Saint-Armstrong

Seems imminent then. Good news.

You may have noticed, when Cortese gave Kelvin a new deal, it was until 2016. That takes Kelvin up to ten years... having signed in 2006. In September 2016 he will be 40. So you'd imagine maybe the club will give him a send off that summer as he retires at 40 years old.

Correct. It's really good. Lots of content and well-known contributors. From chairmen and owners, to directors of football, managers, coaches, players and agents. Also, it doesn't forget the football league and non-league like many others do.

Courtesy of twentyfour7 football magazine. Anyone else bought this? Very good and think I prefer it to FourFourTwo. Offers good coverage of all leagues and even the non-league, lots of contributors from all areas of the game too. Also, here is MLT's season preview for good measure...

VS KICK-OFF: 15:00 Pre-season is almost over, this is the last chance to see the players in action before the season gets underway. Who are Real Sociedad? Real Sociedad de Fútbol S.A.D., more commonly known as Real Sociedad, are a Spanish team currently competing in La Liga. They were formed on the 7th of September 1909, making the club 104 years old. The club's name translated means 'The Royal Society of Football'. The club has two main nicknames, 'La Real' which means 'The Royals', and Txuri-Urdin, meaning 'white-blue'. Football was taken to San Sebastian in the Basque region of Spain by workers and students who had returned from stays in Great Britain. In 1904, the club's roots were first traceable, after formation of a club under the name of the 'San Sebastian Recreation Club'. The club then set up a branch for football competitions, known as 'San Sebastian Football Club'. In 1910, King Alfonso XII gave the club his patronage as San Sebastian was a summer destination for himself. This led to the addition of 'Real' to their name, meaning 'Royal'. After issues with registration for the Copa del Rey, the club became Sociedad Football Club. The addition of 'Real' from the King in 1910 made the club adopt its current identity. The club were founding members of La Liga in 1928, but during the Spanish Civil War in 1931, the club renamed to Donostia Football Club before returning to Real Sociedad after the conclusion of the civil war in 1939. As a Basque football club, they rely heavily on Basque players to make up a large part of their squads. Their finest years came in the 80s. They achieved a record highest finish in 1980, when they finished 2nd in La Liga, just one point behind the champions, Real Madrid. The next season they were to win their first La Liga title, albeit on goal difference, consigning Real Madrid to 2nd place. This qualified the club for the European Cup in the 1981/82 season. Real Sociedad defended their title successfully, this time seeing off Barcelona by two points. The following season saw them reach the European Cup semi-finals, having defeated the likes of Celtic and Sporting Lisbon en-route to the semi-final defeat against Hamburger SV, who went on to win the cup. The club abandoned the selection policy of only having Basque players at the club in 1989, when they signed Liverpool forward John Aldridge, an Irish international. In his debut season, Aldridge scored 16 goals for the club, becoming their top scorer. The club finished fifth in Aldridge's first season with the club. They signed their first black player in 1990, when Dalian Atkinson joined the club from Sheffield Wednesday. Again, Aldridge was the top scorer with 17 goals, while Atkinson supplemented him with a second-highest total of 12 within the club. The club have only ever won two titles, finishing runners-up on three occasions - most recently in the 2002/03 season. They have won the Copa del Rey on two occasions, in 1909 and 1987. Their number of Copa del Rey final victories is outweighed by losses however, with five defeats in the final competition. Real Sociedad have won one Supercopa de Espana, in 1982. In addition to this, the club have won the Segunda Division on three different occasions, finishing as runners-up two times. Real Sociedad finished 4th last season under the management of Jagoba Arrasate, but lost key player Asier Illarramendi to Real Madrid this summer in a €39m deal. This season the club will compete in the UEFA Champions League. Key players include long-term goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, club captain Xabi Prieto, Antoine Griezmann and former Arsenal forward Carlos Vela. Where do they play? Real Sociedad's home is Estadio Anoeta. Based in San Sebastian, the stadium has played host to the club since its opening in 1993. It continues to be owned by the City Council, despite several attempts by the club to purchase the stadium. The ground holds 32,076 at full capacity and has also been used by nearby French club Biarritz for Heineken Cup matches. Estadio Anoeta replaced Real Sociedad’s old Estadio de Atotxa, which had become too small and lacked the possibilities for expansion. The Estadio de Atotxa had been home to the club since 1913, holding 27,000. What are the club colours? Real Sociedad traditionally wear white and blue, the colours of the flag of Donostia, San Sebastian, where the club is based. The flag features a blue canton on a white field. This seasons kit features a white shirt with blue stripes, white shorts and blue socks with white detailing. Match Details This game is at St. Mary's and is a 15:00 kick-off on Saturday the 10th of August. It is the last opportunity to see Saints in action before the big kick-off against West Bromwich Albion seven days later. Pre-match press coverage expected on Friday 9th of August as Saints have a media opportunity with Pochettino and co. Should mean interviews on the website too ahead of the closing fixture of our pre-season campaign. TICKETING: Adults - £18 Concessions - £14 Under 17s - £10 Under 11s - FREE* - (per one paying adult) MATCH PRICES WILL RISE BY £2 ON THE DAY Buy Online - https://southamptonfc.pvxgateway.com/?q=57900dfa-af68-4885-8bc7-c7a3f5f0db49&p=bab9bf29-9c97-457c-b987-06966f9289ea&ts=1375991755&c=tickets&e=sfcgen&rt=Safetynet&h=7f0551da48132dcc0874bd0bce5e651e Ticket Office - 02381 780780 That's the last of these threads, and I hope you enjoyed my series of pre-season previews. I may do the same next summer if we get some interesting opponents and people are interested enough.

