Minty

http://newsthump.com/2012/08/20/howard-webb-completes-shock-move-to-man-city/

My gut feeling is that a specific figure has been handed over to invest in the squad, and Cortese already has those funds, on the basis that this investment will serve to increase the value of the club as a whole.

As I said in the post-match thread, yesterdays performance gave us a bit more belief, which I think is worth a lot just now. We know we'll have to improve our defence (and Adkins has said as much), and we know we need some more attacking options, and it seems that Phillips/Ramirez (or both) are on their way to help that, but I think there was some real trepidation and even fear about what might happen. The fact we gave them a good game and scored a couple has given us all a bit more belief that, with the above additions, and continuing work on the training ground, together with more actual game time, we can improve and really compete in this league. There's a long way to go, but this gets us started in a much better frame of mind than I think most of us were ever expecting.

A couple of quick points. 1 - There are not many times I can recall Saints going to Old Trafford or the home of the current league champions whoever they were at that time, and playing that well. There were a few big results, like the 3-3 at OT (Taibi, Pahars nutmeg on Stam) but rarely a performance which showed such promise. Yes we need to improve our defending, but we knew that already. A very promising start. 2 - A criticism of our team in the past two years has been lack of pace, both individually and collectively. We've often commented about teams hitting us on the break and us not having the pace to do the same to others. Dare I mention it, the Pompey 4-1 cup defeat a few years ago was a painful example. And then we go and score a goal like our second today. The MOTD2 summary was spot on and it was great to see... that kind of weapon is important and if we can exploit it a few times, it'll serve us well. Add some additional pace and skill to our attacking armoury and it can be even better. Great finish too. 3 - Danny Fox's header for the third was a bit awful... but there's no way he meant to do that and I wonder if it was the flight of the ball that caught him out or he slipped... not sure but he's been in that position many times and done the right thing so today was a bit of an anomaly. I don't believe he was as bad as some are making out and he clearly can play better. Clearly number 3 has been left vacant so that's as big a clue as any to a possible addition in that position but Fox will still be a key part of the squad I have no doubt. Well played boys, few if any of us expected anything other than defeat, but what we got from today was worth more than points in many respects... it gave us some belief that actually we do belong in this league, we can compete, and god help anyone who underestimates us, our own fans included.

@SimonPeach: #SaintsFC's Jack Cork out for the next few weeks. Nigel Adkins wouldn't tell me if Tadanari Lee is fit to face #MCFC. Keeping it to himself.

I'll admit I lol'd.

The latter. I sincerely doubt we'd suddenly be able to start looking for, find, negotiate with and nearly conclude the signing of Martinez (or whoever else) in such a short time since that game. Nothing we do as a club strikes me as being 'knee-jerk'... leave that to the fans.

As summaries go, that's one of the better ones we've ever had. Turkish's point is the clincher though. Perhaps we should start describing our whole team this way: The Argentinian Joe Hart; The English Maicon; The Dutch Tony Adams; The Portuguese David Luiz; The Scottish(!?) Roberto Carlos... etc...

Oh I realise it's not a perfect comparison, it was just the best way of showing the rough calculations... although if he is more tax-efficient than most, his weekly gross wage would be LOWER than £62k a week.

Christ, that was almost a compliment. Ta. 2 million euros is approximately (!) 1,574,118.56 GBP (http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert/?Amount=2000000&From=EUR&To=GBP) If that is net (i.e. 'take home' pay), then it equates to £131,176 per month net which, using this handy page: http://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/lifestyle.php suggests a weekly salary of just over £62k pw gross.

How come you haven't told him to bore off yet? I'm certainly thinking it.

I know it's just a joke to some, but I find it a bit sad that this is constantly picked on... I may or may not agree with them and how they reacted but I'm not gonna take the **** out of people just for standing up for what they believe in. Anyway, back to Ramirez.

Basically, he's getting a decent wedge.

Gun. Fish. Barrel. etc, etc. The9 is nothing if not long-winded, pedantic and predictable.

A reminder of his most recent goal: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/2012/live-video/p00w2r35 (44:25 or use the shortcut link at the bottom of the video.)

I can see De Ridder falling out of favour quite quickly unless he really steps up and starts to deliver. IF we sign Ramirez that is.

I'm not usually one for prompting this kinda thing but if he did sign, surely his middle name needs to be used in a song...? Gastón Ezequiel Ramírez Pereyra

There are some great comments underneath that video... gonna be some mightily f00ked-off teenage keyboard warriors if we do sign him.

Bit of a strange thing to say... Sensible doesn't mean 'less than £xm', sensible means that it is sustainable in the context of our overall budget and business plan. Obviously we don't know what that budget is but all the signs thus far have indicated that we'll do things the right way and not make irresponsible financial risks. Adkins, like all managers, aspires to manage better players and a club at the top level. This is just part of that journey. His comfort zone, i.e the place he's probably most familiar with, is the Championship, so he's already out of it in some respects, but I bet no one is happier than him to be moving forward and I for one don't think he'll have any trouble. There will be tests along the way but he's not given us any reason to doubt his prowess thus far and I'm not going to start now.

Doh. You'd think I'd realise that given I'm pretty much the same age...

Key phrase being proof of funds... God knows what is acceptable though, I think an IOU has sufficed in previous admins...

Have to say, it does seem rather silly to focus on Norwich and Swansea last year in this discussion... One season in 20 (considering only the Premiership/Premier League) is not a consensus. We might do really well with our current policy and I personally think we'll add some more quality anyway, and we might not. I am a bit anxious to see how we perform but we'll have a much better idea after 6 games or so and can make better judgements then. In the meantime, some of the to-ing and fro-ing on here is a bit pointless IMO.

So who did Saints sign when we got promoted in 77? (Waddya mean 'That was 25 years ago, it's not really relevant now.'?)

Indeed, surely, like with any other bid for a club, the Administrator has to be happy that the bid is credible, which means knowing how much money they will have before approving said bid. We see it time and again - if a club is in administration and a formal bid is lodged, the one thing that is always mentioned is 'proof of funds'... how do the Trust satisfy that?

Nobody forced me to enjoy it. But I did. I know others who didn't enjoy it. And that was fine too. I also know some unemployed people who enjoyed it too. Some of them found that it helped them to feel a part of something, gave them some pride in their country and motivated them to try and make more effort to find work (they've been unemployed some time and have found it hard to get out of the 'rut' at times). Credit to them. Another unemployed mate was exactly as you suggest, and quite resentful of the fact that people were 'enjoying' it whilst he was struggling. Takes all sorts - mostly it depends on the personal outlook of the individual, their own resolve to deal with situations good and bad, and taking whatever positives they can from a situation. A relative of mine has a steady job, no debt, a comfortable new flat, no heavy ties or commitments, and a healthy loving family but moans all the time about the fact he struggles for motivation to do stuff and that government are to blame for everything bad in the world, when he, more than most, is in control of his own destiny. He just chooses to let these things define him rather than grabbing his life by the bo!!ocks... You mention that you're more excited about the football season... arguably that is an even bigger contrast between the wealth and enjoyment of a few, versus the problems of the rest of the country. Plenty of people hate football and think THAT money could be used to far greater effect in the country... these conflicts arise all the time. Mostly there's nowt we can do about it except to moderate our own response.