Hamwic

Leave the FA Cup alone. Replays are a real bonus for lower and non-league teams against higher opposition and they offer a bit of spice to the competition. The League Cup could be restricted to the Football League to the exclusion of the Premiership with the winners entering the Europa League.

The thread title and the question asked are two different things. In nearly 50 years have only left early a couple of times and then because the grossly overpaid prima donna players couldn't be bothered to put a shift in to a game we needn't have lost. The result of the Liverpool protest has been extensive coverage and debate of the issue which, presumably, is what they wanted. How the protest was done is irrelevant.

The difference between these two as I see it is that Osvaldo was a problem waiting to happen,(which Cortese must have known), and he didn't disappoint whereas Ramirez is a bit different; I don't think anyone knew he would tun out to be such a misfit. Bad signings will always happen with or without black boxes but the club could saved themselves the grief on at least one of them.

Cedric is poor anyway. He makes a very good winger but seems to have no idea of his primary responsibility; defence. I agree VW seems disinterested and slow and it might be time to cash in on him. Plus ship out some of the makeweights signed last tome round.

I think it is more the case that Jay is keeping Jay out of the side at the moment. His form since he came back has been quite poor and he looks short of fitness. Given time he will regain fitness, form and confidence.

Cedric seems to have a major flaw in his game as a defender; he cannot defend. Juanmi looked to be a poor addition to the squad and was too easily muscled out of the game. The rest - it was a joy to watch even against such a poor side. A word of thanks to MK Dons for their organisation and help with one of our number; a disabled fan.

Done that. Good luck.

I don't know why people get so exercised about players moving to improve their lot. I have followed football and Saints for over 40 years and players, with one or two notable exceptions, have always done this. The idea that they are disloyal is laughable. People in just about any other working environment, especially where they have benefited from their employers' investment, do exactly the same thing. At least in football the employer recieves an amount of compensation.

I am told that watering is intended 'to make the ball move off the playing surface much quicker and make the game more exciting'. All I can see is misdirected passes and players getting completely unnecessary injuries. Can we stop it please?

Thank you Docker for the many happy hours I spent watching you and your equally uncompromising colleagues in Saints' colours from about 1966 onwards. Some of it was eye-watering but it was always a pleasure. Great servant.

Neither, he is an idiot!

Yes he is but he told me a couple of months ago that it was very much to learn rather than taking any active role. Having said that, I have no idea what coaching resources the club has in place already or whether he would necessarily add to what we have.

60% possession, 18 shots, 5 on target. Poor finishing yet again.

Quite well known for getting his shot on target. Perhaps not a good idea for RK to get him 'firing' again.

Forgive me, I can't be bothered to go through several pages of posts but the match stats give cause for concern; just 6 attempts and only 1 on target for the whole game. The final third of the field appears to be our perennial problem.

...that the Blue Few fielded their new signing, a certain 'Fish' at right back yesterday. You couldn't make it up.

Originally Posted by saint-ross View Post This. This or that? This and that? I think we should be told.

I can't see it anywhere else but an article in today's Sunday Times gives a much more upbeat assessment of the club and its chances next season. It also questions whether or not the players transferred will actually produce what their new employers expect of them. As an aside, a Liverpool supporter asked me just how good Lovren was for us. My reply was that with big Victor Wanyama in front of him he looked invincible; without, he never quite seemed to live up to the hype.

I have always thought that Clyne was a better prospect than either Johnson or Walker. He is just as good as them at getting forward but has the advantage over them of also being a very good defender, his primary responsibility.

In a rather strange coincidence, at almost exactly the same time as Mr Cortese was leaving the building, a major fire broke out at the Liebherr Refrigeration warehouse in Newport Pagnell which completely destroyed the building.

See how standards have slipped since the departure of Lowe and his merry men? I remember being told by him frequently that we had the best catering in the beautiful game. This is obviously not a priority for the current regime who seem focussed on silly things like winning football matches.

I can't see this anywhere else in the thread but I always felt that while Cork was very good at creating opportunities, he was very suspect when defending and I can remember several occasions when he just let players go past him without even a hint of a challenge. Perhaps that is why VW gets the nod. That said, I would have substituted VW for him on several occasions.

Calm down everyone; we don't want the facts getting in the way of a good story, do we?

Over the years I have managed to see Saints on TV in Hong Kong, the Middle East but the strangest was in Denmark where I sat in a bar in Copenhagen next to a rather inebriated Dane who turned out to be a Saints supporter. Also watching W Ham v Saints in a bar in Spain was a bit odd; everyone else in the bar seemed to be Spanish W Ham followers.

I was privileged to see him many times during that seven year spell at the Dell and he seldom, if ever, disappointed. Not for him the rewards of today's top players who might just bow their heads for a moment in his honour. Thank you Ron.