Saint86

I think its hilarious that you have to slate Cortese for gaston and osvaldo (the latter clearly being a Poch signing), but you don't give him credit for being pivotal in bringing MoPo to the club. Nor do you give him any credit for the signings of players like Wanyama, Jayrod, Clyne etc etc. How do you feel about Juanmi, gardos etc etc? I wonder, those are manager signings right? Nothing to do with les reed and the black box?!?!? I've also seen you crediting Les Reed with finding MoPo, which is just laughable... Why do you feel the need to rewrite history to criticise one of the most successful chairmen we've ever had?!?! Beyond me why you can't be grateful to the man. Also you slate the offer for oxlade chamberlain, but we got £12m for a 17 year old kid with a couple of months experience in the 3rd tier of english footy... with a 25% sell on clause, and with a charge per minute clause.... That is a fantastic deal and I'll spare you the embarrassment of finding a better sale of a 3rd tier player (let alone one with that experience) because its just asking you to fail publicly.. you aren't remotely able to do it... but don't let that stop you using his sale as an imaginary stick to beat cortese with...... But to put it into context. We signed tadic, mane, pelle all for less each that we got for this 17year old you are scoffing at us selling... We technically got Long for less when you consider the extra clauses. We got Forster for less. We got Bertrand for less.... I could go on... but suffice to say attacking Cortese's ability to screw people for a good deal perhaps isn't the "in" your after. He was also drove the sport science forward as well as the academy... May have been a hard arse, fine, but he did a great job for us.

Sorry Zuess, I don't dispute that about Lambert (and I said I love the guy). But he doesn't deserve to be up there more than Kelvin or Fonte. Kelvin stuck with us through administration and the relegation to league 1. He waited until the last possible moment to see if he would get a new one, and then in the dying hours we were taken over and he turned down a deal at premier league West Ham to stay at a league 1 club with a 10 point deduction. He than captained us through 2 promotions and a wembley win... ending his playing time with saints in a testimonial that included both lambert and Le Tissier taking pens against him. Not to mention Elland Road!!!!! Lambert joined us from The Pirates (my second club), scored a shed loads of goals from us and took us up the leagues scoring some amazing goals along the way (and a lot of other ones!). He also took some cracking pens. But then he left us to go to Liverpool as a bench player where he could get a massive pay day. You may say it was for family reasons as well... But kelvin stayed here through thick and thin and with, without getting paid and with no prospect of a job at one point... He then took us back to the prem. Fonte similar to Lambert; except he stepped down to join us and stayed with us to become our captain and a great ambassador rather than heading off for pastures new and big payday. As I said, I love Lambert and would be so pleased if he came back in any kind of role. But if you want a player that defines this period its Kelvin first, then Fonte (for loyalty) and then Lambert for his relatively short but pivotal role in our rise. That's my feeling on it anyway. Loved Lambert, great player for us and clearly loves the club... but others have given more and done as much (if not more) for the club in the same time period.

I was trying to access POL atm to see how they're feeling about the new season... When I search on google for it, the search results contain a note to say, "this site may be hacked", and when I try to access the site I get an internal server error... Is it offline?

I have this exact problem with Chrome, all add in's lugs ins are up to date. It is to do with the websites coding i think. Alot of advert's embedded etc.

In truth, Fonte and Kelvin deserve to be there more than Lambert. Kelvin stuck with us through thick and thin, turned down a west ham premier league contract offer at the very end, and then helped us through two promotions and a cup final win! Fonte stepped down a division, stuck with us and helped us through 2 promotions and is now our captain and has reached international success and is a great ambassador for the club already. Lambert left us for a money move. I love the guy, but lets not kid ourselves that he should be on that banner before either Kelvin or Fonte.

Agreed, the kit is appalling. Worst we've had since the first season back and the pinstripe. And worst "proper" striped kit I can remember. Very glad I got one last season if we're going to get this crap every year under UA. I suspect there will be a minority wearing the new one this year. I hope so at least. A strong message needs to be sent that it simply isn't good enough.

Jesus, more than Le Tiss or Ted Bates? Mentalness is starting to infest this place.

Les Reed has destroyed his credibilty over anything he says. Turned into our Levy, all we care about is that he delivers. There is close to zero goodwill to him from the fans.

The problem is, one day the tv monies will not be there. The clubs that have expanded will then have a colossal advantage. Personally think should look to expand (even if to only 40-45k) as it will future proof the club to a degree. Far to easy to slip back into the Sheffield united and Coventry bracket with only a 32k stadium. Times have moved on now, when we had the dell, old trafford was 55k and was far and above the biggest ground. Now west ham, man city, tottenham, chelsea, newcastle, united etc are all in and around, or above, that bracket. Not only that, but the more kids saints get coming to the ground is important for the future. They will be future players, future fans and the lifeblood of the club for years to come.

