of his 125 apps. were spead over his time in those clubs, and he played 61 England games after his 35th birthday. Whilst still a Saints player Tim Flowers played ONE game for England (v.Brazil in 1993) before being transferred to Blackburn, where he joined former Saints Alan Shearer and Jeff Kenna and the three of them were part of the team that afterwards won the Premier League title.

you know I did have that in mind, but sure I saw a later L.Mac interview where he said " prima donnas"....but I do agree that (violinists) was from the original quote.

I think it's wonderful that we've made half-a dozen signings....of our best players. Players who know the club, and are happy to stay and help us improve even more. Of course, we welcome the new faces to replace the latest batch of defectors, but they really should take a look at the decline in careers of those who have gone before. Getting a bigger wage packet isn't always so satisfying if you end up on the bench every week. Having the same basic line-up playing together for 2-3 seasons is really the ground of success, and tying down your best players for 3-4 years must be worthwhile. Taking a look at the " funny money " transfers so far, shows that the level of fees has gone up a further step or two, but that doesn't mean it'll work. LvG spend a few hundred million on a team that couldn't even score goals at home. Now that Mourinho has started ditching them and spending even more of replacements, .....I can't convince myself that MU will be next years League Champions, and looking at the teams who finished below us last season, I wonder where we will all finish up come next May.? Signing big name players may please the fans, but a collection of " talented " individuals don't turn themselves into a title-winning team overnight. (if I were a MU Fan)..I would be quite embarassed to think my club was prepared to pay out £100 million for a player they had let go as a youth. Lawrie McMenemy's old adage of a team is " eight road-sweepers and two prima-donnas " made a lot of people laugh at the time, but is very close to the truth. I really wonder if these (for the most part) Continental players, really know what they will encounter in the Prem.?....it may not be the walk in the park they think. Having a core of players who know each other, have played together and has the confidence of the Board.. says more to me than buying a £50-60 million " star ". The signings that have pleased me most have been Steven Davis and Shane Long. Their experience hasa greater value than the multi-millions being spent elsewhere.

OK thanks...... I'll take that as Gospel then......or

Mmm.......somehow not so sure that one will work out. Think there maybe a few wet nappies around before the start of the season.