kitch

It's cracking business. We're effectively being paid to play him, and he's easily 1st choice even if we weren't. Signing of the season in the PL, for me, when you take into account the financial aspects.

MLT is in Awbridge now, near Lockerley over Romsey way.

I'm looking forward to the next game just so I can watch him play football again. Genuinely the most exciting signing we've made for years, and he's a defender!

edit: Just seen the other thread - looked 3 times and missed it. Posted this, and found it! Apologies! I know he's gone now, but I've just been reading an article on The Athletic about him. Jesus, he's had quite a rough time of it recently. Club have been classy through by the sound of it, despite him not having a contract here. https://theathletic.com/2958956/2021/11/17/i-had-this-stabbing-pain-i-thought-it-was-a-heart-attack-josh-sims-explains-why-he-hasnt-kicked-a-ball-since-may/?source=dailyemail&campaign=601983 Always rated him, hopefully he can kick on from it.

Oh, and Kevin Keegan had a place on the road from Hiltingbury to Ampfield, if memory serves. My gran used to tell me every time we passed it when I was a kid!

Quality thread! Nice and creepy! My two penneth: Jason Dodd, I believe, used to live in Grange Park in Hedge. 4-5 bed detached, pretty modest. Would have been late 90s. Jordy Clasie lived in Compton, just next to Shawford (a lot of them live round there now, I think). One of my customers live a few doors up. J-Rod lived in Wellow at one point. Fella in my F.I.L's old delivery firm delivered a table to him. When I was a kid we looked at a house being sold by Le God himself. 3-4 bed detached in Bishopstoke, just off Alan Drayton Way. It was empty at the time when my parents viewed it - estate agent might have been lying, of course! Would have been early-mid 90s. Danny Ings lived in the white house on the roundabout connecting Botley, Durley, Hedge End and Horton Heath. Think he moved out before he left the club, though. JWP was Romsey/Wellow area some years ago, but I believe is now in the Compton/Shawford area like most. Pretty sure VVD was in there, too. There's a road that has its own motorway bridge just over the M3, leads to a private estate. It's got footballer-life written all over it! Stuart Ripley was in the Eastleigh/Chandlers Ford area, way back when. I served him in Halfords once. Exciting shit. That's all I got.

Sorry, my sarcasm came across badly! It was the Ings thing, but I'd forgotten all about that handball. Who's ref tonight? And perhaps more crucially, who's on VAR?!

God, I hope we tear them to bits! I don't know why, but I know I want to!

Same with 'leave' I think.

I like him already!

I noticed this, too. He's comfortable strolling out of defence with the ball and making the odd run forward (more so than, say, Bednarek) but occasionally he'll make a hash of it, like yesterday. Like you say, dummied, beat his man, and then just casually gave it away on the edge of his own area!

I'd heard £40m reported too, but also £25m, so going with worst-case scenario. And yes, it's a subjective POV (just like the majority of posts on here) but I certainly don't mean it as a slight. I think it's good business, but I also think he'll be gone before his 20th birthday. Going to enjoy watching him play in a Saints shirt until that time comes.

Well obviously I don't mean it literally, but in essence, that's what it is: Chelsea are employing us to develop him. They didn't want to give him the PL minutes that a club like us could, so they've accepted a token payment and should he prove good enough (and he clearly will), then they'll buy him buy when he's been left in the oven a bit longer. We'll get financially recompensed for our efforts when he goes, and we benefit from having him in our team. Chelsea benefit from us baking him until he's done, and then they can use him themselves. Buyback is rumoured to be around £25m, which is already looking like a steal in this day & age, and the only way it could be hijacked (assuming any approach is made within the cut-off date, as you say) is if Tino himself turned it down, which he won't, because he's a local lad to Chelsea and grew up as a fan, and he can win things with them. It's wooden dollars, but that is effectively what it is - we're being paid to borrow him and develop him. I think it's sound business.

Can't help but feel McCarthy has earned a bit more respect over the years than he's getting at the moment. Wasn't so long ago he was keeping us in games that were pivotal in keeping us in the Prem. He still does pull off the odd decent save here and there, but I agree he should have done better with Greenwood's shot, and yes he needs to be dropped for a bit, just as Forster was when he hit a rough patch of form. But I think the way people have turned on him is a bit harsh, especially given that the defence infront of him ain't always up to much.

We're basically being paid to take him on loan for an indeterminate length of time, which is excellent business all the whilst we can use him. Kid is different class, properly skillful.

I dunno, maybe I see it differently, but I see the same Jack Stephens I've always seen: Fairly intelligent defender of average ability at squad-level who rarely gives anything less than 100% and genuinely gives a shit. Might not be the best player around, but you know that any deficencies in his game aren't down to a lack of effort. I think he's a great squad player, and happy to have him around.

Thanks, I needed to read something like this.

I'm absolutely gobsmacked by that, and I have to say I never thought I'd dislike the bloke, but that is a dick move. Even Spurs would have made more sense, especially with Kane leaving etc. This is purely money-based, nothing else. Honestly, this one hurts. Even Liverpool would have hurt less! He's basically fucked off his hometown club for a few extra quid. Had the chance to become a legend at the club that picked him up and rebuilt him, and chose the money. Fuck him.

I was always led to believe he was a Spurs fan as a kid.

Forster has been coming off his line much earlier since his return, to his credit.

Vesty shouldn't have been turned as easily, but I have sympathy with McCarthy as it was a thunderbolt at almost point-blank range. Fraser probably would have stood a better chance at stopping it because that's his preferred type of save to make, but not many keepers would have IMO.

You've taken a bit of a coating in here for this one! I sympathise. I don't agree, but it is the same view I had years ago (almost word-for-word) when Koeman was here. The league is fickle, though. We're not gonna win it, because it's geared for teams with the biggest bank accounts, and any 'success' in the league (and the financial benefits that go with it) are fleeting as far as our memories as fans go. From a business perspective, it's definitely better for the club, but for us as fans, you need excitement. My best two memories in recent years? Long's goal at Anfield, and Gabbi's equalizer at Wembley. This club needs trophies. Not at all costs like our neighbours, but they need to be prioritised. The cup provides magic which can sometimes even eclipse the lack of investment or quality in a team, because the cup is a sprint; the league is a marathon. Sprints are exciting!

It was the fella's first game, to be fair!

Two words. Nathan, and Redmond.

Same. I try to be rational as I can when judging performances, but that was abysmal. I'm more angered by this result than by the 9-0 vs. Utd! This needed to be a reaction, and it was the complete opposite.