pap

I'd like to widen the discussion to include range of poos. On the aforementioned "wine nights", the next day invariably involves a splattery scattershot. On other days, it feels like I'm giving birth to a cricket ball. What's your defecation contrast ratio?

Flower Road estate - 15 years Coxford - 3 years Shirley - 3 years Polygon - 2 years Bitterne Park - 2 years Woolston - 6 months Bevois Valley - 6 months I generaly like to be between the rivers. Of all of those places, I'd move back to Polygon first, although Bitterne Park is a close second.

Most public sector pay is ****e. I worked at Ordnance Survey. Brilliant job. Totally **** wages. I'd go back to work there tomorrow provided I didn't have to rely on the money.

Depends what I've drunk the night before. Water = once a day. Wine = considerably more, and every fart is a 50/50.

Seeing as we turned these boys over repeatedly last season, we have to be thinking "win".

I'd like him to be loaded into a rocket and fired at the moon.

Is that an Arnie-style "doooo eeet!"?

Some short memories on here. The reality is that our club got done over by a number of factors. The move to all-seater stadiums for top-flight clubs played a huge part. Dropping from 25K to 15K couldn't have helped the finances. Remember that the promise of a new stadium was a big reason why Rupes got in the door. Once Rupes was in, stability was out. I'm not sure what his plan was, what the direction or aspirations of the club were or whether he was even from the planet Earth. The constant chop-change doesn't help. Each man brings in their own players, leaving staff demotivated and looking to the offs. All the while we were never strong enough, financially or in terms of stature, to keep our prize assets from disappearing up the M3 to better supported clubs. As for Hoddle, the man arrived under dubious circumstances, produced some good results and kept us up. The complete capitulation at Tranmere annoys me to this day, and the reality is that he too disappeared up the M3 as soon as Spurs came calling. I never want him back here. Returning to the topic, I don't know a lot about Adkins. However, the reports of his style of play are massively encouraging, and segue well with Cortese's vision of a Southampton style. People have remarked upon this being a gamble. Again, short memories. We backed a 100-1 longshot with Poortvliet, ffs. This seems like even money by comparison. The truth is, none of us know how he'll do at Saints. We'll know more on Wednesday night. Personally, I wish him well and hope that he gets a good run at the job - because the complete lack of stability, whether external or internal, is the true reason for the decline of our club.

Double fitness sessions, according to the 606 piece. We will /run/ this league

First time I took my missus to a game was at Anfield, during the 1997-98 season. She's a scouser and a Red, and stood in the Saints end with me. Any thought she had of cheering Liverpool from the Saints end quickly disappeared when a Sotonian in a Liverpool shirt cheered Liverpool's opening goal. All the people around started screaming "you scouse c*nt" and the stewards promptly removed him from the stand. We won 3-2. I did my jacket up on the walk back home, tho

This is a complete clusterf*ck.

Just heard on Solent that there's a last minute hitch. First, Cortese wanted him to resign from Scunny so we'd get out of paying the compo. Also, he wanted Adkins to take training today. Solent reports Adkins wants to say goodbye to his players, and is presently in Humberside.

I wanted Keegan last year when it looked like he was coming as part of the Pinnacle deal. I'm not sure that he'd be under the same pressure here as he was in the Toon. Did very well to get them through the divisions in the earliest years, and did it again with Fulham. Newcastle were a very good team to watch under Keegan. Personally, I'd rather see that style of play even if we do get beat sometimes as a result. The doubts over composure at the highest level are well-founded, but I think he'd be ace for us.

And it's one worth considering. My hope is that we get someone capable of bringing the squad together for a promotion push.

Stability isn't just key to a successful football team. It may prevent me from having to undergo this "who is our new manager going to be" torture of browser refreshes and hops to other sides. It needs sorting. Wilkins, god love him, hasn't had a great spell in charge. We need someone in to galvanise this team. They haven't all turned into crap players overnight.

I'd be happy with King Kev in charge. As long as we employed around 10 defensive coaches.

Even the term British Isles is political. The republicans over there tend to use "Britain and Ireland" to describe the same geographical entity. A while back, someone suggested Iona ( Islands of the North Atlantic ) as an alternative term to describe the area.

Portsmouth hardly need the help. We've got a solid side. If the manager is right, a few decent loans could make all the difference.

Brilliant stuff. While I love the fact we've got 'expensive' and proven players in the squad, I also remember the joy when we saw the 'lightning in a bottle' from the likes of Shearer and Le Tissier. I would love to see more of this, and wish the youngsters well in their ascent to first team activities.

I suggest splitting the main Saints board into optimists and pessimists. Never the twain shall meet, and more people will read something 'pleasing' to them.

And that's fair play. Too much of pretty much anything is going to be bad for you. And yes, when you're burgling houses just to feed a chemical dependence, you're way off the reservation. If Claus does have a problem, I really hope he sorts it - especially if it is affecting his family. However, there are plenty of people who go out occasionally, and would prefer to get high than get drunk, and I have no problem with that. Pretty much every fracas I've ever been involved in has had amazingly drunk people in the starring roles. We put extra police on the street to deal with this stuff. While nasties like heroin and crack cocaine are a genuine societal blight, all we have to do for people who are playing about with hash and pills is open more 24 hour munchie emporiums.

You're missing the point. We don't throw off licence owners, newsagents or publicans in prison. The policy of prohibition actually creates scumbag dealers, and ensures that anyone that does travel out of the legal arena is by definition, dealing with criminals. People are going to use recreational chemicals regardless of their legality. That being the case, isn't it better to ensure that the market is regulated and people are educated about the risks? Brilliant counter-argument, by the way. I had to go get myself a PhD just to be in a position to answer it.

Would anyone be arsed if Claus was just getting hammered on Stella? No, because "drugs" basically equate to "stuff the government doesn't tax". All the reporting is sensationalist. The papers are up in arms about meow meow these days the same way they were about ecstacy back in the 90s. At its height, the number of ecstacy deaths in one year was 40. That same year, 33,000 people died from alcohol-related illness. Apparently, 25 people have died using meow meow. That's not even taking cigarette smoking into account either. Seems weird that the Government is happy to let tens of thousands of people drink or smoke themselves to death, but goes all nanny state with the rest of it. The Dutch and Portuguese have got the right idea. Explain and mitigate the risks, and let people get on with it.

I'd like to see us up by a couple of goals early doors. Don't like the stress of only being a goal up and being a Saints fan. Must win, and the one good thing about not being at the game itself will be the easy access to how Colchester and Huddersfield are getting on. *EDIT* I'm a muppet. Huddersfield don't play until tomoz.

Geography and kids. Rarely in Southampton these days. I have two kids who seem to eat cash. Can't afford to go to every game. Haven't been to a home game for years. However, I do go to away games that are up this way.