sambosa75

But if he was the great man everyone seems to allude to him being, would he not have that £2m available to put in to this other company to stave off administration? At the end of the day, he owns that company whereas he simply owns a stake in Southampton, surely it would make more sense finacially to do that? It's not a case of having a go at him, its a question that needs to be asked. He has openly stated he is liquid for £2m to put into SFC, yet makes all these poor people redundant when usually that is done as a very last resort.

Interesting. He's apparently got £2m to put in to Southampton Football Club providing Lowe and Wilde do the same, but hasnt got the money to put in to save his workforce from the scrapheap...

And therein lies the exact reason why this wouldnt work. All very nice the players saying how much of an honour it is to play for Maradona, but lets not forget these players are the likes of Zanetti, Burdisso, Samuel, Mascherano, Rodriguez, Gutierrez, Tevez, Aguero and Messi! They could have Alpine Saint managing them and they'd still do well.

I didnt say Ronaldo was the best player in the world. I also didnt say he was better than Messi. I said both were awesome players but I dont understand how someone can be over-rated when they score over 40 goals playing against some of the best and toughest defences in Europe. As for him not being a midfielder, he doesnt occupy a central role and isnt a striker. At best he's an advanced winger/attacker. Even still, I dont know many out and out forwards banging in 40 goals a season anyway. I didnt even say Messi hasnt been brilliant. Quite the opposite. As for me "fancying" him, of course I dont. I just think its quite funny people saying he's "over-rated" on the basis of his form in the past couple of seasons, he's anything but. As is Messi.

I'm sorry but when you score over 40 goals from midfield in one season playing against the calbire of opponents he was, you have every right to be rated.

Will the same apply for Ronaldo if he wins one before Messi? In my opinion Portugal are probably a better side than Argentina. Ronaldo and Messi are both amazing players but have slightly different purposes. Messi is an absolute magician who brings others into the play. He is also capable of skinning a skeleton given the space. I think Ronaldo has more of an end product and will always score more goals than Messi but a side with Messi in will probably score more goals than a team with Ronaldo. Ronaldo is far superior in the air and is arguably more of a team player as he will run more than Messi in 90 minutes. Not really worth comparing. They are both amazing players that have slightly different purposes in their respective teams.

John B, the truth doesnt go down very well with a lot of these people. Rupert Lowe shouldnt be totally absolved from any blame but for a lof them to suggest Leon Crouch is this clubs saviour is a very misguided notion... in my opinion of course.

Call me old fasdhioned but it could well have something to do with the fact that we signed him at this point 2 years ago and he did brilliantly and earned himself a well-paid contract as it seemed he had enough goals in him to get us promoted. He was hardly prolific last season, bagging something like 6 goals. Couple that with the fact that he gave a good account of himself in the Euro Championships and then a club came in for him and gave him the opportunity to play in the Champions League against Man Utd, Celtic and Villarreal probably on even more money as well. I know what I would do if I had no major allegiance to Southampton. It's great we've got him back and fantastic to see him showing those around him how its done but to say we should never have sent him out on loan it a little short-sighted. I'm sure there were many, many more factors than Rupert Lowe wanting to stitch the club up as a few people who have agreed with the original post have alluded to.

The players we have are decent young players, most of which have been thrown in at the deep end due to the perilous financial situation the club finds itself in. This is no-ones fault but Michael Wilde and the fans who were desperate for "anyone but Lowe" during RL's first tenure. Rupert Lowe is not the perfect chairman but he would have never seen us in such bad financial shape. It was Michael Wilde in a sh!t or bust attempt at getting us promoted under Burley that has seen us being forced into loaning out players on massively inflated wages (all signed under Wilde's tenure) and fielding a whole side of youngsters and no-marks. Its the way it is. People need to get used to it. Until our finances are brought in to line with what the club is earning, we will be in this position.

Cant say I'm too surprised to hear we are 2-0 down. The first goal was always going to drive us forward in search of an equaliser, especially after making the attacking substitutions. We were always going to leave more gaps at the back. LOL at the idiots calling for JP's head though. Who do you reckon is going to come in with the club in the state it's in with the players at their disposal? Nobody.

Billy Davies is amaaaaaaaazing, delldays. I'm sure his hoof and hope style would work really well here, with the players that would be at his disposal...

Was that down Pine Road by any chance? You may have been next door but one to my Nan if so!

Firstly it depends on the kid. If you care about your child and the development of them as a person, I think the fact Southampton is generally regarded as a family club is attractive. I would say it also depends on the kids loyalties. Pulling on a Saints shirt for my nephew means something and you can visually see the pride he has playing in his Saints shirt wearing the number 7 shirt. Yes, there is more prestige in playing for a Chelsea, Man Utd, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Spurs, etc... but doesnt guarantee you'll be a better player and it certainly doesnt improve your prospects of making it as a professional football player.

I'm not sure whether you are having a go at my grammar, simply didnt read my post or are a total and utter dullard who is attempting to look intelligent at the expense of my post. I stated Southampton (Dave Puckett in particular) are aggressive in their approach towards recruiting the very best talent available to them. I then went on to state that my case in point to Southampton's aggression was how they acted when bringing Ben in to the academy despite advances from more "prestigious" or rich clubs. I dont see your issue with what I said.

