sadoldgit

Yep, were certainly went through a sticky patch but the Bard said they would reinvest in the team and that we would be competitive and that looks to have happened. Were the phone lines jammed with callers wanting their money back? Just because your mate did doesnt mean to say all callers were. They were probably the players that Les talked about who were gagging to play for us! Seriously, when you look at the % on here who wanted (or said they wanted) their money back it was small beer. I am more inclined to believe it was down to Ronald that we didnt seel JRod and Morgan. He clearly stated that he wanted to build the team around them. After all the players that left would it really had made that much difference if two more had left? Like many, I was stunned when Chambers left but it didnt stop being SFC and there was always going to be a team to support. I seem to remember much more anger at the club when things were going pear shaped under Lowe's second coming than the bed wetting this summer.

Ditto everything that has been said. Really wish him well at Norwich and hope he helps them get promoted. All the best Jos!!!

I am rubbish at predicting but I would go for 10th too. Still early days but I think we will be better at putting weaker teams to the sword under RK whereas we might not pick up so many points against the stronger sides. I get the feeling that RK is looking for more goals from midfield which is no bad thing. Pelle I am sure will score goals - how many who knows. Long I am not so sure about but hey, if Morgan gets on the score sheet more often who cares! It will be an interesting season f'sure!

I am happy to hold my hands up and say that I was firmly in the Gaston is a waste of money camp. Having said that I did hope that he would stay and show his worth this season. He clearly has ability and it will be a choker if he does the biz at Hull (but some how you just see that he is going to spend more time on the treatment table). It was a big spend that didnt pay off for us but I wish him well. Who knows, it might all work out well and we get a decent player back for a final year of his contract next year?

I always assumed that transfers took ages for all clubs so not sure why anyone assumes that they are done in hours. I am sure that there are some done quickly but once agents became involved you can see why it is in their interest to keep things bubbling away for as long as possible. I loved the story about us bidding against ourselves but surely that is misconduct on behalf of the agent?

I love the "Board of Fools" label.

I certainly missed this Proff. I know a few people on here kicked off but how many phoned demanding their season ticket money back? Any idea?

4-1-5 Interesting!

WTF??? Of course this would have nothing to do with RK deciding who he wanted to keep and who he was happy to let go and that he said he wanted to build a squad around JRod and Scheiderlin? Well done you. I think they should make you an honorary Board member.

Jay Rod cant play anyway at the moment and the Board have made it is clear that he is not for sale at the moment - so nothing to worry about! If he refuses to sign a new contract in the future he will go anyway. This summer has shown more than ever before that no one is bigger than the club. Dont want to see him go but there will always be other strikers out there!

This is the thing Minty. Total lack of tolerance. Not just to each other here but to the likes of the owner and the Board too. There was so much unpleasant abuse flying around this summer - much based on pure conjecture and knee-jerk reactions to rumours. You wouldnt think we all supported the same team here given the amount of flak that gets dished out. You just know that if we hadnt signed anyone yesterday and sold Morgan and JRod this forum would be in meltdown today. I am sure some were actually hoping that would happen so that they could have a pop at the Board again! I am no saint. I never warmed to Cortese, happy to admit that. But I never wanted or hoped for him to fail so I could come on and have a pop at him. Boards, players, managers are all up for criticism as are we all. There are ways of going about it though that are acceptable and those that go way too far. I cringed when I read some of the comments about Katharina, Krueger and Reed. I just hope now that they will be given a bit more credit and are no longer seen as a bunch of amatuer bumblers who are counting the days until they can sell off the club.

"Mess up?" That infers it was deliberate? Given the circumstances I would say that we have done well to get rid of those who clearly didnt want to be here and replaced them with people who hopefully will want to progress with the club.

I hope that Boruc will now get his head down and do his bit for the squad.

