david in sweden

as always, Prem. clubs will be looking to see which players they can " cherry-pick " from the soon-to-be relegated sides... Of course all relegated sides will say that they want to keep their best players and return to the Prem. next season, but it hardly ever happens. The truth of the matter is that when clubs take a long look at their salary commitments and the potential loss of income (when in the Championship) even the parachute payments don't cover that much, and all ambitious players (there, we've said that word again)....won't want to stay in the lower level for too long. QPR were stubbornly insistant that they wanted £15 million for Charlie Austin - and (reportedly) even refused a £12 million bid (from someone). Finally they were glad to take our money with only months left on Charlie's contract. Not sure who " the Black Box " may have highlighted from the doomed sides, but we might find ourselves picking up yet another bargain from somewhere.

I've always loved history, and as a Saints fan, have followed them for over 50 years. This may be a good read for the older fans, but perhaps ignored by a younger generation for whom "21st Century technology" has replaced reading a book. I recall all of McMenemy's career but perhaps after the 76 Cup win and the subsequent promotion 78, he failed to win anything else despite gathering together several squads packed full of international names - and there can be few other clubs who have had 5 England captains on their books at various times. With that array of talent you have say that we should have won more, but the blame for that should perhaps equally go to the players on the field, as much as the manager on the sideline. McMenemy certainly had his faults, but if a 6' 6" football Div 1 manager doesn't need to have " a bit of an ego" - then who on Earth does? Those who lack ambition shouldn't blame those who seek it. For all his faults Lawrie DAJFU that no-one else has achieved - before or since. After 12 years with Saints, Lawrie really needed to seek pastures new and the only person to blame for his failure at Sunderland - was himself. His much lauded "Man Management " style (admired by so many in later years) was equally disasterous in his Sunderland season, as it was in his first with Saints. History (by definition) is a story of successes and failures. My generation admired Terry Paine, John Sydenham and Ron Davies for the great players they were, but those fans who ignore the book, will eventually breed a younger generation who will (one day) say .....Matt Who?

There are a lot of IF's here. I think he likes being at Southampton, but if the club doesn't even get a sniff of European football for another year..he'd be less inclined to want too stay after next year. Of course Barcelona and Arsenal are much bigger names and I think he might do alright at either one. Les Reed's problem is....can he give Ronald another £50 million to buy who he wants?.....without knowing if he will commit to Saints for another 3-4 years? If Koeman were to walk next summer......what would we do with those "Koeman buys " who are devoted to him?....Would there be another exodus to his new club? Think things would look a lot brighter if we get to 6th place and qualify for group stages in Europa League. Koeman wouldn't make the same mistakes again and if we do well ....it'd be a win-win situation - even if we don't end up winning the thing.

this has been covered on some of the other threads. Whether Koeman likes him or not, he looks like a pile of trouble waiting to explode. All ye of short memory .....remember Dani Osvaldo

now the Mane / Depay swap is duplicating itself on every site. Obviously Man U are listening to their "new manager's wishes "....and lining up another summer clear out. OK...... if the money's there and we're all happy with the deal ......maybe it'd work. But if I were Les Reed..... I'd want Ronald Koeman's signature on a new contract before we sign " a loose cannon " like Depay. Maybe RK can straighten him out, and get the best out of him, but if it goes wrong......Depay could end up becoming Koeman's " Osvaldo "

that bit, I would look forward to......

maybe, but Les Reed must know that if we are going to sign a busload of Dutch League players, we'd want RK to sign a new contract first ....

I think that fact has been noticed by others, too...

Gazza - will go out on loan. Gardos - back in contention for a squad place after long injury, unlikely to move now. Davis - unlikely to get a contract extension aged 40.....we need a good, international No.2 good enough to cover Forster. The rest ?..those who are " too old " for the U21 set-up will go out on loan. Perhaps only Turnbull and Isgrove are anywhere near a permanent move away.

not the Highbury game in 84....(I was still pretty new in Sweden then).........but the Semi-Final game v Man Utd. (at Villa Park 1963). After our magnificent Cup run, and the three legendary 6th round games v. Forest, it was one of the worst football matches (from both sides) that I've ever seen.

nowhere near the "Clyne who departed", but those fans with short memories have forgotten that the " newly-arrived Clyne" (in 2012) really was like a fish out of water.

