Weston Saint

Little past snippet. When Lowe came back the club finances were in a complete mess. He wanted to buy Schneiderlin for £800,000 because he saw a real future talent. He went to Barclays and got the nod, or so he thought. When he had done the deal Barclays denied they had agreed to fund the purchase. With our finances as they were that was the straw that broke the back and any trust between banker and customer. It was the beginning of the end for the Ltd company. The rest, as we say, is history!

Whilst Bates is probably the best gloves man in England why has no other club come in for him or made an inquiry? Don't blame Hampshire.

Duncan, your invite to meet her fits in with her and the board wanting to re engage with the history of the club by inviting ex players (Ex Saints have 5 Presidential Suite tickets for the season to act as ambassadors) Le Tissier in the directors box for the Newcastle game, Benali given the half time slot in the stadium following his magnificent run and one of my friends, who has provided much of the sign writing of the club over many years, invited, with his son, into the Directors box for the Newcastle game as a thanks for the years of service. I think we may safely say that although we have a private owner who can do what she likes, she seems to be acting in a way that supporters can say "we have our club back" Long may it continue.

If they have settled their legacy debts ahead of time good for them. It means they will have money from their above average gates for Div 2 to compete. However, whilst owned by the fans the ceiling will come in the 1st div. Likelihood of financing for better just will not be available to them. A tin pot club with a tin pot ground does not breed confidence

Duncan, I kept an eye on Pelle throughout and you are correct he did not win many back to goal but what I did notice was that his presence meant the centre back could head the ball up and slightly forward and another Saints midfielder picked up the loose ball. It has the same effect as him winning the ball.

Don't be stupid. He is a footballer following a dream.

Lallana playing well so far. Pleased for him but we have Tadic whose skills are equal and whose body strength is better.

Back to where we belong. Well done Jimmy Adams and the team. This was always our main goal from the start of the season. Always in our hands and we played it out to perfection in the last few games.

I felt Tommo had lost his form after Abbott left and put the pressure back on him. 6 wickets in the second innings so far has blown that out of the waters

Another for Tommo straight after lunch

This is only day two. You do not put the opposition back in when the lead is not at least 250 - 300. The Glamorgan Wicket deteriorates and you do not want to be batting last. Plenty of time.

Essex will have one more win so go up. We have to be a point ahead of them.

Perfectly good article giving praise where praise is due. Very positive on Saints but with an obvious warning that it will not work every time. These were special circumstances as he quite rightly points out. This time last season we had a warm glow that stayed with us until the season end. An icy blast then blew through the club in the summer but has again been replaced by that same warm glow that should get us through the winter. I blame global warming

Southampton FC retweeted James Ward-Prowse ‏@Prowsey16 3 hrs Great result for us yesterday. Thanks for all the support! hoping it's not too serious, will let you know after the scan! #saintsfc

Well at least you have cleared one thing up, you are not Boruc!

Tahir,was unwell from the time he arrived. Do not give him stick. I will not say what one of the umpires said about his return! Wheater was blanked by the supporters but that is the way he plays. Giving his overall performance he deserves to play over the best glove man in England. From what I know, Bates has turned down a new contract. Unfortunately no other county has been if for him so far! Terry is very disappointed. Alsop sees himself as a batsman who can keep wicket and he is an excellent wicket keeper. The future is bright in that position.

The last two days have been proper cricket and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. Noted some of the comments above but must remind them we have only lost one Championship game this season. We are good enough to play in the 1st Div but we do need one more top rate bowler. Nothing coming through the ranks. That is why we have plumped for Adams. Not much else around at the moment but if we can got the promotion desired perhaps we can pick one up.

Agree with you. Pitch was lifeless and I am not sure bowlers could have done better. Tahir is worrying. Received two warnings. One more and he cannot bowl for the rest of the innings. He keeps landing his left foot on the pitch after he has released the ball. It is a problem he had last time he was here. Meant he had to bowl round the wicket and was less effective. Came back over late on but very close to getting his marching orders.

Agree the club has a good feel about it again, not least the old Saints players being welcomed back into the fold. I have been lucky enough to have been a guest of a friend in the Presidential Suite for the first two league games. On the first Hugh Fisher, Peter Rodrigues and Reuben Agboola were guests with David Armstrong floating around. On Saturday it was Mark Dennis, Nick Holmes and Bryn Elliott with Jim Steel and Jim McCalliog floating. A friend of mine who has a season ticket in the Liebherr suite said David Armstrong was a guest in there on Saturday. Le Tissier was in the Director box as a guest of the club. McMenemy and Crouch were in the box behind me both games. I found out this afternoon that the club have given Ex Saints 5 passes for the Presidential Suite for the season as Ambassadors. The two businessmen who run Ex Saints plus 3 ex players. Cortese had blocked the lost during his tenure as we know. And finally Rupert Lowe is still a supporter from afar and enjoying our revival especially seeing "his boys" coming from the academy into the first team. He was referring to Ward-Prowse this time. Guy Askam is also a season ticket holder in the Liebherr.

One of the big concerns was what agreement the club came to with Schneiderlin to get him to stay. There has been a lot reported in the last few days about him re engaging with the club and stating the squad was possibly stronger than last season and he was satisfied the ambition of the owners was still there. A friend of mine was with our Chairman on Saturday and he confirmed Schneiderlin was happy and not looking to get away in January and will honour his remaining contract. Words I know but fairly reassuring.

Essex play Leicestershire (bottom) and Worcester. We play Kent and Glamorgan. Worcester already promoted so nothing to play for. We need 27 points from last 2 games so one win should do it. If weather interveins it will likely affect Essex as much as us although we have lost more hours to rain this season than any other county!

Good post Steve. Agree with the content.

Mike Richards.

I spoke to former director of Saints on Wednesday and mentioned contracts involving guaranteed first team and he said they just do not exist. It would be madness to include such a condition and no club would. The Management may decide the player is an automatic pick but it will not be in his contract. How come no one came in for Boruc during the transfer window! How come he did not put in a transfer request!

Ah yes you are correct. We have room in our squad.