Saint86

And yet somehow, we all keep coming back for more But great summary. Never understand the massive anger that gets unleashed on this forum or indeed on the internet.

I felt Davis was superb in this game. Seemed to be everywhere, barley put a foot wrong and made some great saves and dangerous runs/passes. Glad to see he is winning the poll and that the fans appreciate him on mass!

There are some on here with brains that simply explode at the mere hint of something they can take as dissent towards the club. I raised similar points a few weeks ago that the first team was not as strong as last seasons and that the board were not really learning enough lessons as things stood at that time. Since then we have signed no one and renewed no contracts. But I am happy to wait until the end of the transfer window to reserve judgement on the summer. The simple truth is that the club played away against a re-invigorated Newcastle side with 5 of last season’s back 6 not there. It is also one of the toughest tests they have faced so far this season in terms of pressure. We have lost Clyne (replaced), toby (not replaced), Morgan (not replaced), Forster (replaced), bertrand (short term injury).... We kept Fonte. It is not surprising that the team looked panicky when you consider that. On the plus side, Martina looks a very tidy player so far and good for the money. Cedric also looks to be a very good player and I feel he will surpass Clyne but is young and needs a season of experience to settle. Can't blame him for that. Caulker was a panic replacement for toby and Gardos… We missed our main man (Toby) and have failed with the celtic kid thus far. But! As a back up, it is a caulker is a good deal as a loan with option to buy. Juanmi up front looks promising and i think that Clasie will be good for us when he settles and gets fit. But people will need to remember with him that he has been injured, missed a lot of pre season and had barely any game time... expect something similar to LaLa's first season at liverpool tbh, don't expect great things from him just yet, very unfair. But as above… We have lost and not replaced 2 of our main men in Morgan and Toby. One was an utter cock up, and replacing Morgan with a CDM seems to have been overlooked so far... time will tell. We have 2 years of massive TV revenues, a very sustainable and low wage structure, and transfer profits from last summer and this summer. If that money isn't truly invested or shown to have been used to clear debts or to cover infrastructure then I think fans are correct to raise a few eyebrows and be concerned and shouldn't be slammed for doing just that. I would hope it is the same if the club were spending like the blue few and raised comments about that approach as well… however I think the fanatical few on here would have to have their say regardless. At present, the board have done fairly well on recruitment so people should hold fire on judgement. But also the fact remains that contracts are repeatedly allowed to run down, we keep selling our best players, we have barely any academy starters atm because of this strategy and not all funds appear to be reinvested when there is fantastic potential to break that glass ceiling at this point in time. A bit of transparency is required i feel. rather than the constant PR output that the club prefer to give out., and which is frequently BS (i.e. all the players we are "signing" - but haven’t, or the players whose contracts we are renewing - but didn’t). I mentioned on here a while ago that nothing had been done about wanyama, it then got mentioned by the club... time they delivered on one of these key players renewing tbh. Further to that, the real elephant in the room with the same time left as Wanyama, and the same time left as Clyne had last summer, is Ronald himself... now I know he is injured, but ffs that contract needs to be in discussions and up for renewal. He, and his team, are key! So, fingers crossed the club deliver and really do get a class CB and CDM in the door; because to push on we need both. I think it is not ambitious enough from the naysayers on here to think that the club should expect to take a hit in the league to have a europa run when there is money available to strengthen in a similar fashion to last summer. I support the club whatever, but I will also point out where I think we are frustrating as feck at times, and the board have made some cock ups as well as brilliant decisions... I wish this forum could give more voice to both sides and be open about that rather than slamming all and sundry for their concerns... although some do put a noose around their necks all too willingly. Hard hat on!

Great goal by long. I am ****ing well impressed by Martina. I said when we signed him he is going to be a cult hero and i stand by it so far!!

Very informative, thanks! To be honest. Most people expect us to progress beyond the group stages as long as we take it seriously. Unless we get a group of death I think its just an adventure to enjoy! I am targeting the quarter finals as a minimum.... but expect us to win and be in the Champions league next year

I actually think this is amazing... just trying to imagine the comedy gold of 20k people singing it whilst picturing that fat man from youtube fist/moob pumping!! Yes i tell you. This needs to happen! Maya hee Maya who Maya ha Maya Yoshida

Postby evomutant on Thu Aug 06, 2015 9:09 pm This Southampton have a bigger squad b*llocks. Jeezus. This time last year they were everyone's tip for relegation after seeing their squad decimated. Now they are thumping a team far far better than the mediocre outfit we have just gone out to. Southampton. That ****ty small club from the Dell showing more leagues ambition than West Ham. Never imagined i'd see that. Ever.

3 saints fan's have been arrested for troubles in the town centre. Sounds like they got stuck in a fight with feyenoord and vitesse fans (I might point out that the dutch fans make up the vast majority of the arrests.) I hoep everyone is okay and that no one has done anything to bring the club into disrepute.