And what a 7 years! Thank you Markus!

Pelle is the most inconsistent player I've seen at saints for a long time. And he isn't that good. He's pushing 31 and he has one year left on your contract. We have Austin, Long, JayRod already, Dost is a suitable replacement for a a squad player.

I don't disagree, but key attributes at the highest level are the physical ones. Mane has superb balance, strength and speed/acceleration. As well as a great touch and finish. His ability to just run around defenders who should have been dead certs to get the ball first is ridiculous. He could run a circle around them to get the ball faster than they could turn. Then they could never get him off it afterwards without fouling him. Boufal maybe good, but Mane was the best player I've seen at saints in many a long year - absolutely unplayable when he was on form. No way on this earth are we getting an equivalent player for almost as much money. and ofc I am no expert but I don't think the glimpses i've seen of Boufal's skill will make up for his weaker physical attributes (relative to Mane). Good player he may be! But I'd rather we were after cheaper talented players such as the Payet's, Mahrez, Mane, Tadic's of this world. Last time I checked, saints are not the club to splash circa £30m on a player, and if we are... why the hell didn't we just offer mane the money to stay

Its an awful lot of money to spend on a player 1 year younger than Mane and nowhere near as good. Mane is lethal. This guy has good balance and some nice footwork... but often he seems to be on the deck flat on his back, or the loose touches he gets away with in France will be lapped up in the premier. He'll need time to settle in for sure.

When even you can only praise the club with "its alright", then you know its ****ing **** and an embarrassment. This is up there with Cardiff's nearly two tone red kit - except they had the good sense to change it PDQ.

Glad I got last years kit in the sale. That is vomit inducing. Total fail by the club again and we are stuck with them for how many years? Now I know why my Spurs mate hates UA. Disgusting. But it is only a kit at the end of the day. Its the players that matter.

#BarRaised = Bra Raised?

Think its possibly one of the worst kits in recent memory based on those mocks ups. Real shame. And how hard was it for the collar and shirt trim to be the same colour? Terrible kit incoming.

I agree, would be one of the worst saints kits in my lifetime. Fortunately that isn't our kit.

Saido Berahino?!?!

So poor he was their best player and scored a 25yard screamer vs saints.... but then you didn't watch that either.

That article is complete bullcrap. Come one guys and gals. Les Reed may be selling the club down the river again this summer but its only ambition we lack. We aren't gutting the whole squad again, just enough to line a few pockets why we stay top half.

Being reported tonight that french, German and Italian plans for a European super state have been leaked to Polish media and it has caused a degree of uproar. Calls for nations to effectively be dissolved; no more individual foreign policies, the signing over of armies to EU control, no more national central banks, all members of the population will be given an EU tax code in place of national tax, etc etc etc. Early days yet, but if this is actually proved true (we all know its been the long term agenda), and so soon after the referendum, then I am very glad we voted out. It will also be absolutely shocking that such immediate plans were kept from the electorate during the referendum. There is absolutely no way that the remain group did not have that information. I will go so far as to say that if this is true; you saved our democracy and gave your kids a say in their futures.

FTSE 250 ended 2% down on friday.

"Much like Southampton, Athletic Club have largely improved season-on-season in recent times. When they won the Markus Liebherr Memorial Cup at St Mary’s in 2011, Marcelo Bielsa had not long been in charge of the side, with striker Fernando Llorente tipped for a big season, and young midfielder Ander Herrera making his breakthrough at the club. Despite leading Bilbao to the Europa League final and making it into the round of 32 the following season, Bielsa left his post at the end of the 2012/13 campaign. He was replaced with Spaniard Ernesto Valverde, who has taken Bilbao to three consecutive top-seven finishes in La Liga, as well as Champions League qualification and a Spanish Super Cup title. In that time, Bilbao completed a new stadium, with the impressive San Mamés opening in September 2013, boasting a 53,289 capacity. And Blibao have become a symbol of progress in that time under the guidance of Valverde, taking the team to a fifth-place finish in La Liga last season, which included progression to the quarter-finals of the Europa League, as well as a Spanish Super Cup success. Read more at http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/2016-17/20160621-athletic-club-pre-season-friendly-profile-3147360.aspx#40eyVvePfAhG4vI1.99"

I raised Valverde a while ago in immediate response to K Billy's "mystery man" comment... It wasn't dismissed or denied. I reckon it could be him. We have solid links with Athletic and we are playing them this pre season, not only that but we are involved in the set up of their club, they have always relied on bringing through local kids, they play our style of football and they love Matt Le Tiss. Would be excited if he is the man. But, he hasn't even been linked elsewhere so no idea. Will claim itk though it it does happen