Don't worry. They will both go..... along with Martinez ......in the summer, because their new manager will need some spending money PDQ.

well someone was singing loudly. I watched the game on the net and I could hear WTSGMI time and time again, not much from Villa fans - except booing.

yes, maybe he is staying? He has struggled to fit in at times, despite his many excellent performances. Perhaps the fire at his (Senegal) home has brought him down to Earth and he wants to get some stability somewhere in his life.(?) Hopefully he will stay and what a strike force that would give us next season........

Not sure about the U16's... (and I'm certainly not I.T.N from this distance), but I have followed the mis-fortunes of U18/U21 games on You Tube. The find of the season must be 15 year old Jake Vokins, who got an outing for the U18's in December and then, due to a huge injury list, found himself getting half a dozen games for the U21 side where HDAJFU and really got noticed. Looking at the end results, you might think we had a bad season,when in fact both Youth sides have suffered catastrophic losses through injury with a few of the most promising players losing most of the season, whilst some of the regulars were out of loan. The U18's have used almost 30 players plus a few un-named trailists, and the same story goes for the senior lads where a dozen of the U18's have taken a step up and had game time. Both of the regular U21 CB's started the season at U18. It takes time to develop players and so the Walcott, Bale and Oxlade-Chamberlain phenomenas should be regards as exceptions.. rather than the rule, especially as all three came through when we were still at Championship level, and I don't expect to see another teenager break into the Prem.squad in the near future. Calum Chambers and Luke Shaw being the only exceptions at the higher level, and to be fair, Chambers was an enforced choice due to Clyne's long injury, and choosing the vastly improving Shaw ahead of Fox was surely a no-brainer at the time. Most recently, only Matt Targett and JWP had made any significant impact on the first team, and then still get very mixed reviews.... and not forgetting we still have internationals on the bench every week. Some U16 lads have been tried in the struggling U18 side and have made their mark, but it remains to be seen who will make it to the next Academy intake. Having the Academy facilities we have is, of course, excellent but we shouldn't consider it to be a production line of " would be Prem. geniuses " ready to step up at a seasons notice. The Marcus Rashford's of the footballing world take their chances when they come, and I wonder if he will be in MU's first team by this time next year? When Harry Kane appeared in the Spurs line-up last year, I noted he had been out of loan to half a dozen lower league clubs since he was 17, and had played more than 60 games. and I think the teenage Jermain Defoe broke all the scoring records at L1 Bournemouth when Harry Redknapp was managing there.

How right you are. I'm not the oldest fan on this board (despite nearly 60 years as a supporter). For much of that time Saints have struggled . That record of 27 seasons in the top flight rarely saw us finish much above halfway, and gave many fans heart tremours until the last games of the season. Even the memory of 1976 is wearing a bit thin by now, BUT despite that, those great Div 2 seasons in the early 1960's....when we almost scored for fun - and those Ron Davies' goals saving us every season in our first top flight sojourn, and MLT doing the same in the 1990's ....and of course the legendary McMenemy teams of the late 70's and early 80's ... I still think our successes in the last 7 years have been outstanding, and I've enjoyed them all. Sad?.....or critical about the lack of European football ? Forget it. In retrospect we're doing well, and if we think of Europe as the icing on the cake......just remember that our slice of the "cake " this season will still be more money than this club has ever seen.

We all agree (well nearly all) that on his day, Victor can be top grade / MoM material, but he also shares the quality that has blighted the team this season...inconsistancy. Seems to me there is no middle ground, either he is outstanding or just plain useless. His disciplinary record this season has been appauling and caused unnecessary selection problems for RK and has certainly been unsettling to the rest of the team. Would I be sorry to see him go ?.....perhaps, but I'd prefer someone who could pass the ball properly and DAJFU, without punishing the team with multiple suspensions. One year left on his contract.....so cut our losses and get the best deal possible. I can't believe we can't find a suitable replacement in " The Black Box". Why all this talk about Spurs?.....I really only ever thought he'd be bound for Arsenal.....or at worst, join the other defectors at Anfield.