http://www.givemesport.com/367199-rickie-lambert-completes-fairytale-story-with-england-callup?tg=/ Bit of a shameless plug, but took the best part of an hour out to write at length about Rickie's career, from being released by Liverpool and Blackpool, to his ascent (and descent) through the leagues before doing it on the biggest stage for Saints, and getting that all-important England call-up. Thank you for your time.

Rickie Lambert: Liverpool, Blackpool, Macclesfield, Stockport, Rochdale, Bristol Rovers, Southampton, England.

It's official!

Announced by the club.

Pillock.

http://www.g10gulydoprado.com/wordpress/#!/http://www.g10gulydoprado.com/wordpress/?page_id=21 Never mind 'It's happening', it has happened people.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23576143 Have to say, I didn't have a reaction to it like some of the people they showed on the news. Seemed dead set against it, regardless of trying it or seeing what it is like. How would others feel about this? Have to say from the little I have seen and know from the news, it seems like a good idea to me and I'd like to try it. £200k for that first burger though. Jeez. Interesting though...

Adam Blackmore saying BBC Solent told Damiao and Banega are non-starters. Presser with MP this week.

I really hope this squad does it. If only do shut you up, you cretinous, embarrassing knicker-wetting ******.

Seems that Paulo Gazzaniga has joined Twitter tonight. Paulo - @PauloGazza25 - (followed by Reeves and Cork + tweeted pitchside picture of him and Gaston) If not... Wanyama still needs adding to the list. He is rather simply... @VictorWanyama

Think it looks pretty smart, especially in the Vigo game.

SAINTS: K. Davis; Chambers, Lovren, Yoshida, Shaw; Wanyama, Schneiderlin; Ramírez, Lallana, Rodriguez; Lambert.

Red card for Pompey. Now 3-1 down to Oxford.

