SaintJackoInHurworth

For those that want to criticise the young players and get rid of them on the assumption that they are the finished product and therefore not good enough, please remember that these are youngsters and they are still finding their feet in professional football. If they are not good enough in a particular game we should not just make a blanket assumption that they are therefore not going to be good enough in any game ever. I would suggest there are 3 things to be considered here: 1. They are youngsters and they will get better. I was at Sheffield Wednesday a couple of years ago when Theo Walcott was brought on as sub. Everyone was desperate to see this wonder-kid... and you know what? He was rubbish! His crosses were poor, he was forever getting caught in possession and his shooting was weak. His only plus point was that he had pace in abundance. Yet, we all knew that this was a player with massive potential (which he has finally in the past year begun to live up to with Arsenal and England). 2. Their confidence is very low after the failures of last season. Many of them need to be reminded of their potential and to begin again to build upon that. 3. The big problem for some of these players is not that they don't have potential. The problem is that they are being weighed down by unrealistic expectations. They have been asked to play regular matches at a level for which some were clearly not ready. We need to introduce these players sensitively and wisely. Some will mature quickly and soon reach the standard to be a first team player. Others may need experience at a lower level first. Still others will need to be used sparingly as substitutes to gain experience and confidence in the first team. Still others may never reach their potential and finally a few may only reach their potential by moving to another club. So, let's trust the new management to make the right decisions that will further the development of these players. And let us as fans play our part by getting behind these youngsters when they play and applauding everything they do right, whilst being prepared to forgive the inevitable errors that come from taking a risk on the development of young players.

I definitely hope to be at the Hartlepool game... but then it will be the nearest Saints fixture of the season for me as I live just outside Darlington!! In terms of what Hartlepool is like, I have never actually been there. I believe it is a hole in parts but then again there is the historic quayside, which is supposed to be quite nice. In that sense it's like an upmarket P*rtsm*uth!!! You might like to bear in mind that Darlington and Hartlepool are sworn enemies (a bit like Saints and P*mpey) so there would be a fairly warm welcome in Darlo if you were to stop off here. In terms of flights, it is quite difficult flying to Durham-Tees airport (which is actually in Darlington!) You can only get flights from there to Aberdeen, so you would have to fly up to Aberdeen then back down from there! Newcastle is a bit further but at least you should be able to get a direct flight. The nearest places to Hartlepool with a major nightlife are not Newcastle and Durham as someone seemed to suggest. Middlesborough is much closer, as is Stockton; or there's Sunderland if you're into Chav music! Yarm is also fairly popular despite being only a small town (though personally I don't see it's appeal, but each to their own!). There's quite a few places in the town and then there's Tall Trees (http://www.talltrees.co.uk), which has regular events (see for example: http://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Yarm/Tall-Trees). Some of the Middlesbrough players have been known to hang out there, though if they are going out for a quiet meal out they are more likely to be found at Judges, which is also nearby (http://www.judgeshotel.co.uk).

I've just posted a message (http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=14706&page=8#388) thinking I was posting it on this thread so apologies for posting it twice...(well except that I accidentally typed Beckham instead of Joe Cole for some reason in my original posting!! lol)...

There is one name that I am suprised has not been mentioned in relation to the Saints job... ..and that's Joe Jordan! I know Skate haters won't like the idea, but consider the facts: Harry Redknapp has been pretty rubbish as a manager in a number of jobs - especially with Saints, but also when he was West ham manager (he had one of the most talented young squads in the country with Beckham, Ferdinand, Carrick, Lampard, etc. and yet they were struggling against relegation until he left). However, when he left us to go back to P*mpey, he suddenly became in the eyes of the media one of the greatest English managers around. So, why? Was it due to Tony Adams? Many people thought that his influence must have been significant, until he was given the chance to show what he could do as a Premier League manager and flopped hopelessly. That points to just one person - the brains behind Redknapp's more recent success has IMO been none other than Joe Jordan. And of course, Joe played for Saints for a few seasons. So, how about it? Joe Jordan for manager anyone?

You might be interested to know that there is a fans group called 'Northern Saints'. There are a few members on here (including NorthYorkSaint if he is who I think he is!) The group used to have a website but that is no longer there. However, group discussions are made using Yahoo groups. It's a useful place to identify other Saints from the north who are attending matches, etc. Here's a link to the group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nsaints

Surely 'Lieb' doesn't mean good (in German good is 'gut'). I would suggest 'Lieb' means 'Love' or 'Lovely' or 'Dear'. Therefore, the translation of Liebherr is 'Dear-man'. In terms of pronunciation, as many have said it is 'Leeb-hair' or if said quickly 'Leebair' or even just 'Leeber'.

