david in sweden

think he was more "visible" as a player than when he was behind the scenes with Nicholl......didn't he start out at Bristol Rovers before moving to Villa?

......and that Rickie .....what-is-name bloke.....remember him?

it's impossible to compare any two clubs...... in two completely different seasons. Different players, different opponents..... Who'd have thought that we'd be above Chelsea for a whole season?. Good job they got rid of that idiot Mourinho...he'll never get another job - will he?

maybe they forgot that we started our first season in L1 with - 10 points?

...and just look at some of the teams who were in the top tier.... .THEN. Charlton, Coventry, Derby, Luton, Middlesboro, Millwall, Notts. Forest, QPR, Sheff.Wed. and Wimbledon. Top 3 ?.....Arsenal, Liverpool (they had a bad season) and Derby County. Saints ? were top 6 until Christmas, but plummeted to 18th by Easter, but finally survived finishing 13th.

I think the shirt sponsorship issue is a bit overplayed, although the likes of Man U are a world brand and negotiate whatever they want. It stands to reason that clubs (good or otherwise) who have larger stadiums and larger fanbase /catchment area can have a better profile for a sponsor than smaller clubs further from major population areas. The likes of Saints, and now Bournemouth are still regarded as a bit "rural " by many people, and the thought of large companies investing in them may be a few years off - until they see if Saints really can become a " European club" ..and if Bournemouth can survive 2-3 years in the Prem. Saints have always relied on local businesses for support, and I hope that they will continue. The sight of " low cost / free " charity advertising like Mary's Meals says a lot about the club maxim of supporting the community. I would also applaud the Liebherr strategy about not "getting people into debt " with gambling. I'm sure a lot of people like to bet on the Grand National, do a pools coupon every week or buy a lottery ticket, but sadly ..there are many who get "gambling fever" and can't draw the line between fun and failure. A disturbing report in Sweden has warned about dozens of on-line gambling sites that are run by criminals who use foolproof computer systems to lure punters into dangerous areas in their desire to "win the jackpot". Personally I have an aversion to betting companies who must be in league with journalists who promote "non-stories" about player transfers, and then create a book on it when the "so-called deal" is far from the truth. I might be tempted to have a bet on the National, but I'd certainly want to know I was betting on a horse .....that was actually going to run. So IMO....we should steer clear of betting firms as sponsors. Meanwhile we stand better chance of getting "bigger " sponsors if we get top 4 /top 6 and make a reasonable showing in Europe. The recent story about getting a U.S. shirt deal with Armour looks like a big step towards international sponsorship.

Er?......you were saying ......

........and some of us are Grandads

yes but not the most memorable game for them to see.....Ron Davies scored in the first few minutes, but we were 1-4 down by HT. Ended as a 3-5 defeat.

Pardew hardly had a chance to start the season. Nicola Cortese sacked him after only 3 league games (and the last of those being a 4-0 win at Bristol Rovers). we may have to wait for the 50 year rule to find out the reason for that action, especially as Pardew had taken us to Wembley to win the JPT in his first season. Although Adkins added some good players to his first season squad, he inherited a few good ones from the (previous) Pardew season. Pardew did exceptionally well when you consider he started with -10 points. I think Pardew is a good manager... He had a dictator for a Chairman at Newcastle who sold his best players from under him, and a naive dreamer at Palace who spent big money on some poor choices. Coupled with a squad full of sub-standard players on long contracts, and major injuries to his key players; I don't think he can be blamed for too much.

With the passing decades memory doesn't always keep track so well, but thankfully " In that Number " confirms; 9th May 1966 Orient away. gate 19839 25th April 1978 Orient away. gate 19248

Whenever we got close to any sort of success, lots of occasional fans turned up at The Dell (and followed to away matches)..like the Orient game. Most stadiums had mostly standing on the terraces. When all seater arenas came in - many clubs (like Saints) - lost half of their original capacity. The now legendary 1963 FA Cup 6th round - 2nd replay v. Notts Forest brought out (reputedly) around 30,000 Saints fans to the neutral venue at White Hart Lane. Aside from the thousands who travelled up by car, every coach and train was fully booked. The Spurs ground staff were totally unprepared on a mid week evening, only opened part of the ground. Thousands arrived late and many were locked out. The official gate was 42,256 ...the majority were Saints fans. Those who went there will never forget it. After two very closely-runs games. Saints won 5-0 ....in those days most fans walked up and paid on the day. Season ticket holders were a small % of the gate in most clubs. Leyton Orient 's successes had been few and far between. Although at one time they were First Division, after relegation many of their fans dropped off . Orient were already mathematically relegated when we came to play them, so not many (of their fans bothered)... but many Saints fans travelled up.