Net spend on transfer dealings under Adkins was circa £3m from league 1 to prem?

The club have shown great progress and are the model for most English football clubs. With that in mind I no longer have any doubts that all contract and transfer situations are in hand.... so not to worry. Thread can be closed.

Wouldn't read much into it, all comes down to the teams style of play in a lot of cases.

I think JWP is a much better player for comparative age to where Morgan was. He doesn't get the experience of coming up through the leagues and forming a pivotal part of a team. Warde Prowse is struggling from having to make do with a squad role at a much higher level. He would actually flourish if given the opportunity to have a season as a main player in a championship team tbh. People act like he wouldn't be a star man in the second tier at the age of 20. He still has great potential and plenty of time ahead. Sadly our fans are total muppets at times and want everything to come now rather than having the patience to grow it organically. Unsurprisingly it is the same tired old posters that are the most vocal in slagging off our players. Just like morgan would never make it, bertrand was an underwhelming signing, Jayrod couldn't hack it, Mane was ****e etc etc etc etc.... Lest we mention the captain who people said was never cut out for this level and worse than big old Jos. The amount of drivel that gets posted on here in the name of slagging off players is amazing... I mean its one thing to be critical of a players current game... but these people are writing off one of englands most promising young central midfielders as not having one more season to make it at premier league level for saints.... at the age of 21 :mcinnes:

I think the club need to be very careful about how we airbrush our history. For example signing Cedric before clyne left, and saying Les Reed appointed Poch.... But have you seen some of this ****e written about the club in the comments under that article. £100-150million spent on the team in League 1 (net spend under Adkins from league 1 to prem was around 3million right? Due to oxlade?) And accusing us of abandoning youth development for foreign imports when in reality we had 7 academy graduates in the squad for Everton win? Some seriously bitter opposition fans out there

So would I, but many on here seem to want to wash the great man from the history books or taint him forever. All of which is a disgrace.

Davis having a cracking game so far! And penalty!!!

What the hell is the guy in the white hat carrying?

Pretty good post angleman. Poch did a good job for us in some ways, but is also very responsible for filling the first team's head with waffle and them subsequently leaving. Mind you... look where we are now as a result of that. You make a great point about the net spend. 2 summers of net transfer income (circa £20m) and the 2 years of record tv deals. Can only assume that KL is paying back her loan deals at present as it is not all being invested. Be interesting to see what happens once the club is debt free.

Is that Danny Wellbecks little bro at the back?

I'd be careful in what Les Reed says following a cock up His word ain't worth much, or did I miss Lambert in the squad last season, or Clyne lining up for us in Holland?