Exactly!! Lallana has only had one full season in the first team squad - usually it takes a couple to make that step up. We have already seen the potential to a much higher degree than is usual for a player of his inexpereince. Let's remember what has happened with Nathan Dyer - he too had the potential and he has now gone on to begin to demonstrate that at Swansea. Let's also remember what Walcott was like in some matches - I remember seeing him in a couple of matches and thinking how unready he was for first team football at times! Lallana is the next in that production line. I, for one, hope that he stays and helps us to push for promotion despite the 10 point penalty.

So what would be our team next season? Davis, Murty, Mills, Perry, Thomas, Schneiderlin, Wotton, Lallana, Holmes, Rasiak and John. Subs: Lancashire, Saga or Thompson, James, Gillett, Bialkowski Or do we get two more subs this season? >>> 2 from Gobern, Thomson, Molyneux, Pulis, White, McLaggan or Saga/Thompson Saga/Thompson decision depends on whether we sign him and if he is any good!! Not that I expect us to keep all 3 of John, Saga and Rasiak, but if we do keep all of these players we wouldn't have a bad chance of catching up the 10 points quickly and making a good challenge! COYR!

Ah! But Guildford IS a city - that's why their football team is called Guildford City... ...although looking at their website it could be Saints next season!! http://www.guildfordcityfc.co.uk/

But then again... ...maybe it's not as bad as you pessimists think...!! You're believing this on the back of some big vendetta between The Echo and Pinnacle. Do we actually know anything of substance? Let's wait and hear what Fry has to say... after all, he did say that there would be no more drastic moves until Friday so that means his announcement must be an update of where we are up to as people are expecting to hear something today. Calm down everyone - we've still got a few days left with potentially 4 interested parties.

Perhaps not Larry David... but how about CRAIG DAVID?? Why do I say that?.... Craig David has strong link to Southampton. He is also half Jewish. And if you want a Russian link, he has recently completed a tour of Russia. Any thoughts?

Yes, you are right - both Arabs and Jews are Semitic. But they are two seperate nations/people groups within that categorisation, so perhaps 'race' was not quite the right word - perhaps I should have said 'nationality', though that can be easily confused because it is often used to mean something a little different. So let's just say that 'Jewish' refers to members of a people group rather than a religion. HTH

OK - looks like I was wrong!!! I should have checked out the stuff on his profile first! But it certainly looks great fodder for some conspiracy theory! In fact I suspect there will be a lot of conspiracy theories floating around should the Pinnacle bid fail and I must admit I am often one of the first to look for them (and have been known to come up with some pretty fanciful ones in the past!!) When the news about MF living in Barnet with his parents broke the other day my first thought was 'Is this some kind of Pompey conspiracy?' I keep seeing conspiracy clues in everything! But, the question still needs to be asked: If MF is part of a group, who is/are the main money spinner(s) in the group? I remember reading a comment from the other day about how MF has 'connections in his community': http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/4461152.Saints_bid_leader_Tony_Lynam_is_pleased_Fialka_has_made_himself_known/ That seems to me to suggest his Jewish background is significant. Elsewhere I have read that Jews are on average more wealthy than any other race of people (and, yes, in answer to a question raised elsewhere, being Jewish is an issue of race not religion - while many/most Jews follow the Jewish religion to a greater or lesser extent, it is not unheard of to be Jewish and follow another religion - e.g. there are quite a lot of Jewish Christians) With this in mind, here's a link to some of the world's most significant Jews: http://www.scientificpsychic.com/search/famous-jews.html To the list on there can be added: Simon Cowell, Goldman Sachs, Claudia Winkelman, Lord Levy among others!!

The link to him being Jewish is not what's important here though!!! That was just by way of explaining how I got to finding out what I have found out!!! LOL The important part is that link... WHY is Steve Ballmer making an obscure comment on a blog about the development of Southampton City Centre????!!! And bear in mind that this occurred some time after February 7th, so could have taken place in recent weeks. (btw, in case you haven't found the comment by Steve Ballmer it is about five or six comments up from the bottom!)

The BIG question then is who is the REAL money behind this bid. I've done a bit of research and found out some interesting facts that may (or may not) be a clue... 1. Michael Fialka is Jewish and there has been reference to his links in his 'community'. 2. The wealthiest Jew in the world is Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. 3. Steve Ballmer recently posted a brief comment to a blog about the city of Southampton. Here's the link: http://nastybrutalistandshort.blogspot.com/2009/02/southampton-trawl-addenda.html#698987649855704163 Check it out for yourself!! Is this genuine do you think? If so it could be sensational!

