OldNick

It all depends on the wording of the contract of course. Perhaps the fans want to keep the players more than the club, whose policy is not to get the player to adhere and stick to the contract but just use it to get higher fees. You may gain much pride in paying top dollar bankrolling to see our players developed and then sold so that they can go on and win trophies and get true success. Yes we get patronising fans of other clubs telling me how fantastic it is that we find these players, but really they dont give a toss they just want to see our ex-players taking them onto better things as they chase the real goals. I wish i could support a glory club but i was born in Southampton and its my club, it doesnt stop me from realising how foolish loyalty is as the employees of the club show none of it.

well we started going at the same time. I agree we had many years of dogfights but we had our share of being a very respected force, we had European Footballer of the year. Yes the playing field may have been closer, but if you keep selling the players good enough to make you close the gap can only get wider. In the last 3 seasons we missed our chance again, a bit more quality and we could have easily been top 3, especially in the season where Chelsea won the league.

were you around in the early 80's, we were a force and only a whisker away from winning trophies. The heartbreak of Highbury 84 still digs deep inside. Had we won that day there is a probability we would have gone on to be the side that won the cup. We finished runners up to Liverpool for the title amongst other near misses.

Very good post but it really gets my goat that fans put up 'that plucky side that came up the divisions and are punching above their weight.' Why is the 27 years of being in the top division forgotten? We were a major force for years, OK it was not matched by trophies but we were still a major team. Due to some mismanagment we fell, but that was for a short period of time. We are hardly a Pompey who were in the wilderness for decades and then popped up again before going back to their place in the leagues.

If we have to sell 50-60m worth of players every season then our business model is unsustainable. How all the other mid size teams survive is amazing if this is really the case. IMO we swallow it time and again, and the club know how to turn the fans against the player by subtly making them seem disloyal. I suspect there are pretty tight non disclosure agreements made whan a player is sold. We have a superb club and we all are proud of it, but how can we ever have heroes if as soon as you put their name on your shirt they move. I totally understand that if big clubs come calling then their heads are turned, but if we really do intend to make it bigtime there has to be a time when we draw the line and say, 'youve signed a 6 year contract and so get on with it.' Personally I believe that the long contracts are for the financial benifit of both sides. We can get more money, and the player has security and a bumper pay rise.

This all the fault of supermarkets charging for plastic bags, the shirts will be binned but the bags they come in will be most handy

as much as they want a rivalry, there aint one

to be fair, they were rattled by Fratton Prk, the way the ground was set up with the fans right at you is intimidating, the same was when e had the Dell before the seating came in

So you qualify your side by saying private banks and then do a blanket we all did the killing. The Swiss people are just as complicet as Iam about the Afghanistan Iraq debacle. I never voted for Blair, it was him who started the ball rolling, I wonder if you voted for him and so have more blood on your hands than me. Personally I am proud of our countries history, some was distasteful I do agree, but if it wasn't for our past none of us would have the lifestyle that we enjoy now, As much as you don't like the thought you are enjoying the fruits of the 300 years of the Empire and pirating our forefathers took part in

No doubt all the poor people who had their lifes possessions taken away and the gold and art deposited in the Swiss banks by the Nazi's. Oh yes claiming to be neutral has always stopped people invading you lol

health, wealth and happiness indeed, but at the expense of who?

, didnt say we hadnt, but I dont see Switzerland as a beacon of correctness.

Sorry on this one Im with GM, IMO the Swiss were complicit in hiding the gold and artefacts that were stolen by the Nazis, they also seem to be the keepers of much of the criminal worlds excesses in their numbered bank accounts. They have never been involved in major wars as the people at the top want somewhere to hold their funds free from inspection and so never were invaded. Goegraphically they should have been as they were in the political sphere of the Germans

Ive just seen the score, a bloody good result for them to get a draw 0-0 against Liverpool.......................................Ohhh Hartle not Liver

lol at the security fencing to keep the hoardes back.

Only 10years ago, it seems a lifetime

So how low quality and diluted do we have to get before you start to feel it is not right? It rankles with me that we are happy to wonder around saying 'oh look there are our ex-players' at the cup finals , fighting for titles. Where is the pride in that? Whilst I do not expect the CL, had we shown a bit more ambition we could have done it, as there have been a few open goals missed in the last few seasons in getting there. I believe that had ML been here at the time he would have invested a bit to meet the goal he and NC set when they arrived.

Im not very hopeful about him,but I will say that he is getting into the positions to score. It will click and then when it does we will see if he indeed can come back to be a super star

Looks like Liverpool only need to score 1 goal in either match to go through in the cup, lol

yes but a full back is not quite the main attacking threat. Taking I love seeing our lads develop in the PL is just what the owners will love.Not having to buy and the fans taking it. When Gallagher has developed then put him in, Kane spent a long time learning his trade at other clubs before he was pushed into the major responsbility of being the main target man

yes, but there are different risk strategies. Gallagher is future talent that needs to gain experience before being under the pressure of the PL. Its a harder position to establish yourself in, probably the hardest. Personally Sims brilliant start is fantastic but we have to make sure he is gradually brought through, he could easily become a one match wonder

well if you bring Gallagher back and he fails to make the step up, that could leave us with a forward line that cant score for toffee. Dangerous game to play, especially if the defence starts to leak goals

we didnt replace him in the summer as the season ended if I recall correctly and then look what happened

that is a very interesting post. I had never seen that before and it cant be fair or democratic. I know we have vetos but it must be maddening to see a small population getting unfair voting proportion

I try not to recall the last 2 times we lost our outstanding centre back, the fiorst was Mark Wright in the FA cup semi final which we then lost. The 2nd which was more crucial was Killer Svensson and look what happened that season!!!!!