....and so it was .

well I think I might dispute that Saint Charlie. There were a lot of inconsistancies during that season, too. Of course Lambert was really on form, but Lallana missed a third of the season through injury, as did David Connolly (an able replacement - when fit). Schneiderlin was just 20 and fast improving, but in no way can be compared to the player we know he later became. Fonte (thankfully) was the centrepiece of the defence, but his partnership with Jaidi was not without problems, as Jaidi managed less than 30 starts because of injury, and Seabourne was a less than suitable replacement. Jaidi was at the end of his career, and never played in the Championship season. Oxlade-Chamberlain was not even in the side during early season (except as sub). and did not become a regular until after Christmas. Puncheon, as we all recall, had a very turbulent period at first. He wasthen injured, missing 8 games before Christmas ..and shipped out to Millwall in February. even Barnard (who you didn't mention) played a lot of games without scoring, but did have a purple patch after Christmas when he had Lambert played well together. In short, we can all remember outstanding games that season, but little real consistancy from only a few. By the end of the season, we'd used nearly 30 players. Obviously, by the following season things had begun to "click " and we went through the Championship season ...and still finished second again ! I've seen Saints get promotion five times and only once (1960-61) were they in first place. In retrospect, I've always been pleased with a second place finish. It's very rare that the champions of a league do just as well in the following season.

I remember all those quite vividly, and saw most of the ones at The Dell, at least. Ironically we'd had a run of indifferent series of results in February and March, and after the boring 1-1 home game against a super Rotherham side, one critic wrote.. "the Saints can cancel the promotion champagne right now" such was our poor showing, after which we went 10 games unbeaten and began to move up the table. Martin Chivers who had been scoring for fun all season, had clocked up 30 goals in 29 games - by mid February, suddenly lost form (partly due to a back injury) - and failed to score again in the remaining 13 games. Even Chivers' strike partner Norman Dean - who went into the record books as the only Saints player to score a hat-trick at Fratton Park (Saints had won 5-2 in February) was also absent, and it was left to Terry Paine to see the season out with 9 goals in the last 12 games. In retrospect, the two Easter games v. Bristol City were the turning point, as City were going well and were just above us in the League at the time. The Good Friday game at Ashton Gate saw us win by a City own goal, although we had to defend throughout the entire game, and seldom had another chance. Chivers failed a fitness test on Easter Monday and a young Mick Channon made his debut and scored after about half-an-hour. City came back and scored twice, and it was left for Terry Paine to equalise 2-2 ..in the 94th minute. The final seconds at The Dell were lost in a riot of enthusiasm from Saints hysterical fans. Moving above City in the table was the springboard that was needed and we won 4 and drew 3 of the remaining 7 fixtures. We needed only one point to get second place from our away game v Leyton Orient. However, the game at Leyton Orient didn't go according to plan when Orient scored inside the first 10 minutes . Most of the 12,000 people there were Saints fans (as Orient had already been relegated, and few of their fans bothered to come to the last game). It was left to Terry Paine, (who by this time was the established England no 7) to pop up with a second half equaliser ...and we were promoted ...well almost... The long 10 day wait for our final game (away to the already promoted Man.City) was really stressful, especially as the statisticians kept reminding us that - we were OK ....as long as we didn't lose by more than 6-0 ...but it was an easy-paced 0-0 draw and enough to see us get promoted to the top tier for the first time ever. Many in my father's generation (who had witnessed those infamous late-season collapses that had robbed us of promotion 20 years before) rejoiced as much as anyone.

of course THAT is the unknown factor, Arsenal may want to get rid of ...and we ....to sign him, but although money is a key factor, ......he's more likely to be one of the first on our team sheet, rather than only getting a chance of being on the Arsenal bench...