Pinched this idea from TheSecondStain on Not606. He's compiled a list and asked for feedback. Here's mine. Michail Antonio - Effective, yet raw. Right decision not to sign permanently in hindsight. Lee Barnard - Very good in L1, shame for him about his injury which allowed Guly to start the NPC season so well. Bartosz Białkowski - Shame how it ended. Had some potential but really shaky, especially after Blackpool. Glad he is doing well at Notts Co. Nicholas Bignall - Didn't really see much of him, but from what I did that seems no real loss. Artur Boruc - Inspired freebie from the transfer panel. Adkins reluctant? Right decision in the long-term. Looking forward after a pre-season. Danny Butterfield - Another good free. Did a job, capable in both NPC and L1 and a great crosser. Calum Chambers - Early days. Big lad and looks capable and comfortable with the ball. Richard Chaplow - Was okay. Nothing spectacular. Lacked technical ability. Decent for the £50k we paid. David Connolly - I liked him. Shame he was so injury prone. Some great link up and good finisher. Good freebie. Jack Cork - Great signing. Gone from strength to strength and his influence is clear on the side. Kelvin Davis - Very good in League One and the Championship, disappointing in the Premier League. Watch that near post! Steven Davis - Alright. Nothing amazing and nothing too disappointing. Decent recycler of possession. Good value for money. Steve De Ridder - Poor signing. Never worked out and his indecision was highly frustrating. Ryan Dickson - Another disappointing one. Came with high hopes but Adkins didn't fancy him and injury ended his chances. Iago Falqué - Didn't look too bad. Never saw enough to properly judge though. José Fonte - Very good signing. Worth his fee. Great in L1 and the Championship, despite some shaky spells. Okay in the PL, if unspectacular. Jonathan Forte - The less said the better about his ability. Cheers for the MK game though. Danny Fox - Decent signing. Was good in the Championship and offered a lot going forward with set-pieces too. Positioning is poor however. Paulo Gazzaniga - Good shot-stopper, amazing kicking. Needs to sort out his command and presence. Simon Gillett - He was okay. Nothing spectacular and no real loss. Oscar Gobern - Never thought he was that great. Always remembered by me for that kung-fu kick. Dean Hammond - Good signing. Reliable and committed captain. Shame he has been moved along but wouldn't get near the side now. Dan Harding - Liked him in League One. Far from convincing above that level. Fox showed him up after he joined. Lee Holmes - Shame about his injuries as he had a great delivery on him. Right to let him move on though. Jos Hooiveld - Reasonable signing. Much doubt when he signed but was really good in the Championship. Not up to the PL in all honesty. Lloyd Isgrove - Early days. Have lingering concerns he may be a flash in the pan from this pre-season. Good pace and awareness. Radhi Jaïdi - Another good free signing. Provided much needed leadership and experience. Nice guy into the bargain too. Lloyd James - Decent set pieces but that was about it. Thought he looked okay on occasion but no real loss. Adam Lallana - Very good. Disappointing last season but great development since 2009. Astounding on his day. Rickie Lambert - Is there much to say? All-round talisman and figurehead during the rise. Superb striker and a club hero. Oliver Lancashire - Poor. Disappointing in his performances. Right to move him on. Tadanari Lee - Still think he had something, and could contribute. Shame about his injury. Movement and vision was superb. Dejan Lovren - Too early to judge really. Looks comfortable with the ball. Wait and see. Aaron Martin - Okay in League One. Above that he wasn't really up to it. All the best to him. Emmanuel Mayuka - Think he's got