The Left Back

Hadn't realised that, in which case it's a big no from me. Vindaloo by Fat Les always goes down well in our house. Oh When The Saints is the obvious choice really.

Land of Hope and glory would be my choice. GSTQ/K is a dirge. Jerusalem is ok but not the best. French, Italian, Welsh, Scottish all rousing

I’m expecting Bazunu, Bella-Kotchap and Aribo to start and will be surprised if they don’t. Romeu not Romeo to accompany JWP and Mara is clearly not ready.

Sounds like Nicola Cortese. on Sunak I’m not loving his desperate attempt to get street cred by associating with us. It’s harming brand Saints.

Thanks for explaining. I think I've got it. When you said "its ruined" it was a figure of speech, meaning not ruined but was a slight disappointment. And when you said "it didn't ruin it" that means it didn't ruin it. That all makes sense. You probably won't and I don't blame you, but it would be helpful to me in the future if you could be clear when you are using a figure of speech and when you are speaking literally - it will save any confusion. Oh and if the hype in the tournament didn't ruin it for you but made it only a 'slight disappointment' why have you felt the need to bang on about it so much? Surely if the meal was that good the timing of the main course would disappear from your memory pretty quick?

You clearly did 4 hours ago on the womens football thread in the saints area. Given your huge volume of posts, the heat and your incoherence I’ll forgive you for forgetting.

I'm really surprised such trifling periphery has the power to ruin an experience for you. If you rely on external factors to cheer you up then you need to reassess the priorities in your life.

This plus no fan segregation in the stadium and no fan problems (as far as I've heard)

Crap trolling. 1/10 This. There's no point discussing the Euros on here (or women's football in general). The handful of dinosaurs are so vocal you have to wonder what their real motivation is?

I think the only in without an out will be a striker/goal scoring 10. I think unless a really good FB loan option presents itself we'll go with what we have. He'll play Djenepo and even Redmond at wing back if needed. We'll only get a CB if Bednarek is sold (or possibly Stephens?). I think Ralph rates Valery and Lyanco as good enough cover if we play 3 at the back, and we have 6 CDs already. You can argue about the quality but we have what we have. Given Mara is clearly going to take a while to get up to speed I'd like us to make one biggish signing for a young established striker. That would represent a cracking window for me.

Just got back; thought I'd post this before having my view infected by this thread. It's bloody hot watching in the Itchen, won't be doing that again. Only upside was being right behind our dugout so got to see Ralph, his coaching team and the subs in action (at times more interesting than the game). Surprisingly small crowd. Got smaller by 1 when one of the larger attendees just about managed to run the length of the pitch before getting a ban. That and a flair going off when we scored were embarrassing fan-related lows. On the pitch I thought Stu was our best player followed by Djenepo. Both looked really fit and were at the heart of most of our good play (both should have scored as well). Of the newbies, Aribo stood out. Wasn't sure of his position in the first half, and Ralph seemed to struggle to get him playing where he wanted, but he's a beast of a player with great touch. And the goal was obviously testament to his balance, power and control. Mara looked rusty. Lavia took a while to get going but grew into the game. Bazunu was ok, but haven't yet seen the potential I was hoping for. He's also not as big as we're used to (but obviously much more agile). Kotchap is a mountain of a defender; we're certainly much better equipped for physical power and stature than last year. I quite like the 3-4-3 formation. Our wing backs are suited to that. I think Lynaco or even Stephens would suit the centre of the three more than Bednarek (or perhaps Kotchap with Valery in the right side?). If we're going to stick with that formation Bednarek is not really suited to any of the roles. So it will be interesting to see how that plays out. I am no clearer how we'll do this season but our squad is much stronger. We need one more striker but I can't see us getting another full back. As for next week I'd expect o see Adams in for Mara and Romeu for Lavia and otherwise the same line up as today

My first outing today, and very much looking forward to it. I'm in the Itchen for this one (normally Kingsland). Can't wait to see Bazunu, Mara and hopefully Aribo play; really exciting signings. I don't normally do pre-season matches as it's all a bit meh, but I've been carried away by our transfer window. Haven't looked forward to a season so much in a long time. Obviously it's Saints so it could all unravel quickly, but I'm not feeling that way, which is a little weird.

No need to leave. He’s a troll. You Know it, I know it, he may even know it. But it’s just a forum, no one need get hurt by it and I for one appreciate your contribution.

Thanks @whelk I'd never heard of this fella prior to finding this and found him to be a pretty impressive speaker. The interviewer was clearly a like-minded colleague but nonetheless I though he made a coherent case. The thing I listened to was telling the story of the generations-long failed integrated transport system in Leeds. Private company ownership wasn't the only issue offered, but it was cited as a factor, with Reading given as an example of a place that has taken transport back into public ownership with good effect.