Alex Crook has never learned to count to 10.......

Yes only the bad ones..and all from his Italian / Swiss connections. More money was wasted on them than the fees on the rest of the squad put together. Not every player was a success on his watch, but those who didn't make it ...didn't cost £12 million-a-piece either. Those huge sums could have bought good Prem players. ...Do you still think it was " his wordly knowledge of football " that found all those other talents that got us back to the Prem.? ....I don't. Comments in Cortese's " very rare interviews " showed that he knew a lot about finance and good administration, but very little about the English football scene.

Arsenal could have signed Shaw? .....but Wenger thought that a £2 million fee was too much ? ..that goes along with Rupert Lowe's decision NOT to sign the young Didier Droghba....because he thought that the player " had an attitude "

I'm inclined to agree with your overall assessment, but Sheff. Utd are one amongst a bunch of teams who are all within distance of the play-offs. Like several others, they have drawn a few too many games they ought to have won, and they had a bit of a leaky defence early season and lost some key games. Adkins struck gold when he got Billy Sharp back to the Blades (yet again), and despite the odd injury absence, Billy has now scored 17 goals in 35 games so far.. If he holds that form, they may get the 6th spot....and, as we know, anything can happen in the play-offs.

IF TRUE..... then he would become the most experienced " former Academy " player in our squad, and I don't think there would be any fan animosity to his return, either. At the time he left Saints, we were an up-and coming, soon-to-be-promoted Championship side, whereas there was much more pedigree in the Arsenal squad. Today, we don't have to look so many places up the Prem. table to see Arsenal, and even those who might want to dismiss this seasons 4-0 / 0-0 games as flukey, can't deny that there is not a vast gap between the potential of the two sides. Even though Arsenal qualify for CL every season, they don't come close to winning it either. Although they haven't won any Euro titles, it is still a hard job to break into the "Arsenal team proper," and Wenger has very few favourites who he will play every game. Clearly Alex isn't first choice, but he has played at Prem, FA Cup and CL level and DAJF them, when I've seen him. Likewise he's had game time with England and looked OK. so in general ..a good prospect who is still only 22 ?.....even if we need to pay the same level of fee to get him back....he'd be worth a go in this market. Injuries of course, play a role, but I always ask myself if (in desperation) clubs sometimes rush players back before they are properly fit. (Kompany at Man City example). Saints seem to be a bit more patient with their returning injuries, or perhaps just have better medical personnel (?) .maybe AOC needs better treatment of injuries?. At any rate ...a return to a club he knows well, and to fans who already know his potential.... sounds like a no-brainer to me.

and this was only in his LAST season. Only saw him play in televised matches, but was always impressed by the range of his individual skills. Probably the best all-round player I've ever seen. The concept of Academies was almost unknown at that time in England, when the average player didn't debut until he was 20 and teenage players were rare. I remember being shocked to hear a commentator saying that Cruyff had been at Ajax ....since he was 12, (which sounded shocking at the time). He still looked like a skinny kid - even when he was well into his twenties, but ranked as a world-class player.

Interesting stats. Mind you, after some of the performances that Pompey have turned in this season - it's not surprising. Noted So'ton stats were only 2.35%.....that's probably down to those people who just found out what their latest rates bill amounts to ..... but bottom of the list were .....Leicester....well, with a team at the top of the Prem.....you'd expect that - wouldn't you?

no explanations yet, I see , but if he wasn't actually born in the principality... he probably has a parent, or grandparent who was. .but knowing how difficult it is for Wales to get a quality squad (the likes of Giggs and Bale excepted)...a day trip to Porthcawl might also qualify someone for the squad.

...please don't try and tell me that Nicola Cortese's footballing knowledge and expertise was responsible for finding all those guys, too?... in Pardew's interview (on Sky Sports) after his sacking 2010, he said he had to persuade Cortese (who thought 27 y.o. Lambert was too old..to sign for Saints). Nearly all the players you named above (except maybe JayRod) were (all together) ....signed for less than the money we paid for either Gaston or Osvaldo.