Minty

Just another over-reaction in a long line of SaintsWeb over-reactions IMO. Yes, it was an ill-advised phrase to use, but he's hardly a skilled orator who you'd expect better from, and it is being magnified by the possible transfer situation and sour grapes.

This is going off on a small tangent, but change 'British' for 'all' and these things shouldn't need to be taught by schools, they should be taught be parents before they even get to school, and reinforced by parents and teachers whilst they're at school.

How exactly was that 'holier than thou'?! Bit of an overreaction methinks. You think the poll has influence, WC doesn't. FWIW, I agree with WC, and I would wager that most others will too. If that makes me 'holier than thou' also, so be it...

I wanted to buy Saints when we were in administration, but I found it a bit too 'onerous' too. No bugger helped me.

lol, I know... every so often I like to try my luck and see if people actually take a step back and consider what they're coming out with. It's usually in vain but hey, at least I gave it a go.

This could be an interesting discussion if people dropped the attitude.

How's that Skate brother of yours?

lol! Can't argue with that Bearsy.

To be honest I haven't seen enough of either to be confident in my opinion, but what little I have seen does not seem too dissimilar to what I saw of JRod before he signed.

MLG, it doesn't have to be one or the other... clearly those things added to the price, but it seems there is a strong case that Cortese also contributed through the things that Turk refers to.

Frankly, in the right environment, I think there are quite a few players who could 'do a Rodriguez' and make the step up from Championship to PL and flourish. It's not just about the player, but how they're developed. I think Rhodes and Ings both have that potential.

Yeah, that. You first post didn't give a lot away, but I should've guessed it would be more along those lines based on previous!

I'm not so sure, I tend to take a view that I would rather we had a manager here who was looking to improve, make a better name for himself and maybe move on to better things, because the best way of doing that would be to do well with Southampton. Similarly with players, if they don't want to improve and move on to bigger and better things, there is less personal incentive to bust a gut every week. The onus is on the club to strike a balance, ensuring that you don't lose too much momentum when players or a manager leaves, and that there are enough other good players left, or coming through, to continue. In some respects, that's why I am increasingly looking forward to seeing what a new manager and players can do for us. Obviously I don't think any manager would come here not looking to do well, obviously, but if they have bigger ambitions that is not always a bad thing IMO.

Yep, valid point. Hard to tell exactly what he meant, chances are you're right though, given him mentioning the budget before.

We probably won't get an update from Essruu for awhile, unless he's gone to wherever France are training, and is ferrying him back and forth from the training ground to the hotel over there... I would hope that getting into the squad might make it less likely that he'll *want* to leave Saints, but with the manager situation etc, who knows. I personally still suspect he is high on the list of potential departures.

Two ways of looking at it. On a purely property level, if you spent £10k on your house, it should increase the value of your house by more than £10k. So in theory, spending £30m on it means it is now worth a lot more than £30m more than it was previously. But of course, that value is only realised if someone were to want to buy it, which is obviously unlikely for a training ground. So the second option is that we'll be judging it against the potential future value of Academy graduates and other players who we improve and either sell, or who contribute to future success. If we win (I know, I know) the league or get into the Champions League with input from Academy players or others who've benefitted from the facilities, then it will be 'worth' far more than £30m in years to come.

Making sweeping statements doesn't help (on either side of the argument) and I have highlighted the areas where I think he has let himself down, but also why I think he *can* become a solid player for us. I agree that he has not really 'produced' yet, but I still think he has some class and ability which we are yet to see the best of. It's not as black and white as some make out IMO. But this thread probably shouldn't become solely about Ramirez.

If any other player had been transferred in the few days before this game, then it would've been mentioned as well... it's the only transfer of note for any of the England squad players that has happened thus far this summer, so it was always going to be mentioned.

I'm actually trying to help him, for my sins... I'm surprised you're not still in shock from him agreeing with your upbeat post yesterday about the players we have as the core of a side this coming season...

He was strongly linked with the Greece national job recently, to take over after the WC. Allegedly signed and sealed, but only via Italian media sources I think.

Key thing is what system we play. It was well known (by those who paid attention) that we didn't have 'wide' players as such last year... we had a front four who played 'from' positions, supported by the full backs to give width. The new manager will have his own ideas about how to play, so it remains to be seen just how we'll play and where players will fit into that.

Alps - suggest you read things a little more closely. Use of the word domestic here, would clearly indicate there will be others abroad, would you not agree?

Absolutely. I think there is an issue with mental toughness, consistency, and ball retention (mainly that he can hold on to it too long at times, giving opposition more chance to tackle) but these are things that can be improved, and indeed would be improved just with some regular game time. What is clear is that when he is on the ball and gets his head up, he can produce the goods.

Hell of a strike.

Smalling **** again there, not dealing with it.