Mowgli

Treat it as part of the learning curve. This will be the toughest match of the season but hey - it's only 90 minutes and both sides have 11 players!

A classic 'look at me, look at me' response. Post garbage and then whine when people dare to disagree.

No we should be doing things professionally. If we done wrong we should apologise but of course we have not seen the evidence yet.....

You mean the heritage and tradition of struggling near the bottom of the table and selling all our best youngsters. The only other period in our history when we have been a force to be reckoned with was when we dumped the stripes as I recall. Don't get e wrong, I can see saints have been synonomous with stripes but I've always envied other clubs who could where the shirt on holiday without looking like a TGI Fridays employee on his way home.

Here's another wacky scenario. Maybe we already have irons in the fire on several players including a centre back but for reasons which are totally incomprehesible, the club officials are more concerned about carrying out these negotiations in private and professionally instead of focussing on keeping fans happy on the local internet forum.

Thank you Peter Storrie....

Aren't you guys saying the same thing??

I don't mind listening to rumours but that is all they are. Saints fc is as tight as a ducks arse as far as information is concerned and long may that continue. It is a very professional way of running a club. The evidence suggests far more stability than most people are alluding to 1 NC is a tough negotiator and is committed to not wasting money but investing wisely where it matters. 2 He has the support of the Leibherr family 3 NA was hi appointment and he would look pretty stupid and incompetent to sack him without very good reason 4 He has supported some very good signing so far and would not have done so if he had another manager in mind 5 A reading player or tweeter is unlikely to have access to information that the players actually AT the cub do not 6 NA is an up and coming manager continually stepping out of his comfort zone and has so far proved very capable. I see no reason to suppose he would not succeed at the highest level 7 Together as one is more than just a strap line. We should not understimate the collective benefit of people like Reed, Wilkins, Cole and the physios as well as NA /NC 8 If you were working in a club with that much depth of talent you could probably put up with a difficult chairman knowing you have the support of your peers 9 NC would also be reluctant to lose NA as there is the risk he would take a large section of his staff with him 10 NA has said we will not make wholesale changes like Reading or WHU so comparisons are largely irrelevant 11 Despite that he has said today he expects 2 or 3 more signings. Have a bit of faith!

I don't mind listening to rumours but that is all they are. Saints fc is as tight as a ducks arse as far as information is concerned and long may that continue. It is a very professional way of running a club. The evidence suggests far more stability than most people are alluding to 1 NC is a tough negotiator and is committed to not wasting money but investing wisely where it matters. 2

...we would be OK

Our pre seasons in recent times has often revolved around whether we can hang on to our top players. I think people are underestimating the importance of that. We are in an exceptionally strong position to have retained the services of Lallana, Rickie and Schneiderlin who have undoubtedly been enquired about over the summer. We have four quality signings (albeit that Gazza is probably one for the future. We also have 4 new youth players joining the first team. Ward Prowse may well start the first game and the other three have shown they would not look out of place in the first team. We have four capable centre backs and a host of wide players to fill those positions. One of those is Puncheon who appears to be a reborn professional in pre season and could be as good as a new signing. So in a nutshell, if we make no other signings I suspect we will be a force in the new season. This is not Championship Manager where you are constantly bringing 8 or 12 new players each season. As NA says - it's as much about evolution as revolution. If we went into the Premier League season with the current squad

Much improved. Easy to navigate and good background pics. There is a mobile version on the way so those on ipad / iphone and android just be patient. Plenty of other sites around if people want the unofficial view.

Clearly got talent. Just needs to work on his technique a bit. Decision making is occasionally left wanting. Can that be trained?

And what has all this to do with jeremain lens?

http://www.busandcoach.com/newspage.aspx?id=6598&categoryid=0

Well put. Post of the week IMO.

An indication of how effective CMS was that day. One game tells you nothing about Seabourne. Actually it does not tell you a whole lot about CMS who still blows hot and cold.

Good shout. I'd forgotten about those Rovers fans who sang 'thank you very much for....' endlessly - adding a different name for each verse. Really ****ed me off. And it was more than a rumour about MLT. Jack Walker had offered to provide a helicopter for him to fly up each day from the Channel Islands. But Matt loves the area way too much. Good football, great golf courses, short flight to the islands. What more do you need? So if we meet them in the cup (and have a few of their players) - we really must return the thank you!!

Me too so I went on the official Exeter site. In their report it is clear that Johns went in goal for Gazzaniga late on and he was definately between the sticks when Bauza scored for Exeter late on.

Because if they didn't work on the first tv game some bright spark would be on here criticising the club that they never had the foresight to try the advertising out on a friendly. Besides, some of the advertising was clearly targeting the fans in the stadium not just tv fans.

Lucas Moura.

Based on pre season form NA might swap Sharp for Lambert and Puncheon for Guly but all four will play a part I am sure. As will Gazzaniga and Davies. I would like to see Stephens play a part too. I'm starting to think with him and Seabourne both performing well in pre season we have good choices now at centre back. That's not to say another signing should not be pursued but paying over the odds is something we can comfortably resist.

I've said it before but contracts work both ways. If we want some of our younger players honouring their contracts in full we should be prepared to do the same with the more experienced pro's. Barnard is way dow the pecking order now but is actually not that old. He should work hard on the training ground and try and work his way back into Nigel's plans. If he wants to move on we should help him but otherwise we should stick by him and try to develop him here.

Nigel Adkins. Nuff said!!

Puncheon fell out with the club and behaved poorly. He has apologised and got his head down to work his way back into contention. He fits in well with the squad who like him and he clearly has a lot of talent. Keep him.