Was going to post this as a response in the matt target room, which is totally off topic and will deride that thread more than it is currently. At present, I am delighted with how the club has performed this last year (lets be honest, summer 2014 was a bit hairy) but somewhat concerned with the direction of this summer.... "People are saying they are literally delighted with the performance of the board and les reed in recent weeks... I am not, I think he is all too ready to talk the talk, but actually, his actions do not measure up. I think the board have done a good job all in all, but can do much better still. My points below are in response to posts that say they are "delighted with Les Reed and the boards performances and hope they continue for years to come etc etc etc"... Don't hang me, I'm not a bed wetter by any stretch, i think every season i have been one of the most optimistic people on here, maybe my issue is that at long last (after 5-6 consecutive seasons) my expectations for the club finally exceed what we can achieve... (for me this is establishing ourselves as a regular europa league qualifier with cup runs every now and then). *************************** So in response... How delighted were people last summer? Because it wasn't LR that signed Tadic, Pelle, Toby... We got those players because of Koeman. I think the board got very lucky with that appointment in that it saved their backsides with regards to shredding the squad (although credit to the recruitment process for scouting him out - something i think we excel at now and a nod to Les Reed for that)... Overall though, I worry that this season just gone has made them complacent in the transfer market and in contract negotiations. In fact I think the way they handled clyne and how it compares to Poch, chambers, lambert, lallana, shaw etc and the communication to fans/players is very similar, which is complacent and dangerous, and shows little signs of lessons learned). Although some say there are none to learn because we improved, had a cracking season and can expect to do it every year ) In my view, we erupted from the lower leagues like a rocket and the momentum carried us upwards building and developing the team as we went. But we built that team with a large financial clout and competing against teams with no where near the set up that we had, nor with the set up of the teams we are now up against. If the club want to progress they need to do better than the Toby saga. Which frankly was a terrible waste of an opportunity. The structure and momentum was created under cortese's watch and the financial muscle the club now have come from his management of ML’s / KL's funds. They say he had left debts, but people forget that he may well have sold off players as well, such as the £10m deal for lambert that was scrapped only for him to then leave for £4m less than 6months later under LR’s watch. That was a deal that caused upset amongst the fans and was rumoured to cause boardroom trouble for cortese! So frankly, Les Reed / the board don't get any additional credit for the clubs performance... he has performed well, I agree! But people literally act like he is flawless. He is not. And needs to do better for where I (and some of the fans?) want the club to push onto. Lest our entry into europe fails to become a regular event which is what we should be aiming for and is within reach. For example, after last summer you would hope that they tied players contracts down, yet Clyne (despite being told it was imminent) was allowed to expire and leave, Toby was not closed out (despite making all the right noises for months on end - to the point that spuds snuck in and did the deal) and there is no sign of new deals for other key players like Wanyama. In addition they ignored and failed to tie down Cork at that time such that he was then left feeling unwanted/disillusioned and tempted by Swansea… It is sloppy and we cannot afford it! We are competing against the top clubs in the land now, cock it up and we'll have thrown away our one chance in recent history to break into the top echelons for a prolonged period. The club have done fantastic and reached a new height last year with the league finish and European football, it has been a pleasure to watch them these last 5 years... But all that pleasure will be soured if they don't see this through and really push onwards because the potential is there. Sadly, I don't see them really building enough on the opportunity we now have which is a terrible shame. Losing Morgan and Toby with no like for like replacements in sight is a real shame and disappointment. One I hope will be remedied. Clasie is an exciting player for sure, but he is in no way a like for like replacement for morgan. Our midfield is now weaker defensively and if we lose wanyama it will be populated by small technical midgets who are sadly not called Iniesta or xavi and are not those players in their prime!!! We must have the cash to strenghten... There have been 2 years of record tv incomes, we had the 6th smallest wage budget in the league and have banked over £110m on transfers in 12 months... with profit left over from last summer and from Morgan and clyne this summer.... I don't ask them to go crazy by no means, we are not portsmouth or west ham etc etc.. But for crying out loud I wish they'd put the money in to buy the 1 or 2 quality players (DM and CB) that would make us rock solid and give us a great chance of competing. Signing James Chester or Caulker is just settling for where we are (granted a massive improvement from where we have ever been in the prem). But to me that is a disappointment, there is scope to go for more without stretching ourselves. We have the manager, we have a great core to the team and we have the money and the kids.... pad them out with that sprinkle of quality and really go for it!! If we're not going to do that, then the club should stop giving it all this about how marvellous we are... because whilst it is great publicity, all they are actually doing is selling (both physically and commercially) NC's and ML's legacy..." Eventually it will just wear thin and mean very little and trading on past glories (no matter how modest) is a false economy. *********************** Fully expect to get slammed on here ( ) but interested to know other fans thoughts and whether I am the only one who is a tiny bit disappointed with the summer so far and what it may mean for the clubs progression.

Osvaldo, ramirez, Toby, Clyne, "no one will leave" etc etc etc etc.... If you read, you will see that i said Les Reed does a lot of great things, but he also tries to put PR spin on every single situation.. If we are such a model little club I would like us to have the integrity to be honest and not lie about situations to save face. Sadly we do. Don't know why you bother to deny it or get so wound up about someone pointing out that the club (and in particular Les Reed) try to spoon feed the fans positive news at "convenient" junctures. Simple fact is we have a tremendous wage structure for the league and our position in the table. Have had 2 years of bumper tv deals that we have barely touched relative too all clubs, as well as a nice net take from Liverpool and co last season.... plus a profit this year. Yet we seem to let contracts run down (clyne, morgan, wanyama etc etc), play silly buggers with players we are clearly after (Toby being the latest) and then come out with PR rubbish when we cock it up. Then everyone acts like we are marvellous and this model club (because they are spoon fed it constantly). We have a great club, and it has been a pleasure to be a fan for these last few years in particular. However, people need to stop settling for what we have. There is still room for improvement and better contract management and real ambition in the transfer market are attainable given the clubs financial structure. There are serious discrepancies between finances and intent at present, and less interviews by Les and/or either some action or honesty would clarify this. Please don't take that as being anti the club, because it is not! I simply want them to keep striving upwards and I'm dissatisfied with parts of how Less Reed /The PR department work. I think they deliberately flatter to deceive.

I think Les Reed is full of more and more poo with every article. The club make mistake and all of a sudden there is an interview with Les Reed and how wonderful the club is with little snippets and hints about the dark forces in football that worked to the disadvantage of the club in that instance (toby being the last of many instances)... the simple fact is that the club dropped massive clangers, and Les' ability to spout what ever sunshine ballarks he wants to cover it up is starting to wear thin. Far rather he kept stum or just told the straight and honest truth rather than painting a picture of a non-existent rosiness on certain occasions. He does many great things, but covering up every cock up the club make is not one of them.

What with the 6th lowest wage budget and one of the lowest agent fee spends etc...

You are right, we have circa £20m left over from last year, 2 years worth of record tv monies, the 6th lowest wage structure in the league... and another tidy profit this year. Investment needs to match the fans ambitions tbh.