I am with you here Cat. SFC just happened to get caught up in a situation that came about through the success of the previous few years and the club's inability to compete on a level playing field with the top clubs financially. In any business employees will be tempted by bigger and better wage packets and bigger and better employees. In other years players would be spread around a fw mid table clubs. This season, the best picking were mostly situation on the South Coast. The new Board were caught in a sh*t storm before they knew it and it is no surprise that the media had a field day with them. Nothing to do with SFC, just unfortunate timing and circumstances. With nearly £1b being spent on people this summer Premiership football is big business and big news. Frankly I find the whole circus just as obscene as the Bernie Ecclestone Circus. It is all about money and the punters roll up day in day out to fund the ever expanding show. I heard a lot on hear about SFC being a laughing stock. Frankly I have heard many more jokes about Manchester United by that is by the by. The people I have spoken to (I live in Kent) have been very sympathic towards SFC and see what happened hear as symptematic of all that is wrong with the Premiership today. What is good is that we seem to have come out of the otherside not only intacked but also in a position to flick the bird to all of those saying we were out of our depth and shouldnt be playing with the big boys.

Post of the Summer

What saddens me the most about the Summer bed wet-in was the way some people decided from the start that once Cortese left it was all over. That he was the only one who could have a vsion for the club and run the club. The new Board, even before they had made any decsions, we seen as bumbling amatuers. We hear that there were financial problems. We heard that once Cortese left everyone else would want to go. Looking at this Summer's business I would say that the new Board (and manager) are more than competant and that SFC are in good hands. Those who have been willing the club to fail without the Master at the helm will, no doubt, continue to nit pick ad every time we lose a match it will be an excuse to slag them off - but fair play to them. They have survived a media storm to put the club in a much better position than it was a couple of months ago and they have backed up their words with actions. And we have got our stripes back!!!

Media outlets said a lot of things that were not true. If you believed then we were after Caulker. Accodring to our manager that was not the case. Krueger said he didnt speak to Spurs about transfers when in Toronto - now perhaps people might see that he was telling the truth? Koeman said that he wanted JRod and Schneiderlin to be the core of his new side. Neither has been sold. One can only assume that those that were let go we seen as being expendable in the new regime - nothing wrong with that. The proof of the pudding is in the eating as they say. For all of the media chattering we have a decent manager in palce and a squad that looks like it can compete. The club has not melted down and has not been sold. JRod and Schneiderlin are still here. Our defence looks like it should be stronger than last year. All good I would say - whats not to like? If you want to believe that was down to fan pressure sobeit - but it looks to me that when RK was appointed they sat down and worked out how to take the club forward and have actioned that plan.

Fair play to the "amatuers" on the Board and the owner. We were told by one ITK that she was selling up and that it was asset stripping. Not so it seems. Not only has the owner not sold but she and the Board have delivered. The mass bed wet-in was always a bit previous and once the Board had appointed Ronald koeman it was apparent that they were serious about this business as so it has proved to be. Some of the comments on here have been appalling. Once yesteday talked about Krueger lacking integrity! There have been many personal comments about Katharina's weight (goodness knows what that has to do with anything). The Mail in particular have been muck racking virtually every day. Koeman and the Board have made a number of hard nosed business decisions and a rocky ship has not only been stablised, it has ben refitted. Only time will tell if the growth and development of the club will continue, but as of this morning things really arent looking too bad are they? I just hope that the small band who jump on every last thing to try and make it look the the Board do not know what they are doing shut up and give them a chance to show that they do want what is best for the club. We are being told of "panic buys" yet it seems that players like Mane have been on the radar for some time. In a few weeks RK and the Board have clearly had a plan of targets and back up targets and have been working their way through to the point where we are now. With a squad that, on paper, looks good for a top half of the table finish and god cup runs. If RK sees his three year contract through I have no doubt that we shall be a stronger club than we were at the end of last season. RK and the Board deserve a huge amount of credit this morning.

Delldays, there is a huge difference between trying for a CL place (which, if you are a Prem club, you should all be hoping for) and telling players and anyone who will listen it WILL happen.

Lambert is a Saints legend as was Big Ron Davies (who really should be added). I dont think Lallana qualifies though. Was was part of the squad that brought eventual success but he only really started to make his mark in terms of consistant quality last year. Lambert and Davies and the rest were quality throughout.

Alpine will be breaking out the champers tonight!

Just knew this would be the reaction. The bloke has taken a ton of flak since he signed but now he is off he is suddenly a key player???

When has he been exposed before for "lacking integrity" ???

Surely the one who needs to worry about Taider's failure here is Taider himself. He has made himself look very unprofessional and you'd think others would think twice before signing him.