Fitzhugh Fella

That's good. Thanks for putting my mind at rest. While I have your attention could you tell me if we are signing a forward at all?

If we are going to lose Virgil and Jose then Ake from Bournemouth would do a job?

That will have them rocking in the aisles CB! Your wit and wordplay deserv s a bigger stage for sure.

Bournemouth's forwards a lot more impressive than ours

Following that article I wrote a piece for the Saints programme v Inter - here it is without the photos SAINTS IN EUROPE –by Duncan Holley. An injured player falling off a stretcher and a double delight for a debutant were the memorable moments when Southampton met Carrick Rangers in the 1976 European Cup Winners Cup . Having won the FA Cup by overcoming Manchester United, Saints were now had their third foray into European football and by beating Olympic Marseilles in the First Round of the ECWC, in a violent affair, they were now pitted against the part-timers from Northern Ireland, Carrick Rangers in the next round. Carrick Rangers from the Irish League ‘B’ Division had stunned Irish football by beating hot favourites Linfield to lift the Irish Cup and then, in their First Round tie, had eliminated a team from Luxembourg. Saints travelled to Belfast for the first leg, played in Crusader’s Seaview Ground and won fairly comfortably 5-2, but there was a non-footballing incident that occurred near the end of the tie involving an injured Carrick player for which the match is best remembered. The Echo’s Peter East described what happened. “There was a scene which had the crowd in hysterics. Davy McKenzie, twisted his knee badly and had to go off on a stretcher. When the ambulance men first picked up the stretcher, they realised the taller men were at the wrong end with the player’s feet higher than his head. So they turned round, picked up the stretcher again and then realised they were facing each other. At the third attempt, someone let go of one side and McKenzie rolled on to the turf”. “It wasn’t very funny for me” said McKenzie afterwards and indeed, when the return fixture came around at The Dell, a fortnight later he had not recovered from his injury or the subsequent tumble from the stretcher. Southampton had injury problems of their own, the most serious being Mick Channon’s knee carbuncle which worsened on the day of the match to such an extent, that with just 90 minutes to kick-off, manager McMenemy told 18-year-old Austin Hayes that he was making his debut as Channon’s replacement. The little forward, who was born in Hammersmith to Irish parents, was a product of Bob Higgins’ London Selection Centre and had been on Saints books since he was 15. Playing alongside Austin was Steve Middleton who took over from the injured Ian Turner in goal while Steve Mills, still recovering from an awful car crash some 20 months ago, deputised for Saints captain, Peter Rodrigues. The 15,130 attendance meant The Dell was little more than half full but that was still more spectators than Carrick had ever played in front of, even beating the crowd for the Final v Linfield. It was Steve Williams, another product from Saints London Centre, who opened the scoring, knocking in a 16th minute volley from 20 yards which gave goalkeeper Geoff Cowan – a detective constable back in Ireland - no chance. Despite the gulf in class and status, Carrick decided to have a real go and for several minutes kept Saints on the back foot but, just after half an hour, Hayes got into the picture by finishing off a nine-pass move, converting Peach’s left-wing cross. Undeterred, the visitors continued to push forward and were rewarded when Prenter halved the deficit in the 36th minute, with a “perfectly placed shot from an acute angle”. The same player nearly equalised in the 55th minute and the home crowd grew restless fearing there could perhaps be a bit of an embarrassing end to the game, but gradually Southampton’s extra fitness came to the fore and Bobby Stokes stabbed home goal number three after Osgood had headed on Peach’s free-kick. Austin Hayes, secured his second in the 74th minute when he latched onto a fine Jim McCalliog through ball to slot past Cowan and make the aggregate score 9-3. Carrick Rangers had been far from humiliated, indeed McMenemy described their performance as being “tremendous”, while their manager Jim Brown reckoned “if we were as fit as Southampton I think we might have beaten them”. Saints went on to be eliminated by Anderlecht in the next round and they also failed to achieve promotion back to the top flight….. that would have to wait to the following season. Carrick Rangers, meanwhile, continue to still be a semi-professional outfit, but are currently a NIFL Premiership team. Their finest moment remains their 1976 Irish Cup win. Sadly Austin Hayes’s career ended prematurely and tragically. He went on to play for Saints in the 1979 League Cup Final against Nottingham Forest and in total made 29 starts for Southampton plus 12 substitute appearances, scoring nine goals along the way. But competition for forward places was intense with the likes of Boyer, Keegan and Charlie George around and he signed for Millwall in February 1982, but not before winning an Irish cap v Denmark just a few months after his Wembley outing for Saints. It was a proud moment for him and his family. After spending time at Northampton, Austin spent a close season in Sweden playing in their summer league, but when he returned home in the autumn of 1986, he fell ill and a trip to hospital revealed he had lung cancer. Devastatingly he passed away within six weeks, aged just 28. His mother Patsy, a proud native of Limerick, now aged 90 and living in Staines, cherishes the portrait of her son in his Irish shirt. Southampton v Carrick Rangers: 3 November 1976 Middleton, Mills, Peach, Holmes, Waldron, Blyth, Williams, Hayes, Osgood, McCalliog, Stokes Captions. Austin Hayes proudly wearing his Irish shirt. Steve Williams and Austin Hayes at Wembley before the League Cup Final.