you make it sound bad, but there's more than a grain in truth in that statement anyway. Fonte is going on 33 and Davis is 31 (?).. and careers can go downhill fast after 30. In the long term, we'll need permanent replacements for both of them, and they should be brought into the team steadily and not having us go out and last minute panic buys (type Caulker).... if there are sudden injuries or loss of form. I feel sorry for Yoshida, who is a good squad player but who invariably gets played out of position, but I certainly don't see him as " Fonte Mark II", and Gardos is still an unknown quantity. On the few showings he had, he was never better than Alderweireld, but he never had a good run of games to show his talent either. Next season could see JWP and Clasie really come into their own ..or ....spend half the season on the bench, thereby hangs a problem. We really would be unlucky if ...we were to (say) lose Pelle and then have JayRod and Austin spending months in the treatment room again. This makes it sound dull and depressing, so let's hope we get some more consistancy and better luck next season.

well OK, but we'll have to open a new company to handle the finances.....

whilst I don't disagree with most of your examples, I think it's a bit unfair to put Nigel in the same category. What he achieved at Sc-unthorpe was near miraculous, and two successive promotions with Saints does speak for some quality. Reading were poor before he went. There are some teams that would be poor, no matter who managed them.....Can't see that (even) Mourinho would succeed in L1 unless he had £100 million to play with.

Agreed. It's not as if it were a borderline decision - is it ? If Newcastle get relegated by two points .or even one...it'll be rough justice.

I've argued for the use of video technology on here for some time past. ......if it's seen to work with so many other sports .....why should football be ignored? One wrong decision, an offside or "bad" penalty call might finally end up costing a club their place in the Prem. and the subsequent income loss be catastrophic. Most people admit that refereeing is a difficult job, but let's face it ..they're not perfect either, and which ref. could keep pace with Mane or Long in a sprint? If millions of fans can see "what really happened" , referees would get more respect for making the right decisions when they come. I've heard the same lame excuses many times....that " stop-start " games would waste even more time, but no more so than other incidents in the game. ...and I don't buy the argument that "wrong penalty calls " even themselves out over the season. Numerically (?) maybe but only if it affects the final result. Getting a penalty award, when your side is already losing 3-0 is totally meaningless. One " wrong call " can mean a side winning ...or losing by that single goal. Some while ago I clocked the timing of stoppages in several games over a period of time....... A goal kick takes (on average) 20-30 seconds (unless the keeper wants to waste even more time) Corners take between 20-40 seconds. Throw-ins can be less than 10 seconds, (but occasionally much longer if the player can't find a teammate to throw to....) Free kicks can be the greatest timewaster of all. Ref stops game for foul, opposition players retreat, Ref. marks out 9 meters, kicker places the ball, covert talk with others about who will take it, who will dummy etc, etc. One such situation I watched took ...more than a minute. Video replays can come up much quicker, and with a 4th. ref. watching the same TV picture that we see .....can come to the same decision as the rest of us. At the end of the 95 minutes (or whatever).... we all want to see a fair result. Fair is Fair. Refereeing "mistakes "- no matter how well-intentioned simply ruin the game.

very nice. It's only really with hindsight that you can truly appreciate the value that players like Marians were. Looking back on his time with Saints you always wonder ......what he may have been like, had he been fit for a longer period. When they played every week, scored sometimes and not others ....you live for the next game and that's it. Only looking back can you see how influential he was , especially with Beattie.

well putting that statement in perspective.. ....most people on this site seem to think we'll lose Mane and maybe A.N.OTHER in the summer in which case they'll need to be replaced... ....but one thing is certain in that we need a permanent no.2 goalie. Kelvin is OOC and not likely to get an extension at 40. Stekelenburg is only on loan ....and (sorry all you Gazzaniga fans) but I'm still not convinced he's going to become Prem. standard. The balance of the midfield isn't right yet. Looking back to the time when we had Alderweireld and Schneiderlin there was a bit of height and muscle there, but if Victor has another of his episodes then we could be without him for a lot longer next time. That leaves Romeu and Gardos as somewhat " unknown quantities " for a permanent place in the side, if we were to be without VvD, or Fonte for a longer period. I'm not totally disatisfied with the Cedric / Martina choices at RB, but Jason McCarthy maybe in the mix by next season? Having four fit strikers sounds enough, but we are always on the lookout for new talent, but it does seem pointless to hold onto Juanmi based on his showing this season.

I understood (or thought I did) that this was mainly produced for the U.S. market as a way of introducing the Saints to a new American audience, and that it was first aired on a prime time sports programme in the US. I agree that from the usual English football standard it looks (as you said) a bit glitzy, but now we are a step up from the times when some of us stood on the Dell terraces with rain running down our neck. I've recommened a viewing to several Swedish colleagues who are Prem fans, and they thought it to be impressive.