something. Very, very raw but think we can find a use for his pace and finishing. Callum McNish - Looked promising early on, but petered out. Disappointing. Attitude seemed to be an issue. Jacob Mellis - Again, bit of an attitude there. Never that impressed and clearly Pardew wasn't either long-term. Joseph Mills - Fish was okay. Right to let him go as we had better options. Very attack-minded. Lee Molyneux - Not good. Featured very rarely but gave little to get excited about. Graeme Murty - Liked him when he first joined. A decent free but injuries finished him off pretty quickly. Good that he's still here coaching. Dany N'Guessan - Lively, raw and powerful. Never felt that he was likely to have a big impact though. Frustrating player. Jon Otsemobor - Not great. Very attack minded and superb with Puncheon at Norwich away but never a long-term solution at RB. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - Very promising. Feel he has stunted his development somewhat at Arsenal but a great talent. Matt Paterson - Disappointing. Chris Perry - Experienced pro, decent leader. Nice send off at Wembley but not up to it for us 2009 onwards. Michael Poke - Never really saw enough of him due to limited appearances. Again, appears no loss. Guly do Prado - Good signing. Especially for a L1 side. Good creativity and provided goals and assists. Bit of a maverick. Jason Puncheon - Came good in the end. Started very well, then fell out of favour and sulked. Back now and a good contributor. Gastón Ramírez - Clearly a very intelligent player. Good vision and creativity but can be frustrating at times. Expecting improvement. Ben Reeves - An alright player. Seemed to suit AM more than LB. Clever little player but not good enough for Saints now. Frazer Richardson - Good servant. Liked him a lot in L1 and the Championship. Surprised he wasn't used more last season. Jay Rodriguez - I like Jay. Good movement and awareness. Just needs to stop shooting down the middle all the time! Marek Saganowski - Great until his move was permanent. Wanted out in L1, worth moving on when Rickie was the replacement. Morgan Schneiderlin - Top class. Gone from strength to strength and is pivotal to our team. Here's hoping he remains for many more years. Danny Seaborne - Never convinced by him. Always worried me. Glad he's still playing after his injury though. Billy Sharp - Forever grateful for getting us over the line. Not sure what impact he'd have at this level or that he'd suit us now. Luke Shaw - Another top academy talent. Looking forward to seeing him grow after signing that five-year deal. Dale Stephens - Thought he was decent enough. Provided an option at a time when it was needed. Bit surprised NA didn't go for him. Wayne Thomas - Big Wayne's thunderbolt is his most memorable moment. But he was okay. Not worth keeping on longer than we did though. Jake Thomson - Disappointing. Wasn't cut out for it. Currently a free agent. Neal Trotman - Thought he did a good shift when we had him. At the time I would've signed him but Jose was worth waiting for in January. Papa Waigo - I liked him. Clearly not the best player, especially due to the offsides... but was huge in our JPT run and loved his dancing. Victor Wanyama - Very happy we signed this guy. Will be important for us and give us another edge in the midfield. Welcome Big Vic. James Ward-Prowse - Not 100% convinced. Clearly a tidy player and technically strong, but unsure what he offers the side long-term. Jamie White - That was a shame. He was prolific and went on to rip it up for Winch. Injuries ruined what could've been. Paul Wotton - Steady eddy. Never a great player but gave his all. Maya Yoshida - Good buy. Worth the £2m. Good reader of the game and came up with so many timely blocks and last-ditch tackles. Thoughts on those? Triggered a few memories for me!