I was going to post this under the UK/Bojo thread but wondered if it merited its own debate. I was listening yesterday to a podcast on city transport services and how bringing them back into public ownership was helping with investment and preservation of service levels. Below is a link to an 8 minute monologue by Eddie Dempsey, assistant general secretary of the RMT. The last 2 minutes in particular makes the case for a massive rethink of the way the economy is run. Put simply, moving public services back into public ownership and using current dividends as investment in services and wages. If it hadn't already been coined you might call it 'taking back control'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vOD3L7v-q8 Apologies I don't know how to embed the link so if someone could help with that I'd be grateful. I have a lot of sympathy with what is being put forward and know I'm regarded by friends as a bit of a soppy, naive, idealistic socialist. So I'm genuinely interested in the thoughts of others on here. My only request is to try and make the conversation about the merits and shortcomings of the idea rather than getting stuck in some of the normal personal attacks (i.e. play the ball not the man).

Building on this (and agreeing with it), I was chatting with the Dad of a current Chelsea academy player on Saturday. They are already aware of the pitfalls of a being offered a long contract by the club. Put simply, anything more than 3 years and they risk being ignored by the hierarchy and effectively kicked into the long grass of non-playing or repetitive loans. It's one of the downsides of the Chelsea strategy and is really starting to bite them. I can see a lot of them "doing a Tino" over the next few years. And from Tuchel's recent comments it seems like the whole club is in a bit of a mess; which I guess is hardly surprising given the complex, protracted and unplanned sale/purchase of the club. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Broja is sold on or near the last day of the window for a more reasonable fee (£20m) to whoever he wants to go to who is still in for him. If so, are we prepared to wait it out and hope or abandon project Broja and look elsewhere (as WHU seem too have done)?

I'm a bit slow but I think I've worked out you're not a Ralph fan. So thanks for repeating variations of the same cracked record every day over the summer. I know forums are about opinions but yours (and a few others) on this thread is more like Chinese water torture.

In an attempt to keep this thread football related... It's obvious Rishi's a Saints fan - he's going to finish runner up rather than champion. He's wangled his way into one of the most expensive schools in the country and ended up marrying into a billionaire's family. This is more Man City than Saints (other than perhaps the Marcus rescue period) so I think a bit of envy and bitterness is to be expected. My issue with him having a position of power is that he's too detached from the reality facing the people he's serving. Which is one of the issues I have with club owners' ability to do act in the best interest of fans. They just don't get it. Finally he's a tory, which in my mind makes him like Liverpool. No matter what they do I can't help remembering how they were in the 80s and hating them for it.

This is often the only time of year to dream big, to be optimistic, to be ruled by hope not fear, to see that glass as not just half full but overflowing. We're a mystery side. Our owners have a cunning plan and seem to know what they are doing. It's a season with a massive break in the middle. Ralph says we'll sign another striker. So I'm going to go for it and say 7th place, and a cup final. ...waits for mass condemnation by fellow forum members. I'm happy to be called deluded or whatever else you want to chuck at me. That's my prediction and I'm sticking with it. As for everything else, I'm not interested enough to make a prediction.

Probably travelling abroad is the biggest benefit. It used to be all go, go, go. Now we get the chance to sit and contemplate our existence for a few hours on the way to Dover before heading off. Where once we just wandered thoughtlessly through the inspections, now we get the chance to reminisce about our holiday while waiting in the passport hall. Oh and I agree with Whelk, my new passport is a great colour and full of stamps. It's really exciting.

Simpleton might even be an understatement.

I wouldn't call you a cynic as it's a reasonable fear based on our club and it's history. Call me an optimist but I think the strategy should be taken at the new owners word, i.e. the pathway. We sign these young players, play them, develop them and then sell them for a profit. This strategy requires us to stay in the EPL, in which case we will need to keep JWP. If the strategy works the money for this summer's investments will be be repaid with interest next summer, and so on.

Those things got fixed because the world took action. And the world took action because the voices for change were louder and more compelling than the voices for resistance to change. the same dynamics are in play today. The differences are that the solutions needed for change are more demanding and less palatable, leading to louder and more compelling voices of resistance to change.

This speaks volumes

Are you actually a fan? I’m asking cos your post sounds like you’re not. Agreed. Our model is built on deals like this. At the end of the day if he wants to stay he will, regardless of Buy back. And if he doesn’t we’ll turn a tidy profit for a full back. Either scenario assumes Spurs’ interest is real. Personally I think he’ll choose to stay and I’m very happy with that.