Yes but was there a release clause in his original contract? I would hazard a guess there wasn't.

Well I have shared it on my timeline and I see Dennis Bundy has also commented on it. There is nothing libellous on it just a bunch of his ex-playing colleagues saying Shearer knew all about it and for him to say he didn't now to be hypercritical

When Virgil signed his extension it took a lot of us by surprise as he still had many years to go but it was welcomed. At the time many said why would he commit himself to us for such a long time. Obviously his wages rose significantly but there is no way he would have allowed himself to be tied without a get out clause. That's just common sense (CB Fry apart). Now this news has emerged the worrying thing is that the get out figure of £25m is about half of what he is worth. I would bet a sizeable sum this is his agent's way of telling the world at large to start reaching for their wallets. Why CB should find that hilarious I don't know.

It was widely reported by credible sources (D Telegraph and Echo) that there WAS a release clause. Why you should find that hilarious and want to sack the board I don't know, but I really think you need to take a break from this forum because you are beginning to contradict yourself in the same post in an effort, presumably to be funny.

What happens if 3 clubs meet the release fee? Presumably a bidding war breaks out? So who gets the proceeds? Us or Virgil. Upon reflection it could be Virgil which is why he was prepared to sign an extension? If that's the scenario Reed has been caught with his pants down and the agent is hoisting the for sale board.

Yes very

Some interesting comments about Shearer on a Facebook account of one of Shearer's fellow youth team colleagues at the Dell.

To persuade him to commit to signing a long contract. I think this is a true story. However if two clubs start a bidding war we could get a lot more

All being said I would still have Puel as our manager than koeman

Rotation = a double edged sword - it gets results but consistency suffers.

Long is off his game but the rotation system is undermining players like him who need a good long run to find their form. (Excuse the pun)

Right now (admittedly with hindsight) I would rather have bought Benteke than Boufal in the summer.

Christ, wasn't being that cryptic. No I just think while rotation grinds you out results and is a necessary evil it does not give you consistency which is what we are lacking. We need to field our best team in December.

No more rotation after Thursday

The perfect response

South Today are stirring things and exaggerating. To say Dean Radford has foregone their anonymity to talk to them is crap because Radford blew his cover back in the 90s when this story broke. As far as I know no one at SFC covered anything up, there was a court case and as Florida Martin correctly states a man was found not guilty. There didn't appear much more the club could do, he no longer worked for the club but he remained the agent of one or two high profile players which left everyone feeling a bit uneasy. I don't think Saints are guilty of anything untoward over this case, which has been in the public domain for 20 years.

Now there's a person who is going to be rich one day

Let's just get this straight. Because I declined to be positive about our chances "all the time" I have no "semblance of being a fan"? OK not sure that is a fair comment but let's press on. Also I am - according to you - "100% negative". Well I am not sure that is valid either (check some of my posts out you might be pleasantly surprised). Yes I understand you are a optimistic fan who view people like me as some sort of traitor who should be shot at dawn, but please let's not get carried away. I have not taken a double page advert in the Echo predicting doom and gloom for our club. I have not sat next to Sally on her sofa and told BBC South viewers all is lost, nor have I walked the length of the High St with a sandwich board saying there is no point us turning up for the semi-finals and the end is nigh. The world is still turning, the players are not revolting because a "miserable old fart" somewhere in cyber space has dared to suggest we might not win. This is just a forum for view exchanging not a rallying centre for ultra uber fans. (Privately I reckon 80 per cent of people on here think we will probably get beat but dare not say it on here because of fears of being accused in the manner you have accused me. With the greatest of respect, I have merely expressed doubt that, despite our very enjoyable and praiseworthy win last night, we can overcome a very formidable Liverpool side who we struggled to contain a fortnight ago. I am truly sorry if I have ruined your day, I have obviously shattered something precious, your faith. My sincere apologies. And believe it or not I will be delighted if you are right and I am wrong and would love in the aftermath of a Saints victory to buy you a pint or three and show you I am a fan just like you who (probably because I am an old fart) tries to keep my feet a little firmer on the ground. It's an age thing, I think there was a time I was just like you, but in those days there were no forums.

Supporting your team is not being wildly optimistic on a forum. I give Saints positive supportive going to Europe three times this season and getting vocally behind them in games. That entitles me to vent my fears on a forum surely? If you don't like it go join a 100% happy clappy forum, that way you won't get offended.

That's what kills you