Frazer Richardson has signed for Middlesbrough.

KICK-OFF: 19:00 BST Onto the fifth game of pre-season for Saints. But this one is a little different. What is the El Trofeo Memorial de Quinocho? The Quinocho Memorial Trophy, or el Trofeo Memorial de Quinocho to use its Spanish name, is an annual memorial trophy. It is played to commemorate the service and death of Joaquin Fernandez Santomé, or 'Quinocho', as he is known by the fans. Quinocho gave the club ten years of service between 1953 and 1963. Born in Vigo, Quinocho was a local hero, serving the club as player, manager and director. During his spell as manager he led the club to promotion to the Segunda Division in the 1980/81 season. He later led the club in five promotions to the top flight in 1975/76, 1977/78, 1981/82, 1984/85 and 1986/87. He met a tragic death, when on the 20th of October 1988, he was stabbed to death. A gang of robbers broke into the club offices in Vigo in search of the President, who was planning to move the team to San Sebastian (this being the destination of the train in the train crash last week). Quinocho stood up to the men and offered resistance, trying to prevent them from carrying out their plan. It was at this moment that they stabbed Quinocho, and left him for dead. He had a public funeral in the city of Vigo, and the streets were flooded with fans. This season provides the 18th edition of the memorial game, during the previous 17 years, Celta Vigo have won on 15 occasions. The two defeats both came against Portuguese opposition, in the form of Paços de Ferreira in 2010 and Vitória de Guimarães in 1997. Saints will become just the 2nd team from English soil to compete, following in the footsteps of Wigan Athletic, who contested last year's trophy. Celta Vigo ran out 1-0 winners on the day. The competition started in 1995, with Celta Vigo defeating SD Compostela by two goals to one. Since then the reputation of the competition has grown, with the likes of Real Betis, Athletic Bilbao, Olympiakos, Sporting Braga, Real Valladolid and AS Roma all taking part. The trophy is normally televised by a Spanish TV group in Vigo known as 'TVG'. Who are Celta Vigo? Real Club Celta de Vigo, or simply Celta Vigo, are a Spanish football club who were formed 89 years ago, on the 23rd of August 1923. The club came about after a merger of two local sides, Real Vigo Sporting and Real Fortuna. The club is known by the nickname of 'Os Celestes', which means 'The Sky Blues'. The club was voluntarily formed by the two major clubs of Vigo in order to compete at a higher level. This move came about due to the Basque sides in the Spanish Championship being the bane of their lives as they could not topple them to achieve at a higher level. The move was politically-charged and was pushed by local media and eventually the campaign fell at the feet of the two clubs. From here they decided it was in the best interests of all within the city of Vigo to have a football club that represented them all. Arguably the best phase in Celta's history came in the late 90s and early 00s. The club converted itself into a major force and cemented a reputation as a top six side. In fact in the 2001/02 season, the club did not drop below 6th place all season. To recall the names of some players from this time, I will go with: Pablo Cavallero, Claude Makelele, Aleksandr Mostovoi, Mazinho and Benni McCarthy. Their success and squad during this period earned them the nickname of 'EuroCelta' from the Spanish press. After finishing 4th in the 2001/02 season, the club qualified for the Champions League. The next season, during the Champions League campaign, they reached the last sixteen before losing out to Arsenal. However, this season saw them finish second bottom in La Liga, and they were relegated. They returned at the first time of asking, finishing second in the Segunda Division. They qualified for the UEFA Cup the next season by finishing 6th. The next season saw relegation again, as the club finished 18th in La Liga and narrowly avoided administration. This was to signal a five-year absence from the top flight. In 2012, Celta Vigo returned to La Liga. Last season, Celta survived on the final day of the season, finishing in 17th. Their 37 point total defeated Mallorca's total of 36 after Mallorca suffered a final day defeat. The club has since lost star striker Iago Aspas to Premier League outfit Liverpool. Where do they play? The Estadio Municipal de Balaídos, or simply 'Balaídos' as it is known, has been home to the club since 1928. Construction began in 1925 as the new club recognised needs for a new home. It has since experienced two expansions, in 1967 and 1982, before a renovation in 2004. The ground holds 31,800 spectators, so is not too dissimilar in size to St. Mary's. The stadium comprises of four stands: Tribuna, Río, Gol and Marcador. It is owned by the Council of the City of Vigo. Os Celestes are the only tenants, and always have been. What are the club colours? Celta Vigo wear sky blue shirts with white socks, and a variant of sky blue or white socks. The Club Anthem The club does not have an official anthem, but two popular and traditional songs invented by the fans include 'Always Vigo' and 'These Fans Won't Leave'. Match Details The game will be played at Celta Vigo's home of Balaídos in Vigo, Galicia. The game is a 19:00 BST kick-off on Saturday the 3rd of August 2013. In local time, that is 20:00. Celta will be in their home strip of sky blue and white, whilst Saints will be wearing their new black Adidas away kit for the first time. Once again, hope you found this useful/interesting.

Thanks for the info Monk.

Mayuka posted this video yesterday: http://distilleryvesper11-15.ak.instagram.com/065f816ef9f911e28e7522000a1fbe50_101.mp4