You are very wrong there my friend. Southampton are as aggressive as they have ever been in recruiting the very best young talent. I would strongly suggest the players who are moving to Portsmouth are moving there as a result of not being pursued as strongly as the very best available. My case in point is my nephew, Ben. Up until a couple of months ago, he was being courted by Chelsea, Fulham, Portsmouth, Reading, Bournemouth and Saints. Chelsea in particular were very keen. Ben's football team Pace Youth (incidentally probably the Tyro team you are referring to as the coaches father is head scout for Pompey) played Chelsea at Cobham and on the evidence of Ben's performance was asked to return the next day to playe for Chelsea against Bristol Rovers. Ben played the full 80 minutes, scored and generally played well. Chelsea were apparently willing to bypass his trial period and sign him up on a 1 year contract, volunteering to arrange a driver to pick him up from his Boyatt Wood home every week and drive him to the Cobham training ground. My brother-in-law had his doubts about Chelsea however and expressed them to the club. All Chelsea could point at as their academy "success story" was John Terry. Not necessarily a bad example but not as productive as other academies. Southampton on the other hand were very aggressive. They could point to a string of successes that they have either produced or nurtured. Wayne Bridge, Chris Baird, Martin Cranie, Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott; all now Premier League players who have gone on to represent their respective countries, with the exception of Cranie who is stuck at under-21's. Still, not a bad level. Thats not even mentioning the fact that with one or two exceptions, our whole match day squad at the moment is comprised of products of the academy. No matter how bad the state of the club is in at the moment, the infrastructure of the academy will always be there. Obvoiusly we miss figures such as Georges Prost but the personel is sstill very good. Another good example is our under 14 side. I have it on good authority they are 2nd only to Arsenal in terms of talent and results.

Rio Ferdinand, Vidic, Ronaldo and Tevez please...

Men against boys. We are 2nd from bottom in the Championship and they are the reigning European champions. Without wanting to insult you, if you were expecting more than what we gave today you are deluded.

Lets get this into perspective, shall we people. We've just played the best club side in the world and lost 3-0, thanks largely to an offside goal, an unfortunate penalty, being one man light for a large chunk of the game and one well worked goal. We didnt create much and we didnt spray the ball around but were any of you really expecting us to do so? It was damage limitation from the first kick of the game to the last. We kept them to three, which in my eyes is respectable. We can now hopefully concentrate on the league and the club has benefitted massively from a full house and the television money.

http://matchlive.safc.premiumtv.co.uk/mlex/258741/matches/10172006/2686762/match_console.html?clubid=undefined Forest commentary available! Come on Saints.

Absoloutely incredible. Well done to the fans who are in attendance.

I'm sorry but this statement is simply ridiculous! Get it through your skulls! Leicester are in League 1, too right they should be doing well. They have Milan Mandaric keeping their heads above water financially which has allowed them to keep hold of players like Matty Fryatt, not to mention able to pay the wages of the likes of Kerrea Gilbert, Stephen Clemence, Matty Oakley, Steve Howard, Bruno N'Gotty, Hary Worley, Paul Dickov and Jack Hobbs. All former or current Premier League players with bags of experience and probably all of them to a man on more than our current "big earners". Rupert Lowe hasnt crippled us financially. He is simply making a lot of decisions in light of the financial mis-management the club made when ousting him the first time round. Still, the anti-Lowers appear to think that Lowe is responsible for the manner in which we went gung-ho for promotion 2 seasons ago with no plan B in the event of failure. The club is not in an ideal situation. We all love this club equally and ultimately want the same thing but I dont get how we can compare Leicester City who have a Championship squad in League 1 to us, with a League 2 squad in terms of experience in the Championship. I know where I would rather be. As for Paul Ince, Blackburn might not be brilliant but they've got some pretty decent players like Gamst Pedersen, McCarthy and Santa Cruz and Ince has done nothing there to impress me. He did okay at MK Dons but he wouldnt change much at Southampton in our current position. No-one would.

1-0 Burnley... and theyve already hit the bar as well

Come on Saints...... WE can beat this SH!T!!!!!! SH1T!!!!!!!

Le Tiss surely has to be a central midfielder... In the hole with a more defensive minded option next to him... Right Midfield for me goes to Fabrice Fernandes. I'm sure I'd plump for Paine but it was a bit before my time. Technically Fernandes was a brilliant player and for 2 seasons there werent that many better players in the Prem that did what he did. I still think he'd be a good player to this day had we let him go to Liverpool but I think once it became clear we wouldnt let him go, he started losing his way.

I totally agree. Decent player, especially at Championship level but ready to slot straight in the a Premier League first XI which seems to be what he thinks he's ready to do, he most certainly aint. Shame though as he is a local lad but he seems to rate himself a bit more than the majority of the fans do. That said, hopefully his self-publicising will either put a lot of clubs off, or force them into bidding a good amount for his services. I'd rather keep him as I think he is a decent player but I dont ever think he'll be a player who could grab a Premier League game by the scruff of its neck and stamp his authority on a match.