Hang on a minute.... ...we are all assuming that Michael Fialka is the man behind the takeover, but maybe he is just an employee of a company that are the actual clients. He just happens to be the front man. So, who does this Michael Fialka work for? Maybe therein lies the key to the real purchaser of the Saints. I certainly hope so!

Quick question: If Pinnacle go ahead with the takeover before the FL agree to issue a licence, that should take the club out of administration resulting in the necessary cva... ...won't the FL be forced then to issue the licence whether or not the waiver has been signed? (Apologies if anyone has asked this before!)

Oh well! It was worth a try!!

'D' is for direct action: A question... Can we, the fans, help Pinnacle's case in any way? A Suggestion... If thousands of fans were to make a small claims court claim against the Football League for personal injury caused by the stress resulting from their ludicrous decision would that put pressure on them? Here's the scenario: Hundreds (or even thousands) of Saints fans put in a small claim against the Football League. It needs to be for less than £5000, prefereably more like £1000 or less. It doesn't need to be done with legal representation so there is no cost. It doesn't even have to be a strong case(!) the point is not necessarily to win the case, though more power to you if you can!! Within our claim though we include a waiver(!) that is conditional upon the Football League agreeing to reinstate Southampton FC to their full league status. The Football League must then respond to the case within 14 days or they lose the case. They will therefore have the following options: 1. Reply to each individual claim. Will they be able to? Perhaps not if enough people can do this! 2. Reinstate Saints before the 14 day deadline thus nullifying the claims. 3. Pay up to thousands of Saints fans. I doubt they want to do this! What do you think? Is it a go-er? Now before the legal eagles point out that we don't really have much of a case and it would be thrown out if contested, I know all that, but the point is not to realistically expect to win money from these claims but rather to put pressure on the Football League to act and to make it hard for them to contest each case, so that the easiest way to avoid the claims is to reach a quick solution with Saints. What do you think?

A question... Can we, the fans, help Pinnacle's case in any way? A Suggestion... If thousands of fans were to make a small claims court claim against the Football League for personal injury caused by the stress resulting from their ludicrous decision would that put pressure on them? Here's the scenario: Hundreds (or even thousands) of Saints fans put in a small claim against the Football League. It needs to be for less than £5000, prefereably more like £1000 or less. It doesn't need to be done with legal representation so there is no cost. It doesn't even have to be a strong case(!) the point is not necessarily to win the case, though more power to you if you can!! Within our claim though we include a waiver(!) that is conditional upon the Football League agreeing to reinstate Southampton FC to their full league status. The Football League must then respond to the case within 14 days or they lose the case. They will therefore have the following options: 1. Reply to each individual claim. Will they be able to? Perhaps not if enough people can do this! 2. Reinstate Saints before the 14 day deadline thus nullifying the claims. 3. Pay up to thousands of Saints fans. I doubt they want to do this! What do you think? Is it a go-er? Now before the legal eagles point out that we don't really have much of a case and it would be thrown out if contested, I know all that, but the point is not to realistically expect to win money from these claims but rather to put pressure on the Football League to act and to make it hard for them to contest each case, so that the easiest way to avoid the claims is to reach a quick solution with Saints - and hence its significance to this particular thread!

Personally, I'm pleased to see the end of paid membership. I originally became a member of the club back in the days when it was free of charge. When paid membership came in I was if I remember correctly a poor ex-student on a year-out unable to afford to get to many games (not that I can afford to get to many now!) and living too far away to get to many anyway. The cost of membership made it even more expensive and basically I was excluded from supporting Saints for several years because of it. It was only when I moved up north and joined a regional supporters group (in my case 'Northern Saints') that I once again found myself able to attend matches once more. Personally, this is where I would like to see the emphasis placed instead of on club membership. The regional supporters groups help develop a committed group of supporters, especially, but not exclusively, for away fixtures. Being part of one of these is a bit like being part of a little family. They also ensure fairness in terms of priority purchasing of tickets. For those that wonder how they will buy a ticket for a match now that membership is gone, I would urge you to join your nearest regional supporters group. If you are in the north, for example, why not come and join 'Northern Saints'?

hmmm... perhaps Paul Allen is buying a new yacht and a football club at the same time.

Darryl Duffy - Bristol City Jo Kuffour - Bristol City Simon Cox - Swindon Town - though reported interest from Leicester and Celtic! Joel Porter - Hartlepool Utd - Australian who is currently out of contract but one of the top scorers in league 1 last season. Reportedly may be signing for a Japanese team, though Hartlepool trying to convince hime to sign a new contract.

I believe he is going to be assistant manager at Darlington: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/darlington/8078697.stm