UpweySaint

Wow ... do you think Honda would accelerate the progress of our team? Ahem, I'l leave now ...

That we cant be Swansea or WBA overnight. They both needed investment to get to where they are. I was agreeing with you that the way they run the show is desirable however I dont think we would be able to be anything like as self sustaining in our current state and will continue to rely on external investment for some time. Apologies for not being clear and concise, exam season, hopefully that was a little clearer.

Oh come on I said most. Swansea i'l give you but they are surely an exception to the rule? While WBA have recieved investment from Pearce and co albeit not to the tune of the usual oil millions chucked around I concede. If Pearce or Jenkins or a saints supporting equivalent felt they could run the club sustainably while managing to keep us making progress by all means i'd be ok with that. I think we need to remember exactly where we came from and how much of the investment has gone into infrastructure to help push us towards being "sustainable". One day I hope, and honestly believe, there is nothing to say we couldn't go down the route of WBA and Swansea however we still have ground to make up for sure.

Most clubs in the premier league rely on external investment of one form or another or benefit from massive global appeal to flog merchandise abroad. Did not say anything spending shed loads but a club run self sufficiently that can actually not run at an operating loss is a damned rare thing. It may be possible there is an alternative but, until it's forthcoming, im happy to stick with NC.

Yeah im sure he watched them in training, didnt just go on a hunch Boruc no doubt the more talented proven keeper but, at the time, there were solid reasons for giving Gazzaniga - a player with strong potential who showed some flashes of quality - a chance, he didnt take it, Adkins moved on. By the time NA was our Boruc was our established number one.

I suppose for me it comes down to what the alternatives are. If we could run the club in a different way without plummeting back down the leagues then it'd be great to do things "the right way" and maybe have a fans trust instead of NC and external investment however to survive, and compete, in english football at a decent level this does not seem possible. Cortese will stick to the principles of investment in the academy and this has been evidenced by the staplewood development and the appt of a manager with a rep for developing young players while hopefully he'l push us towards being "sustainable" (though how realistic that is alongside aiming for european football is iffy!). It's sort of better the devil you know with NC for me, as much as I think he's made mistakes he's no Rupert!

I suppose there is no question Honda is a talented player and I think it is likely he has the strength for the premiership but that leaves us with A) Would he come to us for a reasonable wage? B) Where would he fit into our existing tactic? C) Who else might beat us to the punch? We offer plenty as a club but i'd be surprised if we could beat off international competition for the lad ... then again I, and others, were shocked we were able to attract Ramirez ...

When Boruc came in he was not match fit, was not in form and had that unfortunate incident. Hindsight is twenty twenty and it may have been better to stick with him earlier on but who'd have known at the time?

In fairness to Gardner hes a cm whos been stuck at rb for a part of the season and that may explain, at least, some of his poor mistakes.

Two? Generous, even I lost track of my trail of thought Be interesting to see the values and code of conduct system come into place either way! Either way back to HCDAJU ... I'l throw in the usual one that comes up, Buckley at Brighton. I know he's signed a contract long term and some on here have suggested we wont look at the championship too much but, with all the chaos going on a Brighton recently, he may yet be an acheivable target and, imo, could do a job in a few different positions for us.

Ahah he was one of the ones I was thinking of. My point, I suppose I have one somewhere, is that behaviour is subjective and a football club will struggle to define what it considers bad behaviour and how it deals with it. For example a club policy would be difficult to apply to star names should the manager also disagree with any punishment.

Mm fair point we do seem to do our homework on the sort of characters we bring into the club, something im proud of as a fan. Do wonder how much of it is talk though, often footballing talent seems to rule over a players behaviour. How many footballers have ever recieved more then a ticking off from their clubs for assault/drink driving charges that seem to stalk the game?

Quality debatable but he can be an effective weapon. Just think back to the euros with england, basically carried the side at points with him being our only outball and held up the ball well to bring others inot the game.

Just on weekends or is this a twenty four seven routine?

You didn't need to edit in the picture, I didnt think you were making things up pal Im just playing devils advocate and suggesting its not unreasonable to think he may not start another premiership game for saints

Moving into a coaching role and being a third choice keeper, you never know, might have been sentiment that got him a game

A sceptic may suggest it was a farewall to KD, cant see him getting a look in next year, much as he's been a big part of our club last few seasons!

As is Rodwell ahead of our own jack cork, not that im hinting at any bias or suchlike ...

At the risk of being smug I think long term we'l show our way to be the better way. West ham have a reputation for a cracking academy and quality football, neither of which are likely to be embraced under allardyce, hopefully we'l kick and build in the right way. Only major spanner in the works if the very iffy deal with them getting the olympic stadium. How they're getting such a stadium with the facilities and non matchday revenue stream oppurtunities for a pittance while other clubs, such as ourselves arsenal etc, have to rack up large debts to build our own is a bizarre arrangement and one that will likely be questioned later on in line with the rules of football clubs not being able to be backed by govt/councils etc that are currently stirring up trouble over europe.

Cracking picture has to be said, shows a bit of genuine emotion for their teammates sad loss, always nice to be reminded once in a while that footballers arent too different from the rest of us and we seem to have, on the whole, a cracking bunch of people at the club.

Just dull to watch. Me and my brother went and were playing "how long till its pumped long towards crouch" we counted a record high six passes before a big punt towards crouchy Fair to say Fonte handled him well too. Have to say though we haven't beaten them home away so good football only counts for so much without end product .. Either way fair play to the stoke fans a vocal bunch, honourable mention to their keeper and owen in his last game (I know views differ on him but growing up he was one of the best strikers around, not just for england, for my generation).

Was a total di ck h**d! Him and his pikey mate had been told off by the stewards earlier on in the game and his mate tried to have a pop at one of the stewards trying to frag him out. Shameful!

Clyne > Shaw However Clyne 4 years older so ... Shaw + 4Y = Clyne or Shaw + 4Y > Clyne ..? Either way what a dilemna to have eh

They were done as mock ups for our championship season, we used something nearly identical to the home mock up that season. Im a massive fan of the blue but it seems more likely we'l end up with a more modern looking black kit.

and this one ... old mock ups I know but new to me, would do the job for sure, pretty keen on the blue away in particular (if the posting of pictures doesnt work apologies, never attempted it before!)